In this war, the western powers saw the decay and loneliness of the Qing government. In order to expand their rights and interests in China, western powers launched wars of aggression many times, forcing the Qing government to sign a large number of unequal treaties, and gradually turned China into a semi-colony.
This history is an unforgettable memory for everyone in China. However, when we look back at history, we find that in 1636, 200 years before the Opium War broke out, the powerful British Empire even paid compensation to the Ming government at that time.
This has to start with 1583, which was the eleventh year of Ming Wanli. Queen Elizabeth wrote a letter to Emperor Wanli, hoping to open the trade between China and Britain. However, this letter was not sent to Emperor Wanli, but was intercepted by the Portuguese, which led to the bankruptcy of this project.
However, Queen Elizabeth did not give up. After Britain gained maritime hegemony, the Queen decided to send a fleet of three big ships to the East again. However, the first of the three ships sank in a storm near the Cape of Good Hope, followed by the Portuguese fleet. After 18 days of fierce fighting, the second ship sank, and the survivors entered at the third big ship owner, and were finally wiped out on the rocks somewhere.
Finally, four survivors fled to Puerto Rico with the Queen's credentials. Unfortunately, they were captured by the Spanish and later shot.
So these two letters from the Queen of England were not sent to Emperor Wanli.
1603, after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the king of England at this time was James I, who still missed the communication with Emperor China, thus opening the trade between China and Britain. 16 10, James I wrote two letters to Wanli and sent businessman Nicholas as a representative to China.
Nicholas thought of a way. He first arrived in the kingdom of Vandan (now the west of Java), where he had business contacts with western countries. He planned to find some China businessmen there and then accompany them to meet the Ming emperor. This method seemed good to Nicholas, but it didn't work in China at that time. Because China implemented the policy of sea ban at that time, no one wanted to risk being beheaded to deliver letters to the emperor.
As a result, four years later, the letter just couldn't be delivered, and finally it went away.
After these three failed trade explorations, the British decided to directly participate in the trade with China without the permission of Emperor China. In 1635, the British trading company with China was established. At this time, China was already in power as Emperor Chongzhen. The British East India Company reached an agreement with the Portuguese Governor-General to allow British businessmen to freely enter and leave Macao for trade. In the same year, 65438+February 65438+February, King Charles I of England issued an order to appoint Captain Vedel as the commander and lead six ships to China.
The Portuguese governor agreed, but the Portuguese in Macao disagreed, because they were worried that with Britain's strong strength, more trade with the Ming Dynasty would lead to the loss of Portugal's interests. As a result, the Portuguese tried their best to vilify the British in front of Ming officials, saying that they were Dutch and wanted to make trouble and should be expelled. The Portuguese also sent patrol boats from Macao to patrol near British ships to stop the British from trading.
What if I can't get into Macao? The British ship then went to Guangzhou and anchored in Humen. The defenders of Humenburg fired warning shots. According to historical records, When the ship entered Humen, it was shelled by the defenders, and Vedel immediately withdrew his gun. After several bloody battles, the battery fell down. After the British captured the fortress, they tore down the flag of the Ming Dynasty, hung up the flag of the British king, and removed 35 cannons and moved them to the ship as trophies. Guangzhou authorities sent Portuguese to negotiate, and Vedel returned the cannon. At the same time, two businessmen were sent to Guangzhou with silver dollars for shopping and two small boxes of Japanese silver coins.
But at this time, the British ship ignored the repeated warnings of the defenders and continued to go deep into the inland river of Guangzhou. Guangdong coastal defense authorities saw that the warning was invalid, so they sent three warships to approach the British fleet and fired artillery and rockets constantly, forcing British ships to flee hastily. However, Vedel has no remorse for invading inland rivers, but has intensified. Vedel led his men to set fire to three Chinese sailboats, a small town and thirty pigs in Humen area. Then another battery of Daming in Humen was bombed and a galleon was burned.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty refused to stop there and prepared to attack British ships, and Britain also found it difficult to escape, so it went to Macau to ask the Portuguese for mediation. Through Portuguese mediation, Vedel agreed to the request of Guangzhou Ming government and paid 2,800 taels of silver. Vedel also submitted a letter of guarantee to the Ming officials, apologizing for the Humen incident and promising to leave after completing the transaction. Therefore, Guangzhou officials decided not to pursue the case and ordered them to leave the country as soon as possible after the transaction. Weddell's fleet left Macao for home.
Although there was a maritime ban in the Ming Dynasty, it still had trade with foreign countries. Moreover, in the face of western guns, the Ming Dynasty was not afraid, and studied and developed its own firearms hard to cope with the invasion of the West. This small-scale war between the Ming Dynasty and Britain also ended in the victory of the Ming Dynasty.
The fighting capacity of the Ming navy can be said to be very strong. Even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the navy of the Ming Dynasty still defeated the Dutch colonists in the battle of Penghu and the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay, and even captured Taiwan Province Province under the control of the Netherlands in the middle of the17th century. It is precisely because of the strength of the navy that the western powers are afraid.
However, after the Qing Dynasty, when the navy was dissolved, China gradually fell behind the West. As Zheng He once said: If a country wants to be rich and strong, it can't ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and so does danger. Once another king takes the ocean, China will be in danger. Our fleet is invincible and can be used to expand trade and subdue foreign countries so that they dare not covet the ocean. ?