#322 - Opium War 7: The Throat of the Empire

The new envoy from London arrives at Qing's doorstep in August 1842 with a simple mandate: stop allowing Britain to be "humbugged" & finish the war Elliot started. What follows is the British Empire at its most efficient & brutal... and a treaty that, somehow, doesn't mention opium once...
Time Period Covered:
Aug. 1841–Aug. 1842

Major Historical Figures:
The Qing Empire:
The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]
Yijing, Imperial Commander [1793–1853]
Qiying, Imperial Commissioner [1787–1858]
Yilibu, Imperial Commissioner [1772–1843]
Niu Jian, Governor-General of Liangjiang [1785–1858]
Zhang Xi, intermediary [1840s]
Yuqian, Zhejiang Imperial Commissioner [1841]

The British Empire:
Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901]
Sir Henry Pottinger, Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856]
Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869]
Admiral Sir William Parker, Commander-in-Chief, East India Station [1781–1866]
Captain William Hutcheon "Nemesis" Hall, HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878]
Captain Henry Keppel, HMS Dido [1809–1904]
Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff, Prussian missionary & Civil Magistrate of Ningbo [1803–1851] Colonel George Mountain [1789–1863]
Harry Smith Parkes, attaché to Pottinger's staff [1828–1885]

Major Sources Cited:
Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842.
Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "The Canton Trade and the Opium War" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.
Lovell, Julia. The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China.
Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.

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