The sale of cigarettes in Humen has been widely spread from ancient times to the present, and Lin Zexu has also become a civilian hero who benefits the people, and his quality of not being afraid of life and death is worthy of admiration by our descendants. However, as many as three million kilograms of opium can be completely destroyed by a single fire, so why did Lin Zexu bother to use the "seawater soaking method"? What really happened during the smoking ban? Don't go away below, I will take you step by step to sort out the events and reveal the answer. We also welcome everyone to pay attention to it a little bit, and we will not miss the follow-up wonderful content.
Lin Zexu once said that this goods will not be produced, and after ten years, there will be no pay, and there will be no available soldiers. In the eighteenth year of Qing Daoguang, Huang Juezi had written to the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty when he was the secretary of the Hongxu Temple, and Huang Juezi wrote to the Daoguang Emperor to order a nationwide ban on smoking. The Daoguang Emperor had also smoked a big cigarette when he was young, and he was also deeply aware of the harm caused by the big smoke, so he himself planned to adopt Huang Juezi's suggestion, so the Daoguang Emperor sent Huang Juezi's chapter to the ministers of the interior and exterior, and then discussed the ban on smoking with the ministers of the interior and the outside.
Lin Zexu, who served as the governor of Huguang, thought that Huang Juezi's proposal was very correct, and Lin Zexu also believed that heavy punishment should be imposed on opium smokers to warn smokers to quit smoking as soon as possible, and those who had not been exposed to opium smoke gave up this idea as soon as possible, so Lin Zexu also wrote to the Daoguang Emperor, telling the Daoguang Emperor in detail about the various harms caused by the use of opium smoke by the Daoguang Emperor, lin Zexu also reminded the Daoguang Emperor that if he did not order the prohibition of opium smoking as soon as possible, the state would not have any military salaries to collect after ten years. There are no fighters who can fight, and by then the country is in jeopardy.
China's Qing Dynasty was still very strong at the beginning, but from the middle of the Qianlong period began to gradually begin to decline, although at that time our Qing Kingdom was still the strongest country in the world, but with the continuous political reform and scientific and technological revolution of Western countries we have been slowly left behind by Western countries, and the most terrible thing is that the Qing Emperor at that time still believed that the Qing Dynasty was still the strongest country in the world, and it was still a lot ahead of other countries, without any enterprising heart. As everyone knows, Western countries have long relied on the scientific and technological achievements brought about by the first industrial revolution to replace artificial labor with highly efficient steam engines, and we are still dominated by artificial planting and animal husbandry.
However, because of the very wrong closed-door policy at that time, we missed the first industrial revolution that swept the world, not only that, but we also missed the second industrial revolution that affected all mankind. The scientific and technological achievements brought about by the first industrial revolution and the second industrial revolution have greatly improved the productivity of mankind, with the advent and use of the internal combustion engine, the ship that can cross the ocean has also been invented, and the United Kingdom, which first completed the industrial revolution in the world, has also relied on the high-tech products brought by the industrial revolution to plunder wealth in various countries in the world by force.
Since the rich and mysterious East recorded in the adventures of Makpoleau at that time would naturally not be let go by the British, but at that time our country still adopted a closed policy, and it was very difficult for Britain to enter our market. In order to open up the consumer market in our country, the British used a very despicable means and constantly dumped opium on our country.
We all know that the raw material for making opium was the poppy, which was only available in West Asia, and the spread of this plant was brought to South Asia due to the war between North India and the Persian Empire. From the early nineteenth century onwards, after the first completion of the Industrial Revolution, Britain dumped a large number of industrial products in India with its advanced productivity, and then used the money earned in India to buy opium from India at a low price, and finally sold these opium to the Qing Dynasty at that time.
From the perspective of the emperors of the past, the Daoguang Emperor did not have a little talent for reading, if you insist on saying one thing, it is that the Daoguang Emperor is very frugal, or in other words, he loves money as his life. Therefore, if the contribution made by the ancient emperors is used as a measure, then the Daoguang Emperor will not be counted as a capable emperor.
It is precisely because the Daoguang Emperor loves money as if he were very frugal, so the Daoguang Emperor understood the importance of smoking bans, if you can't help but say that a lot of wealth will flow into the hands of foreigners, then for the Daoguang Emperor who loves money so much, how can he bear it, the Daoguang Emperor is certainly unacceptable. Lin Zexu believes that people growing up in places such as Suzhou Creek and Hangzhou, which is known as a paradise on earth, should be brilliant, but the emergence of opium smoke has made these places become a miasma, so Lin Zexu personally runs the Jiangsu anti-smoking campaign, and this introduction activity also accumulates valuable experience for him in Humen in the future.
Among the people who have come from ancient times, fire represents destruction to some extent, and the ancients believed that fire can destroy anything, so when Lin Zexu presided over the ban on smoking in Jiangsu and other places, he used the method of pouring tung oil on opium and then igniting it for destruction, but the fire burned these opium at the same time produced an illusion-inducing gas, which not only made those addicts feel ethereal, but also made those who had never been exposed to opium have more or less hallucinations.
Instead of being completely destroyed, these harmful things have been experienced by those who have never been exposed to opium smoke. Not only that, but the Qing Dynasty at that time had a large number of opium smokers, and many of them were ready a few days before they got to destroy the tobacco. The thick fire did not completely burn these harmful things, and in the remaining remnants, some ointment would seep into the ground where the opium was destroyed, and these ointments would be a rare treasure for those addicts.
These addicts have been waiting, waiting for the officers and soldiers of the smoke to leave, these addicts have hurried to this land to scramble to pick up these soils with ointment, Lin Zexu did not expect this to be the case, this time the ban can be said to be a success, it can also be said to be a failure, and did not achieve the effect of completely forbidden words in Lin Zexu's heart.
When he was young, the Daoguang Emperor was also an addict, and he was already deeply infatuated with opium smoke when the Daoguang Emperor was still living in the Qiandi Zhi Prince's Mansion. Later, when Daoguang became emperor, he still smoked opium smoke, so that the energy of the Shang Dynasty was gone, and he yawned continuously above the imperial court. Later, when the empress dowager heard that the Daoguang Emperor kept yawning during the shang dynasty, she added Daoguang to a fierce scolding. Under the accusations of the empress dowager, Daoguang decided to start quitting opium smoke. It is precisely because the Daoguang Emperor once had personal experience that Daoguang better understood the harm of opium smoke, and also understood that the prohibition of speech is very important for both individuals and the country. Lin Zexu, as a great member of the family and the world, he really couldn't bear to bury the huge jiangshan on top of such a breathtaking poison.
So Lin Zexu was ordered by the Daoguang Emperor to leave the capital at the time of the crisis of the Qing Dynasty, and he rushed to the front line of smoking ban day and night. On the way to Lin Zexu, passing by a tea shed, he saw a strong man and an addict arguing, and then the strong man accidentally lost his hand to beat the addict to death, Lin Zexu wrote a letter, immediately sent someone to send this letter to the local county, the county official read Lin Zexu's handwriting, immediately announced the release of the strong man who killed the addict, not only that, but also rewarded the strong man with ten silver. And the county magistrate announced that whoever killed the opium seller or the opium smoker would come and get it. Since then, the Qing Dynasty has officially opened the prelude to the ban on smoking.
On November 15, 1818, the Daoguang Emperor appointed Lin Zexu as the minister of Chincha, and issued a decree that the holy order was to strictly ban smoking throughout the country. I believe that many people are curious, Lin Zexu can choose a more convenient method to destroy opium, why choose the seawater immersion method to destroy opium? You know, this method is not only not as fast as burning with fire, but also time-consuming and laborious. However, Lin Zexu naturally has his own judgment, because a large number of burning opium will produce a large number of people hallucinatory smoke and gas will not only threaten the life safety of people nearby but also pollute the land, soaking with seawater not only avoids these problems, but also can avoid someone from digging up the burned soil and then post-processing it into new opium.
To some extent, the effect of the Lin Zexu case in Humen has obviously cracked down on the spread of opium smoke in China and has had a positive impact on the people. More importantly, in this anti-smoking interaction, the Chinese people are even more aware of the tragic consequences of smoking cigarettes, not only the people who smoke will be miserable, but also the families of the smokers will be unfortunate. Lin Zexu's Humen cigarette sales are also a major political feat, bringing important contributions to future generations. Lin Zexu's Sale of Cigarettes in Humen is a very meaningful thing in the long river of China's history, and Lin Zexu has always been respected by people since then, and is still our national hero until now.
Now June 3 has been designated as the "International Anti-Smoking Day", June 26 as the "International Anti-Drug Day", so that not only can the world remember the history of Lin Zexu Humen's tobacco sales, but also remind the world of the harm caused by opium smoking, including modern people often smoke will also be harmful to health, such a day can kindly remind people to stay away from tobacco and cherish life. This issue of why Lin Zexu used the "seawater immersion method" to destroy opium is the interpretation of the incident and talk to everyone here, if you like our content, remember to pay attention to likes and forwards, we will see you in the next issue.