Lin Zexu1August 30, 785 (fifty years of Qianlong)? 1850165438+1October 22 (thirty years of Daoguang), Han nationality, official of Fujian Hou (now Fuzhou City, Fujian Province), with the name of Fu, known as Shaomu and Shilin, a village old man, a village old man, a 72-peak old man, a bottle spring old man and an oak society. He was a politician, thinker and poet in the late Qing Dynasty, and a great national hero of the Chinese nation in the process of resisting foreign aggression. His main achievement was to destroy opium in Humen. Official to Yipin, once served as governor of Jiangsu, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, governor of Huguang, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and twice served as an imperial minister; Because of its advocacy of banning opium, resisting western aggression and upholding China's national interests, it is deeply admired by Chinese all over the world.
Smoking Prohibition: Justice and Legal Countermeasures
On March 1839 and March 10, Lin Zexu finally arrived in Guangzhou.
Long before Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou, Deng Tingzhen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Yiliang, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, had made great achievements in banning smoking. In more than two years, * * * seized more than 600,000 opium. This figure was already the highest in the country at that time. However, if and during this period, opium smuggling flows into China as high as 8. Compared with the figure of 65,438+0,000 cases, it is nine hairs, which is not worth mentioning.
Undoubtedly, this means that it is impossible to continue to use traditional means of smoking prohibition, such as catching cigarette sellers, raiding cigarette houses and expelling lighters. , to complete the Daoguang metasomatism? Opium must be eradicated? The mission of.
Lin Zexu decided to find another way. According to the regulations of the Qing dynasty, foreign businessmen coming to Guangzhou are only allowed to trade with dealers designated by * * * *. So, on the eighth day in Guangzhou, Lin Zexu called a meeting of the Hong Kong merchants and issued a strict order, instructing them to issue orders to foreign businessmen to hand over all the tens of thousands of boxes of opium stored on board.
Hong merchants think this is another way for honest officials to ask for bribes. They didn't take Lin Zexu's orders seriously, and for several days, foreign businessmen were silent.
On March 24th, Lin Zexu made the final decision. He announced the termination of all foreign trade in Guangzhou, and then blocked the business districts where foreign businessmen were concentrated and cut off all kinds of supplies inside. In other words, Lin Zexu can make a 6 at most. The 60,000-square-meter large business hall was turned into a large detention center, where about 350 foreign businessmen were locked up.
No water to drink, no food to eat, naturally uncomfortable. Three days later, the British Commercial Director in China, Yi Lao, finally decided to give in. In the name of Britain, he advised British businessmen to give him opium, and then he gave it to China.
Lin Zexu was greatly relieved by Yili's statement, and at the same time, the British businessmen trapped in the business district were greatly excited. Lin Zexu thinks that the smoking ban has finally come to an end, but if he understands why British businessmen are so excited, maybe he won't be relaxed.
British businessmen are excited because this move by Iraq and France means that Britain has decided to protect their interests. Their opium was originally sold. It doesn't matter whether it is sold to China or England. Since * * * is willing to buy opium in their hands, why not do it? So, they readily promised to hand over the opium in stock, and even reported the opium that was still in transit and had not yet arrived in Guangzhou. A few American businessmen took advantage of this opportunity to transfer their opium to British businessmen through relationships to reduce losses. Results: Lin Zexu collected more opium than he expected.
But this is not a good thing.
On the morning of March 27th, Lin Zexu received an invitation from Yifa and expressed his willingness to hand over opium. Lin Zexu and his colleagues didn't realize at all that they had fallen into the trap of war from this position. This invitation changed the nature of Lin Zexu's mission, and the anti-opium smuggling action against foreign businessmen has since become a negotiation between Chinese and British officials.
On the same day, Lin Zexu also received an invitation letter signed by foreign businessmen. The post said that many things that Lin Zexu conveyed to them were quite complicated, and they couldn't make their own decisions, so I begged Lin Zexu to go to the consuls and managers of various countries? Deal with it yourself? . Lin Zexu didn't find the mystery. He accepted the advice of foreign businessmen with pleasure. Since then, all his negotiations have been directed at officials of various countries. This means that from this day on, the people standing opposite Lin Zexu are no longer independent opium dealers, but the countries standing behind them, with Britain bearing the brunt.
According to the evaluation standard of China's traditional bureaucracy, Lin Zexu is a typical model bureaucrat, honest and practical. Unfortunately, he knows almost nothing about the basic diplomatic experience of modern western countries. Then, he unconsciously made a serious mistake: an anti-smoking movement that could have been completely defined as China's internal affairs escalated into a diplomatic conflict between China and Britain. It was this mistake that gave Britain the most basic premise for launching the Opium War? Without this premise, it is impossible for the British Parliament to pass the proposal to use force against China.
Consequence: Lin Zexu's judgment
Yilu handed over opium on behalf of opium merchants, which meant that Lin Zexu seized British property. Many modern history researchers intend to overturn the Yi Law case, saying that he himself is a staunch opponent of the opium trade with China. This article has no intention to discuss what kind of person Yi Law really is, but in his report to British Prime Minister David Bamizun on April 3rd, 1839, he has already put forward a very specific invasion plan and compensation requirements.
In mid-June, the air in Humen was filled with a strong mixture of opium and lime powder. At that moment, Lin Zexu reached the highest point of national hero. But he didn't realize that a war that was about to change the fate of China had set sail from London and India.
1 May, Lin Zexu, who was busy collecting opium in Humen, made such a judgment on the situation. When I arrived in the province, I found that they looked unruly on the outside, but in fact they were timid at heart. Many people worry that banning smoking will lead to war. Don't you know that these people have come to Van Dory not far from Wan Li to do business, and ordinary people can see clearly the difference between host and guest and the number of people? Although they have strong ships, they only have advantages at sea, and it is useless to enter the inner port. Guangzhou has many passes and many natural disasters to rely on. Besides, even if there is no opium trade, they can only make three times the profit by doing serious business. For their own interests, they will not choose war and give up this dock. ?
Since the successful transformation of the ban on smoking, which belongs to China's internal affairs, into negotiations between the two countries, the attitude of justice and law has become increasingly tough. To this end, Lin Zexu specially reminded in the memorial: Yi Law, a person who has been in China for many years, has always been cunning and often buys our treasures (equivalent to the central-level internal reference materials). He knew that China was right. Border trouble? This kind of thing is very sensitive, hoping to intimidate us, buy traitors and spread rumors everywhere. Lin Zexu assured Daoguang that they would never dare to spy on China by invading other countries. Therefore, the emperor must not be confused by the law and intimidation of righteous words.
Lin Zexu is extremely sure of his judgment. On September 5th, he wrote to his good friend Yi Liang, governor of Guangdong Province, in which he was extremely puzzled by Yi Fa's recent tough attitude. But personally, I think it's easy. He has no way out, but I don't know why he still refuses to turn back. ?
The Portuguese in Macau reported that Britain had mobilized 12 warships from the mainland and India to China. Lin Zexu scoffed at this and told the Governor of Macao: These lies are all made up by them and are not worth discussing at all. ?
This extreme conceit lasted until April 1840. At that time, the news that Britain would use force against China was well known. The American consul found Lin Zexu and told him that British warships would block Guangzhou Port in June. Therefore, he asked China to let American ships enter the port as soon as possible, so as to avoid war and reduce losses. Lin Zexu still shrugged off the news from American officials, saying? It is rumored that Lin Zexu, who has no basic modern diplomatic experience, simply can't understand the official taste of American consular discourse.
In June, four British warships arrived at the coast of Guangdong, but Lin Zexu said in his letter to the emperor:? Although these ships are equipped with more weapons, they are actually only opium ships? Actually, the warship was regarded as a merchant ship, and an upcoming war to change the fate of China was regarded as a large-scale opium smuggling. Lin Zexu's final summary is:? As the emperor said, there is nothing they can do. .
/kloc-in July of 0/7, Lin Zexu's peace passbook arrived at the Forbidden City. By this time, British troops had occupied Zhoushan 12 days.
War: Preparation of the Qing Army
Although I don't believe it, the war is really coming.
In fact, since September 1839, there have been constant frictions between China and Britain and frequent military confrontations. By the time the Opium War really broke out in June of the following year, there had been seven wars of different sizes along the coast of Guangdong in nine months. However, these fragmentary wars did not arouse Lin Zexu's vigilance. On the contrary, when reporting the results of these wars to Daoguang, Lin Zexu's report was seriously exaggerated and boasted. For example:
(1)1In the Battle of Kowloon on September 4, 839, Lin Zexu reported to the court that two Qing troops were killed, four were injured and the ship was slightly damaged. Sink 1 British ship and kill 17 British soldiers. The statistics of the British army show that only a few people were injured.
(2)1839165438+1October 3rd, Lin zexu reported that he was in the sea after the war. Catch 2 1 foreign hats? Three of our ships entered the water, and one caught fire, but it was quickly put out. However, the British report on justice and law is that three warships of the Qing army were sunk, another gunpowder warehouse was hit and exploded, and several other ships obviously entered the water, and there were no casualties in the British army.
Of course, it is not known whether Lin Zexu added the water himself or whether the front-line commander lied to him about his exploits. But no matter how likely it is, and whether Lin Zexu knows the real situation of the front-line wars, in short, these wars have not attracted his attention. He always thought that the opponents fighting against the Qing army were only some warships and smuggling merchant ships that came to China without orders from the British authorities. He didn't realize that he was actually at war with Britain.
But these fragmentary wars prompted Lin Zexu to make some preparations for the war. Lin Zexu believes that the Qing navy still has the ability to destroy the British fleet at sea, but the navy is far from the sea and the rear is inevitably ignored. Just in case, why not? Take defense as the attack and wait for work? Nature is foolproof. In this regard, Daoguang deeply agrees.
Subsequently, Lin Zexu also inspected and reinforced the forts along the coast of Guangdong, strengthened the firepower intensity of many forts, and set up the second and third lines of defense at some key points. It is a traditional and effective tactic to use battery to resist the invasion of maritime forces, but all the defensive measures of Lin Zexu ignore one of the most fatal problems: all batteries can not defend against the ground attacks launched by British landing troops from their sides and rear. It was this loophole that caused fatal damage to the Qing army.
Why did Lin Zexu leave such a big defensive loophole?
A passbook presented by Lin Zexu to Daoguang on September 1839 can help us understand this problem. Lin Zexu said in the passbook:? Apart from guns, the pace of attacking and stabbing is not their strong point. They also tied their legs and feet, and their clothes were tight. It is inconvenient for them to bend and stretch their legs. If they go ashore, they will be even more helpless. Therefore, they are not invincible. ?
1August, 840, when Dinghai fell, Lin Zexu made a suggestion to the court, suggesting a high reward to encourage the soldiers and civilians to bravely kill the enemy. He actually said that because the leg structure of British soldiers is different from that of China, it is difficult to bend and stretch, so as long as they fall, they can't get up at all. Based on this understanding, Lin Zexu believes that the British army has no land combat capability at all, and naturally there is no need to defend their landing operations.
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Lin Zexu was the first person to see the world in China's modern history. However, even he is ridiculous at this point of 1840. What a pity!