Both the Qing Dynasty and Nanjing were temporarily destroyed for the same reason: financial collapse.

1. The downfall and financial collapse of the Qing Dynasty

There were many reasons for the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, among which the financial collapse of the Qing Dynasty was the most important one. Similarly, there are too many reasons why the achievements of the Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen were seized by Yuan Shikai, among which the temporary financial collapse of Nanjing led by Sun Yat-sen is also an extremely important reason. It can even be exaggerated to say that both the Qing Dynasty and Nanjing temporarily collapsed in the crisis of financial collapse.

basic common sense tells us that finance is an important cornerstone of national politics. Without sufficient financial support, it is difficult to maintain the operation of the state machine and will inevitably endanger the political security of the country. In peacetime, finance provides material guarantee for all aspects of the operation of the state machine, while in wartime, it mainly provides material guarantee for the operation of the army, the most important part of the state machine. The Qing Dynasty was unable to cope with the Revolution of 1911, and even abdicated for perfection. The extremely important reason was financial distress. When it was unable to pay the military salaries, its demise was inevitable. Similarly, the reason why Sun Yat-sen's Nanjing temporary * * * can't beat Yuan Shikai is because the finance is too empty. In a word, politics is all about money. Without money, it can't be played or played well. Why do you see this? I don't want to explain it in detail.

After the outbreak of Wuchang Uprising, it quickly swept across the country, and 18 provinces declared their independence one after another, which has already formed a prairie fire throughout the country. Qing * * * was terrified, and wanted to suppress the revolution and save the Qing dynasty. If you want to suppress the revolution, you must mobilize a large number of troops, so you need a lot of military equipment. It is impossible for all officers and men to risk their lives for Qing * * * for free, and fighting is absolutely different from the usual state machine maintenance. It doesn't matter if you have more or less. In order to win, especially in key battles, you can do whatever it takes, that is to say, you need to throw money into it.

No one can calculate how much money it will cost to put out the revolutionary fire, but we can know that the suppression activities have just begun, and the Qing Dynasty is stretched. At that time, there were more than 1 million taels of silver left in the Qing branch, and the wealth accumulated by the royal family was more than 67 million taels, which showed that the country was poor and the powerful were rich. According to "Pu Wei Diary", during the Revolution of 1911, Feng Guozhang attacked Hanyang, and Zaize asked the Empress Dowager Longyu to pay her salary in March. Longyu replied: "Now the internal funds have been exhausted, and the 3, cash issued last time belonged to the emperor's internal treasury. I really didn't." Even can't afford to pay, how can we fight this battle and win it?

It's not only the Beiyang soldiers on the front line who want to pay for their weapons, but also threaten that "if you talk about war, you must raise your salary first" and ask the royalty and relatives to give their own money to help the war. Those provinces that have not yet been independent have also asked the central government for money and troops. Many of them are always millions and two million, and the few are 12 million. How can the cash-strapped Qing * * * cope with it? We can only honestly admit that "it is difficult to give attention to both sides."

At a time of financial stress, another fire broke out in the backyard of Qing Dynasty-financial panic. Originally, the revolutionary unrest would cause the current situation to be unstable, which would directly affect the financial stability. People would run on banks in a hurry because of panic, and in order to preserve their value, they would change their banknotes into hard currency silver. In order to stabilize the financial situation, Qing * * * should immediately step up to put cash into banks and take on the task of exchanging foreign exchange, "maintaining the market and reassuring people." However, at this time, Qing * * * is short of money, so it is necessary to reach out to the bank to raise money and ask for money, and the number of goals is often not small, which makes the money tight and the already stormy financial situation more turbulent. In this way, Qing * * * puts a little comforting cash into the national financial panic like a drop in the bucket, which not only does not help, but also makes its financial danger worse, even the last point of JingXie.

There is also a noose that is tightening the financial neck-paying reparations and foreign debts. According to statistics, before and after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Qing borrowed seven times from foreign countries, totaling 34 million taels, and a large amount of reparations needed to be repaid year by year. In the face of the crisis of revolutionary bonfires, Qing * * * discussed with creditor countries whether compensation could be suspended, but it was not agreed by the powers. In desperation, Qing * * * came up with a devious trick to let Shanghai Road, which is located in the financial center, "try to raise money for compensation under the Shanghai-Guanyang drug tax". Shanghai Road replied that the money is tight now, and there is no money to mention. If it is mentioned, it will close down, and the tone is very serious and difficult. This trick can't get money, but it also caused panic in Shanghai's financial industry, and the business community rebelled one after another. This crooked trick can only be stillborn.

Man-made disasters are always natural disasters. In 1911, many places in China suffered from famine, which can be described as "victims everywhere". In order to stabilize the social mood, * * * had to take out some money to help the people and win people's hearts. Although the money was not much, it was not enough after all. This little money has also been misappropriated by some local officials for military pay, which has further aroused the dissatisfaction of the bottom people.

From the outbreak of Wuchang Uprising on October 1th to the end of December, it was only less than two months, and the national treasury of Qing Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. In the words of the branch, "Now the situation is critical, and the treasury is exhausted ... If we don't raise funds soon, the collapse will be at present."

in order to save the day, the first magic weapon to solve the financial crisis in Qing dynasty is to borrow foreign debts again. "It is not enough to save the crisis by distributing foreign debts to the provinces." However, at this time, the shrewd powers, on the one hand, were observing the development of the revolutionary situation, on the other hand, they also saw that the authority of the Qing Dynasty had become a spent force, and they were looking for a desirable collaborator in China. This person was Yuan Shikai, who was called "Yuan only" and a political star rising in Ran Ran. Therefore, the loan of Qing * * * will be "refused". In all the efforts to clear * * *' s foreign debts, only the support of Baron Goudui, a French financial capitalist, was obtained, and two loans were made, amounting to 24 million francs. However, although these savvy capitalists agreed to borrow, considering that the situation was not entirely conducive to clearing * * *, they refused to pay the money.

Another way to solve the financial crisis in Qing Dynasty was to issue patriotic bonds and raise funds by donations. Only at this time, people's hearts were shaking, and the Revolution of 1911 itself was full of significance. How many people still loved Manchu's "country" so much? Issuing patriotic bonds can only be a bubble. Patriotic bonds can't attract the interest of Chinese people, which shows that Chinese people have been deeply disappointed in Qing dynasty. Donation to raise funds is doomed to be ineffective, what's more, it is contrary to "imitation * * *". It is necessary to establish a constitution, that is, to change the political system, and to donate officials. Isn't this contradictory? So no one will "invest". Forced to this point, only the indiscriminate issuance of money, which is tantamount to quenching thirst by drinking poison, heralding the arrival of the last days.

In fact, the extent of the financial collapse of the Qing Dynasty can be illustrated by only one example, that is, at the end of December 1911, Emperor Yulong decided to auction the imperial porcelain stored in the Forbidden City and Rehe Palace in Shenyang, "changing the price for reimbursement to save the current emergency". Supposedly, these are the relics of our ancestors, and they should never be used at will to show respect for our ancestors, just as a poor family will never pawn or auction a treasure handed down from its family until it is cornered. The auction of imperial porcelain in Qing Dynasty is a symbol, which indicates that the finance of Qing Dynasty has reached the end of the road, and the Revolution of 1911 is only the last straw on this camel that has reached the end of the road.

It should be said that the corruption of * * * in the late Qing Dynasty did not reach an appalling level, and some corrupt officials in the late Qing Dynasty did not rank high in history. Although the country was poor and the royal family was rich, corruption was not the main reason for the financial crisis in the late Qing Dynasty. The financial crisis in the late Qing Dynasty was a slow process. It was political crises that hollowed out the finance of Qing Dynasty. Finally, this "pillar" fell, and the land of Qing Dynasty collapsed. There were several major political crises, one of which was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was finally suppressed, the price paid was heavy. In November, 1853, an imperial edict of Emperor Xianfeng said, "Military development has been going on for three years, and the military needs are still frequent ... more than 4 million and 2, yuan." At that time, the annual income of Qing Dynasty was only 34 million and 2, yuan. In order to suppress the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing Dynasty was "ruined" rather than "ruined".

The second major political crisis was the Sino-Japanese War. This war, which lasted for nearly a year, not only burned the hard work of the Westernization Movement, but also consumed 6 million taels of silver, not including the reparations to Japan for defeat. This is the sum of income that can only be praised after several years of tightening one's belt. Although it can barely cope by constantly borrowing foreign debts, the financial failure has become obvious.

The third major political crisis was the Boxer Rebellion. The direct consequence of the Boxer Rebellion was that the Qing Dynasty signed the "Xin Chou Treaty" with 11 western countries, and the total compensation amounted to 45 million taels of silver, not counting the interest of more than 5 million. At this time, the Qing * * *' s finance has been like a building, and it can't stand any tossing. But at this time, there was a vigorous revolution that burned all over the country. This is not the life of the Qing Dynasty.