After the Opium War, why could the Qing Dynasty still rule for 70 years?

Sometimes a crisis is also an opportunity for development.

For the Qing Dynasty, the Opium War did not hurt the Qing Dynasty at all. It was just a fun game and it was not fun, so it was stopped.

When the Taiping Rebellion and the invasion of China by the British and French forces occurred at the same stage, it was the first crisis of rule in the Qing Dynasty.

But this crisis also gave the Qing Dynasty an opportunity to reform. First, the person in power became a more powerful Cixi, and Han officials were reused in the court, including Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong. Waiting for a group of wise ministers. In terms of the military, the military strength of the Hunan Army and the Huai Army in regiment training is much higher than that of the Eight Banners of the Qing Army. Moreover, after China, Britain and France signed the Treaty of Beijing and the Treaty of Tianjin, in order to maintain the rule of the Qing Dynasty and ensure the interests of Britain and France in China, Britain and France turned to support the Qing government to eliminate the Taiping Rebellion and end the civil strife.

After the crisis, the Qing government learned from the painful experience and decided to carry out the "Westernization Movement" in order to "enrich the country" and "strengthen the army." Although the Westernization Movement was destroyed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the thirty years between 1860 and the Sino-Japanese War were the resurgence of the Qing Dynasty.

It continued the Guozuo of the Qing Dynasty. However, the disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War and the invasion of China by the Eight-Power Allied Forces dealt a devastating blow to the Qing government, which was eventually overthrown by the Revolution of 1911 in 1911.

However, what the Qing Dynasty tells us is that opportunities and crises coexist. When a crisis occurs, we must actively seek change in order to develop. In fact, after the Sino-Japanese War, if the Qing government could actively reform and strengthen itself, Then, the Qing government would not perish so quickly.

Success lies in the gentry, failure lies in the New Deal. If you have a little understanding of the history of the Qing Dynasty, you will be amazed at the variability of this dynasty: the differences between the Manchu-early Qing Dynasty, the prosperous Qing Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty are almost like three different Same as the dynasty. Schematic diagram of the "spheres of influence" divided by imperialist powers in China at the end of the 19th century. If you consider that Manchuria was still in a tribal state a few decades ago, then it should be said that the establishment of the Qing Dynasty was an astonishing success. The Manchu emperor successfully grasped the ancient imperial system. China's core question - how a monarch manages a vast empire through bureaucracy - and the answer is high. An important part of this problem is the end of the bureaucracy, that is, the grassroots administration. If we notice that the number of county-level administrative units in China has always been stable at a thousand to fifteen hundred from the Tang to the Qing, During this period, China's population has doubled several times. It is not difficult for us to understand how difficult the grassroots administration is. Once the grassroots administration fails, the dynasty will be isolated from its population, land and food. In late imperial China, the threat to grassroots administration mainly came from the gentry. Although the concept of "the four peoples, the gentry, peasants, industry, and merchants" has a history of thousands of years, the Chinese gentry society we have in mind is largely the product of the combination of Neo-Confucianism, imperial examinations, and local clans in the mid-Ming Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, the gentry had become an extremely powerful social force. The gentry's tax-free privileges made them natural "patrons" of farmers. Once the farmers' land was included in the name of the gentry, the government could not collect taxes. As the ruling dynasty, the Qing Dynasty did not rely on the gentry for its rule, so it had the ability to rectify the gentry problem. How successful was it? Just look at how much the Jiangnan scholars hated the Qing Dynasty. On the other hand, the administrative efficiency of local governments is guaranteed to a minimum extent through the return of fire consumption to the public. At least from a pre-modern perspective, the Qing Dynasty had achieved its ultimate goal, but the Qing Dynasty was facing a new world. The title uses 1840 as a starting point, but in fact, judging from the context of modern Chinese history, 1840 is not really an important year. It stands more as a benchmark of nationalist memory. For China, changes began in the late Qianlong period. The introduction of high-yielding crops has expanded the population of the Qing Empire to unprecedented levels. A population of 400 million was enough to invalidate the entire governance knowledge of traditional China. Starting from 1800, we can see a series of changes: the formalization of the Military Aircraft Service system; the reduction of government expenditures and the expansion of the power of the gentry; the recruitment of local warriors and the preparation of regiment training to deal with the White Lotus Uprising; Bao Shichen, Hong Liang The rise of Ji and Wei Yuan's thoughts on world affairs. The Qing Dynasty's overall approach to the new situation in the 19th century was to rein in its centralized politics and increase the flexibility of its rule. This idea is not what most latecomers expected. Netizens in the 21st century may hope that the Qing Empire will strengthen its centralization and make drastic reforms into a modern country.

But we should understand that the Qing government did not have a blueprint for entering the modern era. In other words, even at the end of the Qing Dynasty or even now, no one knows what a government should do to enter the modern era (at least during the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union took He has ruined many countries with his own blueprint). Maybe Japan is a good teacher? However, after the Meiji Restoration, there were dozens of peasant riots in Japan every year. If this was replicated in the Qing Dynasty with 400 million people, ten Aisin Gioro royal families would not be enough to kill them. By not centralizing power, at least fewer mistakes could be made, and at least the Qing government could survive the Taiping War. If something goes wrong slightly, it is entirely possible that China would become a three- or four-piece country around 1860. In order to survive the crisis, the Qing government had no choice but to decentralize power and let the gentry organize their own regiments and raise their own military pay. Delegating power to the gentry was like drinking poison to quench thirst, but at least it prevented death from thirst. (Some dynasties drank poison as plain water every day, but stopped drinking when they were about to die of thirst. Yes, it was the one before the Qing Dynasty.) The Qing Dynasty had another advantage over the previous dynasties that decentralized power. It was related to The additional revenue from taxes ensures that the central government's finances will not be too embarrassed. In fact, if it just wanted to survive, the Qing Dynasty could have lasted much longer. Which foreign enemy really wanted to destroy the Qing Dynasty? And the Revolutionary Party is just a joke. Ironically, what led to the demise of the Qing Dynasty was precisely that the Qing Dynasty began to rush to modernize: it was launching a large-scale New Deal, but what if the central government's financial investment was not enough? Let local governments find ways to raise their own funds; implement local autonomy, and the gentry will directly control local new policies through the consultative bureau; implement constitutional government, and the people in the country who do not know about constitutional government will also know about constitutional government, the new political theory, and the emperor's rule In addition, there was the state; new education was established, the imperial examination was abolished, and scholars all over the country were alienated; national defense was strengthened, railways were built, and new armies were prepared. The result was 1911. After all, decentralization has a price, and this price is more profound than the rise and fall of a dynasty. In "The Decline and Fall of the Chinese Empire", Wei Feide explains how the expansion of gentry power destroyed the Qing Empire, or to put it further, how it destroyed traditional China and Leading to the victory of the revolutionary country made an extremely subtle conclusion: at the upper level, with the establishment of local self-government, industry and commerce developed. Serving as an official in the court was no longer the only way for gentry to rise. Great gentry could dominate affairs without relying on the influence of the court. Such great gentry seriously undermined the foundation of a centralized state, and their combination with warlords was enough to separate the world. At the middle level, because the gentry organized team training, collected taxes and fees, and carried out self-government, all local financial, political, and military power actually fell into the hands of the gentry, and county officials had no power at all in the local area. This became even more obvious after the collapse of the Qing Empire. County officials appointed by higher-level governments were unable to move locally and could only rely on others. Therefore, the central government could only gain local recognition and obtain fiscal revenue through compromise with the gentry. At the grassroots level, the dual structure of gentry-peasants formed after the withdrawal of imperial power. In the past, the gentry seemed to have acted as a protective umbrella for the peasants, protecting them from the Yamen who represented imperial power. Now it is the gentry, not the government servants, who roam the countryside and collect taxes from the peasants. The veil of affection between the gentry and the peasants was lifted, and the only objects left for the peasants to resent were the gentry. Of course, most of the time they kept their resentment in their hearts. But when this resentment is truly ignited, it will consume everything. If there had been no foreign invasion, 80% of the time, the Aisin Gioro family would still be the head of the family. The largest foreign invasion of nomads in the past dynasties had been solved; the biggest internal problems were controlled by the gentry. The Qing Dynasty relied on the establishment of township-level inspections and also established political power at the township level. class. In addition, what other issues shook the rule of the Qing government? In addition to foreign aggression, it was also the invasion from all over the world. However, it is hard to imagine that the Qing Dynasty could lead China to achieve comprehensive industrialization. This thing would not be possible without too much stimulation. A distinctive feature of agricultural society, especially China's agricultural society, is that there is always a surplus of labor, and efforts to improve labor efficiency have become almost fruitless. At the same time, there is a lack of production methods other than agriculture, resulting in almost the only means for the gentry to invest. Buy land. It can be said that the gentry did not choose to become landlords, but in this context, as an exploiting class, they could only become landlords.

This problem is clear from both domestic and foreign perspectives (importantly, foreign countries).

Looking from abroad, the purpose of Britain at that time (including France in the Second Opium War) was not to destroy and occupy the Qing Dynasty, but mainly wanted so-called "free trade." Opium is a "drug". Forcibly dumping drugs through war cannot be justified. Therefore, even when the British Parliament discussed whether to go to war with China, it only passed by a narrow margin.

At that time, the world followed the law of the jungle, and there was no morality or reason at all. There was not even a symbolic international "arbitration institution", and the Qing Dynasty had no way to reason.

Because the first Opium War was only fought along the coast, it had little impact on the Qing government; the second time when the foreign devils came to Beijing, Emperor Xianfeng was really afraid, thinking that the Qing Dynasty was going to fall, and he Went to hide in Rehe. Unexpectedly, during the negotiation, it was discovered that the foreign devils did not want to occupy China, nor did they want to kill all the Aisin Gioro family, but only wanted to "do business." This result was completely unexpected by the Qing government and could be described as a "mix of surprises." The Qing government then came to the conclusion that invasion by foreign enemies was a problem at the elbow and armpits, while internal strife was a problem at the heart.

On the one hand, Britain and France had no subjective intention to occupy the Qing Dynasty at that time, and on the other hand, they also lacked this ability. Until the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, German commander Waldersee said a famous saying: "No country in Europe, America, or Japan has the brain power and military power to rule a quarter of the world's living beings." As a last resort." The eight countries could not do it in 1900, let alone Britain and France decades ago.

From a domestic perspective, the Qing Dynasty was not fundamentally damaged by the Opium War. The Opium War was mainly fought along the coast, while the Qing army was deployed across the country. Therefore, although the Qing army was defeated, its main force was still there and its vitality was not damaged. During the Opium War, Hong Xiuquan made a fuss. Although he defeated the Qing government troops, he inadvertently forged the Hunan Army and the Huai Army. Especially the latter's rapid rise, and the emergence of a number of troops such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang. The loyal and capable ministers played a very important role in supporting the Qing Dynasty's rule for the next 70 years.

First of all, after the Opium War, we faced a lot of problems at home and abroad, but we had to solve the domestic problems first, so we could only temporarily choose to compromise with the outside world to solve the domestic problems, and the external compromise cannot be a simple compromise. Making peace requires diplomatic means to derogate, which requires sufficient diplomatic wisdom.

Secondly, the ruling institution must be able to maintain the effective operation of the country after the chaos, so as not to cause the country to fall apart without a leader. This was also accomplished by the Qing Dynasty. After Xianfeng ran away, the ruling institution was still there, and the court still had administrative capabilities. The trees will not fall down and the hozens will scatter.

Thirdly, the post-war Westernization Movement promoted China’s modernization. The Qing Dynasty’s national strength increased before the Sino-Japanese War of 1888-1896, and it was once in a state of resurgence. Especially during the Sino-French War, China neither ceded territory nor paid indemnities, let alone The opening of the treaty ports only gave up the suzerainty of Vietnam. In the eyes of people at the time, it was the first time that the Chinese had thwarted foreigners' covetousness towards China. Moreover, at that time, China also obtained extraterritoriality in Korea and Japan, forcing Japan to enact laws prohibiting samurai from taking to the streets with swords, and allowing warships to enter Japanese ports without notification. Therefore, in the eyes of people at the time, China could be described as a great power in four words. rise.

Finally, in the eyes of intellectuals, the Qing Dynasty at that time was the defender of Chinese culture and a banner to resist the impact of Western culture.

The Qing Dynasty was a military colonial regime. It would lose the foundation of its rule only after the Eight Banners organization was completely destroyed. This process was completed when the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing.

As we all know, there were many wars in the late Qing Dynasty, including the First Opium War in 1840, the Second Opium War in 1856, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, and the Eight-Power Allied Forces in 1900. The war of aggression against China, all of which caused great losses to the Qing Dynasty

Especially the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" signed with the Japanese army, the "Treaty of Nanjing" signed during the First Opium War, and the Cultural relics burned by the Eight Kingdoms, but these are not the fundamental reasons for the destruction of the Qing Dynasty

The real reason for the destruction of the Qing Dynasty is that the Qing Dynasty implemented the "New Deal"

Most people know that, The Qing Dynasty's New Deal (that is, reforming the official system, reforming the military system, reforming the academic system, establishing commerce, etc.), to implement the New Deal, first of all, a huge amount of financial resources had to be spent. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was in the midst of a struggle with foreign powers, but it had to spend a lot of financial resources, and Manpower

So, after the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was still able to rule, but in the end, it was killed by itself

Because the Qing government was traitorous! The most corrupt, incompetent, autocratic and cruel government has signed the most humiliating treaties with foreign countries! The biggest compensation was paid! The most land was harvested! Give the people the most cruel high pressure! The most difficult days. Selling the country and the people in exchange for their own rule.

Before answering the question, let me add a little detail about the history of the Qing Dynasty!

In 1894, a naval war broke out between China and Japan - the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894. I think everyone knows the outcome, but how many people know the historical details behind it?

When the Japanese Navy was building warships, they discussed the shipbuilding plan for the next year. At that time, the North Korean side requested the construction of two warships, and the opposition side (a group of people with little power) said : I have no money, so I can only build one. And the one who built two ships said: We need it. The reason for building one is said to be based on Japan's economic situation. We all know that a warship costs a lot of money. When the two sides were arguing, the emperor got the news and called the representatives of both sides to the palace for consultation. After both sides stated their reasons, the emperor said: What you said is correct, isn't it? No money? Is it okay to have the money to build two ships? They said: The key is that there is no money! So the emperor called his chief of internal affairs and said: Listen carefully. From now on, within 10 years, I will donate 1/10 of the emperor's private money to build ships every year. As soon as these words were said, the ministers of the government and the opposition present knelt on the ground and cried bitterly: What a great emperor! Finally, an agreement was reached, and everyone donated 1/4 of their salary to build ships. Do you think this amount of money is enough to build a ship? It's not enough, but it is an iconic thing - even if the Japanese government and opposition parties have reached a consensus on building ships, they have to build ships even if they can eat three meals at a time. What to do if you have no money? All the four major taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and salt are given to the navy. This tax is huge. These are the four major taxes. Think about the high cigarette tax and the high alcohol tax. It is even more important when there is a shortage of salt. As I said, you have to eat salt, it is a necessity, and so is sugar. As these four taxes were not enough, Japan also issued national bonds - Japanese Navy national bonds. They really developed their navy. That year they built not one, not two, but four ships, and within a few years they caught up with Beiyang. Navy.

On the other hand, in the Manchu and Qing dynasties, Empress Dowager Cixi even used navy military funds to build the Summer Palace in order to celebrate her birthday. Not only did she build it, she also built three gardens. The Summer Palace is relatively large. At that time, Ding Ruchang, the commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Navy, wrote to Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang: The fast gun at the front of our ship needs to be replaced with the German Krupp gun, which is more effective in combat. Li Hongzhang commented: Let's wait until the Queen Mother celebrates her birthday. We have no money now.

Comparing the two, how can the Qing Dynasty be invincible, and how can Japan be invincible? Where did we lose? We were defeated by corruption, ignorance, and backwardness. Therefore, this case shows that the feudal society of the late Qing Dynasty must be overthrown!

But as for why it ruled for more than 70 years, I just want to say that it was just a tool for foreign invaders to rule China. At the same time, people at that time were also very servile under feudal management for a long time. So overturning it requires a transition period.

After the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was able to continue to rule for 70 years. As the saying goes, a broken ship still has three pounds of iron, and a starved camel is bigger than a horse. The Qing Dynasty still had certain strength, and The Qing Dynasty also carried out a series of self-rescue movements, and a group of ZTE ministers emerged, which delayed the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

In the long period of wars with Western powers from the Opium War to the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China, the Qing Dynasty immediately sued for peace when the situation was not right at the beginning of each war. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty did not Hurt the vitality. In addition, the Western powers saw that they could not occupy China, so they had the idea of ????supporting the Qing Dynasty to become their agent in China and a tool for their invasion of China. Therefore, even during the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China, they did not overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty, or even When the Qing Dynasty suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, they also helped the Qing government suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement. When the Qing Dynasty was dishonest, the Western powers would attack the Qing government and gain greater benefits at the same time. The two maintained a delicate tacit understanding and balance. The Western powers The recognition and support of the Qing government's legitimacy by the great powers was an important condition for the Qing government's longevity.

At the same time, as a national political power, the Qing government still has a certain degree of power, which cannot be compared and challenged by ordinary domestic forces. Moreover, the hardships of Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and other ZTE ministers Supported and helped the Qing government suppress the domestic peasant movement and maintain its rule. The self-rescue movements launched by Li Hongzhang and others, such as the Westernization Movement, the Reform Reform, and the late Qing Constitution, delayed the demise of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent.

In short, the demise of a dynasty does not happen overnight, it is a slow process. The Qing Dynasty was able to continue to rule for 70 years, thanks to a large number of Han people who were responsible for the resurgence, which allowed the Qing Dynasty to continue to survive!

If you think that the late Qing Dynasty was struggling to survive after the Opium War, it means that you know nothing about the history of the late Qing Dynasty. After the Opium War, the late Qing Dynasty carried out reforms and customs taxes increased steadily. The economic level even surpassed the heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong, reaching an unparalleled era in Chinese feudal history. The late Qing Dynasty collapsed due to the tide of the times. It did not starve to death as it did in the late Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the national treasury was still full, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had long been pacified, and the country was basically stable. Several uprisings by Mr. Sun Yat-sen were unsuccessful, and the Wuchang Uprising was just an accidental event. It happened that that era was the era of revolution. Austria-Hungary, the German Tsarist Empire, and other empires all perished in this era. Therefore, the late Qing Dynasty was lost to the tide of the times. Until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, its economic level was not comparable to that of many dynasties at their peak.

The opening and closing of trade after the Opium War made it the basis for a steady increase in tariffs, and gradually became a major source of fiscal revenue. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1890 in 1890, it even exceeded traditional land tax revenue. To put it in layman's terms, after the Opium War opened up the country, there were two national powers in the late Qing Dynasty before the Opium War. In the last years of Xianfeng, the customs tariff was more than 4.9 million; by the end of Tongzhi, it had reached more than 11.4 million; in the 34th year of Guangxu, it had reached more than 32.9 million; even in the last years of Xuantong, Customs duties also generated revenue of 36.17 million. If the Qing government had its own shipyard, the money could have built hundreds of the most advanced warships in the world at that time. Not to mention that Japan can completely crush the navies of the world. It seems that the reparations for the Opium War will be paid out in less than two years. The Eastern giant seems to be waking up too. However, thousands of years of feudal traditional thinking have made this already decadent dynasty rotten to the core. Just like cancer, no matter how much money you have, there is no cure. We were fully capable of becoming the world's leader more than 100 years ago, which made people who later read history hate us.

From 1840 to 1890, the economy of the late Qing Dynasty in these 50 years was not as bad as imagined. Instead, it surpassed the heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong. In other words, the country's economic level has not reached this level since the Song Dynasty. During the Cixi era, if China had a monarch like Meiji's dead dog, China would have been number one in the world before World War II. It is a pity that the fate of our nation is so bumpy.

Some people may refute my point of view. One thing can prove the economic prosperity of the late Qing Dynasty, and that is the population of 40 million, which is unmatched by any dynasty. What does it mean to have such a large population? At the very least, it has enough money and food to support a population of more than 400 million. This is unmatched by any feudal dynasty.