Poppy tumor
1839, March - one of the largest conflicts in the history of drug trafficking began. The conflict turned into a real war, where the main participants were China and Great Britain, which had addicted it to opium. Actually, this war is known as the "opium". Over time, it began to be called the first "opium", because it was followed by the second.
Manchu doctrine
In the middle of the 18th century, the average European could not imagine life without a cup of tea, while a wealthy European preferred this cup to be made of porcelain. Both tea and porcelain were delivered to Europe from China along with silk, rhubarb, medicinal herbs and products like fans and screens. At the same time, China stubbornly refused to accept European goods and was generally a country that lived in almost complete isolation from the rest of the world.
So, for foreigners, only one port was open - Guangzhou (Canton), and they were forbidden to move around the country. The Chinese residents themselves were strictly forbidden to learn foreign languages, teach Chinese to foreign "barbarians", and build large ships that could be suitable for overseas trade. Only members of the "Gunhan" trading corporation could trade with the Europeans, and they could join by paying a fee of 2,000 lians of silver.
The Celestial Empire did not have permanent diplomatic ties with any country in the world and was not going to establish them. Thus, Emperor Qianlong sent a letter to King George III of England, who tried to break through this voluntary blockade, where, in particular, he wrote: "We have everything you could wish for, and we never needed barbarian goods." At the end of the letter were the words: "Trembling, obey and show no neglect."
Qianlong did not want to insult the foreign monarch, because he simply did not consider George III as such. The Celestial Empire was the center of the universe, and the emperor of China was the ruler of the world. Accordingly, all other countries were officially considered vassals of China, and if they "showed neglect" without paying the due tribute, it was solely because of their savagery.
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The fictional world hegemony was an invention of the Qing dynasty, which ruled since 1644. The fact is that the Qing were not Chinese, they were Manchus. The relatively small Manchus, having seized power in the Celestial Empire, became the dominant ethnic group there. The best positions in the state apparatus were reserved for them, they were tried by a special court, and they even served their sentences in special prisons - "only for the Manchus."
Also in the country was the Manchu "eight-banner army" and the "army of the green banner", in which only Chinese served, receiving much less for service than the Manchus. Naturally, the Qing ideologues proclaimed that the Manchus made China invincible and he conquered the whole world. Worst of all, however, was that this official doctrine was firmly believed by its authors.
Meanwhile, the "barbarians" did not want to put up with the loss of a multimillion-dollar China for trade. 1805 - the embassy of Count Golovkin went there from St. Petersburg, whose task was to achieve privileges for Russian merchants. However, the Chinese did not let him go further than Mongolia, the count returned to his homeland with nothing. The same success awaited the English missions of Lord Amherst in 1816 and Lord Napier in 1834. Even the governor of Guangdong province refused to accept the latter.
But where the official envoys run into a blank wall, a cunning smuggler with a product that is in high demand will certainly find a loophole.
True English quality
At the end of the 18th century, the British, and after them the Americans, began to import opium into China. The British supplied manufactories to India, bought opium from local peasants with the money they earned, sold it in China and returned to England with tea, porcelain and silk. The Americans exported opium from Turkey, but their operations were significantly inferior in scale to the British.
The first Chinese decree banning this potion was issued in 1796. It was impossible to stockpile opium in ports, but drug dealers found a loophole: it was stored on ships anchored off the coast and traded directly from them. At the end of the 18th century, the British imported into China every year about 2,000 boxes of opium (about 65 kg each); at the beginning of the 19th century, exports doubled. 1816 - it reached 22,000 boxes, and in 1837 the British imported 39,000 boxes, earning about 25 million yuan (more than 16 million lians of silver) for them.
The Chinese authorities prohibited the import, purchase, sale and consumption of opium in 1822, 1829, 1833 and 1834, but drug supplies grew steadily, the reason for this was the monstrous corruption among Chinese officials. Shortly after the first opium ban was issued, one of the British traders wrote in a report: "Everyone is convinced that the head of the maritime customs office is secretly encouraging this illegal trade for personal gain, and he certainly will not actively discourage it."
1809 - Bai Ling, governor of the southern provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, banned the import of opium in the most decisive manner. But the report of the British Navigation Committee, drawn up 2 years later, said: "The order of the governor to ban opium - just words in an official document, the authorities have long been condoning smuggling, using them as a convenient means of profit." This was no secret for Beijing. 1813 Emperor Yongyang wrote in his decree that “There are scoundrels at all maritime customs offices who, in their own interests, collect opium fees in silver. Is it any wonder that the influx of this poison is increasing all the time."
The next emperor, Daoguang, who came to the throne in 1820 saw the danger of opium even more clearly. After 2 years, he announced to the whole of China that “opium, penetrating into the country, greatly damages our customs and affects the mental abilities of people. All this is happening because the customs officials in the ports allow smuggling trade, which has acquired a large scale."
In the decree, the emperor once again forbade officials to take bribes, but for some reason they did not come to their senses. When Daoguang demanded that Yuan Yuan, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, finally take effective measures against corruption and smuggling, he wrote to the emperor that in such cases "it is necessary to act with admonition", and appropriate measures should be "thought over slowly."
By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, a very powerful drug mafia had actually formed in the Celestial Empire, with connections at the very top. The main "opium" positions were the post of governor of Guangdong province, which was the only port of Guangzhou open to foreigners, and the post of head of the Guangdong maritime customs. 1826 Guangdong Governor Li Hongbin dispatched a special vessel to collect bribes from foreigners for permission to trade in opium. The vessel brought the head of the province every month about 36,000 lians of silver. The system worked well.
Regularly, once every few years, auditors arrived from the capital, seizing part of the money received from foreigners into the treasury, without punishing anyone. The emperor also had his share. The Guangdong customs sent him a beigong three times a year: they gave him wonders of overseas origin, like watches and music boxes.
The drug distribution scheme was as follows. The British delivered boxes of opium to warehouse ships in Guangdong. After that, the goods were loaded onto junks that delivered them to the ports of the coastal provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong, as well as to the port of Tianjin near Beijing. From there, the drug spread throughout China, with merchants delivering it in boats and carts. As contemporaries testify, there were warehouses and retail outlets where it was possible to purchase opium in every major city.
The fight against drug trafficking has become a profitable business for Chinese officials. So, an active fight against smuggling was led by the captain of the coast guard vessel Han Zhaoqing, who regularly handed over to the state several boxes of opium, allegedly confiscated from smugglers. In reality, the British simply gave the formidable customs officer bribes in kind, and then he received awards from the government. Han Zhaoqing was awarded the title of admiral and the honorary right to wear peacock feathers. At the head of the squadron, he began to deliver opium on warships, and during his admiralty, the import of drugs grew to 40-50,000 cases a year.
Opium smoking became widespread in the Middle Kingdom: by the middle of the 19th century there were about 2 million smokers (the country's population was about 400 million people). Huang Juezi, a major dignitary who later became the ideological inspirer of the fight against opium, wrote in a report submitted to the emperor: “From the bureaucratic class to the owners of workshops and shops, actors and servants, as well as women, Buddhist monks and Taoist preachers - all among they smoke opium for the day. According to Huang Juezi's calculations, it turned out that out of 10 officials in the capital, 2 were using drugs, out of 10 provincial - 3, and out of 10 employees of the criminal and tax police - already 5-6.
The lower strata of the population also strove to get involved in opium. 1842 - Governor of Zhejiang Province Liu Yunke reported to Beijing that in Huangian County you won't hear a human voice in the daytime, because the population lies at home, smoked, and only at night comes to their senses to run for a new dose.
Nonetheless, smoking opium was a dear pleasure. According to the estimates of contemporaries, opium smokers spent about 36 lians of silver on the potion a year. Moreover, the total annual budget of the average peasant was approximately 18 lians.
The drug mafia, which possessed significant financial resources and administrative resources, was turning into a serious force. At least Daoguang's harsh decrees did not prevent her from feeling quite comfortable. A Chinese chronicler of the times wrote: “People who were engaged in the struggle against opium and those who sold and consumed it mutually protected and covered each other. They united, like a gang of crooks, to carry out their dark deeds and did not give the opportunity to either check them or punish them."
Showdown in Greater Canton
The spread of opium negatively affected not only the health and wallets of the Chinese, but also the state treasury. The outflow of silver from the Celestial Empire was becoming more and more threatening, and the financial system of the country was based on this metal.
In this connection, Huang Juezi, who had become skilled in statistics, presented a report to Daoguang in 1838. It turned out that from 1823 to 1831, 17 million lians of silver were exported from the country every year, from 1831 to 1834 - 20 million lians, and from 1834 to 1838 the country every year lost about 30 million lyanov. "If this continues, how will we finance state needs, how will we balance the budget?" - Huang Juezi worried.
The Emperor had something to think about. In addition to all other misfortunes, a quite tangible threat to the throne appeared: opium began to spread among soldiers, including the Manchus. Moreover, opium penetrated into Manchuria itself, the stronghold of the Qing dynasty. And in the event of a loss of the combat capability of their troops, the Manchus could lose all of China.
1838 Daoguang convened a council of senior dignitaries and provincial governors to decide what to do with the opium. At the council, the opinions of three groups clashed. The first was headed by Chancellor Mu Zhange, who advocated preserving the existing situation. He said that it makes no sense to prohibit opium, because it was done more than once, and to allow it would be suicidal for the state's prestige. By the way, such legalization was also unprofitable for smugglers who profited not only from the drug trade, but also from the fight against it.
The second party supported the dignitary Xu Naiji, who in 1836 proposed to legalize the opium business, but impose a tax on it. Moreover, the idea of import substitution was put forward: why give silver to the British, if opium can be produced at home? In fact, in the interior regions of the Middle Kingdom, poppy crops have steadily increased for a number of years, and local opium has already conquered the market with might and main. This product was worse and cheaper than the Indian one, it was used mainly by the poor, but the Chinese drug producers already wanted to squeeze the British and their intermediaries on the market. Deng Tingzhen, the governor of the key provinces in the opium business of Guangdong and Guangxi, also advocated the legalization of opium with subsequent taxation.
The third group was represented by Huang Juezi and his friend Lin Zexu (both, by the way, were members of the circle of poets "Xuan-nan"). They demanded that the most stringent measures be taken immediately to eradicate the trade and consumption of opium. While Huang Juezi was engaged in statistical calculations, Lin Zexu, being the governor of Hunan and Hubei provinces, took up the direct fight against drugs. 1838 - he was able to requisition more than 5,000 pipes and 12,000 lians of opium from the population. In addition, the poet-governor began collecting donations to create a miracle cure that was supposed to rid people of drug addiction.
As a result, the emperor sided with implacable opponents of opium and appointed Lin Zexu as his extraordinary commissioner in Guangdong province, giving the order to end opium once and for all.
Upon learning that an auditor was being sent to his province, the Governor of Guangdong instantly changed from a supporter of drug legalization to an ardent enemy of drug addiction. However, for the Chinese drug lords, who have established the production of opium, a showdown with the British - even with the hands of a principled idealist - could even be useful …
1839 March 18 - Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou and the big showdown began. First of all, Commissioner Lin detained 22 English ships loaded with opium. Then on the same day he gathered representatives of all the firms that traded with foreigners, and demanded that they stop opium operations, as well as a complete inventory of the potion stored in warehouses.
Captain Charles Elliot, representing British interests, tried to oppose Lin Zexu by organizing the escape of several opium dealers. In response, Lin blocked the British trading posts and ordered all Chinese to stop working for the British. As a result, Elliot had to hand over 20,000 boxes of drugs to the Chinese. From June 3 to June 25, Lin Zexu's people destroyed the requisitioned opium: they poured it with sea water and dried it up and burned it. The drug dealers complained about their "roof", and the "roof" did not leave them to their fate.
England began to demand from the Celestial Empire to compensate the merchants for the damage caused to them. Lin Zexu was, in principle, not against: he intended to buy off the British with tea leaves. But Beijing advised Lin Zexu to seek funds for ransom on his own, and the required amount of tea could not be collected. Lin Zexu decided to demand a receipt from all English captains that they would not import opium, while threatening the death penalty for every violator of the agreement.
Elliot, on the other hand, forbade the British to sign anything and, naturally, opposed the possible surrender of the British into the hands of Chinese justice. An incident on July 7 added fuel to the fire: an English sailor killed a Chinese in a fight. Lin demanded to hand over the sailor, but Elliot refused him, citing the fact that China and Great Britain had not signed a single agreement, in particular on the extradition of criminals. The air smelled of war.
Lin Zexu was not afraid of war, because he believed in the invincibility of China. In addition, he intended to design a cannon that would terrify all "barbarians". He hoped to break Britain with an economic blockade. Lin wrote to his friends: "If the barbarians do not get tea leaves and rhubarb from us, then they will have a hard time, because life without these things is not life for them."
And if China closes its ports for foreigners, then "business life in other states will freeze." In addition, Lin believed that the fighting efficiency of the British troops leaves much to be desired, because "the enemy soldiers' legs are wrapped very tightly, and it is inconvenient for them to turn, and if they land on the shore, they will still be unable to act." However, the British were able to.
1839, November 3 - The first collision occurred when the Chinese junks tried to surround two British warships. The British drowned 4 vessels, the rest chose to retreat. After that, England sent a whole squadron to the shores of the Celestial Empire and began to demand from it compensation for losses, the resumption of trade and some coastal island to establish a colony on it. Beijing considered it inappropriate for itself to respond to the "barbarians", and in April 1840 Great Britain declared war on China.
The British soon seized Hong Kong. Unsurprisingly, China was able to turn against them only ill-trained, opium-smoked soldiers, armed mainly with spears, bows and flintlocks. Lin Zexu tried to attract the masses to the fight against the British, promising 100 yuan for the head of each "white-headed devil" and 50 yuan for each "black devil", the Indian sepoy.
There were even enthusiasts who responded to Lin Zexu's call by creating "detachments to pacify the British", but these formations were not able to provide a turning point in the struggle. The British crushed the Chinese forces everywhere, and the squadron also served as a cover for trade. Under the protection of the Royal Navy, English merchants sold opium to the Chinese at prices 70% below pre-war prices.
1840 November - Lin Zexu was removed from office, declared "the culprit of all troubles" and removed into exile. 1841 January 20 - The new governor of Guangdong, Qi Shan, negotiates an end to hostilities. The British were promised an indemnity of 8 million yuan and Hong Kong, as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations. But the emperor did not want to sign a peace on such conditions, and the war resumed.
The Chinese soldiers, as before, fought extremely badly, defeats followed one after another. 1841 October - The British took the city of Dinghai, and in July 1842 - Zhenjiang, located at the intersection of the Yangtze and the Grand Canal. Now the "barbarians" actually controlled the river dividing China in two and the canal through which rice was supplied to the north of the country. The emperor could only ask for peace, which was concluded on August 29, 1842 on the deck of the English ship "Cornwalls". The treaty was named Nanjing, because it was signed near the historical capital of China, Nanjing.
According to this document, the Celestial Empire gave Hong Kong to Great Britain, opened the cities of Guangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Shanghai for trade with Europeans, and also had to pay 21 million yuan as an indemnity. As for the trade in opium, it was not prohibited or allowed by the Nanking Treaty. As a result, English opium exports continued to grow and by 1851 had exceeded 55,000 cases a year. The victory over China proved to be beneficial not only to drug dealers.
1842 - goods of British production were imported to China in the amount of f969.3 thousand, and in 1845 - already more than f3 million. At the same time, there were some curiosities: there were cases when British firms wanted to flood China with knives and forks or sent large quantities of pianos there.
After the signing of the Nanjing Treaty, China concluded several more agreements with Britain, France, Russia and America, giving them roughly equal opportunities in the development of China in the hope that the "barbarians" would quarrel among themselves. This did not happen, but the Chinese fought among themselves.
Fighting ignorance against injustice
Inclusion in the world trade cost the Celestial Empire dearly: there were no fewer drug addicts, and silver did not cease to go abroad. 1843 - zalyan silver was given 1656 copper wen, and in 1849 it was already worth 2355 wen, which could not but affect the well-being of Chinese residents, who received wages for work mainly in copper coins.
The discontent of the population was taken advantage of by secret societies, including the later famous "Triad". They all wanted to one day raise a rebellion and overthrow the hated Qing rule. The Bai Shandi Hui (Society of the Heavenly Father), which set out to do away with both Qing and opium, was the most successful in the fight against the Manchus.
"Bai Shandi Hui" was founded in 1843 by the village teacher Hong Xiuquan, who had every reason to be dissatisfied with the Qing, because he failed three times in exams for the right to hold public office. Master Hong seriously decided to get even with the hated Confucianism (the exams required knowledge of Confucian texts), and besides this, after reading several Christian missionary brochures, he imagined himself to be the chosen one of the new god. One way or another, thanks to his fiery speeches, Hong Xiuquan was able to rally a large group of like-minded people. And after the defeat of the Celestial Empire in the first "opium" war, there were even more of them.
The Hong Xiuquan organization secretly developed a new creed, and at the same time was preparing an uprising to overthrow the Manchus. The performance was scheduled for January 11, 1851, and in fact began strictly on schedule. The rebels burned all their property and proclaimed the founding of "Taiping Tianguo" - the Heavenly State of Great Welfare (hence the name of the rebels - Taiping). Himself Hong Xiuquan appropriated the title of the king of heaven - "Tian Wang."
The Taipings marched across the country, routing the opium-stricken Qing troops, robbing and killing the rich, and distributing their property to the poor. The way to great prosperity for the Taipings was seen as follows: “We need to ensure that the whole of China uses the great blessings given by God the Almighty, that everyone works the land together, eat and dress together, spend money together, so that everything is equal and no one is left hungry and cold."
1853, March 19 - Taipings took Nanjing and made it their capital, renaming it Tianjin ("Heavenly Capital"). At first, the European powers treated the Taipings favorably, because they were, to some extent, Christians, and also promised the Europeans free trade in their Heavenly State. But the Taipings fought mercilessly against opium and, moreover, did not know how to maintain proper order in their territories. All this did not suit the European powers, but for the time being, the Taipings could well be used to put pressure on Beijing.
1854 - Great Britain, France and America demanded that the Ching confirm their previous treaties and officially authorize the opium trade. Beijing refused, which made a new war inevitable. 1856 - The Chinese captured the British-flagged ship Arrow, on which Chinese smugglers were sailing. The incident was used by Great Britain as a pretext to unleash a war. France joined her: the pretext was the assassination of the missionary Chapdelen.
June 1858 - After the Chinese suffered a series of decisive defeats, the so-called Tianjin Treaties were signed, according to which foreigners could use a number of new ports for trade, move freely around the country and navigate the Yangtze. In addition, embassies were opened in Beijing, duties were reduced, and the opium trade was legalized.
The ambassadors of Great Britain and France set off in accordance with the treaty to Beijing on warships. At the mouth of the Baihe River, the Chinese fired at the squadron, after which hostilities resumed. European troops landed in northern China and, defeating the Manchu cavalry, entered Beijing, where the first thing they did was plundered and burned the Emperor's Summer Palace. The new peace treaty, concluded on October 25, 1860, in particular, confirmed all the provisions of the Tianjin treaties.
Now that the Qing had given foreigners freedom of action in China, all that was left was to deal with the Taiping. The British merchant fleet arranged the supply and transport of the Qing troops. The American Ward formed from British sailors and Filipino mercenaries an "always winning army" - indeed the most combat-ready formation opposing the Taiping. France sent its officers to the Tsinam, through whose efforts a rather successful "detachment of foreign rifles" was created.
The Taipings suffered a series of defeats, after which on June 1, 1864, Hong Xiuquan committed suicide, either by drinking poison, or by swallowing a gold plate. On July 19, Nanjing fell. The civil war continued until the end of 1868, but the Taiping no longer posed a great threat to the Qing dynasty.
So with the help of opium, the Europeans destroyed the fictional world in which the Chinese emperor was the master of the universe, and opened China to world trade.
K. Bolshakov