To burn the opium with a single fire is to take it for granted. However, Lin Zexu also took it for granted that he used fire when selling cigarettes in Humen, and it turned out that this method had at least two drawbacks. Later, I specially consulted the relevant people before using the method of seawater immersion to destroy opium.
From destroying opium to melting it
After Lin Zexu first collected the opium, he initially wanted to transport it back to the Beijing Division to destroy it, but later a Yushi suggested that the Daoguang Emperor let Lin Zexu sell cigarettes directly at Humen, because he was afraid that the opium would be dropped in the process of transporting it to the Beijing Division.
At the beginning, Lin Zexu also directly poured opium with tung oil and wanted to burn the opium with a torch, which resulted in two problems.
Opium is heated and melted into a gelatin in the process of being burned, and some of the gelatinous substances seep into the ground before they are burned. When the sale of cigarettes is over, the smokers and smokers actually run to dig the ground to get gelatinous opium, and then after processing, they become opium that can be smoked.
When opium is burned, it produces a large amount of toxic fumes, which not only pollute the environment, but also force people in the vicinity of the tobacco sales area to inhale "second-hand smoke".
Since it was not feasible to burn opium, Lin Zexu consulted a professional and learned that opium would be dissolved when it encountered salt water and lime. Then Lin Zexu switched to salt water and lime to destroy opium.
The specific method is to first dig several large earth pits on the seashore, and then lay stones on the bottom of the pits, and set wooden planks on the four walls of the pits, in order to prevent opium from seeping into the soil. After the pit was ready, Lin Zexu asked people to cut each opium into several petals, and when there was seawater in the pit at high tide, he poured the opium into the pit and poured a large amount of lime. Lime meets water to form an alkaline solution and generates a lot of heat. The morphine, cellulose and other components in opium will be dissolved and destroyed by this high-temperature alkaline solution, thus achieving the effect of destroying opium. Then, at low tide, the solution in the pit will be carried by the seawater into the vast sea, and the opium will disappear.
Therefore, it is not that Lin Zexu deliberately laboriously soaked opium with seawater, but that the burning of opium really did not achieve the desired effect. I have seen the information on the sale of cigarettes in Humen before, so I understand a little, I hope that everyone can help after reading it.