Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 296 Has Emperor Guangxu Heard of National Awakening?

"History has no assumptions, and history is difficult to assume."

"It is beyond the limit of my intelligence to choose which of the two pigs is the smarter."

"If you enter, you will have no family, and if you leave, you will be invincible to foreign patients. The country will perish, and then you will know that you are born in adversity and die in peace. The earlier the dynasty, the less perfect the economic, cultural, scientific and institutional aspects, and the more difficult it is to maintain in the face of the modern crisis. This is a probabilistic problem, and people themselves are the biggest variable in the world, so maybe something will happen. However, there is no such thing as people's "fantasies" in history.

"No dynasties can do it, because the Qing Dynasty encountered the most difficult situation, and its own reform efforts were also the greatest. The Westernization Movement, the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, the establishment of a new army, etc., in fact, these dynasties and dynasties were unable to do it. If it is not possible, it is not good. Far away, since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns have been separatist, and they were hanged and beaten by Tubo."

"I think the Song Dynasty is a little bit possible."

"If the Song Dynasty was promoting the Westernization Movement, it would definitely be more impressive than the Qing Dynasty, but in terms of combat effectiveness, it is estimated to be half a catty."

"It's hard, it's hard, the opportunity for progress, as long as the grassroots of the dynasty were still gentry, landlords and the like, industrialization would be impossible. Moreover, the foundation of industrialization has always been lacking in ancient times: a large amount of surplus food. After industrialization, the citizens, workers, Capitalists are still human beings who have to eat.”

"Is our neighboring Wa country a counterexample?"

"It doesn't count. Japan is culturally similar to China, but the political system during the Meiji Restoration was more like the West."

"The main feudal power in ancient times was stronger than that of Japan, and it was difficult to change, and the small peasant economy had a strong foundation. It would be the same in any dynasty, unless the system was reformed and capitalism developed. The question is which dynasty leaders will be willing to give up their position, and Developing capitalism, representing different class positions”

"It can also be that capitalism is strong enough, strong enough to break through the feudal class, but capitalism is weak."

"Being beaten is inevitable, but after the first Opium War, the Qing Dynasty had already opened its eyes to see the world, but did not do much. At the same time, Europe was about to fight shit, and more than 60 years of opportunities were wasted. The Qing government was stupid. Is it? On the contrary, he is not stupid at all, I guess if he reforms, he may not be able to keep it for 60 years.”

"There is a certain reason. Generally speaking, reforms will cause relatively large social turmoil, which will inevitably have a certain impact on the governance."

"It can't be changed. The social economy determines the performance of a dynasty. The social and economic conditions at that time have already determined that other dynasties will not appear again. History will not simply repeat itself."

There is no solution.

———"The last dynasty in China was not the Qing Dynasty. Would it still lag behind the world if it were replaced by other dynasties?"

Caused an uproar in modern times.

Even many professionals participated in it, sent out posts, and found out.

What about the network outlet?
Most of the opinions are almost unanimous. No matter who the Qing Dynasty changes, they will all be beaten and lag behind.

In Lin Feng's opinion.

At that time, the people had been accustomed to having an emperor for thousands of years, and the rulers also learned lessons from the demise of the past dynasties, and controlled the subjects of the agricultural empire to the extreme.

The Qing Dynasty encountered changes that had not happened for thousands of years, and the pace of modernization was approaching. The agricultural empire was no longer suitable for the social status quo at that time.

In addition, the Qing Dynasty lived a comfortable life for too long. The rulers were blind and arrogant, and the soldiers were incompetent.

It was a miracle that the country did not fall behind.

Even if it is replaced by other dynasties, it is estimated that it will also lag behind. The rulers will only strengthen this trend of ideological imprisonment and seclusion on the basis of the predecessors. The Qing Dynasty’s isolation and ideological imprisonment are inevitable, even if it is replaced by another dynasty. Doing so will also close the country and imprison the mind. The ruler of the family only cares about the stability of his own rule, and does not care about the subjects below.

In fact, some netizens said it well. Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been lagging behind the world, but the pace of Ming Dynasty lagging behind is relatively small.

The Qing Dynasty is a story to the end.

If you want to say why the Qing Dynasty took the blame, you can only blame them for entering the customs at the wrong time, and most of the emperors were faint but mediocre, incompetent and cowardly. It would be a miracle not to take the blame.

"Mr. Lin, I understand what you mean!" Nurhachi said with emotion.

"In another dynasty, if the emperor still controls the court, it will be the same! After all, the land of Kyushu is already extremely vast, and the world the emperor sees is already a vast eastern land. How can those extraterrestrial things enter the eyes of the law? ..." Huang Taiji spoke.

"For a long time, I have read sage books, saying that the land outside Kyushu is a place of bitter cold, and which emperor can see beyond Kyushu, which is even bigger in the world?" Kangxi continued with a voice from the bottom of his heart.

Compared with the three, Emperor Yongzheng, who worked hard all his life, is more real:
"Mr. Lin, dare to ask the future generations of New China, how are the people in the Central Plains doing? What era?"

Lin Feng replied, "Senior Yongzheng, the descendants are very good, the country is rich and the people are strong, after several generations of hard work, we are striving for the great rejuvenation of China, maybe it won't be long before we, China, will be able to stand on top of the world again , just like a thousand years ago, disdain the whole world."

That sounds inspiring.

Yongzheng asked again, "Later generations, how many people are there today?"

Lin Feng replied, "14 million people."

Hearing such a huge population, all Qing emperors clicked their tongues.

Even Pu Yi, who lived in the new era, was touched, "Mr. Lin, when Pu Yi was seriously ill, the domestic population was barely 7 million. Unexpectedly, it has doubled in 50 years."

Yongzheng asked again, "Mr. Lin, with such a huge population, is there so much food?"

He asked what other emperors wanted to ask.

After all, in ancient times.

To make the people full and not hungry is the most troublesome problem for the emperors.

Natural and man-made disasters, floods and fires, etc., will cause huge problems in people's livelihood in an era of low productivity.

Lin Feng replied, "In later generations, a sage appeared in the field of agriculture. We all call him Uncle Yuan. Years ago, we used 7% of the world's land to feed 22% of the world's population, known as the "Oriental Miracle."

"Hybrid rice?"

"Good stuff!"

"I envy your future generations!"

Yongzheng said with deep emotion, "Uncle Yuan's achievements have allowed everyone to have enough to eat and solved the food problem from ancient times to the present. His contributions cannot be overstated compared with those of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors."

At this time, Emperor Guangxu stood up, "Mr. Lin, please advise. When I tried to reform the law, the Western powers were already equipped with various guns and cannons. Dare I ask if we have fully mastered those weapon technologies in future generations?"

Lin Feng said, "Yes!"

Guangxu was particularly excited, "Mr. Lin, can you let us see the future?"

No wonder.

The Qing army all rode and shot. During the first Opium War, Yingguo had foreign guns and artillery. Those in the front row fired and reloaded, and those in the back row continued to shoot.The ratio of casualties is 1 to hundreds of thousands
As for the Qing army, they also set up a "firearms battalion" later, but the effect was not great

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, there were foreign guns presented to the emperor by foreigners, but he left them there without even opening them. At that time, he thought it was unnecessary.

We all know that the artillery of the Ming Dynasty had caused the Qing army a lot of hardships, but the Qing Dynasty didn't care about it later. Very primitive muzzle-loading gun, no development can be seen.

The more tragic figure is that the casualty ratio of the first Opium War was 600:1, and the 25 Qing army could not directly defeat the more than 1 Chinese army.

Moreover, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the court was full of smog, the emperor was incompetent, and many officials in the court were rotten. Regarding the growth of military power and the improvement of technology, the people of the Qing Dynasty had never done anything.

Even the most basic musket weapons, people in the Qing Dynasty still used weapons many years ago. These weapons have a short range, low power, and are extremely inconvenient to use. When the Chinese army with advanced weapons, the Qing army was undoubtedly a group of ants waiting to be trampled on.

Regarding Emperor Guangxu's request, Lin Feng did not nod, but asked instead:
"Senior Guangxu, do you just want to take a look at the various new technology weapons developed by later generations?"

Guangxu was taken aback, "Otherwise?"

Lin Feng gasped and said disappointedly, "Actually, apart from weapons, a large part of the victory or defeat of a war is due to human effort."

Guangxu was naturally puzzled, "Does the problem of people affect the direction of the war? But aren't weapons more deadly?"

This sentence is not a big problem after 230 years.

But if it is placed in the environment of the end of the Qing Dynasty, it is more people, people's hearts that determine the trend of war!
If a group of people is insensitive, like puppets, without the slightest cohesion, even if you are given laser weapons, you will definitely lose!

"The key lies in people? In people's hearts?"

Guangxu muttered.

Lin Feng said again, "Emperor Guangxu, have you heard of the national awakening?"

Guangxu said thoughtfully, "Mr. Lin, you mean the soul of the Chinese nation, awakened?"

(End of this chapter)