Chapter 55 Chapter 6 Why Failed

Lin Zexu is also facing a difficult situation. At this time, he needs the help of people with lofty ideals.Who were the people with lofty ideals in the Qing Empire at that time?Gong Zizhen.The war between China and Britain was raging, and Gong Zizhen gathered a group of people to curse: incompetent!Useless!At this time Lin Zexu came, and he said to Gong Zizhen, you are right, we are incompetent, we are useless, we can't beat the British, but our time is wrong, we don't know who we are facing, We don't know what era we are in, we don't even know who our opponents are, what ideas they hold, and what ideas they have.In this process, the only correct person is you, Gong Zizhen, because you don’t do anything, you are only responsible for sitting around and criticizing, you are always right, and others are always wrong.But let me tell you Gong Zizhen, if you only put yourself in the perspective of a critic and don't consider doing something for this nation down-to-earth, then you are in danger.Even if you have no problems, I am afraid that the descendants of your family will inevitably have traitors.

Lin Zexu's words were later fulfilled. During the Xianfeng period, when the British and French allied forces entered Beijing, who would guide them?Gong Banlun, a descendant of Gong Zizhen. Looking at the history books now, it is said that the Opium War was a century-old shame, but it was not a shame at the time of the war, but successes were reported frequently. First the Ningbo garrison reported that they had captured Queen Victoria's sister.Only Lin Zexu knew that this was fooling around. At most, he had captured an old British shoe shiner. She was just fooling everyone, and no one knew the truth.Lin Zexu knew that the power of the Chinese Empire would not be able to resist Britain, so he thought of a way to call all the people into soldiers.He posted a notice: For all citizens of the Chinese Empire, how much silver will be rewarded for capturing a white man alive, how much silver will be rewarded for killing a white man, and how much silver will be rewarded for capturing or killing a black man alive.As soon as this announcement came out, people from all over the world who had contact with Lin Zexu, including Elliott, sent telegrams to scold Lin Zexu: You are out of your mind, why do you want to go to war?The purpose of war is to protect human life, and now you actually aim to destroy human life, are you out of your mind!

Lin Zexu was so scolded that he was dizzy and said: How could I know this? Since ancient times, the purpose of war is to kill people. I have never heard that the purpose is to protect life. I can't tell you clearly. If you can't tell, then the war can no longer be fought.The results of the Opium War are well known, and Hong Kong was given to Britain by signing the "Nose Grass Treaty".Meanwhile, the defeat in the war led to political reprisals by political opponents against Lin Zexu, who was exiled in Xinjiang.Just when Lin Zexu was exiled to Xinjiang to dig river mud, Elliot was also impeached by the British Empire, exiled to North America, and worked as a small clerk in an office. His political life ended here.Why is Elliot so miserable?Because he did not handle the relationship with China well.

This is a conflict between two civilizations, one is the civilization of power and the other is the civilization of capital.The rule of power civilization is to deny people's abilities and efforts, and to judge superiors and inferiors completely by social class—you are born a pariah, and you will be a pariah for the rest of your life. If you want to change your destiny through reading or wealth, then you have may be retaliated by society.But capital civilization is an equal civilization, why is it an equal civilization?Because it wants to do business, it must ensure a state of equality, so that business can be traded, and the business of inequality cannot be done.This cultural conflict implies a cultural failure in our Chinese history of nearly three thousand years, that is, the failure of power culture.Under the power culture, the vast majority of Chinese people have become power animals.

Lin Zexu was the first Chinese who opened his eyes to see the world, but he couldn't see clearly, why couldn't he see clearly?He is aware that China is in the atmosphere of power culture, but his interpretation of the world is still in the power culture mode.What about his opponent Elliott?Elliot is conscious that Britain is in the atmosphere of capital culture, and his interpretation of China is capital culture.These two interpretations will inevitably conflict. For example, in the face of the Kowloon murder case, Lin Zexu planned to follow the rules of the Chinese government for interrogation, bring the criminal to ask whether he will be recruited, if he does not recruit three hundred boards, and if he is beaten to death, he will be recruited. But this concept is unacceptable to Elliott.The sound of the guns of the Opium War decided whether power or capital would speak. There were two choices: one was the worst and the other was worse.The worst thing is the capital culture, which is the flow of human desires and moral corruption.What is worse is the power culture, which suffocates people's spirituality, talent, and hard work, and makes people helplessly condescend to a life of opium and drugs, leaving no hope for survival.Capital culture, no matter how dirty and corrupt it is, still gives people a glimmer of life.

In this cultural conflict, what Lin Zexu insisted on was a traditional Chinese empire’s ancient interpretation of the world, while what Elliot wanted to do was to reintegrate China with the emerging capital culture. These two concepts did not originate from them. They began earlier, from the time of Xavier, and they have not yet ended.When will we be able to open our eyes and face up to this period of history?It may not be possible to erect a bronze statue for Admiral Perry like the Japanese, but if we can interpret the Opium War in a positive, developmental, and progressive sense with a peaceful mind, then our nation will begin to mature.