The Kangxi Emperor rewarded those who reclaimed waste land, provided large sums of money for water conservancy projects, and reduced land taxes during his 60-year reign, greatly spurring the dynasty’s recovery and agricultural development. Qing (1644-1911). The Yongzheng Emperor followed in the footsteps of his father (the Kangxi Emperor) and continued to encourage the agricultural industry. The social economy was very prosperous during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, so later historians called this period “The Golden Age of the Three Emperors.”
Large wastelands were plowed up in the first 100 years of the Qing Dynasty, and the national agricultural land covered an area of 5,260,000 hectares in the 18th year (1661) of the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor, which increased to 8,510,000 hectares and 17 250,000 hectares in the 61st year (1722) of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign and the 3rd year (1725) of the Yongzheng reign, respectively. With grain production increasing year by year, the number of inhabitants had reached 360,000,000 by the third year (1725) of Yongzheng’s reign, and high-yield sweet potatoes planted in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces had spread to the Yangtze River area and the Yellow River area. The planting area for industrial crops had also been greatly expanded, including tea, cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, and mulberries, most of which became staples in the Qing dynasty.
The number of farmers who specialized in planting vegetables increased greatly in the Qing Dynasty, some of whom planted cucumbers and leeks in winter with the help of tunnel greenhouses, earning more and more profit. With cotton planting prevailing throughout the country in the Qianlong period, the cotton planting area occupied 4/5 of the total area in Hebei Province, and sugarcane was widely planted in Guangdong Province and Taiwan, while tobacco was widely cultivated in Shandong, Zhili and Shangyu province, all of which provided more raw materials for further development in the cottage industry.
Some plants imported from South America also contributed a lot to the increase in population numbers in the Qing dynasty, including maize, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, which had started to grow in China from South America via Southeast Asian countries. since the Ming dynasty. The method of planting, storing and processing sweet potatoes was fully described in the Agricultural Encyclopedia written by Xu Guangqi of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), who enjoyed a high reputation in the field of agriculture, and the method of planting of sweet potatoes was perfected in Qi Min Si Shu written by Bao Shichen of the Qing dynasty.