History live broadcast: the beginning is Qin Shihuang's live broadcast of the subjugation of th

"The emergence of opium should have first appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Smoking this opium will make people excited, addictive, and energetic, just like those aphrodisiacs and elixirs. You feel that taking this medicine makes you more and more energetic. I just think it’s a good thing, but it’s not. It’s a harmful thing. It not only kills people, it also destroys people’s lives.”

"Because it's hard for someone to resist taking it. However, this stuff is very expensive and you can't quit. It's only a matter of time that it harms the family. Even Emperor Daoguang is an addict, including his harem and family."

"Perhaps Emperor Daoguang also thought that opium was a harmful thing. After he quit, he wanted to implement measures to get everyone to quit this harmful thing."

"Smoking bans have a long history in the Qing Dynasty. In the seventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Emperor Yongzheng issued the first ban on smoking due to the influx of opium into his country. This was the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's ban on smoking."

"Although the ban was issued, the opium trade continued to be banned repeatedly. The increasingly opium smuggling not only turned many subjects of the Qing Dynasty into "addicts", but also caused a large amount of silver to be lost outside the country."

"In the 18th year of Daoguang's reign, Guangdong Province alone lost as much as 30 million taels of silver due to opium every year. In Haikou, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places, tens of millions of taels of silver were lost every year. In the face of an annual revenue comparable to that of the national treasury, The always "frugal" Emperor Daoguang was worried about the loss of silver. He ordered Guangdong officials several times to strictly implement the anti-smoking policy, but the effect was always unsatisfactory."

"Facing this situation, Huang Juezi, the minister of Hongyi Temple who was highly regarded by Daoguang, thought of a way to change the previous method of severely cracking down on opium smugglers in Haikou area and instead severely punish opium addicts."

"He asked the emperor to give these addicts one year to quit smoking. If they cannot quit after one year, they will be sentenced to death. This memorial aroused great interest in Emperor Daoguang. He immediately asked the governors and ministers from all over the country to publish this memorial. own perspective.”

"Emperor Daoguang received 28 memorials from governors from June to October. Although these frontier officials all advocated a strict ban on smoking, they had different opinions on specific measures, which made Emperor Daoguang hesitant and at a loss as to what to do."

"At this moment, Emperor Daoguang received news that Prince Zhuang Yiyu, one of the iron-hatted kings of the Qing Dynasty, was hiding in the temple and smoking opium. After hearing the news, Emperor Daoguang could not conceal his thunderous anger and ordered the pants to be taken away. The title of Prince Zhuang."

"Just when Emperor Daoguang was still angry, another piece of news reached the emperor's ears."

"In Tianjin, which is only more than 13 miles away from the capital, taels of opium were seized. The amount of opium seized at the emperor's feet has never been seen in ancient times. Two events that happened in succession deeply stimulated Emperor Daoguang."

"The "fall" of the royal family and the important land of Jingxi finally tilted the balance in Daoguang's heart. He made up his mind that opium must be eradicated. In order to achieve this once and for all, Emperor Daoguang had to send an official who was deeply trusted by him and who was honest and capable. Specifically dealing with anti-smoking matters.”

"After several weighings, Emperor Daoguang handed over this task to Lin Zexu, then governor of Huguang. This person met all the requirements that Emperor Daoguang had preset for anti-smoking officials."

"On November 1938, 11, the day after receiving a large amount of opium seized in Tianjin, Emperor Daoguang issued a Chongqing edict asking Lin Zexu to come to Beijing. On December 9, Lin Zexu arrived in Beijing with the edict and stayed in the capital for twelve days. I had eight secret conversations with Emperor Daoguang, but it is impossible to know what was discussed specifically."

"On December 12, Emperor Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu as the imperial envoy to go to Guangdong to handle the smoking ban."

“1839年1月6日新钦差大臣林则徐从BJ启程，一路舟车劳顿于3月10日到达GD省城，8天以后林则徐开始了他的禁烟工作。”

"According to the system at that time, in order to prevent the ministers from colluding with foreigners to connect with foreign countries, and to maintain the dignity of the Celestial Kingdom, officials of the Qing Dynasty could not communicate directly with foreign businessmen, but needed to go through an intermediary. This intermediary was the Guangzhou Thirteenth Bank "Lin Zexu summoned these merchants and ordered them to dress up as foreign merchants and hand over all smuggled opium within three days."

"The imperial envoy's strict instructions were issued but not a single foreign business firm followed them. The opium smuggling merchants, supported by the British, believed that this was just a common method used by Guangdong officials to obtain bribes, so they refused to hand over the opium."

"The three-day period was up and Lin Zexu got nothing. He became angry and prepared to attack the merchants. He ordered the merchants to kill one or two merchants who were not doing well and had secret dealings with foreign merchants the next day."

"Under Lin Zexu's pressure, foreign businessmen finally agreed to hand over 1037 boxes of opium, but this was far from Lin Zexu's psychological expectations."

"On March 3, he learned that the British businessman was the "chief culprit" in obstructing foreign businessmen from handing over opium, so he sent merchants to "invite" him."

"Two merchants, wearing kashas, ​​went to the merchant house and begged with tears in their eyes to obey their orders, otherwise they would be beheaded."

"I wonder how Daoguang's monarchs and ministers, who have always regarded themselves as the heavenly dynasty, would feel when they saw the stern imperial envoy's order turned into a tearful begging."

"But what we can know is that Dian Di is indifferent to the merchants' entreaties and has no fear of the imperial envoy's strict orders."

"Unable to endure it, Lin Zexu made the greatest determination. He ordered the closure of foreign commercial buildings to suspend Chinese and foreign trade. All foreign merchants in the commercial buildings were not allowed to leave, and the servants in the commercial buildings were removed to stop the supply of the commercial buildings."

"This trick may be very effective for foreigners, because three days later, the British Commercial Superintendent in China, Elliot, surrendered."

"In the early morning of March 3, Yilu, in the name of the British government, advised the British merchants to hand over the opium carried on the ship to him, and he would hand it over to the Qing government."

"Foreign businessmen saw that Yilu was acting in the name of the British government, and believed that the British government could protect their rights and interests, so they turned it over one after another. Even American smugglers handed over their opium to Yilu for protection."

"At noon, Lin Zexu received a note from Yilu willing to hand over the opium. On the same day, Lin Zexu received a joint note from businessmen from various countries claiming that the opium matter was a serious matter and requested Lin Zexu to directly negotiate with the consuls or governors of their respective countries. "

"Lin Zexu, who had no modern diplomatic concepts or experience, agreed to this request from foreign businessmen."

"After that, Lin Zexu's various orders were no longer passed through merchants or directly addressed to foreign merchants, but were sent to their consuls or governors."

"At that time, Lin Zexu did not realize that his actions directly elevated the sovereign country's fight against drug smuggling to a diplomatic act between two countries."