Lin Zexu knew that to completely ban opium, we should not only clean up domestic drug dealers and addicts, but also cut off foreign supply channels. To this end, he reorganized the navy and personally inspected the fortress by boat to prevent smuggling and selling opium. Over time, he found that such an approach would get twice the result with half the effort. So he changed his mind and began to collect opium from foreigners.
In order to master the situation of foreigners, Lin Zexu took great pains. He specially hired two chefs who used to cook for foreigners in the thirteenth act to learn about the activities of foreign businessmen through them; He also sent people to Macao to collect all the newspapers, books and brochures published by foreigners, and then asked professionals to translate them; In addition, he has to study customs files all night to catch up on relevant knowledge. After making these preparations, Lin Zexu finally decided to crack down on those illegal foreign businessmen.
On March 1839 and 18, Lin Zexu asked Chinese businessmen in the 13th bank to tell foreign businessmen in China that they must hand over all opium within three days, and promised never to bring it with them in the future. Trade as usual if possible; Can't do it? Close the warehouse temporarily and the port for a long time. ? Finally he said? This time, my minister presented the imperial edict of Beijing, and the law is necessary. If the opium is not exhausted for a day, the minister will not return for a day, and he will always be United with this matter, and there is no reason to end it! ?
In order to prevent them from colluding with foreigners, Lin Zexu secretly sent officers and men to monitor them after returning the businessmen representing the thirteen lines. In a blink of an eye, the three-day deadline has arrived. After discussion, foreign businessmen only handed over 1037 boxes of opium. Through various channels, Lin Zexu has found out that there are at least 20 thousand boxes of opium in the hands of foreign businessmen. Seeing that they are so perfunctory about their orders, Lin Zexu intends to catch all the opium dealers led by them.
When the British Commercial Governor in China learned of the law, he immediately issued an instruction to foreign businessmen in Guangzhou, asking them to resolutely resist the punishment of Diandi and others. On the other hand, he openly tried to escape with him under the banner of protecting expatriates. Fortunately, the officers and men came prepared and succeeded.
Yifa publicly shouted, "I now ask the governor (Lin Zexu) in the name of my own king, do you want to fight the British imperial navy?" Unfortunately, his threats have no effect on Lin Zexu.
A just law can't see the effect in hard resistance, so it must be the main one. At this time, Lin Zexu also realized that the reason why Diandi and others dared to resist law enforcement was because of the umbrella of righteous law. On the 26th, Lin Zexu issued a notice of Xiangyang merchants again, and this time he gave Yi Law a copy. In the notice, Lin Zexu said that as long as they hand over all the smoky soil, they can let bygones be bygones. If you still resist, "if you are willing to delay, it is your own fault." Seeing that the tide had run out, Yili agreed to hand over 20,283 boxes of tobacco soil.
2.38 million kilograms of opium were destroyed, and opium was destroyed in Humen, which achieved an all-round victory.
On April 1 1, Lin Zexu and his party came to Humen Town. The next day, I boarded Shajiao Castle non-stop. Standing here, you can overlook the ships carrying smoke and dirt. Thousands of boxes are transported here every day, and Lin Zexu, who is hands-on, often supervises the tobacco collection work day and night. On the 23rd, Dian Di and others wrote a letter of guarantee to the Qing court, and were later deported by officers and men. On the 24th, Yi Law also left Guangzhou despondently. However, he did not believe that Lin Zexu would destroy the smoky soil as he said. He made a bet with the opium dealer that the other side wouldn't even put out one or two pieces of tobacco soil.
Their wishful thinking is obviously wrong. After receiving the imperial edict from the emperor, Lin Zexu ordered all the smoky soil to be destroyed on the spot. In order to clean up the smoking soil and prevent criminals from digging holes to get paste, they specially built two large pools with stone walls and burned them in turn. Build another culvert to communicate with the sea. If the culvert is opened, all the debris will flow into the sea.