During the Qing Dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor was undoubtedly a very good emperor, and the Qianlong Emperor put an end to the prosperity of Kangqian. During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, a powerful courtier appeared, and he was Hezhen. Historically, Hezhen was very famous, but Hezhen's fame came from his corruption. The historical Hezhen was a big corrupt official.
Even in ancient history, He yan was one of the most corrupt officials. At the height of Hezhen's heyday, wealth certainly exceeded that of the Qing Dynasty's treasury. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the merits of He yan also existed, and his merits were irreplaceable just from the fact that he preserved the dream of the Red Chamber. If there were no Hezhen, people today would certainly not have seen the Dream of the Red Chamber.
During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, a very serious literal prison was implemented, so the Dream of the Red Chamber was a banned work, but the problem was that after seeing the Dream of the Red Chamber, He Yan felt that the Dream of the Red Chamber should be retained. So he suggested to the Qianlong Emperor that the Dream of the Red Chamber could be preserved. During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, He Yan made many suggestions. It's just that some haven't been adopted.
The closure of the country was proposed by the Qianlong Emperor and implemented by the Qianlong Emperor. During the Kangxi Emperor's time, the Qing Dynasty showed signs of closing the country, but at that time, the closed country was not serious. During the Qianlong Emperor's period, the closed country was very serious, and it is worth mentioning that although the closed country was very serious, there were still missionaries entering the Qing Dynasty.
During the Qing Dynasty, there were many famous missionaries, such as Ye Changqing, Tang Ruowang, Nan Huairen and so on. In short, there were not a few missionaries during the Qing Dynasty, so during the Qianlong Emperor period, the missionaries also came to the Qing Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, there was a strategy of closing the country off to the outside world, so there was a backward situation in terms of productivity.
The Backward Qing Dynasty was exploited and beaten by foreign countries, and during the Qing Dynasty, the economic model was very single, which was a huge difference from the Western powers at that time. However, after the emergence of the strategy of closing the country to the outside world, the Qing Dynasty was even more reluctant to learn the technology of the Western powers, which caused the backwardness and beating in the late Qing Dynasty.
The visit of the Macartney delegation to China was an opportunity for the Qing Dynasty to change its destiny, and in the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong, George Macartney and others visited the Qing Dynasty. The Macartney Mission was the first British diplomatic mission to reach China, and in history, the visit of the Macartney Mission to China was of great significance. At that time, Britain already had an industrial revolution, and capitalism was on the rise.
Therefore, Macartney's visit to China was also to expand British commerce. More importantly, during this visit to China, Macartney brought globes, textile machines, steam engines, mortars, rifles and so on. But the Qing Dynasty did not think so. The British at that time guessed the steam engine, the cotton spinning machine, the carding machine, the loom, and guessed that it would surprise and delight Chinese.
For these technological crystallizations, the Qianlong Emperor was very repulsive. So Macartney found the powerful minister of the time, Hezhen, who was a wise man. At that time, Macartney wanted to persuade the Qianlong Emperor with Hezhen. Although He Yan was a corrupt official, his businessman mind was not a joke. He Yan is a very good financial manager.
From another point of view, Hezhen must have understood some "economics". He Yan risked the death of the Qianlong Emperor to enter the court. As a result, Qianlong Longyan was furious and almost ordered he to be killed. This was to want the Qing Dynasty to trade with Britain, and more importantly, the Qing Dynasty should accept these technological achievements. At that time, the Qianlong Emperor was too pedantic.
This gave Macartney an opportunity, and at that time, Ma Garni reported the idea of the Qianlong Emperor to the British royal family, so the British germinated the idea of invading the Qing Dynasty. After this, the British began to dump opium on the Qing Dynasty. It was also a decision of the Qianlong Emperor that led the Qing Dynasty to its demise. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was completely different from the British, and the two sides began to compete for their own interests.
Nowadays, if the Qianlong Emperor had accepted the suggestion of Hezhen at that time, then the development of the Qing Dynasty would certainly have been a different scene. It was just that the Qianlong Emperor at that time was ideologically backward and had no foresight at all, which directly led to the Qing Dynasty lagging behind other Western powers, which laid a hidden danger for the late Qing Dynasty Western powers to invade the Qing Dynasty. Eventually, the Qing Dynasty came to an end.