Opium was originally intended to be the product of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's policy of closing the country to the outside world and to smooth the trade deficit. After opening the door to China, this thing becomes dispensable. It's just that half of the British in Canton and Hong Kong are opium dealers, and the counsellor doesn't know if this ban will cause a new storm. Before Pashali could speak, the secretary next to him raised an objection first. "What kind of goods are sold is commercial freedom, and you have no right to interfere,"

Yang Hualu immediately choked back with "If you smoke this thing for a month, I will admit your commercial freedom". The secretary immediately stopped.

Zhang Haotian looked at Pa Xiali, "Mr. Counselor, I believe everyone is very aware of the poison of opium. If this were not the case, your country would not have banned opium. You have been in China for 20 years, you should know that Confucius has a saying, "Do not do to others what you would not do to yourself"! He said this sentence in Chinese, and the latter nodded. Do you think it is legal for your businessmen to come to our country for a lot of wealth with drugs that are forbidden in their own country? ”

Pashali understood the determination of the Liberation Army to ban drugs, so he did not dwell on this issue, and believed that the National Assembly would not start another war for opium, after all, opium merchants were only a minority.

The main problem is solved, and the rest is a matter of details. Pashali proposed the immediate repatriation of British prisoners of war, but the negotiating team certainly could not agree. There are no hostages in hand, what if the British are in debt? Zhang Haotian proposed to divide the prisoners into ten parts, and for every 10,000 pounds worth of supplies delivered by the British side, the Guangfu Army would repatriate one-tenth of the prisoners, in order from the lowest to the highest, and the officers would stay last. Pashali fought several times, but Zhang Haotian did not give in, and Pashali had to give up.

Then, Pashali proposed a bizarre plan - to exchange the city of Guangzhou for Hong Kong. The negotiating team had to marvel at the "whimsy" of the British, and Zhang Haotian first questioned, "Mr. Counselor, why do you think that you can trade with us with our land?" ”

"After the end of the war, it is customary for the warring parties to exchange the territory occupied by the other party. Speaking of exchanging Guangzhou for Hong Kong, you still take advantage. Unconsciously, Pashali had already regarded the Liberation Army as an equal opponent, but he still underestimated the "arrogance" of the other party.

"Hong Kong has been Chinese territory since ancient times, and we will not trade it with anyone." After saying this, Zhang Haotian felt that he was becoming more and more like a diplomat.

"The Chinese government ceded Hong Kong to us more than a decade ago, and the sovereignty of Hong Kong belongs to the United Kingdom." The secretary joined the warband shirtless.

"We refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Manchu government, the treaties it has signed with other countries, and the territorial changes it has made." Not to be outdone, Lu Buwen came out to help.

"The Manchu government is now recognized by the international community as the sole legitimate government representing China, and the treaties it signed have the force of law." Pashali argued, though he also understood how fragile the so-called legal force had become in the face of force.

"If Mr. Counsellor insists on pursuing legal proceedings, we can add a clause to the agreement that the British government will voluntarily return Hong Kong to the Liberation Army." Yanghua's suggestion is half serious and half joking.

"The exchange of Guangzhou is our biggest concession, and we will never give up the sovereignty of Hong Kong." A third Englishman finally joined.

The negotiations were again halted by differences between the two sides, and Pashali proposed to ask Canton for instructions. Moreover, as for the disposal of Hong Kong, it is believed that even Ergin and Bao Ling cannot be decided, and it is necessary to consult London. Considering that the nearest place where you can telegraph is in Singapore, it was another long wait. The survivors had no better way than to curse the terrible international communications of the nineteenth century.

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The common people have no way of knowing that the Liberation Army and the British are at odds with each other, and they only know that it is enough for the foreign devils to call the Liberation Army to run away. With the threat of a great victory, the Liberation Army began a long-prepared anti-smoking campaign in the control area.

The original Panjia Restaurant in Longgang Town, the brand of the Longgang District Government has become the Dapeng County Government. The sudden upgrade to the county seat made the residents of the town a little uncomfortable, although the Guangfu Army built a lot of construction in the town, but there was no intention of building the city wall. Some sour Xiucai muttered behind their backs, the thief was so wanton to seal the official, it was really a sign of defeat.

Yesterday morning at Pan's Restaurant, oh! It was the temporary residence of the Dapeng County Government that held a county-wide anti-drug work conference. At the meeting, Qi Shima, the newly appointed county magistrate, read out the notice of the management committee on carrying out anti-narcotics work in the three counties. "From now on, all tobacco houses in the three counties must be closed, and the business owners must hand over all opium to the county government within seven days. Those who fail to pay within the time limit shall be regarded as possession of drugs. After that, anyone who sells, collects, and transports opium within the three counties will be sentenced to penalties ranging from hard labor to death, depending on the severity of the circumstances. ”

After listening to Zisma's words, some people who are more or less related to the smoke house all feel a cold swish on the back of their necks.

"Chief," at this moment, a middle-aged town people's representative stood up. "Chief, the villain has been smoking Fushou paste for three or four years, and if he doesn't smoke for a day, he will have no energy, and I hope that the chief will pity the poor villain, and don't cut off the villain's source of cigarette ointment!" As he spoke, tears and snot came down together. On weekdays, this person has a rich face, but he can't tell that he is a big smoker, and he must have been addicted to it before every meeting, so he didn't show his ugliness. Now that the Liberation Army wants to cut off his roots, how can he not be in a hurry? Several other town people's representatives who shared his illness also mourned.

Hong Shaoru, director of the county health bureau and director of the county people's hospital, stood up, and he asked the staff to help the opium ghost who was about to kneel, and then looked at the others and said: "As we all know, the poison of opium is fiercer than that of tigers. Many people of insight have realized this, which is why there were the Humen cigarette sales and the first Opium War more than ten years ago, as well as the Second Opium War that has not yet ended. However, due to the incompetence of the Qing court, foreign wars were defeated again and again, not only failed to ban opium, but on the contrary, opium was rampant in China. Every year, millions of taels of silver are lost, and everyone must have experienced it, and now the domestic silver price is getting higher and higher, which is the reason. "The people's representatives here are all people with families and businesses, and they have more contact with the people's livelihood and economy, and they know that Hong Shaoru is telling the truth, but they didn't expect that the amount of silver flowing out every year is so large, but Hong Shaoru brought them more than that.

"And opium is also very harmful to the human body," said Hong Shaoru while asking the staff to hang out a few large promotional pictures, and then pointed to one of them and said, "Let's take a look!" This is the result of long-term opium use. ”

The picture shows a man of no age, who is already skinny and skinny, with a head that is obviously huge like a skeleton, and if it is not for the open eyes, it is impossible to connect with the living. The ribs are clearly visible, and the limbs are like four wooden sticks, and they look like hellish ghosts, and the people's representatives are terrified. Although everyone has seen various types of opium ghosts, this is the first time that such a delicate observation will appear. Hong Shaoru explained beside him: "This person's name is Sima Wu, the word is seeking Taoism, he is now Chinese New Year's Eve two years old, he is from Buji Town, and he has been smoking opium for five years. There is a person from Phuket Town here, and you should know this person. Everyone turned their attention to the people's representative of Phuket Town, and the two nodded in unison.

Hong Shaoru, who proved the authenticity of his information, continued: "This person was originally a talent in the county, and his family background is also well-off. Since he started smoking opium, he has not only failed his studies, but also made his family fall into disarray. In order to raise money from the sale of tobacco paste, he sold his house and land, and finally his body also crossed, and he became this kind of person who does not look like a ghost or a ghost. The wife was also forced to hang, and a pair of children were also sold to pay off their debts, which was really a ruined family. ”

Sima Wu's tragic situation gave everyone a more intuitive understanding of the poisoning of opium, and several people's deputies who were addicted to smoking were even more worried, but Hong Shaoru obviously did not intend to let them go for a long time so easily. "In the brain of normal people and in some organs in the body, there are endogenous opioid peptides and opioid receptors. Under normal circumstances, endogenous opioid peptides act on opioid receptors and regulate a person's mood and behavior. After smoking opium, people inhibit the production of endogenous opioid peptides, and gradually form a balanced state under the action of opium, once stopped, there will be restlessness, anxiety, hot and cold, goosebumps, tears, runny nose, sweating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc. The pain of this withdrawal reaction, in turn, motivates drug addicts to go to great lengths to maintain their drug use in order to avoid this pain. Long-term inhalation of drugs after warming the body will cause malignant irritation to the respiratory system, mild cases are prone to tracheitis, middle cases can lead to pneumonia, pulmonary cavities, emphysema and lung cancer, and some people will have leukoencephalopathy. You—" he pointed to the opium ghost who was the first to come forward, "if you continue to smoke, it won't take two years to have the same virtue as that surnamed Sima." "The director of the health bureau found the information on the symptoms of opium smoking for a while, and directly took out the information on the causes of the sea and used it, anyway, the more serious it is, the more it can touch these people. Although the natives couldn't understand what he was saying, they still felt very powerful. After hearing that opium smoking can cause infertility, some of the offspring have made up their minds to quit smoking.

"From now on, all opium addicts can quit at home or go to the drug rehabilitation centers set up by the county government to get rid of them. After three months, if there are still addicts, once found, they will be sent to a drug rehabilitation center for compulsory drug rehabilitation. If you are over 50 years old or unable to quit due to infirmity, you can apply to the Government and the Health Bureau will issue alternative medicines. In short, I hope that in ten days, there will never be a single piece of opium paste on the land of Dapeng County again; Three months later, not a single opium smoker was ever seen again. "Zisma made a final summary and did not forget to make a warning." Sooner or later, opium addiction will ruin the family's property, and trafficking in opium and opening tobacco shops is murdering for money. For this kind of person, our Guangfu Army will never be merciful, if someone insists on hitting the knife edge, don't blame us for being ruthless at that time. ”

Amid Qi Shima's murderous words and the uneasy hesitation of the people's deputies, the first anti-narcotics work conference in Dapeng County came to an end.