The closed-door policy of the Qing Dynasty could no longer stop the crazy pace of Western businessmen smuggling opium. During the Daoguang period, opium smuggling became increasingly rampant. From the coast to the interior, opium smoking has become widespread. Opium smoking became common and silver was flowing out. The Qing Dynasty was already short of money and people, and the country was in danger.
Opium is rampant. This is a disease and it needs to be cured!
This is the unanimous understanding of the imperial court. However, there were serious differences of opinion within the imperial court on how to control the epidemic of opium. Among the courtiers, there were two opinions: should be relaxed and should be strictly prohibited.
The Qing government banned smoking
The strict prohibition faction was represented by Huang Juezi, the minister of Honglu Temple, Huang Juezi, the governor of Huguang , Lin Zexu, and others. They believed that the opium epidemic was so harmful that it had to be severely punished and severely punished. Not only should opium traffickers be severely punished, but opium addicts should also be targeted.
Anyone who smokes opium has a time limit of one year to quit. Those who cannot quit within one year will die if they are ordinary people. Those who are officials will be punished with an additional level of punishment, so that their families will suffer further disasters. If someone among relatives, friends, or neighbors smokes opium, and others know about it and fail to report it, they will also be jointly and severally liable. In short, it is necessary to use the country's powerful autocratic machine to clean up all the bastards who sell opium and smoke opium, and restore a bright future to the Qing Dynasty.
The Relaxation Movement was represented by officials such as Chief Military Minister Mu Zhang'a , Taichang Temple Qing Xu Naiji and other officials. They believe that the abuse of opium has been around for a long time and is so deep-rooted that it is difficult to stop it. It is better to simply allow open trading and impose heavy taxes on the opium trade ; at the same time, allow the cultivation of opium in the mainland and use domestic opium to defeat imported opium. In this way, the outflow of silver can be prevented and the Qing Dynasty will be financially wealthy. As for the bastards who love to smoke opium, they can do whatever they want. It is best to smoke them to death. If they die, they will make room for the Qing Dynasty.
In fact, the opinions of the strict prohibitionists and the relaxed prohibitionists each have their own reasonable points, and each also has its biases. Emperor Daoguang, who had always been indecisive, wavered and could not make up his mind over the debate between strict prohibitions and relaxation of prohibitions in the court.
Humen destroyed the opium
Later, Lin Zexu, Huang Juezi and others said: If we still look down on this, decades later, the Central Plains will have few soldiers who can defend the enemy, and there will be no silver to pay for it.
These words touched a sore spot for the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. If it really comes to a time when we are out of troops and out of money, the Qing Dynasty will not be far from being over. Emperor Daoguang was frightened by such predictions, so he firmly stood on the side of the strict prohibitionists and began to carry out a nationwide crackdown on opium using the strict prohibition of smoking as the main means.
In order to show his determination to ban smoking, Emperor Daoguang demoted Xu Naiji, who advocated relaxing the ban on opium, to the sixth rank of Dingdai, and soon kicked him out of the court and ordered him to serve as an official and go home. Emperor Daoguang also identified several examples of opium-smoking officials and severely punished them. Among them, the most prominent ones are Prince Zhuang Yi and Duke Puxi. These two princes were directly deprived of their titles for taking opium.
Emperor Daoguang got serious, and the anti-smoking campaign was launched vigorously across the country. Among them, smoking bans in Huguang, Zhili, , Liangjiang, and Guangxi have been quite effective.
Guangzhou is the source of opium smuggling and the area hardest hit by opium flooding. If opium smuggling here can be curbed, the nationwide anti-smoking effort will be more effective. Therefore, Emperor Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu, the governor of Huguang, as the imperial envoy to go to Guangzhou to handle the smoking ban. Lin Zexu, also known as Shaomu and Shilin, was born in Houguan County, Fujian Province (today's Fuzhou City) in the fiftieth year of Qianlong's reign (1785).
Lin Zexu came from a rather poor background. His father, Lin Binri, was a Gongsheng student and supported his family by teaching. Teaching and educating people sounds high-end, but the income is usually three melons and two dates, which is not worth mentioning. In order to supplement the family income, Lin Zexu's mother often secretly made women's handicrafts to supplement the family income.
When Lin Zexu was 4 years old, his father Lin Binri took him to a private school and taught him the Four Books and Five Classics.Lin Zexu was smart and studious, and his father Lin Binri taught him carefully and had high hopes for him.
Lin Zexu
When he was 9 years old, Lin Zexu wrote the majestic poem "The sea reaches the end of the world and the sky is the shore, and the mountain reaches the top and I am the peak." It is no exaggeration to say that he is a child prodigy.
Lin Zexu was a scholar at the age of 14 and a scholar at the age of 20. Jiaqing16th year (1811), 26-year-old Lin Zexu ranked fourth in the second class, high school Jinshi, and was elected as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. On the road to the imperial examination, Lin Zexu had a smooth journey, which gave him a good start in his future career.
Since then, Lin Zexu has been ups and downs in the officialdom, rising through the ranks.
In the third year of Daoguang's reign (1823), 39-year-old Lin Zexu served as Jiangsu's envoy and became a local official. Later, he was transferred to various provincial chief envoys and other positions.
In February of the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832), he was appointed governor of Jiangsu.
In the seventeenth year of Daoguang (1837), he was promoted to governor of Huguang. At that time, Lin Zexu was 53 years old. Among the eight governors of the provinces of the Qing Dynasty, this was definitely one of the most young and powerful.
Among the local governors of the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu was known for his meticulous and thoughtful management of politics, and Emperor Daoguang had always favored him. Now that smoking is banned in Guangdong, it is of great importance, and Emperor Daoguang handed over this important task to Lin Zexu. He believed that capable officials like Lin Zexu would definitely ban opium and restore peace to the Qing Dynasty.
