.

Looking back from October 1896 to April 1897, many things happened in the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the confrontation between North and South China, and the later North and South Federations, Japan's failure to occupy Taiwan, etc., but one thing overcame these important events and became the most important events at that time.

In his autobiographical memoir "The Vicissitudes of Jiazi", Tang Shaoyi put this matter first, ranking even above the nine southern provinces with peaceful acceptance in 1900. President Zhao Gang also ranked this matter first. "I went through thousands of difficulties and dangers, and I was indomitable. I could not succeed without great wisdom and boldness. This move by Mr. Tang will be remembered forever."

This incident was that on 1897430, Northern China and Britain signed the "Smoking Counter-Unsing Treaty". Tang Shaoyi, who was the representative, looked back on the past and couldn't help but burst into tears. The incident returned to November 1896. Zhao Gang summoned Tang Shaoyi at the Presidential Palace and discussed the smoking ban with him. Tang Shaoyi was also very interested. However, as an outstanding diplomat, Tang Shaoyi still expressed his attitude cautiously:

"President Zhao, I think if you ban smoking, you must negotiate with the UK, otherwise it will be difficult to succeed."

After hearing Tang Shaoyi's words, Zhao Gang felt relieved and looked at Tang Shaoyi with some praise:

"As far as I know, the British call for opium is gradually rising. There are three main reasons for this: 1. The increase in Chinese local medicine cultivation and improvement in quality, coupled with the rise in Indian opium prices, has reduced the import of foreign medicines; 2. The British people's understanding of the destructive impact of opium trade on China; 3. The domestic opium consumption in India exceeds the export volume. Based on this, since the 1870s, the public opinion of the British opposition to opium has become increasingly enthusiastic."

In fact, the play is not the real reason. The real reason is that the heroin extracted from opium in a certain Asian country has been flooded in the UK. In 1896, it is estimated that the sales volume of heroin reached 20 million pounds, equivalent to 160,000 taels of silver. The family is now bleeding from opium again, which can be said to be caused by the cycle of nature and retribution.

It is natural that Britain cannot take out these things under the table to show off its ugly face, so it is called sacrificing its own interests for the happiness of the Chinese people. In fact, after selling opium for more than a hundred years, it is profitable to make all the land. At this time, it is a bitch that shows nobility and is more obvious. It is like a bitch. No matter how you set up a arch, you can see that a bitch is a bitch and will not become a young lady when you look at it. At this time, the topic of the conversation is stopped.

After that, in 1890, Xue Fucheng went on a mission to Britain, and repeatedly mentioned the situation of opium in the UK at that time. "In March this year, the British Smoking Ban Association's gentleman proposed to limit the number of smoking in India, and for a while, he was entrusted to the constituents of six out of ten." "In late April, the constituents resumed the meeting and wanted to send people to the General Administration of China to write a letter to the General Administration of China, asking to take advantage of the ban on smoking at this time. This is a great opportunity. Jue was also sitting there and personally heard about his proposal. The head of the matter came to the office to pay a visit to the Star Envoy, preparing to express his intention of helping China, and also stated that the words of Gong'an Gong's constituents in the eighth year of Tongzhi were scruples of the British envoys to ban smoking. It is a testimony to say that the situation is different today. If China holds this agreement, the church will reconcile it. If it can be done, please convey this intention to the General Administration."

Soon, Xu Jue reported this situation to the Qing central government in his "Please be careful of foreign affairs and internal governance" on 107, 1896, and concluded that "I will propose a ban, but Britain may not be able to follow it." Unfortunately, the war was in full swing at that time, and this memorial was not published.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, when he was sorting out the memorials, he found Xu Jue's memorials. After several changes, Zhao Gang saw them. After reading them, he couldn't help but sigh: "How many heroes in China are there, but the court does not need them to cover the dust with beautiful jade."

At that time, Xu Jue was still in the UK. On the one hand, Zhao Gang ordered someone to contact Xu Jue, and on the other hand, he hurriedly invited Tang Shaoyi to discuss the plan to ban smoking.

Not long after, Tang Shaoyi published a report in the "Zi Linxi Daily" in the name of freelance writer "Fufeng". He gave a detailed explanation of the harm of Chinese opium and urged India to end the opium business as soon as possible. Because the "Zi Linxi Daily" has a huge impact on the land of the British, this news aroused the interest of British MPs, and at the regular meeting soon after, it raised the issue of smoking ban. To everyone's surprise, almost 60% of the MPs agreed to ban smoking, which greatly encouraged the Chinese.

, The Linxi newspaper reported on the results of the British House of Parliament's discussion on the ban on opium trade: "The British Councillors' proposal to ban the opium trade, and the House of Parliament was deeply concerned. Indian Minister Mori said that if China could ban smoking, India should abolish the opium trade. Even if it is damaged, it is not enough to care about it."

In this regard, the Diplomacy newspaper published an article "On the Relationship between Smoking Ban and Diplomacy", calling for seizing this opportunity to implement Smoking Ban. "Now, we will set an initial opportunity to remedy the loss and improve the root of everything. If this is the case, the shame of China in the past can be saved; if this is the proposal of the British abolishment, it can be implemented; if this is the case, it will gradually become a civilized power, and it will be expected. If this is not the case, it will be a disaster and will be a serious shame. I am afraid that the diplomatic insults will be inadvertently expected."

The loosening of the UK's opium trade policy has had a great impact on the ban on smoking by China. The ban on the import of foreign medicines is not only an important task of the ban on smoking, but also a necessary condition for its success. Only by banning the import of foreign medicines can the final victory of the ban on smoking be guaranteed.

Therefore, when the UK sent a signal that it could cooperate with China's smoking ban, Zhao Gang seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and issued a smoking ban on November 20, 1896, requiring that within three years, "all harms of foreign local medicines be eliminated", thus opening the prelude to the smoking ban movement. At the same time, it also put the negotiations between Chinese and British on the ban on the import of foreign medicines on the agenda.
Chapter completed!