Since ancient times, the territorial sovereignty of the state has been one of the core powers of the state in the hands of those in power, and if a country cannot even protect its own national territory, how can it talk about protecting the people in the country? On the other hand, the disputes between territories are often the cause of the continuous disputes between the two countries, during the Warring States period, the seven countries competed for hegemony, each country was friendly and enemy of each other, weighing the advantages and disadvantages and setting up a plan, all of which were for the territory and sovereignty of their respective countries.
During the Qing Dynasty in China, the land area reached a record high for a time, and the territorial expansion ability of this period was really amazing, from the 3.5 million square kilometers of the Ming Dynasty to the grand territory of 14.53 million square kilometers, so why did the Qing Dynasty do this? What's going on here?
The land of the Ming Dynasty shrank dramatically
If the ming dynasty's land area and expansion rate are more than compared with the Qing Dynasty, naturally there is no phenomenon of rapid expansion of the Qing Dynasty, but the actual problem occurs here.
The early ancient state did not form a centralized unified whole, but existed in the form of large and small princely states, and it was not until the Qin Shi Huang period that it was finally unified and unified many national standards, which formed the early prototype of China. Then, during the Han Dynasty, due to the reasons for the confrontation with the Xiongnu, the authorities set their sights on the Yellow River Loop and the Hexi Corridor region, and then divided the western region into the territory of our country.
With the change of dynasties, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions also entered the territory of our country during the Yuan Dynasty, which was also the most extensive period in China's history. In the Ming Dynasty, due to zhu Yuanzhang's advocacy, the whole country began to build a large number of civil engineering, and the Ming Great Wall rose from the ground, and at that time, the Mongolian foreign tribes never stopped their disputes over China's frontiers, which also laid the cause for the later period. In the middle and late period of the Ming Dynasty's development, due to the decline of the imperial court, the territory of the Ming Dynasty shrank significantly, leaving only 3.5 million square kilometers of territory.
The characteristics of those in power are driven by self-protection mechanisms
We all know that the Qing Dynasty is also called the Manchu Qing, that is to say, the people in power who formed this regime are themselves a group of ethnic minorities, and according to historical records, the Manchu Qing clan at that time was originally only a tribe near Changbai Mountain, and there were thousands of such ethnic groups under the dynasty at that time, so the sensitivity of identity made the people in power have to establish a sensitive defense mechanism.
The best way to protect oneself is to eliminate those factors that may threaten oneself, and this idea is reflected in reality, that is, the continuous expansion of territory, the crushing and elimination of other regimes.
At present, most of the territory expanded by the Qing Dynasty at that time was the Mongolian region in the north, mainly because the ethnic groups derived from this area since ancient times were very threatening to the Central Plains, and these ethnic groups could not only accumulate strength against the Central Plains, but even overthrow the rule of the current dynasty, so that they were bound to be left behind. This indirectly reflects the sense of distress of those in power.
Convenient location, with strong expansion strength
Before the Manchu Qing dynasty formally overthrew the rule of the Ming Dynasty at that time, in fact, it had already united with other minority tribal groups and formed a complete alliance system, which also laid the foundation for the rule of the Qing Dynasty in the future, and indirectly formed the conditions for unification at the level of ethnic minorities.
Moreover, because as a northern nomad, most of the Manchu Qing soldiers were more proficient in horsemanship, and in order to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, the Han Dynasty also sent a large number of troops to engage, but because of the obvious weakness of the cavalry, it often fell behind in battle, and this was more perfectly supplemented in the Qing Dynasty's army, thus enhancing the fighting ability of the overall army and having sufficient strength in the process of expansion.
Combining the above conditions, this created the vast territory of Our country during the Qing Dynasty, but such a huge area has evolved to the current territory of 9.6 million square kilometers of Our country, which also has the factors of invasion by great powers and the decay of those in power. In any case, this period of history will always exist in the course of history.
Resources:
Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, etc