There are four trading ports stipulated by the Qing government, which can be understood as ports set up by the government with customs. However, in fact, there are more than 100 ports trading with overseas countries, but the government has not set up a formal customs.
After Qianlong closed three ports, even if there was only one port in Guangzhou, the overseas trade volume still rose sharply. Moreover, there is only one customs office in Guangzhou, which is mainly aimed at European businessmen's trade in China, not limited to Nanyang trade.
From 1758 to 1838, on the eve of the Opium War, during the 80 years, the number of merchant ships ***5 107 arrived at Guangzhou Customs, which was 16 times that of the four-year opening. In terms of management efficiency, when the four ports were opened, only 1 western merchant ships docked at each port every year on average. When only 1 Guangzhou port is left, an average of 64 western merchant ships call every year, which greatly improves the efficiency and greatly reduces the cost of customs management.
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During Lin Zexu's smoking ban, the Qing emperor ordered all British merchant ships to be expelled from the country and cut off Sino-British trade relations. This practice intensified the contradiction between China and Britain and provided an excuse for the British colonialists to invade China.
1June 840, Britain launched a war against China. The Qing government did not resist. When the British army approached Tianjin, it tried to delay the time by "hard" strategy and negotiate with the British side in Guangzhou. During the negotiations, the British side demanded high opium compensation, opened three ports and ceded the island. Although China expressed compromise, he could not accept it completely.
184 1 65438+1At the end of October, the British army first captured Shajiao Fort and then occupied Hong Kong Island. On October 27th, 65438/kloc-0, the helpless Qing government declared war on Britain. However, before the mobilization of the Qing army was completed, the British army quickly occupied Guangzhou, then went north along the coast, and successively conquered the Qing army guarding the city within one year, reaching the gates of Nanjing.
1842 On August 29th, Qi Ying, a representative of the Qing government, signed the treaty of nanking with the British representative on a British warship, which was the first unequal treaty in China's modern history. The Opium War had a far-reaching impact on the historical process of China.
The failure of the war was attributed to the backward system, corrupt Qing dynasty rule, closed-door foreign policy and wrong war countermeasures. As a result of the war, China gradually transformed into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and China was forced to open its doors to the west.
Baidu encyclopedia-Qing dynasty sea ban