As we all know, in the late Qing Dynasty, the weakness and incompetence of the Qing government made many powerful people regard China at that time as a piece of fat meat at the slaughter of others. After the start of the Opium War, the great powers launched a long invasion of the land of China. Although the Chinese people consciously stood up to resist the aggression, under the leadership of the weak and incompetent Qing government, the wars against aggression ended in disastrous defeat.
With the deepening of the invasion of the great powers, the tendency of our country's semi-colonial semi-feudalized socialization has become increasingly serious. In this semi-feudal semi-colonialized social environment, many products belonging to this specific era have been produced, and concession is one of the most familiar ones.
It is worth mentioning that careful people may have discovered such a phenomenon. The validity period of the concession is generally set to 99 years, which is only one year away from a hundred years. Why is this?
Some people may be curious why the Qing government was only willing to sign a 100-year lease contract but refused to sign a 100-year loan? Today we will talk about this topic.
The concession that was powerless and humiliating was directly related to the division of the sphere of influence of the great powers in China. Since the Opium War in 1840, the country's borders have been forcibly opened by Western invaders with strong ships and powerful guns, and our country has been forced to be involved in the world market of capitalism.
Although our country's door has been opened and the Western goal seems to have been achieved, they soon discovered a problem. Even if our country's door has been opened, it still cannot use our country as the source of raw materials and the dumping place of goods.
The reason is actually very simple. As a small peasant economy, Chinese society is very resistant to the export of foreign goods. The self-sufficiency of life has made the cheap handicrafts of Western powers have no market in China.
The truth is so clear in the eyes of bystanders, but as the saying goes, "The authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear." Western powers do not think so. They thought that China's national gates were not completely opened at that time.
So, in the pursuit of further expanding the interests of aggression, the great powers wanted to drag the Qing Dynasty into the capitalist world market, and wars eventually broke out. Faced with the invasion of the great powers, the resistance of the corrupt Qing government had no effect.
several resistances ended in a crushing defeat. In desperation, the Qing government was forced to sign more treaties that were humiliating, such as " Beijing Treaty ", " Shimonoseki Treaty " and " Xinchou Treaty ", etc. These treaties have "concessions". After the signing of the treaty of
, the great powers came to the Qing Dynasty to define their own sphere of influence and forced the Qing government to ced the territory they liked to them, but this ushered in resistance from knowledgeable people.
In essence, the great powers hoped to occupy the territory of the Qing Dynasty at that time, but during the invasion, they were afraid of the resistance of the Han people. The "occupation" plan of such great powers was changed to "lease", which is the so-called concession.
At that time, the renting was much worse than the forced occupation, because within the scope of the concession, the great powers could form their own sovereignty, just like the ancient "country among the country", but in essence there was a certain difference.
If it were just rented, the sovereignty of the concession would still be retained in the hands of the Qing government, which means that the land still belongs to the Qing Dynasty. Of course, this is also beneficial to the great powers. First of all, it is easier to rent territory than to occupy territory forcibly.
Secondly, the lease of territory is not easy to arouse the Chinese people's sentiment to resist the invasion of the great powers. In the end, the reason why the great powers chose to lease territory was actually hidden in illicit intentions. So, what kind of evil intentions do they hide?
The evil intentions of the great powers and the response of the Qing court
Looking back, the Qing government always had a rule when signing a loan contract with the great powers, that is, the Qing court insisted on signing only 99 years of loans, and it would not take longer to reach a year.
Whether it is the "Hong Kong New Territories Lease Treaty" signed with the UK, the " Guangzhou Bay Concession Treaty" signed with France, or the "Jiaoao Concession Treaty" signed with Germany, the Qing government is only willing to sign a 99-year lease.
99 is only one year apart from 100 years. Why was the Qing court only willing to sign a 199-year loan agreement? Behind this move in 1999 was conspiracy and wisdom, or the wisdom of the Qing court when dealing with the great powers' territories.
The great powers have mentioned that they can rent our territory for 100 years. As early as when China and the UK signed the Treaty on Lease the New Territories of Hong Kong, the UK proposed that they hoped to rent the New Territories of Hong Kong for 100 years.
At that time, the representatives of the Qing Dynasty did not think about this request from Britain, and almost signed it according to the British intention. However, as the core of the Qing court, Li Hongzhang , and a group of officials led by Li Hongzhang and others, were suspicious of the British actions.
For the great powers, every clause they put forward is to maximize profits, and the 100-year boundary must be the same. So, several important officials of the Qing court began to inquire around the world why Britain insisted on signing a 100-year loan agreement.
After their inquiry, this unwritten robber practice was soon learned by the important officials of the Qing court. The fact was as expected by the Qing court. Britain insisted that there was indeed a conspiracy behind the 100-year loan period.
100 and 1999
According to international practice at that time, if land lease is not reclaimed in the 99th year, the territorial sovereignty of the lease will also change, which roughly means it will become the territory of the leased party.
The hidden ambitions behind Britain's move are obvious. Their move is to seize the gap when the Qing court is not familiar with international rules and take the opportunity to occupy our country's territory.
After learning about the ill-intentionedness of the British, the loan loan treaty that was originally intended to be signed according to the British's wishes was stopped, and the Qing court refused to sign the 100-year loan loan treaty.
At the same time, the Qing government also told the UK that if we want to sign a loan agreement, 1999 will be the last bottom line of the Qing court.
Seeing that the Qing court was in such an attitude, the British side also knew that its conspiracy had been seen through by the Qing court. Perhaps Britain could tear the face and continue to start a war, but once this did, it would definitely not be able to maximize the interests.
Although the Qing Dynasty was backward at that time, no great power could completely annex a nation with a population of 400 million. Taking this into consideration, the British side finally accepted the request of the Qing court and signed the "Hong Kong New Territories Concession Treaty" within the maximum period of 199 years.
I have to say that the Qing court finally became a clear person at this time. Although they did not know the reason, they knew that the reason why Britain offered such a price must have a different plan behind it.
After this, the Qing court set rules. The maximum period for any treaty that requires the signing of the concession is 99 years, which must not exceed 99 years. The Qing court will not make concessions for more than one year, which also laid the foundation for us to recover our territory later.
Once Germany also attempted to imitate Britain's conspiracy in accordance with the law. The Qing court decisively rejected Germany's request to sign a 100-year lease on Jiaozhou Bay, and forced Germany to sign the Jiaoao Concession Treaty within the maximum period of 99 years.
It has to be said that although the Qing court, who realized that the sovereignty, was corrupt and backward, could not avoid the strong rent of the great powers in China due to national strength, it still saved a lot of trouble for the later return of Hong Kong and other places.
As for how this "999" was formed, there is a relatively interesting story internationally. There was a battle between two countries in Europe, and the loser had to bow to the winner.
Therefore, both sides also had problems similar to "lease rent", which took about 100 years. As a result, after 100 years, many people forgot that this place was "lease rented", and as a result, this land became the territory of the enemy country.
On this basis, when European countries sign treaties such as leases, they will change to 99. On the one hand, the number "99" is more reminding than "100", and on the other hand, it is to let people know the original ownership of this land.
Simply put, although it is only a year's difference, habitual thinking allows people to know the essence. This "99 years" is not a special number, but reminds and warns local people about renting. This is why there is such a statement. Although such a subconscious rule as
does not apply to the Qing Dynasty in Europe, since the two industrial revolutions , Europe, the United States and other countries have led the development of the world. Many rules were formulated by them, and they will invisibly become a restriction.
Although the Qing Dynasty was backward, it also began to contact the world at the end of the 19th century, and also carried out innovation movements such as Westernization Movement , and had some understanding of some things in the world, especially Minister Li Hongzhang.
Under such circumstances, the officials of the Qing Dynasty would firmly resist the 100-year lease period, and choose the so-called 99 years, which is also a reminder to both sides that we will take it back in the future. This is the difference between the two numbers.
What are your different opinions on this matter?
