There have been many times in the history of China, which is the peak of social development under the rule of feudal emperors. And what this article wants to talk about is one of the prosperous times - Kang Yongqian's prosperous world.
This period lasted for three generations of emperors before and after Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and lasted for 134 years, which was the peak of Qing rule. During this period, all aspects of Chinese society have reached the extreme under the framework of the original system, with the most reforms, the strongest national strength, social stability, rapid economic development, and rapid population growth and vast territory.
However, why would some people say that "Kang Yongqian's prosperous life" is a big lie that is not worthy of the name? Don't disbelieve it!
The reason for saying that the Kang Yongqian period was a prosperous era may be that China had a population of 300 million at that time. And this is actually very simple. After experiencing the famine and military disasters of the late Ming Dynasty, as well as many massacres in the early Qing Dynasty, the population of the country was sharply reduced. As the war subsided and society became stable, the once-abandoned land was once again used, so it was normal for the population to grow significantly.
However, Kangxi believed that the Heavenly Dynasty was rich in property and therefore did not need to trade with the nations, so he ordered that the people be banned and that they should not go to sea. Moreover, they have also suppressed and cracked down on industry and commerce, regarding industry and commerce as the "last business," and have tried every means to suppress and obstruct the development of industry and commerce. This made capitalism, which had already sprouted at the end of the Ming Dynasty, eventually stillborn.
In the summer of the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong, britain's first mission to Visit China came. Before that, they were full of curiosity about the mysterious country of China, and imagined that it was the legendary gold everywhere...
But the reality surprised them, and the British saw the real "Kangqian prosperous world".
At that time, the British visited China to celebrate Qianlong's 80th birthday. Upon arrival, the British discovered that some of the walls of the Qing court were on the verge of collapse, and their soldiers were not neatly dressed, and the main equipment of their troops was bows, arrows, halberds, spears, and cold weapons such as swords. The few backward muskets were in tatters. Therefore, instead of being intimidated, the British who visited China concluded that "Chinese society has been stuck and cannot move forward", "its prosperity is over", and "it can land easily here".
Barrow, the chief financial officer, also made a meticulous observation in "I See the Prosperous Age of Qianlong": "Whether in Zhoushan or in the three days when I went up to the capital on the Bai River, I did not see any proof that the people had enough food and clothing and that the countryside was rich and prosperous... Houses are usually mud-walled bungalows with thatched roofs... In fact, what is striking is nothing more than a scene of poverty and backwardness. ”
Therefore, from this point of view, compared with western Britain, the economy of the Kang Yongqian period is far inferior to that of Britain at that time in terms of quality and production relations and foreign trade.
So, are Kang Yongqian's descriptions of his wealth all deceitful? In fact, it was not the case, but because the bureaucratic system at that time was bloated, a large number of Eight Flags disciples got it for nothing, thus wasting a lot of social resources.
Thus, despite the increase in food production, the Macartney mission came to China and found shocking poverty. It is said that when the people of that time saw that the mission had lost some dead pigs and chickens, they rushed to jump into the sea to collect the discards of the British. Moreover, in the Qianlong era, records of people eating chaff and throat vegetables also abounded. It is recorded that the average British farmer in the same period could still have 11 pounds left after spending one year, which was 33-44 taels of silver. The total income of a middle-aged Chinese farmer is only 32 taels a year, and its annual expenditure is 35 taels. That is to say, after a year of hard work, there is still 3 taels in debt, and there is no surplus at all. Therefore, once there is a famine, ordinary chinese families will immediately go bankrupt, and it is very common to sell children and daughters for a living.
Wei Laipeng also wrote in the "Mane Line": Weibei Yidang Ding ugly year, coastal villages less cooking smoke. There is no wheat, no grass, no red land, and the family is really like a chime. Under the knees, jiao'er can not be stored, and a hundred copper coins are even if they are bearded. But to save the winner from hunger, rather than to be a servant...
Moreover, in the Qianlong period, there was also a great revival of the literary prison. This imprisons the minds of the people, and their revision of books is equivalent to the destruction of books, and a large number of excellent cultures have been destroyed.
In addition, the Qing Dynasty also launched a series of massacres and tyranny to bring the Han gentry and intellectuals to their knees. The aforementioned literal prison is one of these means. At that time, the Qing court almost clearly took the opportunity to open the knife to the Han gentry and scholars, and its motives were also very obvious, that is, to restrict them and not to endanger the rule, but it was to put the whole country in a dilemma.