Start the modern era

In 1839, Emperor Daoguang sent Lin Zexu to Guangzhou, the trade center, to announce a ban on smoking. In order to open up the Chinese market, Britain launched the Opium War in 1840, and the Qing Dynasty was defeated and forced to sue for peace. In 1842, he was forced to sign an unequal treaty with the British invaders, the Treaty of Nanjing, which opened China's modern history.

Western countries forced the Qing government to open ports to trade, and local officials and landlords annexed land, which undermined the traditional rural economy. Various localities took the opportunity to rise up one after another, among which North China was dominated by twisting chaos, and Central and South China was dominated by Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Yunnan's Du Wenxiu and Ma Rulong's Yunnan Rebellion.

Hong Xiuquan rebelled in Jintian, Guangxi in 1851, and the Northern Expedition of the Lianhe Tiandihui and Triads. Two years later, he captured and fixed the capital of Jiangning, and launched two western expeditions; On May 8, 1853, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others were ordered to lead more than 20,000 troops to the Northern Expedition. Although the Northern Expeditionary Army once advanced to the vicinity of Tianjin, it was besieged by the Qing army because of the lone army. Later, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang organized the Hunan army and the Huai army to resist the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the Tianjing Incident in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the national strength declined, and some forces were transferred to the Twist Army. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was finally besieged and killed in 1864 by the Hunan army, the Huai army, and the Changsheng army and the Changjie army composed of foreigners.

In 1856, Britain launched the Second Opium War under the pretext of the "Yarrow Incident" and France under the pretext of the "Father Ma Incident". By 1860, the Anglo-French forces had forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Tientsin and the Treaty of Peking. Taking advantage of the fire, Russia seized more than 1.5 million square kilometers of territory in northern China from the 50s to the 80s of the 19th century. According to a series of unequal treaties, China lost a large amount of territory, sovereignty and wealth, and the degree of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was greatly deepened.

Improvement of ZTE

In 1861, Zaichun succeeded to the throne, that is, Emperor Tongzhi. Emperor Xianfeng originally appointed Su Shun and other eight ministers to praise the government affairs, the empress dowager of the two palaces and Prince Gong Yitong launched a coup d'état of Xinyou, the two palaces hung the curtain to listen to the government, and finally the Empress Dowager Cixi, one of the two palaces, obtained real power. Yi Li, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong and some other Han ministers, known as the Westernists, realized the strength of the Western ships and artillery when they eliminated the Taiping Army, and in view of the defeat of the two Opium Wars, they launched a self-improvement movement (also known as the Westernization Movement) based on the principle of "mastering the art of mastering and using the Chinese body and the West".

At that time, the Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen and the subsequent Minister of Beiyang International Trade were responsible for the planning and implementation of foreign relations and the self-improvement movement, and successively introduced foreign science and technology, established a modern banking system, a modern postal system, laid railways, and set up a telegraph network. It has established a translation agency, Tongwenguan, a new type of education (new learning), trained technical personnel, and sent international students to advanced industrial countries such as Europe, the United States and Japan, and cultivated talents such as Tang Shaoyi and Zhan Tianyou. It opened a mining industry, established a steamship China Merchants Bureau, a manufacturing bureau in the Gangnam Manufacturing Bureau, and a Hanyang Arsenal, and established a navy such as a new army and the Beiyang Fleet. The Westernization Movement led to a relatively stable situation in Chinese society. During this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fell in 1864. In 1865, the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry (Eight Banners) of Seng Lingqin were completely annihilated after the ambush, and Lai Yangwu sent Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang to destroy the west and east twists respectively, and the twist was chaotic until 1868. From 1862 to 1878, Zuo Zongtang successively pacified the Shaanxi-Gansu Rebellion, quelled the Xinjiang Rebellion, and recovered Ili. (What does this have to do with Emperor Tongzhi?) He was just a kid. When he grew up, it didn't take long for him to die. Tongzhi Zhongxing. What an ironic thing that sounds. ）