184 years ago today, on January 27th, 1841 (January 5th, 1841 in the lunar calendar), the First Opium War: Emperor Daoguang declared war on Britain. First Opium War In the winter of 1838 (the 18th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty), Emperor Daoguang sent Lin Zexu, governor of Huguang, as an imperial envoy to Guangdong to ban opium. In March of the following year, after Lin took office, he strictly seized more than 20,000 boxes of opium and destroyed them all in Humen Haikou. Using this as an excuse, the British government decided to send an expeditionary force to invade China, and the British Parliament also passed the appropriation bill for the war against China. In June, 1840, 47 British ships and 4,000 troops, led by Rear Admiral Yilu and Commercial Supervisor Yilu in China, arrived outside the Pearl River Estuary in Guangdong one after another to block Haikou. Since then, the Opium War began. In August, 1840, the First Opium War, when the British ship arrived outside Dagukou, Tianjin, Emperor Daoguang was frightened by the power of the military, dismissed Lin Zexu, and re-appointed Qi Shan, the governor of Zhili, as the imperial envoy; At the same time, the British side also agreed to go south to Guangdong for negotiations because of the epidemic and the approaching autumn and winter. Scenes of the signing of the Sino-British Treaty of Nanking In December 1840, Qi Shan and Yilu began negotiations in Guangdong. On January 7, 1841, the British army was dissatisfied with the progress of the negotiations, and dispatched the navy and army to capture the first gateway of Humen-Shajiao and Dajiao Fort, and launched the Battle of Humen. On January 27th, Emperor Daoguang heard the news and ordered to declare war on Britain, sent Yishan, Minister of Internal Affairs, as General Jingni, and dispatched more than 10,000 troops from all over the world to Guangdong. On February 26, the British army dispatched the navy and army again, breaking through the forts on the first line of Humen rung and the Dahushan fort, and tracing the Pearl River to Guangzhou. Guan Tianpei, the admiral of Guangdong Navy, fought hard and died for his country. On May 24, the British army launched an attack on Guangzhou, occupying the commercial halls in the southwest of the city, landing from the northwest of the city, outflanking the highlands in the north of the city, capturing the forts in the northeast of the city, and shelling Guangzhou City. Under this situation, Yishan and others accepted the British conditions and paid 6 million yuan in silver in exchange for the withdrawal of British troops from Guangzhou. The atrocities committed by the British invaders aroused the people in Sanyuanli, the northern suburb of the city, to spontaneously arm themselves to fight against Britain. Extended reading: When Daoguang learned that "the King of England is a 22-year-old woman", he asked three explicit questions. Extended reading: When Daoguang learned that "the King of England is a 22-year-old woman", he asked three explicit questions. Emperor Daoguang ordered Lin Zexu to vigorously ban smoking, and he also considered the power of the British army. However, he has long regarded himself as the upper country of heaven, despised the feelings of barbarians, and seriously underestimated the difficulties. Lin Zexu was particularly confident and reported to Emperor Daoguang that the British army was not good at land combat except for the power of artillery, and its legs were tightly tied, so it was inconvenient to move, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Emperor Daoguang believed it and made up his mind to fight the British army to the death. Only by knowing yourself and knowing yourself can you win a hundred battles. A fierce artillery in the Opium War quickly withered the blind and ignorant Qing Dynasty. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, including Emperor Daoguang himself, could never dream that England, which was 70,000 kilometers away from China, was so powerful and powerful. It was okay to scare the people with cold weapons, but it was completely ineffective against the British army. Emperor Daoguang couldn't figure it out. He heard that Taiwan Province had caught several British prisoners, and quickly asked Taiwan Province local officials to arraign them. He had to find out three questions: First, how big is Britain? Eat the leopard of ambition and dare to go to war with the Qing Dynasty? Second, is there a dry road from Britain to Xinjiang? Third, does Britain border Russia? If you look at these three questions of Emperor Daoguang, you will know how absurd the pre-war preparations of the whole Qing Dynasty were, and there is no reason for invincibility. Remember that before Japan launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, it spent half a century making various war preparations, and it was clear about China's various data indicators. Is it invincible? After examining these three questions, the local magistrate in Taiwan Province also found out a shocking inside story. It turned out that the king of England was a woman! When Emperor Daoguang heard about it, he was quite interested in the queen. The first reaction in my heart was to ask the Queen of England if she was married. He called this woman a "yellow-haired barbarian woman" and prepared three questions in my heart. First, I heard that the Queen of England is only 22 years old. How can she become the king of a country? Second, how can such a young woman convince the public? Third, the most concerned question is, did she find her husband's family? Who is her husband's last name and what position does he hold? Daoguang is really salty to eat radish and worry lightly. Where is this? Daoguang's heart is like a cat scratching, full of strong thirst for knowledge about the Queen of England, but he is embarrassed to ask Taiwan Province officials, so there are no answers to these three questions. Today, let's answer Daoguang's most concerned question. Queen Victoria of England was married at that time, but she was married by close relatives. She was married to her cousin Albert, a knowledgeable wit from Germany. Emotionally harmonious and living a happy life, Victoria felt that she was the happiest woman in the world. Even if Daoguang has the heart to seize love with a knife, it is estimated that there is no chance. After dealing with the British a lot, Lin Zexu gradually put down his airs as a big official of the Chinese Dynasty, and used various channels to search for various military, political and economic situations in the West. Together with historical, geographical, legal and other materials, he compiled it into the book "Four Continents".