The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, with a total of twelve emperors, and its existence was 276 years from the change of the name of the emperor Taiji to the state name. It also had peak periods, the qianlong period was the peak, but the partial decay also began here. As we all know, the root cause of decay is the isolation of the country, and the fundamental purpose of this policy is to maintain feudal rule and guard against Western colonialists. But this measure of self-defense is extremely passive, and the best measure of self-defense is to be strong, not to lock yourself up. What's the difference between that and covering your ears and stealing bells?
At the beginning, the closed country was not deep, but just to prevent the people from communicating with Zheng's anti-Qing forces, it changed here in Qianlong. First, in order to maintain the rule of strict control of thought, all books that were considered incompatible with his ideas were destroyed. Of course, this move has been done by successive dynasties, but the book burning pit of Qin Shi Huang is that there are no practical books, and there are no practical books such as science and technology and agriculture. Qianlong is good, it does not matter whether you are practical, as long as the book ideas and the author's thoughts are anti-Qing, they are all prohibited, including Song Yingxing's Heavenly Works.
In his later years, he was also very happy, blindly confident that the Heavenly Dynasty was rich in materials, could be self-sufficient, and did not need to trade with others. At the sound of an order, the Qing Dynasty's door to the outside world was completely locked, and from then on until the Opium War. The Qing Dynasty was like a small village with a blocked road, ignorant of the outside world, which eventually caused a very large gap and backwardness. All this is actually derived from thought, and it has been suggested that if Kangxi had not passed the throne to Yongzheng in the first place, perhaps there would have been no later backwardness.
This matter has to start from the ascension of Yongzheng, Qianlong was the only descendant of Kangxi to keep around when he was young, so that as soon as Yongzheng ascended the throne, he regarded Hongli as the candidate for the crown prince in his mind. If Yongzheng had not ascended the throne, there would have been no Ascension to the throne, and if Kangxi had given the throne to his thirteenth son, Ai Xinjueluo Yinxiang, perhaps there would have been no subsequent fate. Yin Xiang was born on the first day of October (November 16 in the Gregorian calendar) in the twenty-fifth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1686), and he lived with the Kangxi Gurudwara at the age of twelve. In the nine years until the deposed prince incident, no matter where Kangxi went, he would take him with him.
It can be seen that his ability, and later performance during the Yongzheng years, actually proved that Yin Xiang not only had a higher cultural attainment, but also had a better ability to do things. Good at coordinating interpersonal relationships, is a rare talent, history records to see his character is stubborn and stubborn. But the most important thing is to be inclusive, so to speak. He was not keen on religion, but he had great respect for the religious people, and the missionaries felt that Yin Xiang was friendly to them. Unlike others, he saw the Jews and wanted to try to understand the situation of the people and the cultural relics. His personality was modest, and if Yin Xiang were emperor, he might not have closed the country, but carefully studied weapons.
This can be seen in his life, when he was in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he built a wide range of weapons, and he never tires of trying them every time. Historically, he and Yin Chan were Ming Junxian, but his ability was not worse than that of the fourth brother. Yin Chan's prosperity was also inseparable from his support, and most of the young and humble officials in the Yongzheng Dynasty were recommended by him. These people did have great talents, and later formed the backbone of the entire state system from Yongzheng to the early years of Qianlong.
The only bad thing was probably his body, which he fell ill during the Kangxi Dynasty and later overworked during the Yongzheng Period. He himself had a strong sense of political responsibility and mission, and if he were emperor, I am afraid he would only be more diligent. Premature death was also preordained, but his inclusiveness did not necessarily result in a lockdown. If, in this way, the situation will still change, then the history of the Qing Dynasty will be very different. But history is history because it cannot be changed.
Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Liechuan VII, Kings VI