It is said that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was closed to the country before the Opium War, but this is not the case. The trade in Chinese and foreign goods has never stopped, and there is one port that has always been open to the outside world, and this port is Guangzhou. The reason why cigarettes are sold in Humen is that opium has flowed into China from Guangzhou, and the effect of smoking bans in Guangzhou is obviously the best.
Guangzhou has been an important window for China's foreign trade since ancient times. Guangzhou was established as a port city, with shipbuilding and trade as the main economic pillars. Beginning with the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court set up a municipal shipping department in Guangzhou, making Guangzhou the largest foreign trade window in South China.
After the development of the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, Guangzhou's trade routes reached as far as the east coast of Africa. In the Qing Dynasty, while the sea was forbidden, Guangzhou still retained the privilege of foreign trade. In order to facilitate management, the Qing Dynasty abolished the system of municipal shipping departments, and let merchants engaged in foreign trade form public banks and manage themselves, which is the famous "thirteen lines".
The system of the Thirteen Elements of Guangzhou had already appeared as early as the Kangxi Dynasty, and by the time of the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong, it was formally established. This system was not new, and when the Jurchens were still in the northeast, the Jin merchants ignored the Ming Dynasty's ban and sold jurchens a large amount of much-needed grain, cloth, and military supplies. Therefore, the Manchu Qing was accustomed to trade management through such middlemen, which greatly reduced the burden on the government.
On the other hand, the annual expenditure of the Qing Dynasty imperial family of 600,000 taels was obtained from the foreign trade tax and silver of Guangzhou. Therefore, banning other ports and retaining Guangzhou was good for the Qing emperor. At its peak, the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou could hand over 1.8 million taels of silver to the imperial court a year.
The Thirteen Lines were first established by Pan Zhencheng and nine other foreign firms, and in 1760 they requested the Qing government to establish a public bank. After a period of twists and turns, 22 years later, this public bank was finally officially established, and 13 commercial banks such as Jardine Bank formed the public bank, so it was called the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou in history. Each trading house pays 200,000 taels of silver as an entrance fee.
All foreign trade transactions must be carried out through the thirteen lines, which are equivalent to the official agents of the Qing Dynasty, from which they draw commissions and imperial court taxes. On the surface, these thirteen lines seem to be stable and profitable, and in more than 100 years, they have indeed cultivated many extremely rich merchants, but the risk is not nothing. In case the foreign businessmen do not repay their debts, the Thirteenth Line will be unlucky.
In 1780, there were only eight trading houses, four of which owed 3.8 million taels of silver to foreign merchants. If a foreign businessman does not want money, he will sue the government. The Qianlong Emperor was also generous and ordered the return of 7.6 million people, doubling it to reflect the arrogance of the Heavenly Dynasty.
However, of course, this money came out of the trading houses, and the four commercial houses in debt were all raided, and the personnel were replenished in Yili. The remaining arrears were apportioned among the others and paid off over a decade. At this moment, the vitality of the public bank was seriously injured, and it took many years to ease up. So what if a foreign businessman owes Chinese money? Sorry, this is the business of the merchants themselves, and the imperial court is not responsible.
In 1814, Pan Changyao, the owner of the Lee Springs, filed a complaint with the U.S. Supreme Court, demanding that merchants in New York and Philadelphia return a million arrears. As a result, the lawsuit was won, but until ten years later, Liquan Bank went bankrupt, and the money still did not arrive. Without national support, foreign judicial systems would not collect money for Chinese.
In order to collect debts, Pan Changyao also wrote to US President Madison in three languages: Chinese, English and Portuguese. The letter remains in the National Archives of the United States. The boss of Thirteen Lines was the most internationally aware Chinese at that time, proficient in foreign languages and international rules.
But they were only merchants, and although they all spent money to buy the top of the three and two pins, the Qing officials did not look down on them at all. The knowledge and experience they gain from foreigners will naturally not be valued.
After the Opium War, Wei Yuan was able to quickly compile the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", and the main information was obtained from the Thirteen Lines and other channels. The world has always been presented to China, but no one wants to look out more.
The years before the Opium War were the most prosperous period for the Thirteen Elements, with more than 5,000 shops on the nearby commercial streets of the Thirteen Elements, waiting for foreign merchants to choose. After the buyer and seller reach the intention, they will find thirteen lines to pay commissions, taxes and silver, and after completing the transaction, the goods can be loaded and shipped.
The bosses of the Thirteen Lines are all leading figures in Guangzhou, and the people behind them are all senior officials in the capital, and ordinary officials do not dare to make a mistake in front of them. This continued until the Opium War began in 1840.
The opium collected by Lin Zexu, except for those of foreign merchants, was mainly thirteen lines. It is undeniable that they played a role in the opium trade, but the vacillation of the Qing government's anti-smoking policy was also the main reason for the repeated prohibition of opium.
The gunboats of the British opened the door to China, foreign trade soared, and the Thirteen Lines ushered in a period of decline. The increase in treaty ports has broken the monopoly position of the thirteen lines, and the scenery of the past has never returned.
Fortunately, Guangzhou's status as a foreign trade center has not been lost. After the founding of New China, until the early stage of reform and opening up, the Canton Fair occupied a very important position in China's foreign trade. It can also be regarded as a continuation of the thirteen elements of culture.
[References: "Guangzhou Thirteen Elements", "Pan Changyao"]