preface
An important embodiment of the idea of applying the world is "the business of the world", and the crisis during the Kadao period is not only manifested internally. Externally, there are even more crises, and Western countries have not hesitated to dump opium on China or even launch criminal wars of aggression in order to reverse the decline in trade.
With the continuous changes in the external situation, people of insight who harbored the idea of applying the world began to set their sights on issues such as opium, frontiers, and coastal defense, thus promoting the further enrichment of the thinking of applying the world to the world.
Zhang Jiliang was born in Fujian and traveled all over the coast, and has a deep understanding of society in the southeast of the country. When Western countries began to dump opium on China with the southeast region as a breakthrough, and even launched a war, it inspired Zhang Jiliang's thinking abroad. He hated the colonization and humiliation of China by the West, and because he was at the forefront of the captured homeland, he saw with his own eyes the slaughter of the mainland people by the British army during the Opium War and the cowardice of the Qing court ruling class, so he was very radical in counter-aggression.
1. Calls for the strict prohibition of opium
In Zhang Jiliang's era, opium smoking by officials and people became a common practice, which not only caused great damage to the body of smokers and affected their daily lives, but also caused a large outflow of national silver, and the burden on the people of the country increased. As a result, opium became one of the most important concerns of aspiring people at the time.
Zhang Jiliang's concern about the harm of opium mainly focuses on the impact of the opium trade on people's lives and social economy.
Because opium was imported from the southeast coastal areas and then to the mainland, and Zhang Jiliang was born in Fujian Province and traveled to Guangdong and Gansu, he had an early understanding of the dangers of opium. In the ninth year of Daoguang (1929), Zhang Jiliang wrote the poem "Flesh-eating Sigh" to describe the situation of opium smoking in Fujian and Guangdong areas, he wrote: "The Guangdong-Fujian opium museum opened every day, and ten households and nine broke into ashes. Aragonite is more expensive white jade, and the feathers are easy to return to gold. The ghost fan is easy to rebel, and Bianyang City is easy to reckon. The profit has been slight, and the goods are in chaos. ”
From the poem, we can see that in the southeastern provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong at that time, there were many opium houses for people to smoke, and the people who were addicted to the reality that their families were ruined and died because of the purchase of opium. At the same time, Zhang Jiliang also noticed that under the opium trade, the profits of opening the border and foreign trade gradually decreased.
In the thirteenth year of Daoguang, Zhang Jiliang said in the poem "Bathing Sun Pavilion": "Cangbronze and black iron, arrogant and conquering the heavenly Wu soul." The side smell of Hao Jingao, entrenched like a wall. Poisonous soil for gold, don't go to the Central Plains. The age and tax are geometric, allowing this ugly class to be honored. The cunning ghost country is unruly, and the people are wronged. If the sea is not spiritual, the evil waves are lost. ”
It can be seen from the poems that by the 30s of the nineteenth century, the opium trade was becoming more and more rampant, and foreign transport ships equipped with cannons at sea were rampant, carrying large quantities of opium destined for China.
According to Zhang Jiliang's estimates, in the opium trade, more than 20 million taels of silver flow out of the country every year, and the tariffs collected by Kaibian did not even cover the silver flowing out due to the opium trade.
In the face of the bitter facts, Zhang Jiliang was particularly indignant, so much so that he prayed that the sea would overturn the foreign ships carrying opium, which showed his hatred of the opium trade. In the same year, he again said in a poem: "Recently, the ship has been used exclusively for opium and silver in the mainland, and the age has reached 10 million, so that the livelihood in the southeast is becoming more and more depleted. Zhang Jiliang paid more attention to the outflow of silver at the economic level on the opium issue, and did not conduct a deeper analysis of the damage to the body of smokers and even the destruction of the entire political society. This has led to a somewhat one-sided understanding of the opium problem.
However, at that time, Zhang Jiliang, as an ordinary literati without any official and half-job, still realized the major losses caused by the opium trade to China's economy earlier, which was more unique and long-term than the damage that opium did to smokers. Under the increasing harm of the opium trade, Zhang Jiliang shouted: "If the law is not changed, the future will be worrying!" This led to his own idea of banning smoking.
As opium became increasingly toxic to society at that time, Daoguang courtiers set off a discussion of smoking bans. There were relaxation factions represented by Xu Naiji, Lu Kun and others in the DPRK. Huang Juezi, Lin Zexu and others suggested a strict ban on opium, advocating tough measures to eliminate the opium trade and severely punish users.
Zhang Jiliang immediately adhered to the idea of "sincerely making coastal defense and arrest strict, why not endlessly", and at the same time, according to the reality of a large amount of silver flowing out, he proposed anti-smoking measures for unified purchase and sale of opium and strict inspection of opium imports.
In Zhang Jiliang's view, the poison of opium has reached the point where it must be banned. In his poem, he exclaimed: "Destroying ships haunts each other, poisoning the Central Plains." If you don't use heavy codes, how can you clean up the source of evil? Zhang Jiliang hereby affirmed that the opium poison has reached a time when only harsh means can be eradicated. In the "Numismatic Sayings", he mentioned the view that Zhang Jiliang was not smoking: "Yuyou Zhang Jun (Zhang Jiliang) said: Every year of opium in Haibai City, he will get tens of millions of silver, and there is no greater harm to China. It is suggested that if you want to order officials to collect taxes for the purpose of issuing and pricing, and strictly prohibit private sales, you will stop by making no profit. ”
Zhang Jiliang believed that through government means, the unified sale, pricing and taxation of opium would make opium traffickers unprofitable, thus playing a role in resisting.
Zhang Jiliang's important exposition on the idea of banning smoking is also embodied in Daoguang's "Book of Palace Protection on Shanglu Houshan" written by Daoguang to Lu Kun, then governor of Liangguang. In this article, Zhang Jiliang first analyzed the specific operation of the illegal opium trade in Guangzhou: In the coastal waters of Guangdong, there are "five or six anchors in the English Province, which exclusively sells opium."
And there is a "kiln mouth" in Guangdong, which is responsible for "selling for it." The connection between the "kiln" and the British ship mainly relies on the transport ship called "fast crab", and the specific operation is: "The buyer of soil in the mainland pays silver and kiln mouth, kiln mouth pays ticket and fast crab, and fast crab takes soil from the boat." ”
At the same time, Zhang Jiliang also pointed out: "Every fast crab is strong and dozens of people, the oars are down together, the guns are complete, their movements are fast, their momentum is fierce, that is, they encounter patrol sentry ships. It is that the ship does not think that opium is an entrance, and I have no audit; I lost money and the other in the mainland, and Peter bartered, and there was no audit. The ban on the import of opium and the export of silver are all false. ”
Zhang Jiliang proposed a divide-and-conquer approach to banning the opium trade. Internally, it is necessary to "take the fast crab first and secretly seize the mouth of the kiln"; externally, it is necessary to "clearly show that the chief of the hinterland is 'the old practice in the hinterland, and the ship of another country is not allowed to amuse the passage for the years, why should the ship be moored for five or six years?'" 'Strict expulsion of soldiers, leniency of the order to disperse.
Since then, all oceans have moved their masters, working hard together. Zhang Jiliang focused the ban on the import of British opium, and at the same time paid attention to the inspection of opium transporters and traffickers in the country who were complicit with Britain.
Zhang Jiliang also participated in the discussion and specific practice of smoking banning within the Qing government. In the eighteenth year of Daoguang (1838), Huang Juezi, the secretary of the Hongxu Temple, wrote a letter requesting the Daoguang Emperor to strictly ban opium, and the "Please Strictly Plug the Funnel to Pei Guo Benshu" is regarded as a representative exposition of the theory of the strict prohibition of opium at that time. Academics have different opinions on the author of the anti-smoking "Shu", among which Xie Zhangli said in the "Miscellaneous Records of Barnyard Sellers": "Chuyi Huanghuang Shuzhai Jue asked for a ban on opium, and Jianning Zhang Jiliang drafted it." Similar statements have been documented in many literatures.
Therefore, some scholars believe that the composition was actually drafted by Zhang Jiliang. Mr. Wang Biao said, "The smoking ban "Shu" should be the main grass of Huang Jue, and Ji Liang and others participated. The author believes that whether the anti-smoking "Shu" is from Zhang Jiliang's hand or Zhang Jiliang's participation in the planning, at least it can show that Zhang Jiliang personally participated in the practice of anti-smoking.
Judging from the content of the anti-smoking "Shu", the process analysis of the opium trade is very similar to the content revealed in Zhang Jiliang's "Shanglu Houshan Palace Protection Book". The smoke-free "Shu" wrote: "There is more and more smoke coming from the outer ocean, and some ships carrying smoke do not enter the mouth of Humen Sea, and they moor at Lao Wan Shan and Lantau Island. Profiteers in Guangdong Province, communicating with naval soldiers, using dragons, fast crabs and other ships to transport silver out to the sea and smoke to the entrance. ”
Zhang Jiliang's "Shanglu Houshan's Palace Pao" expounds quite similarly: "Since the eight years since Daoguang, Lantau Island, near Ding Yang, has been anchored by five or six English lots, specializing in opium. In Guangdong Province, those known as 'kiln mouth' are sold for it, and those known as 'fast crab' are sold for it. ”
In addition, Zhang Jiliang's close relationship with Huang Juezi and their interaction at that time, as well as Lin Zexu's poem for Zhang Jiliang after his death: "Xiu Wending wrote his life history, still complaining about the cangcang plug funnel" and other sentences. Based on the existing historical materials and clues, it can be said that Zhang Jiliang must have participated in the writing process of the anti-smoking "Shu", which also confirms Zhang Jiliang's strong anti-smoking proposition and practice.
Zhang Jiliang's anti-smoking ideology is based on strict inspection of opium imports, supplemented by the corresponding domestic method of banning smoking by smokers as the main measures, cooperating with the government to uniformly buy and sell opium and reduce the profits of trade, so as to achieve the goal of completely banning opium and preventing the outflow of silver.
The advantage of this ideology lies not only in advocating the prevention and inspection of British opium merchant ships, but also in advocating the management of opium trafficking and transportation merchants and civilians in the interior. At the same time, from the perspective of national imports, it is proposed to reduce the income of opium importers, and the three-pronged approach can be described as lenient and strict, both internal and external.
However, his state monopoly, reducing the interests of foreigners, until the idea of reducing the harm of opium, ignoring the poison of opium to the people, became the deficiency of his anti-smoking strategy.
Second, vigilance against Western aggression
In 1840, the Opium War broke out, and the Qing government at that time was corrupt and uncertain, coupled with the defeat and retreat in the war, and finally ended with the defeat of the Qing court and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, which lost power and humiliated the country. At the time of the Opium War, Zhang Jiliang was already in the last years of his life, when he was in exile with the displaced people and had seen many atrocities by the British army.
Inspired by his patriotism and the idea of applying it to the world, Zhang Jiliang "talked about the generosity of military management", he accused the British army of atrocities, criticized the surrenderers of the imperial court, and advocated resistance to aggression. What is even more valuable is that Zhang Jiliang was aware of the Western invasion for a long time.
Due to the continuous import of opium and the frequent appearance of foreign ships along the southeast coast, Zhang Jiliang noticed early on foreign covetousness for China, and he repeatedly mentioned Western attempts at aggression in his poems, and also called for strengthening coastal defense construction in preparation for wartime. In the twenty-first year of Jiaqing (1816), the young Zhang Jiliang sensed hidden dangers in the southeast region.
In his poem "Wanghai Pavilion", he wrote: "The city is easy to be miscellaneous, and the exile is exclusive. Southeast capital control, based on the view of who is together. Zhang Jiliang deeply felt the chaotic situation in the southeast region and suggested strengthening the defense of the southeast region. Such feelings and worries are by no means Zhang Jiliang's literary creations on a whim. In the same year, Zhang Jiliang mentioned it again in the poem "Minzhong Feeling Xing", he wrote: "The danger must come from the heavy salary, and it is better to open the house as a defense." ”
It is stated here that he hopes that the imperial court will attach importance to the defense of the Fujian region. As far as military salaries are concerned, it is not enough for Fujian province to raise funds for coastal defense, implying that the state should increase investment in Fujian's coastal defense funds so that it can build a maritime defense line against invasion.
After the ninth year of Daoguang (1829), as the criminal opium trade continued to develop, Zhang Jiliang's vigilance to the crisis in the maritime frontier became clearer. He said in the poem: "The city is easy to reach the island of the ocean for many years, and the chieftain is coming to the twilight. Soil to gold to hibiscus paste, silk light and cheap feather cloth. There are thousands of houses in Macao, and the houses are like heavy city artillery protection. ”
Under the rampant opium smuggling, Britain has seized a large amount of economic benefits from the mainland, and at the same time, the British side has also set up armed forces in the Macao area, which seems to have bad intentions.
In "Dayuling" he wrote: "Eavesdropping on the island is strong, deliberately taking advantage of the city. Familiar with the poor and self-loved, good and fearful like ghosts. ”
He believed that Britain at that time not only intended to trade with the Qing government, but also knew the situation of Chinese society at that time, and was afraid that there would be a deeper purpose beyond trade, thus reminding the parties to "not forget the peaceful times of coastal defense." ”
3. Exposure of atrocities committed by the British army
The outbreak of the Opium War made the already miserable life of the people even more difficult, and after the British army occupied the coastal towns, it violently treated the local people, displacing many people and causing heavy losses to their lives and property.
At the same time, the chaotic social order also ignited the arrogance of the bandits and rogues, harming all directions. In addition, the war reparations after the Opium War increased the exploitation of the people by the imperial court. Under the influence of multiple reasons, the people have experienced hardship.
Zhang Jiliang traveled north with the displaced people during the Opium War, and he saw and heard a lot about the atrocities of the British army, and he recorded what he saw and felt in the form of poetry, exposing the brutality and destruction of the British army to the Chinese people and society at that time.
In the Opium War, the British army occupied many cities in the southeast of the mainland, and in the face of the fire, the people had no choice but to leave their homes. Zhang Jiliang wrote successively: "At first glance, the corner of the building is booming, and the fathers and elders who abandoned the countryside have been divided"; "The war should be carefully considered, and the disaster is not exhausted. The smoke is still in the twilight, and the father and the old man will move again"; "The night hears the anxiousness of the people, and most of the people are displaced.";" Shaoxing 100,000 families, eight or nine go to the village. It can be seen that with the British army breaking the city and invading, a large number of residents had to migrate to other places.
And those who remained in the city suffered atrocities by British soldiers. Zhang Jiliang also wrote a lot about this, such as that after the fall of Yuyao, "most of the residents were slaughtered." After the fall of Ningbo, Zhang Jiliang recounted a tragic case of Ningbo's mother and daughter being gang-raped by the British army: "There are nearly eighty widows, and not sixteen virgins. Women walk on poles, women are bedridden. Ten generations have not been enough. ”
Not only that, but they also "laughed at the street market, plundering beef and mutton." Millions of money in the library, search for paintings with candles. Drive the people away, and walk slowly. In Dinghai, the British army also raped Chinese women, "women do not obey the adulterer, whip and abuse them, cry to the heavens, and drink medicinal wine to be dumb." Death and re-amputation of its lower body. After the capture of Zhapu, the British army was still violent and cruel: "Old women and children, closed the house and burned them." From Zhang Jiliang's account, the persecution of Chinese civilians by the British army is clear.
With the invasion of foreign enemies, the government has no time to take care of the bandits in society, so that the officials and people not only have to face the atrocities of the British army, but also suffer from the invasion of the Turkish invaders, as Zhang Jiliang said: "Drama mercy and anti-theft." In the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), the Opium War ended with the defeat of the Qing court and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing with Britain.
And the miserable life of the people is far from over. After the war, the southeast was in a dilapidated state, and "the county to which the southeast belonged was destroyed by rebellion." ”
At the same time, in order to pay the war reparations, the imperial court went beyond the search for the people's fat and people's anointing. Zhang Jiliang wrote immediately after hearing about the Treaty of Nanjing: "Six million a year, what is the supply? Autumn fan Jiangnan, whimpering and roaring. Who asks for the sword above? The people are self-defeating. It means that the reparations and even the trauma of war are ultimately borne by the people. At the same time, the southeast region at that time can be described as: "The military atmosphere is stolen by foreign sides, and the river has been frequently troubled in the southeast." ”
The reparations from the war dwarfed the imperial court in providing relief to the victims, and he lamented: "Half of the southeast soil, three years of father and old mourning." Whoever drives the troops to battle, promises that the enemy will fly. The next policy is a new peace proposal, and the Central Plains provided disaster relief yesterday. The hometown is not asked, and the river is in trouble. ”
In Zhang Jiliang's view, the war and its associated effects have made people's lives more difficult. He wrote about the tragic situation of the people and accused the British army of brutality. At the same time, under the miserable life of the people, he hopes that more people can be like him and "do not worry about the military country and pity each other and fear the sea village." "The defeat of the evil aggressor in active resistance to the enemy will prevent the people from being displaced and will bear an even heavier burden.
summary
Driven by this thought, traditional Chinese literati all participate in the experience of the times and make full use of their knowledge as their own value pursuit, whether it is speech, morality, meritorious service, or the pursuit of the three immortals, they all advocate "running through the scriptures, political affairs, and articles in one".
Zhang Jiliang was immersed in traditional culture, influenced by his fellow teachers and friends, and heard and witnessed the devastated social reality under the rule of the Qing Dynasty during the period in which he lived, began his own life road, walked into the literary circle, and walked to the front of history, as a "genius and strange" at that time, famous for his talent and insight, and Wei Yuan, Gong Zizhen, Tang Peng and known as the "Four Sons of Daoguang".
His poems advocate "Feeling Facts", belonging to the Jingsei literary school, advocating literary style innovation, advocating the use of documentary writing, and writing to reflect the changes in the reality of the times. At that time, Gong Zizhen and Wei Yuan were both representative figures of Jingshi literature, just like Gong Zizhen and Wei Yuan were both thinkers of the Jingshi School and the leaders of the Jingshi Literature School.
In addition to literary creation, Zhang Jiliang also extended his knowledge and practical concern to others, using the observation and certain philosophical thinking of a social scholar to look around and think about the social reality of his life, found some problems, put forward some ideas for solving problems, played the role of warning and reminding people of the times, and contributed his responsibility and wisdom to the era in which he lived.