When it comes to wasteful spending of money, few tycoons can surpass Hoa Than.

Hoa Than – “First grand tour” of the Qing Dynasty

Referring to sightseeing tours in Chinese history, it is impossible not to mention the name Hoa Than – “first great sightseeing tour” of the Qing Dynasty. Hoa Than (1750 – 1799), also known as Hoa Khon, courtesy name Tri Trai, was an important official under the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Hoa Than is of Manchu origin.

According to the book Hoa Than’s commentary, Hoa Than started his career in 1772 as a guard at the Forbidden City gate. Hoa Than always shows his intelligence and ability to be smarter than others. That’s why Hoa Than was highly favored and used by King Qianlong. In 1780, Hoa Than was promoted to the position of minister of the Household Ministry. Qianlong also married Thap Princess, the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 he loved very much, to Phong Than An Duc, Hoa Than’s son. This made Hoa Than not only take power but also become close relatives of the Emperor.

Portrait of He Than – “first grand tour” of the Qing Dynasty. (Photo: Sohu)

Guaranteed by Qianlong’s favor, Hoa Than caused chaos in the officialdom. All expenses in the Emperor’s daily life at that time were handled by Hoa Than, so no one dared to control how much money he wanted to take from the treasury. During his years as a mandarin, Hoa Than looted, manipulated, bribed, and corrupted the state’s wealth.

According to the book Hoa Than’s secret story, Hoa Than is richer than the king, with more money than the national treasury. Hoa Than’s wealth was so much that contemporaries said: “What Can Long has, Hoa Than has, what Can Long doesn’t have, doesn’t necessarily mean Hoa Than doesn’t have it.” Hoa Than’s total assets are estimated at 1,100 million taels of silver. Many rumors say that it is equivalent to the amount of money that it took the Qing Dynasty treasury 15 years to collect. Later generations of So Van Luc wrote: “During the reign of the Qing Cao Tong Qianlong, Hoa Than became an official, had power over the world, formed factions and formed parties, and deviated from the righteous path that the scholars in the court did not dare to stop.”

Precious treasures of Hoa Than

The Chinese call Hoa Than “the richest man in the world in the 18th century”. Indeed, in Hoa Than’s house there are countless expensive treasures, it must be said that they are all unique items in the world. The saying “Elon Musk also has to respect Hoa Than’s goosebumps” is not an exaggeration when trying to compare the value of the treasures that the grand tourer owns.

Image of the outside of Hoa Tan’s palace. (Photo: Sohu)

In the Royal Palace, there are two places that partly show Hoa Than’s wealth. The first is his residence and the second is the Tang Bao floor, which holds the treasures he salvaged during his time as the “first favorite god” of King Qianlong. However, we also have to admit that Hoa Than’s eye for treasures is very sharp, every item he chooses has great value, from billions to trillions of dong.

Let’s take a look at some valuable treasures once owned by Hoa Than!

The house pillar is more than 9,000 billion VND

The first is Tich Tan Trai – the residence of Hoa Than and his 9 wives. Inside there are house pillars that, according to historians, each cost up to 2.7 billion yuan (nearly 9,200 billion VND). These house pillars are made from a type of imperial wood in China, called southern wood. This is a type of wood that only the emperor could use, but Hoa Than brought it home to build his house.

The shiny tables and chairs placed inside are sandalwood inlaid with mother of pearl. Such a table costs the same as a Rolls-Royce.

The house column in Tich Tan Trai – the residence of Hoa Than and his wife costs more than 9,000 billion VND/pole. (Photo: Sohu)

The tiles of this room are also very special. It is made from a type of rock formed when magma rolls out of the earth’s crust during a volcanic eruption. Therefore, being considered a fossil for hundreds of millions of years, when you set foot on it, it will be very warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Historically, only royalty could use this stone and people were forbidden to exploit it.

The wall of the house is up to 1.5 meters thick, inside is hollow and hides a lot of gold, silver and jewels. However, what is stored in this wall is only a very small part of Hoa Than’s entire huge fortune. Hau Trao Lau, also known as the Treasure Tower, is where Hoa Than’s masterpieces are kept. This building is more than 180m long, has 111 rooms and 88 windows, each door has a different pattern used to distinguish the location of rooms containing treasures.

Jade Buddha statue from Hoa Dien

The Buddha statue made from Hoa Dien jade of Hoa Than weighs more than 200 kg and is extremely valuable. (Photo: Sohu)

Some of the treasures inside the Treasure Tower can be mentioned such as the Buddha statue made from Hoa Dien jade. This statue is about 1.2 meters high and weighs more than 200 kg. Hetian jade is one of the four most famous jades in China. Like other types of gemstone jewelry today, Hoa Dien jade prices will vary widely, from a few million to several hundred million. However, currently the most valuable is probably the wool-colored Hoa Dien white jade. Hoa Than’s Buddha statue is made from Hoa Dien white jade. This statue is 1.2 meters high, so the rough jade must be at least 1.5 meters high. A jade block of such height is certainly extremely rare. In today’s era, Hoa Dien jade is priced in grams. So the statue of Hoa Than weighs more than 200 kg, so it is extremely valuable.

Statue of Avalokiteshvara made from jade

Hoa Than’s statue of Avalokiteśvara made from jade is estimated to cost thousands of billions of dong. (Photo: Sohu)

The statue of Guanyin is made from jade. According to experts, this Guan Yin statue is 1.26 meters high, carved from jade jade of perfect quality, without impurities or cracks. Jade is considered one of the most precious items and was only used by kings and noble families in ancient times. Today, this type of jade is also very rare and highly valuable, requiring you to spend a large amount of money to own jewelry made from jade. The price of jade is measured in terms of transparency, clarity, color and quality. And this statue has such high quality, its value is estimated to be up to trillions of dong.

Red coral

Emperor Qianlong’s red coral is only about 2 Chinese meters tall, while that of He Than is more than 3 meters tall. (Photo: Sohu)

At that time, Emperor Qianlong’s red coral was only about 2 Chinese meters high, while that of He Than was more than 3 meters tall, or about 1 meter. He has 11 such corals. Red corals typically live on rocky seafloors with low sediments, often in dark environments—either deep down or in dark burrows. Red coral lives at depths from 10 to 300 m. Its precious skeleton is made up of hard, interwoven calcium carbonate spikes, colored in shades of red by carotenoid pigments. Red coral cannot be cultivated artificially, but must dive to the bottom of the sea to cut rare red coral branches. At this depth it is very dangerous, so the price of red coral is quite high.

Hoa Than has up to 10 king pearls, each as big as a longan, which is bigger than the pearl attached to King Qianlong’s crown. (Photo: Sohu)

Hoa Than’s palace has up to 10 king pearls. Each stone is as big as a longan, which is bigger than the pearl attached to King Qianlong’s crown. Normally, each pearl is only about the size of a soybean. In the “Rules of the Qing Dynasty” it is stipulated that, when princes, civil servants and military officials use pearls, the weight must not exceed the emperor and empress. However, Hoa Than’s 10 pearls are all much larger and more expensive than Qianlong’s. If each small pearl of Hoa Than costs 8,000 taels of silver (equivalent to 6 million VND/pearl), the price of those large pearls must be much more expensive.

Purple and gold wooden tower

The value of Hoa Than’s stupa can be up to 50 billion yuan (equivalent to 17,000 billion VND). (Photo: Sohu)