Living in Beijing is not easy.
Officials in the Qing Dynasty had no official residence. Except for a few princes and ministers, the emperor gave them mansions, and most officials had to solve the housing problem themselves. However, buying a house in Beijing is not as difficult as it is now, but it is still not easy.
There is a saying in Beijing: the east is rich and the west is expensive, and the south is poor and the north is cheap. In the Qing dynasty, Manchu and Han separated and lived in the inner city, that is, Dongcheng and Xicheng, which were basically either rich or expensive. Most ministers of Han nationality live in Cheng Nan. During the Qianlong period, Minister Qian Daxin wrote a poem:
Living in Yantai for two winters and summers seems like traveling in a pheasant cage. The Tiger House and the food market mentioned in the poem "Wind Turning to Tent" are located in today's Cheng Nan (formerly Xuanwu District). Take a more familiar example, Little Shenyang and Ji Xiaolan.
Nave's mansion in Shichahai, Xicheng District covers an area of more than 60,000 square meters and was later used as a palace; Ji Caizi's home is outside Xuanwu Gate in Cheng Nan, an ordinary house, which is much worn out.
In fact, many houses of Beijing officials are in Xuannan for the simple reason that they can't afford to live in the inner city. In addition, Xuanwu Gate is not far from the seat of the Sixth Central Committee (now near Tiananmen Square), and it is convenient to go to work. "Notes on Old Beijing" records that the Han officials in the old society were not gifted and valuable ministers, but all lived outside the city, mostly outside Xuanwu Gate.
At present, there are more than 30 important people living in Caishikou Hutong outside Xuanwu Gate: Gong Zizhen, a famous poet, one of the "Four Famous Ministers of Zhongxing", Liu Guangdi, one of the "Six Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898", and Cai Yuanpei, editor of Hanlin (later President Peking University).
I didn't expect you to be so busy?
Except for a few people who work in the palace (not eunuchs, but important positions and confidants of the emperor, such as military aircraft near hall of mental cultivation), most of them work in six departments, namely, officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments and workers.
The location of the six departments is probably in Tiananmen Square, arranged according to the east and west of the text: the east (now the National Museum) is the Ritual Department, the Official Department, the Household Department, the Ministry of Industry, the Zongrenfu and Qin Tianjian; To the west (today's Great Hall of the People) is the Wuzhi yamen, such as the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army, the Ministry of Punishment, Duchayuan and Dali Temple.
Serious officials in the Qing dynasty were still busy (of course, there were many people who ate idle meals), mainly because there were fewer people and more things, and many ministers were wearing several hats. Ming Bowen, an American missionary, came to China on 1872. He recorded the schedule of a minister: going out at 2 am, being on duty at the palace at 3-6 am, going to the Ministry of War at 6-9 am, going to the Ministry of War at 9- 1 1 in the morning to handle official business, and going to the Ministry of War at 12+04 in the morning.
From the schedule, he is really busy. However, only he knows what he is busy with, whether he is working for people's livelihood or making a fool of himself!