Lin Zexu, whose name is Yuanfu, was a native of Houguan, Fujian (now Fuzhou City, Fujian Province). Qing Dynasty politician, thinker, national hero, successively served as the Jiangnan Province Inspector Imperial History, Jiangsu Inspector, Jiangsu Governor, Huguang Governor and other positions.
Lin Zexu's family was poor in his childhood, but his father attached great importance to his education, and sent him to a private school when he was 4 years old, so that he did not have to worry about the family's livelihood and only needed to concentrate on studying.
Lin Zexu lived up to his father's expectations, worked hard to learn Xi, at the age of 7 he was already proficient in various literary styles, and at the age of eight or nine, he wrote the poem "The sea is boundless and the sky is the shore, and the mountain is the peak", which shocked the four. In 1811, Lin Zexu was awarded the title of Jishi of Hanlin Academy, and since then he has embarked on a career as an official.
In 1820, Lin Zexu served as the superintendent of Jiangnan Province. After taking office, he surveyed the water conservancy of the sea pond under his control, vigorously renovated it, and made the new pond two feet taller than the old pond, which was well received by the masses. At the end of 1822, Lin Zexu was transferred to Huaihaidao, Jiangsu. Less than a month after his arrival, he was promoted to the post of Jiangsu Provincial Prosecutor, in charge of Jiangsu Judicial Prison. During his tenure in office, he was not afraid of arrogance, clarified the rule of officials, reformed trial procedures, personally adjudicated cases, and even sneaked around at night, made overt and covert visits, and conducted autopsies himself. In just four months, eight or nine out of ten of Jiangsu's backlog of cases have been handled, and "Lin Qingtian is said to be the praise of the people". At the same time, he found that the atmosphere in Jiangsu was corrupt, all because of opium, so he ordered Jiangsu to ban smoking.
When Lin Zexu took office as governor of Huguang, the contradiction between Western capitalism and the Chinese nation became increasingly obvious and acute on the issue of opium and poisoning, and whether or not to ban smoking became the focus of attention of all classes in Chinese society. Within the Qing government, there was also a fierce confrontation between the "strict prohibition faction" and the "relaxation prohibition faction". Lin Zexu planned six anti-smoking plans and took the lead in carrying out anti-smoking activities in Huguang. He repeatedly wrote a note stating the benefits of opium: "There are few soldiers in the Central Plains who can resist the enemy, and there is no silver that can be paid!"
Emperor Daoguang finally made up his mind to ban opium, he summoned Lin Zexu to Beijing for many interviews, appointed Lin Zexu as the minister of the Qin Mission, and went to Guangzhou to ban opium, destroying a total of 20,000 boxes of opium, with a total weight of more than 2 million catties. Although Humen was very happy to sell cigarettes, under the pressure of the British Empire and other parties, Emperor Daoguang finally issued an order to remove Lin Zexu from the title of Sipinqing, "from the resent to Xinjiang Yili to serve as atonement".
Lin Zexu endured the humiliation and embarked on the journey, arriving in Ili in 1842 AD. Faced with the harsh reality of Tsarist Russia's invasion of Central Asia and its rapid advance into Xinjiang, Lin Zexu believed that only by developing agricultural production and developing the frontier could the border defense be consolidated. He surveyed and reclaimed wasteland in the Ili region, Kuqa and Aksu in southern Xinjiang, and Turpan and Hami in northern Xinjiang, instructed the local people to build water conservancy, popularized the "karez" technology, reduced the loss of water sources, and disseminated to them the advanced agricultural and textile technology in the interior. No matter in good times or bad, Lin Zexu's patriotic heart to save the time has not been extinguished for a moment. During his three years in Xinjiang, Lin Zexu made significant contributions to strengthening the northwest border defense and improving people's livelihood.
In 1845, Lin Zexu was reactivated. In 1850, Emperor Xianfeng, who had just ascended the throne, appointed Lin Zexu as the minister of the Qin Mission to supervise the military affairs of Guangxi. In the same year, Lin Zexu died of illness at the age of 66. The imperial court Jin gave Lin Zexu the prince and the prince, nicknamed "Wenzhong".
Lin Zexu attaches great importance to family style and family education, and his most praised sentence is: "If my children and grandchildren are like me, what should I do with my money? If I am virtuous and have more wealth, I will lose my ambition; if my children and grandchildren are not as good as me, what should I do with my money? If I am foolish and have more money, I will increase my faults." Lin Zexu summed up the "ten useless", and hung it at home after handwriting: "If you are not good-hearted, feng shui is useless; if you are not filial to your parents, it is useless to serve God; brothers are not in harmony, and it is useless to make friends; if you behave badly, it is useless to study; you are arrogant and arrogant, and it is useless to be erudite; it is useless to be perverse and intelligent; it is useless to take medicine at any cost; it is useless to take medicine at any cost; it is useless to seek in vain; it is useless to take people's wealth and give alms; it is useless to be lustful and lustful, and it is useless to be yin." This is not only Lin Zexu's own standard of life, but also his principle of educating his children, which can be called a jewel of every word.
◆ Lin Zexu has been loyal and patriotic, diligent for the people, honest and honest as an official, indifferent to fame and fortune, diligent and thrifty, and has made great contributions to the country. His heroic deeds and noble character condense the genes of China's excellent traditional culture, influencing and inspiring generations of Chinese people.
(Weihong)
