Lin Zexu once said a famous aphorism during the anti-smoking process: If opium continues for a day, I will not return for a day, and I swear to stick to this matter forever, and there will be no reason to stop.

On November 15, the 18th year of Daoguang's reign, Lin Zexu was ordered to go to Guangzhou to investigate and deal with the smoking ban. Lin Zexu first found out the situation of opium poisoning in Guangzhou, searched various opium dens, and obtained a large amount of first-hand information. He arrived in Guangzhou in the first month of the 19th year of Daoguang's reign. On the fourth day of February, Lin Zexu, together with Deng Yanzhen and others, summoned 13 foreign merchants and ordered them to be handed over. In the edict, foreign opium dealers were ordered to pay the cigarettes within a time limit,

and pledged to never bring opium with them in the future. He also solemnly declared: "If the opium does not stop for a day, I will not return for a day, and I swear to this The situation remains the same, and there is no reason to stop it." However, the foreign businessmen refused to hand it over. After a determined struggle, the British commercial supervisory law in China and the opium dealers were defeated, and nearly 20,000 boxes of opium, about 2.37 million kilograms, were confiscated. It was destroyed in public on Humen Beach on April 22 (June 3).

Extended information:

Lin Zexu advocated a strict ban on opium. He pointed out that the harms of opium are:

1. Opium caused a large outflow of China's silver and caused China's financial crisis. crisis.

2. Opium corroded China’s ruling institutions. After many nobles, bureaucrats, and landowners took opium, they became more corrupt, exacerbating the parasitism and decadence of the ruling group. They accepted bribes, covered up opium smuggling, and used various methods such as increasing rents and taxes to pass on the cost of buying opium to the people, increasing the burden on the people.

3. Opium weakens the combat effectiveness of the army. Some generals and soldiers of the Qing army also smoked opium. For example, in the Guangdong Navy, officers and soldiers not only smoked opium but also accepted large amounts of bribes. Navy patrol ships even agreed with British opium ships to "receive 50,000 to 100,000 yuan per box of opium." A large number of "anti-smuggling ships" even turned into opium smuggling ships.

4. Opium harmed the health of the Chinese people. At that time, some towns in China were filled with opium dens and thousands of opium smokers. ?

Baidu Encyclopedia-Lin Zexu