This prosperous situation was forged by the three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.
How prosperous is Kanggan? According to historical records, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the territorial area was as high as 1.3 1.6 million square kilometers. Its territory starts from Balkhash Lake in the west, reaches Sakhalin Island in the east, reaches Wan Li seawall in the south and reaches Lake Baikal in the north. Its territorial scope and administrative map surpassed that of the Tang Dynasty, second only to that of Mengyuan, and even Mongolia, Northeast China, Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan Province Province. , unified the forbidden areas of the Central Plains dynasties. Is it the king of the world, and the soldiers who lead the soil are princes? .
Not only is it brilliant in martial arts and vast in territory, but the reform of Kanggan Shi Sheng, which lasted for 134 years, is also a different kind of renovation. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, Yong Zhengdi simply abolished the poll tax and implemented it? Walk into mu? You have to pay taxes if you have land. If you have no land to have children, the state won't charge you a penny.
In addition, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the introduction of high-yield crops such as corn, soybeans and sweet potatoes changed the food structure of China people, and the people had more stable food to fill their stomachs; The relentless promotion of rice crops such as imperial grain and double-cropping rice has led to a sharp increase in grain output, the abolition of basic registration, the implementation of the system of officials and gentry taking grain as servants, and the further reduction of people's personal feudal bondage.
It is precisely because of the economic reform and the gradual elimination of feudal personal relations that the population of China once exploded during the prosperous period of Kanggan, and the population exceeded 300 million, becoming the largest empire in the world at that time.
With the British historian Angus? Madison's words: From 1700 to 1820, the population increased from1380,000 to 38/kloc-0,000,000, almost 8 times that of Japan and 2 times that of Europe. Population growth has not led to a decline in living standards. /kloc-in the 8th century, although the per capita income in Europe increased by14, the growth rate of GDP in China was still faster than that in Europe. ?
However, is Kanggan, which is touted to the sky, really a beautiful scene of prosperity?
Not to mention the peaceful whitewashing of the bright vision by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, at least in the view of Magalny's delegation in China who was in the Qing Empire at that time, the famous Kanggan heyday was just a dilapidated and tragic scene, which left an indelible impression on Magalny in China.
In Magalny's diary, he faithfully recorded what he saw and heard along the way. He wrote in his diary:
Most of the farmers in every province they passed were as poor as a church mouse. Even those employed on ships to serve the ambassador and his entourage are not much better. When we give them leftovers and unwanted old clothes, every time they get a treasure, they kneel down and kowtow, grateful and even grateful. The houses in Beijing are very old and the streets are narrow and dirty. Usually the dust is on my face, and it is muddy on rainy days. The streets are full of beggars and beggars. People are ragged and haggard, and there are large areas of wasteland in the city, either covered with wormwood or houses collapsed into ruins. ?
If some people suspect that Magalny deliberately exposed black materials to discredit the prosperity of Kanggan because the Qing Dynasty was not allowed to open ports for trade, then in the words of Stendong, a missionary at that time:
In the places where I pass and on both sides of the river, most houses are thatched cottages with earth walls and grass roofs. There are also several tall, painted houses, which may be the residences of rich people. It is rare to see the houses of middle-class families. In other countries, there are many different levels of middle-class families between the rich and the poor. ?
It can be clearly seen from the descriptions of Kanggan prosperous times by foreigners with different identities that in Kanggan prosperous times, countless civilians struggled for their lives all day long.
In this prosperous era, there is neither a middle class nor a balance between the rich and the poor, and people's lives are almost beggars in the eyes of the British.
At that time, missionaries Stanton and Barrow both noticed that China officials were indeed extravagant in food and drink. They eat several meals a day, and each meal has a lot of meat dishes. ? Ordinary people can't even fill their stomachs, countless women can't afford to raise babies because of malnutrition and extreme food shortage, and a large number of dead babies are abandoned in the river.
The missionary Barrow said angrily: There are nearly 9,000 abandoned babies in Beijing every year? I once saw the body of a dead baby, drifting among ships in the Pearl River without a gourd. People turn a blind eye to it, as if it were just the corpse of a dog. In fact, if it is really a dog, it may attract their attention more. ?
All this is a prosperous time for foreigners who come to China at the same time. Therefore, the prosperous time of Kang Gan is not so much an era in which all subjects in the world enjoy happiness as a prosperous time of feudal rulers. The standard of living of civilians is more like dying on the line of food and clothing for many years. Except that a shabby thatched cottage is better than a beggar, their living standard is similar to that described by the British.