1840, Lin Zexu held a Humen Townkou beach that shocked China and the world. The despicable and shameless British people saw that they could no longer dump opium in China, so they brazenly launched the Opium War, which has since unveiled a century of humiliation in modern China.
Facing the invasion of foreign enemies, the corrupt Qing government knew that it could not resist them. For the sake of the regime in their hands, they calmed down and signed more than 1,000 unequal treaties, and successively leased the territory that originally belonged to China to the invaders.
It’s okay, since the Qing government was destroyed, countless revolutionary ancestors drove away the invaders with their blood and finally established a powerful new China.
With the rise of China, those rented lands have gradually returned to the embrace of the motherland. On July 1, 1997, , Hong Kong returned to ; on December 20, 1999, Macau, Portugal returned. The return of these two "rental areas" of
, marks that the country that was bullied by the great powers has been gone forever.
However, in addition to Hong Kong and Macao, in China's history, there is another piece of Chinese territory that has been leased for 99 years. Do you know where it is?
Zhanjiang is a city with beautiful mountains and rivers. It had another name at that time, called "Guangzhou Bay ". Guangzhou Bay has a very long history, and there were traces of human activities as early as the new era. Guangzhou Bay is originally the territory of China, and there were detailed records as early as the Qin Shihuang period.
Later, after countless dynasties, Guangzhou Bay has always been an inalienable territory of China. By the Ming Dynasty, as the productivity of the southern coastal areas continued to increase, Guangzhou Bay became more prosperous as a result.
When it comes to the prosperity of Guangzhou Bay, salt is always impossible to avoid. During the Ming Dynasty, because Guangzhou Bay was located in an important geographical location, it became a must-pass place for salt merchants. The development of the salt industry has brought a lot of wealth to Guangzhou Bay. Therefore, during the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou Bay had become one of the best cities in the Ming Dynasty.
However, although the rapid development of the city has allowed the people to live a good life of good food and clothing. However, the city also attracted the covetousness of the invaders. After entering the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government short-sightedly implemented a policy of closing the country, making China's economy, military and other aspects far behind Western countries. And China's backwardness is also destined to be bullied by other countries.
1897 was sailing on the sea on a French warship Whitewat. Suddenly, the weather was covered with dark clouds. In just a moment, huge waves rolled up on the sea. Obviously, in this harsh weather, even warships cannot travel normally. So the captain approached the coast and prepared to find a port to stop.
soon after, the Whitewat gradually approached a bustling port. After stopping, they realized that the location of this port is Guangzhou Bay.
Later, the French discovered that Guangzhou Bay is not only an important commercial port, but also a place conducive to military development. From that day on, the French had the idea of Guangzhou Bay.
In order to get Guangzhou Bay, the French thought of many ways. Finally one day, the French thought of "coal". They proposed to the corrupt Qing government to rent Guangzhou Bay and wanted to do coal business here.
The Qing government was not a fool, and of course they understood what the French meant. But at that time, the Qing government had just lost the Sino-Japanese War of and returned home. Faced with the demands made by the French, they had no strength to refuse at all.
However, after Guangzhou Bay was obtained, the French were not satisfied. They wanted to expand the area of Guangzhou Bay repeatedly to gain more benefits. They gradually invaded many areas such as Suixi , Wuchuan , etc. in mainland China.
Faced with the invasion of foreign enemies, although the Qing government was corrupt and incompetent, the people of Guangzhou Bay were all strong and strong. They did not bow down, but fought tenaciously.
On June 19, 1898, the leader Wu Bangze led the villagers near Lutang to fight against the French army. The number of people who fought again reached more than 500. Although they did not have any guns and cannons in their hands, the villagers still fought with the French army with big knives and wooden sticks. The scope of this anti-French struggle has been expanding again and again. In just a few months, hundreds of anti-French battles occurred in the Guangzhou Bay area.
In August, in order to attack the French, the people of Guangzhou Bay organized a team of 80 people to attack the Frenchmen's nest under the night.
Faced with the struggle of the Chinese people, the French want to wipe out them in one fell swoop. They organized an army of hundreds of people to attack residents of various villages. Although the French have guns and cannons. But the villagers did not surrender. They rely on the local terrain to hide and seek with the French army. When the enemy came, he hid. As soon as the enemy left, the villagers launched a sneak attack behind their backs. In the end, the French army was beaten to a disgrace.
In November, the French, who were unwilling to fail, organized an army of hundreds of people to attack several villages in Guangzhou Bay again. The villagers who had already received the news had long been hiding in every corner. As a result, the French did not even find the shadow of the villagers. Of course, the French still defeated this time.
However, just as the villagers in Guangzhou Bay were fighting each other for their lives, the corrupt Qing government signed the "Treaty of Sino-French Concession between Guangzhou Bay" with the French. The treaty stipulates that Suixi, Wuchuan and other places were also divided into Guangzhou Bay, becoming the French leased place . And this loan was 99 years.
As a hot commodity, in addition to the French, other great powers also want to get this piece of fat. With the sound of World War II , France, which was defeated on the European battlefield, was no longer able to take care of this place. And the Japanese who rose at this time had long wanted to take Guangzhou Bay for themselves.
In 1943, the Japanese occupied Guangzhou Bay. After occupying Guangzhou Bay, they burned, killed, looted, and there was no more land wherever they went. Faced with the iron hoof of the Japanese invaders, the people of Guangzhou Bay did not surrender. They took up their weapons and entered a life-and-death battle with the Japanese invaders.
1945 With the end of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Guangzhou Bay also returned to the embrace of the motherland. After returning, Guangzhou Bay changed its new name - Zhanjiang, which has not changed until today.
Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou Bay are just a microcosm of China's century-old humiliation history. The Qing government at that time was weak and incompetent and could not protect the Chinese people. For the sake of the regime in their hands, they cede land and pay compensation, which put them into the face of the Chinese. However, the great powers conquered the corrupt Qing government and did not conquer the Chinese people.
Because the spirit of the Chinese nation has been passed down from generation to generation, never giving in.
Of course, in addition to remembering this humiliating history of China and becoming braver after knowing shame, we must not forget the hard work of our ancestors.
We should take it as our mission to revitalize China and ensure that we have a great and prosperous future.
