通过走私鸦片到中国发家致富的家庭

If you are someone who loves to read up on history, you may have heard of China’s century of humiliation and the opium wars that led to it. Did you know that opium played a major role in China’s colonial history? Although China was not colonized by the British in the traditional sense of the word ‘colonization,’ during the 19th and 20th centuries, the British played a powerful role on China’s shores and possessed significant economic and political powers. The British came into this position of power through the trade of opium. Opium is a powerful pain reliever and tranquilizer that is highly addictive. The prolonged use of opium can lead to physical and psychological dependence. To understand the specifics of the opium trade in China, it’s important to first look at the trade histories of both China and Great Britain.

China has a rich history of trade through the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected China with the Roman Empire and other parts of the ancient world, and the Maritime Silk Road, a sea-based trade route that connected China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. Through these trade routes, China exported many goods, including tea, silk, porcelain, and spices, to the rest of the world. Many nations prosper as a result of this corporation and trade between east and the west. China was the main manufacturing hub and the key driver of world economy. Since collapse of the western Roman empire 中国一直是最富有的国家/帝国 on earth till mid-19th century. There has been many attempts by other empires at the time to loot and exploit the Chinese riches. Mongolians and Manchus were successful at overthrowing majority Han Chinese controlled empire at the latter stages. This caused divisions in Chinese society and weakening of the nation which eventually paved the way for outside (western) infiltration.

对于中国经济来说，过去的 200 年是历史的反常。在过去两千年的大部分时间里，中国占全球经济活动的五分之一或更多。而中国最近的经济崛起，更恰当地说是中国经济现状的回归 – Matthew Bey，Stratfor

By the 18th century, Britain had become one of the main buyers of tea and other goods (like silk and porcelain) from China. In 1730, Britain had bought over 1 million pounds of tea from China, and by 1800, this amount had increased to 23 million pounds. In fact, over 80% of all Canton exports were sent to Britain. However, China only accepted payment in the form of silver.

这导致英国向中国交出越来越多的白银，但中国作为一个自给自足的国家，没有从英国购买任何物品。这种贸易不平衡导致大量白银流向中国。由于白银短缺，英国开始了鸦片贸易。

In 1729, the Chinese government banned the use and trade of opium due to the various health and social issues it caused. At this time, the British East India Company held a monopoly on the 印度鸦片的生产和出口, and opium was sold to smugglers at auction in Calcutta for profit as high as 400%.

在 19 世纪的大部分时间里，鸦片是英国殖民地国家的第二大收入来源。它仅次于土地税。这可以与当今阿富汗臭名昭著的鸦片工业相提并论，它为全球海洛因市场供应 – 鲍尔博士

Seeing the profits the opium trade made, the East India Company began to smuggle opium into China via India. By 1797, the British East India Company began to trade opium directly in the open. Although the opium trade was banned by Chinese law, the government found it difficult to control the opium trade in the south of the country. Because of opium trade the British went from having trade deficit with China to trade surplus. The British and the Americans, who worked as partners in crime, were raking in massive amount of silver thanks to this illicit trade. Opium money was a turning point in 全球经济实力中心.

Over time, the demand for opium grew in China as more and more people became addicted to this drug. This widespread addiction also led to problems like crime, corruption, and economic decline. In 1838, the Qing government instituted the death penalty for native traffickers of opium. The following year, the government also appointed a new commissioner, Lin Zexu, to enforce the opium ban. Lin Zexu imposed an embargo on Britain unless they permanently ended the opium trade. Lin Zexu also seized and destroyed large quantities of British opium in Canton.

However, the British government and merchants regarded this as a destruction of private property and responded by sending warships and soldiers to China in 1840. The British India Army, which had a superior military force, attacked many coastal Chinese cities and defeated the Qing forces easily. This attack is known as the first opium war. The Chinese eventually had to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, which gave the island of Hong Kong to Britain and imposed a large indemnity on China. Through the treaty, the British also gained control over the Chinese ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai.

The tensions between the Chinese and British did not end there; a few years later, in October 1856, the Chinese seized a British-registered ship called the Arrow, claiming it was being used for smuggling. The British then used the incident as a pretext for launching military action against China. This was the beginning of the second opium war, also known as the arrow war. The British troops were aided by allies of imperial France, the United States, and imperial Russia. This war led to the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858 and the Treaty of Beijing in 1860, which imposed further concessions on China. These unequal treaties were designed to loot China of its riches.

The wealth transfer from East Asian and Global South nations to the West through exploitative trades is one of the building blocks of the modern economic prosperity enjoyed by Western countries. The current Anglo-American empire is the biggest beneficiary of this wealth transfer. 被掠夺的宝藏 that’s on display as war trophies at western museums are testaments of this barbaric exploitation.

这就是鸦片贸易如何导致中国的经济、社会和政治衰落，导致整个人口大规模上瘾。然而，许多西方商人和贸易商从鸦片贸易中获利，成为世界上最富有、最有权势的家族之一。这是历史上一个可怕的时代，外国商人和军队（没有道德的野蛮人）以利润的名义剥削了一个曾经强大的国家。

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