Qianlong's vision is limited, and his prosperity is only a prosperous world in comparison with Chinese history

During qianlong's reign, China's territory was vast, its society was stable, and compared with the previous dynasty, it was indeed a prosperous era. However, if you pull the timeline apart, you will find that the decline of the Qing Dynasty began in the late Qianlong dynasty. Why? What's the problem?

Three important things happened in the world at that time: the British Industrial Revolution, the American Independence, and the French Revolution.

Did you know that Qianlong and US President Washington are people of the same era?

Some people say, no. Why do we feel that the Qianlong era is in ancient times, but the mention of US President Washington feels modern.

Yes, this was the most direct comparison of the world pattern at that time.

At that time, Britain was already an empire where the sun never set

Their king was George III. In 1793, the British sent a mission to China on the occasion of Qianlong's eightieth birthday.

When Qianlong was eighty years old, Washington had refused to serve as the third president of the United States. At that time, the United States had established a constitution and had three powers.

The impression of the East by Westerners has always been influenced by Marco Polo's Travels. Once in the era of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Great Yuan Dynasty, countries came to the East, people used gold for trading, so they felt that gold could be seen everywhere. Our land is very populous, and they are still small barbarian countries. We already have Ayara satin, and they are still under the dark rule of the Middle Ages. Many of them are curious and in awe of the unfamiliar Eastern China.

However, when they arrived in China, they were impressed by the huge class gap and the poverty of the common people at the bottom. John Barrow, the head of the mission, was surprised to see that the farmhouse was "mostly dilapidated and dirty." Dilapidated houses, some made of semi-fired bricks, some built of mud, roofs covered with straw or reeds, some of which are surrounded by mud walls, or fenced with rough reeds and sorghum stalks, are generally inhabited by two or three generations and feed cattle, pigs, chickens and other poultry. Officials always punished and humiliated them arbitrarily.

When they returned home, they said: China is majestic on the outside and weak on the inside, and it can be easily defeated. The poverty and backwardness we see are as far as the eye can see.

Qianlong was in an era when the world was undergoing great changes and the West had completed the industrial revolution, but it still inherited the old system and ruled the great power he thought was very prosperous.

Some people say that China's overall backwardness in the West began in the qianlong boom. This statement is not without merit. If the Qianlong period had been able to begin to study science and advance ideas, China would not have been invaded by the great powers 40 years later.

In the Qianlong era, he thought that the heavenly dynasty was a kingdom, but in fact he missed the opportunity for development, laying the foundation for the humiliation that followed. The purpose of the original mission in the peace talks in China was all achieved through war.

The gifts that Britain gave to Qianlong at that time were: celestial body running instrument, globe, Herschel telescope, Parker lens, steam engine, textile machine, chandelier, grandfather clock, carriage with shock absorption device, knives and daily necessities made of special steel, oil paintings...

To show off their strength, they also brought howitzers, mortars, carbines, burst pistols, models of the giant battleship "King" armed with 110 guns, and they even brought hot air balloons

If the Great Emperor is interested, he can completely sit in a hot air balloon and go around the sky... However, the miraculous thing is that because of etiquette and other issues, some gifts Qianlong did not see. Some armaments of the Qing army would not be used blindly, so that Qianlong mistakenly thought that these weapons were far inferior to his own native guns and artillery. Later, when the British army invaded the Yuanmingyuan, they found that these top weapons were still in the warehouse, and they did not understand why such a good weapon did not have to be placed in the warehouse, and why was it to fight with them with the worn-out weapons?

During the current British mission, they conducted in-depth investigation and study of China's geographical landform, mountains, rivers, animal and plant species, economic conditions, forms of social organization, scientific and technological level, military strength, national mentality, and many other aspects. Macartney and his party successfully gathered a lot of first-hand intelligence about China, laying the foundation for future wars.

In order to show the strength of the Heavenly Dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor specially instructed the troops along the way to perform exercises and let them watch the military might. But Macartney saw at a glance the backwardness of the Qing army. Even the emperors sat in old carriages, but the new carriages they brought from England with shock absorption effects were thrown in the warehouse because of the etiquette of the coachmen sitting in front of the carriages, and they were not delivered to Qianlong.

What is the reason why The Fatal Qianlong did not really realize the gap between the progress of the West and himself?

The 13-year-old Stangdong in the Macartney mission had met Qianlong in person because he knew some Chinese, was very popular with Qianlong, and was given gifts. But when he grew up, it was he who tried his best to advocate the Opium War in the House of Commons. The weakness under the surface of the prosperity of the Great Qing Dynasty could not escape even the eyes of a child. Qianlong's favorite little boy of the mission became the main force attacking his empire.

Great people are the products of history and culture, whether qianlong or others, are great people in the long river of history.

If China had agreed to an equal treaty between the two countries when it first came to celebrate Qianlong's birthday, would there have been no subsequent wars?

If you're a rabbit, the great powers are always thinking about how to eat your flesh. Only when you are strong and stand in front of them as a lion, they will not dare to show the face of a jackal.

In the later period of Qianlong, he thought that the world was peaceful and began to enjoy himself, but he did not realize that the disparity between his strength and that of other countries was getting bigger and bigger. The so-called Qianlong prosperous world is only a relative concept.