{ "item_title" : "Economic Turmoil in the Empire", "item_author" : [" 张昕冉 "], "item_description" : "Drawing on extensive research, the author vividly conveys the palpable texture of history, presenting a China shaped by revolution and the clash between Eastern and Western civilizations. 作者穷搜博采，充分感知历史的温度，展现了革命与东西方文明碰撞下的中国。 Why was the late Qing Dynasty, though battered by foreign powers, still able to stand firm? What was it that rescued the Qing court from the dire straits of internal and external crises? Surprisingly, it was the emergence of the lijin (transit tax). How did opium and tea-two ordinary cash crops-reshape the entire pattern of Eastern trade? Why is it said that the Opium War was an inevitable outcome of history? And how can we see, through this lens, the establishment of a new world trade system? Why did commercial depression instead give rise to the flourishing of usury? How did the rise of Shanxi draft banks-true giants of their time-completely transform the rules of the game for private finance? Yet, constrained by their economic foundations, organizational structures, and operational methods, they remained bound to serving the imperial system and ultimately declined alongside the Qing Dynasty. In this process, how did they miss the opportunity to transform? How did Qing government regulations cut off their path forward? And why did their various self-rescue efforts prove ineffective? A declining, once-mighty empire and an ambitious rising power-as the world gradually became interconnected, the collision between them was inevitable. The fa ade of the Celestial Empire was utterly shattered under the weight of reality. In this context, the dismal state of public finances was both a cause and a consequence of the crisis. Under such a comprehensive collapse, no radical reform could achieve fundamental success, nor could piecemeal adjustments prevent the overall fiscal system from crumbling. This book examines the Qing government's attempts at reform in six key areas: foreign trade, public finance, currency, banking, customs, and chambers of commerce. Yet finance is the foundation of governance. Amid the economic storm engulfing the empire, these reforms not only failed to reverse the tide but even triggered a series of complex chain reactions that ultimately led to the complete collapse of the regime. In this era of unprecedented change in thousands of years, tradition and modernity, conservatism and reform, feudalism and republicanism-these currents of thought intertwined as never before. Agricultural civilization and industrial civilization, medieval state and modern state, feudal society and commercial society-these contradictions converged with dramatic intensity. This book offers a penetrating view of the tumultuous transformations of the late Qing, revealing in accessible language the causes of the Qing court's predicament and the dynamics of its economic reforms. From the origins of modern China, we can gain clarity on the transformations that shaped an era. 为什么晚清已被外国打得千疮百孔，仍旧能屹立不倒？ 将清廷从内外交困的绝境中挽救出来的，竟然是厘金的横空出世？ 鸦片和茶叶这两种普通的经济作物，如何改变了整个东方贸易格局？ 为什么说鸦片战争是历史的必然结果？如何从中洞见新世界贸易体系的建立过程？ 为什么商业的萧条反倒给了高利贷以兴盛的机会？ 山西票号这个巨无霸的横空出世，如何一举改变了整个民间金融业的游戏规则？但其受限于经济主体、组织关系、操作手段三个方面，无法脱离为帝国体系服务的命运，只能随着清王朝一同走向没落。在这其间，它如何错过了转型的机会？如何被清政府的监管断了生路？它的种种自救手段因何难以见效？ 一个日渐衰颓的庞大帝国，与一个野心勃勃的新兴强权，在世界逐步联为一体的过程中，两者不可避", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/7/21/310/184/7213101846_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "25.99", "online_price" : "25.99", "our_price" : "25.99", "club_price" : "25.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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