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There are many prosperous times in the history of China, the most famous of which are "the rule of Wenjing" in the Western Han Dynasty, "the rule of Guan Zhen" by Emperor Taizong, and "the prosperous time of Kanggan" in the Qing Dynasty.
The so-called prosperity is easy to understand, that is, the country is rich and strong, the economy is prosperous, science and technology are developed, ideas are active, and culture is progressing; Coupled with a strong army, as well as foreign trade, as well as the influence on neighboring countries and so on.
For example, China's trade and influence on the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, not to mention the Tang Dynasty. Chang 'an was a world-class city, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was regarded as the "peak of prosperity" by us.
However, there is a particularly strange thing, that is, the most talked about "Kang Yong's Prosperous Age". Three emperors, Kangxi Qianlong and Yongzheng, died in 1799, but less than half a century later, 1840, the British defeated the Great Qing Dynasty. Why did this boom disappear so quickly?
So, what kind of prosperous time is this "prosperous time"? What caused Shengshi to die so quickly?
Today, let's talk about the prosperity of Kanggan.
Have a vast territory
First of all, I have to say that in the history of China, the three emperors, Emperor Kangxi and yongzheng emperor, were very successful emperors, many times stronger than those wonderful flowers in the Ming Dynasty, and their monarchs were promising. This is at least one of the most basic prerequisites for the emergence of the prosperous times, right? Otherwise, there will be no "Jiajing Wanli Shengshi".
In addition, Kangxi and Qianlong lived a long life, and Kang Yong ruled for three generations in 137. During this period, the Qing Dynasty really became the most powerful country in the world.
First, let's look at the territory of the Qing Dynasty. The Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar, which was signed with Russia during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, defined the borders of the Great Qing Dynasty in the northeast, including the present Outer Xing 'an Mountains and Sakhalin Island. At that time, it was all the territory of the Great Qing Dynasty. Of course, it was later taken back by Russia. That's something modern.
Later, Yong Zhengdi signed the Treaty of Chaktu with the Tsar, stipulating that the border between Mongolia and Russia is today's Chaktu in Mongolia. At that time, Mongolia was still a dependency of the Qing Dynasty, and later it became independent under the instigation of the Soviet Union.
West of Lake Balkhash. We all know that Emperor Kangxi destroyed galdan, but the Yongzheng and Qianlong Dynasties also fought against the nobles of Junggar many times until they were finally incorporated into the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
Southern Xinjiang arrived in Nansha Islands today. Generally speaking, a proper autumn leaf of Begonia can be said to be a unified multi-ethnic country at this time, with a vast territory enough to topple several streets before the Ming Dynasty. You know, the Ming Dynasty didn't even conquer Mongolia.
Of course, the size of the territory does not mean anything. The territory of the Yuan Dynasty is still very large. Why haven't you heard of Kublai Khan's heyday? But not only the territory is large, but also the economy is developed.
Developed agriculture
We know that agriculture has always been the main industry in China, so what can best reflect the economic level of China is the cultivated land area and grain output.
Let's talk about cultivated land first. When Emperor Chongzhen was in power at the end of Ming Dynasty, what was the total area of cultivated land in China? 670 million mu of land. In the second year of Yongzheng, what was the cultivated land area in China? Nearly 900 million.
The Qianlong period was even worse. By the mid-Qianlong period, it had grown to 950 million mu. When Jiaqing ascended the throne, the total area of cultivated land in China exceeded 65.438+0 billion mu.
With more arable land, it is natural to have more children to ensure the harvest, because in ancient times, without machines, people had the best labor force, and with more children in your family, you naturally had the ability to plant more land.
When Yongzheng ascended the throne, the national population had exceeded 1 billion, and by the end of Qianlong, it had exceeded 300 million. This covers an area of about 3.3 mu per person.
What about grain output? According to statistics, the annual grain output in the last year of Qianlong can reach about 200 billion Jin, with an average of more than 600 Jin per person.
But not all these foods are for eating. You need to drink some. Brewing should have food, not just eating people. Horses, donkeys, mules and cows cultivated in farmland can't give you anything to eat when they work for you. But if these are removed, the grain output of the Great Qing Dynasty can still feed 300 million people.
Think about it, what is the concept of 300 million people? Before the Qing Dynasty, no dynasty dared to clap its chest and say that I could feed 300 million people. Can Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty do it? What about Emperor Taizong?
Financial affluence
Highly developed agriculture naturally brought fiscal revenue, and the Qing Dynasty entered the customs on 1644. When the emperor shunzhi was in office, the days were still tight. At that time, he had just entered the customs, and resistance forces from all over the country were still emerging. In addition, the Nanming regime has not been completely eliminated, and it has cost a lot of money to fight alone. Besides, everything is in ruins and it is difficult to make a living every year.
In the Kangxi dynasty, with the stability of the country and the end of the war, people could also carry out production activities with peace of mind, and the fiscal deficit gradually improved. By the end of Kangxi's life, the national treasury inventory had reached 8 million.
After Yong Zhengdi acceded to the throne, he paid more attention to economic production. In five years, he turned 8 million into 50 million, nearly six times. Thanks to Ganlongtuo's father, the inventory remained at 80 million Liang all the year round, which was 10 times higher than his grandfather's inventory at that time.
When a country is rich, it will naturally reduce the tax revenue of ordinary people. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the tax system of "Ding tax" was implemented. Land paid local tax according to the number of land and people paid Ding tax according to the number of people.
In the fiftieth year of Kangxi, after conducting a census and counting the population of the whole country, it was announced that "the people should educate them". Never increase taxes ",simply speaking, is subject to the census, and people born after statistics do not have to pay any more, which is also the best proof of the enrichment of the national treasury." "
In addition, all parts of the country are exempted from money and food in turn. During the Kangxi period, more than 120 million yuan of money and grain were exempted throughout the country. During the Qianlong period, the state money and grain were exempted for four times, reaching 200 million taels of silver. Counting all the dynasties in China's history is nothing more than prosperity.
Concentration (of power)
The wealth of the Great Qing Dynasty reached the peak of all previous dynasties, and so did the autocratic emperor. However, in order to ensure the effective operation of power, it is essential to rectify officials.
During the Kangxi period, officials in Beijing and local areas began to accept examination and supervision. For example, Cao Xueqin's grandfather was appointed as Jiangnan Weaving by Emperor Kangxi. In addition to the official position on the surface, he is also responsible for spying on local officials.
Emperor Kangxi also set up the south study room, which became the emperor's secretariat. In order to deal with military affairs in time, the Ministry of War was established in Yongzheng period, and later became the highest decision-making organ under the emperor. During the Qianlong period, the "Wang Hui", which had already existed in name only, was completely abolished.
Simply put, this "King's Meeting" refers to the report and confidant minister * * * discussing military affairs with such an institution. At first, it was set up by Nurhachi, and after entering the customs, the emperor had the final say, so there would be no past events.
Moreover, as early as the Kangxi period, the emperor practiced secret folding, and the emperor strengthened his control over ministers and people in this secret way, thus better strengthening centralization. However, excessive concentration of power is not a good thing after all, and prosperity is also full of crises.
Cultural prosperity
Besides, Kang Yong was an emperor of three generations and attached great importance to culture and education. For example, in the Kangxi Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi organized and compiled the Kangxi Dictionary. In the Qianlong period, Ji Xiaolan, who is familiar with us, was ordered to compile Sikuquanshu, as well as books we all know, such as Canon of Qing Dynasty, Integration of Ancient and Modern Books, Scholars, Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, etc.
These world famous works are naturally symbols of cultural prosperity in the prosperous times. In addition to recording the "great achievements" of emperors, on the one hand, compiling books is also the best means to control thoughts and eliminate negative voices.
Prosperity crisis
Speaking of the prosperous times of Kanggan, we are certainly familiar with a word except those awesome figures we just listed. What is this? literary inquisition
There were literary inquisitions in many dynasties in history, but the literary inquisition in Qing Dynasty, especially in the prosperous period of Kanggan, was the most cruel.
In the eighth year of Yongzheng, the minister was accused of having the heart of rebellion. The evidence is that there are disrespectful words in his poems, that is, the phrase that we may all have heard, "The breeze can't read, why turn over the books?" So Xu Jun was sentenced to a decisive sentence. During the Qianlong period, Hu Zhongzao, a bachelor of Hanlin, was also killed for saying that "a heart is turbid and clear".
Today, we don't think these poems mean rebellion, but there are a lot of cases like this, and countless people have been convicted for their words, and their families have also been implicated. Not only that, they also collect folk books on the grounds of compiling books. After inspection and trial, many books that were not conducive to rule were also burned. The cultural losses caused are incalculable.
And the problem of corruption is a hurdle that can't be bypassed in the prosperous time of Kanggan. During the reign of Kangxi, official corruption was very serious. We watched the TV series "Kangxi Dynasty", in which there was an episode in which Kangxi angered the ministers, not because of corruption.
Later, one thing made Kangxi feel even colder. What he thinks of as an honest official is not really "uncorrupted", such as Zhang Boxing, whose hobby is publishing books, but the cost of publishing books is extremely high and his salary is not enough, so he took bribes many times while working in Shandong.
In his later years, Emperor Kangxi gradually discovered that the more rebellious he was, the more greedy he became. How can corrupt officials not be killed? Later, he also enlightened himself. Do people have to live? Then the whole family doesn't make any extra money.
But Yong Zhengdi is a "pioneer in anti-corruption". During his tenure, he vigorously punished corruption and improved the official atmosphere. Unfortunately, he died after only 13 years in office.
In the Qianlong period, corruption became more serious. When corrupt officials raided the property in Shenyang, it goes without saying that the treasure of gold, silver and jade articles was equivalent to the total income of the Qing government 15. Therefore, there is a folk proverb: small Shenyang falls, Jiaqing has food.
Not only ministers but also emperors are corrupt. A friend asked, the world belongs to the emperor, and he still takes bribes? Because the country's silver belongs to the Ministry of Finance, the emperor can spend it as he wants. So Emperor Qianlong said to officials and wealthy businessmen, "You have committed a crime, so you can pay for it." In today's words, it is bail, and the money does not belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is the emperor's private pocket.
If there are good people in the world, there will be nothing in the next life. The emperor is like this, and officials at all levels below are even more arrogant and extravagant, living a bohemian life. Officialdom is full of flattery, corruption and mercenary.
"Richness and splendor" is a luxury for the upper class, but it is still poor for the lower class. The disparity between the rich and the poor makes the prosperous times never the prosperous times of ordinary people.
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The historical law of ups and downs has been confirmed again in the prosperous time of Kanggan. 1793, British envoy Magalny came to China with all kinds of exquisite gifts, trying to establish equal trade relations and friendly business contacts with the Qing Dynasty.
One is a rising empire, and the other is an ancient dynasty with the afterglow of the end. Two empires with completely different social systems were doomed to have no intersection. At this time, Emperor Qianlong was still immersed in the dream of "de-China".
As Marx said, "A great empire, which accounts for almost one third of the human population, regardless of the status quo, is content with the status quo and artificially isolated from the world, so it tries its best to deceive itself with China's perfect fantasy."
Half a century later, the British came to this ancient empire again, but this time it was not Magalny, nor did it bring gifts.
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