How progressive were the policies of the Qing Dynasty compared with those of the Ming Dynasty?

During the Ming Dynasty, China’s production and application of firearms exceeded those of previous dynasties. The Ming Dynasty independently invented dozens of types of firearms such as mines, water mines, spray cannons (rudimentary flamethrowers), hand guns, cannons, etc., and independently invented flowering artillery shells during the Hongzhi period. Because of the influence of the Confucian tradition of emphasizing literature over military force, Han soldiers generally did not have outstanding riding and archery skills. Therefore, the ability to fight with cold weapons has never been the strong point of the Ming army. To deal with the northern herders and hunters, the Ming army had to resort to firearms. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Later, due to military corruption, the Ming army's combat effectiveness had to rely more on firearms, and the Ming government paid more attention to the research, development and introduction of firearms.

After the mid-Ming Dynasty, although China's firearms research and development capabilities had lagged behind Europe, due to the Ming Dynasty's national policy of actively applying firearms, the thermal weaponization of military equipment was still accelerating. The Ming Dynasty learned from Portugal Matchlock guns were learned from Japan. Firearms developer Zhao Shizhen, in the 26th to 39th years of Wanli Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty (1598 to 1611 AD), in addition to imitating the Turkish-style Rumi gun, also Developed a variety of single-barreled and multi-barreled matchlock guns such as the Zhidian gun, the three-length gun, the double-stack gun, and the Thunder gun. Zhao Shizhen's achievements were widely used by the Ming government. The application of muskets in the Ming Dynasty army rose to a new stage. 2 . From the Jiajing to Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming government not only manufactured large quantities of matchlock guns, but also comprehensively developed various traditional firearms, including the transformation of various fire blunderbuss from the early Ming Dynasty, and the creation of fast guns, multi-barreled (multi-shot) blunderbuss, and tiger squat guns. Cannons, developed rocket-type firearms propelled by the recoil of gunpowder and gas, and various incendiary firearms such as fireballs, spray cannons, fire birds, fire beasts, and train attack types, and created various explosive bombs, landmines, and water mines. These firearms, together with matchlock guns, basically include various categories of ancient Chinese firearms, and integrate the advanced achievements of foreign firearms.

During the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to resist the fierce offensive of Hou Jin (Manchu Qing Dynasty) in Liaodong, the Ming government purchased from Portugal the most advanced cannon in the world at that time - the "Hongyi Cannon" (made in Britain) The early cannon (renamed "Red Cannon" by the Qing Dynasty) was successfully imitated and was widely used in the Guan Ning Army of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ningyuan defense battle in 1626, which severely damaged the Later Jin (Manchu and Qing Dynasty) troops, the eleven Hongyi cannons in Ningyuan City played an important role. The advanced artillery of the Ming army was also the reason why the Later Jin Dynasty (Manchu Qing Dynasty) was unable to capture the Ming Dynasty's military fortress in western Liaoning for a long time.

The Ming Dynasty actively developed and applied firearms and achieved great results in learning from abroad, which has created preliminary conditions for the transition of weapons to hot weapons: During the Longqing period of Ming Mu Zong in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang (1528- 1587) among the new types of troops compiled and trained in Jizhen, such as the chariot camp, the infantry camp, the cavalry camp, and the baggage camp. The soldiers in these battalions who use firearms such as shotguns, Folang machines, tiger cannons, and rockets account for about half of the total number of personnel.

In terms of military organization, with the gradual and widespread use of firearms, the Ming army was also adjusting to adapt to firearms operations: the Ming Dynasty established the earliest independent artillery battalion in Chinese history during the Yongle period of the early Ming Dynasty - -Shenji Battalion. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the great increase in the use of firearms, it developed into car artillery battalions, shotgun battalions, mounted artillery battalions and firearms supply battalions. In addition to the Shenji Battalion, generally 10% of the Ming Dynasty troops The above infantrymen were equipped with firearms, and the proportion was even higher in the late Ming Dynasty. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing and Shandong had established specialized firearms production workshop bases, hired European technicians to guide production, and had a certain large-scale firearms production capacity. 5 At the same time, combat methods, military education and training, and national defense facilities that combined matchlock guns and cold weapons also emerged.

Due to the positive attitude of the Ming Dynasty towards firearms, in the late Ming Dynasty, the equipment of the Ming Army was slightly behind that of the most advanced Western European countries in the world. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Army had several military conflicts with Portugal and the Netherlands. , the Ming army defeated its opponents with firearms. If the rule of the Ming Dynasty could continue, by the 19th century, the weapons of the Chinese army would never be as far behind the European powers as the Qing army during the Opium War.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the beginning of the Chinese military's transition to modernization was vaguely discernible.

Unfortunately, the seeds of this transition fell into pieces with the Qing Dynasty's takeover of China.

The Qing Dynasty was the dynasty with the least achievements in military technology in Chinese history: military technology lacked independent innovation. Before foreign powers used force to open the country, the Qing Dynasty’s military technology not only stagnated, but also compared with The Ming Dynasty all regressed significantly.

The reason why the Qing Dynasty had the least achievements in military technology was first of all due to the inferior quality of the Manchu aristocrats themselves and some historical reasons. Before modern times, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty never paid attention to the impact of military technology on the outcome of wars. It has a great influence and always adheres to the cold weapon concept of "taking over the world with a bow and a horse".

An important historical reason for the formation of this concept is that the powerful cavalry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (Later Jin Dynasty) repeatedly defeated the Ming army, which was superior to itself in military technology and equipment, and finally conquered China. The Manchu and Qing rulers were dazzled by this huge military victory and failed to realize the real reason why the Qing army was able to defeat the Ming army and conquer China. Instead, they believed that this was mainly due to the powerful bow and horse superiority of the Eight Banners Army, thus greatly 6. It promotes the superstition of cold weapons. Under the influence of this concept, it was impossible for the rulers of the Qing Dynasty to pay attention to the development, production, and application of firearms, the advanced military technology at that time.