Chapter 10 Humen sells cigarettes

In 1839, Imperial Envoy Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou. Lin Zexu’s idea of ​​smoking ban is very clear: first deal with the Chinese who smoke opium, then deal with the Chinese merchants who sell opium, and the British merchants who provide opium. Let it go, it's not too late to settle accounts after autumn, after all, they still have to work hard to arrest people now. The Chinese who smoked opium, the Chinese businessmen who sold opium, and some officials who bent the law for personal gain were easily dealt with by Lin Zexu. Those who should be arrested were arrested, those who should be confiscated were confiscated, and those who should be fined were fined.

Finally came the turn of the British merchants, the main suppliers of opium. To be fair, Lin Zexu did have a little understanding of the world situation, so he was a little worried about the British naval strength, but when Lin Zexu thought that the British were not good at land warfare and tea, and that rhubarb had the effect of defeating others without fighting, he became firm. The determination to completely ban opium—even if the ban on smoking leads to a Sino-British war, why should we be afraid of a war! Lin Zexu’s method of dealing with British businessmen was simple and direct—surrounding British business houses, cutting off water and food, and ordering the British to hand over opium as soon as possible. Sign on the letter of guarantee, or beware of the coming of my emperor Tianwei!

There are guys who want money and life at any time, not to mention these British businessmen who bet almost all their net worth on opium, so some British businessmen don't want to hand over opium and plan to fight Lin Zexu with their lives. At this time, Elliot, the current British commercial supervisor in China, appeared on the stage. He said to those British businessmen who wanted to refuse to hand over opium: Don’t resist, you hand over the opium to me first, and I will transfer it to Lin Zexu. The loss was borne by the Government of the British Empire. Please pay attention to Elliot's identity and think carefully about what he said!

The meaning expressed by Elliot's words is very clear-the ownership of opium has changed hands. It is no longer the private property of merchants, but the public property of the British government. Elliot did this after careful consideration. As a diplomat, he must first ensure the personal safety of his own citizens, but at the same time he must also be prepared for the worst. Obviously, elevating personal commercial behavior to national diplomatic behavior is beneficial to him. When he was poor, he asked the country for help and used military force to force Lin Zexu to submit. With the government paying the bill and saving your life, where can you find something cheaper than this?Then pay all the opium.

With the "help" of Elliott, Lin Zexu's cigarette payment task was overfulfilled, and the British paid about 1,000 boxes more than Lin Zexu expected. On June 3, 1839, Lin Zexu destroyed all the seized opium in Humen, in order to "destroy opium in Humen".