Chapter 37 Chapter 34 The Decline and Chaos of the Qing Dynasty

After the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the rebellion of Nian and Hui was restored, and the Qing Dynasty was known as Zhongxing for a while.Indeed, it is rare in history that a royal family can maintain its power in such a catastrophe.However, the luck of the Qing Dynasty could not improve from then on, and the Lingyi still declined to the point of collapse. What is the reason for this?This is what the world has changed.What the Chinese have encountered since the invasion of the west from the east is an unprecedented situation, which cannot be dealt with by any old method.Empress Xiaoqin herself has considerable talents, but her thinking is very old-fashioned.If you look at her speeches in her later years, she often reveals the thoughts of people in the Taoist and Xian eras.Probably since she entered the palace, she has been isolated from the outside world, and she does not know the truth of the current situation.Compared with the so-called Zhongxing famous officials, her thinking is much behind.At that time, when dealing with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, dealing with Nian and Hui, all the old methods were used, and she was able to deal with it.After the internal strife is established, it is beyond her ability to continue to strive for self-improvement to prevent foreign aggression.Not only that, even the so-called Zhongxing famous ministers at that time felt that it was not enough to cope with the current situation.They have only been working for a long time and have more experience, and they know that a broad-based theory at that time is not enough. They also feel that what China encounters is not the same as the old situation in history, but what they feel is only military affairs.It is related to manufacturing because of the military, and it is related to academics because of manufacturing, that's all.What people later said, "Western people have the foundation of their own country, not just at the end of the weapon", is definitely not what people at this time can see, and it is no wonder.Not only that, among the ZTE generals at that time, if there was a leader, like Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty at the end of the Jin Dynasty, who entered the central government and held great power, while the emperor of the Qing Dynasty only kept a name, the central government should be more lively. .But there is no such character as ZTE generals, Di Chou De Qi.Moreover, most of them are scholars, not only some are concerned about the name of the monarch and ministers, but also some are concerned about their wealth and reputation, so they dare not retreat bravely.The Qing Dynasty naturally did not dare to impose too much on the Han people.So those who presided over the center at that time were all people with insufficient intelligence, weakness, or even ignorance.The ethos of scholar-bureaucrats in the Qing Dynasty was close to that of velvet and favored profit.The backbone of the Hunan Army once advocated the spirit of perseverance.However, the advocacy of a few people can only restore the long-standing atmosphere, so the chaos has not been settled for a long time, and this spirit has quickly degenerated.Officials and scholars are as corrupt as before.In the era of Tong and Guang, there was a group of so-called Qingliu who liked to sing high-profile, but were ignorant of the facts, almost repeating the mistakes of the Song and Ming peoples.Fortunately, the situation at that time did not allow this kind of character to flourish and grow. Those who failed in the battle of Fayue and who bore the brunt of it disappeared, and the scholar-bureaucrats still became a dying society.The government and the scholar-bureaucrat class were in such a state of depression, but there were also changes in the court.Although Muzong of the Qing Dynasty was born after Xiaoqin, Gu and Xiaoqin were not in harmony.When the queen was established, Xiaozhen and Xiaoqin each had their own masters.Mu Zong obeyed Xiaozhen's wishes.Xiaoqin was furious and forbade him to live with the empress.Mu Zong was depressed, so he acted insignificantly and died of illness.The wife of Prince Chun Yi is the younger sister of Empress Xiaoqin. Xiaoqin violated public opinion and appointed his son Zaiyan as Dezong.At the age of four, the two palaces will come to court again.Empress Xiaozhen died suddenly for no reason, and Empress Xiaoqin was fearless.Doting favors as eunuchs, being arrogant and extravagant, selling officials and nobles, doing everything.After Dezong came to power, he was interested in cheering himself up, but he was strangled by Xiaoqin, and the rift between mother and son deepened, which laid the root cause of the 1898 coup.

The internal affairs are so precarious, and the diplomatic situation is urgent.The so-called vassal vassals in the past dynasties in China were originally just empty names, and they did not actually receive any benefits.Therefore, families who discuss politics mostly take the warnings of exhaustion of people's strength and diligence.But since Xili invaded eastward, the situation is different.The so-called vassals are all shielded from outside the borders of the country. If they can be preserved, the territory of the enemy country, that is, not directly with our country, will naturally not wantonly invade.Therefore, there have always been only vassal vassals with empty names, but at this time, they do have the role of vassal guards.But with China's diplomatic habits and the strength of the country, at this time, how can it be said to preserve the vassal?So in the 19th century, the country that paid tribute to China was swallowed up by the big powers.Let's start from the west: Kazakhs and Brut both surrendered to Russia in 1840 AD.Buhar and Jihua became Russian protectorates in 1873.Kokand was destroyed by Russia in 1876.Baddock Mountain was protected by the British in 1877.Ganzhu is specifically named as two genera, and in fact I have no right to ask.So the tributary kingdoms from the west of Congling came to an end.In the southwest, there is Zhe Mengxiong. When the British and French allied forces entered Beijing, the British obtained the right to lay railways in its territory.As early as 1826 and 1851, Myanmar fought against the British and was defeated. It successively ceded Assami, Arakan, Dinasirin and Baigu, and all the best coastal lands were exhausted.After Annan Jiuruan lost his country, Zeng Jie priests begged for help from the law.Later, taking advantage of the decline of Xinruan, with the help of Siam, the country was restored, and it was still entrusted to China, and its name was changed to Vietnam.When Vietnam was restored, France did not actually give much help.However, the power of the legal person has invaded since then, and Ge Teng has repeatedly negotiated.In 1874, the legal person signed a treaty with Vietnam, recognizing it as an independent country.Although our country does not recognize it, France also ignores it.Even the newly emerging Japan wiped out Ryukyu, which had been entrusted to China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in 1879.Significant negotiations, in the northwest, there is the "Ili Treaty" in 1881.During the Hui chaos, Ili was occupied by Russia, and China negotiated with it. The Russians said: "Just keep it on behalf of China, and it will be handed over as soon as it is settled."Moreover, China sent a bewildered Chonghou to take back only one city of Ili. Since a lot of land was cut off, the loss of other rights was especially huge.The Chinese punished Chong Hou and reassigned Zeng Jize, so that the land boundary was taken back a bit, and other conditions were also slightly corrected.However, the whole territory of Xinjiang is allowed to trade without tax; Suzhou and Turpan are also allowed to set up consulates; the gateway to the northwest has been opened since then.In the southwest, the British repeatedly asked to send personnel from India to Tibet via Yunnan for exploration, but China could not refuse and agreed. In 1857, the British sent officials from India to Yunnan, and their ministers sent their counselors to meet them from Shanghai to Yunnan.To Tengyue, he was killed by savages.Its personnel from India were also blocked with weapons.Cen Yuying, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, was suspected of instigating this matter, and it almost led to major negotiations.The following year, a treaty was signed in Zhifu: Yunnan and Burma were allowed to trade, and Yichang, Wuhu, Wenzhou, and Beihai were opened as commercial ports.Xu Yingying sent staff to Chongqing to inspect the business situation, and discuss the opening of the port when the ship could arrive.This was the beginning of the invasion of the Southwest by Western forces.By 1882, the war between France and Vietnam began.It was not good for our soldiers to enter Vietnam from Yunnan and Guangxi at the beginning, and the navy was also defeated by Fuzhou.Then Feng Zicai had the victory of Zhennanguan and took advantage of the situation to restore Lang Son.The legal person is in a timely situation and has not been able to fight with all its strength. It is actually an opportunity that our country can insist on in diplomacy, but it has not been fully utilized.As a result, in 1885, a treaty was signed to recognize France and Vietnam, and to open two trades on the border (later set to open Longzhou, Mengzi, and Manyao. The treaty in 1895 also set Hekou to replace Manyao, Add Simao).The British took the opportunity to destroy Burma in 1885, and China had to make a treaty to recognize it next year.First, in the "Treaty of Zhifu", there was still a clause for Xu Yingren to send personnel to Tibet, and finally, China took the opportunity to cancel this clause in the "Myanmar Treaty".However, in 1888, Britain and Tibet clashed again in the territory of Zhemengxiong. In 1890, China and the British signed the "Tibetan-India Treaty", and then recognized Zhemengxiong to be protected by Britain. In 1893, the treaty was renewed, and Kaiya Dongguan was re-established as a commercial port, but the Tibetans refused to implement it, laying the root of future disaster.

The previous failures of foreign negotiations reached their culmination in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894.China and Japan, both founded in the east, have a very deep relationship in history. When Western forces invaded the east, it was possible to cooperate to resist aggression.But at this time, the Chinese were too alienated from foreign affairs, and everything was unavoidably expressed with suspicion, while the Japanese were narrow-minded and specialized in aggression, and they did not want to cooperate with China from the beginning.The signing of the treaty between China and Japan took place in 1871.Judgment rights belong to each other.Imported goods shall be paid in full according to the customs tariff, and if the tariff has not been determined, the value shall be 50 percent, which is also the same as that of each other.Inland trade is expressly prohibited.At that time in China, Weishi did not want to use this as a basis to establish a basis for an improved treaty, but it failed to openly explain this intention to Japan.Japan, on the other hand, did not want to cooperate with China, but wanted to invade from the very beginning, so it felt resentful.By 1874, because Taiwan's genocide killed the people living in Japan, they sent troops to attack. In 1879, Ryukyu was destroyed again.Negotiations have repeatedly been fraught with kudzu, and North Korea, which is in decline, is the first step for Japan to set foot on the mainland, and has become the focus of power conflicts between China and Japan. In 1894, the Japanese were well-prepared and deliberately provoked, until they met each other in arms.After our country was defeated, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was concluded next year.In addition to recognizing North Korea's independence, it also ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, and paid up to 20 million taels of compensation.The revision of the trade treaty is based on the treaties made by China and Western countries, and opening Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou as commercial ports, so that the Japanese can engage in manufacturing in the trading ports, is what the Western countries have been asking for for years. China refuses to allow it.After this agreement was established, Russia joined forces with Germany and France to intervene, and the Japanese added 30 million taels of compensation and returned Liaodong to us.This led to the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" in 1896. China promised Russia to pass the Siberian Railway to Vladivostok through Black and Kyrgyz provinces.At that time, it was rumored that Russia still had a secret agreement to lease Jiaozhou Bay, which caused Germany to occupy Jiaozhou Bay, forcing me to sign a 99-year lease agreement and obtain the right to build the Jiaozhou-Jinan Railway.Therefore, the Russians leased Lu and Da, and allowed them to build a branch of the Eastern Provincial Railway.The British leased Weihaiwei, and the legal person leased Guangzhou Bay.The military ports operated by my country's coastal industries have all been occupied.It is in the southwest: France asked me for a reward for interfering in the return of the Liao Dynasty.In 1895, the "Continued Discussion of the Special Articles on Commercial Affairs" was established. When mining was opened in Yunnan and Guangdong, Xu Xian negotiated with legal persons.The railways completed or planned in Vietnam may be connected to the territory of China.And cut off part of the land of Meng Lian and Jiang Hong, who had previously allowed Britain not to cede to other countries.So Britain asked my country again, and in 1897, signed the "Sino-Burmese Treaty Supplement".The Yunnan Railway is allowed to connect with Myanmar, and Sanshui, Wuzhou and Jianggenxu will be opened.The forces of outsiders have invaded the southwest more and more.Since Russia and Germany won the right to lay railways in our country, countries have also competed with each other.At the beginning, the Russians got the right to lay the Lu-Han Railway through the help of the Belgians.The British therefore demanded routes from Jinzhen, Henan to Shandong, Jiuguang, Puxin, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo.Russia requested that the railway north of Shanhaiguan be constructed by it.The United Kingdom came first again, and signed a contract with China to build the Niuzhuang-Beijing Railway.Britain and Russia made a self-contained agreement, and Britain recognized the railway north of the Great Wall, which was to be built by Russia, and the Russians recognized the railway in the Yangtze River Basin, which was to be built by Britain.Britain and Germany also negotiated on their own. Britain recognized Shanxi and the Zhanzhu Road from Shanxi to the outside of the river region. The railway in the Yellow River Basin belonged to Germany, and Germany recognized the railway in the Yangtze River Basin to Britain.Wherever the railway goes, the right to mine mines follows.Countries have followed the method used to divide Africa, referring to a certain part of our country as belonging to a certain country's sphere of influence, and demanding that I recognize in a treaty or declaration that its land cannot be ceded to other countries.So the theory of carve-up was very popular for a while, and the Chinese people were also alerted at that time.