As an important figure in history of qing dynasty period, Qianlong was recorded as "the wise king" in history books.
However, from a broader historical background, Gan Long's historical contribution is far less than his historical fault!
Kangxi (1654— 1722) is unparalleled in wisdom and sagacity. In addition to the three major events of worshipping the throne in the new year, he ruled the Yellow River, Dingxi Xinjiang and refused to strengthen Russia, which occupied his whole life as a teenager, a young man and a mature man. When the "great event is decided", Kangxi, who has been enlightened, intelligent and studious all his life, has entered the old age, and there is not much time for him to turn his attention too much to the west far away from China, the other side of the ocean and the other side of the earth.
However, although I said something about "China's prestige in the kingdom", actually Kangxi was very interested in the science and technology that the west was ahead of China at that time, and was willing to accept:
-Kangxi benefited from quinine-that is, cinchona cream that can treat malaria-and became interested in western medicine from then on. He rewarded Hong Ruohan and Liu Ying, French missionaries who introduced quinine, for refining western medicine in Beijing at any time, setting up a laboratory to try out drugs in the palace and inspecting the laboratory work many times;
-With Belgian ferdinand verbiest in charge of Qin;
-Emperor Kangxi ordered Jesuit Dominique Parrenin to translate the western book Human Anatomy into Manchu and Chinese. He once ordered the dissection of a hibernating bear and personally participated in it.
-In the 27th year of Kangxi (1688), on November 28th, six French scientists, including Bai Jin and Rizo, were summoned by Emperor Kangxi at Gan Qing Palace. They presented 30 scientific instruments and books brought from France. These unusual gifts made Emperor Kangxi "overjoyed" and immediately decided to let them enter the palace as their own scientific consultants.
Kangxi fondled the "foreign toys" brought by missionaries, such as binoculars, wall clocks and level meters, and often played with them. Since then, foreign scientists have been engaged in scientific activities in the Qing court for decades.
Kangxi was particularly eager for new knowledge of geometry. In addition to listening to the "teacher" carefully, he often teaches himself in the dark early in the morning, and can take the initiative to ask some new questions and try his best to test the book theory with practice.
Bai Jin said in his report to the French emperor: "... sometimes he personally measured the distance, the height of the mountain and the width of the pond by geometric methods."
He set the position, adjusted all kinds of instruments and calculated accurately. Then he asked others to measure the distance. He was very happy to see that the result of his calculation was consistent with the data measured by others. "
In 2003, the "Emperor Kangxi Exhibition" was held in the Palace of Versailles in Paris, France. The western scientific instruments collected in the Forbidden City during the Kangxi period were exhibited, and they are still running freely and dazzling. These exhibits mainly include: (1) hand-operated computers. The world's first hand-cranked computer was made by French scientist Basru in 1642, and the calculation was carried out through the gears inside. The Palace Museum has a collection of hand-cranked computers 10, all of which were manufactured during the reign of Kangxi, and can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. (2) Copper plating proportional gauge. Originally invented by Galileo, it can perform various calculations such as multiplication, division and square root. Kangxi's proportional gauge added different calculations such as equal division and sine. (3) Kangxi Square Ruler: The words "Kangxi Imperial System" are engraved on the ruler. (4) Plane and solid geometric models, both refined from nanmu, are teaching AIDS made by the Qing Palace Construction Department for Kangxi to learn geometry. (5) Plotter. The texture is silver, wood, lacquer, shark skin, etc. , ranging from 6 to 20 pieces per set. The box is equipped with a proportional gauge, a semicircle meter, a decimeter ruler, a dummy ruler, a bipedal ruler, a duckbill pen, etc. For field work, some are equipped with knives, scissors, pencils, irons, magnifying glasses, blackboards, drawing sticks and so on. This kind of instrument was made by the Qing Palace Construction Institute during the reign of Kangxi, and it was modeled after the western drawing instruments and used for field drawing. (6) Royal Level: It is a multifunctional measuring instrument integrating level, horizon, compass, quadrant and torque meter, which is convenient to carry and suitable for field work. It * * * is divided into six floors, made by the Qing Palace Office.
-After Bai Jin and Rizo, many western scientists came to China one after another, which finally prompted Kangxi to establish a Mongolian and Tibetan calligraphy museum they called "China Academy of Sciences" in Changchun Garden, a royal garden, and helped Kangxi to carry out the geographical mapping of China, and achieved the scientific and technological application results of "Panorama of the Forbidden City".
-these things are nothing in modern times, but in the era of emperor Kangxi, these are the latest and most cutting-edge scientific achievements in the west. It can be said that the west was ahead of the Chinese empire at that time, that's all.
Diplomacy: In addition to always caring about Annan, North Korea and other neighboring countries, Kangxi also exchanged notes with the then Russian czar many times; Bai Jin, a French missionary who was used in China, sent a special envoy to France and presented 49 precious books to King Louis XIV of France at that time. Louis XIV had a great affection for the "Sun King" and financially supported the missionaries who came to China later. I had planned to send someone to the Vatican to discuss missionary work in China with the Pope. ...
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Unfortunately, things didn't work out-in the last course of his life, Emperor Kangxi put his mind on Anne. In order to realize his ideal, he removed obstacles with great wisdom and handed over the throne to the strong and meticulous Yongzheng.
Yongzheng (1678— 1735) reigned for thirteen years. At the beginning of his reign, there were no greedy officials in the ruling and opposition parties, the national treasury was empty, the national finance was unsustainable, and political opponents looked around. I can't help it. It's unrealistic to think about things abroad at this time. The most important thing is to reverse the domestic situation in order to consolidate his throne.
Yongzheng started with the rectification of bureaucracy, and took over the deficit after a pause. The official returned to the people, and the system of saving money and secret discount was implemented, which finally realized "Yongzheng once, no official is unclear". At that time, the problems concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers were mainly dealt with by "spreading fields" and "combining officials and gentry to collect grain", supplemented by rectifying the affairs of the Eight Banners to stabilize the flag bearers and "turning fields into streams" to stabilize the southwest. Finally, the northwest of Qinghai-Tibet was pacified, and the domestic situation basically improved completely, and politicians and the state treasury were full. It can be said that without Yongzheng's actions, there would be no so-called "prosperous time"-here.
In thirteen years, due to the historical limitations and conditions at that time, Yongzheng did well enough. Some people say that he is exhausted. I firmly believe that this statement is not too far from the truth of history.
At this time, the only thing in the west that can be slightly related to the capitalist industrial revolution is that coke ironmaking technology appeared in Britain and was used in production. Camille of France put forward the basic law of gear meshing.
-about the "responsibility" I want to say below, we can rule out these two wise emperors.
If it can be forgiven that18th century didn't lead the world industrial revolution, it is simply the biggest sin of the rulers of Chinese empire to miss this revolution and reject the new technological achievements brought by this revolution!
The person who should bear the greatest responsibility for this crime, or the biggest sinner, was the supreme leader of China at that time-Gan Long!
The reign time of Qianlong (171-1799) is 1735- 1796. If you count his three years as the emperor's father, Qianlong ruled China for 63 years. Finally, he achieved his longest rule.
According to Yan Chongnian, this "perfect old man" who has been in office for such a long time has made eight historical contributions:
Edit cultural classics, contribute poetry talents, repair royal gardens, build seawalls in Zhejiang, exempt money and food from the world, unify and effectively govern Xinjiang, improve Tibet's governance and unify the Chinese nation.
We don't evaluate whether these "contributions" summarized by Mr. Yan are correct or not, but like the history we know, Mr. Yan didn't say that Gan Long was interested in western science and technology.
Qianlong basically disdained all kinds of people who went door-to-door to sell "western strange tricks" during this period. "In addition to clocks and watches, Western products are still desirable, and others are far less than China." -this view became the knowledge of the ruling and opposition parties at that time and was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Just as Qianlong personally led and resisted foreign new technologies, on the other side of the globe, the first industrial revolution in the West made great progress in theory and application:
In the year of Qianlong's accession to the throne, 1735, some influential periodicals such as Review, Chatter and Bystander appeared in Britain. Subsequently, some new theories and inventions were put forward and popularized:
The energy equation of inviscid fluid-the establishment of Bernoulli equation: centigrade scale was invented and became a recognized method to describe temperature in western scientific circles; The theory that combustion is the oxidation of matter is put forward. The establishment of the equation of motion of viscous fluid-Euler equation: the spinning machine (Jenny spinning machine) appeared;
1769, Watt of England obtained the patent of independent practical condenser, thus completing the invention of steam engine. This steam engine was put into operation in 1776, with a thermal efficiency of 2 ~ 4%.
Cournot in France made a three-wheeled steam car, which was the first car that could really run;
1774, Wilkinson, England invented the first real machine tool-a machine for processing machines-a cylinder boring machine, which was successfully used to process cylinder blocks, and the Watt steam engine was put into operation;
..... put forward the friction theory for the first time; Invented the loom and completed the transition from handicraft industry and workshop handicraft industry to machine industry; Invented the ear cutter ... the first iron ship was built in Wilkinson, England in 1787; The world's first sewing machine appeared; Invented planer, single-axis woodworking milling machine, router and woodworking drilling machine ... invented lathe with lead screw, smooth bar, feed tool holder and guide rail, which can be used to turn threads with different pitches; Descriptive geometry was published, and descriptive geometry became the projection theoretical basis of mechanical drawing. ...
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What did our "Great Emperor" do during the time when he inherited the rich country from his father and had a lot of money in his hand?
First, while the democratic spirit of "freedom, equality and fraternity" spread throughout Europe, Emperor Qianlong was still thinking about repairing books and running a "literary prison" to stifle different voices-destroying books and killing people, so as to imprison people's thoughts and safeguard their feudal imperial power;
Corresponding to a series of new theories being put forward by others, the Chinese empire continued to consolidate the practical method of selecting scholars with less stereotyped writing, and it was very busy: "As a generation of Gan family, many scholars tend to make textual research, and they never tire of talking about tens of thousands."
"He doesn't know that on the other side of the earth, far away from the ancient oriental civilization, a revolution that affects the development of human civilization is quietly emerging.
The British envoy made a request to trade with the Qing Dynasty, but his "unreasonable request" was severely rejected by Qianlong, who sent his gift abroad, saying that China was "rich in products and ubiquitous". Thus giving up the opportunity of this international trade negotiation, integrating into the tide of modern western industrial and commercial development, and the historic opportunity of enriching the people and strengthening the country ...
Second, extravagance and waste-in China, it claims to safeguard China's dignity, but in fact, it can have more room to enjoy, overhaul Yuanmingyuan, and build another palace in overseas countries: Kremlin, Buckingham Palace, Turkey Palace ... Nothing to take a few beautiful women to soak in Turkey;
The emperor is so, the following ministers have no right, and the main hall is full of corruption and bribery, which is extremely rich. The following small officials have kicked his threshold down, but such a big corrupt official is protected by Qianlong's prized trust. If he doesn't punish himself, he should also let Jiaqing let him go-eventually bringing bad the whole bureaucracy, and the people have risen up. Today, he will have a "flower" and tomorrow, he will have a "forest"
3. Arrogance-here's another joke: the stubborn British envoy came to the DPRK and refused to kowtow to Qianlong as a courtier. The two sides could not stick together. He came forward to enlighten me and showed the foreign envoy around Yuanmingyuan, which meant to show him that I have everything in China, and everything is n times better than your barbarian land, and I don't want to tell you anything ... The foreign envoy finally compromised.
In the autumn of sixty years of Qianlong's reign, when Qianlong was eighty-five years old and prepared to return to Jiaqing early next year, Qianlong, who ruled the Qing Dynasty for sixty years, summed up his life in an imperial edict to the cabinet: "Shao Hongye has transported me to James Pang with beautiful scenery, broad layout, strict discipline, outstanding political achievements, five generations living under one roof and happy life." -How dare you blow!
Fourth, I am overjoyed-if there is nothing more, I will fight and achieve my "peerless martial arts".
In the end, it will be played once every 12 years at most-in Ji Yun's words, it is called "lubricating the state machine with war to prevent it from rusting":1747-Jinchuan, flat in size; 1755- leveling department; 1757- restoration department; 1759- Pinghui Department; 1769- Pingmian; 1776- Jinchuan recovery; 1788- Platform Bay Province; 1789- ping Vietnam; 179 1 year-pinny; 1792- Nepal again.
Firearms and cannons began to be used in Asia in the Ming Dynasty, including military affairs. Trigger matchlock was introduced to China more than 0/00 years earlier than Japanese. 1575, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the formation of a musket unit in the Japanese regular army under his command. Until the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming government forces in China only had a small number of "magic machine camps", which only symbolically used the trigger-type matchlock guns, but did not use them on a large scale in the military sense.
However, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not know firearms as well as the Ming Dynasty. Lavoisier expounded the theory of combustion oxidation with quantitative chemical experiments. When muskets were generally equipped with western troops, our Qing emperor still encouraged to inherit and carry forward the fine tradition of "riding and shooting at the same time" Until Qianlong abdicated, China's army had only a few thousand muskets ... Fu Kang 'an used the "spear" given by Qianlong-with wheels and a brass bullet belt that could be wrapped around his waist. But in the eyes of Qianlong, such an advanced weapon is just like other "western tricks" and is regarded as a plaything!
Zheng He's ocean-going fleet is unparalleled in the world. The model of iron-clad ship with guns has long been placed in front of the emperor as a foreign tribute, but Qianlong was not alarmed at all-it was used as an ornament or a reward. Until the mid-Qianlong period, officers of the Chinese Army were still training their "navy" in Taihu Lake-because there was no actual combat for too long, a good ship and a cannon would actually damage the ship during training at ordinary times, so they had to rebuild it in order to cross the sea to suppress the Taiwan Province Lin uprising-by the fifty-eight years of Qianlong, the navy along the coast of China only had to deal with pirates. "Although hundreds of ships can only defend their own waters, they are not enough to hunt down, leading to merchant ships reporting robbery. ! The concept of marine navy has never been thought of.
Just as Qianlong was playing a game with China and the United States in the ever-expanding royal garden, just as Qianlong was looking for his own heart of "contributing poetry talent", the first vigorous industrial revolution began in the distant English-speaking countries in the west. At this time, I am afraid that few people even knew which side, how far, how big the area, how national strength and how to reach the English-speaking countries in China!
Because of the historical mistakes of Qianlong, the history of China paid a high price for it. If Qianlong can accept it with an open mind, we should seriously study the British muskets. If Qianlong has the tolerance of a hundred rivers, he will sincerely and equally friendly exchanges with other countries; If ... if everything really happened, what would China be like now?
To borrow someone else's words: one thing can be assumed. If Qianlong could see the blazing gunfire of 1840, he would never face his ancestors again.