Who cruised Jiangnan six times?

Emperor Qianlong reigned for 60 years and made six southern tours.

In his book "Southern Tour of Imperial System", he said: "If you serve in the imperial system for 50 years, there will be two major events, one is the Western Division, and the other is the southern tour." Regard the southern tour as one of the most important achievements in his life. According to the records of the Qing Dynasty, the first time Qianlong 16 (A.D. 175 1) set out on the 13th of the first month and returned to Beijing on May 4th (Qianlong 4 1). The second time, in the 22nd year of Qianlong (A.D. 1757), I set out on the 11th day of the first month and returned to Beijing on April 26th (Qianlong was 47 years old). The third time, in the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (A.D. 1762), I set out on the 12th day of the first month and returned to Beijing on May 4th (Qianlong was 52 years old). The fourth time, in the 30th year of Qianlong (A.D. 1765), I set out on January 16th and returned to Beijing on April 21st (Qianlong was 55 years old). The fifth time, in the forty-five years of Qianlong (A.D. 1780), I set out on the twelfth day of the first month and returned to Beijing on May 9th (Qianlong was seventy years old). The sixth time, in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (A.D. 1784), I set out on the 21st day of the first month and returned to Beijing on April 23rd (Qianlong was 74 years old). Speaking of Qianlong's southern tour, what is the purpose of the southern tour? From official records to folk unofficial history, there are many descriptions: or he visited water conservancy and river engineering and made great contributions to later generations; Or he threw all the state affairs to the minister, but never forgot the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan; Or to "find out the truth about one's life experience and life experience"; Or he is infatuated with the beauty of the south, romantic and extravagant ... in short, there are different opinions and mixed opinions. In fact, Qianlong's southern tour was opposed by some ministers from the beginning. According to the Chronicle of Qing History, shortly after Qianlong ascended the throne, he heard that Suzhou was beautiful as a paradise and wanted to go to Jiangnan for a cruise, so he sent a university student to Jiangnan to test the road. The back office sincerely disapproved of Gan Long's southern tour, so in his reply to Gan Long, he said: Tiger Hill outside Suzhou is still a scenic spot, but it is actually like a big grave. Suzhou city has narrow rivers and crowded excrement boats. It stinks after noon, which is nothing at all. After hearing his wife's reward, Gan Long had to temporarily give up the idea of going south to China. In the fourteenth year of Qianlong, local officials in the south of the Yangtze River requested Qianlong to visit Zhejiang in order to cater to Qianlong. This requirement is just in line with Qianlong's mind. On the fifth day of October of that year, Qianlong announced his southern tour two years later. Throughout the southern tour of Qianlong, the main purposes are: 1. Patrol the river and supervise the water. Jiangnan is the main grain producing area and supply area in Qing Dynasty. As early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there was a saying that "Suzhou and Shanghai are familiar, and the world is sufficient". However, the south and the south of the Yangtze River are places with frequent floods. Therefore, Kangxi's southern tour is mainly to inspect water conservancy. Gan Long also said, "The southern tour is nothing more than a river worker." Gan Long visited the South for six times, inspected the Yellow River regulation project for five times and inspected the Zhejiang seawall project for four times. At that time, the key projects to solve the flood of the Yellow River were Qingkou in Jiangsu and Gaojiayan in Hongze Lake, so Gan Long went to these two places every time he made a southern tour. Gan Long visited Hongze Lake on his first southern tour. He learned that there are only three dams on the Yellow River levee between Gaojiayan and Jiangjiaba. Every summer and autumn, the water level of Hongze Lake rises, which is prone to floods due to poor drainage. Gao Bin, governor of the river, put forward a plan to build two more dams, and Qianlong accepted the proposal. In this way, there are five dams in Gaojiayan, which are named Ren, Yi, Zhi, Li and Xin respectively. Whenever the water level of Hongze Lake rises, according to the water potential, the Five Dams can adjust the velocity and flow of water in time, effectively ensuring the safety of the levee and downstream. When Qianlong made his third southern tour, he also formulated the Clear Water Record, which stipulated that the water level of the upper dam would rise by one foot and the gate of the lower dam could be opened to ten feet. River officials abide by this regulation, ensuring that downstream counties have avoided flood disasters for a long time. The Yellow River levee near Xuzhou is also one of the key points to be inspected by Qianlong. Gan Long has been here many times. According to the order of Qianlong, the flood control stone dike dam built here has a total length of more than 70 Li. Haining and Renhe County in Zhejiang Province are the confluence of rivers and seas, and there are two big tides every day. Once the seawall is washed away, the whole south of the Yangtze River will be Wang Yang. As early as the Han Dynasty, people began to build seawalls here, and later generations never stopped building seawalls. In the 25th year of Qianlong (A.D. 1760), the water situation in Zhejiang was once again in a hurry, and there was a dispute between Shitang and Chaitang in seawall construction. Opinions differ on whether to build a stone pond or a firewood pond. On the second day of Gan Long's third southern tour of Haining, he immediately visited the site and personally tested piling. He saw that if a stone pond was built, it would take tens of feet to pile from the old pond dam, which would inevitably destroy many people's fields and villages. Seeing this situation, Gan Long said that he wanted to protect the people, but now he hurt them first. So Qianlong decided to build a firewood pool first, and asked to put stones in the bamboo basket to reinforce it every year. When Qianlong made his fifth southern tour, he saw that the soil of the dam was washed away by the rushing water, and bamboo baskets full of stones were exposed. So Qianlong decided to rebuild the fish scale stone pond where it could be built. In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (A.D. 1784), during his last southern tour, Qianlong ordered the continued construction of the Fangongtang stone dam. The completion of the seawall project has effectively protected the prosperity of the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. Second, solve social problems and maintain stability in the south of the Yangtze River. Jiangnan has developed agriculture, handicrafts and commerce, dense population, rich products and prosperous economy. It is said that wealth is the best in the world, which is the lifeblood of the Qing government's fiscal revenue and finance. It is very important to maintain social, political and economic stability in this region. However, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was an undercurrent in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the struggle was fierce. Later, there were many cases of "literary prison" in this area, and floods occurred frequently in Huanghuai. Zhejiang seawall warned that there was a serious social crisis lurking in the south. Faced with such a situation, Qianlong believed in his "sage" and hoped to solve social problems and stabilize the long-term rule of the Qing Dynasty through his southern tour. Third, win over officials and scholars and expand the ruling foundation. Another important purpose of the southern tour is to attract old officials at all levels, make friends with scholars and win the hearts of the people. Wherever he went on his southern tour, officials who stopped and ran errands in Gan Long were greatly rewarded and promoted to knights; Let some punished officials return to their original posts. Especially for the old minister who came to pick up the driver, he asked about the cold and warm, rewarded ginseng, mink and other items, and also rewarded their descendants with fame. On the way to the southern tour, on the one hand, Gan Long saluted the Confucius Temple many times, and on the other hand, he personally proposed an examination for the visiting literati. Many of the questions he wrote got rid of the stereotyped writing habit of the imperial examination and paid attention to practical application. For example, when Zhejiang Province overhauled seawalls, he took "seawalls have gone wrong" as the topic, and as a result, the candidates who got the first class merit were immediately awarded official positions, thus selecting many practical talents. Due to the talent pool in Jiangnan, many people study for the imperial examination. Ganlong ordered the government-run universities in Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces to increase the number of imperial examinations. After the compilation of Sikuquanshu, he personally paid for three copies, which were hidden in Wen Hui Pavilion in Yangzhou, Wenzong Pavilion in Zhenjiang and Wen Lan Pavilion in Hangzhou, and ordered local officials to allow local students to take them out and copy them. These measures undoubtedly promoted the development of cultural undertakings in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. In addition, wherever he went on his southern tour, he often promulgated laws that were sympathetic to the people's feelings, which reduced the taxes of local people to varying degrees, moderately reduced the burden of local people, helped ease social contradictions, and promoted economic and social development and prosperity. Fourth, show the majesty of imperial power and show peace and prosperity. Whether Emperor Yang Di visited Jiangdu or Kangxi and Qianlong visited Jiangnan in Qing Dynasty, one of the similarities is to show the majesty of imperial power. Moreover, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong, there were more than 1000 ships in the whole southern patrol fleet of Emperor Qianlong's southern patrol, and they made six southern cruises, each of which was more ostentatious, showing the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers and rich people and things, and also reflecting the nature of feudal emperors in previous dynasties. 5. Reviewing the morale of the army shows that the military parade in the Qing Dynasty was also one of the important activities of Qianlong's southern tour. Manchu has always attached importance to riding and shooting, advocating the tradition of bravery, and emperors of past dynasties have also mastered riding and shooting. Ganlong held a grand military parade in Hangzhou, Nanjing and other places in his previous southern tours. Ganlong wanted to train troops through military parade, to reverse the decadent atmosphere of the army, to show the people in the south of the Yangtze River the power of the Great Qing Dynasty, and to deter the unstable forces in the south of the Yangtze River and the border areas. But unexpectedly, the military parade made a lot of jokes. Gan Long's last southern military parade was in Hangzhou. Emperor Jiaqing later recalled the situation during the military parade and said: archery, fake arrows, riding horses, people fell to the ground. For a while, it was a joke. 6. Enjoying the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, being infatuated with food, color, dryness, ink and painting in the south of the Yangtze River has an elegant taste. Many places he has been to still have his handwriting. So of course, there is also a very important purpose, that is, to appreciate the beautiful mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River. So, he made six southern tours, and every time he took the painter to paint his favorite scenery in the south of the Yangtze River, and imitated it in Yuanmingyuan and chengde mountain resort. "Six stops on the southern tour, he sleepwalked." This is a poem written by Gan Long during his sixth southern tour. Even in his dream, he was reminiscing about his time in Jiangnan, full of infinite attachment. According to folklore, Gan Long likes beautiful women in the south of the Yangtze River and has sex every time he makes a southern tour. So the queen quarreled with him every day, and in a rage, she sent the queen back to Beijing. When Qianlong made his fourth southern tour, he did indeed send the queen back to Beijing, which was recorded in the "Spring File" of Qianlong's thirty years. The latest statement is that after many trips to the south of the Yangtze River, Qianlong became fascinated with "Jiang Chun Huizhou Cuisine". After returning to Beijing, he had an endless aftertaste of Jiang Chun, a rich man in the south of the Yangtze River. He tried several times to get the chef to cook it, but it was always difficult to do so, and he could never make that taste. Therefore, every time he made his southern tour, he took his team of chefs again and again, and let him learn the cooking skills of Anhui cuisine at the invitation-only banquet in Jiang Chun, and purchased the relevant raw materials of Anhui cuisine and brought them back to the palace for trial. Seven, southern tour of Haining, Zhejiang Province In order to explore folklore, I exchanged my daughter with my son Chen in Haining. This man was the later emperor Qianlong, who was actually the son of Haining Chen, so Qianlong was of Han descent, not Manchu descent. According to folklore and unofficial history records, the novelist Jin Yong (Haining, Zhejiang) wrote his first martial arts novel the legendary swordsman around the mystery of Qianlong's life. Jin Yong vividly wrote in his novels: "Chen Shiguan's children were carried into Qin Yong Palace, but they didn't know that it was their son who was carried in and their daughter who was carried out. Chen Shiguan knew that the fourth prince had lost his bag, and he didn't dare to leak a word under the big horror. " After Gan Long ascended the throne, he had doubts about his life experience, so he made a southern tour to visit Chen Jia in Haining, Zhejiang Province to learn the truth about his life experience. He went down to the south of the Yangtze River six times, visited or stayed with the Chen family four times, went to the class to inquire about his family background in detail, and when he left, he ordered the middle gate to be closed, saying: This gate cannot be opened unless the emperor came in person, and it has been closed ever since. But this story and legend have been proved to be fabricated by historians and various facts, and it is a completely untrue rumor. Qianlong visited Jiangnan for six times, Haining for four times, and lived in Chenjiayuan. In his own words, "Where is Haining going?" Looking at the shape of the seawall is to inspect the Qiantang River seawall project that he spent a lot of money to build. Even Jin Yong, the author of Shu Jian's Record of Enjoyment and Enemy, wrote a postscript for his first martial arts novel Shu Jian's Record of Enjoyment and Enemy, which was widely circulated in 1975, and pointed out that the story of "It's Chen Jiazi in Haining" is not a historical fact. 1994, Jin Yong mentioned in the preface to the third edition of Jin Yong's works: "In my early novels, the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty was very strong. In the later period, the concept of equal treatment of all ethnic groups in the Chinese nation became the keynote, which is also the reason why my view of history has improved. " It can be seen that the long-standing mystery about Ganlong Shengping was made up by people with the concept that the Han Dynasty was an orthodox dynasty. If it is the legendary Chen Jiazi who lost his bag at that time, then the Qing Dynasty will be a feudal dynasty of Han descent from now on. Since the mystery of Qianlong's life experience is false, it goes without saying that one of the purposes of Qianlong's southern tour is to find out his life experience. VIII. Influence and Consequences of Qianlong's Six Visits to the South Although Qianlong's repeated visits to the South prohibited extravagance, local officials racked their brains to try their best to win his favor. In this way, the six expeditions to the south were more ostentation and extravagance, which led to the depletion of the national treasury and brought profound disasters to the people. There were many clever officials in the imperial court, who repeatedly discouraged Qianlong from stopping his southern tour, but they were severely reprimanded. Many officials who protested against southern China were punished or dismissed. Under such high pressure, ministers dare not speak again, watching the national treasury dry up and the country decline. In his later years, Qianlong fully realized his mistakes in his southern tour. In Wu Zhuan, a draft of the history of Qing Dynasty, it was recorded that Qianlong said: I have been emperor for sixty years, and I don't think I made any big mistakes. There were only six southern tours, which wasted people and money and turned good things into bad things. Qianlong's southern tour cost a lot, and no one in the Qing Dynasty followed suit. Because the treasury of the Qing dynasty could not afford it later. Six expeditions to the south left people with only a luxurious beauty of "prosperity and prosperity". From then on, the Qing dynasty began to decline step by step from the prosperous time of Kanggan, and by the time of Daoguang, the Qing dynasty had reached a dangerous situation of internal and external troubles intertwined.