Since the Opium War 1840, China has entered an era of backwardness and beatings. At that time, the Manchu government suffered repeated wars and defeats, and in foreign wars, reparations for land ceded became a common practice. There are many reasons why the Manchu government can't beat foreigners, the most important of which is that foreigners have strong guns and advanced firearms. As a result, there was an argument on the Internet that the Qing army during the Opium War was a group of weak chickens with broadswords, spears, bows and arrows, and its firearms equipment level was not as good as that of the Ming army 200 years ago. If it were the Ming army, the result of the Opium War would be very different. So during the Opium War, could the firearms equipment level of Ming army really surpass that of Qing army?

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army was equipped with a large number of muskets, such as matchlock, three-eye large-caliber short guns, Shenzhou VII, and fast guns. The matchlock gun originated in Europe, appeared in the middle of15th century, and spread to the east in the era of great navigation. It was bought in large quantities by the Japanese and used in the "village head battle", which was called "iron gun". The matchlock gun of the Ming Dynasty was an iron gun copied from Japan by 1548 (twenty-seven years of Jiajing). It was not fully popularized until the demise of the Ming Dynasty. 100 was not popularized, not to mention it was behind Europe and Japan at that time. As for the three-eye large-caliber short gun, Shenzha, and Quick Gun, they are actually Firegate guns, which should not be called guns, but belong to Firegate guns in essence. Although Zhao Shizhen invented the Rumi spear, the thunder spear and the electric spear, and Bi Maokang invented the autogenous spear, these relatively advanced muskets were rarely installed and did not change the war situation as a whole. As for the most advanced flintlock gun at that time, it was only mentioned in Bi Maokang's "Illustration of Weapons" published in Chongzhen in the eighth year. Except for a few officers who have this kind of imported goods, the Ming army basically has no equipment.

In terms of artillery, the most powerful artillery of the Ming army at that time was the imported Hongyi cannon, which had a long range and strong lethality. However, this kind of gun is good at siege, not good at field battle. Loading and firing speed is not high, and the gun body is heavy, so it can't move quickly. In the field, we can only bomb at fixed points before the war. When the situation between the enemy and ourselves is reversed, it is often impossible to react flexibly. Moreover, Hony's cannon costs a lot and doesn't have much equipment. Most of the Ming troops were equipped with relatively old and backward thunder guns and general guns.

The Ming army also has a high proportion of firearms. There were three camps in Yongle period, and the proportion of firearms was 20%. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the proportion of Ming army equipped with firearms was 30%, and the proportion of Qijiajun trained by Qi Jiguang was a special case. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the proportion of the Ming army equipped with firearms was generally 40%.

The Ming army was also equipped with a wide variety of special firearms, such as water dragons and flying crows. However, as the main combat weapons of the army, muskets and artillery have many problems, such as slow updating speed, low loading rate, short range, low precision, low production level and high explosion rate. Generally speaking, the firearms level of the Ming army in the late Ming Dynasty was still in the primary stage of firearms development, and it could not completely replace cold weapons.

Let's talk about the development of firearms in Manchu army. After the rise of Jianzhou Jurchen, she fought with Liaodong Ming army many times. Although riding and shooting are considered as the foundation of their country, they also attach great importance to firearms. From the period of 1633, the Qing army (then the late Jin army) began to equip the surrendered Ming army with matchlock guns. 1645 After the Qing army entered the customs, the surrendered Ming army was reorganized into green camp Army, and the primitive and backward ware such as three-eye large-caliber shotguns and single-tube ware was completely eliminated. After the Qing Dynasty, it was stipulated that green camp's army should be equipped with matchlock guns. Before the Opium War, the musket equipment rate of the Manchu army was not less than 50%, of which the musket equipment rate of green camp accounted for more than 60%. Moreover, the Manchu army was lazy in politics, and many troops unwilling to train privately changed their bows and arrows into muskets, and the firearms equipped rate was getting higher and higher. When Qianlong conquered Jinchuan, he went to green camp for conquest, and the musket equipment rate accounted for 80%. The position of musket in the Qing army has been juxtaposed with artillery, bow and arrow, and even surpassed bow and arrow.

Although the equipment rate of muskets is getting higher and higher, most of them are matchsticks. Compared with the end of Ming dynasty, the matchlock gun in Qing dynasty changed little, and its craft level was worse. As for the more advanced flintlock gun, the Qing Dynasty could also develop it. Production began in the Kangxi period. These muskets are exquisite in shape and excellent in workmanship, no less than European muskets of the same period, and even made into rifles. But these excellent muskets are only equipped with the palace guard, the royal guard and some guards. Judging from the use results, these muskets are more used for collection and hunting than for fighting.

Compared with the progress of muskets, the development of guns in Qing Dynasty has no bright spot. Although Manchu took over a large number of firearms and some workers left by the Ming Dynasty, it did not inherit much firearms technology from the Ming Dynasty. The design of artillery in Ming dynasty, the method of making flowering shells and advanced artillery manufacturing technology have all been lost. Red cannons (renamed because of taboos in the Qing Dynasty) were copied in large quantities in the Qing Dynasty, and the number of cannons was much larger than that in the Ming Dynasty. However, it only blindly increased the weight, hardly carried out more advanced technological innovation, and the overall level declined. By the early days of the Opium War, many of the guns used were old guns produced in the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the Ming army in the late Ming Dynasty, the proportion of firearms in the Qing army during the Opium War was higher and the overall level of muskets was more advanced. The quality of the artillery of the Qing army has declined, but the victory lies in the large number. Generally speaking, the Manchu army at that time still had considerable advantages over the Ming army in firearms and equipment. Suppose the Ming army at the end of the Ming Dynasty confronted the British army equipped with line-bore flintlock guns and the latest artillery during the Opium War, I'm afraid the result would be ugly.