Anhui Province and Jiangsu Province are dependent on each other, but the economic strength of the two provinces is not small, Jiangsu Province is one of the top two in the national economic ranking of all provinces all year round, while Anhui has not yet entered the top ten. In 2020, Jiangsu ranked second and Anhui ranked eleventh. Why is it that Anhui and Jiangsu are adjacent, but the economic strength is so different? Speaking of this, I have to complain about the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, that is, Kangxi's father and Yongzheng's grandfather.
Anhui Province, located in China's East China, Yangtze River Delta region, the provincial capital Hefei, an area of about 140,100 square kilometers, the population of about 62.54 million. Anhui has a long history, and its name comes from the first characters of Anqing and Huizhou at that time. Anhui crosses the Huai River and Yangtze River basin, connects Jiangsu in the east, Henan and Hubei in the west, Zhejiang in the southeast, Jiangxi in the south, and Shandong in the north, and is located in the docking zone of strategic points and several major domestic economic plates. The culture of Anhui is also rich and colorful, with the famous Huizhou culture, as well as the Huaihe culture, the Anhui River culture, the Luzhou culture, and there are many celebrities in history.
Anhui and Jiangsu are the closest and most closely related, and even Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, has fought with a group of "little brothers" in Anhui, and has been jokingly called "Huijing". The area of Anhui and Jiangsu is not much different, both spanning the two major river basins of the Yangtze River and the HuaiHe River, but why is Anhui so much behind Jiangsu in terms of economy?
It should be known that in ancient times, the "huishang" was quite powerful, although it could not explain all the problems, but at least it could show that the economy of Anhui was once very dynamic in ancient times. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang fixed the capital nanjing, and in order to ensure the absolute safety of Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang established a province directly under the provincial level in the area of present-day Jiangsu (including Shanghai) and Anhui. At this time, Anhui and Jiangsu were a province, and Nanjing was not only the capital, but also the capital of Anhui.
Fengyang in Anhui is also the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, and its natural status is very high. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Di launched the Battle of Jingnan, sent troops from Beiping to the south, overthrew Emperor Jianwen's Nanjing court, and became emperor himself. Zhu Di's roots were in Beiping, so he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beiping and renamed beijing (Jingshi). Nanjing lost its status as the capital and became the capital of the capital. The establishment of the province is still there, but in order to distinguish the newly established direct subordination of the Beijing Division, the direct subordination of Nanjing is renamed the Southern Zhili.
Due to the developed economy of Nanzhili and the famous hometown of fish and rice, it has been said since ancient times that SuHu Lake is familiar with the world. Nanzhi became the money bag and grain bag of the imperial court. However, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the situation changed. The capital of the Qing Dynasty was Beijing, and Shengjing (Shenyang) was the capital of the imperial household. Moreover, there were more anti-Qing forces in the south, which made the Qing court uneasy. In the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing Dynasty set up the Jiangnan Chengcheng Envoy Department (i.e., Jiangnan Province) in Nanjing, and under the deliberate suppression of the imperial court, Nanjing's status declined. Jiangnan Province' large area, developed economy, rich products, and prosperous culture still made the imperial court uneasy.
The Shunzhi Emperor decided to continue to split Jiangnan Province, and in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661), Jiangnan Province was split into two parts: East and West. In the east, it is called the Jiangnan Right Cloth Political Envoy Division, and the west side is called the Jiangnan Left Cloth Political Envoy Division. Jiangnan Left Cloth Political Envoy Division is the predecessor of Anhui, and Jiangnan Right Cloth Political Envoy Division is the predecessor of Jiangsu, and since then Jiangsu and Anhui have been separated. In 1667, Kangxi renamed the Jiangnan Left Cloth Political Envoy Division to Anhui, and the Jiangnan Right Cloth Political Envoy Division to Jiangsu. But what is strange is that at that time, the capital of Jiangsu Province was Suzhou, and the nominal capital of Anhui Province was Anqing, but in fact the provincial capital was in Nanjing, and it was not until 1760 that the capital of Jiangsu Province was moved to Nanjing.
Picture - Overlooking Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province
Jiangsu and Anhui are actually nothing, the key is that the way of dividing the family is very exquisite, and the Shunzhi Emperor is very brainy. He did not directly divide Anhui and Jiangsu by the natural dividing line of the Yangtze River, but vertically divided Jiangnan Province into two. The consequence of this is that whether Jiangsu or Anhui crosses the Huai River and the Yangtze River, the culture is divided into pieces, for example, the difference between northern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu and southern Jiangsu is relatively large, and There is a similar situation in Anhui. So that now Jiangsu has the "bulk" and "big infighting" provinces jokes, although the situation in Anhui is not as obvious as Jiangsu, but it is not much better.
Picture - Overlooking Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province
After the separation, Jiangsu's economic foundation is good, and it is close to the sea, and the economy continues to maintain a strong trend. However, Anhui has no sea and has completely become an inland province, and the disadvantages in economic development are more obvious.