In Beijing, where is the palace that is as luxurious as the Forbidden City, but the owner of the palace has no descendants?
The Forbidden City, also known as the Forbidden City, is recorded in the "History of the Ming Dynasty": "In the seventh month of the fourth year of Yongle, an edict was issued to build the Beijing Palace and repair the city walls. It was completed in the first month of the nineteenth year...also known as the Forbidden City." The Forbidden City was the Ming Dynasty. In the imperial palace during the Qing Dynasty, the emperor and his concubines and their families mainly lived there. When the princes reach a certain age, they will also be entrusted with titles and live outside the palace. Therefore, there are still dozens of princely mansions in Beijing.
The most complete preserved large-scale royal palace in the Qing Dynasty is located next to Shichahai in Beijing. This royal palace is also the largest courtyard house in the world, covering an area of more than 60,000 square meters. It is the very famous Prince Gong’s Mansion of the Qing Dynasty. It has been more than 200 years since Prince Gong's Mansion was established. It has experienced the prosperity of the Qianlong Dynasty and the decline of the Qing Dynasty. It is a well-deserved witness to history.
▲Prince Kung’s Mansion Stills 01
Prince Kung’s Mansion not only has an excellent location in Feng Shui, but also can be said to be second to none in terms of construction technology. The first half of it is a solemn and magnificent mansion, and the second half is a carefully designed Chinese classical garden. Some scholars believe that this is the prototype of Rongguo Mansion and Grand View Garden in "A Dream of Red Mansions". However, the owner who once lived here had a bad fate. Either he did not end well or even died, or his descendants were few and withered. In short, they were far from perfection.
Although Prince Gong's Mansion is called "Prince Gong's Mansion", its first owner was not only not Prince Gong, but also not a prince at all. However, when he was alive, his power far exceeded that of many princes. He was Qianlong. Heshen, the powerful minister of the dynasty.
▲Still photos of Heshen and Qianlong
Heshen won the emperor's heart and gained power for a while. Emperor Qianlong also married his daughter to Heshen's son Fengshen Yinde. Heshen once held dozens of positions when he reached the peak of his power. He not only loved power, but also loved money. He relied on Qianlong's trust and favor in him and used power for personal gain without fear of anything. 02
It is said that Heshen decided to build a large mansion after taking power, so after careful selection, he chose the address of a former temple. The environment here is beautiful and the feng shui is excellent, so Heshen paid a high price. He bought it and built it into the famous "Hedi" at that time. After the construction of Heshen's residence was completed, not only did the civil and military officials in the court at that time marvel at it, but they were also envied by many princes and princes who were more noble than him. However, this magnificent mansion also became one of the evidences of Heshen's downfall. One of the charges against Heshen at that time was that his house exceeded the prescribed regulations.
▲Prince Gong’s Mansion invited the platform
According to "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records", Yonglin, the 17th prince of Emperor Qianlong, once said that he did not dare to covet the world, but "only hope It will be enough to grant Heshen his residence in the future." After Heshen's fall, Emperor Jiaqing actually rewarded Heshen's former residence to Yonglin. After that, "Hedi" became Prince Qing's Mansion.
But strictly speaking, Yonglin only got half of the palace at the beginning. Because Emperor Jiaqing's sister and Fengshen Yinde still lived in the original Hedi at that time, this luxurious residence was divided into two. The west side was Yonglin's Prince Qing's Mansion, and the east side was where the princess and Fengshen Yinde lived. Mansion.
▲Feng Shen Yin De stills 03
However, the only child of the princess and Fengshen Yin De died early, and Fengshen Yin De did not leave any children before his death. Descendants, so Heshen's family was cut off. After the princess and Fengshen Yinde passed away one after another, Yonglin took back the other half of the house and finally got the complete Heshen house. However, Yonglin's descendants did not last long. After his death, his son Mianmin ascended the throne. Who knew that Mianmin had no heirs? Later, his sixth brother adopted his son Yikuang to him.
But Yikuang was not able to save Prince Qing's Mansion. Due to bribery, he was punished by the court and moved out of Prince Qing's Mansion. Later, the owner of Prince Qing's Mansion was changed to Prince Gong Yixin, which is the origin of the name of Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing. Prince Gong Yixin was an important court minister in the late Qing Dynasty. He made important contributions to major court events such as the Westernization Movement, the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, and the Nian Army's recovery of Xinjiang. Prince Gong Yixin also experienced several ups and downs in politics, and his family life was also very unfortunate.
▲Old photos of Prince Gong Yixin
Yixin originally had four sons, but three of them died earlier than him. The surviving heirs were not very talented, and his family had not lived in Prince Gong's Mansion for more than three generations.
In the generation of Yi Xin's grandson Pu Wei, Pu Wei and his younger brother Pu Ru successively mortgaged Prince Kung's Mansion to the Catholic Church and Fu Jen Catholic University. For a long time, the entire property rights of Prince Kung's Mansion were in the hands of Beijing Furen University.