Portrait of Emperor Daoguang
But Daoguang was still unsure of his mind and kept hesitating whether to prohibit opium or ban it.
The so-called prohibition means prohibiting opium cultivation, smoking and trade, and taking the path of complete ban.
The so-called ban is to relax the ban, legalize opium, open customs, pay taxes in one go, and take the path of legalization.
Since you can't come up with your own opinions, just listen to the opinions of your ministers. Therefore, Emperor Daoguang asked the governors and ministers to discuss whether to ban smoking.
There is a famous memorial to Emperor Daoguang, "It is better to ban smoking from eating bad things if you don't have much trouble" by Lin Zexu to Emperor Daoguang. This is not well known.
Lin Zexu wax figure
But Lin Zexu's compromise sentence still deeply remembers the Chinese people: "Decades later, there is almost no soldiers in the Central Plains that can defend the enemy, and there is no silver to replenish the salary." ...
Some people agree with smoking ban, some oppose smoking ban, and the ministers expressed their opinions, and there were many different opinions, and there were a lot of discussions about opium.
However, the cautious and lack of opinion on Emperor Daoguang still did not make a decision.
Because of a thought, Emperor Daoguang made up his mind to ban smoking. Among the many discussions, especially Xu Qiu, the military officials, refuted Xu Naiji (Xu Naiji opposes ban on smoking) and said:
"What's more, knowing that it is a poisonous person, but listening to it, and levying taxes again. How can the heavenly dynasty be so polite?"
Lin Zexu's portrait
Daoguang realized that since the Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing dynasties all banned smoking, the number of smokers has increased instead of dropping, and the harm of opium poisoning is getting greater and greater. If it is not rectified, the image of the Qing Dynasty will be destroyed in its own hands.
If you ignore the image of the Qing Dynasty and go against the world's weather, and your writings in history will be as iron as iron in the future, how will future generations evaluate yourself? So Daoguang made up his mind to ban smoking!
Of course, the fundamental reason why Daoguang decided to ban smoking was to maintain the rule of the Qing Dynasty!
Author introduction:
Niu Zi, a post-90s historical enthusiast, loves to study historical figures, share historical stories every day, and accompany you to explore historical figures!
