Behind the Opium War, Daoguang's "ignorance" made people beat their chests.

1840 When the Opium War broke out, 47 British warships and 4,000 troops led by Major General George Elliott were slaughtered in China, the oldest empire in Asia.

At this time, China is going through the discussion of three clansmen, namely, the Qing Dynasty, Daoguang ruling, Manchu, Han and Mongolia. Because China has dominated Asia for a hundred years, the entire ruling class in China did not know that a storm was coming at this moment, not to mention that this rainstorm would change the direction of China.

Before the British came, China was proud of Asia militarily, culturally and economically. China, which has been called "Heaven" by many Asian countries all the year round, is not a paper tiger. At that time, China was the peak of farming civilization, with the best life and the strongest force.

"boom! Hey! "

The sound of British gunfire forced Daoguang to look down into the distance at this time. 1 Powerful troops came at him. But at the peak of his sedentary life, he didn't care, looked at it and began to anesthetize himself again. He still thinks that Britain is just a stronger barbarian.

The large-scale use of firearms in Britain, in the eyes of modern people, is a sign of China's overall backwardness. Daoguang can't even see this. He must be extremely stupid.

Legend: Daoguang

But Daoguang's cognition at that time may really not allow him to make such a judgment. The large-scale use of firearms was actually realized by the Qing army at that time. According to the research of Lu Hsiao-hsien, a scholar of literature and history, he thinks that the ratio of cold and hot weapons in China's army during Daoguang period has reached 5:5. Gun fighting is also normal in China, and it is really difficult to show the gap without formal contest.

At the same time, jurchen, together with Mongolian cavalry, once defeated the Ming army equipped with hot weapons on a large scale. Therefore, from a historical and realistic point of view, Daoguang never thought that China was worse than Britain.

At the same time, the pride of the sedentary lords also made Daoguang mistakenly think that his empire was vast in territory and abundant in resources, which was absolutely oppressive compared with Britain, which came out of nowhere. The British want to fight, just being bullied, just looking for their own reasons. They didn't, but the fault lies with the people below. As an emperor, he is still a "wise SHEN WOO".

This can be seen from the fact that Daoguang immediately dismissed Lin Zexu, who banned smoking, after fighting with the British. 1840 In August, the British military handed Daoguang a document, which probably meant that British subjects were bullied by China officials while working in China, so they sent warships to consult the emperor.

Legend: Daoguang stills

Regarding the British statement, Daoguang generously replied: "I have always treated imperial residents and people from overseas equally. If foreign people have any grievances, they will be severely punished. At present, officials have been sent to investigate this matter and preside over justice for Britain. "

It can be seen that Daoguang at that time regarded the British as an excuse to wage war and took it seriously. In fact, Daoguang really sent ministers to Guangzhou to investigate, and Lin Zexu was the first to plead guilty. At this time, Daoguang mistakenly thought that he could end the dispute by punishing both sides.

However, Daoguang's practice may be very useful for countries with low profile such as China, because the other side dare not offend China, and they will feel at ease after getting the steps.

But this time,/kloc-Britain, the world's maritime hegemon in the 9th century, did not consider itself inferior to China. It regards China as a country like itself, and the conflict between them is not China's "charity". It needs China to pay the price.

In the end, Britain, bearing the fruits of industrial development, successfully defeated China, the peak of agricultural civilization, and China signed the first unequal treaty "treaty of nanking" in modern history.

Legend: Opium War Scene

In the face of the menacing enemy, Daoguang did not think of defending the enemy from thousands of miles, but easily judged that he could crush the other side according to historical experience and respond with a "charity" mentality. From today's perspective, it can be described as a joke to the extreme.

In ancient times, the emperor's jokes were often the attitude of our whole country. China began its humiliating modern history in the ignorance of Daoguang.