Before the Opium War, the British who dealt with China were broken in their hearts.
For thousands of years, China has been accustomed to hegemony in East Asia, and has always equated Britain with the vassal states of Ryukyu and Goryeo. Britain has no status in the eyes of the Chinese, and there is no equality between the two countries. If Britain wanted to deal with China, it had to claim to be a vassal state, and the envoys had to bow to the Qing Emperor.
And this kneeling ceremony is related to the decency of the Qing Dynasty, and there is no room for negotiation.
And as early as 1588, England defeated the Spanish Armada and became the supremacy of the seas. Later, in the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, the French army was defeated and became a veritable European hegemon.
Such a powerful country naturally has its pride. To bow down to a decaying and declining Qing **, Britain is naturally a hundred unwilling in his heart.
This is a political dilemma between China and the UK.
Not only are there huge differences between China and the UK over political names, but commercial exchanges are even more difficult.
Before the 19th century, it was a headache for foreigners to do business in China. At that time, China's commerce was extremely underdeveloped, and the peasants produced almost everything they needed, and they were self-sufficient in their own closed loop of production.
At that time, all countries in the world, both Chinese and Western, firmly believed that the outflow of goods and exports was harmful to national interests, so every country wanted to cover its own money bags, and at the same time change ways to export goods and earn gold and silver.
But China's self-sufficient, closed-loop economy has largely excluded businessmen from Western countries. So, the British, the French, the Spaniards ......When they came to China, they were loaded with gold and silver, but when they left, the ships were loaded with silk, porcelain, tea and all kinds of fine works of art produced in China.
In general, in the early days of business with Western countries, China was in surplus, earning a lot of real gold and platinum.
If China's self-sufficient feudal economy is a natural disaster of Sino-British trade, then the one-stop trade system implemented by the Qing Dynasty is a man-made disaster.
A mouthful of trade means that all the foreign countries in the country can only be carried out in the port of Guangzhou.
* stipulates that summer and autumn are the ** seasons, at this time foreigners can live in the thirteen lines of Guangzhou, trade goods, and at other times must return to Macao to live in solitude on the sea. It also stipulates that "foreign women" cannot enter the city to prevent them from becoming "entrenched."
Even in summer and autumn, foreigners can only be in every eighth (the beginning of the lunar calendar.
Eight, ten. 8. 28) can be led by a special person to the bustling places in the city.
Foreigners can't learn Chinese or buy Chinese books.
These strange regulations have made the foreigners who are against China suffer a lot, and it is strange that they do not complain in their hearts.
In fact, these regulations were all used by the Qing Dynasty in the previous dynasties, but the previous contacts were with small surrounding countries such as Goryeo, Japan, Vietnam, and the Ryukyus, and they did not have the strength to challenge the authority of the "**", and they recognized our superiority in their hearts, so they naturally only followed our regulations.
But Britain is different, this is a Western regime that is superior to the Qing in science, technology, culture, military and other aspects. In the past, there was not much communication between China and Britain, but now with the process of industrialization and the invention of the steam engine, the world is gradually getting smaller. After the occupation of India, Britain can be said to be our neighbor, and it is destined to be inappropriate for us to use the old ways to deal with this new neighbor.
Therefore, the contradictions between China and Britain have become more and more acute, and when they develop to a certain extent, war is inevitable.