As one of the most narcissistic emperors in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong believed that he had made great achievements and was a perfect emperor. During his reign, he put down various rebellions many times, expanded the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and made the Qing Empire

As the most narcissistic emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong believed that he had made great achievements throughout the ages and was a perfect emperor. During his reign, he put down various rebellions many times, expanded the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and made the Qing Empire strong and prosperous. peak. As the saying goes, prosperity must inevitably decline. The Qing Dynasty reached its strongest point during the Qianlong period. After Qianlong, or in his later years, the Qing Dynasty began to decline. However, this decline was impossible to be recorded in history books by historians.

One of Shiquan Laoren's achievements was the pacification of Burma. It was said to be pacification, but in fact it was a unilateral surrender. It was not really invincible. On the contrary, although the troops sent by the Qing Dynasty were several times that of the Burmese side, But the final result was just frequent defeats, and they could only rely on their superior strength to advance slowly. In the end, they even reached a stalemate, and the whole army would be annihilated if they didn't leave. Fortunately, at this time, Myanmar was also frustrated by the strength of its two-front fighting forces, and finally it was Negotiating peace with the Qing court ended with Myanmar treating the Qing court as its big brother, at least on the surface, and the Qing court would reward Myanmar every year, which was a way for the suzerain country to show its wealth.

How did the Burmese War, which disgraced Emperor Qianlong, begin? In fact, the Qing Dynasty is not really to blame for this war. Unlike the rebellion in some areas, the Qing court in Myanmar did not actually target them very much. However, the Myanmar side was in the rising period of the Gonbang Dynasty and the rise of a power. There are countless possibilities in the future and the desire to expand territory. Although the Qing Dynasty has a vast land and rich resources, Myanmar is not worried about the Qing Dynasty's power at all. It sends troops to forcibly occupy certain chieftains in the Yunnan-Guizhou region and engage in burning, killing, raping and looting. This has already been done. It was considered a provocation to the Qing court. As a result, first the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou sent troops to attack, and then returned with no success. Later, Qianlong asked the Green Battalion to send troops to Burma, but they still failed. Finally, he knew that Myanmar was in trouble. Qianlong finally sent out Eight Banners soldiers. , Eight Banners soldiers came on stage, Qianlong I felt a lot more relieved, but the final result was not bad either. He returned home in vain, and the general was defeated and hanged himself.

Although Qianlong had faced Burma, he still failed. This time, Qianlong finally sent a large army to press the border, trying to defeat Burma in one fell swoop. The result of this last war was as mentioned above, not to mention that it did not gain any advantage. If Myanmar did not want to continue the tug of war, the outcome of this march into Myanmar would not be much better. Although the Qing Dynasty's national power was strong during Qianlong's reign, it did not mean that it had excellent military equipment, let alone strong combat effectiveness of its troops. According to historical records, the total strength of the Qing army in the fourth conquest of Burma was more than 40,000, of which the Eight Banners of Manchuria accounted for about 30%. However, the individual weapons of the Eight Banners soldiers, known as the "elite" of the Qing army, were nothing more than old-fashioned bows, arrows, swords, spears, and shotguns. The performance of the artillery equipped by the Qing army was also poor, and even the temporary wooden fence built by the Burmese army could not be destroyed. In contrast, the Burmese army's weapons are generally superior to those of the Qing army. At that time, Myanmar was at the peak of the Yongbunya Dynasty (Kongbang Dynasty), and its national power was booming. It was called the "little tyrant" in Southeast Asia.

Through purchasing and looting (Burmese pirates were very rampant in Southeast Asian waters at that time), the Burmese army obtained many foreign guns and cannons from Western colonists. In late September 1766, 3,000 Burmese troops attacked Xinjie, a strategic military location, by land and water and defeated the Qing army. An important factor was the use of the power of Western artillery. The unfavorable climate and geographical conditions also greatly offset the Qing army's national strength advantage. The battlefield of the Burmese expedition was characterized by mountains and rivers and dense vegetation. It was difficult for the Qing army to display their riding and shooting skills, and they were often attacked by the Burmese army who were familiar with the terrain. Moreover, due to inconvenient transportation, the logistical problems of the Qing army's expedition have been unable to be solved. In addition, the Qing army also suffered from the raging "smoke miasma" (tropical diseases mainly malaria). In 1769, the Qing government conquered Burma for the fourth time. However, due to miasma infection and combat casualties, less than three months after the start of the Burma War, the 40,000 Qing troops dropped sharply to 13,000, a reduction of more than 70%. It was just because of the years of war that Burma consumed a lot of money, so it took the initiative to negotiate a peace, which finally gave Qianlong a step to call a truce.

The "China-Burma War" during the Qianlong years can be summed up as: arrogance, misunderstanding, and mistaken attack on Burma. ; Unprepared expedition, defeat and then peace.

The cause of the incident was in 1766, the thirty-first year of Qianlong's reign: King Meng Pi of Burma invaded Jiulongjiang to please his wife Nang Zhan. The governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Liu Zao was defeated and committed suicide. Qianlong sent Yang Yingju, a bachelor , as governor of Yunnan and Guizhou to attack Burma. Liu Zao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, passed the imperial examination in his early years and was given the city-viewing instruction. In the 22nd year, he was promoted to the governor of Yunnan, and in the 29th year, he was promoted to the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. Liu Zao was good at literature and was an honest official, but he was a timid scholar who was not familiar with military affairs. Liu Zao feared the enemy like a tiger and gathered more than 7,000 troops, but he did not dare to attack "on the pretext of miasma". Due to his inability to defend the enemy and lack of strategies to secure the border, he was repeatedly reprimanded by the emperor, dismissed from his post upon questioning, and had no other options. He committed suicide on the night of March 3rd. His attendants failed to save him, and he died a few days later. On July 22, the thirty-first year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong listened to Yang Yingju's wrong report and issued a very wrong and harmful edict. First, use offense instead of defense, a drastic change in policy. He wanted to send troops to attack Burma and conquer Burma. Second, they tend to believe in wild words and make hasty decisions. A rash expedition to Burma, more than 2,000 kilometers away.

Therefore, he wanted to end with "allowing surrender". However, at this time, Emperor Qianlong was already intoxicated in the "civilian and martial arts" of his thirty-one-year reign. At this time, Yang Yingju surrendered and wanted to make up for his failure. Qianlong insisted on his mistake and launched a larger-scale attack. In this way, the wise Emperor Qianlong, because of his pride and underestimation of the enemy, blindly enjoyed great success, made mistakes again and again, suffered greater setbacks, and suffered even worse defeats. The cause of the conflict between China and Burma is not complicated. It is just a fight between the chieftains of the two sides, which is what Emperor Qianlong called "barbaric contact." At that time, the Qing Dynasty had no intention of destroying the Burmese, and the Burmese had no intention of attacking the Qing Dynasty. It was Burma that wanted to demand tribute from Geng Ma and other chieftains, and this was not its initiative, but followed the old practice of the former Burmese king Mang Dala. The two sides could have patiently negotiated, eliminated misunderstandings, resolved issues, and established normal and peaceful relations without resorting to force.

Emperor Qianlong could have stopped the troops and negotiated peace and allowed Burma to pay tribute. However, relying on the "power of the Qing Dynasty", he insisted on making mistakes to the end, refused to surrender, and even intended to destroy Burma. This behavior is outrageous and unreasonable, and goes too far to deceive others. The trapped beast is still fighting, not to mention that the new king of Myanmar is ignorant. He inherited the precious legacy of the founding king Weng Boriya. He has a large number of fierce generals and fierce soldiers. He has experienced many battles and is good at using strategies. Of course, he will mobilize the people of Myanmar to resist and fight to protect their homeland. A total war to defend the country and get rid of the danger of subjugating the country and the nation. The unjust nature of Emperor Qianlong's expedition to Burma fundamentally determined that he could not win and would definitely fail.