In 1840
A never-before-heard cannon blast
It shook the land of China
A war that has fundamentally changed China's destiny has begun...
Today, let us go back to that period of smoke-filled history
First, the sun never sets on the empire
Mid-1750s
Britain established the "Empire of the Sun Never Sets"
Colonial orders were sent to the British mainland
But because of the low productivity at that time
Can't meet the market demand
(At that time, production was mainly carried out by hand)
Therefore, there is a serious shortage of supply and demand in the commodity market
Second, the industrial revolution
In order to meet the market demand
1860s and 1770s
Prelude to the invention of the Jenny machine
Britain first began the Industrial Revolution instead of manual production with machine production
With the great increase in machine productivity
The phenomenon of "oversupply" has re-emerged in the commodity market
A large backlog of goods
Third, look for the market
To dump goods
Capitalists are looking for new markets
They found
Far East
There is also a large market of more than 400 million people - China
They were ecstatic
Attempts to open the door to China with commodity trade
Fourth, trade conflicts
At that time, China was still a self-sufficient small peasant economy
The Daoguang Emperor and his scholars were arrogant
It is believed that China is vast and has everything
There is no need to trade with the outside world
Adhere to the policy of closing the country to the outside world
Only one of the thirteen lines in Guangzhou is allowed to conduct foreign trade
(Closing the country is not completely free of trade with foreign countries, but strict restrictions)
Among the commodities that were in legitimate trade at the time:
Britain, represented by the East India Company, mainly sold industrial goods
In China, traditional tea, raw silk, pottery and so on are sold
Because the UK is influenced by traditional customs, China is constrained by the smallholder economy
Traditional Chinese goods are very popular in the BRITISH market
British industrial products, on the other hand, are not favored in China
This led to a large amount of silver flowing to China
Seeing that Chinese earn a lot of money, and their own interests are damaged
The British were greatly dissatisfied
5. Opium trade
How can you make Chinese money?
The British pondered
Hence the idea of evil
Since they don't need industrial goods
Just sell something that allows them to keep buying
This is what can be addictive - opium
The British East India Company began importing opium into China in large quantities
The opium trade brought astonishing profiteering profits to Britain
But for China, it is a "disaster that has not been seen in three thousand years"
This led to a large outflow of silver
A large number of soldiers smoked opium, and their combat effectiveness declined
Opium severely devastated the physical and mental health of Chinese people
Sixth, Humen sells cigarettes
The Daoguang Emperor recognized the dangers of opium
Pai Lin xu went to Guangzhou to conduct a strict investigation
After Lin Zexu arrived, he confiscated a large amount of opium
Centralized destruction was carried out in Humen in 1839
This is the famous Humen cigarette
This also became the trigger for the Opium War
7. The Opium War
Along with opium was banned
The East India Company cried to the British government
Their "property" was severely damaged
So June 1840
British government sends fleet to China to "retaliate"
Warships sailed to the surface of The Sea of Guangzhou and blockaded the mouth of the Pearl River
The Opium War begins
Guangzhou was heavily defended, and instead attacked Xiamen, but was repulsed
Instead of attacking Zhejiang, Zhejiang's defense was empty, and Dinghai was occupied
He also committed a crime against Dagu in the north, and wanted to blackmail the Qing government into negotiations
Daoguang sent Qi Shan to Guangzhou to negotiate peace
And Lin Zexu dismissed him from his post to investigate and deal with it
In 1941, the British army suddenly attacked Shajiao and Dajiao Fort
After capturing Xiamen, Dinghai, and Ningbo,
He then captured Wusong and Zhenjiang, and invaded Nanjing
The Daoguang Emperor eventually sent representatives to negotiate peace with the British army
In August 1842, China signed a contract with Britain
The Treaty of Nanking, the First Unequal Treaty in Modern Chinese History
The Treaty provides that:
1. Cede Hong Kong Island to the British
2. Compensate the United Kingdom for 20 million silver dollars
3. Open five treaty ports in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai
4. Tariffs on british imports and exports of Goods to China are negotiated with China
The Opium War was the beginning of China's modern history
Since then, the natural economy has begun to disintegrate
China has lost its position of independence and self-reliance
It began to gradually degenerate into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state