In the middle and late period of Qing rule, the United States fought the War of Independence, and the United Kingdom was engaged in the Industrial Revolution. Only the Qing Dynasty lagged behind the West in its self-imposed self-imposed pace.
Some people say that the Qing court did not see the opportunity, otherwise it could also develop science and technology to become stronger. In fact, this was not the case, and the British gave the Qing court a chance more than once.
In the early years of the Kangxi Dynasty, the Qing government also implemented a policy of sea ban, the purpose of which was to prevent Zheng Chenggong in Taiwan and the remnants of the Southern Ming dynasty who were exiled overseas.
After the establishment of San Francisco and the seizure of Taiwan, the Qing court had no threat from the sea, and the Kangxi Emperor ordered that overseas trade be allowed.
During the Qianlong period, a British merchant wrote to the Qing government to request the expansion of trade, which not only did not attract attention but made the Qing government strengthen its vigilance.
The four customs opened during the Kangxi Dynasty were closed by Qianlong in three places, leaving only one Guangdong customs, the "Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou".
Under the protection of this trade barrier, even if britain had completed the industrial revolution, it had to be in a trade deficit in the face of the Qing court.
In order to protect his own interests, King George V of the United Kingdom sent Macartney as ambassador to lead a delegation to visit the Qing Dynasty.
According to the information preserved by the British side, the purpose of the mission was mainly as follows: to obtain a concession like Macao, to open a commercial port, to comply with the Qing government's opium ban, and to exchange ambassadors.
There is no doubt that in addition to the first point to be discussed, the other three points are more beneficial than harmful to the Qing court.
The mission also carried a handwritten letter from George V as a sign of good faith.
Ordinary people still bring small gifts when they visit relatives, not to mention friendly exchanges between countries?
During this visit, the British side brought many gifts to the Qianlong Emperor, including: large globes, reflective telescopes, solar system planet demonstrators and barometers and other instruments.
In addition, there are sofa swivel chairs, physical exercise equipment such as barbells, machine-produced fabrics, and horse-drawn carriages with shock absorbers.
But the most important thing is the special steel made of swords, rifles, howitzers and flowering ammunition, and even a model of Britain's strongest battleship at the time, the King.
It is not difficult to see that the United Kingdom is full of sincerity for this friendly exchange.
Otherwise, he would not have given so many advanced weapons and equipment to the Qianlong Emperor, which was almost the epitome of all modern science at that time.
He thought that these things would open the qianlong emperor's eyes and agree to expand trade to buy British goods. In any case, this kind of thinking and demand is not excessive.
The Qianlong Emperor also gave the mission a high-standard reception, and instructed the officials that if the etiquette was not close, they did not have to force them to perform the three kneeling and nine prostrations ceremony, according to their customs and customs.
From this point of view, the Qianlong Emperor seems to be quite enlightened.
But this so-called enlightenment is only based on the superiority of the "heavenly kingdom", and England is a barbarian in his eyes, and he disdains to accept barbarian gifts.
To the surprise of the British mission, the Qianlong Emperor was completely uninterested in astronomical instruments and weapons and equipment, and only looked at one of the clocks.
In order to show the national strength of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong specially invited Ma Garni to visit the treasure house of the Rehe Palace. According to the members of the mission, "such as globes, solar system instruments, clocks, musical automata, all their own European high art works, they do not have"!
Seeing the surprised British mission, the Qing court officials admitted that the objects collected here are "a million different from the palaces in the Yuanmingyuan that specialize in European objects"!
Macartney exclaimed, "I don't know why the wealth of the Chinese emperor is so strong!" ”
However, including the Qianlong Emperor, no one in the entire Qing Dynasty realized that various scientific instruments marked the rapid development of astronomy, and howitzers marked the application of chemistry in the military field.
However, this crystallization of modern science did not attract the attention and interest of the emperor at all. Except for some clocks and watches, these scientific instruments and weapons and equipment were all sealed in a treasure trove.
In his reply to George V, Qianlong wrote the following sentence: "The Heavenly Dynasty is rich in products and has everything, and it was originally not foreign goods, so as to pass through the existence."
In this way, the visit of Macartney and his party ended in failure, and the wish for friendly trade was not fulfilled.
More than forty years later, the British visited the Qing Dynasty again, only this time with a strong ship and cannon.
Twenty years later, during the Second Opium War, after the Anglo-French combined forces invaded the Yuanmingyuan, which symbolized the "rich power of the emperor", they also saw the grenade presented by Macartney to the Qianlong Emperor in 1793.
According to the invaders, "Those things seemed to be intact and never used. ”
It has been 67 years since Macartney delivered this howitzer! Later things are known to everyone, it is a humiliating history.
At that time, the Qianlong Emperor could "copy" and promote the use of howitzers brought by Macartney, even if the technology lagged behind britain, at least in 1840 it would not be so bad.
The Qing Dynasty was not without opportunities, the West gave them the opportunity, but the emperor was reluctant to want it!