The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, and it existed for a total of 296 years from the founding of Nurhaci to the Jin Dynasty, passing on to twelve emperors. If we want to say that the national strength of the Qing Dynasty reached its peak, it is still the Qianlong period. Good fellow, in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong (1790 AD), the Chinese mouth broke through to the level of 300 million. But Qianlong did something that brought about the early demise of the Qing Dynasty and also influenced the direction of China's century-old history.
In the twenty-second year of Qianlong (1757), Qianlong issued a holy decree from the capital to the coastal provinces, ordering the closure of all ports for Western trade except Guangzhou, and thoroughly implementing the policy of "closing the country and closing the country". The reason why Qianlong made this decision was not a whim, but had a deep background and origins in it.
In fact, as early as the first year of Yongzheng (1723), the Yongzheng Emperor ordered that Catholicism be banned in China, foreign missionaries were not allowed to enter China for mission, and related trade activities were restricted. Even as early as the Ming Dynasty, after Zheng He went to the West from 1405 to 1433, a series of sea bans began to be imposed. Why?
The reason is simple, because the Qing army is after entering the customs. Because it is a foreign ethnic group and a native Han Chinese, there will naturally be differences, so the regime is not very stable. After Zheng He went to the West, he learned that the Western countries were very strong, even stronger than their own in weapons and armaments. In order to prevent the overthrow of the hard-won country, the "Prohibition of The Sea Order" was promulgated.
But we know that closing the door is useless. If the enemy is much stronger than you, then the opponent can kick the door open. Since the development of the closed country, the productivity and scientific and technological level of the Qing Dynasty have almost always stopped a hundred years ago, while the Western powers are engaged in the industrial revolution.
In 1816, the English Earl of Amistad came to China to discuss trade, hoping that Qianlong's successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, would reopen the ports along the Coast of China, but this was refused. Amistus was so embarrassed that he even planned to go back and persuade the Emperor to conquer China by force. On the way back home, Napoleon, who had heard of the great name, was imprisoned.
Because he was on the way through, he wanted to meet Napoleon and hear his opinions and opinions. Amistad said: "China looks very strong on the surface, but in fact, behind it is a mud-footed giant, very weak." Napoleon, however, did not like Amistad's analogy, saying, "China is a lion that is still sleeping." ”
Many friends see here, will definitely secretly praise Napoleon in their hearts is indeed very discerning. In fact, today's China does not look like a lion that has awakened? Dominating the East and proud of the world, no country dares to easily offend. It is very different from the scene of decay in the late Qing Dynasty.
But in fact, Napoleon's sentence "China is a male lion that is still sleeping" has the second half of the sentence, and you will definitely not be able to laugh after reading it, the second half of the sentence is: "Don't disturb this male lion, just let him sleep forever." ”
Napoleon is a military genius, which can be described as a word. The British did not invade China immediately afterwards, but decades later pried open the closed doors of the Qing Dynasty with opium. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, under the oppression of the great powers, I do not know how many treaties of land reparations were signed, and it was not until after the founding of New China that they were recovered one by one. This period of recent history deserves eternal memory and reflection by future generations.