The First Opium War in 1940 was the beginning of China's modern history, when China began to degenerate into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. It took about a century for the Chinese to get out of this humiliating situation.
This is what history textbooks tell us, about how much humiliation our country has experienced since it entered the modern era. To what extent is the humiliation? Even a small country with a projectile dares to ride on China's neck and, but China still swallows its anger and agrees to any request.
The Treaty of Nanking was signed after the First Opium War
This small country is the Nepal south of the Himalayas. If the map of China were a rooster, Nepal would not be the size of an egg. However, since the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Nepal has been like a chicken blood, frequently sending troops to Tibet and fighting with the Qing Dynasty.
The reason why Nepal suddenly became aggressive during the Qianlong Dynasty was because of the change of dynasty in Nepal at that time. In 1769, the Gurkhas rebelled, overthrowing the Mara dynasty in Nepal and establishing the Gurkha dynasty.
See how small Nepal is
The Gurkhas were brave and warlike, and soon after they took power in Nepal, they set their sights on Tibet. Especially in the various temples in Tibet, because of the relationship between religion, the major temples in Tibet often have a large amount of property. In 1788, the Nepalese army invaded Tibet and claimed to loot all the temples in Tibet.
The Qing army stationed in Tibet and the Kashag government of Tibet immediately sent troops to confront. In 1789, the Qing general in Tibet, Ba Zhong, and the head of the Kashag government, Tenzin Banjul, privately negotiated peace with the Nepalese army, agreed to cede part of the Tibetan territory to each other, and promised to pay Nepal 300 silver dollars a year, each weighing 32 taels, and Nepal retired.
The following year, the Nepalese came to ask for silver dollars, the Kashag government turned its face and refused to accept the account, and the Nepalese invaded again. This finally alarmed the Qianlong Emperor, the supreme leader of the Qing Dynasty, who sent Fu Kang'an and Highlander to lead an army into Tibet, directly drove the Nepalese back to their hometown, and forced them to pay tribute to China every five years.
The Qing army defeated Nepal
For more than half a century, Nepal did not dare to provoke China again. China transitioned from the Qianlong Emperor to the Jiaqing Emperor, but nepalese politics suffered a major earthquake. In 1814, the British invaded Nepal, and Nepal cheekily asked the Qing government for help. The Jiaqing Emperor said, "The Great Emperor nurtures all nations and treats them equally", regardless of it. Nepal became a British protectorate.
In 1846, Jange Bahadur Rana became Prime Minister of the Gurkha Dynasty, and with the consent of the British, Rana overthrew the royal family and became the actual controller of Nepal. Rana placed his cronies in various departments in Nepal, realized the hereditary position of prime minister, and established the Rana dynasty.
Jang Bahadur Rana
Shortly after Lana came to power, the Xianfeng Emperor ruled the Qing Dynasty, and the Taiping Rebellion broke out in China, directly threatening the survival of the Qing government. Rana saw the opportunity and began to use his hands and feet on Tibet. Initially, Nepal proposed to the Qing Dynasty to help the Qing government deal with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This is really commendable, from the southern foothills of the Himalayas all the way to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The Qing government shook its head and said that it understood. I didn't dare to let them come, for fear that they would snatch the world away one step ahead of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The following year, Nepalis framed Chinese for not paying attention to credit, collecting taxes from Nepalese in violation of the law, and robbing and killing many Nepalese civilians. Using this as an excuse, Nepal sent troops to attack Tibet.
Portrait of the Xianfeng Emperor
In March 1855, the Nepalese army occupied Jidang (present-day Jilong Township, Jilong County, Tibet Autonomous Region), Nielamu, Tirenzong (present-day Pulan County, Tibet Autonomous Region), and Rongzhi (present-day Rongzhi Township, Dingri County, Tibet Autonomous Region).
Such a big thing, the Masters of Nepal, the British, do not care? Was this the British idea? Not really. At this time, Britain also had no time to take care of Nepal, and in the far northwest direction, the Ninth Russo-Turkish War broke out, and Britain joined the Turkish camp and fought a decisive battle with the Russian Empire on the Crimean Peninsula, and had no time to take care of the Far East.
The Qing government at this time was very different from the Qianlong period. After the Opium War of 1840, the imperial court was terrified to hear foreigners. Although Nepal was a small country, they were also foreigners, and the Xianfeng Emperor did not dare to deal with the Nepalese army like Qianlong did. Moreover, even if the Xianfeng Emperor had the intention of fighting Nepal to the death, he could not send soldiers and horses. A large number of armies gathered in Jiangnan to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
By the end of 1855, the Qing government had finally assembled an army of more than 2,000 people to go to Tibet. The Nepal Army went down the donkey and made peace with the Qing Dynasty. The Qing government was very happy, and after consultation between the two sides, an unequal treaty was reached called the Treaty of Zangni. Inequality against the Qing government.
The treaty consists of ten articles, the main of which are: China pays Nepal 10,000 rupees a year; Nepalese can do business in Tibet at will and are exempt from taxation; and Nepalese have no right to try Chinese if they clash with the locals in Tibet or commit crimes.
Original of the Treaty of Tibet and Nepal
It is also a treaty that humiliates the country, and it is necessary to nod and waist with a small country like Nepal. The Qing government was also helpless, if there was no Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it might still fight with Nepal, but now it can only admit it first.
A country as large as China has actually succumbed to a small and weak country like Nepal, which is also a rare thing in human history. Today, there will be no more such things happening, and I believe that such things will not happen again in the future. Distant times, humiliating history, will always make us feel ashamed and brave.