Faced with the slavery of opium to the people of China and the loss of a large amount of silver, Lin Zexu stood up and shouted: If smoking is not banned, there will be no silver as a salary in China, and there will be no Qiang Bing to resist aggression. For the sake of national dignity, smoking must be banned.

The emperor asked Lin Zexu to go to Guangzhou to ban opium. As soon as Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou, he ordered foreign businessmen to hand over all opium, and promised not to smuggle opium to China again, otherwise hell to pay.

Some foreign businessmen did this, but British businessmen refused. Representatives of the British government also planned a plot to try to resist. Lin Zexu made a decisive decision, resolutely exercised sovereignty, interrupted trade with Britain, and stopped supplying food and water. The British had no choice but to hand over opium.

Extended information Lin Zexu (1785, August 30th-1850165438+1October 22nd) was a politician, thinker, poet and official in the Qing Dynasty. He used to be governor of Huguang, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and was appointed as an imperial envoy twice. He was called the "national hero" of China because he advocated smoking ban.

1839 When smoking was banned in Guangdong, Lin Zexu sent an unannounced visit to force foreign opium dealers to hand over opium, and the confiscated opium was destroyed in Humen on June 3. The destruction of opium in Humen put Sino-British relations in a state of extreme tension, which became an excuse for British aggression against China during the First Opium War.

Although Lin Zexu struggled against western invasion all his life, he was open to western culture, science and technology and trade, and advocated learning and using it. According to the literature, he knows at least a little English and Portuguese, and is committed to translating western newspapers and books. Wei Yuan, a thinker in the late Qing Dynasty, compiled the documents translated by Lin Zexu and his aides into "Seaside Map", which inspired the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty and even the Meiji Restoration in Japan.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Lin Zexu