Michelle Ye, Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, is often regarded as "the emperor who loves science" by later generations. During his sixty-one years in office, no matter how busy he was on weekdays, astronomy, geography and mathematics never fell, and he became a pen pal with Leibniz, a contemporary western science master. But compared with the drama of Emperor Kangxi holding mathematical calculus and even disassembling muskets, what is his scientific level in real history? People have written their own "learning experience"-"Several Leisure Times of Kangxi".
As the name implies, Kangxi Leisure Current Affairs is a study note written by Emperor Kangxi during his sixty-one years in office. Because it is written in my spare time, it is called "editing things in my spare time". The book has 93 short articles with a total length of 20,000 words. Every article was written by Emperor Kangxi himself, and his "learning experience" about astronomy, geography and mathematics was expounded in vivid and concise language. Basically, he wrote it at random all his life, which is of great academic value.
If we want to open this "learning experience", the scientific viewpoints written by Emperor Kangxi are even more surprising: for example, in astronomical geography, Emperor Kangxi expounded the principles of natural phenomena such as tidal earthquakes and even discussed the scientific laws of the earth's atmosphere. In terms of physical chemistry, it also records the experiment of measuring the speed of sound completed by Kangxi himself and the chemical reaction experiment of silver, vanadium and alkali ... Piles represent the height of scientific research in the East and the West in the18th century, and are called another "scientific treasure book" in the history of ancient science in China.
Such a "treasure book" was first included in Kangxi's imperial documents after Kangxi's death. It was not published separately until Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty. Since then, many readers lamented: Emperor Kangxi loved science so much, how could Qing be beaten behind?
In fact, after reading the fate of this book, the answer is very clear. The so-called "scientific research" is only the senior entertainment of the Qing royal family; The so-called "major scientific research achievements" are all done after the collection is completed; The so-called "transformation of science and technology into productive forces" is even more false. Therefore, the Great Qing Dynasty, which "loved science", embarked on the road of closing its doors to the outside world and held it back for more than 100 years.
Second, the "legend" and "capital" of the military god
Dai Zi, the most embarrassing "military god" in Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty. With his strong military attainments, he abruptly raised the firearms level of the Qing Dynasty to a higher level, but at the same time he became a villain and finally went to Liaodong with grievances. The fate is bumpy, and it has since become a "god man" that military fans talk about. For example, his "Julian Fire Body" has been circulated for hundreds of years and is regarded as the originator of modern machine guns. The rumor that "Dai Zi developed machine guns" has been very fierce on the Internet so far.
In fact, the so-called "Julian Fireboy" is nothing more than a pair of guns. He made a small improvement on the muskets of the Qing Dynasty at that time, similar to the contemporary European muskets, with limited range and actual combat effect. However, the reason why Dai Zi is recognized as a "military god" is because of his other unique contribution: the auxiliary gun.
The auxiliary gun, also known as "Weiyuan General Gun", is a field gun that Dai Zi combined with the light artillery technology of the East and the West at that time and complied with the trend of modern war. This kind of gun is about 2.3 feet long and fires all kinds of shells, including 7. 1 inch caliber shotguns and solid lead bullets. Its four-wheeled vehicle shape and 45-degree barrel elevation design make it suitable for all field battlefields from grassland to mountain. No matter whether it is a mountain attack or a plain field battle, the fortress smashing and cover shooting are unambiguous. Historically, it is "a piece of broken, extremely sharp" and has a strong lethality.
Such a portable and fierce field artifact has been regarded as a baby knot in one's heart by the high-level officials of the Qing Dynasty since it came out. For example, Emperor Kangxi, who exiled Dai Zi, once issued a ban, claiming that the "sub-cannon" could only be used as the equipment of the elite troops of the Qing Dynasty. "It is impossible for all provinces to build it." It's the treasure in the closet. The actual combat effect is also very "precious": in the decades-long war of pacifying Junggar in Qing Dynasty, fierce "auxiliary guns" suppressed the Ottoman firearms in Junggar again and again on the battlefield. In the arduous battle to pacify Jinchuan and Jinchuan, it was the auxiliary guns that cleared the way many times, destroyed the enemy's fortress in the rugged mountains and won this crucial battle.
This field gun, which was born at the end of17th century and was once ahead of the world, was called the Qing Dynasty, and made many glories in the prosperous time of Kanggan. However, in that era when gun technology is changing with each passing day, how can we just eat old money? Compared with the absurd "machine gun myth" spread in later generations, the favor of "son and mother guns" is more worth pondering.
Third, Wanli gave Yongzheng a "gift"
As the capital of Beijing, the Qing Dynasty also faced a problem encountered in the Ming Dynasty: there was not enough food in the capital. The grain output in North China is limited, the population of Beijing officials and civilians explodes, and the grain supply cannot make ends meet. Every year, the capital is crowded with civil servants and soldiers, waiting for rice from the south of the Yangtze River to replenish blood. If there is a disaster in the south of the Yangtze River or there is a flood in the canal, it is common for people to panic up and down in the hall. This seems to be the rhythm of stopping. But is there no other way to solve this problem except "enriching blood"?
In fact, as early as more than half a century before the Qing army entered the customs, that is, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, scientists in the late Ming Dynasty had confidently found a way: why not grow rice in the north?
The plan of "planting rice" is that Xu worked hard to plan a blueprint for strengthening the country for most of his life in the Ming Dynasty: as long as reasonable technology introduction and rice seed improvement are adopted, high-yield rice in the south of the Yangtze River can be harvested in Gyeonggi area. In this way, the Ming dynasty not only reduced transportation losses, but also supported the national defense of the north with abundant grain reserves. However, Qiang Bing, a rich country, has been criticized for its scientific program.
Obviously benefiting the country and the people, why did the ministers of the Ming Dynasty start swearing? Because the fertile land around Gyeonggi is mostly the private residence of Beijing's powerful and senior officials, many of them are obtained through improper means. If you want to grow rice in the Ming Dynasty, you have to clean up the land. Why not move your own cheese? So all the "elites" jumped out in succession and stepped on Xu in different ways, which ruined this painstaking blueprint. Referring to the tragic scene of starving people in the late Ming Dynasty, we know that this farce is an opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to give up life.
Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Xu's planning strategy was mentioned by many people. However, around Gyeonggi in the Qing Dynasty, there were still private plots of powerful people everywhere, so when Kangxi was in office, this matter was also entangled repeatedly. When Yong Zhengdi acceded to the throne, this matter was already entangled: Yong Zhengdi, who took over the mess, was as poor as a church mouse, and he looked for food with red eyes-he wanted to plant some seeds for me!
As a result, this "agricultural revolution", which was once scolded by dogs in the Ming Dynasty, was launched by a strong force: Prince Yi Yunxiang took command and followed Xu's plan in the same year to continuously open up rice fields. He also sent old farmers from Jiangnan to Gyeonggi to demonstrate rice cultivation, and while cultivating, all opposition voices were eliminated. Finally, under great pressure, he achieved fruitful results: in just three or four years, both capital city and Zhili. In Kangxi's later years, the Great Qing Dynasty, which had no shortage of treasures at home and abroad, finally had abundant reserves.
The rich children in the early years of Qianlong, and even the major changes in the agricultural map of China, all started from this belated "rice planting activity". Speaking of it, this is also a "big gift" given by Emperor Wanli to the Qing Dynasty, and the aftertaste behind it exceeds the scientific significance.
Fourth, the smaller the Qing ship.
During the Kangxi period, there was another major scientific and technological breakthrough in the Qing Dynasty: the construction of warships.
Due to the decades-long game with the Nanming regime, the shipbuilding technology of the Qing Dynasty is also rising. By the second half of the17th century, the Qing Dynasty had been able to manufacture a giant warship "Bird Ship" equipped with heavy artillery and multiple decks, which was more than 50 meters long, and its firepower and physique were superior to those of Dutch warships of the same era. In addition to coastal operations, it was also used by the Qing Dynasty as a "ship seal" to make a friendly visit to Ryukyu, a vassal country, scaring off all neighboring "neighbors" such as Japan and North Korea.
It can be said that the Qing dynasty, which caught up with the era of great navigation and had the "Maritime Silk Road", really caught up with a once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity by holding such a sharp weapon as "bird boat". If the Qing Dynasty can follow the historical trend and break the waves with its powerful naval strength, the modern history of China will probably be written in another way.
However, in the Qing Dynasty, he chose another road of closing the country to the outside world. Now that the door of the ocean is closed, the bird boat that once shocked the East Asian ocean is useless, and it has become smaller and smaller since then. In the Qing navy in the late period of "Kanggan heyday", the largest warship was eleven feet long. Even the Vietnamese pirate ships that roamed the coast of China in Gan Long's later years were much more powerful than the Qing navy. Every time the Vietnamese pirate ship raged, the Qing navy only dared to "climb the mast", that is, to stay away from the excitement. Even against Vietnamese pirate ships, forty years later, the Opium War was of course blocked by British warships.
What is a closed door? What is being hit in the back? Smaller and smaller Qing warships are vivid epitome.