Since the Opium War, China has been bullied by the great powers, whether it is developed Western European countries or the emerging Japan, they all regard China as fish on the nail board and slaughter it at will. The history of China in the Qing Dynasty is almost a history of land-cutting indemnities. Many people also believe that China has always been bent on perfection in front of foreigners because of the weakness of the Qing Dynasty and has no backbone to speak of. As everyone knows, China before the Qing Dynasty has always been very domineering, once beat the British to pay reparations, and honestly wrote a letter of guarantee.
China's lesson to Britain this time was in 1637, when the Ming Dynasty was suffering from the double attack of the peasant revolt and the Manchu Qing, and encountered successive years of drought, and the Emperor Chongzhen Emperor could be described as exhausted. At that time, British capitalism had begun to develop, and it was trying to open up the eastern market, trying to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's internal and external difficulties to force China to submit.
In early August 1637, British ships cruising in the waters of Guangdong hung up their British military flags and forcibly sailed along the Pearl River to the hinterland of Guangzhou. When driving to the surface of the current Shenzhen shajing water, the Ming Dynasty water division fired a warning cannon, the British fleet was very arrogant, not only did not stop, but also accelerated the voyage, the Ming Dynasty water division immediately opened fire, killing several British soldiers on the spot.
The British fleet continued to sail, followed closely by the Ming Dynasty Marine Division, and warned of the Humen Fort in the front. Due to the weakness of the Humen Fort, it was occupied by the British. The British disassembled all the cannons of Humen Fort, moved them to their own ships, and robbed nearby villages and towns, capturing dozens of pigs and returning them to the ship. This infuriated local officials of the Ming Dynasty, who on the one hand solemnly negotiated with the British army to demand the return of the cannons and the villagers' pigs, and on the other hand, quickly organized local water braves in Guangzhou to prepare for war with the British army.
The Ming and British navies soon began to fight. Although the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's water division were mainly local water braves, the generals were very brave, familiar with naval warfare, proficient in shooting, and the artillery and rockets fired shocked the British army. While the admirals were fighting the British, local officials in Guangzhou also took action to detain all the local British merchants.
Under the double blow of the Ming Dynasty army and the ground, the British finally did not dare to fight anymore, and found the Portuguese in Macau to mediate, trying to take advantage of the negotiating table. To the surprise of the British, the Ming officials at the negotiating table were very tough, with little room for negotiation, insisting on British reparations and apologies.
The British, aware of their own losses and worried about the arrival of regular sailors of the Ming Dynasty, were eventually forced to pay 2800 taels of silver to the Ming Dynasty, and the commander Weddell also wrote a letter of guarantee: abide by Chinese laws.
The first armed conflict between China and Britain ended with China's complete victory, and the British were frightened, and the fleet soon set off to return home, until more than 200 years later, when they tentatively "came again".