After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, how much wealth did the royal family still have?

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1. When the Qing emperor abdicated in 1912, the private property owned by the royal family was indeed extremely large

On February 9, 1912, the The Nanjing Provisional Government, Yuan Shikai and the Qing royal family negotiated and reached a "Conditions for Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty". It stipulates that after the Qing emperor abdicates, 1. the emperor's title will not be abolished, and the Republic of China will treat him as a foreign monarch; 2. the annual income of 4 million taels (yuan) will be allocated by the Republic of China; 3. temporarily live in the Forbidden City, and later move to the Summer Palace ; 4. The ancestral temple mausoleum continues to offer sacrifices and is protected by guards set up by the Republic of China; 5. The construction of Dezong (Guangxu) mausoleum and the enshrinement ceremony remain as usual, and the costs are borne by the Republic of China; 6. Palace personnel can continue to be retained, but they cannot be recruited again in the future. Eunuch; 7. After the emperor resigned, "his original private property shall be specially protected by the Republic of China"; 8. The Royal Palace Guards were incorporated into the establishment of the Army Ministry of the Republic of China, and their posts and salaries remained as before. ①

Although the seventh article of this article does not clearly define the scope and content of "royal private property", according to the understanding of the Qing Dynasty at that time, it refers to all items in the palace, including cultural relics, silver coins, and silk tables and chairs. Daily necessities, etc., should all be classified as "royal private property" according to preferential treatment conditions. Although the Republic of China government did not explicitly confirm this, it did not express any objection.

In brief, when the Qing emperor abdicated in 1912, his main private properties included: items in the palace (cultural relics, silver coins, daily necessities), items in the Rehe Palace (today’s Chengde Summer Resort), and The items contained in the Jingxing Palace (today’s Forbidden City in Shenyang), the Summer Palace, and an unknown number of royal estates (the Ministry of Internal Affairs has never figured out how many royal estates there are, and many of them were sold privately by the village owners, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was helpless).

2. The Republic of China government made a big mistake and failed to distinguish the palace cultural relics from the royal family's private property.

Among the palace collections, the most valuable ones are the large number of cultural relics. . Most of these cultural relics were collected from the private sector, especially during the Qianlong period. Just take the famous paintings of Fa Tie as an example - during the Kangxi period, the famous paintings of Fa Tie in the palace mainly came from the contributions of ministers. The court's appreciation ability was limited, and Gao Shiqi and others even dared to preserve the originals and pay tribute with fakes. By the time of Qianlong, the famous paintings on Fa Tie gradually gathered in the hands of countless wealthy people, which gave Qianlong the convenience to search for all the famous paintings on Fa Tie. According to Yang Renkai, an art historian and museologist, Qianlong could often bring back to the palace the collections accumulated by famous domestic collectors for generations with just an edict or a small price. "In short, the objective conditions were favorable to Hongli. His possessive desire for calligraphy and painting was particularly strong, so the famous calligraphy and paintings accumulated by the Qing Dynasty became more and more popular, and most of the precious ink ink that was circulated among the people was collected by the inner government... The accumulation of calligraphy and painting after Qianlong declined significantly. The famous works passed down by the people have been concentrated in the imperial court... The collection of famous works in the Qing Dynasty is a large collection of famous works of calligraphy and painting from all dynasties, with a total of more than 10,000 pieces. ”

In this way, it is not difficult to imagine the richness of cultural relics in the palace collection and its great cultural value. These cultural relics should belong to all citizens and not to the Aisin Gioro family name. However, in 1912, due to the dangerous international situation (mainly due to Russia and Japan's desire to take advantage of the opportunity), both the North and the South hoped that the Qing Dynasty could abdicate peacefully as soon as possible to complete the regime change. Therefore, when negotiating the "Preferential Treatment Conditions for the Qing Dynasty", they had no time to transfer the palace collections The cultural relics in it were separated from the royal family's private property.

Soon, the Republic of China government discovered that this was a major mistake. In December 1912, Xiong Xiling took office as governor of Rehe. He discovered that various antiquities in the Rehe Palace were heavily resold, so he petitioned Yuan Shikai to sort out the antiquities in the summer resort, transport them to Beijing, and buy them from the Qing Dynasty at a certain price. Cut it off and hand it over to the museum for collection. Yuan approved the proposal. From November 1913 to March 1914, the Republic of China government transported more than 110,000 pieces of antiquities from the Jehol Palace and the Shengjing Palace to Beijing. These cultural relics are collected in the "Antiquities Exhibition Hall" located in the former dynasty of the Forbidden City. However, because the Republic of China government had no money to pay the Qing Dynasty, until September 1916, Prime Minister Duan Qirui still had to admit in his report to President Li Yuanhong: "The antiquities displayed in the Wenhua and Wuying halls are all from the Qing Dynasty. There are more than 700,000 pieces of private property with an estimated value of about 5 million yuan. They are divided into categories and registered in books. It was originally planned to be nationalized by the government and financed by finance. "Since the Republic of China, it has not been implemented. The government admitted that these displays were still the private property of the royal family, and the Qing Dynasty was unceremonious. Many cultural relics, such as "Bracelets made from East China Sea Pearls" and "Two Diamond Swords," were successively taken away by the Qing Ministry of Internal Affairs. Taking it away is a trivial matter. The worst thing is that in order to raise funds for daily operations, the Qing Dynasty often sold off the cultural relics, and most of them fell into the hands of outsiders. For example, in 1922, Puyi planned to sell the "Sikuquanshu" to Japan to raise funds. Wedding expenses. Although the cultural circles were extremely indignant about this, due to the fact that the Republic of China government recognized these cultural relics as the private property of the royal family, other than public condemnation, they could only do nothing.

3. After participating in Zhang Xun's restoration, Puyi felt guilty and uneasy, and secretly smuggled thousands of cultural relics out of the palace

In 1917, Zhang Xun's restoration made the "Qing Dynasty preferential treatment conditions" It was widely questioned by public opinion. Many people believe that since the Qing Dynasty participated in the restoration and breached the contract first, the original "Conditions for Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty" should also be abolished. For example, Feng Yuxiang, who participated in the crusade against Zhang Xun, advocated expelling Puyi from the palace.

In June 1922, the first Zhili-Fengtian war ended in the defeat of the Fengtian faction, and President Xu Shichang, who was sympathetic to the Qing Dynasty, resigned. Puyi panicked and began planning to smuggle cultural relics from the palace in preparation for any eventuality.

The smuggling method chosen by Puyi is called "Rewarding Pujie". According to Pu Jia (Pu Yi’s cousin) who was involved in the matter, the specific operation method is as follows:

“As early as around 1922, because Beijing was often threatened by war, there was a deep fear that Pu Yi would not be able to stay in the palace. When he was living in the city, there was nowhere to escape the chaos, so my father (Zai Tao) bought a building for Puyi on No. 13 Road in the British Concession in Tianjin... We made some preparations starting from 1922. We secretly smuggled the ancient books (mostly Song editions) and calligraphy and paintings (mostly hand scrolls) collected in the palace out of the palace in batches. This batch of books, calligraphy and paintings was very large, and was transported from the palace. It took quite a lot of trouble to get out of the palace, because the items stored in each palace were kept by the eunuchs of each palace. If Puyi wanted to reward items from a certain palace, he not only had to record them clearly in the account books of that palace, but also had to record them clearly in the account books of that palace. We had to get a certain item from the secretary to be rewarded to someone, and then make a note to carry the item out of the palace. At that time, we thought of a very clever way, which was to reward this large number of ancient objects. In the name of Pu Jie, and sometimes in the name of giving me a reward, we took advantage of the opportunity that Pu Jie and I left the palace after school every day to bring people out of the palace in batches. We thought that no one would know if it was so strict. As the days went by, the number of things increased, and soon the eunuchs and palace companions (who were on duty in the palace and helped me carry my schoolbag every day) asked me: Are these things for you? When this batch of antiquities was transported to Tianjin, it took a lot of trouble. These books, calligraphy and paintings were packed in seventy or eighty large wooden boxes (I can’t remember the detailed number)...all of them were stored in Building 166, No. 13 Road. . ”

When the cultural relics were inspected, every scroll, album, and ancient book was marked according to its value. The person with the highest value draws 5 circles, and the person with the worst value draws 1 circle. Those who were smuggled out of the palace by Pujie and Pujia were selected from the cultural relics drawn with five circles. According to statistics compiled by the "Qing Dynasty Cleanup Committee" in 1925 based on the "Puyi Reward List" and other information, General Puyi smuggled out more than 1,000 calligraphy and painting scrolls from past dynasties, and more than 200 kinds of albums and hanging scrolls, including Song and Yuan editions. There are more than two hundred rare books.

4. When Puyi was expelled from the palace in 1924, the private property he took away was mainly silver and daily necessities

In November 1924, Feng Yuxiang launched a coup and Cao Kun resigned as president. The regent cabinet headed by Huang Yu held a state meeting and decided to amend the "Conditions for Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty" and required Puyi to move out of the palace immediately. Article 5 of the revised "Conditions for Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty" stipulates: "The private property of the Qing Dynasty shall be fully enjoyed by the Qing Dynasty, and shall be given special protection by the Government of the Republic of China, and all its public properties shall be owned by the Government of the Republic of China." For the first time, it was determined that "there are items hidden in the palace" public property". When asked by a reporter about the difference between public and private property, National Representative Lee Yu-young replied: “The distinction between public and private property is very clear and there is no risk of confusion. Public property includes palaces, buildings, and treasures from past dynasties, and other kinds of property.” That is private property." Public opinion also has similar opinions on how to distinguish public and private property. For example, Lin Baishui, the chief writer of Social Daily, believes: "Which of various treasures should belong to Puyi and which should belong to the Republic of China depends purely on whether it has a history. The criteria are value and cultural relevance. Most small pieces of jewelry, gold, silver, leather goods, silk and satin can be classified as Puyi, while large and heavy objects, as well as inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings related to history and culture, are nothing but national treasures that have been passed down for thousands of years. , has nothing to do with Aixinjueluo, and it is impossible to take it as a private owner."

On November 5, Puyi was forced to move out of the Forbidden City. Most of the cultural relics related to history and culture that remain in the palace have been preserved. The items handed over to Puyi were mainly private property such as jewelry, silver, and daily necessities. Among them, silver taels totaled more than 110,000 taels. Except for a few ingots engraved with the words "Fu Lu Shou Xi" left for exhibition purposes, the "Qing Dynasty Cleanup Committee" handed over all the rest to Pu Yi. However, Wang Xizhi's "Quick Snow and Clear Tie" and Qiu Shizhou's "Han Palace Spring Dawn Picture" hidden in Puyi's luggage were found and detained. When the concubines Jingyi and Ronghui leave the palace, they are allowed to take away all the 235,300 taels of silver they have stored in the palace, as well as their clothes, supplies, furniture, etc.

In February 1925, Puyi fled to Tianjin and settled in the Japanese Concession. The property he could rely on at this time was mainly the treasures from the Forbidden City that had been secretly smuggled out in the form of "rewards to Pujie". Among them are the "Cao E Stele" and "Two Thank You Notes" by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi; "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan, etc.

5. The puppet Manchukuo fell, Puyi became a prisoner and lost all his treasures, and the royal family’s assets were reduced to zero

During Tianjin, Puyi continued to rely on selling cultural relics to maintain daily expenses. But his skills are far less generous than when he was in the palace. According to Puyi himself, on May 31, 1924, the Ministry of Internal Affairs made a one-time transaction of up to 800,000 yuan (silver dollars) with the Beijing Salt Bank (the famous middle-class Lu Xun at that time had an annual income of only 3,000-5,000 yuan) ), the collateral provided by Puyi included 16 pure gold clocks weighing more than 110,000 taels, the empress dowager, the queen's gold treasures, gold books, gold treasure chests, etc., weighing more than 11,000 taels, pearls More than 1,900 pieces, more than 180 pieces of gems...⑧Transactions of this scale happen several times a year.

However, in Tianjin, the number of cultural relics Puyi had on hand was far less than before, and the sales were not going smoothly. The local antique shops once joined forces to lower the prices in a unified manner, so that the treasures in the five circles were sold at a low price of only 60,000 yuan. It wasn't until he met French businessman Rosenthal and sold a batch of cultural relics for 600,000 that he overcame the economic difficulties. During this period, Puyi often asked his servants whether they had "price bargaining" (i.e. bargaining) when shopping. ⑨

It is unknown how many precious cultural relics Puyi sold during the seven years in Tianjin. But most of the cultural relics smuggled out of the Forbidden City seem to have been preserved. According to his bodyguard Yan Zhenwen, who was responsible for managing this batch of cultural relics, when Puyi sneaked into the Northeast in 1932, he still had in his hands “1,300 pieces of famous paintings and calligraphy from Dharma, about 30 boxes; 40 albums of famous paintings and calligraphy from Dharma, in 4 boxes; 31 calligraphy and painting hanging scrolls packed in 1 box; 200 Song and Yuan edition books packed in 31 boxes; palace edition books packed in 3 boxes; two large vaults, two leather boxes inside, and more than 30 small portable vaults; 200 leather goods, Packed in 8 boxes.” By 1935, these cultural relics were secretly transported to the Manchukuo Imperial Palace in Changchun. ⑩

The Japanese surrendered in 1945. Puyi reluctantly took away more than 10 boxes of more than 70 boxes of calligraphy and paintings, and boarded the escape train from Changchun; in Dalizigou, Tonghua, because the Manchukuo currency was useless, he used some cultural relics to exchange food with the local people, and when he took a plane to Shenyang , and because of the heavy load, he only took two suitcases of paintings, calligraphy and treasures with him. After arriving at Shenyang Airport, he was captured by the Soviet army. The cultural relics abandoned in Changchun were robbed by the guards of the Puppet Manchukuo Imperial Palace, and many famous masterpieces were torn into several pieces or even smashed. Some of the two suitcases of treasures confiscated by the Soviet Union were returned to China after 1949, including "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". While he was a prisoner in the Soviet Union, Puyi used the interlayers of boxes, thermos bottles, soap, etc. to hide hundreds of small treasures such as pearls and diamonds. During this period, many of them were discarded in order to prevent them from being discovered by the Soviet side. In August 1950, Puyi was extradited back to China and handed over the last 486 "mezzanine treasures". (11)

The above is the process of changes in the assets of the Aisin Gioro royal family after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. This process is so clear that it is absolutely impossible for any "descendant" or "Gege" to still hold the treasure map and possess a huge "royal inheritance". As for the 300-year-old Emperor Qianlong who took the elixir of life, if anyone believes it, it can only be a matter of IQ.