When it comes to the Qing Dynasty, it is believed that in most people's minds, it is ignorant, backward, poor, feudal, and even shameful.
Although the Qing Dynasty was closed to the outside world, it was not ignorant of the outside world
We can learn from the fact that Kangxi once asked Western missionaries to teach him Western studies, including astronomy, mathematics, geography, zoology, anatomy, music, and even philosophy, and even the proper nouns in our mathematics now "root", "yuan", "sub-", "power", "solution" in the operation of the high-yuan multiple equations are invented by Kangxi.
In June 1793, after a nine-month long journey, sent by the British royal family, the Macartney mission finally arrived on the coast of Tianjin and then went to the capital to meet Qianlong.
After Macartney submitted the credentials of King George III of England and made a request for trade, qianlong simply and neatly refused, and replied to the famous sentence: "The Heavenly Dynasty is rich in products and has everything, and originally did not use foreign goods to have it, but because the tea, porcelain, and silk jin produced by the Heavenly Dynasty are necessary for the Western countries and er countries, it is to be gracious." ”
According to the Diary of Macartney, in order to achieve the purpose of trade, the British mission brought the most advanced products of the Industrial Revolution, including carbines and repeating pistols, and when Macartney confidently placed these items in front of the reception minister, Fukangan, his attitude was cold and abnormal, "not only ignoring them, but even smiling from then on." He just said, "There is nothing unusual about this kind of weapon manipulation." It's okay to see it, it's okay not to see it. ”
Therefore, Macartney was very confused: "Fukang'an's attitude makes me feel inexplicable, is it that he saw the same object when he was in Guangzhou?" Or is he a man who thinks he is capable, wary of us Britons probing into local customs and customs to the detriment of China? I think the latter explanation is more reasonable.
The reason why the Qing Dynasty was so indifferent to the Macartney Mission was completely because it was the French Revolution, and the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and France was relatively friendly, for example, many palaces at that time were French, and Qianlong's favorite French clocks, accessories, etc. could be expressed. During the reign of Louis XV, two missionaries, Gauls and Yang Dewang, were sent to Beijing for a visit, and Qianlong also planned to organize a mission to have Qian Deming serve as an adviser for a return visit. That is, before the arrival of the Magalni mission, Qianlong learned the news that Louis XVI's head had been cut off, and we can imagine how shocked Qianlong was to learn that the emperor of a country had his head cut off, combined with the political environment in China at that time and Qianlong's attitude toward rebellion.
Qian Deming recorded what he saw in Beijing: "Regarding the riots and various acts of sabotage in France, the Qing court was very vigilant, and although foreign craftsmen were still respected and welcomed in Beijing, their actions were monitored by the government, especially the letters to Europe, which must also be examined one by one." After learning that Macartney's visit to China had hit a wall, Chandmin wrote with regret: "If the British could arrive before the bad news in Europe arrived, perhaps they would have encountered much less trouble, and after the turmoil in Europe (that is, the French Revolution), Chinese regarded Europeans as crazy people." ”
And with the research and discovery in recent years in the Manchu archives left by the Qing Palace also found more shocking facts of the sticky pole agents, at that time collected a large number of various intelligence in the world at that time, not only know the ins and outs of the French Revolution, but also know that Britain underwent a comprehensive industrial revolution, and even the industrial revolution has penetrated into Central Asia at that time, and very clear understanding of the latest current political information at that time such as british ships sailing in the world's oceans, are fully reflected in the archives. At that time, the intelligence personnel believed that the biggest enemy of the Qing Empire at that time was Northern Russia.
After the British occupation of India, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty even sent spies to India to search for intelligence, and even deduced the biggest enemy of the future country
From the above, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty not only knew all the things and developments in the world at that time, but also knew what the advanced weapons in the world were at that time, which means that the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty fully understood the world at that time, but they were always guarding against the Han people, and even if the country sank together, they had to strictly guard against the Han people. This is also the reason why the emperors of the Qing Dynasty did not dare or even allow the study of firearms, because there were few Manchus and many Han Chinese