During the Kangxi Dynasty, the level of artillery in the Qing Dynasty was, at least superficially, very close to that of the West.
However, more than 100 years later, when the British army came to attack, the equipment of the Qing Dynasty was completely different from that of the opponent.
What's going on here?
There was a gap between the level of firearms in the Kangxi period and the West, but the gap was not large
In the 25th year of Kangxi, the King of the Netherlands sent envoys to China to pay tribute to the "Shotgun of the Intestine", and Kangxi ordered the firearms dealer Dai Zi to imitate 10 and give them back to the Dutch envoys.
From this point of view, although the Western firearms at that time were advanced, there was no problem in the Qing Dynasty to manufacture them.
"Introduction + transformation" is the actual reflection of the development of firearms in the Kangxi Dynasty.
Unlike the later Qing emperors, Kangxi was relatively open-minded, and he paid great attention to learning and introducing advanced Western technology through Western missionaries.
At the same time, severe national defense pressure also made Kangxi attach great importance to the manufacture and equipment of firearms.
At that time, Kangxi's opponents had a certain level of firearms.
Both Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong were equipped with a considerable number of red-clad cannons.
The Zheng regime maintained long-term ties with the Netherlands and Britain, maintaining relatively advanced artillery capabilities.
The Dzungars also hired Swedes (whose artillery standards were among the highest in Europe at the time) to make artillery.
In order to deal with these opponents, Kangxi was well aware that "firearms in the military are very necessary" and attached great importance to the development and manufacture of firearms.
From the eleventh year of the Kangxi Dynasty to the sixtieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the number of various artillery pieces produced by the central government alone reached 905.
Because the wars of the Kangxi Dynasty took place both in the southern mountains and on the coastal islands, both in the vast grasslands and in the fortified cities of Yaksa, the Kangxi Dynasty had a rich variety of artillery, including both red-clad cannons and new artillery such as cupola cannons, alphabet cannons and strange cannons; there were both large-caliber heavy artillery and various types of light artillery that were easy to carry.
In general, the advanced artillery of the Kangxi Dynasty has been mainly "introduced + transformed", although there is a slight gap with the most advanced level in the West, but on the whole it is on the same level.
However, the level of firearms during the Kangxi Dynasty was already the highest level of firearms before the Opium War.
Stagnation, collapse
As mentioned earlier, Kangxi attached great importance to firearms, largely because of external pressures.
The San Francisco Rebellion, which directly wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and Gardan proposed the right to rule the north, which were threats that "hurt the foundation of the country".
However, after the defeat of Kaldan, although the war between the Qing Dynasty and Dzungar continued for decades, the Great and Small Jinchuan, the Zhang Gel Rebellion, and the White Lotus Rebellion all threatened the Great Qing, but their threats were no longer the same as those of Wu Sangui and Kaldan.
Therefore, since the late years of The Kangxi Dynasty, the attitude toward firearms has changed from positive development to prevention.
Not only did the new development stop, but all the armies and localities needed to be equipped with what kind of firearms they needed to be designated by the imperial court and cast in accordance with the style and size left by the previous dynasty.
It can be said that the development and development of firearms has basically stagnated.
In 1840, the year of the Outbreak of the Opium War, Qiqihar requested that cannons be built, and the Daoguang Emperor issued an edict to "estimate in detail" the size of the "Shenwei Great General Cannon" in the "Imperial Ritual Instrument Schema".
The Shenwei Great General Cannon is a copper cannon made by Kangxi for twenty years!
It can be seen that in addition to the great removal of the firearms of the Kangxi period 160 years ago, nothing new can be taken out!
Of course, according to the needs of combat, the Qing Dynasty still developed some "new equipment" after that, such as lifting guns, but basically they were transformed on the basis of the equipment of the Kangxi Dynasty, and there was no substantive breakthrough.
After the Qianlong period, the country was closed to the outside world, and the connection with the West was basically maintained at the lowest level, and the Qing Dynasty not only lagged behind, but also did not know that it was backward.
What is even more frightening is that not only is it stagnant, but there is also a fatal slippery slope in the level of firearms in the Great Qing.
First, there is the slippery slope of manufacturing capacity.
The manufacture of firearms in the Qing Dynasty, after which it was cast according to the "mold" cast by Nan Huairen and others, not only had no ability to innovate at all, but also, the more times it was recast, the greater the error.
By the time of the Daoguang years, "the diameter around the head and tail could not be calculated, arbitrary size, one by one", and the artillery of the Kangxi Dynasty could not even copy it.
Secondly, it is the "loss" of a large number of advanced equipment.
Since it was only "copied" according to the regulations, many of the equipment that had not been "copied" were not even known to everyone.
For example, the Qing Dynasty developed explosive bombs very early.
However, due to the rare use in exercises and actual combat, later everyone did not know that Daqing still had such equipment!
Therefore, during the Opium War, the British had a variety of shells, and the Qing army could only use solid bullets, as for the more powerful explosive bombs, even Lin Zexu did not know that the Qing had such shells!
For another example, Dai Zi once invented the "Lianzhu Fire Hammer". However, because it was "hidden at home" and had no formal equipment, it was "especially present in Qianlong", and it was later lost.
For more than 100 years, the level of firearms in the Qing Dynasty has stagnated and slipped.
In the past 100 years, the level of firearms in the West has undergone revolutionary changes.
160 years of rapid advances in Western firearms
In 1690, Kangxi won the Battle of UlanButong.
Kaldan, who proposed the right to rule the north, was defeated, and the pressure on the Qing Dynasty was suddenly reduced, after which the development of firearms in the Kangxi Dynasty and even the Qing Dynasty stagnated.
Just 2 years ago, the French invented the barrel bayonet.
In 1703, the French army used the casing bayonet for the first time on the battlefield, and since then, this has become the standard for Western armies.
This is an invention that opens up the gap between Chinese and Western infantry.
Previously, because firearms required close combat cover, the army needed a large number of cold weapons such as spearmen.
In this case, the ratio of firearms in China and the West is similar, and both are hot and cold weapons around 5:5. Muskets, in essence, are just a substitute for the bow and crossbow.
After the widespread use of barrel-sleeved bayonets, the melee combat capabilities of Western musketeers have greatly increased, and they have been able to fight independently from the cover of cold weapons.
As a result, the proportion of firearms and equipment in Western armies increased rapidly, which brought about revolutionary changes in army structure and fire density.
In 1818, Britain developed a fire cap, and in 1835, Germany developed a handle rifle that struck a gunpowder, ignited a flame, and fired a warhead, that is, a firing pin gun.
During the First Opium War, the British were equipped with Bock-style rifles, which were such firing rifles.
With this musket, the shooter can shoot in any position (lying down, kneeling, or on the move)!
This also means that when shooting at each other, the Qing army, which can only stand up and shoot, cannot fight it at all!
The gap in the guns widened, and the gap in the artillery was even greater.
At the same time, the Industrial Revolution brought about a leap in smelting technology and production.
At the end of the eighteenth century, the West began to use the churning process to forge iron, which could forge cast iron, and by 1829, it was possible to preheat the blast air with the residual gas of the blast furnace, increasing the output of wrought iron by 3 times.
As a result, the output of cast iron and wrought iron in the West increased rapidly.
In 1720, during the Kangxi Dynasty, Britain's iron production was 20,000 tons, in 1806 it was 250,000 tons, and in 1850 it reached 2.5 million tons!
By the beginning of the 19th century, European countries have been able to use pig iron, copper casting a variety of smoothbore front-loading guns, and according to their caliber, length ratio and performance characteristics, distinguish between cannons, howitzers, etc.; the gun body from hundreds of pounds, thousands of pounds to 10,000 pounds; caliber from a few inches to more than ten inches; shells have solid shells, incendiary shells, scattered bullets, artillery range is generally 1000-2000 meters, 2 to 3 shells per minute.
This completely opened the gap between the artillery of China and the West.
Not only is there a significant gap in quality and process, but even in terms of quantity, the two sides are not at all in an order of magnitude.
As mentioned earlier, the Kangxi Dynasty cast 905 cannons of various types in the forty-six years, and after that, the number of the Qing Dynasty declined sharply.
In Borodino in 1812, in one day, the French put in 587 guns and the Russians put in 640 guns!
Quality, quantity, the gap between the two sides has completely opened!
There is no terrible gap, and what is even more frightening is that this gap cannot be quickly caught up.
The gap is no longer easy to catch up
In fact, the level of firearms in the Kangxi period was "on the same level" as that of the West, which was the result of a round of "catch-up".
Gunpowder and firearms were all invented by our country.
After gunpowder and firearms were introduced to the West, the East and the West developed firearms according to their respective trajectories.
However, by the time of the Jiajing period, when the Portuguese "Francon machine" and "shotgun" entered, Daming had realized the need to learn from the West.
Through learning, Daming quickly mastered these advanced firearms and was able to combine the characteristics of traditional firearms to transform them.
Therefore, until the Kangxi period, the level of firearms in the Qing Dynasty was still relatively easy to maintain the same level as that of the West.
However, the gap formed by this backwardness is no longer easy to catch up.
Because the main reason for the gap in firearms in the Ming Dynasty was the demand for firearms.
Since the ming dynasty, the world has been in peace for a long time, there is no urgent need to develop firearms, plus the rulers are "afraid of leakage of habits", so the development of traditional firearms has stagnated.
In contrast, the Western countries were constantly at war with each other and within, and firearms were developing rapidly, so by the time of the Jiajing period, Daming had to learn from the West.
At that time, the gap between the two sides in basic science and manufacturing capabilities was not large, and Daming could naturally use it without any pressure.
However, this time, it was difficult to catch up.
This time the gap stems from the great development of Western scientific and technological and industrial capabilities!
With the captured artillery, Daming could change all kinds of Flang machines, but even if daqing held the weapons of the British army, it could not be manufactured.
Whether it is basic science or metallurgical technology, there is a decisive gap between the two sides.
What is even more frightening is that due to the acceleration of technological development, Western technology is actually still accelerating its development, and the revolutionary changes in equipment are still continuing, so after the Opium War, for a long time, the gap between the Qing Dynasty and the West has not only not narrowed, but is still widening.
In terms of firearms, during the Kangxi Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was already a "follower".
At that time, although Western technology had advantages, it was not enough to overcome the "away disadvantage" and "scale disadvantage" and successfully invaded the Qing Dynasty.
Therefore, after solving several major threats, in the eyes of the Qing rulers, although the Western technology was good, it was not enough to threaten the Qing, but the pressure of internal rule was relatively large.
Therefore, daqing gave up "running" and instead maintained its rule by tying hands and feet.
As a result, after the Industrial Revolution, when the technological superiority of the West was enough to make it overcome the "away disadvantage" and "scale disadvantage", the Qing Dynasty was simply powerless to stop it!