Why did Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty like to visit Jiangnan incognito?

In order to publicize the great achievements of his rule, any Qianlong himself said that "the southern tour is nothing more than a river worker." According to historical records, Qianlong visited the Yellow River Dam in the south of the Yangtze River. During his six southern tours, Qianlong visited the Yellow River Regulation Project five times. During the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River flooded frequently, affecting countless people. As an emperor who loves his people as a son, he must pay attention to people's livelihood, so river engineering has become a major event that the emperor has to pay attention to. Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River and brought a group of painters with him.

Jiangnan, especially Jiangsu and Zhejiang, although the area and population were not in the majority in China at that time, its economy was extremely developed, which contributed a lot of tax revenue to the Qing government. The so-called "three years to clear the magistrate, a hundred thousand snowflakes and silver", economic prosperity will inevitably lead to corruption. It is also an important purpose of Qianlong's southern tour to rectify the administration of Jiangnan and strengthen the central government's control over Jiangnan. They are responsible for drawing the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers that the emperor likes, and copying them as they are when they go back. To win the hearts and minds of the people, Qianlong attached great importance to winning the hearts and minds of Jiangnan. Since his first trip to the south of the Yangtze River, the people's taxes have been reduced to varying degrees in places along the way, in order to gain the people's gratitude and support for him and the court.

Before Qianlong's southern tour, it usually started from Beijing around the 15th day of the first month, crossed the Yellow River to Qingkou, Jiangsu via Zhili and Shandong, went south along the canal, entered Zhejiang via Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Danyang, Changzhou and Suzhou, and then arrived in Hangzhou via Jiaxing and Shimen. When I return to the capital, I will bypass Jiangning (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) to pay homage to Ming Taizu Mausoleum and review the army. I will go back to Beijing at the end of April or early May, and the whole southern tour is about 6 thousand miles.

Emperor Qianlong chose to visit Jiangnan after putting down the border rebellion, which can publicize the strength of the Qing government and the invincible army, shock and warn people with rebellious and rebellious thoughts in Jiangnan to put away their thoughts as soon as possible, play a role in stabilizing the rule and stabilizing the people's emotions, and lay the most fundamental foundation for the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty.