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Text Chapter 300 Taking Back Customs

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    (Thanks to book friend Kakaxingren for the reward! Thanks to book friend Gan 1986 and Angels in Heaven for their evaluation votes!)

    "Mr. Zhu Erdian, I hope you can understand that His Majesty the Emperor has made up his mind to take back the concessions, customs and many unequal conditions! The current Chinese Empire is no longer the decadent Manchu Qing Dynasty!" At the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wu Tingfang  Currently meeting with British Minister to China John Aldian.  What he wanted to discuss with Zhu Erdian was the abolition of a series of unequal treaties.

    "No, Your Excellency Wu Tingfang! The privileges enjoyed by the British Empire in China are fixed through treaties. Since the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the privileges enjoyed by the British Empire have been stipulated. Your country must abide by these treaties.  !" Zhu Erdian said firmly.

    "Those treaties were signed between the Manchu Dynasty and your country and have nothing to do with the empire." Wu Tingfang said.

    "Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, if your country wants to forcibly withdraw these unequal treaties, it will mean war for the British Empire. The responsibility of the British Empire's military is to protect the interests of the British Empire in the world!" Zhu Erdian shouted loudly.  said.

    "Your Excellency Zhu Erdian, I hope you can understand. Although the Chinese Empire does not want to participate in the war, it has never been afraid of war. If Britain wants to impose war on the Empire, then we have no other way! Now  The empire is rising, and these unequal treaties can no longer weigh on the empire!" Wu Tingfang also refused to give in.

    "Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, I can understand your mood. However, these matters are not for me to decide. I need to report to the country." Zhu Erdian rolled his eyes and said.  From Wu Tingfang's resolute tone, he knew that China was determined to abolish these unequal treaties.  And does Britain really want to launch a war against China at this time?  Zhu Erdian did not think the cabinet would make such a determination.  Therefore, he chose to delay.

    "Okay, Your Excellency Zhu Erdian. You have enough time to negotiate with the British government. However, it is imperative to abolish these unequal treaties. Only in this way can we talk on an equal footing. This  It is very beneficial to both countries!" Wu Tingfang said solemnly.  The Manchus betrayed too many of China's interests and left a mess for the empire.  When the empire was founded, it was still unable to compete with the great powers.  This time, after defeating the United States and abolishing all unequal treaties with the United States in China, China began to try in this regard.  Moreover, only with the guarantee of strong national strength can we have the confidence to recover the lost national interests.

    "Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, I can understand. The British Empire attaches great importance to its friendly relations with the Chinese Empire. I will convey your country's interests to the country!" Zhu Erdian said with a smile.  In fact, his heart was full of disdain.  Isn't it true that a country that has just begun to rise has defeated a country that has also begun to rise?  Just wanting to be on an equal footing with the British Empire is simply a dream.

    Subsequently, Zhu Erdian contacted the British government.  However, the British cabinet is still debating this issue, and some radical cabinet members are vigorously promoting the threat that China poses to the United Kingdom in the Far East, hoping that the United Kingdom can launch a war against China to safeguard British interests in the Far East.  There are also some cabinet members who believe that China's rise is inevitable. Rather than being hostile to China and pushing China completely into the arms of Germany, it is better to take the initiative to abolish these unequal treaties and ease relations with China.  For Britain, it is very important to maintain good relations with a Far Eastern power.  However, neither party could convince anyone, and even the Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, could not make up his mind.  Therefore, Zhu Erdian had no choice but to drag it on and delay it as much as possible.

    At the same time, Wu Tingfang met with Pierre, the French Minister to China, and Casini, the Russian Minister to China.  Regarding these two, Wu Tingfang was not so polite. He directly gave a specific time and stated that the Chinese Empire would unilaterally abrogate the unequal treaties between these two in one month.  This caused strong dissatisfaction in France and Russia.

    However, because the naval strength of these two countries is far inferior to that of the United Kingdom, China is not afraid that they will cross half of the world to cause trouble to China.  Therefore, the methods are very tough.  France was the weakest in the Far East. After the deadline came, it had to choose to compromise and exchange all concessions to China.  Russia, on the other hand, needs to be tougher.  Because they plundered too much land from the Manchus.  If China abrogates its unequal treaties, wouldn¡¯t it mean that it would also take back these territories?  Therefore, Russia does not hesitate to issue war threats to China.  However, China ignored Russia.  The Trans-Siberian Railway is still under intense construction, and Russia's military strength in the Far East is not strong. China does not need to be too afraid of Russia.  When the one-month deadline is up, China¡¯s military?Entered the Russian concession in China and forcibly took back these concessions.  However, although the empire stated that it would not recognize Russia's invasion of Chinese territory, it did not take military action, which made Russia relieved.  Russia has vast depth, and it will be very difficult for China to defeat Russia on land.  At least it doesn't have the strength yet, so China has temporarily chosen to tolerate its efforts to conquer the territories occupied by Russia.  This also caused the direct relationship between China and Russia to decline sharply, but they did not go to war with each other.

    When France and Russia both surrendered, Britain was naturally left alone.  Under the strong pressure from China, the UK is already in a dilemma.  What keeps them going is probably their reputation as the world's most powerful country.

    After the outbreak of the Opium War, starting from the 23rd year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1843), the Qing government was forced to sign the "Customs Tariff Code" under the pressure of Great Britain, the United States, France and other powers, and lost our country's tariff autonomy.  Semi-colonial customs began to take shape.  In the fourth year of Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1854), Shanghai Daotai Wu Jianzhang reached a "Jiang Customs Organization Agreement" with the consuls of Britain, the United States and France and formed the "Jiang Customs Tariff Management Committee".

    Jianghai Customs set up an inspection office on the north bank of Yangjingbang (now the Bund of Yan'an East Road), marking the official opening of Shanghai to the outside world.  Marx and Engels once pointed out in the article "Russia's Success in the Far East": 'Before the Treaty of Nanjing was signed, countries around the world had already managed to obtain tea and silk.  After the establishment of this treaty, due to the opening of five trading ports, part of Guangzhou's trade was transferred to Shanghai.  Almost no trade is carried out at other ports.  And Shantou, the only port with any commercial significance, does not belong to the five open ports' ("The Complete Works of Marx and Engels", Volume 20, Page 663).  Since 1853, Jiangsu Customs has ranked first in the country in terms of value of import and export goods and inbound and outbound ships, and Shanghai has become an important trading port in the country.  According to the "Customs Trade Statistics", in the four years from 1866 to 1869, the total value of the country's import and export goods was 289,937,829 Guan Ping Yin Liang, and that of Shanghai was 190,595,657 Guan Ping Yin Liang, accounting for 66% of the country's total.  During the same period, the national customs collected a total of 36,973,996 customs duties, and Jiangsu Customs collected 9,649,451 customs duties, accounting for 26% of the country's total.

    According to the "Wukou Trade Regulations", all taxes and fees payable by foreign merchant ships will be guaranteed by the Wukou foreign consulates, and a 'consular customs declaration system' will be established.  In the autumn of 1853, Xiao Dao Hui occupied Shanghai County, and Jiang Customs Supervisor Wu Jianzhang fled into the concession. In order to collect customs duties, he successively set up temporary customs in Lujiazui, Pudong, the North Bank of the Suzhou River, Minhang Town, and Baihezhu. However, due to resistance and difficulties by foreign officials and businessmen, he  In vain, customs work has come to a standstill.  The foreign invaders forced Wu Jianzhang into desperation and hatched a conspiracy in which "the customs introduced outsiders to handle taxation."  On June 29, 1854, Wu Jianzhang reached an agreement with the consuls of the United Kingdom, the United States, and France to form a tariff management committee composed of the British tax officer, the American Jia Liuyi, and the Frenchman Shi Yashi.  From then on, the administrative power of Jianghai Customs fell into the hands of foreign invaders.  In May 1859, Nanyang Minister of Commerce He Guiqing appointed Li Taitai as the first General Taxation Department of China Customs, and established the General Taxation Department in Shanghai.  In July of the same year, Li Taitai appointed the Britishman De Dude as the Jiangguang Customs Taxation Department.  At this point, the Three-Country Customs Administration Committee naturally withered away, Britain monopolized the real power of customs, and the Foreign Taxation Department system was officially established in Shanghai.  Subsequently, this system was gradually implemented at all port customs offices across the country.  On September 12, 1863, the Englishman Hurd was appointed by the Prime Minister's Office as the Taxation Department of Jiangsu Customs, and was also in charge of Hankou, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang, and Ningbo Customs.  On November 15 of the same year, because Li Taitai signed the "Lea Contract" with British Admiral Aspen without permission, he was dismissed from the post of General Taxation Department by the Prime Minister's Office of the Qing government, and was succeeded by Hurd.

    The establishment of the foreign customs system caused China to lose its control over customs. Foreign living animals could enter China at low prices and disappear, destroying the development of China's local industry and commerce, and deepening China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

    On December 5, 1897, outside the General Taxation Department of Customs, the Shanghai Police Department dispatched more than 200 police officers to surround the place.  There is also a battalion of troops stationed at the outermost edge, which makes the foreign employees in the General Customs and Taxation Department panic all day long.

    "Your Excellency Hurd, the time we gave has come. If you still don't hand over the customs to us, then we have to pick it up ourselves!" Outside the General Taxation Department of the Customs, Imperial Finance Minister Wang Wenhua spoke sternly to the customs  said Commissioner of Taxation Hurd.

    "Your Excellency Wang Wenhua, the General Taxation Department of Customs is recognized by all countries and is China's only customs agency. Your behavior will not be allowed by all countries!" Hurd shouted.

    "Unfortunately, unless countries don't want to trade with China, they will admit it!" Wang Wenhua showed a smile on his face, and then waved his hand.  The police forcefully entered the General Taxation Department of Customs!

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