A Concise History of China: Power and Finance Behind Corruption Through the Dynasties

This book uses the history of various periods to directly list all the various corruption methods in China. Although emperors of all generations have more or less wanted to deal with anti-corruption issues, the actual results have not been very satisfactory. As long as you finish reading this book, you will know that the reason why the kings in history failed to achieve effective results was because they failed to solve the fundamental problem. The author also directly analyzes the power and financial issues behind the corruption of Chinese dynasties through real history. The author mainly focuses on the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, making vertical comparisons to explore the imperial rule and official history ecology of ancient Chinese society, presenting readers with a clear multi-angle Chinese historical context.

This book uses the history of various periods to directly list all the various corruption methods in China. Although emperors of all generations have more or less wanted to deal with anti-corruption issues, the actual results have not been very satisfactory. As long as you finish reading this book, you will know that the reason why the kings in history failed to achieve effective results was because they failed to solve the fundamental problem. The author also directly analyzes the power and financial issues behind the corruption of Chinese dynasties through real history. The author mainly focuses on the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, making vertical comparisons to explore the imperial rule and official history ecology of ancient Chinese society, presenting readers with a clear multi-angle Chinese historical context.

Basically, there is no book that I would read a second time, including Dream of Red Mansions and Tao Te Ching. I have read this book for the first time now, and I am determined to read it at least twice. Because it confirms many fundamental views that I have gained from my independent thinking experience in Chinese society. Television, news, and entertainment online books all fail to tell the truth. This book does not deceive me! Absolutely good book! ! ! I want to make friends with the author.

After reading it, the author's words are more logical and he has his own opinions, which can be used to enlighten children. It's a pity that he didn't put forward his own opinions in a targeted way, just analysis.

This book taught me that formulating a system and executing it are two different things. Like many systems in the Qing Empire, most of these seemingly scientific and reasonable regulations did not come off the paper, or they changed soon after they came off the page. So when the emperor wants to fight corruption whenever he wants, those officials in the most lucrative departments become a high-risk profession. Taxation is like the blood of the national economy. The Qing government was on the verge of death. Due to Herder's reforms, it received fresh blood from a large increase in customs tax revenue, which allowed it to extend its life for several decades.

Corruption in traditional Chinese society is mostly systemic corruption. It is produced for the following reasons. The first reason is the social operating mechanism of "power determines everything". The second basis is that power is not constrained. Third, the low-wage system leads to the worsening of corruption. The fundamental characteristic of the imperial autocratic system is that the emperor does not exist for the country; on the contrary, the country exists for the emperor. In the traditional Chinese era, there was no distinction between the public domain and the private domain. All private domains had a political nature and were all political domains. A person's birth, old age, illness, and death, as well as food, clothing, housing, and transportation, all need to be regulated by power. The strengthening of the monarchy's autocratic system shows two directions. One is the continuous downward extension of imperial power. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang strengthened the Lijia system. Another direction is that with the development of autocratic monarchy, the power of officials is continuously divided, in order for officials to check and balance each other and weaken their challenges to imperial power.

The writing is good, the Ming and Qing Dynasties are the focus, and the information is easy to collect. It was too difficult to collect data in the past. The most evocative part is about the customs. I really didn't know the details before, but now that I understand it, I can only smile bitterly.

Looking at the past and knowing the present, the stage has remained the same throughout the dynasties, and only the actors have changed. From the common people at dawn to the nobles, from the red walls and green tiles in the palace to the peddlers and minions on Tian Street, they are all clouds, stories, and jokes for future generations...

When you read history books, do you often see that there are always a few very corrupt eunuchs or courtiers in each dynasty? Every time you read this, you will probably hate them deeply but have no choice but to do anything. Have you ever wondered why such annoying characters appear in every dynasty? This book records this matter in detail. He tells about the power and finance behind corruption in China's past dynasties. This book analyzes this problem from its roots, and the analysis is very thorough and reasonable. I recommend everyone to read this good book.

Although the details are appropriate, it is said that the Qing Dynasty focused too much on finance than other dynasties, causing other dynasties to lose some authority.