Emperor Qianlong visited Jiangnan six times in 1751 (the 16th year of Qianlong), 1757 (the 22nd year of Qianlong), 1762 (the 27th year of Qianlong), 1765 (the 30th year of Qianlong), 1780 (the 45th year of Qianlong), and 1784 (the 49th year of Qianlong). Emperor Qianlong's grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, also visited Jiangnan six times during his reign.
Emperor Qianlong was one of the few emperors in Chinese history who reigned for the longest time, Qianlong ascended the throne at the age of 25 and died at the age of 89, serving as emperor for 60 years. He was also one of the few most accomplished emperors. In the first ten years of Qianlong's succession, under his careful governance, the Qing Dynasty reached the peak of development and ushered in the last prosperous era in China's feudal history - the prosperous era of Kangqian.
In my hometown, Tianjin, on the bank of the North Canal, there is a place where Qianlong ascended the throne, which was the place where Qianlong passed through during his southern tour of Beijing. Whenever I stood there, I always wondered how this suave emperor had gone to Jiangnan again and again? At that time, in my opinion, the reason why Emperor Qianlong had been to Jiangnan many times was because of the beautiful scenery in Jiangnan, and the emperor naturally wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River. is also influenced by wild history and film and television works, and believes that there is another reason for Qianlong to go to the south of the Yangtze River to find his biological mother. In folklore, Qianlong was born to Yongzheng and a Han woman, because the Qing government stipulated that Manchu and Han could not intermarry, so when Qianlong was born, Qianlong was taken back to the palace to raise, and his biological mother was left in the folk, so Qianlong went to Jiangnan six times to find his biological mother. Qianlong was 74 years old at the time of his sixth southern tour, and it was not easy to make such a long journey. Then why did Emperor Qianlong go to the south of the Yangtze River without tireless efforts? In fact, there were other important reasons why Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River:
First, Qianlong attached great importance to river engineering and coastal defense. Think of it as one of the main purposes of the Six Tours of Jiangnan. In the imperial "Monument of Wanshou Chongning Temple" and "Southern Tour" written by Qianlong, he emphatically said: "The matter of the southern tour is nothing greater than the river work. Six patrols of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the most important thing to plan the people's livelihood, is like river engineering and coastal defense. Linxing Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the reason is to miss the river engineering Haitang, and visit in person. These words are a true summary of the history of Qianlong's efforts to build river engineering, the scale of river construction is huge, and the investment of financial, material and human resources is huge, Qianlong can be called the only emperor in ancient and modern times.
Second, Qianlong followed Kangxi's southern tour. From the sixteenth year of Qianlong, he felt that the world was basically under great rule, so he followed Kangxi's example and began to tour the south, comparing himself with his grandfather, and following his ancestor Kangxi in both civil and martial arts. Kangxi had made six southern tours, and Emperor Qianlong also wanted to compete with Kangxi on the southern tour.
Third, Qianlong is nostalgic for the prosperous land and gentle township in the south of the Yangtze River. Since ancient times, Jiangnan has been "a prosperous place of flowers and willows, a gentle and rich township." In the words of the Ming Dynasty emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, it was: "The mountains and rivers are beautiful, the wind and the moon are beautiful, and the land is beautiful; "We know from film and television works and folklore that Qianlong likes Jiangnan women, and every time he travels south, he inevitably looks for flowers and willows. So the queen quarreled with him every day, and Qianlong sent the queen back to Beijing in a fit of anger. This is recorded in the "Spring File" of the thirtieth year of Qianlong, and during Qianlong's fourth southern tour, the queen was sent back to Beijing. There are many Jiangnan girls around, of course, they are tired of this and frequent patronize.
Qianlong had a soft spot for the beautiful gardens in the south of the Yangtze River. Every time he went to the south of the Yangtze River, he brought some painters to depict some of the famous gardens in the south of the Yangtze River and copy them into his own garden.
Fourth, Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River for another important purpose, that is, to discover talents, cultivate scholars, and win the hearts of the people for Anbang to govern the country. During his six southern tours, Qianlong did recruit a large number of capable ministers in political circles, well-educated people, scholars and scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. Every time he toured the south, Qianlong had to meet with literati and celebrities, and personally proposed examinations, specially approved the expansion of the number of "students" for those who excelled in the examination, gave them the title of "lifting people", and awarded official positions on the spot, so as to win over celebrities and promote holy grace. For example, Qianlong found a young talent named Wang Chang in Qingpu, Shanghai. Although Wang Chang was among the "Seven Gentlemen of Wuzhong" at this time, like many famous talents in history, he failed several township examinations in a row and was very depressed. During Qianlong's second southern tour, someone recommended Wang Chang to Qianlong. Qianlong called for the exam on the way, and Wang Chang finally passed the written exam with outstanding talent, and passed the interview with a fluent and profound argument, ranking first in one fell swoop. Qianlong was eager to seek talents, and deeply felt that he hated to see each other late, so he immediately awarded Wang Chang the post of cabinet secretary and joined the Military Aircraft Department. Soon, Wang Chang became an important minister of the imperial court who danced passionately with Ji Xiaolan, Liu Yong, and the gentry in the center of the Qing Dynasty.
In short, Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River six times, and people have mixed reputations and mixed reviews for it from ancient times to the present. Under the conditions at that time, it was a huge project for the emperor to go down to the south of the Yangtze River to visit various places. From Beijing to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it is 6,000 miles back and forth. At that time, there was no modern means of transportation, and it was all carried by cars and horses, and it took at least three or five months to make a round trip. In fact, every time the emperor leads two or three thousand relatives, civil and military officials, and guard attendants, using five or six thousand horses, four or five hundred vehicles, and thousands of boats, which cost one or two million taels of silver, which not only consumes a very huge amount of national financial resources, but also brings a great burden to the common people, and even causes the depletion of the treasury. Qianlong only fully realized the mistakes of the Southern Tour in his later years, and once conducted a profound review in the imperial "Southern Tour". He also once said to the military aircraft Zhang Jing Wu Xiongguang: "I have been in the palace for 60 years, and I have not lost my morality, but six southern tours, labor and money, no benefit, harm and benefit, in the future emperor southern tour, and you do not stop it, there will be no way to deal with me." "I emphasize that in the future, you must prevent the Emperor's southern tour from happening. Of course, if it weren't for the peaceful and prosperous era, it would be impossible for the emperor to make six tours of the south of the Yangtze River. Qianlong's southern tour cost a lot, and no one in the later Qing Dynasty emperors ever followed suit. Because, the treasury of the Qing Dynasty could no longer afford it, and he pushed the Qing Dynasty into decline during his six southern tours.