You don't analyze problems by looking at data. I asked ChatGPT to check the income and expenditure comparison from the late Ming to the late Qing period:

Late Ming (around 1630s–1640s)

Approximately 25 to 30 million taels (mainly from land tax silver)

Late Qing (around 1900–1911)

Annual total income

Approximately 800 to 900 million taels (mainly from tariffs, tax levies, land tax)

Annual military expenditure

Late Ming: Approximately 10 to 15 million taels

Late Qing: Approximately 300 to 400 million taels (partly from loans)

Other expenditures (Late Ming / Late Qing)

Court expenditure

Approximately 3 to 5 million taels

Approximately 50 to 100 million taels

Foreign debt interest

None

Annual interest approximately 80 to 100 million taels (a significant proportion)

Other expenses

Ming: Disaster relief, royal family, imperial examinations, court operations

Qing: Indemnities (such as the Boxer indemnity), railway construction, Westernization expenditures, overseas education, etc.

Have you noticed that the core difference is the huge income gap?

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