This New Year is really a happy one for one family and a sad one for the other. Prince Gong and Prince Dun bid farewell with tears outside the city, but in the Old Summer Palace to the north of the capital, there is still a prince imprisoned!
The Old Summer Palace has been burned down by the British and French forces, but the fire burned by the invaders was not clean, and what they robbed was only superficial wealth!
Three Mountains and Five Gardens are a series of royal gardens built by the Qing Dynasty over two hundred years with all its national strength. The scale is endless!
Across Fuhai, there is the Changchun Garden to the east and the Qichun Garden to the south. These three courtyards are connected together and are much larger than the Forbidden City!
Further to the west, there is Qingyi Garden around Wanshou Mountain, plus Xiangshan Mountain, Yuquan Mountain, and Wanshou Mountain. This is the unprecedented scale of the three-mountain-five-garden royal garden area!
What the British and French allied forces burned was actually the Old Summer Palace and part of the surrounding Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden, and they were not burned so cleanly. 70% of the houses were burned, but 30% of the houses were preserved!
After the British and French allied forces retreated, the Qing government also allocated a small amount of money for repairs, and soon sent troops to protect it, so the foundation of the building was not damaged!
Why was the Old Summer Palace so dilapidated later? This is actually due to the plunder of insiders!
As the Qing Dynasty progressed towards the end, the control of the central government became weaker and weaker. Many officials became corrupt and reached out to the Old Summer Palace!
Although the buildings are gone, those beautiful Taihu stones, exquisite stone carvings, and towering ancient trees from unknown ages have all become treasures in the eyes of the officials of the capital!
Many deep mansions have begun to systematically steal the treasures from the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, including Taihu stones, stone carvings in the Forest of Steles, plaques, stone carvings, and famous ancient books transplanted in their entirety!
These properties that originally belonged to the royal family were transferred out bit by bit. Many of these crude things were not afraid of fire and were not damaged when the Old Summer Palace was burned down!
In fact, it was not just the nobles of the palace who stole, Cixi also stole too! When the Summer Palace was being built, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs transplanted countless towering ancient trees from the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, and borrowed countless stones!
This was the second time the Manchu and Qing officials destroyed the Old Summer Palace, and the third large-scale destruction would have to wait until the Qing Dynasty was about to perish and the Republic of China began!
By the Xuantong period, the emperor's control over the capital was almost zero. The combat effectiveness of the Banner Camp and the Han Army Camp completely collapsed. The entire court relied on Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army for support!
The Beiyang Army has no time to guard the ruins. The camp defense system of the Old Summer Palace will no longer work!
In the past, it was the rich and powerful officials who stole, but now it is the common people who steal! The common people see that everything is good, and even half of a ruined wall can be demolished to pieces!
Wouldn’t it be better to tear down a few purlins from a collapsed house and repair your own house? Ready-made window lattice wood can also be used!
Even the fertile soil in the garden has been turned into farmland to grow crops! In the Republic of China, a large number of private collectors searched for the antiquities inside like they were trying to suck out the marrow!
Exquisite stone carvings, complex hardwood window lattice, even stone tables and stools are all good, and they will look a little royal when stored in your home!
What is even more terrifying is that the people directly take the soil... This is absolutely impossible. People need soil to build houses, bake bricks, and pave roads. So just dig up this large wasteland!
By the time we arrived in New China, this place was already in ruins, and it would never be the same again!
Prince Chun Yixuan was imprisoned in this royal garden that had not been completely destroyed. To the west of the Zhengda Guangming Hall was the Changchun Immortal Pavilion, and further to the west was a large mansion called the Thirteenth House!
This was where high-ranking eunuchs and old ladies lived. The small courtyards were connected to each other. This was not an important building, so it escaped the fire disaster!
Prince Chun Yixuan was imprisoned here. He was imprisoned alone in a small courtyard, and his Fujin and children were imprisoned in another small courtyard not far away!
They can hear each other's voices, but they can never see each other without Zaichun's will!
There is a man-made hill to the east of the Thirteenth Institute and the Changchun Immortal Pavilion. Zaichun specifically approved it so that Yixuan could climb it and enjoy the scenery every day!
Is this the kindness of Emperor Tongzhi? No, when Yixuan received this decree, he could only sigh and express gratitude for accepting the decree, and asked the father-in-law who delivered the decree, "Excuse me, father-in-law... Do you have to go climbing this mountain every day?"
The eunuch with his nostrils turned upward sneered, "You are already imprisoned. What a favor it is to be granted permission to go out for a walk? Aren't you going to accept the favor from Lord Long Live?"
"Come here... remember it all. No matter it's windy or rainy, even if it's snowing, I'll cut you with a knife! Prince Chun has to climb the mountain for an hour every day!"
It wasn't until Yizhen climbed up the hill and stood at the top of the mountain to look out that he truly understood what the emperor wanted to do!
"It's murder to punish the heart! This is murder to punish the heart... Wuwuwu!" Yixuan cried bitterly while holding on to a pine tree.
Standing on the top of the mountain, all you can see is the decay of the Old Summer Palace. The scenes that I was familiar with when I was a child have changed! Two-thirds of the Eternal Spring Immortal Pavilion was burned down, and the dark wood was poking toward the sky.
Jiuzhou Qingyan has long been in a state of disgrace, and is covered in weeds!
To the north, Wanfang Anhe, also known as the famous Wanzi Palace, collapsed half into the water. The river system extending in all directions has not been cleaned for many years. Broken lotus leaves and yellow dry reeds have occupied the entire river!
Where is the rich scene of my childhood? The most beautiful scenes of my childhood are all gone, leaving only ruins!
Yixuan seemed to have heard the little emperor's sarcastic voice, "Look...this is your sin, this is the sin you have committed!"
"You have thrown away the dignity of this empire! Just face this shame every day and never close your eyes and pretend to sleep!"
In fact, from the later years of Kangxi to the Xianfeng period, the princes of the Qing Dynasty were quite happy. As long as they were not involved in the conflict over the heir apparent, their wealthy life was unimaginable to ordinary people!
To be honest, the Forbidden City is a center of power, and the living conditions are not very comfortable. There are many houses, which is frustrating, and the green space is very small, and there is very little water!
The construction of three mountains and five gardens had already begun in the later years of Kangxi. After the gradual addition of bricks and tiles during the Yongzheng period, it reached its peak glory and finally took shape in the Qianlong period!
After the Qianlong Dynasty, it was just maintenance and repair every year, and there was no need to expand the scale!
The royal gardens, which were built with all the national strength of three dynasties, created a beautiful fairy tale Eden for these princes and grandsons!
Since the completion of the Old Summer Palace, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty have been too lazy to stay in the Forbidden City permanently. Except for the necessary court meetings and festivals and ancestor worship activities every year, they have to come back and spend most of their time working here!
Yixuan, Yixin and others grew up playing here when they were young! They are familiar with every plant and tree here, every rockery that can hide and seek, they know which waters can catch the best fish, and which yard produces the sweetest and most delicious peaches.
The best memories of my childhood were all here, but they were completely burned by a fire!
Since the beginning of the Tongzhi Dynasty and the Xinyou coup, Yixuan has not been here once, because he was sad and uncomfortable and could not bear to watch this tragic scene!
Nowadays, Zai Chun is so cruel! Just imprison him here, and then force him to climb the mountain every day, and take a look at this sad and angry scene every day!
The most terrifying torture in the world is heart-breaking!
