On this day, 187 years ago, on June 2, 1838 (April 10, the lunar calendar year 1838), a minister of the Qing Dynasty submitted a petition, intending to put the death penalty for opium users. On June 2, 1838 (Xinsi in the fourth month of the 18th year of Daoguang of Emperor Xuanzong of the Qing Dynasty), Huang Juezi, Minister of Honglu Temple, petitioned for the death penalty of opium users in the mainland. As early as the first year of Jiaqing (1796), the Qing court had ordered a ban on the import of opium and the cultivation of poppies. In the fifth year of Jiaqing (1800), a ban on the cultivation and import of opium was imposed again. In the 15th year of Jiaqing (1810), the Qing court issued an edict to use opium to endanger health and ordered each Haikou to cut off its source. In the 18th year of Jiaqing (1813), an edict was issued to severely punish those who smuggled opium and smoked it. In the 20th year of Jiaqing (1815), an edict was issued to punish those who sold opium by officials and those who privately sold opium by the people. However, by the year of Emperor Jiaqing's death (1820), the import of opium into Britain had increased to more than 5000 boxes (120 kilograms per box). After Emperor Daoguang ascended the throne, although he ordered many times to ban the import and consumption of opium, the amount of opium imported increased sharply. In the fourth year of Daoguang (1824), the import of opium into Britain increased to more than 12000 boxes. In the 14th year of Daoguang (1834), the import of opium into Britain increased to more than 21000 boxes. In the 17th year of Daoguang (1837), the import of opium into Britain increased to more than 39000 boxes. In the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), the import of opium into Britain increased to more than 50000 boxes. The large import of opium and the increase in opium users caused economic, political and social crises in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Huang Juezi advocated using the death penalty to punish violators, hoping to reverse the dangerous situation. Emperor Daoguang ordered provincial governors to express their views on the issue of smoking bans. Lin Zexu, Governor of Huguang, petitioned to ban smoking and proposed to ban six articles of the charter. He warned: "If we continue to reveal things, we will have few troops to resist the enemy in the Central Plains and no silver to pay for them in decades." Lin Zexu's opinion prompted Emperor Daoguang to make up his mind to ban opium. On October 5, Emperor Daoguang issued an order to reward Lin Zexu for his meritorious service in banning smoking in Hubei. On the 25th, Prince Zhuang Yi Dou and others were stripped of their titles for smoking opium. On the 28th, Xu Naiji, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, was ordered to suspend the ban because of his proposal to suspend the ban. On December 31, Emperor Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu as an imperial envoy to Guangdong to ban opium. In this way, in 1838 and 1839, China launched a vigorous anti-smoking campaign. At that time, Qi Shan, the governor of Zhili, also seriously banned smoking and seized more than 130,000 taels of opium on a boat in Dagukou.