The Qing Dynasty has gone through more than two hundred years, and has experienced glory and decline. The Qing Dynasty was once one of the most powerful countries in the world. After the Qian Dynasty, the strength of the Qing Dynasty reached its peak. So the Qing Dynasty at its peak must have a full treasury. But why did the people of the Beiyang government open their silver and be confused after the Qing Dynasty fell?

The treasury of the Qing Dynasty was divided into two types. One was the bank treasury needed by the country, which was called the "Household Treasury". The money in it was generally used for the country's daily expenses, such as Pay officials' salaries, provide relief to victims, support wars, etc. The money in the Hubu treasury is very important, because if there is no money in the Hubu treasury, the whole country will become a mess. This is why Yongzheng was so diligent after he ascended the throne, because in the later years of Kangxi, the court Officials were corrupt, and the Ministry of Revenue was almost running out of money. If Yongzheng didn't work hard, the Qing Dynasty would probably be destroyed in his hands.

Since there is public funds such as the Hubu Treasury, there is naturally a "small treasury" belonging to the emperor. The money in it belongs to the emperor's private property and is generally the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The money here will be used for the emperor's daily expenses, such as meals, travel, etc., but if the money is spent, it is really gone, so the emperor does not spend it however he wants when he has money.

Qianlong was a notoriously dashing emperor. He relied on He Shen to save 70 million taels of silver for him. Such a large amount of money was enough for the royal family to spend several lifetimes, but no one had it. Come to think of it, all the money was quickly lost.

When the staff of the Beiyang government opened the Qing Dynasty's treasury, they were completely dumbfounded. They originally thought that such a huge dynasty would have piles of silver and gold, but what they didn't expect was that there was only a piece of gold in the treasury. Silver coins and the remaining gold and silver treasures have disappeared. Why was the majestic Qing Dynasty so poor when it perished?

All this must be attributed to the Empress Dowager Cixi. During the days of her dictatorship, in order to satisfy her own selfish desires, she squandered the money in the bank. In order to build the Old Summer Palace to celebrate his birthday, he did not hesitate to misappropriate the military expenditures of the Beiyang Navy. Everyone understands what kind of losses will be caused to the country once the king embezzles the money in the household treasury. As a ruler, Cixi cannot not understand. But she chose to ignore it.

As the saying goes, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. Cixi was so extravagant, how could those ministers avoid corruption? The biggest corrupt man in the late Qing Dynasty was Prince Qing Yikuang. By the time the Qing Dynasty fell, he already had a huge fortune of 2 million taels. It is absolutely impossible for the treasury to say that there is only one silver dollar. The only explanation is that in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, there was intrigue within the court and all the valuables had been taken away. If coupled with the fact that the Qing Dynasty had to repay huge loans every year, it would be impossible to have any money left in the treasury. Nothing more than normal.