When talking about the last emperor, everyone must have the image of a down and out king. For example, the last Emperor Yongli of the Han people fled to Myanmar after the country was overthrown, and was eventually captured and strangled to death. But the last emperors in modern times were much better. For example, the last emperor Puyi we are familiar with. After abdicating, the government of the Republic of China gave him preferential treatment, allowing him to be a loner in the Forbidden City. The same is true for Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam whom we are going to talk about today. Although he was a subjugated king, he lived a luxurious life.
When Bao Dai, the last emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyen Dynasty, came to the throne, the Nguyen Dynasty was actually an empty shell, just part of the underground of French Indochina. The French also called the Nguyen Dynasty King Annan. Bao Dai's ascension to the throne was completely led by the French. At that time, Bao Dai ascended the throne and became the twelfth emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty after receiving French education. However, he was just a puppet emperor. He had to personally issue an edict to change a tire on a car. Although Baoda is a puppet, his extravagant style is not restrained at all.
Jianzhongdian
Baoda was educated in France. He liked Western architecture. When he became the emperor, he built a French-Vietnamese palace in the palace and spent huge sums of money to decorate it. Bao Dai liked Dalat, the summer capital established by the French in Vietnam, and deliberately built a luxurious summer palace here for his own enjoyment. Bao Dai was very particular about the furnishings in the summer palace. During the Second World War, there were already modernization The decoration and layout are quite luxurious.
Da Lat Summer Palace
Bao Dai, like his father, Emperor Qi Dinh, loved Western things. After Bao Dai ascended the throne, he made purchases in the West. For example, he purchased the most advanced motorcycles and private jets at the time for his enjoyment. Baoda was very young at that time and was very interested in these new things, so it purchased the aircraft from Vietnam. This was the first time that Vietnam had a private jet. These expenses were all funds given to Ruan Ting by the French.
Baoda Private Jet
Baoda also likes to collect precious jewelry and watches, among which he owns the largest number of "Dragon Balls" in the world. Dragon beads are a specialty of Vietnam's waters, also known as "Meile" or "Flame Beads." They are round in shape and come from conches. They cannot be cultivated artificially. Currently, there are only about 200 left in the world. At that time, Bao Dai requested the local government to pay tribute to these Melo Pearls to the Nguyen Dynasty, so almost all the existing Melo Pearls are the royal treasures of the Nguyen Dynasty. Like China, Vietnam also believes in dragon culture, and this melo bead has the meaning of dragon, so the dragon bead must only be appreciated by the emperor. After Bao Dai abdicated, he took these dragon beads to France and sold them to become his source of living expenses. Now Melo beads have become a kind of precious jewelry in Europe.
Dragon Ball
Baoda loved Western luxury watches and collected various Swiss luxury watches. Among them, the luxury watch he bought when he visited Geneva, Switzerland in 1954 was auctioned for a high price of 35 million yuan many years after his death.
35 million yuan Baoda's famous watch
Apart from being extravagant in materials, Baoda actually likes having concubines the most. As the Son of Heaven, the emperor naturally needed three palaces and six courtyards. Although Bao Da ascended the throne in 1930 and many royal families in the world had already implemented monogamy, Bao Da still lived a life of three wives and four concubines. Soon after Bao Da ascended the throne, he married Queen Nan Fang as his wife, and later married several Vietnamese concubines to enrich the harem. After Bao Dai voluntarily abdicated, he became the first citizen of Vietnam and enjoyed the honor. However, he was not satisfied with living a luxurious life, so he took the palace jewelry to Repulse Bay, Hong Kong to live his rich life. Here he did not forget to be romantic and married. A Hong Kong woman is a concubine.
Bao Dai and Queen Nam Fong
In 1949, Bao Dai was restored as the head of state of Vietnam with the support of France (retaining the honorific title of emperor). After Bao Dai was restored, he did not have any ambitions. He still lived and drank all day long, and even accepted contributions from South Vietnamese factions.During the French-Vietnamese war negotiations, he also went to Japan to buy luxury watches. All this was seen by Ngo Dinh Diem, the Prime Minister of South Vietnam at the time. In the end, Ngo Dinh Diem asked people to decide whether Vietnam should have a monarchy. As a result, the scandal of Bao Dai became known to everyone. The people abandoned Bao Dai, and eventually Bao Dai abdicated for the second time, leaving his country forever, and eventually became the last emperor of Vietnam.
In his later years, Baoda and his French concubine
After Baoda abdicated, he went into exile in France. He did not join Queen Nanfang, but lived alone in Paris. He even married a French woman as his concubine when he was seventy years old. A canonization ceremony was also held and she was given the title Princess Yongrui.
