There is a lot of controversy about the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in China, for example, some people believe that the decay of the Qing Dynasty led to the later imperial aggression, and some people believe that the emperor who made the Qing Dynasty turn from prosperity to decline was Qianlong.
There is some truth in all these views, but they are not entirely correct; during Qianlong's reign, we were still very powerful, and the countries around us only had the share of the offerings, and no one had the idea of aggression.
After the final collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the reasons for the plunder and persecution of the nation were actually various.
As explained in the very famous "Fifteen Years of the Wanli Calendar", this huge feudal empire began to turn into weakness as early as the Ming Dynasty.
Because the whole world is developing rapidly, feudal emperors are still trapped in traditional concepts and systems and cannot extricate themselves.
Therefore, when the Qianlong Emperor was reigning, he was still consolidating feudal rule and enhancing national strength, and it can be said that the Qing Dynasty was still a world power during the Qianlong period. The reason is simple! You see how much the Qianlong Emperor made.
The Kangxi Emperor was hailed as the first emperor of the ages, the Yongzheng Emperor was considered the most diligent and capable emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and when it came to Qianlong, many people believed that the Qing Dynasty showed signs of decline.
However, this was only revealed in Qianlong's later years, and generally speaking, during Qianlong's reign, he was indeed an emperor with outstanding ability, which is why he had the term "Prosperous Kangqian".
However, Qianlong's political achievements are also due to the efforts of his father and grandfather, during the reign of Kangxi, the government and the public were in turmoil, with the threat of Ao Bai on the inside, and the Remaining Party of the Ming Dynasty outside, and Kangxi was still young.
By the time Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he had just experienced the conquest of the nine sons and concubines, and there were still many confidants in the imperial court, and he wanted to consolidate his position while governing the country.
The hard work of official duties made Yongzheng drive to the west of Hexi in ten years, and when he reached Qianlong, his road was much smoother.
Yongzheng was extremely capable, and he had always been diligent and thrifty, and when he left, he kept the whole country in good order, and the treasury was also well saved, and Qianlong took over as a rich country.
Qianlong can be described as a real "former people planted trees and later people cool", but he did not lose himself, the more excellent his grandfather and father, the greater his pressure, Qianlong did not want to talk about him in the future he was inferior to his father and grandfather.
Therefore, after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he also worked hard to govern, and he always admired his grandfather Kangxi, and he was determined to create a great cause like his grandfather Kangxi.
In the early days of Qianlong, he was also very strict with himself, would not be excessively extravagant and wasteful, and was also very careful in official affairs; in addition, he was also very bold in governing the country.
Because he did not have as many obstacles as his father and grandfather during his reign, which allowed him to let it go, Qianlong decided to take the initiative to regain the western region and expand his rule.
At Qianlong's will, the army worked hard for many years to finally take over the long-standing threat of the Western Regions, and the national territory was indeed expanded in his hands.
The embodiment of the country's prosperity lies in whether the economy is prosperous, and Qianlong also attaches great importance to this, and he did not spend too much money on the national treasury during his reign.
The development of the army was also a decision he took the initiative to make in order to expand the territory, so Qianlong had spare no effort to seriously develop the domestic economy.
The economic policy of development he implemented was also very effective, and he pursued a monopoly policy at home, and tried his best to nationalize the manufacturing industries such as mining, iron smelting, and coinage.
Such a large industry is necessary for a country, and profitability is certain, and in just a few years the national treasury is replenished again.
Qianlong also actively developed trade with foreign countries and did business with many countries in Asia, and at that time, the shipbuilding industry also developed rapidly, and it was quite convenient to do business in neighboring countries.
The increase in foreign trade was even more rapid, which made the financial revenue of the Qing Dynasty increase steadily, and at this time Qianlong had not yet engaged in the closed country, and the whole country showed vigor from top to bottom.
Not only that, Qianlong also attached great importance to individual industrial and commercial households, and he encouraged businessmen in the south to transfer to the north to do business and promote the economic development of the north.
And gave a lot of preferential policies to those who were willing to do business in the north, so that the number of businessmen who came to the north increased significantly, and there was a very famous scene of the northern gold rush.
From these aspects, the country under Qianlong's rule was indeed prosperous.
Cultural development
Several aspects of a country's development are embodied in politics, economy, military and culture.
The politics of Qianlong's succession was stable under his father's rule, and both economic and military Qianlong was vigorously developed, and he did not ignore it culturally.
During Qianlong's reign, he still paid attention to the imperial examination system, in addition to which he also attached importance to the comprehensive development of culture in various places.
For example, there are more successful people in the south who participate in the examination, and he has come up with various policies to encourage these people in the south to go to the north to engage in politics and promote the development of backward areas in the north.
Qianlong himself also organized the compilation of the famous "Four Libraries Complete Book," which contained nearly a billion words throughout.
Its content records various classic works and major historical events of the Qing Empire, which can be said to cover various cultural and political highlights of an era.
The "Four Libraries of Quanshu" is not only a treasure book of the Qing Dynasty, but also a cultural treasure of our nation, and even today its significance is also great, and from this point of view, Qianlong's contribution to history and culture is also indispensable.
Looking back at that period of history now, from the perspective of modern people, it is likely that Qianlong was actually backward.
Many people accused him of using the treasury to expand his territory to satisfy his ambitions, and then implementing a monopoly to state-own and suppress the development of individual industries, and then later implementing the literal prison to cause cultural blockades and restrictions, and he also appointed traitors and Kun.
However, these measures do not fully summarize the Qing Dynasty in the Qianlong period, and we generally consider it from another aspect, and what Qianlong did at that time was in line with the needs of the dynasty.
Hu Shi said that "history is a little girl dressed up by others", and some people think that this is to say that history can be made up.
This is not the case, this statement means that history is multidimensional, and there are many aspects of things in the world, not to mention those major events in the long river of history?
Many times the outbreak of a historical event was beyond the control of the parties concerned, and the policy of closing the country to the outside world was implemented in the late Qianlong period, which was considered by later generations to be an extremely wrong decision.
But at that time, Wu Kou frequently attacked, which was really a helpless move, Qianlong was not a saint, at that time he could only take care of the present, unable to predict the future, so our vision of history should be more comprehensive.