What imperial edicts did Qianlong write to the king of England that made him laugh?

The Qing Dynasty was the dynasty in which the totalitarianism of feudal society reached its peak. During this period, the country implemented a closed-door policy and gradually fell behind western countries. When European countries began to vigorously engage in the industrial revolution and announced their entry into the industrial society, the Qing Dynasty was still immersed in a state of self-sufficiency and never realized that it had fallen behind the West. Therefore, during the Qianlong period, British envoys came to China, and Qianlong wrote an imperial edict to the British king, which actually made a big joke.

It happened to be Qianlong's birthday, and the king of England sent envoys to celebrate Qianlong's birthday. It was not until the birthday party was over that the envoys appeared with gifts. Because the etiquette of the two countries is different, before the Qing Dynasty, people bowed down, and the British just bowed down. Due to the stalemate between the two sides, the envoys finally knelt down and compromised. At that time, the gifts given by the British to Qianlong were some advanced objects, such as binoculars and pocket watches. There are even some advanced weapons. Their purpose was simply to make a deal with the Qing government at that time, but the result was rejected by Emperor Qianlong.

The reason why Qianlong refused the British envoy was written in the imperial edict at that time. The specific content is that the Qing Dynasty claimed to be a country with a vast territory and rich resources, and there was no need to trade with other countries. If the silk and tea made in China are the products that Britain needs, the Qing Dynasty can consider giving them some every year, but Britain needs to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty. From this content, we can see that the Qing government at that time was ignorant of the world, and did not know that industrial civilization had begun in European countries, but it was still showing off its agricultural civilization.

After the British envoy withdrew the imperial edict, the king laughed. The Qing dynasty has always claimed to be a big country, but in fact, the world has long changed. With the development of industrial revolution, many countries began to embark on the road of external expansion, but the Qing government could not see its own situation clearly, and the danger came step by step, which led to the Opium War. In order to open the door to China, the British can only use special methods.