The so-called "prosperous period of kanggan" began with the rebellion of stabilizing vassals in the twentieth year of Kangxi (168 1) and ended with the rebellion of the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Chu' an Baili School in the first year of Jiaqing (1796), which lasted for1kloc-0/5. Some China historians call "Kanggan Prosperity" brilliant, because they think it pushed the traditional society of China to a new peak in many aspects, such as politics, economy and culture, and created a miracle in the history of China. They believe that the final completion of national reunification, the high prosperity of social economy and the trend of academic culture are the most remarkable historical characteristics of the "prosperous time of Kanggan".

But what is the truth? If we compare the "prosperous time of Kanggan" with other periods called prosperous times below three generations, we will find that both the quality and quantity of prosperity are far worse than those of the previous generation, and there is a trend of overall frustration and disintegration in history.

(B) Anti-flu Societies

Cash crops such as cotton and mulberry are only allowed to grow where it is impossible to grow grain. Crops other than grain should be banned, not to mention industry and commerce. The emperor of the Qing dynasty thought that "there is one more person in the market place, and one less person grows crops in the field", and repeatedly said that "it is impossible to attract investment to set up factories" and "there is no second opinion except that it is strictly forbidden"

But what is the so-called heyday of anti-cadres?

1. Ancient records:

Tang Zhen, a civilian thinker in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, summed up the social and economic situation of China in the prosperous period of Kangxi's forty years:

(According to Japanese scholars' research, the middle period of Kangxi was the period when the per capita GDP was the highest in the prosperous period of Kanggan. After that, under the pressure of gnashing teeth, the per capita GDP of China began to decline all the way. ) Qingxing has been in business for more than 50 years. Within the four seas, poverty is increasing: agricultural air, industrial air, urban air and official air. The food is cheap and unpalatable, the cloth is cheap and hard to wear, the goods are discounted when the ship turns to the market, and the official speech is empty.

Money, so I don't need it. Middle-class families can't get by without a gold and money for ten days. Therefore, farmers are hungry and cold, department stores are lifeless, and some years are fierce, and good people have no support. Walking in the city, you will be proud of yourself and ashamed of yourself. When I got home, I was smokeless in the morning and curled up when I was cold. Wuzhong people, many men and many women are far away, the beauty of men is the best, and evil is the slave. The beauty of a woman is a concubine, and evil is a maid, which is universal.

Wei Laipeng, a scholar in Qianlong Dynasty, wrote in "Running to the Moon":

Weibei city is the year of Ding Chou, and there is little smoke in the coastal market. There is no wheat, no food, no bare land, and everyone really hangs up. A hundred coppers can't save the girl at your knees. But to save the winner from hunger, it is better to be a servant downstream. Pay the money and make it clear that the money is not with the people. Weng also has no choice but to be strong, but he can't drive him away. Wang Er waved and repeated, who is the mediator? Often play, hide in your arms, the child's trombone is dumb.

2. Memories of Westerners

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, western missionaries were still praising China's rich products and superior material production capacity to Europe, claiming that "Daming people" were "richly dressed and personable". However, the British envoy Magalny said in the diary of the mission during the Qianlong period:

"Since the northern or Manchu Tatar conquest, at least in the past 150 years, there has been no improvement, no progress, or perhaps more precisely, retrogression; When we advance in the fields of art and science every day, they are actually becoming semi-arrogant people. " 【, Wu 《 The Germination of Capitalism in China 》 (People's Publishing House, 1985), Chapter 4, Section 1. In Magalny's eyes, the prosperity of Kanggan is like this ... "There is amazing poverty everywhere", "People are dressed in rags, so that they are naked", "Like beggars, tattered teams" ... "All the rubbish we throw away is taken away and eaten."

3. Records of some historians with intimate friends.

Shanxi produces good iron, and Manchu levied iron from Shanxi iron smelting households, and the amount of iron collected was increasing. Yongzheng levied 25,000 Jin, Qianlong increased to 50,000 Jin and Jiaqing increased to 200,000 Jin. The iron price and foot fee levied by iron are less than 1/6 of the time value, which is close to plunder! Lu 'an Prefecture was the largest silk weaving center in the north at that time. Lusi is exquisite and is listed as a tribute by Manchu. The number of pieces sent each year greatly exceeds the capacity of the owner. In the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, more than 10,000 pieces of organic woven 1.3 were woven in Lu 'an, and 3,000 pieces were distributed in the Ming Dynasty. After the war in the late Ming Dynasty, there were only 300 looms left in the Qing Dynasty, but 3,000 were dispatched as usual, resulting in "loss of goods and death of the family", but the Manchu court did not give up dispatching until all the machines fled and Lu Si disappeared into history.

With the development of Songjiang cotton textile industry, Songjiang became an important source of financial revenue for the Ming government. Suzhou and Songjiang have the highest land tax in the world, and the total amount of money and grain turned over to the central government exceeds that of Zhejiang Province. At that time, the area of Songjiang was three times that of Suzhou, but the money and grain were half that of Suzhou. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, the amount of money and grain in Songjiang was the first in the world. However, the cotton textile industry in Songjiang began to regress in the Qing Dynasty. Ye said in "Reading the World": In the Ming Dynasty, "standard cloth prevailed, and large sums of money came to the market, with tens of thousands of silver, hundreds of thousands, and tens of thousands." In the Qing dynasty, "there were few standard customers. Recently, many of them had nothing but 10 thousand yuan, and the benefits were very small." The order said: "It is not good for local authorities to hear about mining, so please invite miners later and know that this is forbidden." . If an iron smelter cannot be closed, a heavy tax of two tenths will be levied. During the Qianlong period, there were only 93 legal iron ore plants in the world.

The first person who questioned the prosperity of Kanggan was probably Lu Xun. He read some records of foreigners, and was puzzled that the beautiful scenery of Kanggan's prosperous time was completely blown away by Momo prison. The total industrial output in the prosperous period of Kanggan was not as good as Wanli in the late Ming Dynasty.