John Russell was dumbfounded by Xu Qing, who had waged war against China according to their own habits and used inappropriate methods to solve the problem, thus leaving the first unequal treaty in China's modern history. But in fact www.biquge.info John Russell and Britain did not want to really fall out with China, but only hoped that China would open its doors. The two sides could not agree on an idea at all.

"Mr. John Russell, in the eyes of you, the British value the Treaty of Nanjing. That is, the opening of ports, as well as active trade. I know that in our past, we had a large trade surplus with that of the Qing Dynasty and your Britain. You need our silk, porcelain, tea, etc., but we don't have any demand for your industrial products. You have a market for our population of 400 million, but our emperor is not willing to trade freely, but only to allow officially authorized merchants to trade. In Guangzhou, there are thirteen merchants, who are allowed by the imperial court to trade with your foreign merchants. ”

"You want to open up the Chinese market, but you completely ignore our customs and culture, and rashly use opium traders as an excuse, which seriously hurts our Chinese feelings."

"You value the terms of free trade and open ports, but in the eyes of the vast majority of Chinese, you are waging wars of aggression for the ill-gotten gains of opium merchants. Then let's cede the land, and then we have to pay for the military expenses and so on, and that's what we hate you the most. You're doing it the wrong way, and there's nothing you can do. ”

As a person who has studied diplomatic history, Xu Qing knows that in fact, the importance that China and Britain attach to the Treaty of Nanjing is not the same place. In the past, the Chinese believed that Britain was fighting for opium traders. However, in the eyes of the British, they actually wanted to open China's door and force China's free trade, and they only came here because of China's huge market of 400 million people.

As for the Opium War, the British record is a trade war, the purpose of which was to force China to trade. In fact, there was a great misunderstanding between the two sides of the Nanjing Treaty, and the importance of the two sides was not the same thing at all, which caused more contradictions in the future.

China considers the treaty of Nanking to be a land reparation, as well as opium, which China hates. But Britain didn't pay attention to this, they focused on trade, so that neither side paid attention to a piece, and that caused the problem. Coupled with China's huge trade surplus, the world's silver flowed into China, so the British couldn't stand it.

"So since the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, in fact, our Chinese government and opposition have been very hostile to you and Britain. This makes it even more impossible for the two sides to trade, you are completely in the opposite direction, and you have done a stupid thing! ”

John Russell was smoking his pipe, also thinking carefully, and then asked, "How can I save all this?" We, the British Empire, are actually willing to live in peace with China, but since we have done something inappropriate before, how should we redeem it? ”

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, even Britain was basically an equal to China. The real decline in China's status was after the First Sino-Japanese War, and after the First Sino-Japanese War, all countries saw China's weakness, which set off a wave of carving up China. However, before the First Sino-Japanese War, China was a great power in the world. As for being beaten by the British, and later beaten by the Anglo-French forces, this is not a problem for the whole world.

Is it a shame to be defeated by the world's first and second powers? It's not a shame, but it's very normal, even if it's defeated. Therefore, in the early Qing Dynasty, Western countries were still equal to China, and they were not as discriminatory as ordinary people assumed.

"The fact that this Englishman actually sent a prospective prime minister to receive me shows that the British still attach great importance to our China. Or the British don't know that China is nothing more than a paper tiger. The current China is nothing more than a paper tiger, and the British do not know it. But this paper tiger, that can also be scary. As long as the paper tiger of China is turned into a real tiger before Britain reacts, they will also be kept in the dark. As for how to turn China's paper tiger into a real tiger, it depends on my ability! Xu Qing thought to himself.

Although Xu Qing knew the current situation in China, the British did not know it. At present, the whole world does not know that China has long been a paper tiger with a strong foreign power and a dry middle, and even this lid can be covered for many years. As long as this lid is covered, so that Xu Qing can eat from both ends, and when the time comes, the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China will be brought down and the regime will be re-established, so that foreigners will not know that China has had a paper tiger experience at all.

"Mr. John Russell, I think that if we want to regain the trust of the Chinese, we must revise the Treaty of Nanjing. In fact, this treaty violates the cultural traditions and customs that we Orientals have always had, because China is a continental country, not a maritime country like you, the United Kingdom. The importance of mainland countries to territory is already deeply rooted in the bone marrow, so even if it is only a small Hong Kong, it is already a great weight for our cultural inheritance, and it is a pain in the skin. ”

"Also, the matter of the reparations is also a very painful pain. If the terms of this indemnity are not amended, it will always be a thorn in the hearts of both of us. Thirdly, with regard to the opium trade, we must first prohibit this, and only you, the British, will prohibit those harmful things from entering our country, so that our you will feel your sincerity. After all, we can actually do a lot of business, why do we have to do this kind of business that all Chinese hate? Although it may be very profitable to make opium, I don't think your queen and government will be so short-sighted and give up long-term friendship for the sake of short-term profits, so that there will be no way to do more business at that time. As far as I know, your country is not alone in the opium business, and it is the long stream that matters, and I believe that your government is not the kind of fool who fishes for the best of his life. ”

John Russell thought for a moment and said, "Regarding the revision of the Treaty of Nanjing, I think I can personally consider it. But our British Empire is not up to me, and even our Majesty the Queen is not capable of making a decision, and must convince Parliament. If you had just gone to Parliament with me to make a statement to the Legislature, I think that as long as you have persuaded the Legislators, it would not be too much of a problem to amend the treaty. Of course, we also have to come up with a plan as soon as possible, and how to modify this is a problem. ”