What were Qianlong's original words when he refused foreign emissaries to trade?

Ganlong's original words: "China is rich in products and has everything. It was not necessary to borrow foreign goods to exchange needed goods."

It means: we are a kingdom of heaven, we have everything, we are completely self-sufficient, and we don't need to do business with you at all.

At that time, the British minister Magalny came to the Qing Dynasty. His aim is to open the market of Qing dynasty. Of course, his purpose is not pure and perfect. For the empire that never sets at that time, it is better to turn the Qing Dynasty into its own industrial market and industrial raw material mining area, so that its essence is to sell goods and plunder raw materials.

But this way of selling goods and plundering raw materials can eventually promote the modernization of the Qing Dynasty, and this peaceful modernization is not a good thing for the Qing Dynasty.

But at that time, Emperor Qianlong was very confident. Emperor Qianlong is still dreaming of going to China. He forgot that when he went down to the south of the Yangtze River, the Eight Banners Army: the rider fell to the ground and shot an arrow at the target. He still believes that he is invincible. He invented the perfect martial arts for himself. In fact, this perfect martial arts is really not genuine, and there is a lot of water in it. Emperor Qianlong asked the British envoy to kneel, but the British envoy refused to kneel. Finally, under the mediation of Xiao Shenyang, the British envoy adopted the courtesy of kneeling on one knee.

During the conversation, the British envoy always wanted to trade with the Qing Dynasty, but Emperor Qianlong was obviously not interested in trade. His answer is very arrogant: we are a heaven, we have everything, we are completely self-sufficient, and we don't need to do business with you at all. If you want tea, you can sell it to you ... Of course, what Emperor Qianlong said was not unreasonable. The Qing Dynasty was completely self-sufficient, but he didn't see the gap between himself and the empire that never fell.

After returning home, Magalny commented on the Qing Dynasty, saying that the military strength of the Qing Dynasty was three or four centuries behind that of Britain. He commented that the Qing Dynasty was a broken ship. It can be said that Macartney's mission made the British thoroughly see the decline of the Qing Dynasty, so Britain dared to launch the Opium War.

In other words, if Magalny brought guns instead of letters, the Qing Dynasty would be forced to sign unequal treaties during the Qianlong period.

Even a good captain can't sail an old ship well unless he can repair it well. After Emperor Qianlong rejected Magyarny, the Qing Dynasty lost an opportunity to truly be on an equal footing with the western powers. After the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty wanted to sit at the negotiating table again, and the seats were not equal.

Extended data

Qianlong period

In the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757), Emperor Qianlong ordered western businessmen to trade only in Guangdong on the grounds that coastal defense controlled foreign activities. But in fact, some western colonists in Nanyang at that time were still allowed to trade with Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu customs, especially Fujian customs. For example, forty-six years of Qianlong (178 1), forty-eight years (1783), fifty-one years (1786), twelve years of Jiaqing (1807) and fourteen years (1).

In foreign trade, the Qing government also implemented the firm system, that is, the thirteen firms in Guangzhou, with monopoly operation. The Qing government only allowed a few wealthy businessmen to set up "public banks" to conduct import and export trade with foreign businessmen and negotiate with them on behalf of the Qing government.

After "one-stop trade", in the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong (1759), Li Shiyao, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, decided to promulgate five regulations on preventing foreign affairs, and in the fourteenth year of Jiaqing (1809) and the fifteenth year of Daoguang (1835), the Regulations on People-Foreign Trade and Preventing Foreign Affairs were promulgated respectively.

The main contents are:

(1) Foreigners are not allowed to spend the winter in Guangzhou.

(2) Yi people can only live in pavilions of Hong Kong businessmen in Guangzhou. If there are not enough houses in the pavilion, the merchants will rent out the houses and send people to guard them. Traitors are not allowed to enter or leave foreign museums. Don't let fans and others go out for a leisurely trip. If foreigners have something to do, they must be bound by general affairs and businessmen. In the last years of Qianlong, it was allowed to visit Chenjia Garden (later changed to Huatian) and Haikuang Temple three times a month, but foreign companies had to accompany them.

(3) It is forbidden for mainlanders to borrow foreign capital.

(4) It is forbidden for foreigners to hire mainlanders to deliver information to them.

(5) Send troops to strengthen inspection at the entrance of foreign ships and withdraw once they are exported. Foreigners are also not allowed to enter Chinese mainland. Foreigners are not allowed to bring their wives and sentries into the province, and foreigners are not allowed to bring more than five followers. You are not allowed to bring weapons into this province, smuggle guns, buy or sell prohibited items, take sedan chairs, hire China people privately, limit the number of employees in commercial museums, and have no direct contact with China businessmen other than Hong Kong businessmen.

China businessmen also have strict management measures for their overseas trade. For example, a registered businessman is required to obtain a safety knot, a ship guide (tickets, photos) and a waist tag, and the foot of the ship, the name of the businessman, the age and place of origin of the people on board, the reason for going to sea, what goods to carry, the trade to a certain place, and the round-trip date are indicated. Require merchant ships and businessmen going abroad to return on time, and punish or restrict those who fail to return home in time.

Before the Opium War, the gross tonnage of the two maritime powers, the United States and Britain, was once lower than that of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the total number of merchant ships along the coast of China ranged from 9,000 to nearly 1 10,000, about10.5 million tons. Together with other types of ships, there are more than 200,000 rivers and ocean ships in China, totaling more than 4 million tons. 18 14 years, Britain has more than 2 1500 ships, totaling 2.4 million tons. 1809, the United States owned1350,000 tons of ships.

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