The heyday of hunger

Last night, I finished sorting out the last two reading notes, but more and more I owe the flag of 2020 (writing one after reading one). A book that people like, or it conveys the same values as you, or it lights up a new light for you.

I remember Bai said when talking about reading lectures, "When you really study and like it, you don't have to look for books. The book will take you to your book. " That's true.

It was April 19 when I started writing again, and it was cloudy and sunny again. The first book to be shared first is "Warning in Prosperity: Gains and Losses in Qianlong Period" (collector's edition)-Zhang Hongjie.

This book mainly talks about some situations and reflections of the Qing Dynasty during the Qianlong period. The title has been highlighted before turning over the book. The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, and the Qianlong period was the last prosperous period of the feudal era in China. Looking at it now, I suddenly feel that this sentence is ironic. At that time, all countries in the world were entering the industrial age, vigorously reforming and developing productive forces and striving for democracy. At this time, the Qing emperors and their officials were still immersed in the fantasy that China was at the center of the world and surrounded by barbarians. The books I brought back from the school library last year were all about history. After reading this book, I have some different feelings.

First of all, there is a debate about "storing wealth for the people" or "storing wealth for the country". As the book says, a country as big as China is rich in resources and has a large population, so no matter what historical stage it looks from the outside, China will be "big". Kyle Poirot marveled that China was "the most prosperous place imaginable in the world". However, whether the money is concentrated on the overall development of the country or dispersed to all people, the state presented by the whole society is different. The British came to visit Emperor Qianlong. On the one hand, they are really amazed at the wealth of this country, on the other hand, they are also shocked by the poverty of the people at the bottom. In stark contrast to the widespread poverty at the bottom, it is the luxury life of the upper class. Although people with rosy faces are rarely seen in the bottom society, there are many fat people among the senior officials of the Qing government. The main content of these dignitaries' lives is eating.

Secondly, it is a sorrow for the prosperous times and the historical cycle. At the end of the book, the author of "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty" wrote: "The more he reads history and writes it to the end, the more sad he becomes, because you find that the whole history is circulating, and the mistakes you should make will still be made. You may think history is funny, but the author wrote it in a relatively relaxed way. The real history is cold and tragic, and we have never escaped. "

Prosperity is the dream of the Chinese nation. Living a prosperous life is the greatest expectation of every China person for the times. The so-called prosperous time is an era when there is no serious political corruption inside, no imminent foreign invasion outside, good social order and people can generally eat enough. However, "prosperity" and "decline" are relative. Without the background of decline, there will be no beauty and glory of the prosperous times. Every prosperous time in the history of China needs a large-scale troubled times as a prelude. The great destruction of the extremely declining world is a necessary condition for the emergence of the prosperous times. One of the important reasons for the collapse of the traditional dynasty in China was the population pressure, and the war freed the new dynasty from the population pressure and provided a broad stage for its rise. Therefore, every prosperous time is a kind of rebound and compensation for the catastrophe in the previous stage. The prelude to prosperity is decline, and the end is also decline. China's thousands of years of ancient history, prosperity, and rule of the country add up, but about 400 years later, all that remains is famine, turmoil and corruption. It is sad to see what is written in the book. Time has been advancing, but we have been stuck in the cycle of history.

Finally, it is "rule by man" and "rule by law". The law of China's prosperous times is that a wise and powerful founding emperor set a standard and laid the foundation of a new dynasty. After the death of the founding emperor, there is often a small adjustment period of running-in turmoil, and then another capable descendant opens the bottleneck period of the development of the dynasty and pushes the dynasty to a prosperous time. The emergence of a wise emperor is a small probability event in the history of China, and emperors of all dynasties can be brilliant, just as rare as winning the lottery, so it is not difficult to explain why there are so few prosperous times in the history of China.

From prosperity to decline, so fast, of course, the reason is that the emergence of these prosperous times depends on the rule of man. Several prosperous times in China's history left only the shrewd wrist and strong personality of the rulers in the history books, but not many institutional achievements. The outbreaks in China and western countries are really perfect, but there is one western country that makes me have a different idea-Britain. Although his group immunity was unreliable at first, I was surprised that their system was so stable. /kloc-Britain left the EU in 0/6, followed by Cameron's resignation, Yimei's resignation and Johnson's coming to power (he was ill in ICU recently and came out again). In the process of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, not only three top leaders changed, but also a large number of government officials resigned, which led to an "own goal joke" of group immunity, and the development of the country and society was so stable. In fact, I really lament their system design, just like why our country has been emphasizing the rule of law at present, because only the system can truly guarantee the stability of the system and the development of the country. After all, single-person governance is not reliable. On the one hand, you can't guarantee that there will always be excellent people without any selfishness, and the long-term ideas of the former and the latter should be the same. On the other hand, how much risk can you control if people have problems? Therefore, only the system can draw the lower limit (to ensure the risk control in the most unfavorable situation), and then select excellent people and the system to form a strong alliance.

Here are some sentences I like very much in the book:

& gt& gt Opportunities in life are often fleeting, especially for countries and nations. This situation seems very clear today, but the authorities are puzzled. People who stand at the crossroads of history are often in this mountain. How can I tell if I have crossed all these clouds? .

& gt& gt After the unification of Xinjiang in the 24th year of Qianlong (1759), the territory of China is extremely prosperous, starting from Sayanling, Ergon River and Waixing 'anling in the north, reaching the South China Sea Islands in the south, starting from Balkhash Lake and Pamir Plateau in the west and reaching Sakhalin Island in the east, with a territory area of more than 6,543,800 square kilometers.

& gt& gt There is only white hair in a fair world, and there is no pity for your head.

& gt& gt The more people who have tasted youth and happiness so heartily, the more unbearable the pain of old age.

& gt& gt Leng Yue is surrounded by stars, and I weep alone. It's a mistake to get pregnant when you hurt a previous life and go to the scene.

& gt& gt The rich have clouds, but the poor have no place to stand.