Chapter 11 Chapter 10 The Anglo-New Zealand Concession Contract in Hong Kong

Don Nale knows that he is poor, but he still argues that Weihaiwei is entirely for safety reasons. This is the common interest of China and the UK, and it cannot be counted in our country's account.If the Germans leave Jiaozhou Bay, we would rather withdraw immediately.But we must not give up the New Territories... Li Hongzhang said, your demands are too much. This piece of land stretches from Shenzhen Bay to the south of the Dapeng Bay line, and also includes the territory of the two bays and adjacent islands, which is even more unacceptable. It is you who have included Kowloon City in the scope of the claim. This is unacceptable to us!

Li Hongzhang focused his attention on Kowloon City, which made Dou Nale secretly happy.That is to say, apart from Kowloon City, other areas in the New Territories can be expanded.It is likely that this is the attitude of the Chinese government. If Li Hongzhang refused straight away, saying that he could not give an inch of land in the New Territories, then it would be very difficult for them to realize their plan to expand the New Territories.However, Li Hongzhang casually raised the issue of Kowloon City today, from which the following conclusion can be drawn: If a concession is made on the issue of the ownership of Kowloon City, then the Chinese side will agree to requests outside of Kowloon City.

Donar was overjoyed.He immediately asked the British cabinet for instructions and telegraphed China's attitude to Salisbury.He said that judging from the current negotiation situation, it seems that the Chinese side will accept our lease request, but they pay special attention to Kowloon City and they are unwilling to give up their jurisdiction over the city.The purpose of the Chinese side in doing this is that if Kowloon City is transferred to the British government, what about the residents in the city?They are all Chinese citizens, and if you suddenly tell them that you have become British citizens, this will cause chaos and trouble.I think this is the kindness of Chinese officials, which shows that they are willing to cooperate with us on this matter.In view of this, I personally suggest that it is better to put aside the ownership of Kowloon City for the time being, and continue to let Chinese officials administer it. First, ask for a large area of ​​land in the New Territories, and then map Kowloon City after the lease of the New Territories is successful.I don't think China's jurisdiction over the city will last long.He said.

Salisbury called back and said he couldn't agree more.It's just that China's Kowloon City cannot interfere with the defense of Hong Kong.Because there will be Chinese troops stationed in Kowloon City, Sox is afraid that the Chinese army will threaten the security of Hong Kong. Dou Nale had a solid idea in his heart, so when he met with Li Hongzhang, he said that the British cabinet had planned to lease the Zhoushan area, and it also issued an order for itself.It's just that I feel that my lord has always had a close relationship with the United Kingdom. As the middle hall, I am afraid of embarrassing you, so I gave up the watermelon and picked up sesame seeds.Now I follow your opinion, and once again telegraphed your opinion of retaining the jurisdiction of Kowloon City to the government of this country, and the cabinet has already replied, expressing respect for Lord Zhongtang’s opinion.I hope that the adults will agree to this extension request, and then show the map to Li Hongzhang again.The scope of expansion is marked on the map: the northern land boundary is 114.26 east longitude; the western boundary is 113.47 east longitude; the southern boundary is 21.48 north latitude.

Li Hongzhang pondered for a long time after reading it, and said, thank the minister for thinking of himself in everything.If Kowloon City is still under the jurisdiction of Chinese officials, and the government and the people can still walk on this road as usual, if you can help us stop opium smuggling and ensure tax revenue, I agree in principle. Dou Nale said that if Chinese officials and people walk casually in the New Territories as usual, it may be detrimental to public security and inconvenient to manage.Can it be restrained and restrained?Li Hongzhang didn't speak, but looked very resolute.

Don Nale said, well, let's make a concession and agree with Mr. Zhongtang's opinion.Li Hongzhang said that China will also build a railway from Guangzhou to Kowloon City.Donaler refused, saying that it would be unacceptable to build a Chinese-controlled railway on British-administered territory. Li Hongzhang went on to say, then the railway will be repaired to the boundary, and then we will discuss it separately.Don Nale nodded yes. Li Hongzhang said, Dapeng Bay and Shenzhen Bay, if the war or the situation requires our warships to be used, you must allow it.Don Nale nodded again.

Li Hongzhang said, since this is the case, let's lease it to you.However, the British side did not immediately sign the "Extension of the Hong Kong Boundary Site" because many people in the British cabinet were not satisfied with the outcome of Donaler's negotiations. The British Colonial Defense Committee proposed that the land boundary in the northern part of the leased land should follow the natural boundary, along the north shore of Mipeng Bay to longitude 114.30 east; follow this meridian to the south to latitude 22.09 north; The southern tip of Lantau Island; north along the west coast of the island to longitude 113.52 east, then go straight north along the longitude to latitude 22.32 north, and then east to Shenzhen Bay, along the coast of the bay to the starting point of the northern land boundary.

The British Admiralty said dissatisfiedly that Donalle actually defined the east at 114.26 east longitude. Did he make a mistake? The British Colonial Office also said angrily that the northern boundary of the concession should at least include the entire northern coast of Shenzhen Bay and Dapeng Bay, and the eastern boundary should also include the entire eastern coastline of Mipeng Bay. The northern and eastern boundaries should be revised immediately. At this time, the entire British cabinet has become a temporary headquarters for slaughtering China.What kind of gentlemanly demeanor, what kind of aristocratic temperament, what kind of British civilization, have long been grasped by the word desire for profit, and have been completely forgotten.Here there is only greed, only brazenness, and only aggression.

Dou Nale had no choice but to negotiate with the Chinese side again according to the cabinet's instructions, requesting to revise and expand the scope of Hong Kong's boundary.First entangle with the Prime Minister's Yamen.Negotiate with Li Hongzhang again. Donale stalked left and right, coercing and luring, and finally made China bow its head again. On June 9, 1898, the Sino-British "Special Articles on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundary Site" were signed in Beijing.Signing on behalf of the Chinese government were Li Hongzhang and Xu Yinggui.The one who signed on behalf of the United Kingdom was the mighty Donnale. The Articles read as follows:

After many years of investigation, it is known that a non-extended boundary site in Hong Kong is not enough to defend.Today, the governments of China and the United Kingdom have agreed on a rough plan to expand the British Territory as a new leased land according to the attached map.The detailed boundary line should be drawn after the two countries have dispatched personnel to survey it, and then draw it, with a deadline of ninety-nine years.It was also agreed that all Chinese officials currently stationed in Kowloon City can still conduct their own affairs in the city, but they must not interfere with the defense of Hong Kong.The rest of the newly leased land is exclusively under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.From Kowloon to Xin'an land road, Chinese officials and people travel as usual.It was also agreed that the old wharf area of ​​the nearby Kowloon City would remain, so that Chinese soldiers, merchant ships, and ferryboats could come and go and berth at will, and officials and people in the city could walk freely.In the future, China will build a railway to Kowloon, which is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, and do business temporarily.It was also agreed that within the development area, residents should not be forced to relocate, and their property should be transferred to the government. If the land is needed for official work such as the construction of government offices and forts, the price should be paid from the public.Since its inception, in the event of a crime between the two countries, it will still be handled in accordance with the original Sino-British treaty and the Hong Kong Constitution.According to the attached map, the land leased to the United Kingdom has the waters of Mipeng Bay and Shenzhen Bay, but it is agreed that the Chinese warships in these two bays can still enjoy them no matter whether they are inside or outside the bureau.

On March 19, 1899, China and Britain signed the "Anglo-New Concession Contract in Hong Kong" in Hong Kong. The full text is as follows: The northern boundary begins at 114.30 east meridian of Mirs Bay, where the tide rises everywhere, from the coast of the land to the wooden piles, close to the west of Shatoujiao (that is, the local name Tongwuxu), and not far into the interior, to a narrow road, left The horizontal line of the boundary tide, the field on the right, and a wooden pile to the east, all of this road belongs to the British boundary, allowing the people of the two countries to communicate. From this road to the oblique corner of Tongwu Ruin, another wooden pile was erected until the wide river that dried up at the moment, with the middle line of the river bottom as the boundary line, the area on the left bank of the river belongs to the middle boundary, and the area on the right bank of the river belongs to the British boundary. Along the line at the bottom of the river to Jingkou Village Road, another wooden stake was erected at the junction of the river and the road.This road leads to a rugged mountain path, crosses the river, crosses the river again, and turns back to the river. The water surface is not limited to the British or the Chinese, and the people of the two countries can enjoy it.This road passes through the gorge about 500 feet higher than the sea level. It is the boundary line between Shatoujiao and Shenzhen Village. A wooden pile is erected here. The road starts from the gorge, which is the boundary line of the British border. It is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom and is still allowed. exchanges between the two peoples.This road goes down to the right side of the mountain gorge, and on the left side of the road there is a waterway leading to Jingdu Village. At the foot of the mountain gorge, this road crosses a waterline, which is slightly larger than the previous one. Passing through Jingdu Village on the right to the Shenzhen River, about a quarter of a mile from Jingdu Village, and up to here, this road belongs to the British Territory, and the people of the two countries are still allowed to communicate. The water that flows out of the waterway from Wutong Mountain can be enjoyed by farmers in both countries.Re-establish wooden stakes at the end of the road as a boundary.Along the north bank of the Shenzhen River down to the south of the Shenzhen Bay boundary, the river lands belong to the British Territory.The 300-mile line from east to west to south is as stated in the contract.The entirety of Lantau Island is within the territory.The waters of Dapeng Bay and Shenzhen Bay also belong to the concession. So far, the British have completed all the expansion of the written contract, and they are only waiting for the takeover plan to move into the New Territories! On March 27, 1899, the Governor of Hong Kong, Blake, sent the British Hong Kong Government Police Secretary Mei Xuanli to set up a police shed in Tai Po Market, New Territories.Mei Xuanli led a team of policemen, hired a team of laborers, and brought building materials to a small hill called Pengchong near Tai Po, where he planned to build a simple police shed. According to the "Special Regulations on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundary Site", Tai Po has been included in Hong Kong.From then on it was called the New Territories.The New Territories refers to the newly leased territory of the British. It is located in Xin'an County, Guangdong Province (now in the south of Shenzhen City? It includes more than 200 islands such as Lantau Island, with an area of ​​about 9,751 square kilometers and 45,000 acres of farmland, accounting for 20% of the entire county area of ​​Xin'an County. Two-thirds of it is connected to South Kowloon. In addition to the aborigines, the residents here also include the Deng family who moved from Ji'an, Jiangxi Province during the Northern Song Dynasty, plus the Hou, Peng, Liao, Wen and other families who moved here and there. Known as the five largest families in the New Territories, they have a population of about 100,000. However, the division of the New Territories to the British was only a written decision of the Chinese and British upper-level rulers, and the people living here would not agree easily.In addition, the acceptance and delivery ceremony had not yet been held in the New Territories at this time, and Mei Xuanli did not notify the local Qing government of this trip in advance, thus triggering an anti-British action with weapons. On March 28, Mei Xuanli began to build the police shed.The laborers cut down the trees on the hill, leveled the land, buried the stakes, and soon built a house—a house made of straw mats and planks. At this time, the nearby villagers saw a strange house standing on the hillside, so they gathered around to watch the excitement.When we got closer, we could see clearly that they were foreigners. So the villagers stepped forward and asked: Who told you to build the house?The Englishman talked about Uliwala.The villagers couldn't understand, so they asked the construction workers who were working.The construction workers said the areas had already been assigned to the UK.The villagers were anxious, saying that this is a place where we Chinese have lived for generations, how can it be allocated to foreigners?Who rowed it? Construction workers said, who else?Green eyes and long hair!The villagers said, is there still a king's law? The long-haired ghost can't just give him whatever he wants, right?Does the government know about this? The construction workers said that the government and the foreigners have signed a document to give the land and people to the long-haired ghosts, and you will no longer be Chinese in the future! An elderly man burst into tears.He knelt on the ground and knocked his head loudly.He is Deng Jiugong from Ha Village.He broke down in tears and said: I am a descendant of Huaxia, and I am a person who is going to be buried. How did I become a barbarian overnight?How can I have the face to meet the following ancestors?Wow...Where does my soul go...Where does my soul go...Wow... Jiao Jiugong is the elder of the Deng family. When he cried, the descendants of the Deng family also knelt on the ground, crying bitterly at the tomb of their ancestors. A scholar named Deng Qingshi stood up and said: What's the use of crying, we want to let them foreigners know that Chinese people are not easy to mess with! People stopped crying and gathered around Deng Qingshi to listen to him.Deng Qingshi's family has fields and land, and it is a big family.The people are also very upright, and they are quite promising in the local area. Deng Qingshi said that the long hair is about to invade our land, if we let it do what it wants, like a dog or a sheep, we will never have a bright future.We will make the invaders pay! What to do, you say, we listen to you!People go along. Why don't we unite and gather the people in the surrounding villages to deal with the long-haired thieves together!Long Mao has guns and cannons, but we have no weapons in our hands, how can we do anything to them?someone said. We have swords and spears.You can also buy some fast guns from Macau, and you can also snatch them from them.As long as everyone is united, they will definitely drive the long-haired thieves back to their hometowns. At this time, people from Kam Tin, Ping Shan, Pat Heung, Xia Pat Heung, Castle Peak, Yuen Long, Tai Po and other places also came to Ha Village to ask advice. received them.Everyone publicly recommended Deng Qingshi as the leader of the armed resistance to Britain.Under the leadership of Deng Qingshi, an organized anti-British struggle began immediately. People in the New Territories began posting debunking posts everywhere. The poster posted by Pingshan read: We hate Yingyi, they are about to enter my realm, take my land, and do endless harm.The situation is critical, we are waiting day and night, and our people must be dissatisfied with this, and are determined to resist the British and barbarians.However, the weapons are not good enough to resist the enemy. Therefore, we have designated a training ground to gather all patriots to practice with live ammunition. The post in Yuen Long Township wrote: Yingyi is about to enter our territory, and our village households are facing a catastrophe.All my villagers must rise up enthusiastically, fight back with force, and act in unison. Townships organized armed self-defense forces.Every family pulls out middle-aged men, number them, line up in the team, put down their work, go to the threshing ground to practice fists and feet, and learn the new fast guns they just bought. Every household automatically organizes a joint defense. The women are on guard during the day, and the men are on duty at night.Whenever there is a turmoil, the drums and trumpets will sound together. The people of Tai Po and Ha Tsuen waited for nightfall to go up the mountain together and burned the police shed to the ground.The construction workers used to keep vigil here, and they were encouraged by the people to drop their unfinished work and leave. Mei Xuanli went to Tai Po again, the hills were bare and clean. At the same time, the people sent by British Hong Kong to set up boundary pillars in the northern part of the New Territories were also blocked by the local people. Seeing that the task could not be completed, Mei Xuanli immediately reported to Hong Kong Governor Bu Li.Bu Li didn't think so.Mei Xuanli said that the local residents wanted to gather crowds to make trouble.Bu Li said that if they dared to confront the British Empire, they would be severely punished. I don't believe the Chinese have such courage! Like Robinson, Buli was also a professional administrative official and was once knighted by the King of England.According to his colonial experience, he believes that when the colonists enter the colony, the local residents will feel uncomfortable, and it is normal to resist.But this resistance is usually futile.A powerful empire will have many ways to calm them down, and they will get used to it.So Bu Li decided to proceed with the acceptance ceremony as originally planned. The acceptance ceremony was scheduled for April 17, 1899, at 1:00 pm.There was only half a month left when Mei Xuanli reported to Bu Li.Everything needs to be prepared, the location of the police station must be built, the boundary markers must be buried, the British and Hong Kong government agencies must be established, and so on.Therefore, Bu Li ordered Mei Xuanli to do his best to do the above-mentioned matters, and a grand reception ceremony for the New Territories will be held in Tai Po. Bu Li and his official Lockhart hurried to Guangzhou on the British ship Honor, and cooperated with the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Tan Lin in the reception of the New Territories.Tan Lin said that the Chinese side will not hand over the New Territories until an agreement is reached on the tariff issue.Guaranteed by Bu Li's clever words, Tan Cai said that he would send troops to the New Territories within three days to maintain order. On April 3, Mei Xuanli led a small team of policemen and a small team of soldiers borrowed from Kowloon City to Tai Po.Seeing that the new greenhouse had not yet been built, he led the soldiers to Man Mo Temple to find the perpetrators.At this time, there was an uproar in the Man Mo Temple, and the villagers were gathering to denounce the British aggression. Mei Xuanli ignored the situation and still regarded himself as the new owner, saying that the police station is the most important place in the country. You are already British citizens and must abide by British laws. Anyone who wants to set fire to the shed will be punished. . The villagers were not willing to listen to Mei Xuanli's nonsense. Someone asked loudly: You said that this place has been leased to the United Kingdom. How much is the loan?Mei Xuanli blinked and hesitated. The British said they were leasing the New Territories, but they repeatedly cheated when it came to rent.Until the "Special Articles" were signed and signed, China was not given a rent of one tael of silver.So Mei Xuanli couldn't answer. So, what about official documents?We are citizens of the Qing Dynasty, and we only recognize the proclamations of the Chinese government. If not, how could we listen to the nonsense of you long-haired ghosts?The villagers are even more eloquent. The announcement from the Chinese side is even more difficult to come up with.Because China and Britain have not really reached an agreement on taxation, rent and opposition to smuggling, and the British side unilaterally accepted it in advance, Mei Xuanli could not come up with a statement from the Chinese side. When the common people saw that Mei Xuan was hesitating, they gathered around and denounced their crime of aggression. Mei Xuanli ordered the soldiers to push everyone away and try to sneak out.Unexpectedly, when the nearby residents heard that foreigners had come to the temple to provoke, they hurriedly shouted, and rushed to the temple, blocking the temple gate.The people inside fought with weapons during the pushing and shoving. First they beat the Chinese interpreter, and then they beat the British police who maintained order. The Chinese soldiers who went to maintain order saw the anger of the crowd, so they didn't dare to do anything. They just stuck to the wall to watch the two sides fight. Fortunately, the British police did not shoot, and the two sides were limited to using weapons such as masonry, sticks, chairs and brooms.Mei Xuanli was beaten until his forehead bled, and escaped from the Man Mo Temple under the desperate cover of the Sikh police, and hid at the Shanbao police shed. At this time, people from the nearby eight townships rushed forward and surrounded the hill.Seeing that the situation was not good, Mei Xuanli had to order the police to fire warning shots, and the two sides stalemate until dusk. At night, the people approached step by step and set fire to the police shed again.Mei Xuanli and a team of policemen hid in the bushes and did not dare to come out. At least they persisted until the early morning of the next day before fleeing back to Hong Kong. Bu Li was furious when he heard the news, and immediately sent more than 200 soldiers, armed with light and heavy weapons, to Tai Po to suppress them.However, there are 100,000 residents on the ground in the New Territories, and a mere 200 soldiers are really useless to shake the tree. Therefore, Bu Li brazenly ordered the regular British troops stationed in Hong Kong to be dispatched to Tai Po to suppress the anti-British activities of the local residents. On April 16, the British warship HMS Honor was fully loaded with British soldiers and sailed to Tolo Harbor in the southeast of Tai Po. After frantically shelling the residents of Tai Po and other eight townships, the marines forcibly landed and set up camp in Tai Po to protect the reception ceremony. ceremony. Before the regular British troops arrived, Mei Xuanli once again fell into the sea surrounded by the Chinese people. On April 14, Mei Xuanli brought a team of policemen to Tai Po again in order to rush to repair the police shed.When the nearby anti-hero fighters heard the news, they besieged them again.They began to enter the position on the hill northwest of Tai Po, and dug trenches not far from the police shed.When thousands of people discovered that a company of British soldiers was trying to meet the besieged Mei Xuanli, they attacked the British soldiers one after another. The firepower of rifles and light artillery suppressed a company of British soldiers. Can't get up.Mei Xuanli's police shed was burned down again.Once again they were surrounded by armed resisters.When the British troops on the Honor warship landed, it was considered that the siege was relieved for Mei Xuanli and the others.Then, the confluent British army began to attack the Chinese resisters on the hill.The cannons on the Honor warship blasted the positions on the hill, and half an hour after the assault, the British infantry began to charge.The anti-British martyrs were powerless and were forced to retreat.The British army occupied the position of the resisters on the hill and captured the large banner with writing on it. Seeing that the resisters had retreated, Bu Li decided to advance the takeover ceremony originally scheduled for April 17.In order to ensure the smooth progress of the ceremony, he ordered the British troops landing and the warships anchored in the port to be on guard and guard duty, so as to ensure that there would be no mistakes in the takeover ceremony. On the afternoon of April 16, the ceremony for the British takeover of the New Territories was hastily held in an atmosphere of danger and anxiety.The air was filled with the smell of turpentine and gunpowder. From time to time, people on the distant mountains fired cold guns at this place. It was like a hot ground fire rushing under the ground under their feet, and it would burst out at any time to kill people.We hurriedly held a takeover ceremony on such a land with no sense of security... This is a passage written by an invader named Wilson, who truly recorded the real situation at that time.Bu Li, Commodore Powell, Lockhart, and Hong Kong British celebrities rushed to the venue to celebrate the takeover ceremony.Some New Territories residents were also forced to participate by the army and police. The ceremony began. British soldiers entered the venue in a row, the military played, and the guns on the warships were fired. After Lockhart raised the British flag, he read the "Special Regulations on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundary Site" and the order of the Administrative Bureau to the local people in a serious manner. Claim: From 2:50 pm on April 16, 1899, Chinese residents in the New Territories must submit to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom; from that date, the British flag must be raised at sunrise in the New Territories and lowered at sunset, and cannot be changed... From then on, the New Territories fell into the hands of the British colonists.The long night of a century began from then on.However, the anti-British struggle on the land of the New Territories did not end. After the British army occupied Tai Po and carried out the takeover ceremony, they continued to advance westward, encountering resolute resistance from the resisters along the way. On April 18, about 3,000 residents fought fiercely with the British army in Sung Chung. The British army was caught off guard and fled in defeat. In early May, the British army organized a large-scale encirclement and suppression of the anti-British troops, and the anti-British troops finally retreated to Kam Tin Kat Hing Siege.The British army surrounded Jiqingwei in several ways. The villagers living in Jiqingwei are all villagers surnamed Deng. They were settlers who moved from Jiangxi during the Chongning period of the Song Dynasty.Zhai River was dug around the village, with a depth of more than ten meters. The villagers removed the suspension bridge, and the British army could only watch each other across the bank.The village is surrounded by a high wall several meters high, with gun holes on the wall, and the villagers can shoot outside calmly.Relying on this castle-like fortress, the resisters and the British army faced off and fought tenaciously. Deng Qingshi organized the righteous men from all walks of life who retreated to Jiqingwei.Soldiers were divided into groups to guard the gate of the village. All men, women and children in the village were mobilized to patrol day and night. Whenever there was any danger, they immediately sounded gongs to warn. There is a large iron gate at the main entrance of Jiqingwei, which was built during the Kangxi period to prevent pirate attacks.The iron gate is not only extremely strong, but also very beautiful, with a high level of craftsmanship.Once the iron gate is closed, no one can open it.In this way, the British army was blocked from the iron gate for many days in a row. Facing the indomitable Jiqing Wei people, the invaders became angry with shame, so they dispatched several cannons from Hong Kong Island and bombarded the iron gate indiscriminately. After the iron gate collapsed, British soldiers rushed into the encirclement and massacred many Innocent villagers.The British army also snatched the iron gate of Jiqingwei, and displayed it in London as a trophy to show off to the British king. In 1925, at the strong request of the people of Kam Tin Wai Township, this historic door was transported back to Hong Kong from the UK and returned to Kam Tin people. The resistance movement of the people of the New Territories ultimately failed.Deng Qingshi, Deng Yishi and other resistance leaders fled to Guangzhou, Nantou and other places. After the British army extinguished the anti-British flames in the New Territories, they pointed their finger at the long-coveted Kowloon City. Kowloon City occupies an important position in Hong Kong's ancient political, military and economic history.In the Song Dynasty, Guanfuchang was set up in the south of today's Kowloon City. It was one of the important salt fields along the coast of Guangdong, and the local navy was once stationed there.The Yuan Dynasty government once set up an administrative unit below the county level here, called the Guanfu Inspection Department.This system still existed in Ming and Qing Dynasties.Judging from the records in Xin’an County Chronicles compiled by Wang Chongxi and others during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, most of the native villages under the jurisdiction of the Guanfu Inspection Department are distributed in today’s Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, with only a few such as Futian, Chiwei, and Xiaomeisha. The villages are distributed in what is now Shenzhen.The jurisdiction of the Guanfu Inspection Department is roughly equivalent to that of the current Hong Kong region.The Guanfu Inspection Department is located in Guanfu Village on the Kowloon Peninsula.In the early Qing Dynasty, the government office fell into disrepair for a long time, so it was abolished.In the tenth year of Kangxi, the inspector Jiang Zhenyuan bought land in Chiwei Village to build a government office, and the government office was moved to this place.After Hong Kong was ceded to the British, the status of the Kowloon Peninsula was in jeopardy. The Qing government decided to change the Guanfu Inspection Division to the Kowloon Inspection Division, and the inspection station was moved back to Guanfu Kowloon Village. In August 1846, Qi Ying, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time, asked to build the Kowloon Walled City. He said: Check the Jiulong Mountain area, which is outside the Kap Shui Gate, and is close to Hong Kong.It was quite effective after being transferred to the deputy general of the Dapeng Camp and Jiulong Mountain for inspection and reconnaissance in the past.The third mountain is vast, and there is no danger for the garrison officers and soldiers to live in, and they live in rented houses.Even though the British and barbarians have entered our range, they will not be resurrected, and the barbarians' situation is unpredictable, so we should still take precautions... When the Kowloon City was being built, Gu Bingzhang, a special judge appointed by the Guangdong government, was appointed as a construction supervisor to perform his duties.According to Gu Bingzhang's "Documents on the Complete Case for the Survey and Construction of Jiulong City Fortress", the site of the city's construction, Jiulongzhai, was located in the coastal area within five miles of Baihe Mountain in the middle of Jiulong Mountain. At that time, there were hundreds of shops and private houses.Gu Bingzhang and others decided to build a stone city with a circumference of 199 feet and four gates on the city wall on an official wasteland three miles away from the sea at the southern foot of Baihe Mountain after field investigation.There are 32 cannons on the east, west and south sides of the city.There is a pool in the city, and a waist wall is built in the north of the city, surrounding the top of the mountain with a circumference of 170 feet.In addition, the south side of the old Kowloon Fort outside the city was heightened and thickened, and two 3,000-jin cannons were added to form a corner with the city wall.The Kowloon City project is huge, including the construction of the Temple of Emperor Wu, the Vice General's Office, the Inspection Office, the Martial Arts Pavilion, the Grand Campus, the Military Uniform Gunpowder Bureau, and supporting projects for the military room.After the completion of Kowloon City, it became the political and military center of the Qing government in Hong Kong. Due to the prominent status of Kowloon City, the British have never given up their plans to occupy Kowloon City and other places. After Jiqingwei was occupied by the British, Bu Li made an excuse that he found people wearing uniforms among the anti-British masses, and it was likely that the Qing soldiers in Kowloon City participated in the resistance movement.He ordered the British army to occupy Kowloon City and Shenzhen on the grounds that the Qing government had not fulfilled the lease agreement. On the afternoon of May 16, about two companies of Royal Welsh Musketeers, some artillerymen, engineers, and more than a hundred volunteers landed at the Kowloon City Wharf and forced their way into Kowloon City.The deputy general of the Dapeng Association stationed in the city did not organize resistance. After he made a strong protest to the invaders, he was driven out of the city by the British army.The British army searched the city wantonly, piled up the guns, ammunition, broadswords, spears, military uniforms, etc. they had collected in the open space of the city, and then set them on fire.When the fire was ignited, the British army raised the British flag at the head of Kowloon City and fired a 21-gun salute to celebrate the victory of occupying Kowloon City. Then, Bu Li ordered the capture of Shenzhen.After the capture of Shenzhen, they wanted to capture Xin'an County, but they had to give up because of insufficient troops. The shameless behavior of the British aroused the great indignation of the Chinese people, and the Chinese government negotiated with the British government several times.In order to prevent international troubles from happening and things unfavorable to Britain, the British government had to order Buli to evacuate Shenzhen on November 16 and return to the New Territories.It's just that the British in Kowloon City still refuse to return it. On November 15, 1899, the Chinese government sent a note to the British government, expressing its satisfaction with the withdrawal of the British troops from Shenzhen, and at the same time strongly urging Britain to abide by the treaty and restore China's legal jurisdiction over Kowloon City.Luo Fenglu, Minister to the UK, was ordered to note to Salisbury that the British occupation of Kowloon City clearly violated the "Special Articles".The Chinese government hopes that the British government will consider a solution to this problem.Because the Kowloon City clauses in the "Special Articles" are similar to the Sino-Russian provisions on Jinzhou City in the Luda Lease Treaty, the Chinese government is worried that Britain's breach of the agreement will cause Russia to follow suit, and hopes that the British side will stop causing trouble to the Chinese government and withdraw from Kowloon immediately City, let China exercise jurisdiction over Kowloon. On January 15, 1900, Li Hongzhang held a meeting with Hong Kong Governor Blake in Hong Kong.Li Hongzhang had taken over as governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at this time, and Tan Lin had been dismissed.Because Li Hongzhang came to Hong Kong for the first time, Bu Li personally accompanied Li Hongzhang to visit the Hong Kong market.Although Li Hongzhang is more than seventy years old, he is still very interested in Western-style architecture and modern transportation.He watched with great interest.But after watching all this, he said to Bu Li in a very trendy tone: The news that I was appointed as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi will be published in newspapers across the country on the 18th of this month.The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi that your country dislikes, Tan Lin, has been dismissed. I don't know why he was dismissed, but I can say for sure that it was definitely not because he insisted on taking back Kowloon City.I think your Excellency should consider the issue of returning Kowloon City... Bu Li said, as far as I know, the Russians leased Luda and also occupied Jinzhou.Li Hongzhang said that it was precisely because you already knew what the Russians were doing that the Russians withdrew from the Golden State very quickly.They don't want to let public opinion from all over the world gossip.I don't even want you to catch them.I would like to remind your Excellency that the Russians will make a big fuss about your continued occupation of Kowloon City, and you will be stigmatized by international public opinion... Bu Li laughed and said: Let them go.If we also occupy a good place like Luda, we will also quickly evacuate Golden State.The British still had the cheek to not withdraw their troops. Article 4 of the British Privy Council promulgated on October 20, 1898 once recognized China's jurisdiction over Kowloon City. On December 27, 1899, the United Kingdom revised this and announced it in the "Hong Kong Government Gazette" on February 20, 1900.The new Order of the Privy Council stated that: In view of the fact that the exercise of jurisdiction by Chinese officials in Kowloon City has hindered the defense of Hong Kong's armaments, Article 4 of the above-mentioned Order of the Privy Council should be repealed, and the Chinese officials in Kowloon City should stop doing their own things in the city, and the Kowloon City The lease period mentioned by the city in the above-mentioned Chinese and English "Special Articles on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundaries" should actually become an important part of Her Majesty's Hong Kong colony... On March 2, 1900, the British Foreign Office sent a letter to the Colonial Department saying: Regarding the Kowloon City issue, Lord Salisbury proposed not to give the Chinese government any answer... At this time, the Boxer Movement was surging in northern China, and teaching plans emerged one after another.The decadent government of the Qing Dynasty is on the verge of death. On November 7, 1901, Li Hongzhang died of illness in Beijing. On November 14 and 15, 1908, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died one after another. Four years later, on February 12, 1912, the Qing court issued the emperor's abdication edict out of desperation: Today, the people of the whole country tend to be republican in their psychology. The provinces in the South and Central China advocate it first, and the generals in the north also advocate it later. The destiny of the people can be known.Because of the honor of one surname, Yu Yi Heren can tell people's likes and dislikes.It is to use the external trend and internal review of public opinion to lead the emperor to make the ruling power public to the whole country and make it a constitutional republic. So far, the Qing Dynasty, which had ruled China for 260 years, came to an end.Yet Hong Kong's stigma lives on.The state affairs are complicated, and no one thinks about Kowloon City, where the British were forced to go for no reason.The matter of jurisdiction over Kowloon City was shelved.This farewell is 99 years...