Chapter 7 1. The poor play with fire, the rich play with smoke

Why did the Opium War break out? The Qing Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for nearly two hundred years. During the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, the society was already showing signs of decline, but the turmoil of Western capitalism was surging.Since the Industrial Revolution, nationalism has flourished, Western powers have expanded outward, and the New World has become the focus of a new round of competition.The opportunity for the development of the bourgeoisie is like a hair on a bald man's head. If you grab it, you grab it, and if you don't grab it, you lose it. Western countries are desperately looking for it.

Britain is the birthplace of world capitalism. In the 1740s, the bourgeois revolution first broke out in Britain, and the industrial revolution took the lead in the 18th century. The accumulation and accumulation of more than a century made it the most powerful capitalism in the world at that time. industrial country.Before and after the Opium War, Britain's annual coal output reached more than 30 million tons; pig iron output reached 1.4 million tons; the amount of cotton used in the mechanical spinning industry reached more than 520 million pounds; thousands of kilometers of railways were built.Two-thirds of the UK's working population is engaged in industrial production. Large industrial cities such as Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham are rising rapidly. The population of the capital London has grown to more than 2 million. The booming bourgeoisie has swept the entire country like a stormy sea.The raw materials and new markets needed for the development of capitalism made Britain urgently seek export for development.From the perspective of the naval power necessary for external expansion, in 1836, Britain had more than 500 ships of all sizes.

As the saying goes, chicks love flowers, and boys love guns, but each has its own preferences.In the Qing Dynasty before the Opium War, the good thing was that all the people were subject to the court. When all countries came to the court, foreign vassal kings had to kowtow to the Chinese emperor when they came to China. Sincerity, then accept the reward.Small countries such as Korea, Annan, and Ryukyu frequently visited the Qing Dynasty.Western countries sent envoys to China, not to pay tribute to them. Along with the Western missions, there are also trade groups. The real purpose of the West’s coming to the court is to do business, but my Qing Dynasty regards them all as paying tribute. .

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Sino-foreign trade has always been based on the basic principle of peaceful coexistence, and there have been no major conflicts.Britain, which has become the number one capitalist power, no matter how powerful it is, doing business with the Chinese is a money-losing business. The money in and out is much less, and it will always be in deficit.The United Kingdom is an antique dealer, and it knows what it is. It has taken a fancy to your market and the origin of raw materials. You have it here, and your place is rich.This UK is still a rogue businessman. He wants to rob and beat you when he sees it.For the sake of the market and raw materials, no matter what, let's fight, and the Opium War broke out.

China's domestic economy is dominated by natural economy, agricultural civilization, men farming and women weaving.The most important means of production in agricultural civilization is land.At that time, China's land was highly concentrated, that is to say, all the land was annexed.A large amount of cultivated land is in the hands of nobles and landlords, and the emperor Laoer is the largest landlord in the country.According to statistics in 1812 (the seventeenth year of Jiaqing), the emperor directly or indirectly controlled 830,000 hectares of land.During the Qianjia period, Heshen, the powerful minister, occupied more than 8,000 hectares of land.During the Daoguang period, Qishan, a great bureaucrat, owned 252 hectares of land.Peasants, who make up the vast majority of the country's population, have little or no land.The peasant brothers fell into a miserable situation of poverty, bankruptcy and displacement under the heavy exploitation of feudal land rent, taxation, corvee and usury.The contradiction between peasants and landlords was the main contradiction in society at that time.

Absolute power inevitably brings absolute corruption.In China, an autocratic monarchy, the military is abolished.On the eve of the Opium War, although there were 800,000 or 900,000 Eight Banners soldiers and Green Battalion soldiers in the Qing Dynasty, their weapons were outdated, and their equipment level had declined compared with the early Qing Dynasty.Moreover, the military affairs of the army were slack, lack of training, military discipline was corrupt, and the national defense force was very weak. It consumed more than 20 million taels of salary every year (accounting for nearly half a year's fiscal revenue of the Qing Dynasty at that time), and the degree of decay was unimaginable.

At that time, China's military power was dominated by cold weapons.Western powers have completely transitioned to the age of firearms.Of course, if you focus on cold weapons, if you practice hard, it will not be ineffective in war. The key is that if you do not repair your weapons, you will not be able to draw a bow or shoot an arrow. At that time, the rate of fire of the musket It is not faster than bows and arrows, but the range is longer than bows and arrows.But the Qing army couldn't even draw their bows, and the arrows shot to their feet. It's useless to give you foreign guns like this.

In addition, the financial deficit.The Celestial Dynasty is afraid of war, it will cost too much money, and there will not be much money left in the treasury of the Celestial Dynasty.Finance in ancient China is different from ours today. Today, the country has to prepare budgets and final accounts, how much money we earn and spend every year, and we have to set aside two sums of money to deal with emergencies: one is natural disasters, such as the Wenchuan Earthquake Natural disasters like that; another one is war.These two sums of money are kept at the bottom of the country's box, and this money cannot be moved at all.There was no such thing in ancient times, and I lived within my means. My annual income was 40 million taels, and my expenditure was also 40 million taels. There was no more than one tael.If a natural disaster or a major war breaks out, what should the country do if it needs money?Tax increase, why did the Ming Dynasty perish?Why are so many people following Li Zicheng?It is because the Ming Dynasty increased taxes and increased three rates, and the common people all went to play with Li Zicheng.

The Qing Dynasty also saw the lessons of the Ming Dynasty, never increasing taxes, being merciful, treating the people kindly, and lightly paying taxes, so they must never increase taxes.But if you don't increase taxes, it's best not to let anything happen, and the court will be finished if something happens.With what to fight?Raising one hundred thousand soldiers costs a thousand dollars a day.So the financial deficit is an important issue. China, which is riddled with holes, is aware of its own problems?No.In the colorful world outside, the great powers are vying for the new continent, Turkey in Asia is declining day by day, Persia and Arabia are forced to submit, India has been eaten away by the British, and the mysterious China is a piece of fat, surrounded by people from all directions.However, the Celestial Dynasty feels good about itself, and blindly believes that 2/3 of the people in the world are in dire straits, our Qing Empire is the happiest, all nations come to court, and the barbarians surrender, without realizing that they have been left far behind by the advanced countries in the world in the back.

Children are often educated that China has a vast land and abundant resources, and there is everything there is.Indeed, the feudal economy is like a three-legged stool, stable.The Qing Dynasty disdained to have anything to do with the foreign pony in silver.The eastward expansion of Western capitalism is fierce. The Qing Dynasty did not want its own territory to be violated, nor did it want its people to communicate with foreign countries, which would endanger its rule. , continue to use it.There were originally five ports for foreign trade, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, Yuntai, and Kyakta on the Mongolian border. The first four were seaports for trading with Westerners, and the last one was land for exchanges with Russians.Unexpectedly, Westerners love to travel to Guangzhou, and foreigners have not been seen in other places for decades. When Emperor Qianlong saw it, he closed Xiamen, Ningbo, and Yuntai, and restricted Guangzhou and Qiaktu to foreign exchanges. There are still restrictions on the trading time. To a certain extent, the foreign policy of the Qing Dynasty did restrict foreigners, and the Qing Dynasty and foreigners communicated with each other in peace.But in the long run, this policy is unlikely to play a role in resisting colonization and aggression, and instead limits its own development.

Of course, the Opium War was still due to the sale of cigarettes.Why did Britain send troops to fight us in 1840?The direct cause is the sale of cigarettes in Humen.From the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century, in the centuries-long Sino-British trade, China has always been in a superior position, that is, we have made money in foreign trade. Take the present, we maintain a huge trade surplus of 60 billion U.S. dollars with the United States every year. If we go back 150 years, this war will start.In the current Sino-US trade, even though we have a huge trade surplus with the US, we are actually not making any money.Some American companies, such as Nike, produce their products in China.Chinese labor is cheap, and products are sold to the United States through cheap labor production. A pair of Nike shoes produced in China costs only fifty or sixty dollars in the United States, while the same pair of shoes in China costs thousands of yuan.It's not just Nike shoes. After the products exported by many mainland factories are exported to the US market, they are sold cheaper than you after deducting tariffs.The products produced in China have traveled long distances to the United States, which is far across the ocean, and are sold cheaper than where they were produced. How can this be said?And as long as it is made in China, it is considered China's trade surplus.Most of the money in it was taken away by foreigners.You must know that before the Opium War, the Sino-British trade, the white and famous silver, was all earned by China. The British earned about 10 million silver dollars a year, which was equivalent to more than 7 million taels of silver in China at that time.The tea alone is very powerful, and everyone admits that the tea in Fujian, China is the best.India also produces tea, do you drink it?I don't like to drink!Tea is something that is good in China. There is something particularly scary about the UK doing business with China.China does not need British goods, it only sells them but not buys them.China is a natural economy, production and living can be self-sufficient, who will buy your British goods?The British did not investigate the Chinese market. Of course, the Celestial Dynasty closed the country, and it could not investigate.So some of the goods shipped in are outrageous, like knives and forks. When Chinese see foreigners eat with iron, they cut them with knives. Wow!Ru Mao drinking blood, a group of ancient ancestors!Piano, I am afraid that this kind of thing is rare in Chinese families today. Most of the parents force their children to learn, and they will not touch it after the test. That is, when someone comes to visit, they play "cute Smurfs"; Pajamas and nightcaps, the Chinese don’t have the tradition of wearing these things, do you still wear clothes while sleeping?Isn't this reckless?Pants and a vest are just fine, it is more comfortable to completely liberate!It's useless, don't.British products cannot be sold in China, so they will always exceed the price, and British businessmen are angry.what to do?What are you selling?Then sell opium.In Britain, opium cannot be grown, and it is not produced in Britain, but in India.The East India Company supported the cultivation of opium in India.Including the current Golden Triangle and Burma, the opium was originally bred by the British.It is a kind of British people, and the locals also think it is good to plant this kind, and it is very exciting. In the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773), British businessmen felt that opium was the most profitable commodity and began to sell it.In the last years of Qianlong, nearly 2,000 boxes of opium were imported.In the early years of Jiaqing (1796), the number increased to 4,000 boxes, and in the 16th year of Jiaqing (1811), as many as 5,000 boxes.In the 15th year of Daoguang (1835), the number increased to 30,000 boxes, and the combined grain silver was about 15 million taels. The amount of opium imported was like a soaring thermometer, and it went up in a blink of an eye.Of course, we must understand that the smuggling of opium from Britain to China is by no means an act of the British government.In Britain, which completed the industrial revolution, just as Adam Smith published "The Wealth of Nations", free capitalism developed, and the government did not intervene in the economy.If the government encourages businessmen to sell opium, Britain will actually become the largest drug trafficking group.British retail merchants, also known as port merchants, were free merchants other than the East India Company. Most of them were opium smugglers, and they were the first free merchants to bring British cotton textiles to the Chinese market.The Hong Kong merchants developed rapidly and became so powerful that they demanded that the government abolish the East India Company's monopoly on trade with China, and finally achieved their goal.Their trading activities gradually changed the monopoly Sino-British trade pattern formed by the East India Company and Guangzhou Commercial Bank, making it develop in the direction of free trade.Before the Opium War, they actively advocated the war against China and opened the door of China to expand Sino-British trade, especially the opium trade among them.They found that opium is very good and powerful, and good things should be shared with everyone. If brothers like it, they can all be given to you.This thing is really good. Mr. Lu Xun said: foreigners use opium to cure diseases, and Chinese people use opium to eat.In China, everyone from princes to nuns smoked opium, and eunuchs in the palace also smoked opium.The emperor smelled the scent of opium smoke in the palace, and took a closer look. The eunuch was lying on the bed, smoking opium. When British businessmen strongly demanded to open the door to China's trade, the Qing emperor was so anxious about opium that the Qing government focused on smoking bans. Anyway, we don't need British things, so who cares about your trade.In the 18th year of Daoguang, Huang Juezi, Minister of Honglu Temple, proposed to rehabilitate smokers: smokers should quit within one year, and if they fail to quit after the expiration, ordinary people and officials will be executed, and their children are not allowed to participate in scientific examinations.Senior officials discussed it, with 21 people against it and 8 people in favor.The ban on smoking is useless at all, and opium smuggling and drug smoking have been banned repeatedly. Smoking opium is a high consumption. Officials smoke it, and their wages cannot support them, so they have to be corrupt. Soldiers smoke it. It is even more troublesome. How to fight the battle?As a result of smoking opium, the government's fiscal revenue and the combat effectiveness of the army were seriously affected.During the period of the Republic of China, some local warlords had very poor combat effectiveness. The soldiers were called "double gun soldiers", with one rifle and one bong. In the memorial to the emperor, Lin Zexu, governor of Huguang, said: "Opium is poisonous in the world, and the law should be strictly controlled. If you still look at it, it means that after decades, there will be few soldiers in the Central Plains who can defend against the enemy, and there will be no one who can pay for it." Silver. Thinking about this, can you not shudder?" Every time Lin Zexu thought of this, his thighs trembled, buttocks were legs, and shudders were trembling.What do you say the emperor has no money and no soldiers?Opium smuggling caused China's silver shortage and weak army, and the political foundation of the regime was unstable. Therefore, the emperor was very angry. The angry emperor sent Lin Zexu to Guangdong as an imperial envoy to ban smoking. Lin Zexu was quite determined to ban smoking. After Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou in March 1839, he immediately made a solemn statement: "If the opium is not exhausted for a day, this minister will not return for a day. I vow to stick to this matter forever, and there is absolutely no reason to stop it." He While rectifying coastal defense and cracking down on cigarette dealers, strict measures were also taken against foreign opium dealers.Not only did they seize the opium of foreign businessmen, but they also asked them to write a letter of guarantee, promising that they would never dare to bring opium when they came to China in the future.If it is brought, once it is found out, the goods will be confiscated, and the person will be punished.The British opium dealers were forced to confiscate more than 20,000 cases, and the American cigarette dealers confiscated more than 1,500 cases. Mr. Lin refused to give up after seizing the opium, and immediately staged the most exciting scene in modern Chinese history, that is, the first relief on the People's Monument-the destruction of cigarettes in Humen.You know, it’s not about burning tobacco. Opium smoke can’t be burned. If it’s burned, it’s purified. It’s about selling tobacco. That is, the opium is concentrated on the beach in Humen, a fence is built at a high place, and two large pits of 15 feet in length and width are dug. , Pour seawater and pour quicklime into it, and after the water boils, drop opium to completely destroy it. The scene is extremely spectacular. The sale of cigarettes in Humen gave Britain an excuse to send troops.British businessmen lobbied the British government and strongly appealed that the government should protect the interests of domestic businessmen.Our goods were destroyed by the Chinese government, and he must be compensated. We must deal a fatal blow to the decaying empire and make them realize that our British Empire is not easy to mess with.For this reason, the British Parliament launched a fierce debate. Some British members said, if we fight for opium, won't Britain become an armed smuggling group?This can't be done. There was no other way, but in the end, Queen Victoria had to be judged.Queen Victoria declared that we are at war on the principles of free trade, not on opium. Isn't it free trade?I have to buy things when I sell them to you. The reason why you Chinese don’t buy them is that the government closes the country.My goods can't come in, and of course the common people won't buy them.The queen's head thinks that the common people will buy my products as soon as they come in. She doesn't think that the common people can live comfortably without British products.Ordinary people don't know how to pay for things, and the queen doesn't realize this.With the support of the Queen, the British Parliament managed to pass the proposal of war against China with a slight advantage of 271:262, with only nine votes more than the negative votes. Britain decided to go to war against China for the principle of free trade. In this way, 4,000 Eastern Expeditionary Forces, 16 warships, and 540 guns circled half of the world and traveled for more than half a year to attack an empire with a land area of ​​13 million square kilometers, a population of 410 million, and a regular army of 900,000. Judging from the comparison of the number of Chinese and British participants in the war, Britain can be said to be overwhelmed.The British regular army has a total of only 130,000, and its forces are scattered and scattered all over the world.But this army is a mighty army, even Napoleon can't beat him.China has 250,000 Eight Banners soldiers and 660,000 Green Battalion soldiers, basically composed of street people, refugees, and poor people.After the Song Dynasty, the imperial court implemented the recruitment system. The so-called recruitment flag was erected, and there were people who would eat food.In China, what is the purpose of wearing a military uniform?Most of them come for meals, not really desperate. The British professional soldiers are different. It is the glory of the imperial soldiers to expand the territory for the country.Where is China's 900,000 troops?in the whole country.Although the United Kingdom only has a few thousand expeditionary troops, China's coastline of more than 10,000 kilometers has always been surrounded by sea but not defended.In terms of overall military strength, the United Kingdom is weak, but its partial strength is clearly superior, and the United Kingdom has successively increased its troops. According to statistics, the cumulative number of British troops participating in the Opium War was 20,000, and the cumulative number of Chinese troops participating in the war was 300,000.Of course, 300,000 is an estimate. The emperor sent you, and you rushed from Heilongjiang. Before you went, the battle was over, and this was considered a war.It's not my fault that half of the battle is over, it's considered participating in the war.1,000 people were transferred from Sichuan to Zhejiang to participate in the war. The first stage was 550 people, and the later stage was 450 people. The 550 people walked halfway. , it will be very difficult to mobilize the army. In this way, the Opium War started. In 1840, there were 48 ships (16 naval warships, 4 armed steamships of the East India Company, 1 troop carrier, and 27 transport ships) and 4,000 soldiers from the army (10th Royal Irish Army). Eighth Regiment; 26th Regiment of Scottish Infantry; 49th Regiment of Infantry), the British Expeditionary Force composed of 2000~3000 navy blocked the Pearl River Estuary in Guangzhou. The British are well-equipped with large ships weighing more than 3,000 tons, more than 100 cannons, and sailing battleships that can fire anywhere in the front, rear, left, and right sides. They have three decks and three layers of guns. The shells of others explode when fired, and the gunpowder inside is inside.Our small boat weighs more than 100 tons and has 10 guns. The gun positions are still fixed and can only be fired forward. If the enemy ship is on the left, quickly paddle to catch up.Our Chinese artillery shells are shot like shot puts, and they can't hit people at all.So when Lin Zexu saw this posture, how the sailboats attacked the battleships was a problem.Don't fight at all, just defend directly. Guangdong is heavily guarded. The British saw that they were no longer playing in Guangzhou. China is so big. Why challenge you here and change to Xiamen.Xiamen's defenses are also quite strict. Lin Zexu's comrade-in-arms Deng Tingzhen, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, guards here.The foreigners went to Dinghai.In this way, Lin Zexu was stupid, why is this foreigner so shameless?I destroyed the opium, you don't look for me, you look for the emperor, what is this?You can't hit me, still run?Naturally, Lin Zexu didn't know what to do, how could he chase after him?Chase with sailboats or cavalry?What can I do if I catch up?I had to rush 600 miles to hurry up and tell the emperor the news. Arriving in Beijing on the 21st, the emperor called the ministers of military aircraft to a meeting to discuss a solution.The comments were sent back to Guangzhou, and it took two months to go back and forth. By the time Lin Zexu got the emperor's instructions, the British had already left this place for a long time and decided to go to sea.Dinghai has not seen foreigners for more than 200 years, Yao Huaixiang, the magistrate of the county, took the common people to condolences, thinking that the foreigners came to pay tribute.As a result, I went to the British warship and saw that they were here to fight.The commander of the British Navy asked Yao Huaixiang to give up Dinghai City, but Yao Huaixiang flatly refused.A salvo of artillery fire from one side of the British warship immediately smashed down the city wall of Dinghai.Yao Huaixiang was dumbfounded. He had lived for 46 years. He had never seen such a big ship or such a ruthless cannon.The British said, Mister Yao has the guts, he is a man, let you prepare for 24 hours, and I will beat you again.The county magistrate of Yao hurried back to find soldiers, including the yamen servants. He gathered hundreds of people and recruited fishing boats to go to sea to meet the enemy. Thousands of heavily armed British troops dealt with the hundreds of mobs who even counted the yamen servants. It can also be called a rare event in the history of war. 40 minutes later, the entire Dinghai 100-man fleet was wiped out.Yao Huaixiang boarded the Dinghai City Tower, kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the Forbidden City in Beijing, and threw himself into the sea. Frightened by the threat of the British fleet, Emperor Daoguang changed his anti-British attitude, appointed Qi Shan as imperial envoy, and rushed to Guangdong.Lin Zexu was in a disadvantageous situation, and he still wrote Daoguang, urging the need to fight against the British; at the same time, he also suggested that the court build a solid gunboat to resolutely resist the invaders.In order to quell the war, Daoguang investigated and prosecuted Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen for the crimes of harming the country and the people, and mismanagement.After Qishan arrived in Guangzhou, contrary to Lin Zexu's approach, he ordered the removal of the coastal defenses at the Pearl River Estuary, the reduction of the navy, and the dismissal of the water and village braves, which dealt a blow to the people's enthusiasm for resisting the enemy.Later Qishan learned that Britain not only wanted to investigate Lin Zexu, pay compensation to open Hong Kong, but also cede Hong Kong Island, so he dared not agree, so he had to delay.The British were impatient and bombarded Dajiao and Shajiao. Qishan had no choice but to sign terms such as land cession with the British behind the back of the Qing court.Daoguang was surprised to hear about the land cession and indemnity treaty signed by Qishan. He thought it would damage the prestige of the country and lose face, so he investigated Qishan and insisted on fighting. For a while, coastal wars resumed. After Yao Huaixiang, more than 100 civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty died for the country.Several officers at the admiral level were killed in battle.Admiral Guan Tianpei of the Guangdong Navy is equivalent to the commander of the South China Sea Fleet.The British army aggressively attacked the fortresses in Humen, with only a few hundred defenders. Guan Tianpei was determined to defend his position in the desperate situation of being alone and helpless.The British commander issued an ultimatum to Guan Tianpei, ordering him to abandon the forts in Humen, but Guan Tianpei ignored them.In the end, the British army launched a fierce attack on the Qing army, and Guan Tianpei resisted tenaciously.Before his sacrifice, Guan Tianpei specially appointed his family member Sun Changqing to send his seal of admiral of the Guangdong Navy back to the provincial capital.Sun Changqing lingered for a long time, couldn't bear to leave, waited for him to hold his seal and walked away. When he reached the middle of the mountain, when he looked back, he saw that the enemy artillery had already hit Guan Tianpei.When Guan Tianpei's body was finally found, half of his body had been scorched by gunfire.On the day of the burial, "hundreds of scholar-bureaucrats greeted him in black clothes, and bystanders may cry bitterly." The Chinese and British armies once again fought in Dinghai. In the first battle of Dinghai, Ge Yunfei, Wang Xipeng, and Zheng Guohong, three top and second-rank generals, were sacrificed. It can be described as tragic. Before the battle in Dinghai, General Ge Yunfei issued a pre-war mobilization order: "Thieves are not to be feared, and they can be wiped out." He also made an oath in public that if the war goes wrong, as a general, I will guard this land by the order of the emperor, and the city will perish. Death, this is the righteousness of a man, I will never leave Dinghai for half a step, Ge Yunfei has long put life and death aside. The British army used sampan boats to land, captured a dangerous road leading to Dinghai City, and attempted to capture Dinghai.At this critical time, Wang Xipeng led the soldiers to the front carrying the earth cannons, blocking the British army with the heart of death.After the ammunition was finished, Wang Xipeng fought hand-to-hand with the British army, resisting desperately, deterring the enemy time and time again.As more and more British soldiers landed, Wang Xipeng approached him again and killed several British soldiers with his own hands. Unfortunately, they were hit by enemy artillery fire and died heroically.The other generals were all wounded and killed in battle because they were outnumbered.After Wang Xipeng died, he was brutally skinned by the British army, and the body was stabbed to vent.Zheng Guohong also died for his country after being shot in the body. Losing the containment of the enemy by his comrades-in-arms, Ge Yunfei was attacked from three sides by the British army.Ge Yunfei fought to the death, and the bullets from the British army shot at him one after another. General Ge, who was wounded in dozens of places all over his body, just as he swore before the war, the city survives and the city dies. The front line of the battle.Until the last missile hit him in the chest, he couldn't stand up, fell under the rock, and died a heroic sacrifice. The British army then attacked Zhenhai. During the defense of Zhenhai, Yuqian, governor of Liangjiang, committed suicide.According to what we say today, the governor of Liangjiang is the secretary of the provincial party committee and governor of the three provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Anhui, as well as the commander of the Nanjing Military Region.The ranks of military officers in the green battalion in the Qing Dynasty were: admiral, commander-in-chief, deputy general, general, guerrilla, commander, garrison, commander-in-chief, and commander-in-chief.If the internationally accepted military rank system is applied, the admiral, chief soldier, and lieutenant general are equivalent to general-level officers.In the Opium War, the highest number of British officers we killed were lieutenants, while a large number of our senior generals were killed and suffered heavy losses. Historically, the threat to the Central Plains dynasty and Beijing came from the Mongolian Plateau.So build a Great Wall to block it, stay outside, don't keep trying to break in!Sea defense was something that the Central Plains dynasty had never thought about, because cavalry would not come from the sea.Since the British came from the sea, committed crimes all the way north from Guangdong, and arrived in Tianjin, and beat you so helplessly, there is no way, in this case, the only option is to negotiate a peace. The situation and people's hearts were always changing rapidly, and the Qing court was unwilling to negotiate a peace like this. In order to force the Qing court to submit, the British army set out from Guangzhou, entered the Yangtze River through the southeast coast, and arrived in Nanjing. The court had to humiliate and surrender.Why did the Qing government have to surrender when it reached Nanjing?The seven provinces in the southeast are the lifeblood of the imperial court. They are the most concentrated and affluent places in China. Britain controls the southeast coast and intends to control the Yangtze River and cut off water transportation. How can the Qing court fight when it has no money?There are no conditions to negotiate, only to sign a contract. In 1842, the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history - the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing stipulated that Hong Kong Island should be ceded to Britain. The divided Hong Kong Island is not the entire Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today.The area of ​​Hong Kong Island is only equivalent to 3% of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, because the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is 1062 square kilometers, and the Hong Kong Island is 50 square kilometers.This is the first time Hong Kong Island has been ceded to the United Kingdom.Today the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is back in 1997.Its fall was divided into three steps: the "Nanjing Treaty", the "Beijing Treaty" and the 1898 "Sino-British Expansion of the Hong Kong Boundary". The "Nanjing Treaty" ceded Hong Kong Island, the "Beijing Treaty" ceded the Kowloon Division, and then the "Sino-British Special Articles on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundary Site" leased the New Territories.Therefore, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Division are ceded, and an additional area of ​​about 5% of the special administrative region is added; the New Territories is rented, and the land ceded to others is theoretically not returned, but the People’s Republic of China does not recognize unequal treaties, so Hong Kong must return. .The leased land was leased in 1898, with a lease term of 99 years, which expired in 1997, so when the lease expires, we will ask for it back. The indemnity was 21 million taels of silver dollars, which refers to the Eagle Ocean cast by Spain in Mexico.Players who collect silver dollars say that silver dollars are "big head, small head, eagle, and longyang", and the big head is Yuan Datou, which is more common in the world.The small head is Sun Yat-sen, and the number is relatively rare.Longyang is a silver dollar in the late Qing Dynasty, issued during the Guangxu and Xuantong years.Yingyang refers to the Mexican silver dollar, one silver dollar, equivalent to 7 cents and 2 cents of silver in China.Therefore, 21 million taels of silver should probably be equivalent to 15 million or 16 million taels of Chinese silver.The annual fiscal revenue of the imperial court is 30-40 million taels of silver, which is paid off in three years. It needs special explanation, out of the 21 million taels of silver dollars, 6 million taels of opium is paid for opium, and you have to reimburse the 9 million taels of military expenditure during the war.The 15 million taels is humiliating and cannot be given, and the business owes 6 million taels that should be given to others, which is the money you owe to others.It turns out that Guangzhou is the only place we have trade with the British.All foreign trade can only be carried out through the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou. The Thirteen Banks have the feeling of the ARATS. On the surface, they are non-governmental organizations, but in fact they are controlled by the government.Shisanxing owed some money to British businessmen over the years, but they refused to pay anyway, so you sue me?There are people behind him, and the government is here to collect debts from migrant workers, so you have to give them money. The third is Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai's five-port trade. China's southeast coastal area is the most developed economy in China today, the earliest opening to the outside world, and the first place in the country. Fourth, the agreed tariff, the tariff rate paid by British businessmen importing and exporting goods has to be negotiated between China and the UK.According to today's standards of economic exchanges between the two sides, should it be?should.If you look at the trade negotiations between China and the United States, China is usually the Vice Minister of Commerce, and the United States has a special negotiator who is also a ministerial-level cadre. The negotiations between the two sides involve tariff issues.For example, American airplanes, computer chips, wheat, and oranges are specialty products. When they enter China, we have to give them preferential treatment and lower tariffs. Our Chinese specialty products, Nike shoes, Barbie dolls, and Christmas trees, have to be reduced if they want to enter the United States. tariff.The two sides discuss these issues, so tariffs are negotiable. The tariff after the Opium War was the British buy-it-all price, 5%.This is probably the lowest tariff in the world, and it is not negotiable.After the two parties signed the treaty, they went back and waited for the approval of the leaders of the two countries. Britain quit, saying that it was not enough.So I signed the attachment again. The "Humen Treaty" and "Five-Port Trade Regulations" are appendices to the "Nanjing Treaty". Through these supplementary treaties, Britain obtained "consular jurisdiction", "one-sided most-favored-nation treatment", and the privilege of renting land and houses at ports for permanent residence. . Consular jurisdiction is also called extraterritoriality (during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chongqing Nationalist Government and the United Kingdom and the United States abolished extraterritoriality in 1943), which undermined China's judicial sovereignty.A foreign citizen commits a crime in China, which cannot be sanctioned by Chinese law, and is judged by his consul.Not to mention the fairness and injustice of the consular adjudication (it is estimated that it will not be fair), even if it is fair, you will destroy China's judicial sovereignty.You can see that American troops stationed overseas, doing some outrageous things, such as murder and arson in Japan and South Korea, American soldiers cannot be sentenced by local laws, and American soldiers are only judged by American military laws. An American pilot flew an A6 heavy attack aircraft at ultra-low altitude in Italy. He wanted to perform stunts and passed under the cableway of a mountaineering cable car.In the end, the game was messed up, knocking people down, and more than 20 people fell to their deaths. More than 20 people are European citizens, Italians, Germans, and Swiss, all of whom are allies of the United States.The plane crashed down, how could it be considered a traffic accident?In the end, it seemed that nothing happened, and it was nothing to do when he returned to his country, and the laws of the country he was in could not control him. In the supplementary treaty, unilateral most-favored-nation treatment is an issue we want to emphasize.Our Chinese specialties enter your U.S. with zero tariffs, and your specialties enter China with zero tariffs. This is to give each other the most-favored-nation treatment. The result is now one-sided. If you give it to him, he won’t give it to you. How can you reason?The key is that the British are smart in the one-sided most-favored-nation treatment, and he added a principle of equal benefits for all.We, the United Kingdom, want so many benefits. If a certain country wants more benefits than ours in the future, the United Kingdom will automatically enjoy it.If you give it to him, it's like giving it to me. As a result, all countries later demanded this, and in the end even the Banana Republic in Latin America had to share it.We in the Qing Dynasty were confused, and signed with them as soon as we saw blue eyes and high noses. Of course, we were abolished with these countries in the end, and we made a new contract.Seeing that Peru is not as good as our Qing Dynasty, you also have five people and six people signing this with me?We can't do away with strong countries, but we can do with weak countries. The banana republics in Latin America are far worse than China. Treaty ports leased land and houses for permanent residence, which formed the later concessions.The British Concession, the French Concession, the Public Concession, the concessions cannot be controlled by Chinese law, and it is safe to escape inside.Just kill someone and run inside.Shanghai Bund officially entered the era of concessions.The New Territories of Hong Kong is a leased land, which is different from the concession. In 1844, the United States and France forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Wangxia and the Treaty of Huangpu. The Treaty of Wangxia allowed the United States to enjoy all the privileges that the United Kingdom had obtained in the Treaty of Nanking and its annexes, except for land cession and indemnity.In addition to ceding land and paying compensation, the United States wants other privileges.The same is true for foreign aggression, and there are also levels.In comparison, the level of the "art of aggression" in the United States is relatively high, and it rarely sends troops directly to occupy a certain country.Some people are less capable, how stupid is it to have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed there?That's what the Soviet Union did, Japan did, and Germany did. The U.S. doesn't like to do this kind of low-level art. They throw dollars, biscuits, and yogurt more often than they throw bombs, such as hitting Iraq.According to this treaty, American warships can inspect trade in China, Americans enter Chinese ports, and China's sovereignty over territorial waters is violated.Americans came to China to open hospitals and build churches.Hospitals and churches serve themselves more. Americans don’t know whether they are allowed or not. Opening churches is to solve the spiritual belief problems of American citizens. The French "Whampoa Treaty" made France enjoy all the privileges of the United States in the "Whampoa Treaty".Catholicism is freely preached in China. In 1723, Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty issued an edict to ban religion. At this time, France stipulated that Christianity could be freely preached. That is to say, Catholicism returned to China 121 years later with strong ships and guns.Christianity (in a broad sense) is ups and downs in China.In the Tang Dynasty, Nestorianism, a faction of the Christian church that had not yet been divided at that time, was introduced into China, called Nestorianism. Emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty exterminated Buddhism, and incidentally, he also exterminated it.Catholicism was first introduced to China in the Yuan Dynasty. In 1294, Italian Franciscan Mongo Vino came to China as an envoy of the Holy See and was allowed to set up a church in the capital to preach. This was the official introduction of Catholicism to China.It was mainly spread in the upper court, and then it was interrupted with the fall of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 16th century, the Jesuits headed by Matteo Ricci once again introduced Catholicism to China.During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, because the Holy See provoked a "controversy over etiquette", Chinese Christians were not allowed to worship Confucius and worship their ancestors, and the emperor banned religion, and Catholicism fell into a trough again.这次跟着洋人的炮舰进入中国的天主教、基督教，已经是第四次进入中国了。 鸦片战争让五千年的文明古国，受到前所未有的奇耻大辱。这些不平等条约，一个比一个要的利益多。中国的独立主权，自然经济开始遭到破坏，中国在突如其来的变故中，由传统走向现代。 柏杨先生曾经写道：“一些中国曾经听说过，或从没有听说过的弹丸小国，在过去就是前来进贡也不够资格的，现在排队而来。”葡萄牙、西班牙、比利时、普鲁士、奥匈帝国、意大利、荷兰、丹麦、瑞典等国一一和中国签订了条约，而且都享有和《南京条约》中英国人享有一样的特权。道光年间，葡萄牙人竟然驱逐中国在澳门的官吏，停付租金，公然强占了澳门。中华帝国顿时陷入半殖民地状态。 纵观《南京条约》、《虎门条约》、《中美条约》、《中法条约》同英法联军以后的《天津条约》、《北京条约》等，前四约不过是不平等条约的滥觞，后面可谓不平等条约的大成。此前的不平等条款，如协定关税及领事裁判权等，完全是由于我们的无知而自动放弃。到天津条约，外国人才有意把已得的特权变为义务。在这一过程中，随着中国同西方外交关系的深入，新鲜事物不断涌入，中国现代化进程的步伐也在加快。 鸦片战争后，清政府同外国的交往日益增多，清政府时候的中国，没有国旗，也没有国歌，只有象征皇权的黄龙旗。1889年，张荫桓出使国外，请求朝廷定长方形黄色龙旗为国旗。1896年，李鸿章作为外交特使，出使西欧和俄国，在欢迎会上，按照国际惯例，要演奏主、宾两国国歌，李鸿章灵光一闪，临时编出一首七绝诗，以充国歌。歌词让人很无语：“金殿当头紫阁重，仙人掌上玉芙蓉，太平天子朝天日，五色云车驾六龙。”在不断的交流与撞击中，中国将迎来一次前所未有的巨变。 在此过程中，中国社会的性质发生了变化。中国主权遭到破坏，卷入世界资本主义市场，自给自足的经济逐步解体。中国在资本主义世界市场里面，成为提供市场和原材料的一方。 社会性质的变化引发社会矛盾变化。由地主和农民的矛盾，变成外国资本主义和中华民族的矛盾，封建主义和人民大众的矛盾，而外国资本主义和中华民族的矛盾成为各种社会矛盾中最重要的矛盾。中国近现代史基本上都是这样，只要一有外敌入侵，中华民族到了最后的时候都能凝聚一起，“兄弟阋于墙而外御其侮”，团结在一起一块儿干，而敌人只要一打跑，内部矛盾就上升为主要矛盾了。 革命任务也发生变化，战前革命任务是反封建，就是反对本国的封建统治；战后就变成反侵略反封建，所以叫做民族民主革命。要建立民主的政治体制，立宪也好，民主共和也好，这个时期的革命是资产阶级领导的，称为旧民主主义革命。 鸦片战争使中国开始沦为了半封建半殖民地社会，那么中国的抗争与探索也就开始了。中国的国门刚刚被洋人打开，中国的斗争与探索只能是中国的传统阶级，也就是中国的地主和农民来进行。