Qianlong and Washington were giants of the same era, one was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the other was the founder of the United States.
Washington was not only an entrepreneur, but he could also make the land no longer depend on him; Qianlong's failure was to miss the opportunity to connect with the times, he just cycled back and forth on the original track of ancient history.
Whether in the history of the canon or the history of the wilderness, Qianlong was a very controversial emperor, which can be described as a world-renowned and slanderous emperor. But there is one point, which is not much controversy, that is, Qianlong's later years are relatively faint.
First, extravagant and wasteful tourists
During Qianlong's reign, various outings reached more than 150 times, including as many as 66 visits to the Eastern and Western Tombs and winter tours, 52 visits to the summer resort, 14 cruises to Tianjin and Ming Tombs near Gyeonggi, 8 times to Shandong in the east, 6 times to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the south, and 6 times to Wutai Mountain in the west... He goes out every year and is a veritable tourist.
Even in his later years, Qianlong still had a strong interest in tourism, and when he was seventy-three years old, he also went to the northeast specifically, and when he left, he also sighed: "This is not to look back and increase the number of regrets, and it is afraid that it will be incompetent to come back." Perhaps Qianlong also knew that this was the last time he would meet his hometown, so he specially held a grand gurudwara ceremony to express his nostalgia for Nurhaci, Huang Taiji and some founding heroes. For the princes and nobles who stayed in the northeast, Qianlong not only gave feasts, but also gave great rewards.
In addition, four times qianlong went down to Jiangnan six times after he was fifty years old, which shows that the older he is, the more spirited he is.
These travel activities, mainly for political purposes, although they have the intention of winning the hearts and minds of the people and the effect of attracting the gentry, especially the Mulan hunting, which can close the relationship with the ethnic minorities in the frontier, but the cost is also amazingly high.
This money, whether it was Qianlong's private or treasury expenditure, came from the common people, causing a great burden on the imperial court and local finances. Everywhere Qianlong went, he also had to build roads and palaces, and in order to entertain, local officials would also change their methods to talk about pomp and pageantry, resulting in the rise of extravagance and a large waste of resources. For the comfort of one person, all the people along the way are moving, which not only disturbs the people, but also affects production.
Second, at the expense of huge sums of money, the construction of various palace gardens
The Yuanmingyuan was originally a villa given to Yongzheng by Kangxi, adjacent to Changchun Garden. When Qianlong was crown prince, Yongzheng let him live in the "Changchun Immortal Hall" in the Yuanmingyuan and gave him the title of "Changchun Resident". After Qianlong ascended to the throne, in the east of the Yuanmingyuan, it was vigorously expanded, and it was connected with the original garden to form a large garden area, which also contained various Western buildings and antique treasures.
Although the summer resorts of the Kangxi Era already had the name of thirty-six scenic spots, most of the buildings were simple and did not cost too much. Qianlong succeeded to the throne and carried out large-scale renovation and expansion of the villa, until Qianlong fifty-five years more satisfied to suspend the construction, in addition to increasing the thirty-six scenery to seventy-two, he also built many temples, forming a series of "outer eight temples" group. When he was angry at the age of seventy, the Panchen Lama himself rushed from Tibet to wish for his birthday, and Qianlong specially ordered the construction of the Temple of Sumire Fushou, modeled on the Zablum Monastery where the Panchen Lama lived. The temple is gilded with copper tiles and is golden and brilliant.
In addition to the above two large-scale civil engineering projects, other small projects such as the Forbidden City's gift, Xiangshan Jingyi Garden, Wanshou Mountain Qingyi Garden, Yuquan Mountain Jingmingyuan and other small projects, such as cattle feathers, especially Ningshou Palace, is a model of luxury, Qianlong is ready to retire here to recuperate, but did not live for a few days to idle. These buildings cost countless sums of money, most of which were to satisfy Qianlong's personal enjoyment.
Third, reuse and implement many ways to make money that cannot be put on the table
The personal income and expenditure of the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty were controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the treasury were two parallel financial systems. Qianlong wanted to maintain a huge amount of personal consumption, and most of the money was in the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Qianlong's personal needs, especially in his later years, continued to expand, not only to travel the mountains and rivers, but also to collect antique calligraphy and paintings, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs could not withstand the toss and often lost money. Therefore, Qianlong constantly tried to find ways to enrich the internal affairs office, such as engaging in monopoly operations and entrepot trade, but due to the incompetence of the staff, most of them were bought and sold at a loss.
It was not until the rise of Hezhen that the Ministry of Internal Affairs turned a profit. Under the operation of Hezhen, a system of guilt and silver was established, that is, officials made mistakes and could use money to solve problems. All the proceeds went into the Qianlong small treasury, and the process and quantity did not need to be disclosed.
Some of the astute ministers understood the mystery. They knew that by handing over the silver of sin, they would be able to seduce the emperor and Hezhen. Therefore, many officials deliberately made small mistakes and paid large sums of money, such as He Yucheng, the inspector of Henan, who accidentally soiled the folds and actively paid a fine of 30,000 taels. The handwriting was so big that even Qianlong was embarrassed, so he hurriedly issued a decree, not so much, Ande was exempt from twenty thousand, only ten thousand.
The implementation of the system of deliberating on crimes and silver has caused extremely serious evil consequences, which not only condones lawless ministers, but also breeds a bad atmosphere in the official arena. Many local officials, even if they originally obeyed the law and obeyed the law, would squander public funds and accept money because of the system of deliberating on crimes and silver, and in their view, even if the East Window incident occurred, they could pay some money to get it done.
Fourth, the emperor wears "new clothes", and the ministers sing the praises of the prosperous world
In his later years, Qianlong had lost the enterprising spirit of exerting himself in the early days of his ascension to the throne, and began to deceive himself and get by. From the imperial court to the localities, there were many large and small "Hezhen" as many as cattle feathers, resulting in financial deficits in various places.
Many courtiers knew this situation well, but Qianlong called himself a "perfect old man" and wore the emperor's new clothes to revel in self-indulgence, and everyone did not dare or be willing to puncture it.
A very small number of people of insight pointed out the problem, such as Yin Zhuangtu, who had called for the end of the system of deliberating on crimes and silver, but they were all suppressed by Qianlong.
In order to gild his "thin credits", Qianlong used troops everywhere and once fought to Gorkha; in the face of the world trend, Qianlong stuck to his own position and refused Togasani; in the face of population pressure, the arrival of the Malthusian Trap, Qianlong refused to emigrate to the frontier and the northeast...
All the contradictions came together, and finally led to the White Lotus Sect Uprising, which directly tore apart the so-called Qianlong Prosperous Era. This uprising could not be calmed for a long time, mainly because the salaries of the soldiers were all enriched by the ranked officials, and the combat effectiveness of the Qing army at that time was not as good as before.
Qiu Mei said: In the early years, Qianlong was an excellent monarch who worked hard to govern and expand the territory, pushing the Qing Dynasty to the extreme. However, in his later years, Qianlong, who was dying of old age, spoiled and trusted, did not make progress in ideology, lacked deeds in governance, and had to engage in personal hedonism with peace of mind, and personally overthrew the prosperous world he had established.