Qianlong gave an imperial decree to the British king, which was treasured by the British. The tour guide: The Qing Dynasty fell for a reason

China is the only one of the four ancient civilizations that has not experienced any faults in civilization. With such a long historical background, the national power of ancient China can be said to be the best in the world without exaggeration.

The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in the history of our country. When the Manchu Qing Dynasty was just founded, after the two emperors of the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties, the national power reached its peak during the Qianlong period. The Qing Dynasty in this period was enough to be called a world power.

During this period, all countries in the world were dominated by traditional handicrafts, and the most traditional manual labor was used in imitation, agriculture, and breeding. At this point, the Qing Dynasty had the advantages of advanced technology and abundant labor, and occupied a dominant position in trade with the world.

Here we need to be fair to the Qing dynasty: "Retirement of the country" is actually not what people think is that the country is not closed to trade with neighboring countries. Although the Qing Dynasty imposed a ban on the sea, it only accounted for 15% during the ban on the sea before the Opium War and accounted for only 15% during the open sea period. 85%. After the massive ban on the sea, was actually a policy implemented mainly to prevent the inflow of opium.

The reason why the Qing dynasty was labelled as "misusing China" and "closed to the country" was mainly because the Qing dynasty rejected learning advanced culture and did not take the initiative to develop technology. The root cause of these series is that the Qing emperor’s arrogance and defiance derailed the Qing dynasty from the world. This point of was vividly expressed in a decree written by Emperor Qianlong to King George III of England. Z12z

Relying on the power of the Qing Dynasty, countries from all over the world came to show their favor to the Qing Dynasty. Once, King George III of England sent an envoy to the Qing Dynasty to give gifts to Emperor Qianlong. The gifts were some advanced thermal weapons made in Britain, and there was also a letter to Emperor Qianlong. The content of the

letter is as follows (the content is longer, only a part of it is intercepted): The main idea of ​​the

letter is that George III hopes to strengthen trade with the Qing Dynasty. Both parties should encourage the exchange of goods between subjects under the principle of fairness and equality. I think An envoy should be sent to the Qing Dynasty to accomplish this mission.

George's intention is obvious, that is, he feels that the Qing country is strong, and he is the first to express his good intentions, hoping to strengthen trade with him and give priority to trade with the United Kingdom, so that both sides can mutually benefit. The thermal weapons he gave to Qianlong were all very advanced weapons at the time, and they also meant to show off to Qianlong, expressing that they were also very powerful, and I hope the Qing Dynasty will not take it lightly.

However, for these gifts, , Qianlong did not look at them, and thought that they were all "exotic and ingenious skills" of foreigners . Regarding this letter, Qianlong was very proud of it, because in Qianlong's eyes, it meant that Britain, as far away as the West, had already expressed surrender to please.

Therefore, in this state of mind, Qianlong deliberately replied to a letter. Of course, this letter was also framed in the form of imperial edict. (The picture below is a screenshot of the translation, the original text is similar to classical Chinese) (part):

From this picture, we can see the mentality of Emperor Qianlong: looks down on Western countries and is extremely arrogant.

I also return to your Majesty with a reply letter and valuable and rare gifts, including treasures and other items. I have no shortage of examples to prove the kindness to the people of the country who came to this country from a remote place.

In the entire letter, Qianlong referred to Britain as "Er country", and "Er" in Chinese represents a "contemptuous" tone. And from this sentence, it is obvious that Qianlong regarded the King of England as inferior to himself. "Z11z, I have no shortage of examples, " means that I am very busy, but I still reply to your letters during this busy schedule. , And also gave you a gift, which is enough to show my kindness to you from a country like " remote and remote ".

In addition, Qianlong believes that " China is rich in products, omnipresent, and originally did not rely on other countries' goods ." China has a vast territory and can be self-sufficient. This sentence does not need to import goods from other countries. It also proved Qianlong's arrogant psychology.

followed by QianlongTurning the conversation around:

Although the Qing Dynasty does not need to be imported, you are different. Our tea, porcelain, silk, etc. are all necessities for you and other European countries. In order to express my goodwill, I ordered a public store in Guangzhou (storage items) Place) and store the goods for you. At the end of the

letter, Qianlong expressed his opinion:

Qianlong thought from his heart that the Qing was a big brother, and he should treat other countries equally. You cannot change the way of trade of the Qing Dynasty for many years because of your trading methods. Other countries rely on the trade of the Qing Dynasty. If you deal with you alone, this is completely inconsistent with my wishes... .

When George III received this "sacred decree", he did not reply. He may also read the arrogance of Emperor Qianlong, thinking that the Qing emperor was a person who could not communicate, so he no longer "hot face and cold butt" Up".

was precisely because of Emperor Qianlong’s mentality that led to the stagnation of the development of the Qing Dynasty, and eventually derailed from the world, step by step was overtaken by the countries in Qianlong’s eyes as the “ remote and remote ”. A hundred years later, it was invaded by countries led by Britain and France, leading to a history of bullying for several years.

And this imperial decree written by Qianlong to the King of England is also kept in the British Museum. Looking at Qianlong's letter from today's perspective is really ridiculous. The tour guide at the British Museum also seemed to be mocking. When introducing this imperial decree to the outside world, he would add a sentence: There was a reason for the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

This is really ironic!