A restaurant in a certain district of Shenzhen.

Hearing Jiang Feng say that his girlfriend's last name was also Huang, Huang Yuanjia smiled and replied, "Really? That's quite a coincidence indeed."

He didn't think much about it when he heard this. After all, Huang was one of the most populous surnames in the country, and there were a large number of people with the surname Huang in every city. There was nothing strange about this.

Jiang Feng just mentioned it briefly and didn't dwell on this issue any further, because he came here to make friends with his father-in-law in advance, not to confront him.

"Brother Huang, you are a local, right?"

Seeing his father-in-law nod in agreement, Jiang Feng drank a sip of tea and continued, "My uncle is also a local, but he is not in this district, but in XX District."

Huang Yuanjia suddenly realized: "So, Brother Jiang, you are here to visit relatives!"

"That's not the case. I came to Shenzhen this time mainly to help clients make connections." When Jiang Feng replied, he was secretly laughing in his heart. If his girlfriend knew that he and her father were on close terms, he wondered how she would react?

"To help clients connect?" Huang Yuanjia ate a piece of crispy beef tripe and asked curiously, "Brother Jiang, what do you do for a living?"

Jiang Feng took a bite of the soft and sweet barbecued pork bun with honey sauce and said, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, brother. I'm actually a professional matchmaker. I opened a matchmaking agency in the provincial capital of our Guangxi Province."

Huang Yuanjia was a little surprised when he heard this and said, "Little brother, are you kidding me? If you want to invest and become the boss of a matchmaking agency, I'm not surprised. After all, starting a business is normal, as long as you can make money, it's normal to enter any industry.

But from what you said, you are a professional matchmaker, personally helping clients make connections?"

Jiang Feng smiled and nodded, "I was a matchmaker first, and after I made some achievements, I invested in opening a matchmaking agency, so I am truly a professional matchmaker."

Huang Yuanjia praised: "Brother Jiang, you are really young and promising. The matchmaking agency you opened in Guangxi Province has even come to Shenzhen to do matchmaking. It seems that the business scope of your matchmaking agency is also very wide!"

Jiang Feng finished the small honey-glazed barbecued pork bun in two or three bites, and then drank a sip of ** tea before saying, "The business scope of my matchmaking agency is still mainly concentrated in our Guangxi Province, but that is for ordinary customers, while those high-end customers are for the whole country and even the world. I came to Shenzhen this time mainly to help a high-end client to make a match."

"I see!"

Huang Yuanjia nodded. Seeing that Jiang Feng did not order the restaurant's signature snack, he recommended: "Brother Jiang, the most famous snack in this restaurant is rice noodle rolls. This is a delicacy named after Emperor Qianlong. You must try it."

Jiang Feng was surprised and said, "We have a lot of rice noodle rolls in Guangxi Province. Although I eat it often, I have never learned about its history. I didn't know that it was named by Emperor Qianlong, the foodie."

Huang Yuanjia smiled and said: "This rice noodle roll is a famous local delicacy in our Guangdong Province. It is said that it first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was not called rice noodle roll, but longkanci.

Later in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong praised the dish highly after eating it, and said excitedly: This glutinous rice cake is not really glutinous rice cake, but rather looks a bit like pig intestines, so it’s better to call it rice noodle rolls.

Thus, the name of this rice noodle roll has been passed down to this day.”

Jiang Feng flattered, "I've really learned a lot today. Since even Brother Huang is so impressed with the rice noodle rolls from this restaurant, I guess they are really well made. I really need to try them."

After saying that, Jiang Feng was about to get up to order rice rolls.

Huang Yuanjia stopped him, looked at the waiter over there, and shouted: "Xiao Luo, send another serving of rice noodle rolls over."

Xiao Luo immediately responded: "Okay, Mr. Huang, I'll send it over right away."

Jiang Feng praised: "It seems that Brother Huang, you are a frequent visitor here!"

Huang Yuanjia smiled and said, "I have been having morning tea in this restaurant for nearly twenty years. It is as familiar to me as my own home."

In less than a minute, Xiao Luo brought out the steaming rice rolls.

Seeing the appearance of the rice noodle rolls, Jiang Feng praised: "No wonder it is praised by you, Brother Huang. Just looking at the appearance, it is better than those in other places!"

Huang Yuanjia took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Eat it while it's hot and see how it tastes."

Jiang Feng hummed, then took a bite and found that the rice roll was very elastic and the sauce was fresh and delicious. It was indeed a rare delicacy and better than any rice roll he had eaten before.

“This tastes really good!”

Huang Yuanjia said: "Putting aside the merits and demerits of Emperor Qianlong in governing the country, he still made a great contribution to my country's catering industry. Although many of the delicacies that have been passed down have nothing to do with Emperor Qianlong, they are just stories made up by merchants using his fame, but this credit can barely be attributed to him."

Jiang Feng had already looked up his father-in-law's information in detail, so he naturally knew that he liked to study ancient emperors, so he said, "Brother Huang, I didn't expect you to be quite knowledgeable about Emperor Qianlong. What do you think about his merits and demerits?"

When Huang Yuanjia mentioned this, he became interested and gave a long speech: "The merits and demerits of Qianlong have not yet been determined, and he is considered to be a controversial emperor.

While he achieved a series of very remarkable achievements, he also made a series of major wrong decisions, which pushed the Qing Dynasty to its peak while causing it to fall rapidly.

First, let's talk about his contributions. In summary, there are four more prominent contributions:

The first contribution is that the population created a historical record.

The highest population record in Chinese history is over 70 million.

Of course, some demographers speculate that the population actually briefly exceeded 100 million at certain historical periods.

Qianlong conducted a population census in the early days of his reign, and the result was 140 million. Then he conducted another population census in the later days of his reign, and the population at that time had reached nearly 300 million.

In just four or five decades, the population doubled, which was indeed a remarkable achievement under the production conditions in ancient times.

Even if there are many objective reasons, his achievements cannot be erased.”

Jiang Feng nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said, "That is indeed not easy. After all, even in modern times, there were times when many people died of starvation due to famine. Given the life expectancy of ancient people, it is commendable that they were able to double the population in 40 to 50 years."

Huang Yuanjia smiled and continued, "The second contribution is that our economy ranks first in the world.

According to relevant statistics, the GDP of the Qing Dynasty accounted for more than one-third of the world's total at the time, and exceeded the GDP of all previous Chinese dynasties. You can say that he was lucky to be born in the right era. In short, no matter how many objective reasons there are, his achievements cannot be erased. "

Jiang Feng sighed: "It was a really good situation at that time, but unfortunately the people in power were short-sighted and were overtaken by the West, which led to our country experiencing a century of humiliation. It really makes me angry when I think about it."

Huang Yuanjia nodded and said, "It is indeed infuriating to talk about this. The vision of Emperor Qianlong is really not as good as that of his grandfather, Emperor Kangxi. According to the "Records of Emperor Shengzu of the Qing Dynasty", Kangxi said: "Overseas countries such as the West will surely burden China in a thousand years. The country has been at peace for a long time, so we must be prepared for crises."

Of course, even Emperor Kangxi did not expect that the world would develop faster than he could imagine. Just over a hundred years later, the naval guns of Western powers knocked on China’s door.”

Jiang Feng smiled and said, "In fact, there is no need for us to be too harsh on Emperor Qianlong. After all, not everyone has the strategic vision of the old man Taizu."

Huang Yuanjia agreed: "That's true. If Emperor Qianlong had the strategic vision of Taizu, he would not be a controversial emperor, but would be qualified to be honored as the greatest emperor of all time."

Jiang Feng laughed out loud when he heard this.

Huang Yuanjia took a sip of tea and continued, "The third contribution is that the territory created a record in the Qing Dynasty, and it also laid the foundation for the basic shape of our country's current territory.

During the Qianlong period, the Qing Dynasty's territory expanded to more than 13 million square kilometers, and it basically achieved effective political jurisdiction and military control. It was unlike the Yuan Dynasty which nominally owned such a large territory, and it was also different from the Tang Dynasty's tributary rule.

This achievement cannot be erased.”

Jiang Feng nodded and said, "The merits are merits, and the faults are faults. The good things should be praised."

Huang Yuanjia was so excited that he raised four fingers and said, "The fourth contribution is the revision of the Siku Quanshu.

Of course, Emperor Qianlong made contributions by presiding over the compilation of the Siku Quanshu, but at the same time he also destroyed a large number of books that he believed were not conducive to his rule, totaling more than 70,000 volumes.

You have to know that the Sikuquanshu only has more than 80,000 volumes in total. This can be said to be a great catastrophe in Chinese history, and it is also a stain that he can never wash away. "

Jiang Feng said with regret: "I don't know how many precious books were destroyed here, what a pity!"

Huang Yuanjia said: "I talked about Emperor Qianlong's contributions before, and what I will talk about next is his faults. In addition to destroying a large number of books, he also launched a literary inquisition.

The density of the literary networks and the number of literary disasters during his reign are unprecedented in Chinese history.

In order to nip all unstable factors in the bud, many mentally ill patients who scribbled a few incomprehensible words during an attack would be classified as treasonous and tortured to death, and their relatives would be punished as well. Such examples are everywhere and are simply ridiculous.

Jiang Feng shook his head and sighed: "The literati born in this era are really unlucky. The literati in the Song Dynasty were awesome. They could even criticize the emperor directly, let alone write a few words."

Huang Yuanjia said happily: "This wonderful dynasty, the Song Dynasty, is indeed a paradise for literati."

Jiang Feng took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Brother Huang, let's not talk about the Song Dynasty first. Please continue to talk about Qianlong's mistakes."

Huang Yuanjia nodded and continued, "In his later years, Qianlong felt that he had worked hard all his life and had achieved such great "successes", so he should enjoy himself. So he promoted Heshen, accepted tributes lavishly, and lived a life of luxury and extravagance, which directly led to corruption and selling of official positions in the Qing Dynasty.

Not only did it empty the national treasury, it also caused people's livelihood to decline and the country's strength to plummet.

Another problem is that they lacked strategic vision, misjudged the world situation, and formulated wrong diplomatic policies.

The era in which Qianlong lived was an era of unprecedented and drastic changes in human history. The famous First Industrial Revolution took place at that time, and many advanced works and ideas were also born at that time.

As for Qianlong, he was arrogant and self-centered, and he carried out a literary inquisition behind closed doors. He had no idea that the world was undergoing drastic changes. Therefore, he bears an unshirkable historical responsibility for the decline of the late Qing Dynasty.

Merits and demerits cannot offset each other. As to whether merits outweigh demerits or demerits outweigh merits, it is a matter of opinion. "

Jiang Feng sighed: "Let's not talk about his merits and demerits. Just saying that among the hundreds of emperors in our country, Emperor Qianlong should be the happiest one."

Huang Yuanjia nodded and said: "In this respect, no one can compare with him. He has had a smooth life. Unlike the founding emperors, he did not have to worry about his life and went through many life and death disasters before he founded the dynasty.

He was not like the last emperor who took over a precarious empire and made himself overwhelmed.

Not to mention that he doesn't have to participate in the terrible battle for the throne like other princes.

Moreover, when he took over the business smoothly, his grandfather had already stabilized the empire and his father had managed the economy well. He just sat back and reaped the benefits, spending money however he wanted.

He held power throughout his life and lived a peaceful life during his reign. He traveled to the south of the Yangtze River six times and enjoyed the scenery. In an era when the average life expectancy was only 40 years old, he lived to the age of 89 without any illness or disaster.

Especially after abdication, he was able to live out his life in peace and contentment, and after his death he was praised as the "Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous era", and his name went down in history.

To use the words of you young people, Emperor Qianlong really won his life!"

Jiang Feng finished the last honey-glazed barbecued pork bun, put down his chopsticks and said, "Compared with Emperor Qianlong, his father, Emperor Yongzheng, is the real great man. Among the many princes in the past dynasties, even if the difficulty of his ascension to the throne is not ranked first, it is definitely ranked in the top three!"

Huang Yuanjia agreed, "That's right. The battle for the throne among the nine princes was the pinnacle of the struggle among the princes. You have to know that the rivals of Emperor Yongzheng were not ordinary people.

In terms of age, Emperor Yongzheng was not ranked at the front as he had three older brothers.

In terms of background, he was not ranked at the top. His mother was just an ordinary concubine, while Emperor Kangxi had a bunch of empresses, imperial concubines and noble concubines.

Under such difficult conditions, Emperor Yongzheng was able to stand out. This level is truly extraordinary!"

Jiang Feng smiled and said, "Of course, it was indeed difficult for Emperor Yongzheng to ascend to the throne, but no matter how difficult it was, he was not qualified to be compared with founding emperors like Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang who started from scratch.

Especially Zhu Yuanzhang, even novels don’t dare to make up such an outrageous story.”

Huang Yuanjia was really excited when he heard this. The handsome young man in front of him was really a worm in his stomach. He would bring up any topic that interested him, and it really scratched his itch.

So Huang Yuanjia took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and started chatting with Jiang Feng again with great interest.