"Great changes unseen in three thousand years" was said by the important minister of the late Qing Dynasty Li Hongzhang to warn the Chinese that the times are different, and the previous set does not work, so hurry up and learn the fun of foreigners. , "Teach barbarians to develop skills to control barbarians."
In fact, historians of later generations believe that the time point of the "big change that hasn't happened in three thousand years" should be pushed forward. When Europeans driving ocean-going sailboats carrying sharp artillery appeared in the Chinese waters, "big changes" It has already started, but the Chinese at that time didn't realize it.
This time point was 1511. The landmark event was the Portuguese capture of Mantra, which is modern Malacca. Song Dynasty set up City Ship Division in Mantra to collect taxes on Arab, Indian and other merchant ships going to China. This means that foreign ships enter the Chinese waters once they are over and must accept Chinese laws. The tube bundle.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zheng He went to the West after , the Sultanate of Mantra has always been a vassal state of during the Ming dynasty, and often paid tribute and trade. There are many Chinese living in the Mantraja area itself, and the relationship with is quite harmonious.
Because it is located at an important node of the Maritime Silk Road, Munnar is the richest country in Southeast Asia, and has a strong city and a strong army. It may not be enough to go out for war, but self-preservation is more than enough. Sultan believed that if there was an invasion by foreign enemies, it would be enough for Manlaga to insist on the Ming Dynasty navy to reinforce it.
Unfortunately, Zheng He will never go to the West. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty enjoyed the tribute of the overseas vassal states, but they had no intention to protect the safety of the vassal states. After the emperor of and Yongle , the Ming Dynasty became more and more conservative, and had long forgotten how to build Zheng He's treasure ship .
It’s not a day or two for the Portuguese to covet Man Saga. Ever since they opened up a base in Goa, India, the Portuguese have been calculating how to control trade with China and monopolize the European market for silk, tea, porcelain and other Chinese products that are in short supply. , And Manjaga is the first obstacle for the Portuguese to achieve this goal.
Europeans have the same routines. If the locals are relatively low-civilized, they will directly occupy and plunder by force; if the locals have strong force, the Europeans will switch to trade first , Wait until you have enough strength, and then provoke the resisting forces that split the local area, and finally conquer it.
The force value of Man Saga is neither high nor low, and the Portuguese can take it as long as they are fully prepared. In 1511, 700 Portuguese soldiers and more local mercenaries, under the cover of 16 warships, captured Mantra and captured this gateway to the Chinese waters.
The Sultan of Mantra has known the Portuguese ambitions for a long time, and once asked the suzerain Ming Dynasty for help. The Ming court refused Manga’s request for help. The emperor Zhengde might want to teach the Europeans who invaded the vassal kingdom, but the Manchu civil and military would definitely not agree, for fear that the restless emperor would be tossing about it again.
So, what does the Portuguese occupation of Mansaga have to do with the "big change that has not occurred in three thousand years"? The British fleet that defeated China in 1840,In essence, it was no different from the Portuguese fleet that captured Mantra, except that the ship was bigger and the artillery heavier.
For the first time, Chinese civilization encountered an opponent whose civilization level is comparable to that of itself. This is a brand-new civilization, but China has not faced this threat squarely. In the next 300 years, the British have moved from this new civilization Stand out and finally challenged China.
Or it can be said that the decline of Chinese civilization has become a foregone conclusion from the moment Manlaga fell to European ships and guns. The remaining question is when and who will break this layer of window paper .
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