He is China's longest-lived emperor . He has been in power for 63 years. He has personally met seven generations of his ancestors and sent away many wives and children. During the reign of
, China's population, economy, and territorial area set new historical records. wrote more than 40,000 poems by himself, which was more than " Complete Tang Poems ". In the first half of his life,
could be said to be prosperous, but in the second half of his life, he made many serious mistakes. He was greedy for enjoyment, which led to corruption in the court.
He is Qianlong, a tragic winner in life .
His real name is Aisin Gioro Hongli . After he became the emperor, his reign title was Qianlong. He was born in the year of Rabbit and Libra. His father was the Yongzheng emperor and his mother was Niu Hulu, who was also a Manchu .
Qianlong's grandfather Kangxi html came to the throne at the age of 58, but he had no real power at first, and his whole childhood was very frustrating. Yongzheng was already forty years old when he came to the throne. Before he started to toss, most of his body was already buried in the ground.
Let’s look at Qianlong again. He ascended the throne at the age of 25. He was in his prime, had real power and body, and was much better than his father.
Qianlong was appointed as his successor by Kangxi at a very young age. His younger brother, the only one who could compete with him for the throne, was not interested in power and hid at home all day long attending funerals and eating sacrifices.
Therefore, Qianlong did not experience the bloody storm of his father's "nine kings seizing the legitimate sons". Qianlong easily obtained the throne, and after succeeding to the throne, he lived happily with his several brothers.
The reason why Qianlong is sought after by later generations is that he created many historical records during his reign.
The first is the population , Before the Qing Dynasty, China's population peaked at only 70 million. By the 55th year of Qianlong's reign, the population exceeded 300 million. It took him 50 years to double the population.
The second is the territory. In the 24th year of Qianlong's reign, China's territory reached 13.8 million square kilometers, reaching Lake Balkhash in the west, Siberia in the north, the Pacific in the east, and the Nansha Islands in the south.
Although the area is large, the imperial court's management is not lax at all, and it has achieved unprecedented effective control over the border areas.
The third is the economic aspect.. At its peak, China's GDP accounted for one-third of the world's, and its manufacturing industry was eight times that of the UK. At that time, the United States had just been established and there was no manufacturing industry.
Then let’s talk about Qianlong’s personal aspects. The first one is longevity . He is the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history . He lived for 89 years. Looking at the whole world, Qianlong is second only to Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses. The second version of is one year younger than him.
The second is "seven generations of relatives" , which is also unique in Chinese history. He has met his grandfather Kangxi and his great-great-grandson Zaixi.
This is very difficult. To give a rough calculation, if each generation gets married at the age of 20 and then has children immediately, they will have to be at least 80 years old before they can meet their great-great-grandchildren.
The third is power . Qianlong was the emperor for 60 years and the Supreme Emperor for more than 3 years. His actual time in power was 63 years, which is the longest in the world.
Some people may object that French King Louis XIV has been king for 72 years. Isn’t it longer than Qianlong?
We must be clear that Louis XIV ascended the throne at the age of 5, but did not take charge until he was 22 years old. The actual time in power was no more than 50 years, which was similar to that of Kangxi.
The fourth is luck . Qianlong's life was very smooth, no one competed for the throne. His father Yongzheng was exhausted, working 15 hours a day, and died of illness just after he managed the country.
At this time, the country was politically stable, the economy was stable, and internal and external troubles were basically settled. On this basis, Qianlong made some major policy adjustments, which directly pushed the Qing Dynasty to its peak.
Of course, there are also some unusual firsts. He wrote more than 40,000 poems in his life, but only one was selected into the primary school textbook . This poem is "Flying Snow": one piece after another, two pieces, three pieces, five or six pieces. Six pieces, seven pieces, eighty-nine pieces, flying into the reed are all gone.
Many primary school students think it is simple when they see it, but the last sentence is still okay. It can be called the finishing touch of the whole poem and depicts a beautiful artistic conception. However, this sentence was not said by Qianlong.
To evaluate a person, we need to understand his merits and demerits. In the early period, Qianlong was still good and his achievements were outstanding.
But in his later years, he made many serious mistakes. First, reused the Heshen Group , which triggered a comprehensive trend of corruption in the court. Food prices skyrocketed and corrupt officials were rampant, which directly led to the White Lotus Sect uprising. The outbreak caused the Qing Dynasty to turn from its peak to its mid-term decline.
followed by Daxing Literary Prison , which destroyed more than 70,000 volumes of books that were not conducive to the Qing Dynasty, causing Chinese culture to suffer a catastrophe.
Finally, closed the country . When Qianlong came to the throne, the industrial revolution had just begun. During his 63 years of rule, Watt invented the steam engine , and the bourgeois revolution broke out in France. Whether it was technology or civilization, the world All are undergoing great changes.
Qianlong was confident that China was superior, looked down on Western civilization, reduced the number of open ports, and strongly resisted establishing diplomatic relations with foreign countries. This kind of thinking has always influenced the successors of the Qing Dynasty, and ultimately led to the decline of the Qing Dynasty.
Throughout Qianlong's life, compared with Kangxi Yongzheng, he was a "prodigal son", and compared with Jiaqing Daoguang, he was a complete emperor.
It was also during his reign that China's feudal dynasty showed its last glimmer of light, and then fell into darkness.
