HIST 80b Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Lin Zexu, Most Favoured Nation, Cohong
2 Mar 2017
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Internal contradictions, external pressures (1800 1860s) pages 138 171. The qing took silver for tea, porcelain, silk, etc. Initially india was the world"s major cotton cloth supplier, but later britain took control of india and its markets. The industrial revolution saw the use of coal for mechanical power, especially in britain. The canton system of trade limited commerce to one port, prices were set by the. Factors, and there was no direct contact with imperial officials. Lin zexu (1785 1850) was chosen to end the opium trade. He met with the cohong merchants, demanding that they help collect all of the opium and to confiscate the pipes and related paraphernalia. Through the cohong merchants, lin demanded that the british merchants end the drug trade, or risk death. The collected opium was destroyed and washed out to sea. The british retaliated with warships that could maneuver in shallow rivers, most notably the gunboat nemesis.
