We all know that China in the feudal period has always been the hegemon of the East, the land is vast, almost no country can be compared with it, the long history of nourishing the civilization of the ancient country, making ancient China a country that has attracted much attention.
Warships at sea
But helpless, the gun hit the head bird, you have so many resources, others do not respect you, love you, but when they can't beat you, they pretend to worship in front of you, make friends with you, and sell cuteness in front of you. Whenever our national strength weakens a little, many countries abroad will provoke our country.
For example, in the last year of the Qing Dynasty, which was still feeling good about itself, in 1840, the Opium War broke out, and the Qing Dynasty was like a lion that had been sleeping for many years, with long gone sharp teeth, and the eager British vanguard easily captured our maritime army, and it is said that the war mortality rate in England and China at that time was 1:600. After this war, the whole world knew how good the Qing Dynasty was to bully, so one by one the invasion came like cutting leeks. The old lady of Cixi could only open the door of the country to "measure the material strength of China and bind the joy of the country." This shows how weak the Maritime Defenses of the Qing Dynasty were, but why did they dare to think about it at the end of the Qing Dynasty?
Opium war
In fact, as early as the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was also a relatively dark period in our Greater China, with internal and external troubles, and the strength of the army was not strong. The sea hegemon at this time was the Netherlands, which was the most glorious period, one of the first colonial powers in Europe, dominating the sea for more than a century. At this time, the Dutch were no longer satisfied with bullying the small countries of Europe, and they had to go a little further to see what else could become theirs. So the target was China during the Ming Dynasty.
Territory of the Ming Dynasty
First conquered Taiwan at that time, and then asked to monopolize the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen was angry on the spot after listening to the words of the interpreter, you red-haired thief dared to bully me Daming, the skinny camel is bigger than the horse, I am afraid that you will not succeed? Directly refused, and the war began. The Dutch side believed that attacking China with advanced artillery weapons and high-performance fast warships was ten to nine. Eleven warships were sent under the command of Putmans, along with the flagship Meadborg and a Chinese Junker, the Dog, in addition to 50 pirate ships.
China sent Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Yongchan, Xiong Rulin, and others to fight against the Dutch army, and the war lasted for more than three months, during which the enemy and us were one after another, and finally on October 22, 1633, the Ming army won the victory.
Chongzhen Emperor
Not only that, after the war, the Ming Dynasty demanded that the Netherlands compensate for all war losses and stay away from the sea near China, and not interfere in China's maritime trade.
Dutch people do not have the right to trade directly with China. Although the Dutch weapons were relatively advanced at that time, the Ming Dynasty also had many imported weapons, such as cannons imported from Britain, and this battle was fought with momentum. This year was 11 years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Four years later, in 1637, the British tried to fight a war with China, when the British were not the opponents of the Netherlands at all, and the British wanted to gamble because they felt that China's victory over the Netherlands was a fluke, and they had a strong maritime combat ability after all these years of recuperation, and should be able to fight the decadent Ming Dynasty.
Ming dynasty general and Spanish command
On August 8, the British ship arrived at the Humen Yaniang Shoe Anchorage, and the defenders of the Humen Fort sounded a warning. Weddell deliberately provoked the incident, ordered the St. George's trade flag to be torn down, raised the british king's military flag, posed as a preparation for battle, and then commanded the fleet to shell Humen Fort. At that time, the Ming Dynasty could be described as an internal and external emergency, with Li Zicheng entering the river and the invasion of the great powers outside, and Chongzhen could only send people to fight with him.
After the attack on the fort, the British army ripped off the Chinese flag, hung the British flag, and removed 35 cannons and moved them to the ship as booty. The Guangzhou authorities sent the Portuguese Noretti to negotiate, and Weddell returned the cannon and sent two merchants to accompany Noretti to Guangzhou.
Cannons of the Ming Dynasty
From August to November, China and Britain fought several battles off the coast of Humen. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty's maritime combat capabilities were still relatively good, and the small Britain was not an opponent of the Ming Dynasty at all.
On November 22, british businessmen in Guangzhou agreed to China's demand to compensate 2800 taels of silver. On the 30th, Weddell submitted a letter of guarantee to Chinese officials apologizing for the Humen incident and promising to leave after completing trade. At this time, it was less than seven years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, we struggled to preserve our nation and honor. Since then, the Western powers have thoroughly known the power of China. It is precisely because of these two wars that China has been able to survive for more than two hundred years. However, the faint and incompetent Qing government was completely defenseless, and a series of wars caused China in the late Qing Dynasty to be in a state of land-cutting indemnity, which was a pity.