As we all know, since the Opium War began in 1840, Our country has begun a modern century of disasters and difficulties. In the past hundred years, China has been invaded by Britain, France, Russia, Japan and other great powers, and the Qing Dynasty, which has survived, has come to an end under the repeated impacts of the Western powers. However, even at the time of its demise, the Qing Dynasty was unable to fight a beautiful battle against the great powers head-on.
Of course, this is not unrelated to the weakening of national strength and the decay of the Qing court in the late Qing Dynasty, even if it later introduced advanced Western weapons and vigorously engaged in foreign affairs movements, it was still a paper tiger in front of the Western powers. The Qing Dynasty was at the end of its rope, and the Qing soldiers were all fighting for themselves, so how could they keep the Western powers out?
On the other hand, the attitude of another feudal dynasty in China's history towards the Western powers is simply superior to that of the Qing Dynasty. This dynasty is the ming dynasty, the last dynasty of the Qing Dynasty.
Looking at the history of the development of Western powers, that is, a history of maritime wars, in the early years, global trade mainly relied on shipping, and which country's navy was powerful could grasp the right to speak of world hegemony. The reason why the Ming Dynasty was so tough on the Western powers at that time was that it had an invincible navy.
How advanced was the maritime technology of the Ming Dynasty? This can be seen from Zheng He's seven voyages to the West in the early years. It originated from the Chaohu Water Division, one of the two main forces when Zhu Yuanzhang was fighting in Jiangshan, and this water division was further expanded after the Ming Dynasty Ancestor Zhu Di succeeded to the throne. In its heyday, it had 3,800 ships, of which 1,350 were cruisers and 1,350 were warships, as well as 400 large ships and 400 grain ships stationed at the Nanjing Xinjiangkou base. Such a magnificent scale ranked first in the world navy in that year.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty also had Western colonists invading, but they were all driven back by China's powerful navy. In 1521, the Portuguese navy invaded and occupied Tuen Mun Island in China, and the then Ming Emperor Zhu Houxi sent Wang Yun, the deputy ambassador of Guangdong Haidao, to fight, known in history as the Battle of Tuen Mun. In the end, the Ming Dynasty won a great victory. The following year, the Portuguese admiral was not convinced, and once again led a large army to attack, only to be beaten back by the Ming Dynasty, and from then on Portugal never dared to invade China again.
Fast forward to 1602, and a new naval power emerged in Western Europe, the Dutch Navy. In that year, through several victories in the Anglo-Dutch naval battles, the Dutch successfully snatched the title of naval hegemon of Western Europe from the British, and were called "sea coachmen". And they also set their sights on China on the other side of the ocean.
In 1622, the Dutch fleet sailed into the waters of the Ming Dynasty and quickly occupied China's Penghu Archipelago. Nan Juyi, then governor of Fujian Province, was ordered to expel the Dutch navy, and the Battle of Penghu broke out, and after two years of fierce fighting, the Ming army defeated the Dutch navy and recovered the Penghu Islands.
However, the Dutch did not have a dead heart, and in 1633, the fifth year of the reign of Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch navy once again attacked. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already weak and crumbling, peasant revolts were constantly revolting everywhere, and the north was constantly invaded by the Later Jin Jurchens outside the Guanwai.
When they were in internal and external difficulties, they were also suppressed by the navies of the Dutch powers. However, the Ming Dynasty did not give up resistance like the Qing Dynasty, in order to maintain territorial sovereignty, the Chongzhen Emperor resolutely mobilized all the navies and the Dutch to fight to the end, and in this war, the Ming Dynasty won the victory and forced the Netherlands to sign a surrender. It was also to see the determination of the Ming Dynasty to fight against foreign tribes to the death, and the Netherlands did not dare to invade China since then.
However, not long after, the Qing army entered the customs and the Ming Dynasty collapsed. The reason why the sea surface in the early years of the Qing Dynasty was calm and calm was thanks to the deterrent power of the Ming Dynasty Navy. This deterrent lasted for more than a hundred years, and with the development of the Industrial Revolution in the West, it became oblivious. After that, the modern and new navy of the Western powers was reorganized, and the Qing Dynasty, whose naval foundation was almost zero, it was reasonable to be beaten down.