The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 236 The Beginning of Modern History

Yongzheng didn't have much interest in the Military Aircraft Department and the work of setting up his own family. After all, he set it up himself, and no one knew it better than himself.

He knew that the next issue he was most concerned about was what happened in the late Qing Dynasty that caused the Qing Dynasty to completely collapse.

Several emperors in the later years of the Qing Dynasty had bitter looks on their faces, knowing that the next step would be their trial.

They have tried to reduce their presence as much as possible and have never spoken on the barrage, but in the end they still cannot escape their final fate.

They blame themselves extremely, feeling sorry for their ancestors and failing to protect the country left by their ancestors.

Now the anchor has to tell this humiliating history in front of their ancestors. They are so embarrassed that they want to find a crack in the ground to crawl in, shameless to face the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty.

In addition to the emperors of the Qing Dynasty who were interested in what happened in the late Qing Dynasty, the emperors of other dynasties were also interested.

These emperors were very curious about how the Qing Dynasty was torn to pieces by foreign powers step by step despite a great situation.

Obviously, Yongzheng created such a good situation, and a policy of sharing the land with every family should make the Qing Dynasty stronger.

"The quality of military drills, the physical fitness of officers and soldiers, and the quality of weapons and equipment have gradually declined."

This made him secretly warned that the Ming Dynasty could not rest on its laurels, lest it one day follow in the footsteps of the Qing Dynasty.

"There were many major historical events that happened in the late Qing Dynasty. The anchor tells about some important historical nodes."

"The anchor will start with the First Opium War, because it was the turning point from feudal China to semi-colonial and semi-feudalization. It marked the beginning of modern Chinese history and is of particularly great historical significance."

"In the early nineteenth century, European countries experienced bourgeois revolutions and the influence of Enlightenment ideas."

"The tax burden on farmers has increased, and provinces have been in arrears with their land tax levies for many years, which has severely affected the state treasury revenue."

The only explanation is that the British guns were too powerful, far superior to the weapons of the Qing Dynasty, so they easily ransacked the Old Summer Palace in Beijing.

After Su Chen answered everyone's doubts, he began to answer the questions raised by Yong Zheng.

"Coupled with the year-by-year increase in the import of opium before the war, this resulted in a large outflow of silver through opium and made silver expensive and money cheap."

Just hearing the name of this war made him feel bad, and his face completely fell.

Logically speaking, it would be difficult for the British to transport troops to the Qing Dynasty, which was thousands of miles away, let alone conquer Beijing, the Qing Dynasty's main venue.

Yongzheng: The First Opium War? In other words, will there be a second Opium War?

"The Qing Dynasty before the Opium War was a feudal country with a long history in the world, with a large population and vast territory. However, it prospered and declined under the feudal autocratic rule of the Qing Dynasty."

"Due to insufficient funds, the Qing army was laxly armed and disciplined. The more than 200,000 Eight Banners officers and soldiers and the more than 600,000 Green Camp officers and soldiers had weak combat effectiveness."

He has a deep memory of this Britain. The treasures of the Old Summer Palace were snatched by the British and sent to the British Museum.

The reason for the disparity in strength between the two sides was that the Qing Dynasty knew nothing about the development of Britain.

It's not that they sympathized with the Qing Dynasty's experiences, it was just to keep an eye out and be vigilant at all times when dealing with foreign countries in the future.

Although he knew that there would be no good news in the late Qing Dynasty, it had just begun, and he was a little unbearable.

If the Qing Dynasty had known that Britain had such powerful weapons, they would have definitely tried their best to obtain these guns and artillery, so that they would not have lost so miserably on their home court.

You don’t need to guess to know that the two Opium Wars will definitely end with the defeat of the Qing Empire.

"The First Opium War refers to the large-scale aggressive war launched by the British government against the Qing government in the mid-19th century."

The Qing Dynasty, as a celestial country with a splendid Chinese civilization, was colonized by foreign barbarians. How could he accept this?
When I think of how hard he worked to manage the Qing Dynasty, he finally brought the Qing Dynasty to its peak.

In the final analysis, the Qing Dynasty implemented a closed-door policy and completely cut off contact with the outside world, so it had no knowledge of the development of Britain.

What's more serious is the anchor's definition of the First Opium War.

"However, the growth of cultivated land area is limited, so there is insufficient cultivated land per capita and people's lives are miserable."

"At the same time, large factory industry gradually replaced small workshop-style handicraft industry, which not only required the import of large quantities of raw materials, but also required the sale of large quantities of processed products in order to maintain capitalist expansion."

“Capitalism is developing rapidly, science and technology are improving rapidly, and major European powers France and other countries are accelerating their colonial expansion.”

But he was made like this by his unworthy descendants, and he couldn't even look down on his own family. He was so angry when he was wantonly insulted by foreign countries.

He had long been thinking about the reasons for the demise of the Qing Dynasty, so as to serve as a warning to the Ming Dynasty to avoid making the same mistake one day in the future.

"The European colonial situation during this historical period was not particularly ideal. All the colonizable lands in America, Asia, and Oceania were carved up."

It was precisely because he knew this that he was extremely sad and unable to accept this fact.

At that time, he was thinking about how Britain could defeat the Qing Dynasty because it was thousands of miles away from the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Di: As expected, the policy of seclusion was an important factor leading to the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

In the British Museum video played before the curtain, he had a rough understanding of the British invasion of China through guns and artillery.

"The First Opium War occurred against a multifaceted background, the first of which was the international background."

“In addition, the ruling class’s aggressive annexation of land has led to the concentration of land, and a large number of homesteaders have become tenant farmers or refugees.”

"The population and consumer market in Europe were limited, and it was impossible to accumulate large amounts of industrial finished products, so the great powers turned to the relatively closed Qing Empire to open up markets."

"At the same time, the Qing Dynasty's population grew rapidly, reaching about 1830 million by ."

"In addition, the Qing Dynasty has long implemented a policy of isolation from the country and lacks contact with the international world. The ruling class is stuck in its own way, and both technology and ideas lag behind the world level."

Through the expression "towards a semi-colony", he could already roughly imagine the crisis of national subjugation faced by the late Qing Dynasty.

"During the Jiaqing and Daoguang years, internal uprisings in the Qing Dynasty continued. The Qing government spent a lot of money from the treasury to suppress the uprisings, resulting in the national finances being unable to make ends meet when Emperor Daoguang succeeded to the throne in 1820."

"Before the Opium War, Britain was the most developed, most powerful, and typical capitalist country in the world."

"After the bourgeois revolution from 1640 to 1688, Britain initially established a bourgeois regime. In order to further develop capitalism, the bourgeois government began to implement a policy of colonial plunder to expand its colonies."

"The Industrial Revolution from the late 18th century to the early 19th century took the lead in Britain, expanding from the textile sector to machine manufacturing, transportation, metallurgy, coal industry and other sectors."

"By the 1830s and 1940s, Britain had completed the industrial revolution, allowing Britain to occupy a world industrial monopoly."

"Around 1840, Britain's industrial production accounted for nearly half of the world's industrial output. Based on this industrial basis, Britain built more warships and merchant ships to establish its maritime hegemony."

Li Shimin: Everything is right. Previously, the anchor had played videos of the Spinning Jenny and the Steam Train, which started the British Industrial Revolution.

The Spinning Jenny was said to be the beginning of the first industrial revolution. He had no special feelings at that time.

After all, it was Britain's business to start the Industrial Revolution. It was hundreds of thousands of miles away from China, and the two countries couldn't fight together.

But now it seems that he completely underestimated the power of the British Industrial Revolution.

It was through the Industrial Revolution that Britain became strong and extended its power to all parts of the world, and the Qing Dynasty was not immune.

At this moment, he couldn't help but be extremely curious about Britain and wanted to know how Britain had achieved this.

After all, according to the historical trajectory, even at its peak, the Tang Dynasty could not dominate the world and extend its tentacles of power to all parts of the world.

But he is not in a hurry, thinking that he will know all the information about Britain soon.

Once the anchor's vast collection of books is in place, there will surely be books on the secrets of Britain's rise to world dominance.

"The outbreak of the First Opium War is inextricably linked to opium."

“In the late 18th century, because the British royal family respected and loved tea, the British East India Company imported a large amount of tea from the Qing Dynasty and sold it to the British mainland.”

"As the British tea consumer group gradually expands, tea gradually gains a dominant position in Sino-British trade."

"But due to China's self-sufficient small-scale farmer economy, silver continues to flow into China and less flows out, causing the UK to suffer from a long-term trade deficit."

"In order to reverse the situation, Britain chose to mainly export cotton raw materials. In the late eighteenth century, Britain's total cotton exports to China reached an average annual average of about 300,000 taels of silver."

"But soon the British domestic textile industry developed rapidly, and at the same time the demand for factory raw materials increased rapidly. Most of the cotton flowed into the UK, and the UK's trade with China was still in deficit."

"So Britain turned its attention to the opium trade. Because it controlled India and Central Asia, the world's largest poppy growing areas, the British East India Company gained a monopoly on the opium trade in China."

"Wantly dumping opium into China through its affiliated merchant ships and smugglers, causing a large amount of silver to flow out of the Qing Dynasty."

"As of 1838, the proportion of opium exports in Britain's trade with China accounted for half of the total exports."

"Coupled with the reduction in smuggling costs, the UK has gradually completed the reversal of its trade deficit."

"In 1838, the Minister of Honglu Temple wrote to Emperor Daoguang, describing in detail the dangers of opium smoking and opium trading, and suggested severely cracking down on opium smuggling and imposing heavy penalties on opium users."

"Emperor Daoguang then handed over the matter to the governors of each province for discussion, and the governors of each province reached a consensus on the smoking ban."

“In June of the same year, Lin Zexu, the then governor of Huguang, wrote a reply to the memorial, stating the dangers of opium and proposing six anti-smoking plans based on the anti-smoking policy he implemented during his term as governor of Huguang.”

Qianlong: Those who are not of my race must have different minds. I have long known that there is no good thing in those European countries.

He has always been wary of foreign countries, especially European countries, so he is unwilling to contact them.

Now it seems that, as expected, he was not wrong at all.

The British dumped opium into the Qing Empire, and one can imagine the sinister intentions of the British.

Poppy is addictive, and the opium made from poppy turned his Qing people into a state of inhumanity.

While he hated the British, he was also very angry with the emperor and his grandson. He hated iron but not steel.

The people of the Qing Dynasty have been smoking opium for a long time, and the foundation of the Qing Dynasty will be hollowed out.

Why couldn't Daoguang understand such a simple truth at all, and instead allowed the British to dump opium against the Qing Dynasty?

Although Daoguang later came to his senses and ordered a ban on smoking, it was already too late as opium accounted for half of Britain's total trade with the Qing Dynasty.

However, when he thought that Britain's strength had obviously surpassed that of the Qing Dynasty at that time, and it was no longer up to the Qing Dynasty to decide whether to refuse, he couldn't help but sigh deeply, and a kind of powerlessness spread in his heart.

"The reason why the first Opium War broke out between Britain and the Qing Dynasty started with the destruction of opium in Humen."

"In November 1838, Lin Zexu went to Beijing and was awarded the position of Imperial Envoy by Emperor Daoguang. He went to Guangdong, the only treaty port, to ban opium and control the Guangdong Navy."

"At this time, private merchants in Guangzhou jointly established public banks to protect their own interests. Public banks were supported by the Qing government because they could reduce the burden of government management. They were the monopoly organizations responsible for foreign trade in Guangdong's treaty ports."

"Therefore, if European merchants wanted to conduct formal trade at the Guangdong Treaty Port, they had to find public banks as intermediaries."

"On March 1839, 3, Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou and worked closely with the then Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Governor of Guangdong, and the Admiral of the Guangdong Navy to step up efforts to ban opium smoking."

"At the same time, we notified British and other European merchants to curb opium smuggling, and ordered British merchants to hand over all opium carried on merchant ships within a time limit."

"But the British businessman only handed over a small amount of opium because the deadline for paying cigarettes had expired, so Lin Zexu arrested the British businessman involved."

"In April 1839, Yi Lu, who was the British Supreme Consul in China and was discussing the opium trade with Lin Zexu, was trapped in the Guangzhou Commercial Hall by the Qing army."

"Yilu was forced to promise Lin Zexu to pay the opium, and announced to the British businessmen that he promised to hand over all opium, and the British government would bear the losses of the businessmen."

"Yelu used diplomatic rhetoric to convert the opium smuggled in China from the private property of merchants to the public property of the British government, paving the way for the subsequent trade war."

"On June 1839, 6, after receiving the imperial edict from Emperor Daoguang, Lin Zexu, together with officials at all levels in Guangdong, used seawater immersion method to destroy 3 boxes of opium confiscated at Humen Beach."

"The people of Guangdong, foreign businessmen, consuls, and missionaries went to watch them one after another until they were all destroyed on June 6."

"After that, Lin Zexu asked foreign businessmen to inspect the destruction situation, and notified British businessmen who had previously traded opium, asking them to issue a guarantee and promise not to sell or smuggle opium to China."

"In order to protect British interests, Yilu issued an official statement refusing to issue a letter of guarantee and brought most of the British businessmen back to Macau from Guangzhou."

Liu Che: Lin Zexu is a national hero, but it is a pity that the Qing Dynasty was too weak and was no match for the enemy, so Humen was short-lived.

For the sake of the people, Lin Zexu destroyed opium in Humen. He was very optimistic about this person.

But what he regretted was that the Qing Dynasty did not do enough, and Lin Zexu's efforts to eliminate opium in Humen were in vain.

He saw clearly that it was precisely because of Lin Zexu's Humen campaign that the subsequent war between Britain and the Qing Dynasty took place. Otherwise, it would not have been called the First Opium War.

As a result, you don’t need to think about it. The First Opium War ended with the Qing Dynasty’s disastrous defeat.

As a defeated country with no right to speak at all, the opium trade will also make a comeback on the land of the Qing Dynasty. I'm afraid that this time, no one in the completely defeated Qing Dynasty would dare to ban smoking.

And since there was the first Opium War, it means there was also the Second Opium War.

It is conceivable how opium harmed the people of the Qing Dynasty, so much so that the Qing Dynasty knew it could not win and had to fight a second Opium War.

"On July 1839, 7, a British merchant ship docked at Tsim Sha Tsui Village in Kowloon and went ashore to drink alcohol."

"During this period, there was a fight and conflict with local villagers, which resulted in villager Lin Weixi being seriously injured and eventually died of his injuries."

"After the incident, Lin Zexu sent a note to Yilu, demanding that the murderer be handed over and punished according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, but Yilu refused."

"The Yilu Private Court tried the sailors involved and refused to provide information on the people involved in the Lin Weixi case on the grounds that the people involved needed to serve their sentences in British prisons."

"Lin Zexu then ordered the blockade of Macau, where Yi Lu was located, and issued an official order to stop all provision of daily necessities to British businessmen, and required the British businessmen's Chinese employees to leave."

“In August 1839, news of the Qing Dynasty’s ban on the opium trade and blockade of merchant ships in China spread back to the British mainland.”

"The then British Foreign Secretary Palmerston proposed at a cabinet meeting to send a task force to the Qing Dynasty for military retaliation, to reaffirm the Sino-British trade treaty and to ensure that the rights of the British in China were not infringed."

"Then the Commander-in-Chief of the British East India Zone Fleet dispatched a cruiser equipped with twenty-eight guns to the waters of the Qing Dynasty to threaten the Qing Dynasty coastal navy."

Zhu Di: It is certain that the Qing Dynasty was defeated, but we don’t know what Britain’s military strength was at that time.

When the anchor recounted the history of the late Qing Dynasty, the outcome of the First Opium War was already doomed, and the final winner must be Britain.

He was more curious about the strength of the Qing Dynasty and the British when the First Opium War broke out.

This point is more important to him. He wants to roughly measure Britain's strength.

After all, it is a foregone conclusion that the Ming Dynasty will sail across the oceans and will cross to Europe in the near future, and it will definitely have to face Britain by then.

Although the British that defeated the Qing Dynasty were from the 19th century and not from his era, it can be used as a reference from the side.

After snapping up a series of good things from the anchor, the Ming Dynasty's take-off is just around the corner.

When he developed the Ming Dynasty to a certain extent domestically, he would inevitably go to Europe.

It is said that if you know yourself and the enemy, you will be victorious in any battle. Now that he understands Britain's strength, he has a rough judgment in his mind.

"At that time, Britain's military strength was far stronger than that of the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty's military weapons were already outdated."

"At that time, the muskets used by the Qing Dynasty were shotguns, while the British used flintlock muskets and percussion guns."

"The ships of the Qing Dynasty were ordinary naval ships, but the British used steam-powered iron-hulled paddle steamers."

"The artillery used by the Qing Dynasty was cannon, while the British used mortars that were a hundred years ahead of their time."

"The war broke out in November 1839. The British Expeditionary Force quickly occupied some fortresses along the coast of Guangdong and moved north to Nanjing."

"Although the Qing army had a numerical advantage, it lagged far behind the British in military technology and tactics, so it was retreating steadily."

"The results speak for themselves. In the end, Britain won a resounding victory."

"The Qing Dynasty suffered about 3100 dead and more than 4000 injured, while the British casualties were 71 dead and more than 400 injured."

"In August 1842, the Qing court held four treaty negotiations with the British government at Jinghai Temple in Nanjing, and all of them accepted the peace terms proposed by the British."

"The two sides formally signed the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing on the British flagship on August 1842, 8. This treaty was China's first unequal treaty in modern times."

"The main contents of the treaty include six aspects. As a defeated country, the Qing Dynasty suffered heavy losses."

“First, the Qing government ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain as a British colony in China.”

"Second, the Qing government compensated the British for the price of opium, commercial debt, and military expenses totaling 2100 million silver dollars."

"Among them, 600 million silver dollars were used to compensate for burned opium, 1200 million silver dollars were used to compensate British military expenditures, and 300 million silver dollars were used to repay merchants' debts."

"Third, the Qing government opened Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai as treaty ports."

"The UK is allowed to station consulates in these areas, and British businessmen and their families can live freely."

“Fourth, the tariffs paid by British merchants on imported and exported goods shall be agreed upon by the two countries.”

"Fifth, the Qing government abolished the public system and allowed foreign merchants to freely choose to trade with Chinese merchants."

"Sixth, the UK has consular jurisdiction in treaty ports, and cases involving British citizens in China are adjudicated by the British consul."

After hearing the relevant contents of the Nanjing Treaty, Yongzheng could not stand and staggered.

If it weren't for the timely support from the eunuchs behind him, Yong Zheng almost fell to the ground.

The scene was completely silent, no one dared to speak, everyone felt the cold air radiating from the emperor's body.

Yong Zheng closed his eyes in pain, but his trembling lips still showed the turmoil in his heart.

How could he accept the cession of territory and huge compensation? The face of the Qing Empire was severely ravaged by the enemy.

Although he knew that failure in the war would not bring good results, the contents of the Treaty of Nanjing still shocked him and he could not bear to look directly at it.

The country that his ancestors worked so hard to conquer, and the treasury that he finally filled up, were finally defeated by his unworthy descendants.

No matter how calm-tempered he is, he can't help but want to curse these unscrupulous descendants at this moment.

“After the Qing Dynasty was defeated in the First Opium War, the British invaders forced the Qing government to cede Hong Kong and other territories through the Treaty of Nanjing and other subsequent treaties, causing serious damage to China’s territorial sovereignty.”

"The British colonists obtained consular jurisdiction in China, which resulted in the damage to China's judicial sovereignty."

"China's tariff rates were controlled by the British colonists, and the Qing government's tariff autonomy was limited, which further worsened the Qing Dynasty's financial situation."

"The colonists supported the puppet regime and exploited the contradictions within the Qing government."

"Further controlling the political direction of China, China has become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society since the First Opium War."

"A year later, the British government forced the Qing government to enter into the Five-Port Trade Charter and the Treaty of Humen as appendices to the Treaty of Nanjing, adding provisions such as consular jurisdiction and one-sided most-favored-nation treatment."

"In order to prevent Britain from becoming a dominant power, foreign capitalist powers signed more unequal treaties with the Qing Dynasty."

"The Qing government was forced to sign more unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Wangxia between China and the United States, the Treaty of Huangpu between China and France, etc., which stipulated that the United States and France enjoyed consular jurisdiction and missionary rights."

"Afterwards, Western countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Portugal came to China one after another to coerce China into signing similar treaties. Portugal even occupied Macau on August 1849, 8."

"But from the side, China's traditional celestial system also began to collapse under the aggression of Western invaders."

"The traditional Chinese concepts of Yi and Xia were objectively impacted by the modern concept of national equality, and began to form a modern diplomatic system."

Chongzhen: You Manchus also have this day, it’s really retribution.

Seeing the Qing Dynasty being beaten to pieces by foreign powers, he felt instantly relieved, and his originally suppressed heart was released a lot.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty has always been the biggest threat to the Ming Dynasty, and they always want to cross Shanhaiguan to occupy the Central Plains artifact.

Even if he had help from the anchor, he knew some historical trends in the late Ming Dynasty.

But if you want to completely eliminate the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which is watching covetously outside the customs, it cannot be done in a short time.

And even if he had to do it over again, he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to avoid history repeating the same mistakes.

So these days, he was exhausted from the Manchus outside the Pass.

Now that he saw that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties suffered a huge defeat, and that the great powers had brought the Manchu Qing Dynasty into submission, his anxiety during this period was finally relieved a lot.

However, he also knew that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in the two time and space were different. No matter how weak the Manchu Qing Dynasty was in the late Qing Dynasty, it could not affect the Manchu Qing Dynasty outside Shanhaiguan at this moment.

Only by completely wiping out the Manchus outside the Pass can he completely rest easy.

“After the First Opium War, China’s domestic market was forced to open up, and the great powers exported large quantities of goods to China.”

"As a result, the trade deficit continues to expand, causing China's silver reserves to continue to flow to foreign countries, exacerbating domestic economic difficulties."

"The opium trade is gradually legalized in commodity transactions. The cultivation and smoking of opium has caused rural poverty and the decline of farmers' physical fitness, causing serious damage to agricultural production."

“Due to the great powers’ control over the Chinese market and plundering of resources, such as mining, road construction, and factories, etc.”

"The industrial development of the Chinese nation has been severely hindered, and China has gradually become a raw material supplier and commodity sales place for the world market."

“As China’s dependence on foreign countries deepens, China will not be able to industrialize for a long time.”

"As a result, the country's economy has been in a backward state for a long time and has been in a passive position in the international economic system, making it difficult to achieve independent development."

“In addition, in order to repay war reparations, the Qing government had to issue a large amount of banknotes, which caused inflation.

"At the same time, the great powers set up banks in China, further controlling China's financial lifeline."

“The impact of the First Opium War and subsequent treaty systems also enabled China to create a new economic form with a modern nature.”

"The traditional natural economy began to disintegrate, and treaty ports and concessions became the base for the spread of modern Western civilization."

"Objectively, it has broken the long-term isolation of Chinese society and strengthened exchanges with the world."

"It also stimulated the development of Chinese capitalism and the spread of modern civilization, and promoted the development of Chinese society to a certain extent."

Zhao Xu: This is the tragedy of a defeated country. The Qing Dynasty was originally weak, but now that it is defeated and colonized by foreign countries, the situation will only get worse and worse.

Defeat is a chain reaction. It is not just as simple as ceding territory and paying compensation, but it will also be more harmful to the country in the future.

The first Opium War alone completely defeated the Qing Empire, and foreign powers successively divided the interests of the Qing Empire.

Under such circumstances, the fate of the Qing Empire can be imagined, and the fate of those ordinary people is even more tragic.

He couldn't help but think of the situation the Song Dynasty was facing now. If it was defeated by the Jin soldiers, it might also encounter the difficulties of the Qing Dynasty.

The situation is even more serious than that of the Qing Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty will face the crisis of national subjugation by then.

He looked down at Wang Anshi, and now all his hopes were on Wang Anshi.

Only by the success of Wang Anshi's reform can the Song Dynasty avoid the crisis of national subjugation when it was finally defeated by the Jin soldiers.

“After the defeat of the Opium War, some Chinese intellectuals began to awaken and realize the gap in national strength and the national crisis.”

"Intellectuals began to reflect on traditional culture and systems, as well as concerns about the fate of the country."

"A group of farsighted and patriotic people such as Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan began to get in touch with Western culture, technology and ideas and seek reforms."

“While spreading new ideas, we also advocate learning from Western science and technology and systems, and promote domestic education reform and scientific and technological progress to revitalize the nation.”

"The Records of the Four Continents compiled under the leadership of Lin Zexu and the Records of the Sea States compiled by Wei Yuan under the commission of Lin Zexu became the first windows for modern China to understand and understand the world."

“During the Opium War, Western missionaries followed the invaders into China and spread Christianity and other Western religions.”

"Some Chinese people began to come into contact with and believe in these religions, which caused changes in Chinese religious concepts."

"These changes have impacted traditional religious beliefs to a certain extent and prompted Chinese people to re-examine religion."

“The Opium War opened the door to China, forcing the Chinese people to open their eyes to see the world and search for truths that could save the country and the people in order to resist imperialist aggression and oppression and domestic feudal autocratic rule.”

The mood of the people in the late Qing Dynasty was particularly complicated. They suffered from wars.

Since the defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the First Opium War, the situation in the Qing Dynasty has deteriorated day by day, and the war has continued across the country for decades.

It has to be said that it is a kind of sadness for the common people to live in such an era.

What they hope most is that someone will appear to end the turmoil, restore peace to China, and let their people live a stable life.

But when such a person will appear, when such turbulent days will come to an end, they have no idea about it.

The only thing that makes them hopeful is that the turbulent situation will eventually end one day, and finally their descendants can live a happy life in the hereafter.

(End of this chapter)