During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the population once grew geometrically, reaching as many as 400 million, which is unique in Chinese history. So why did the population grow so fast during the Qing Dynasty? There are several main reasons for this.
First, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty implemented the policy of "breeding people and never giving them more"
As we all know, a big reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty is that the people pay too much tax and bear too much burden, especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, political corruption, financial deficit, the state has no money, and can only increase the exploitation of the people. During the Wanli period, the so-called "three salaries" were even worse for the common people. Therefore, under the exploitation of the imperial court, the people had to rise up, resulting in a peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty eventually died at the hands of the exiles.
After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, in view of the lessons learned from the demise of the Ming Dynasty, from the fifty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty, it was announced that from now on, it would "breed people and never add endowments" as a policy of benefiting the people. Under the encouragement and promotion of this policy, no matter how many children the people have, the tax is collected according to the original, and there is no additional "poll tax". In this way, the enthusiasm of the people in production and life has been greatly improved, and the increase in the enthusiasm for production can feed more people.
Second, the implementation of the Yongzheng Emperor's policy of "spreading out the land into acres"
The so-called "spreading the land into the mu" is an important reform of the conscription system in the late period of China's feudal society, and it is a tax system levied by the Yongzheng Emperor by merging the Ding yin that has been along the past generations into the field, marking the abolition of the poll tax in China for more than 2,000 years during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor and even later.
The implementation of the policy of dividing the land into acres is a further development of the Kangxi Emperor's policy of "breeding people and never adding endowments". The implementation of this system has further reduced the burden on landless and landless peasants, not only promoting population growth, but also promoting social and economic development.
Third, the rulers vigorously promoted the cultivation of crops such as "sweet potatoes and corn"
This policy was most evident during the Qianlong period. After Qianlong took the throne, he not only reduced the people's tax burden many times, but also played a huge role in the promotion of "corn and sweet potatoes" two crops.
He vigorously promoted the cultivation of sweet potatoes in the north and encouraged people to study the cultivation methods of sweet potatoes. Chen Shiyuan, the first Fujian protégé to promote sweet potato planting technology in Shandong, Henan and other places, received great favors from the Qianlong Emperor. In addition, another local official, Lu Yao, was promoted to Inspector of Hunan for compiling the "Sweet Potato Record".
Under the vigorous promotion of the Qianlong Emperor, China's Sichuan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Guizhou and other provinces "extended mountains and valleys, all planted corn". Through the advocacy of the Qianlong dynasty, sweet potatoes and corn have become the basic rations of China's poor peasants.
Therefore, when the people are not worried about the problem of food and clothing, the population will naturally continue to grow.
Fourth, during the Qianlong period, the great importance attached to the construction of "water conservancy" also promoted a large increase in population
During Qianlong's 60-year reign, China's population doubled to 65 percentage points higher than the world level. By the beginning of the 18th century, China's population accounted for 23.4% of the world's population. In addition to the food revolution, the population has grown so fast that another credit should be attributed to the construction of water conservancy.
In the middle and early Qianlong period, due to the hard work of the Qianlong Emperor, the country's politics were clear and the ruling ability was strong. The huang, huai, yongding, zhejiang haitang and other rivers that are prone to flooding have been treated with unprecedented effective treatment, and the clogged rivers in various provinces have also been dredged. This measure has played a tremendous role in ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and in developing agricultural production.
Therefore, this measure is also one of the reasons for the steady growth of Chinese population.
Fifth, after Qianlong took the throne, the "agricultural taxes" owed by the people on many occasions further aroused the enthusiasm of the people in cultivating land and promoted population growth
Qianlong once said:
"The people are the only one who is rich, but let the small people leave a surplus, that is, accumulate more, the so-called 'rich in the people', the people are sufficient, the king and the insufficient, this is also."
Therefore, the first major decision Qianlong made after ascending the throne was to exempt the agricultural taxes that had been owed for many years nationwide. In his edict to the throne, Qianlong announced that all families who had been in arrears in agricultural taxes for more than ten years would be exempted from paying them. Only 20 days later, he announced that all unpaid agricultural taxes before the twelfth year of Yongzheng would be exempted.
Under this measure of Qianlong, the people of the Qing Empire, especially the large number of poor people, were freed from the heavy taxes they had been carrying for many years. In the traditional society with agricultural taxes as the main revenue, Qianlong's decision seems to be extremely bold.
Therefore, combined with the above reasons, the population of China eventually reached as many as 400 million in the Daoguang Dynasty.