History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
"The Qing Dynasty took over more than three million square kilometers of land from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and then carried it forward, and finally the Qing Dynasty continued to expand outwards, expanding the land for thousands of miles, and eventually becoming a powerful empire with a territory of more than thirteen million square kilometers", in the author's opinion, this statement is more common, but there are a few points that the author does not dare to agree with, and the following are to talk about.
First, the Qing Dynasty took over the land of the Ming Dynasty
First of all, the rise and fall of ancient dynasties is a cyclical historical law formed over thousands of years in China and even the whole world, and no ancient dynasty can avoid it. The collapse of the old dynasty, the establishment of the new dynasty is in accordance with the fate of heaven, no one can stop the wheel of history rolling forward, the change of dynasties often means that the world is in chaos, people's grievances are everywhere, natural disasters and man-made disasters will appear, and the state apparatus of the old dynasty can no longer function normally.
In the face of the shattering of mountains and rivers, the ruling class of the old dynasty fell apart, they could not effectively control it, at that time Jiangshan was no longer the ruler of the old dynasty, the world no longer belonged to them, the world will be inhabited by capable people, so in history, many tyrants will put on the cloak of the savior on this stage, the crowd of males and women, in order to compete for the world, establish a new dynasty, a new order and fight, this is why "heroes in the chaotic world" are born.
Therefore, the land of the new dynasty was "taken" by the ability of the rulers of the new dynasty, not "taken".
Secondly, friends familiar with history should be clear that when the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Ming Dynasty as the orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains no longer existed, at that time the Southern Ming regime was lingering in Jiangnan, the north was Li Zicheng's world, Zhang Xianzhong was in Sichuan, China at that time can be described as "the four kingdoms were established", the Qing Dynasty was successively eliminating Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the Southern Ming regime before unifying the world, how can it be said to "inherit the Ming Dynasty"?
Therefore, the saying that "the Qing Dynasty took over the land of the Ming Dynasty" does not hold.
Second, the Ming Dynasty had more than three million square kilometers of land
There is no objection to the fact that the territory of the Ming Dynasty in its heyday was not as large as that of the Qing Dynasty, but it would be biased to show that the Ming Dynasty only had more than three million square kilometers of land.
More than three million square kilometers are only the land of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, including: North Zhili, South Zhili, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan.
If we look at the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the two capitals and thirteen provinces, the land controlled by the Ming Dynasty should also include the areas controlled by Nuer Gandusi in the northeast, Wusi Zangdusi in Tibet, and Hamiwei in eastern Xinjiang.
It is true that compared with the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's control over these areas is weaker, but the Ming Dynasty has military management of these areas, which belongs to actual control. The leaders of these regions all need to be appointed by the Ming court to be effective, and even Nurhaci once served as an official of the Ming Dynasty and accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty, is this not enough to show that these areas belong to the territory of the Ming Dynasty?
If you count these areas, the territory of the Ming Dynasty can reach about 10 million square kilometers, of course, it can not be compared with the more than 13 million square kilometers in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty.
When you arrive here, some friends may raise objections, indicating that in the middle and late period of the DPRK, Hamiwei has been attacked by Turpan, the northeast region has also been attacked by Houjin, the land outside the Great Wall has also been abandoned, and the land shrinkage of the Ming Dynasty is very serious, in fact, if you look at it this way, the author does admit it. But by the same token, the Qing government ceded a large area of land to the Western powers at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and after the Sichuan Baolu Movement in 1910, most of the provinces declared independence from the Qing government's rule.
Therefore, the statement that the Ming Dynasty only had more than three million square kilometers of land does not hold.
Third, the Qing Dynasty expanded outward
At the beginning of Nurhaci's rebellion against the Ming Dynasty, the Later Jin regime, as a new regime, did have the ambition and strategic vision of foreign expansion, which is also what most emerging regimes will have, but as the emerging regime gradually enters a period of stability, the idea of external expansion will gradually fade, and the regime integrated into Han culture will not be an exception, which is a major feature and influence of Han culture.
Han culture is a typical farming civilization, farming civilization relies on fertile land, the Central Plains and Jiangnan region occupies the most fertile and suitable land in East Asia. Therefore, the Central Plains Dynasty under the influence of Han culture would not have the concept of external expansion, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would not have voluntarily abandoned more than forty health centers outside the Great Wall and would not have given up control over Annam. And the Qing Dynasty will not abandon the Nebuchu region in the case of winning the war against Tsarist Russia, will not give up the competition with it for Lake Baikal and Siberia, and will not include it in the territorial scope even if it invades Pyongyang and captures most of Korea, but only signs an alliance with it.
Therefore, whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, there is no real idea of external expansion in the true sense. Because the regimes that are really obsessed with foreign expansion will not selectively occupy the land, such as Tsarist Russia, they have been full of desire for land from the beginning of the founding of the country, even in a cold place like Siberia, they are yearning for it, and to this day they still can hardly hide their enthusiasm for the land, which is the orthodox expansionist thought.
Therefore, the Qing Dynasty did not have a real idea of external expansion.
These are my personal views on the views of some of the people mentioned at the beginning.