Chapter 230: Loss of Power and Humiliation of the Country
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In May 1842, the British army abandoned Ningbo and concentrated its forces to invade the north. On the 18th, Zhapu Town, Pinghu, Zhejiang Province was captured. On June 16, the Battle of Wusong was launched, and Chen Huacheng, the governor of Jiangnan, was killed in battle. After that, the British reinforcements arrived outside the mouth of the Yangtze River one after another, and Puding Cha ignored the begging notes of Qi Ying and others, and traced the Yangtze River with 73 ships and 12,000 army troops, preparing to cut off the canal, the main artery of Chinese mainland communications. On July 21, more than 6,900 British troops launched the Battle of Zhenjiang, but they were stubbornly resisted, killed and wounded 169 people and captured Zhenjiang. On August 4, the British ships approached the Xiaguan River in Nanjing, and then the British troops landed at Yanziji, inspected the terrain, and threatened to attack the city of Nanjing. Under the deterrence of the British army's strong ships and artillery, the Qing Dynasty's ministers Qi Ying and Yi Libu and Niu Jian, the governor of Liangjiang, compromised and retreated, and were forced to negotiate peace with the British army at Jinghai Temple, Shangjiang Kaoteng and other places. During the negotiations, the British army's evil deeds triggered the local battle of Jingjiang, and the invaders were defeated after suffering 13 casualties.
On August 29, 1842, the Elder signed the unequal Sino-British Treaty of Nanking with Portland.
In 1842, the Qing government was forced to negotiate a treaty with the British government at the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing, and the two sides negotiated the treaty four times in the temple. On August 29, the Qing government of China accepted all the terms of peace proposed by the British, and formally signed the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing, the first unequal treaty in modern China, on the British flagship "Khanhua", which satisfied most of the British demands.
The Treaty stipulates that: 1. Hong Kong Island shall be ceded to the United Kingdom. 2. Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai will be opened as treaty ports, and British people will be allowed to set up consulates in treaty ports. 3. China paid 21 million yuan in compensation to the United Kingdom. The ingredients of 21 million yuan are: 6 million compensation for opium. 3 million to repay the debts of British businessmen, 12 million to the British army. 4. The tax on British imports and exports in China shall be jointly agreed between China and the United Kingdom. 5. British merchants were free to trade with Chinese merchants. It is not subject to the restrictions of "public bank". 6. Enjoy consular jurisdiction, and British people who commit crimes in China are not punished by Chinese law.
The defeat of the Opium War and the signing of the Treaty of Nanking made the Manchu government gradually become a tool for the great powers to rule China, and as China's territory, territorial waters, judicial, tariff and trade sovereignty began to be seriously undermined, China gradually degenerated from an independent country to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. With the dumping of products into China and the purchase of Chinese silk, tea and other agricultural and sideline products by the foreign powers, China was gradually involved in the world market; The self-sufficient natural economy, which had been dominant, was hit hard, and China increasingly became part of the world's capitalist market.
The victory or defeat of the Opium War reflected the huge gap between Eastern and Western science and technology at that time, which was dominated by military affairs. The Manchu government's dream of "the heavenly kingdom" was broken, and internal and external troubles came one after another, and the feudal society was in crisis. Prompted a group of feudal intellectuals with a keen political vision to further explore and find good ways for Chinese society to get out of the predicament and crisis. They relied on traditional scriptures, took Kuang Shi as their own responsibility, and advocated the rectification of the rule of officials internally. reform of malgovernance; Advocate the learning of Western skills to the outside world. resisting aggression, thus gradually forming a social trend of thought among the landlord class that has been applied by the world. Many scholars, such as Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, began to pay attention to the progress of Western science and technology, and wrote books to introduce Western things [34]. However, the vast majority of people, including the imperial court, did not change their views of the West because of the Opium War, let alone learn from the "Yi people" whom they had always despised. The defeat of the Qing court did not lead to reforms, but continued to pursue a conservative policy of seclusion, which directly led to the Manchu government's attack on the new Chinese state. Still no resistance!
The Qing court did not react violently to the inequality of the Treaty of Nanking, but was disturbed by the adoption of an egalitarian system in the Sino-British documents. before. The Qing government has always regarded itself as a central empire and regarded the West as a foreigner. But now, the Manchus were not only defeated by the West, but at the same time the two sides were on an equal footing, which made the Manchu rulers panic.
At the same time, China's elites are completely confused. For thousands of years, China has been the most powerful country in the world. But now, it is easily defeated by Western countries. This made everyone wake up from the dream of "Heavenly Empire" and began to open their eyes to see the whole time. In addition, people are starting to think about the future of China. Although the Manchu government still pursued a policy of seclusion and seclusion, it bowed to the Western powers externally and ruled the people foolishly internally. But this can no longer change the changing trend of thought of the people!
When the news of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking reached Britain, the whole of Britain was in a boil. It was unbelievable that the huge empire that had driven them to fear was easily defeated. At the same time, Queen Victoria, who strongly advocated the initiation of this war, and the cabinet of the British people have further increased their prestige in the eyes of the British people. Originally William. Viscount Lamb's less secure position was once again strengthened.
The British bourgeoisie was in a state of madness, and a huge empire of more than 300 million people was completely opened by the British, which was undoubtedly a bigger market for them than the whole of Europe. Even one in ten Chinese buys their products, which is enough for them to make a lot of money. Countless merchants began to prepare goods and ships to come to China to dump their goods. However, they will soon find that even if the British opened the door to China by force, their products still could not be sold. China's small, self-sufficient peasant economy, which has been formed for thousands of years, still reigns supreme. These bourgeoisie believed that the main reason for this was that China had not developed enough treaty ports, and they strongly encouraged Britain to continue the war against China in order to expand the treaty ports. It's just that by that time, Britain will have no chance! Soon after the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, the Xinhua State officially launched a war against the Manchus!
Britain's victory also stimulated other European countries. With a huge market of more than 300 million people, it is enough to plunge any European country into madness. To this end, all countries are actively sending fleets or merchant ships to China to seek opportunities. The British ate meat in front, they can't even drink a mouthful of soup, right? This makes China face an even greater crisis. Of course, after Xinhua overthrew the Manchus, unified China, and established a vast empire, all crises disappeared. It's just that the process of Xinhua reunifying China is also very difficult! In order not to lose the interests of the Far East, the great powers did everything possible to obstruct the reunification of the Xinhua Kingdom, not only supporting the Manchu government with weapons and equipment, training new troops, and even directly sending troops to intervene in the war! For this, Xinhua has paid a huge price!
On September 5, 1842, when the news of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between the Manchu government and the British reached Manila, Long Yufei, the king of Xinhua, immediately summoned the senior military and political officials of Xinhuaguo to discuss countermeasures.
Long Yufei's mood was very excited, he had been waiting for this day for three years! Since the Xinhua Kingdom launched the war against Vietnam three years ago, the whole country of Xinhua has begun to secretly prepare for the war against the Manchu Qing Dynasty! Three years later, the British defeated the Manchus, and at the same time caused a great shock to the entire Chinese society. The basis of Manchu rule, which was dealt a heavy blow. At this time, if Xinhua launched an attack on the Manchus, the resistance would be much less. At the same time, it can win the hearts of the people!
"Everyone! Six days ago, the Manchu government and the British signed the "Treaty of Nanjing" in Nanjing, the treaty was full of unequal content, the Manchu government ceded land to the British, paid compensation, and also opened a treaty port, which was simply a loss of power and humiliation of the country! Long Yufei said angrily. In the years since the founding of the Xinhua Kingdom, it has never bowed its head to foreigners, and every time it fights with foreigners, it has been able to achieve victory. The overall strength of the Manchus, especially the population, was far stronger than that of the Xinhua State, but it was only because of the mistakes of command and the fear of the enemy that the Manchu rulers avoided the enemy.
In the Opium War, judging from the weapons and equipment of both sides, although the equipment of the Qing army lagged behind the British army, the gap was not very large, relying on the absolute superiority of troops, if the command was appropriate, the Qing army could completely reverse the situation. Long Yufei originally thought that the sudden appearance of Xinhua might change the course of history, and the outcome of the Opium War might also change. But I didn't expect that the inertia of history still exists. The Manchu Qing Dynasty, who were intoxicated with the dream of the Celestial Empire, were still beaten by the British in the war. Not to mention the heavy losses, the last treaty was signed to lose power and humiliate the country.
"Your Majesty, the Manchus are incompetent, and they can't even beat the British! If it were us, we would have easily wiped out the British! Your Majesty, give the order to wage war against the Manchus! The brothers of the army and navy have already been ready! Lieutenant General Niu Meng, Chief of the General Staff, said. In the past three years, apart from pacifying Vietnam, the Xinhua Army has not continued to wage new wars against foreign countries. Although the Vietnamese resistance was also fierce, the strength of the Vietnamese resistance was basically extinguished more than a year ago. Although there are still sporadic Vietnamese who have gone into hiding and continue to fight against the Xinhua State. However, these Vietnamese are relatively small, and the local police force can deal with them, and there is no need for the Xinhua army to intervene. During the Vietnam War for more than a year, the sons of Emperor Nguyen Phuc Thanh were captured by the Xinhua Army and then executed! Those Vietnamese who dared to rebel against Xinhua were also wiped out. A Chinese-dominated regime has been established in Vietnam. Vietnam has become a province under the jurisdiction of Xinhua State! Hundreds of thousands of Chinese became the foundation of Xinhua rule in Vietnam. If it weren't for the sake of confusing the British, the Xinhua Army would have already withdrawn from Vietnam! (To be continued......)