We all know that there was an artillery Hou Daizi during the reign of Kangxi. He not only transformed many artillery pieces, but also invented the only 28-burst "machine gun" in the world at that time. If his invention had been vigorously promoted and upgraded, perhaps China would have dominated the world long ago. It is precisely because of the corruption in the Qing Dynasty that Dai Zi's invention sank into the sea. Because many people like friends of the Ming Dynasty to scold the Qing Dynasty on this basis because they are afraid that the Han people will refuse firearms, but they don't know that the Ming Dynasty has gone too far.
The Ming dynasty, which was proud of its face and suffered a lot.
What many people don't know is that the Qing Dynasty not only rejected firearms, but also defeated the Ming Dynasty with firearms.
Besides the Eight Banners cavalry, the most powerful Manchu is the field artillery unit. During the Yongzheng period, muskets accounted for almost half of the military equipment.
The Manchu people's way to guard against the Han people was to marginalize the green camp army.
You can say that Manchu was a foreigner, ignorant and decadent, but the Ming Dynasty was one of our own, right? Why refuse something advanced?
We all know Matteo Ricci's influence on China. He not only brought us advanced things such as geometry, surveying, astronomy, water conservancy, calendar and world map, but also opened our upper intellectuals' eyes to the outside world for the first time.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was constantly threatened by Manchu people from the north.
At this time, Xu Guangqi, a student of Matteo Ricci, at the suggestion of his teacher Matteo Ricci, played in the Ming court, demanding that a set of technology and talents for manufacturing advanced western cannons be introduced from the west.
However, the upper class of the Ming Dynasty actually refused, and the reasons for refusing can kill people's popularity.
Why did the Ming Dynasty refuse to accept more advanced western technology?
At that time, the imperial court's practice was to spend money to introduce a number of "red foreign cannons" from the west, but refused to introduce talents and technology.
Look at the name of this gun, which was named by China people. It is obviously an inanimate thing, but it is necessary to bring the word "Yi" to others.
How did the Asian "tribute system" centered on the Ming Dynasty learn from the barbarians in the West?
What is the "tribute system"? It is necessary to explain here.
It is my Ming Dynasty, with a vast territory and rich resources. If these small countries around you want to get some goods from Daming that you don't have, they must bow to me and call themselves the vassal countries of Daming.
And trade can't be called trade. I can only ask you small countries to pay tribute to me.
As an elder, I, Daming, will definitely give you a certain amount of goods.
What we modern people can't understand is that in order to satisfy our vanity, the value of what we give back every time is much higher than the tribute of the other party.
In today's words, it is a trade deficit every time.
Who wouldn't do such a good thing? In order to be the adopted son of the Ming Dynasty, various factions in Japan were in civil strife, and Thai businessmen forged their credentials.
Ming Chengzu satisfied his vanity, but the consequence was that he suffered every time.
But why did these countries not engage in pure commodity trade in the Ming Dynasty, and why did they engage in such complicated political exchanges?
Because the Ming Dynasty implemented the strictest "sea ban" in history, that is, the Ming Dynasty people were not allowed to trade with foreigners privately, and the court monopolized all foreign trade rights.
And what is the inevitable connection between this and the western science and technology caused by the Ming Dynasty? This is arrogance.
The upper class in the Ming Dynasty thought that I could spend money on your things, but I couldn't learn from you. Otherwise, where will we lose face in the Ming Dynasty?
At that time, there was no arms embargo and no patent protection in the world. As long as you pay, you can dig up a large number of artillery experts from the west.
However, due to the arrogance and arrogance of Confucianism and the contempt and distrust of western culture, the Ming Dynasty finally decisively rejected the implementable plan to build itself into the first military power in Asia.