After the Opium War broke out, some officers and men of the Qing court invaded loyal opposition by foreign enemies and imperialism, and finally died heroically.
These soldiers who died in the battlefield were buried together in the old site of the battery by later generations, leaving a tragic story of "the tomb of the righteous" and "the tomb of the rescuer".
Nearly two centuries have passed since the Opium War, which changed the historical trend of China and became the beginning of the modern history of China. Until today, this war is an unavoidable topic when people talk about the history of China.
After the prosperous period of Kanggan, the Qing court, like all feudal dynasties, experienced ups and downs. When Emperor Jiaqing was in charge of state affairs, due to the fierce class contradictions, waves of peasant uprisings broke out all over the country.
Although these uprisings were finally suppressed by the Qing court, the Qing dynasty has entered the twilight of the dynasty.
/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, due to huge commercial interests, Britain secretly colluded with unscrupulous businessmen to import a large amount of opium into China and obtain huge silver assets. With the outflow of silver, the Qing court gradually felt the financial crisis.
"If you eat ice for a long time, you will be addicted, you will lose your job, and you will depend on each other. What's more, you are weak and dry, with a gray face and black teeth, knowing that you can't do it, from the government to the industrial and commercial elite, as well as women, monks and nuns, and Taoist priests. "
"Opium pernicious in the world, the law should be strict. If we still vent, there will be very few soldiers who can defend the enemy in the Central Plains after decades, and there is no money to reimburse them. Think about this, can you have no chestnuts! "
Most officials in the Qing court were incompetent, but many people of insight realized the harm of a large number of opium in China, among which Lin Zexu was the most important. As early as when he was governor of Jiangsu and governor of Huguang, he strictly banned smoking and made great achievements.
Soon, Daoguang summoned Lin Zexu in the capital and held many secret talks in the Forbidden City. Finally, the Qing court promulgated the "Regulations on Prohibition of Opium Smoking" and appointed Lin Zexu as an imperial envoy to go to Guangdong to ban smoking.
In the former site where opium was destroyed in Humen, Dongguan, you can also see two huge pools, where Lin Zexu collected illegal opium from all over the country and concentrated on destroying it.
At that time, "Humen exterminated opium" was well known, which was a rock-breaking event. Before selling cigarettes, Lin Zexu sent a notice for people at home and abroad to show their determination to ban smoking.
Because officials at all levels were corrupt in the late Qing Dynasty, even the Qing navy was involved in the opium smuggling trade at that time, so many people thought that Lin Zexu was just acting, and it was impossible for him to destroy all the valuable opium.
Especially the British, the initiator with ulterior motives, insisted that China people would not burn one or two opium.
However, the spectacle of "Humen destroying opium" surprised all the people who watched the play, so Lin Zexu changed the method of burning opium directly and used "seawater immersion method".
First, dig two large ponds by the sea, then introduce seawater into the ponds, crush opium into the seawater ponds, and add lime powder to make them. When the reaction between seawater and lime powder boils, people are ordered to keep stirring with a wooden rake.
Then, when the tide rises and falls, the water in the pool is discharged into the sea and disappears into the invisible. The whole process makes the viewer admire its cleanliness.
An American businessman exclaimed after watching the process of selling cigarettes: in the history of the world, a non-Christian monarch would rather destroy something that hurts his subjects than sell it to enrich himself. This is the only example.
Humen's feat of destroying opium did not save the declining Qing Dynasty, but the British used it to send warships into the coastal areas of China. The Opium War broke out and became the beginning of China's humiliating modern history.
The Opium War brought great suffering to the people of China at that time, and the people of China began to explore the world with their eyes open. Although the smoke of history has dispersed, the lessons are still worth remembering.