People who have studied history know that Lin Zexu sold cigarettes, smashed the arrogance of foreigners, and defended the dignity of the nation.
Lin Zexu, a native of Fujian, came from a family of intellectuals, and his father hoped that he would be able to become an official and do things for the country when he grew up.
Lin Zexu
Lin Zexu really lived up to expectations, he was brilliant, he won the Xiucai at the age of 13, he won the lifting at the age of 19, and he won the Jinshi at the age of 27, which can be described as a green cloud and smooth sailing. He was honest and honest as an official, did things down-to-earth, did not bend the law for personal gain, and was deeply supported by the people.
The scourge of opium became more and more fierce in the Heavenly Dynasty, and he set out the Daoguang Emperor to eliminate opium, otherwise the silver of the Great Qing would be lost after a few decades, and there would be no troops to guard the country, and then the great powers would be able to occupy the Great Qing without a single shot. After seeing the recital, Daoguang made up his mind to ban opium, and then zhao Lin Ze Xu entered the capital, ordered him to be the minister of Chincha, and gave Shang Fang a sword, which could be cut off first and then played, and told him to go to Guangdong to ban smoking.
Daoguang Emperor
Lin Zexu was well aware of the heavy responsibility and the security of the country, and before leaving, he said to the Daoguang Emperor: "Opium will not be removed for a day, and I will not return to Beijing for a day." He was determined to ban opium and completely foreshadow his own safety!
In early January 1839, Lin Zexu braved the wind and snow and went all the way south from the capital to Guangdong. Along the way, he had a good strategy, ordering the arrest of many tobacco dealers on the way, and the news reached Guangdong, frightening some opium-smoking officials.
Deng Tingzhen, the governor of Liangguang at the time, and Guan Tianpei, the water master of Guangdong, were very happy to learn that Lin Zexu, the minister of Qincha, had come to Guangdong to ban smoking. At this time, Guangdong was also clean and honest, worried about the country and the people, and worried about the major affairs of the country. As soon as Lin Zexu arrived, the two led the wen and wu hundred officials to come to greet them, Lin Zexu and the two were old friends, the three knew the roots, Lin Zexu also used the two very much, it can be said that he was his confidant.
Deng Tingzhen
After Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou, he did not immediately take anti-smoking action, but first learned about the situation from the mouth of Deng Tingzhen and Guan Tianpei. The latter three reached an agreement to first arrest important opium addicts, severely punish officials who harbor and smuggle opium, and then issue a public announcement to the outside world to strictly prohibit opium smoking, and find one severe punishment for one.
Lin Zexu's first official to punish was Wu Shaorong, a Sanpin Daoist, who committed heinous crimes; he was not originally an official selected by the imperial examination, but smuggled opium and made a windfall, at that time, political corruption, money could buy officials and sell officials, Wu Shaorong bought a Sanpin official, and he was good at patting his ass, and there were many high officials in the imperial court because he made a windfall, so he had many backers in the official field and consolidated his position.
Lin Zexu was not afraid of the magnates, after arresting Wu Shaorong, Wu Shaorong still thought that he could buy people's hearts with money, so he sent a lot of gold and silver treasures to Lord Lin, and finally Lord Lin was soft and hard and did not eat, and Wu Shaorong knew that he was late and insecure. Then Lord Lin ordered Wu Shaorong to be executed and killed to make a hundred of them, wanting a determination to ban smoking. Other officials suspected of smuggling opium, buying and selling officials, and committing the crime of harboring can make up for their mistakes, and in advance they must assist Lin Zexu to ban smoking together, hand over their embezzled money, wash their hands in the golden basin, and do their best to sweep away opium.
At that time, the British used Yilu as the commercial supervisor in China, and the British merchants acted as evil under his protection, colluding with local officials in Guangzhou and smuggling opium. The arrogance was very arrogant, and Deng Tingzhen and Guan Tianpei took action to encircle and suppress the British merchant house and hand over all the opium within a limited time. The British merchants were very dissatisfied when they saw that their business had been cut off, so they went to Yilu to deal with Lin Zexu. In the end, he was directly punched in the face by Lin Zexu, and the tobacco dealer saw that Lin Zexu was soft and hard, and finally had to hand over all the opium.
A total of more than 20,000 boxes of opium were seized this time, and the ban on smoking was the first victory, and the entire city of Guangzhou applauded it. When the news reached the capital, the Daoguang Emperor issued a decree: "Destroy it on the spot to show off our country's prestige"! After Receiving the Holy Will, Lin Zexu sold cigarettes in Humen on June 3, 1839, when the Humen flag was illuminated, the gongs and drums shook the sky, and countless ordinary people came to watch. This time, Humen sold cigarettes for a total of 23 days, destroying more than 2 million kilograms of opium.
The sale of cigarettes in Humen shows that the Chinese nation is inviolable, strikes at the arrogance of foreign powers, and safeguards the Determination of the Chinese Nation to ban smoking.