What were the reasons for the commercial prosperity in the early Qing Dynasty?

The prosperity of industry and commerce in the early Qing Dynasty was manifested in:

1, the development of handicraft industry

In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, due to the long-term war, handicraft production was also seriously damaged. After about fifty or sixty years, the handicraft industry gradually recovered and developed after the middle period of Kangxi.

(1) Silk weaving industry played an important role in handicraft industry in Qing Dynasty.

At that time, the silk industry in Jiangning, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Foshan and Guangzhou was developed. Although the rulers of Qing Dynasty set up weaving yamen in Jiangning, Suzhou and Hangzhou, which hindered the normal development of silk industry in Jiangnan to some extent, the folk silk industry in Qing Dynasty developed rapidly. For example, there are more than 30,000 looms in Jiangning when it is dry and sunny, which is much higher than in the past. "There are more than 100 kinds of satin looms", and the silk products produced sell well all over the country. Even in remote Guizhou, the silk industry has been greatly developed. During the Daoguang period, Guizhou Zunyi silk "competed with Wuling and Shujin in Zhongzhou", which attracted merchants from Qin, Jin, Fujian, Guangdong and other places to buy and traffic. But on the whole, silk weaving in Qing Dynasty has lagged behind that in Ming Dynasty.

(2) In the Qing Dynasty, the cotton textile industry in some parts of the south of the Yangtze River was also increasingly developed.

Cotton textile tools have been significantly improved. For example, the spinning bicycle in Shanghai can be "three yarns in one hand and wheels in one hand (a famous bicycle), which is labor-intensive and sensitive." Loom also has some improvements and innovations. At that time, the production of cotton cloth, both in quantity and quality, was greatly improved than before. Shanghai's "Sobu, the clothes are the best in the world, and Liang Jiaduo started from this". Suzhou's "Yimei Famous Brand" is famous for "the beauty of cloth, users compete for the market" and "eliminating one million pieces of cloth a year". As a result, "in the past ten years, rich businessmen have appeared everywhere, and cloth has spread all over the world." "In the past 200 years, there is no place in Mobei, southern Yunnan that is not beautiful." Subu's "Famous Quartet" shows its wide reputation. Wuxi is also rich in cotton cloth. When it was dry, it was known as the "cloth wharf". "It was collected by Jia, and it was bundled in Huai, Yang, Gao, Bao and other places. At least tens of millions of transactions were made at the age of one."

(3) Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province was still the largest porcelain-making center in China in Qing Dynasty.

When I arrived in Gan and Jia, I didn't talk about the official kiln, but only said that "there are hundreds of thousands of craftsmen in the 200-300 area of the folk kiln all the year round." In addition to Jingdezhen, porcelain industry in other places has also developed. According to statistics, there are more than 40 famous ceramic producing areas in Qianlong period, all over the country. For example, the porcelain kilns in Wuqing, Zhili, Linqing, Yixing, Dehua in Jiangsu, Chaozhou in Fujian, Guangdong and other places are large in scale, and the porcelain produced is colorful and exquisite.

(4) The sugar industry in Taiwan Province, Fujian, Guangdong and Sichuan is very developed.

During the period from Kangxi to Qianlong and Jiaqing, sugarcane production in Taiwan Province Province was extremely prosperous, with an annual output of "more than 600,000 baskets" and "170 kilograms" of sucrose, which were sold in Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and exported to Luzon in the south and Japan in the east. Sugar in Guangdong is also sold everywhere. In addition, sugarcane planting and sugar industry in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces are also developing day by day.

(5) Mining and metallurgy also developed further in Qing Dynasty.

Copper mines in Yunnan, lead mines in Guizhou, and iron mines in Guangdong, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong are all relatively large.

For example, in Yunnan's copper mines, when Gan and Jia were at their peak, there were more than 300 copper factories in the province. There are large factories run by the government and commercial enterprises, as well as small private factories. "In the past, 70,000 to 80,000 people from large factories and more than 10,000 people from small factories all went to provincial factories. There is no need to worry about millions. The poor people in the province came to the factory to beg for food." From 1740 (five years of Qianlong) to181year (sixteen years of Jiaqing), the highest annual output of Yunnan copper mine reached14.67 million Jin.

During the Qianlong period, the annual output of black lead in Guizhou lead mine also reached more than140,000 kg. Guangdong's iron smelting scale is also very large. The iron manufacturing industry in Foshan Town, Guangdong Province is also very developed. There are industries such as casting pot, frying iron, thread making, nailing and needle making, among which casting pot is the most famous. Cast iron pots are not only sold all over the country, but also exported abroad in large quantities.

2. Business prosperity

The continuous prosperity of business is the increasingly stable performance of the merchant class.

(1) At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, commercial trade was very prosperous, and all kinds of goods were exported at home and abroad, and the circulation in the four directions became closer.

For example, cotton from Henan and Northeast China is sold all over the country, while cotton is sold back to other provinces. All kinds of ironware in Foshan Town, Guangdong Province are sold all over the country. At that time, there was a saying that Foshan ruled the world. Others, such as Suzhou silk and cotton cloth, Nanjing satin, Jingdezhen porcelain, Guangdong and Taiwan Province sugar, Anhui, Fujian and Hunan tea, are also sold all over the country.

(2) Especially the silk fabrics in the south of the Yangtze River, the Qing Dynasty has a broader domestic and international market than the Ming Dynasty. For example, silks and satins produced in Nanjing are sold almost all over the country. At that time, China's handicraft output value accounted for 30% of the world's industrial and handicraft output value.

Cash crops such as cotton and mulberry are only allowed to be planted in places where food cannot be grown. Crops other than food are also banned, not to mention industry and commerce. Emperors of Qing Dynasty thought that "there was one more person working in the fair, and one less person plowing the fields and planting crops", and repeatedly said that "it is absolutely impossible to attract investment and set up factories", and "there is no second opinion except that it is strictly forbidden" (Emperor China thought so, mainly because of the productivity at that time).

(3) Beijing is a national commercial city.

(4) Huizhou merchants are the most active.

Huizhou people have a deep-rooted tradition of going out to do business: "It is a custom for a man to take home his house, and the honorable person is the supervisor who makes him go home, and he can't go home quickly unless he wins or loses." For decades, he has been undisciplined recently. "

(1) Therefore, "those who started out as ceramic artists can't be testified."

② There are many kinds of business.

(5) Shanxi merchants.

In the 28th year of Kangxi (1689), the imperial edict of Michelle Ye's southern tour pointed out: "I've heard a lot about dajia, a great businessman in southeast China, and now I've traveled all over wuyue, inspecting its shops, and most of my trade is in Shaanxi."

(1) However, the activity area of Shanxi merchants is not limited to wuyue. Once again, it is Shaanxi merchants. "Shaanxi is prosperous, Sanyuan and Jingyang are the first, and most of them take Jia Wuzhong."

(2) Shaanxi merchants have a long history of operating cotton industry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the scale is no less than that of Shanxi merchants. In addition, Shaanxi is adjacent to Sichuan. At that time, Sichuan immigrants first promoted Huguang, followed by Shaanxi, so Shaanxi businessmen were quite influential in Sichuan. In the early Qing Dynasty, Sichuan well salt developed rapidly, but "there were seven or eight well stoves in Sichuan Province, and two or three in Sichuan."

③ The banking business of Ziliujing started at the time of Yungan, and was mostly manipulated by Shaanxi businessmen. The famous Xiqin Hall (now Zigong Salt Industry History Museum) was also built by Shaanxi businessmen, with as many as 152 silver donation firms. They not only invest in drilling salt wells, but also engage in salt trafficking in wells, both of which are very profitable.