This sentence is indeed what Napoleon said. When a lion is asleep, flies dare to land on its face and scream a few times; once China wakes up, the world will be shaken.
In 1793 (the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty), the British King sent Macartney to visit China with an envoy, eager to open China’s trade portal. However, their trade request was rejected by the Chinese Emperor Qianlong.
On February 8, 1816 (the eleventh year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty), the British King once again sent Amherst to lead a delegation to China to discuss trade issues. The head of the mission was Amherst, a famous British diplomat who had served as the Governor-General of India. Not only did the members of the mission have high levels of Chinese proficiency, but most of them were members of the East India Company.
On July 28, 1816, Amherst and his party arrived outside the entrance of Tianjin. At this time, Emperor Jiaqing had some idea of ??the British envoy's intention to visit China. He bluntly asked local officials to "do nothing extravagant."
In 1817, the unpopular Amesh returned home. After returning to China, he planned to write a letter to Parliament and the British King, and use force to knock on China's door to foreign trade.
Just before and after Amesh visited China, major events occurred on the European continent. After the arrogant French Emperor Napoleon I was defeated by the European anti-French coalition in 1814, he made a comeback. In 1815, he organized a 300,000-strong army to attack the European anti-French coalition. As a result, he suffered a disastrous defeat at Waterloo.
On June 22, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was soon escorted by the British army to the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena and imprisoned. In the third year of his imprisonment, Amezd returned from China dejected.
On his way back home, he happened to pass by St. Helena. When Amherst heard that the world-famous Napoleon I was being imprisoned here, he wanted to meet him and hear this legendary figure's views on China's issues. After obtaining the consent of the island governor, Amesh met the former emperor.
Amerst talked about his experience in China and believed that only by knocking on China's door through war can China's authoritarian rulers understand that opening the door is beneficial to both sides.
At that time, Napoleon was full of contempt for the British approach. He commented on the British proposal of using war to solve problems: "To fight this vast and rich empire is the greatest folly in the world. "
He continued: "You may succeed at first. You will seize their ships and destroy their military and commercial facilities, but you will also make them understand their own power.
They will think; they will build ships and equip themselves with artillery. They will bring in gunners from France, the United States and even London, and build a fleet to defeat you.
"Ami. Shide retorted: "Behind China's apparent strength is a clay-footed giant, very weak." But Napoleon believed that China was not weak, it was just a sleeping lion. "From today's perspective, even flies dare to land on a lion's face and scream a few times when it is asleep.
" Napoleon continued: "Once China wakes up, the world will be shaken." This After the sentence came from Napoleon's mouth, it had a strong sensational effect. "A sleeping lion - China" quickly spread throughout Europe and the world.
Extended information:
Napoleon was an outstanding military strategist. He personally participated in more than 60 battles in his life, and the many battles he commanded remain in the military history to this day. Still significant. However, his campaign broke the balance of power in Europe, leading other European powers to form anti-French alliances seven times, and finally completely defeated Napoleon. At the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon's defeat, a new European order and balance was quickly re-established. ?
Although Napoleon once dominated the world for decades, his achievements were short-lived. After he abdicated, the territory of the French Republic quickly returned to what it was before he came to power. Napoleon's The military career had no significant impact on subsequent European history.
The only thing that can record him in history is the Napoleonic Code, which he ordered to compile. This code is the prototype of the legal system of many modern democracies.
In addition, Napoleon
was also the first person to propose the idea of ??the United States of Europe and try to realize it through force. Although he himself did not succeed in realizing this dream, today Europe is moving towards the goal of integration.