Flipping through the history books, you will find a law: each dynasty in history will bloom its last glory before it falls, and then prosper and decline after experiencing a series of twists and turns, such as the Tang Dynasty after the kaiyuan dynasty, immediately broke out the Anshi rebellion and the dispute between friends and parties; After the Ming Dynasty rose in the Wanli Dynasty, it also experienced the dictatorship of eunuchs and peasant revolts; The Qing Dynasty, a dynasty founded by the Manchus, spent more than 40 years after more than 130 years of Kangqian's prosperity, and also broke out the Opium War, which soon went to extinction. The rate of decline is "the first in history". So, what is the reason for the sharp decline of this dynasty that has just experienced a prosperous era? Today Xiaobian will analyze it with you.
First of all, the "prosperous era of Kangqian" in the mouths of the rulers is not as brilliant as in the history books, and the overall national conditions are not optimistic. During the Kangqian dynasty, China's peasants accounted for the majority, the urbanization rate was less than 8%, although compared with the Ming Dynasty, the population increased step by step, but it was only a symptom of prosperity, and it was still far from Britain, which completed the first industrial revolution. During the Kangxi Dynasty, after years of conquest of the surrounding small countries, the common people did live a stable life. However, in the later years of Kangxi, official corruption became popular, and many problems appeared in the national economy, although after the Yongzheng Emperor's rectification, the overall situation improved slightly, but it was only a temporary effect.
Second, the emperor implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, so that the overall national strength lagged behind the rapidly developing Western countries. At the same time as the kangqian dynasty, the European countries were implementing the Renaissance movement, and in 1840, Britain, France, and Germany had completed the first industrial revolution, and we were still a small-scale peasant economy, a self-sufficient production and operation model, and industrialization was far away. In addition, the Qing court implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, resulting in Chinese culture and military being in a backward position, and losing the opportunity to enter modern industry.
Third, while consuming a large amount of wealth, the Qianlong Emperor did not innovate state policies, and even encouraged corrupt officials to run rampant. After succeeding to the throne, the Qianlong Emperor was very dissatisfied with the harsh policies implemented during the Yongzheng period, and began to emulate the "leniency" style of the ancestor Kangxi, and also dealt a blow to the capable cadres cultivated during the Yongzheng period. Qianlong's move, which seems to be reconciling social contradictions, actually restores the social state to the scene in Kangxi's later years. On the other hand, Qianlong was an emperor who attached great importance to pleasure, and immediately after he succeeded to the throne, he built gardens and several jiangnans, and often had more than 10,000 followers, coupled with Qianlong's connivance with bureaucratic corruption, making the whole society more and more degenerate and degenerate.
It was also the fuse of the closed country that sent this devastated Qing Dynasty to its demise. Although the prosperity of Kangqian was not as beautiful as recorded, it was still the fastest growing period of the Qing Dynasty. From the above analysis, it is not difficult to see that the decline of the Qing Dynasty was not only 40 years, but nearly 100 years.