As the last feudal dynasty, the ideological transformation of the entire society of the Qing Dynasty experienced great tearing and fragmentation.
At that time, the European industrial revolution was already rising, and Western countries were feverishly manufacturing long guns and short cannons.
At the same time, the rulers of the late Qing Dynasty were still enjoying the wealth and wisdom accumulated by their predecessors, but they no longer had the spirit of "opening their eyes to the world".
The Qianlong Emperor, who is famous in Chinese history, made many contributions to national governance, and in the early days of pro-government, he attached great importance to the lives of the people and the development of agriculture.
It is precisely because of the good development of agriculture that people rely on for survival, the overall economic development of the Qing Dynasty at that time was booming, the people became more and more prosperous, and all kinds of exquisite handicrafts from traditional Chinese techniques were spread around the world and enjoyed a good reputation.
The prosperous scene at home made Qianlong believe that as long as the country guarded its doors and resisted the invasion of foreign countries, then the country's prosperity and peace would certainly be preserved.
After all, China at that time experienced several grand scenes from the Sui to the Qing Dynasty, and this self-confidence that penetrated into the bone marrow gave Qianlong a great illusion, and thus lost his sense of crisis.
Therefore, when confronted with the British envoys who asked for trade, he not only blindly refused all the requests of the envoys, but also asked the envoys to bring back a reply letter to the English king.
It is from this letter that we can faintly glimpse the epitome of the Qing Dynasty's downhill path, which the Qianlong Emperor did not expect.
Big misunderstanding at birthday parties
In the summer of 1793, a large fleet of ships from England was docked off the coast of Tianjin.
The chief Macaniel was an envoy and his trip had two main purposes:
The first is to celebrate the birthday of Qianlong, who is already 82 years old; Second, it wants to take the opportunity to open up the channels for trade between the ports of the two countries.
At that time, China gave the impression to the world that there were many different schools of thought; There are diligent craftsmen in the material.
Coupled with the ability to fight good battles in successive dynasties, everyone believes that this is an ancient and powerful eastern power, and its strength is unfathomable.
Therefore, porcelain, cheongsam, tea, etc. produced in China became a luxury item that the aristocracy was keen to pursue abroad.
As a Maganir with many years of experience in caravanserais, he naturally did not let go of this huge business opportunity and started the idea of trade.
Britain in the 18th century was a newly born capitalist power. As a gesture of sincerity, Maganiel brought hundreds of gifts alone. From eating, dressing and having fun, down to the ornaments, everything was prepared.
Even arms and weapons, such as cannons, are on the list of gifts.
Maganiel's team landed confidently, but did not expect to encounter difficulties in the first time they saw Qianlong.
It was June, and Qianlong was playing in the palace of the summer resort, and it was Qianlong's favored courtier Hejun who received them.
Neither Qianlong nor Helong had the concept of Britain coming to "diplomatic relations" in their consciousness, but believed that Britain came to worship vassals like other small countries in the past.
After all, Britain, they have neither heard of nor know where, how powerful can it be? Therefore, Hejun naturally thought that Maganiel and they wanted to meet Qianlong and perform the three bows and nine bows.
But Maganiel doesn't think so. He told him that he represented the whole of England and was loyal to his monarch. How could he give such a great gift to the emperors of other countries?
When these words reached Qianlong's ears, the emperor, who had ruled the Qing Dynasty for more than 50 years, was furious. If he hadn't retained some decency, it is estimated that Qianlong would have wanted to drive the mission away at that time.
Unexpectedly, Qianlong's attitude was so unasperating, Maganir and others felt that since they came with a mission, they couldn't return without even seeing each other, right? After much maneuvering, the two sides agreed to the British envoy kneeling down on one knee to see him.
Qianlong was certainly not satisfied with this approach, and he subconsciously developed a prejudice against Britain as an "impudent small country", and his attitude was even more contemptuous.
After Maganir presented the treasures, he selected a few precious ones to introduce to Qianlong, from exquisite Western clocks to world-leading steam engines, looms, and the latest British model of warships.
This move undoubtedly told Qianlong and the ministers present that we in Britain have the ability and strength, and we came with a friendly attitude, but we will not be bullied.
But Qianlong did not think carefully about the value of these gifts and the meaning behind them, but simply thought that this was the "sincerity" of the British royal family to pay tribute to him.
The ministers also thought that they were inconspicuous gadgets that were extremely advanced and practical tools at the time, similar to the magic props used to sell art at street stalls. No one thinks of the huge industrial value behind it.
So Qianlong put on a posture of tolerance and compassion, praised the sincerity of the mission, gave some jewelry, and then let them go back.
Big show "muscles" show flaws
Maganiel never expected that he would be so busy for such a long time. So he quickly indicated to Qianlong another purpose of the trip: trade.
As soon as Qianlong heard this, this anger came up again, he thought that this was an attempt by Britain to invade and divide the Qing regime, and he refused without thinking.
Not only that, but Qianlong also asked Maganiel to bring back a letter to the British envoy, the ironic language of the letter was later regarded as one of the triggers for provoking disputes. But that's an afterthought.
First, when Qianlong sent the mission back to China, he cleverly did not arrange for them to take the regular waterway, but asked the minister to take them all the way south from Beijing to Guangzhou.
This was originally intended to give the mission a glimpse of its own weakness. Unexpectedly, along the way, many of the Qing dynasty's own ills were exposed.
In his later years, Qianlong loved to travel in the mountains and rivers, and he made six trips to Jiangnan.
In order to welcome the emperor, he had to go to the spiritual palace, plus food and clothing, and according to later scholars' estimates, Qianlong spent more than 20 million taels of silver on these several trips to Jiangnan alone.
This does not include embezzlement and expenses of the entourage.
No matter how full the national treasury was, it could not withstand such a toss, not to mention that at that time, Qianlong was extremely fond of Helong, and Helong, as a corrupt official who "left a name in history", did a lot of evil. Under his leadership, the officials ruled harshly and corruptly, and countless people were looted.
In Qianlong, he also looked like a clean official and a good citizen, which made the people miserable.
Although Qianlong was kept in the dark, the British mission did not. Along the way, they saw the unproductive ways of the people.
As for the military performance specially arranged by the ministers, it made it clear to the British mission that the armed strength of the Qing Dynasty had remained in the era of cold weapons for a long time.
The scene in front of them made them understand that this old power, which is praised and feared by the world, seems to be "no longer working".
Originally, Maganiel thought that the ministers were not interested in their advanced technology because the Qing Dynasty itself had it, or could see at a glance what the principle was, so he dismissed it.
Now it seems that no one really understands the development and strength of Britain.
In this way, when Qianlong thought that this trip would definitely convince the envoys, the ruins under the gorgeous skin of the Qing Dynasty were already visible.
What he saw and felt along the way was truly recorded by Maganiel in a report to the British king: the Qing Dynasty's production methods were very backward, and the weapons were not as good as ours, and if you look at it this way, the dynasty has begun to fall into dusk.
And Qianlong's reply letter to the British king was also brought back to England by him.
As mentioned earlier, Qianlong always thought that Britain was coming to worship and return to the Qing Dynasty, so he wrote at the beginning: "King Zhi'er is far away in the ocean, and he is devoted to Huanhua... King Gu saw that King Er was deeply commended for his obedience and sincerity. ”
This means: Although your country is far away on the other side of the sea, but you have come to wish me my birthday so sincerely, it shows the sincerity of your king's respect and obedience to me, and I am very satisfied.
After writing specifically why trade was refused, Qianlong proudly wrote: "Er is a remote and remote country", "The Celestial Empire has all the worlds, rare treasures, not precious... In fact, the Celestial Empire Dewei is far away, the king of all nations, all kinds of valuables, ladder voyage, everything. "The pride of his self-esteem can be seen.
It is worth mentioning that Qianlong also reprimanded the British king in the tone of the superior ruler: "How can it be because of the request of the king alone, so that the law of the Celestial Dynasty has been more than a hundred years." ”
I don't know how Qianlong would have felt if he knew that the Qing Dynasty was defeated during the Opium War, and this letter has been preserved by the British Museum to this day.
But without trade, only British money went to China, so the British king did not give up. I don't know whether it was out of temptation or what kind of psychology, in 1816, Britain sent another mission to the Qing Dynasty to request trade.
In this mission, there was a man named Thomas Stangton. Twenty-three years ago, as a child, he followed Maganiel to China, and Qianlong happily rewarded him with a purse because he could speak Chinese.
Now that he has grown up and came to China for the second time, he did not expect that the Qing dynasty was still resting on its laurels as always. Industrial development can hardly be described as progressive.
This time, the British mission was directly expelled because it once again refused to pay three respects and nine bows to the emperor.
The two visits let Thomas know that the national strength of the Qing Dynasty was also like this, and the country's ruling class only knew pleasure, not progress. In the face of this situation, since trade is no longer viable, it is better to occupy China by force.
Opium War, eternal pain
Thomas's words gave the British royal family great confidence. After all, after returning to China, Maganier reported to the British king: the Qing Empire is now just a tattered first-class ship, and it is not difficult for Britain to defeat it. It seems that this is true.
After all, perhaps even the British royal family did not expect that more than twenty years later, the Qing Dynasty was still so backward.
Remembering Qianlong's letter of contempt, the British royal family launched the "Opium War" recorded in history after several thoughts.
The lessons of war are always bloody.
A cannon rang out in 1840, and the Qing dynasty's accumulated shortcomings for several years were exposed in this war. The Qing government was repeatedly defeated, and they were powerless to fight back in the face of Britain's advanced and powerful weapons.
And who would have thought that the predecessors of these weapons had been presented as gifts by the British themselves, and the final outcome would only be placed in the Old Summer Palace as a decoration?
Although the Qing Dynasty at that time still had no shortage of loyal and courageous soldiers who actively fought to defend the country, the gap in weapon strength was too great. How many real guns and live ammunition can the mortal fetus of the flesh block?
After resisting intermittently for two or three years, the Qing government compromised. In 1842, China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanjing, the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history.
The provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing greatly infringed on China's territorial sovereignty. We were forced to cede Hong Kong Island and pay 21 million in silver to the aggressor. Not to mention that many other regulations directly left the British in charge of Chinese territory.
Since then, the Chinese people began a painful semi-colonial and semi-feudal life, and people gradually began to think about anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism.
Having said that, some people may wonder, if they had agreed to trade back then, would the outcome have been different?
In fact, although the historical facts are established, we speculate that this is not the case.
The fundamental reason why Britain is called the "Sun Never Sets Empire" is that in the 19th century world pattern, Britain's expansion method was colonial rule.
Many countries in the world have their colonies. The British boasted that the sun could always be seen in their jurisdiction, and the sun in this colony was setting, and there was another colony where the sun was in the sky, hence the nickname "The Sun Never Sets Empire".
Therefore, even if the British request for trade was agreed to at that time, as long as the indisputable fact that the Qing Dynasty lagged behind in force was discovered, the British royal family would sooner or later give birth to the idea of invasion and occupation.
Even though Maganiel had a pious attitude back then, when he saw the Qing Dynasty's people's feelings, didn't the thought that came to his mind was "Look at it this way, this country is easy to defeat"?
It can be seen that the iron still needs to be hard by itself. Although Qianlong's reply to the British king was indeed blindly arrogant, the British royal family at that time was not a kind person. If you really want to avoid being invaded by foreign enemies, the only useful thing is to strengthen yourself.
The biggest mistake of the Qing government was to blindly close the country, and the ruling class could only see the immediate prosperity, and could neither see the people's livelihood nor the rapid development of other countries. As everyone knows, in the years after years, unknowingly has fallen behind many countries in the world.
It is said that weak countries have no diplomacy. This sentence, which has been remembered by the Chinese people since the founding of New China, is precisely the summation of the experience that our ancestors have gone through several tribulations for generations.
The past is not forgotten, and the future is a teacher. Fortunately born in peacetime, we should always bear in mind the lessons of history and learn to look at others and ourselves with the lens of development.
You know, the country will be better only if everyone's life is getting better and better. In the same way, only when the country is strong can we be blessed. Growth is with us for life, only by continuous progress can we not be eliminated by the times in today's rapid development of science and technology.