The Qianlong Emperor was the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history, and the longest in terms of actual reign. During his reign, Wenzhi martial arts were extremely prosperous, and he created a very prosperous situation for the Youqing generation with extraordinary talent and courageous pioneering spirit, known as the prosperous era of Qianlong.
But the Qianlong Emperor also had another side, he had the character of a rich and clumsy disciple, he was both striving to govern and enjoying great achievements; he was both arbitrary and too trusting, which made him consciously or unconsciously go to the opposite side while establishing a huge cause.
The more meritorious deeds and the more arrogant and extravagant they become, coupled with the fact that they have enjoyed the country for a long time, they are old and arrogant, they are arbitrary and arbitrary, they spoil power and power, and they are profligate, so that the dynasty is corrupt and the officials do not repair it. Therefore, when Qianlong passed on the throne to Jiaqing, it was by no means a thriving Qing Dynasty, but a situation in which internal creations were accumulated and it was difficult to return.
The merits of the Qianlong Emperor's life need not be said, but there is no need to hide his deeds. Overall, the Qianlong Emperor's life included four aspects.
First, the ten complete martial arts, poor soldiers and martial arts.
Ten perfect martial arts, this is the qianlong emperor's most proud thing in his life. But most of these ten books are praises of merit and virtue, and have no practical significance. Here we will not analyze the Ten Perfections of Martial Arts in detail and make a comprehensive evaluation, but one thing is very clear, that is, the Qianlong Emperor paid a very high price for these Ten Perfections of Martial Arts.
In the Qianlong Dynasty, no less than hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the use of troops, of course, among them, such as Pingzhu, Size and Zhuo, and the use of troops in Tibet were all to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but most of the martial arts belonged to the poor military. You know, at that time, the revenue of the national treasury was about 35 million taels, and such a huge military expenditure was naturally unsustainable.
Second, six southern tours, wanton squandering.
According to incomplete statistics, during the Qianlong Dynasty, there were six southern tourers, four eastern tourers, and five western tourers, and as for the tribute to Qufu, Mulan Qiuhuo, and near Gyeonggi, there are countless more. If kangxi's southern tour is mostly related to the governance of Huanghuai, then the Qianlong Emperor is envious of the fact that the south of the river is envied in the name of the river.
Wherever the Qianlong Emperor passed, officials sent errands to take over the car, so as to be gorgeous and pleasing. Although the Qianlong Emperor always preached that everything should be simple, this was just a pretense. So every time the cruise arrives, the stage, the color shed, the dragon boat, and the embellishment along the way are all increasing and escalating.
The Qianlong Emperor's southern tour cost ten times that of Kangxi. When Kangxi toured the south, he spent no more than one or two hundred thousand gold each time, while Qianlong was often millions. It can be said that laboring the people hurts the wealth, consumes vitality, influences everything, and governs the people's style, and returns to corruption.
Third, pampering and pampering, corruption has become a common practice.
Washumoto was an ordinary official student, he was not deeply educated, but he had an enviable face and a super memory. By chance, He Yan was appreciated by the Qianlong Emperor for his response to the title. After that, the Hezhen official Hengtong, Qingyun went straight up, and in just a few years, he was promoted to the rank of Hubu Shangshu, a university scholar, and a military minister.
He Yan had been in government for more than twenty years, overseeing on the outside and serving on the inside, mostly out of the peace gate. The formation of officials who are greedy for ink on the outside and ministers who are gathered on the inside, are mutually causal, and the greedy wind is becoming more and more intense.
In fact, many of the major corruption cases that occurred in the late Qianlong period can be seen behind Hezhen's shadow. For example, the corruption cases of Cathay, Wang Qiwang, and Chen Huizu all have a major relationship with Hezhen. It's just that he wasn't finally revealed.
In Qianlong's later years, the political clique headed by He yan not only controlled the affairs of the government and other provinces, but also formed a corrupt clique, exploiting and squeezing layer by layer, resulting in a deficit in the treasury of various localities.
The fourth and eighth banners are corrupt and the armaments are in ruins.
The Eight Flags were originally the foundation of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, and in the early Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners were known for their toughness and simplicity. In the early Days of the Eight Banners, there was no such habit of arrogance. However, since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, because the Eight Banners enjoy political and economic privileges, their temperament has quickly undergone a transformation.
In the last years of Qianlong, more problems were exposed, and its prominent manifestation was the extravagance of the camp, the most typical representative of which was Fu Kang'an, who was extremely favored by the Qianlong Emperor.
Fu Kang'an was long-relied upon by the Qianlong Emperor because of his noble birth, but most of his military achievements were from Highlander and Ah Gui. Like Qianlong, FuKang'an was born with a clumsy style, even in the front line, every day was a rare food, and every conquest, the expenditure was very large.
However, such a general who spent money like flowing water was extremely favored by the Qianlong Emperor, and even after his death, he was named the king of the county, becoming the only king with a different surname after the early Qing Dynasty. After Jiaqing became pro-government, he ordered Fu Kang'an to be reprimanded, saying that the extravagant style of the Eight Banners was caused by him.
From the above four aspects, it can be seen that the decline of the Qing Dynasty began in the late Qianlong period, the so-called "internal bad to Hezhen, external bad to Fukang'an", and the Qianlong Emperor was mainly responsible. In addition, the Jiaqing Emperor carefully selected by the Qianlong Emperor was also a mediocre person, and the situation faced by the Qing Dynasty can be imagined.