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"Mr. Zhu Erdian, I hope you can understand that His Majesty the Emperor has made up his mind to recover the concessions, customs, and many unequal conditions! The current Chinese Empire is not the decaying Manchu Dynasty! At the Imperial Foreign Office, Ng Ting-fong was meeting with the British Minister to China, Zhu Erdian. What we had to negotiate with Jurdian was the question of abolishing a series of unequal treaties.

"No, Your Excellency Wu Tingfang! The privileges enjoyed by the British Empire in China were fixed in the form of the Treaty of Tongguò, which had been stipulated since the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 42. Your country must abide by these treaties! Zhu Erdian said resolutely.

"Those treaties were signed between the Manchu Dynasty and your country, and they have nothing to do with the empire." Wu Tingfang said.

"Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, if your country were to forcibly withdraw these unequal treaties, it would mean war for the British Empire. The duty of the armies of the British Empire is to protect the interests of the British Empire in the world! Zhu Erdian said loudly.

"Your Excellency, I hope you can understand. Although the Chinese Empire did not want to participate in war, it was never afraid of war. If Britain were to impose war on the Empire, we would have no other way! Now that the empire is on the rise, it is impossible for these unequal treaties to be pressed on the head of the empire! Wu Tingfang did not give in.

"Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, I can understand your feelings. However, these are not things for me to decide, and I need to report them back home. Zhu Erdian rolled his eyes, and then said. From Wu Tingfang's resolute tone, he knew that China was determined to abolish these unequal treaties. And is Britain really going to start a war against China at this time? Jurdian did not think that the cabinet would make such a determination. So, he chose to stall for time.

"All right, Your Excellency Jurdian. You have plenty of time for the British government to negotiate, but it is imperative to abolish these unequal treaties. Only in this way will we be able to dialogue on an equal footing. This is very beneficial for both countries! Wu Tingfang said solemnly. The Manchus betrayed too many Chinese interests, leaving the empire in a mess. When the empire was created, it was not yet able to compete with the great powers. And this time, after defeating the United States and abrogating an unequal treaty with the United States in China, China began to try in this regard. Moreover, with the guarantee of strong national strength, we will be able to have the confidence to recover the lost national interests.

"Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, I can understand. The British Empire attached great importance to its friendly relations with the Chinese Empire. I will convey the appeal of your country's interests to the country! Zhu Erdian said with a smile. In fact, his heart was full of disdain. Isn't a country that is just beginning to rise defeat a country that is also beginning to rise? Just wanting to be on an equal footing with the British Empire is simply a dream.

Subsequently, Zhu Erdian contacted the British government. However, the British Cabinet was also arguing endlessly on this issue, and some radical cabinet members even vigorously advocated the threat posed by China to Britain in the Far East, hoping that Britain would launch a war against China in order to safeguard British interests in the Far East. There are also some cabinet members who believe that China's rise is inevitable, and that it is better to take the initiative to abolish these unequal treaties and ease relations with China than to be hostile to China and completely push China into the arms of Germany. It was very important for Britain to maintain good relations with a power in the Far East. However, neither party could convince anyone, not even the Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury. Therefore, Zhu Erdian had to choose to drag it out and delay as much time as possible.

At the same time, Wu Tingfang met with French Minister to China Pierre and Russian Minister to China Cassini. For these two, Wu Tingfang was not so polite, and directly gave a specific time, stating that the Chinese Empire would unilaterally abolish the unequal treaties on these two in a month. This caused strong resentment in France and Russia.

But because the naval strength of these two countries is far inferior to that of Britain, China is not afraid that they will cross more than half the world to trouble China. Therefore, the means are very tough. France was the weakest in the Far East, and when the deadline came, it had to choose a compromise and exchange all the concessions to China. Russia, on the other hand, is tougher. Because they plundered too much land from the Manchus. If China abolishes the unequal treaties, won't it want to take back these territories as well? Therefore, Russia did not hesitate to issue a threat of war against China. It's just that China didn't pay attention to Russia. At present, the Trans-Siberian Railway is still under intense construction, and Russia's military strength in the Far East is not strong, so China does not need to be too afraid of Russia at all. When the one-month deadline expired, the Chinese military and police entered the Russian concessions in China and forcibly took them back. However, although the empire said that it would not recognize Russia's invasion of China's territory, it did not take military action, which made Russia breathe a sigh of relief. Russia has a vast depth, and it will be very difficult for China to defeat Russia on land. At least for now, China does not have this strength, so for the time being, China has chosen to forbear the territory occupied by Russia. This also made the direct relationship between China and Russia drop sharply, but there is no war against each other.

When both France and Russia succumbed, Britain was naturally left alone. Under strong pressure from China, Britain is already in a bit of a dilemma. What keeps them going is probably the face of their world's number one power.

After the outbreak of the Opium War, the Qing government was forced to sign the "Customs Tariff Rules" under the pressure of Britain, the United States, France and other powers, losing China's tariff autonomy, and semi-colonial customs began to take shape. In the fourth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (54), Wu Jianzhang of Shanghai Daotai and the consuls of Britain, the United States and France reached the "Agreement on the Organization of the Jiangxi Customs" and formed the "Jiangsu Customs Tariff Administration Committee".

Jianghai Customs set up an inventory laboratory on the north bank of Pidgin (now the Bund on East Yan'an Road), marking the official opening of Shanghai to the outside world. Marx and Engels pointed out in their article "Russia's Success in the Far East": "Before the conclusion of the Treaty of Nanjing, all countries in the world had managed to get tea and silk. After the establishment of this treaty, due to the opening of five treaty ports, part of Guangzhou's trade was transferred to Shanghai. There was almost no trade at any of the other ports. Shantou, the only port of any commercial significance, does not belong to the five open ports......' (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, vol. 20, p. 66). Since the past five years, the value of import and export goods and the inbound and outbound ships supervised by Jiangxi Customs have ranked first in the country, and Shanghai has become an important treaty port in the country. According to the data of "Customs Trade Statistics", in the four years from 66 to 69, the total value of import and export goods in the country was 299729 guan and silver taels, and Shanghai was 90595657 and taels, accounting for 66 of the country. During the same period, the national customs collected a total of 697996 customs and silver taels, and the Jiangxi customs 964945 customs and silver taels, accounting for 26 of the country.

According to the provisions of the "Five-Port Trade Regulations", foreign merchant ships should pay various taxes and fees, and the five foreign consulates should guarantee it, and a 'consular customs declaration system' was established. In the autumn of the fifth year, the Xiaodaohui occupied the county seat of Shanghai, and Wu Jianzhang, the superintendent of the Jiangxi Customs, fled into the concession, and in order to collect customs duties, he successively set up temporary customs in Lujiazui in Pudong, on the north bank of the Suzhou Creek, in Minhang Town, and in Baihezhu. The foreign invaders cornered Wu Jianzhang and hatched a conspiracy to "use outsiders to handle taxes". On June 29, 54, Wu Jianzhang reached an agreement with the consuls of Britain, the United States, and France to form a customs administration committee with the Englishman Wittoma, the American Jia Liuyi, and the Frenchman Shi Yashi as the tax collectors. Since then, the administrative power of Jiangxi Customs has fallen into the hands of foreign invaders. In May 59, the Minister of Nanyang Commerce, Ho Guiqing, appointed Li Tai as the first chief tax department of the Chinese Customs, and set up the general tax department in Shanghai. In July of the same year, Li Taitai appointed the Englishman Dedude as the director of the Jiangxi Customs and Excise Department. At this point, the customs administration commissions of the three countries naturally disappeared, the British monopolized the real power of the customs, and the foreign tax department system was officially established in Shanghai. Subsequently, this system was gradually implemented to all ports and customs across the country. On September 2, 6, Hurd, an Englishman, was appointed by the Prime Minister's Yamen as the Department of Taxation of the Jiangxi Customs, and was also in charge of the customs of Hankou, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang and Ningbo. On the 5th of the same year, because Li Taitai signed the "Li Ah Contract" with the British Navy Commander Az Sburn without authorization, he was dismissed from his post as the chief tax department by the Qing government's Prime Minister Yamen, and was succeeded by Hurd.

The establishment of the foreign customs system made China lose its control over the customs, and foreign living animals could enter China at a low price and disappear, destroying the development of China's local industry and commerce, and deepening China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

On February 5, 97, outside the General Taxation Department of Customs, the Shanghai Police Department sent more than 200 police officers to surround the place. In the outermost part of the world, there was a battalion of troops stationed in the General Customs and Excise Department, which made the foreign employees in the General Customs and Excise Department panic all day long.

"Your Excellency Hurd, the time we have given has come. If you don't hand it over to us, then we'll have to pick it up ourselves! Outside the door of the General Department of Customs, Wang Wenhua, Minister of Finance of the Empire, said to the General Department of Customs and Excise Hurd.

"Your Excellency Wang Wenhua, the General Department of Customs and Excise is recognized by all countries, and it is the only customs agency in China, and your behavior will not be allowed by all countries!" Hurd shouted.

"It's a pity, unless countries don't want to trade with China, otherwise, they will admit it!" A smile appeared on Wang Wenhua's face, and then he waved his hand. The police forcibly entered the General Department of Customs and Excise Headquarters!

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