Although this view is not unreasonable, it seems inappropriate to judge the gains and losses of an emperor from this point alone.
The Qing Dynasty lasted 268 years and was ruled by 12 emperors. Among them, the three generations of emperors of Kang Yongqian are the most well-known and leave the most stories. Kangxi is known as the first emperor of the ages, and his cultural and martial arts are unrivaled.
He cared for the people, practiced benevolent government, and won the nickname of "Emperor Shengzuren". Although Kangxi's exploits cannot be generalized, now let's take a look at the two emperors, Yongzheng and Qianlong, who made greater contributions and made more outstanding achievements.
The broadcast of the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty" seems to have greatly improved Yongzheng's image.
He was originally considered a cruel and ruthless monarch, but in this drama, he is portrayed as an outstanding monarch who cares about the world, works diligently and loves the people, and fights against the ** filthy officials.
I believe that many people's understanding of Yongzheng also started from this drama. So, is Yongzheng really like this in history? Let's take a look at what great things he has done to benefit the country and the people during his thirteen years of reign.
Implementation of the New Deal: Five years before the Yongzheng Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor had been busy stabilizing the throne and effectively cracking down on the opposition forces and power groups of the clan in order to better implement the New Deal.
After eliminating all kinds of opposition forces, Yongzheng began to implement new policies in the local area, such as changing the land and returning it to the river, apportioning the land into the acre, and returning the fire to the public, which brought tangible benefits to the general public, reduced their burden, and played a huge role.
Abolition of Untouchables: Emperor Yongzheng carried out a reform in human rights, namely the abolition of untouchables. In the first year of Yongzheng, he ordered that the descendants of Shanxi and Shaanxi who had been incorporated into the "Lehu" register because they were not attached to Zhu Di in the last years of the Ming Dynasty should be removed from the untouchable nationality and made them private households.
In September of the same year, he ordered the abolition of the "lazy people" status of the descendants of those who had opposed Zhu Yuanzhang in Shaoxing and made them private households. In the fifth year of Yongzheng, he ordered the exemption of the "Shuhu" registration in eastern Guangdong and made it a private household.
This move is undoubtedly a step forward, freeing the shackles of lowly workers who have been engaged in lowly work for more than a thousand years.
The Yongzheng Dynasty had carried out a military attack on the Dzungar Department, but due to poor results, it was finally decided to send Yue Zhongqi and Fu Erdan to lead the army to conquer respectively.
However, the successive defeats on the front line even led to Yue Zhongqi being imprisoned, and the generals of the North Road Military Camp were frequently replaced.
Eventually, the two sides reached an impasse and began negotiations. Although Emperor Yongzheng failed to eliminate the other party, he was not without other achievements, such as rectifying the rule of officials, strengthening the secret folding system, and establishing a secret reserve system.
Emperor Yongzheng's life can be described as "hard work", and his diligence also makes us wonder if his ability is really insufficient. Similarly, his son Qianlong was also very diligent in government, but in comparison, Qianlong's rule was obviously much easier.
The 18th century of Emperor Qianlong was the heyday of China's feudal society, and he stood at the forefront of that era, strategizing and galloping the field, and his thoughts and actions had a profound impact on the world.
During the reign of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty prospered, the economy prospered, the treasury was full, the society was stable, the population surged, the frontier was unified, and the map of modern China was also laid in his hands.
Politics, economy, military, and culture have also reached unprecedented heights in feudal society.
Many people criticized Qianlong for building on a large scale, parading around, and wasting national wealth.
However, from another point of view, as a monarch who rules a vast territory, if he only sits in the court and lives in seclusion, although it can save money and energy, it may lead to detachment from society and ignorance of the state situation, which is not conducive to decision-making and governance.
Historically, those monarchs who have made achievements, such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Yuan Shizu, Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Kangxi, have all traveled around. Parades were a way for feudal emperors to stay in touch with society.
However, Emperor Qianlong was a face-loving monarch, and the cost of his southern tour was several times that of his father Kangxi's southern tour. This is the reason why he spent a lot of money, and the Cruise and the South Tour cannot be said to be wrong.
During Qianlong's reign, China's population grew to 29.7 billion, what a staggering number.
In a feudal society dominated by agriculture, it was extremely difficult to feed so many people, but during the Qianlong period, China produced enough grain to feed more than 300 million people, exceeding the highest level in history.
Although from the perspective of details, Yongzheng's performance is good, but in the key events involving the overall situation, Qianlong's achievements far exceed Yongzheng. Whether in the economic, political, military or cultural aspects, Qianlong's achievements far surpassed Yongzheng.
If Qianlong's reign was also thirteen years, then his achievements could not be compared with Yongzheng. Of course, the Qing Dynasty's decline from its heyday to decline was also caused by Qianlong.
However, this was not his own fault, but was closely related to the general background of the social system, political system and cultural traditions of the time.
Because Qianlong did not live in an environment like Peter the Great, he could not have the ambitions and ideals of Peter the Great.
Even if Kangxi is still alive, he can't change this trend.
Therefore, judging Yongzheng and Qianlong should not only stop at praising their political achievements or criticizing their mistakes, the key is to understand the background of the times in which they lived, and the most important thing is to see whether they promoted social progress and development.