He is English, Harry Smith Parkes.
Parkes became an orphan at the age of five and was adopted by his uncle who was a naval officer, which gave him a better education. He came to China to find his cousin and get a job. At that time, the first Opium War was going on, and British guns were attacking the southeast coast of China. In the second year after he set foot on the land of China, he boarded the gunboat of Pudingcha, the head of the British invasion of China, and went all the way to Nanjing along the river. I witnessed the arrogance of British naval guns and the signing of treaty of nanking. But in the meantime, young Parkes was just a participant or a bystander, but he must have planted the seeds of the law of the jungle in his heart.
In the days that followed, he only engaged in diplomatic work as an interpreter. It was not until 1853 was appointed consul of Guangzhou that he officially started his so-called diplomatic career. That is, when he was consul in Guangzhou, the second Opium War broke out, which was ignited by this so-called diplomat who had lived in China for 15 years.
The owner of the merchant ship "Arrow" is a Hong Kong Chinese, and the crew are all from China. This is a three-masted sailboat with a European hull and China sails. It was hijacked by pirates and registered with the royal colonial authorities in Hong Kong, England. 18561018 October, the Guangzhou government received a tip that a pirate leader wanted by the government for a long time was hiding on this ship. As a result, more than 60 officers and men boarded the ship for inspection. However, no pirate leader was found on board, and the officers and men arrested 12 crew members from China. In the process of searching, a casual action by officers and men caused an uproar.
It turned out that the British flag hung on the ship in the chaos was torn down by the officers and men. At this time, Britain, France and other powers are looking for various reasons to ask the Qing government to amend the treaty of nanking and the Wang Xia Treaty, trying to further expand their rights and interests, but they are always rejected by the Qing government. This time may be a good excuse.
On the fourth day after the incident, Parkes, then the British consul in Guangzhou, protested strongly to the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, arguing that China had insulted the British flag and arrested the crew without the permission of the British consul. And demanded the immediate release of 12 sailors, and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi apologized in writing within 48 hours. This request was flatly rejected by Ye, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. The British immediately detained a China ship and threatened it. In desperation, Ye had to release the sailor, but refused to apologize.
And this is exactly what the British want, and then they shelled Guangzhou and began to attack Guangzhou. This incident and the so-called "Father Ma incident" deliberately created by the French became the fuse of the Second Opium War!
Ye, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was captured, detained on a British warship for 48 days and escorted to Calcutta, British India. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who called himself Su Wu at sea, died a year later. But this governor, who is in the whirlpool of war and public opinion, has a clear understanding of this so-called diplomat in Britain.
From this, we can easily see that this Englishman who has lived in China for more than ten years is just an aggressor who has not put on the cloak of a diplomat. After the second opium war, there was always his shadow. In particular, the burning of Yuanmingyuan is even more to blame.
The Second Opium War coincided with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, and the shadow of imperialism flashed at this "family" moment in China. But we don't express it here, but let's talk about Parkes, the hero of this article.
After the British and French allied forces captured Guangzhou, they fought all the way to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to Tianjin, with the aim of forcing the Qing government to continue to cede land for reparations and expand its interests in China. 1In May of 854, the British and French allied forces captured Dagukou, Tianjin, occupied the suburbs of Tianjin, and threatened to attack Beijing. Under the threat of British and French invaders, Emperor Xianfeng signed the Tianjin Treaty with Russia, Britain, France and the United States.
However, the greedy nature of the invaders is insatiable. The British and French governments are far from satisfied with the privileges seized from the Tianjin Treaty. 1June, 859, the British and French allied forces attacked Dagukou again. But this time, the Qing government made preparations in advance, sinking and injuring the enemy ship 10, killing 500 people, and greatly defeating the British and French Coalition forces. This is also the only victory since the first opium war. However, this victory completely angered the imperialists such as Britain and France and threatened to launch a large-scale war for revenge.
1860 On August 24th, British and French forces occupied Tianjin. Emperor Xianfeng hurriedly sent people to make peace, but the British and French allied forces proposed to open Tianjin as a trading port and increase reparations in addition to accepting the Tianjin Treaty in full. What was most unacceptable to the Qing government was that Britain and France each brought thousands of troops to Beijing to exchange contracts. After being rejected by the Qing government, the British and French allied forces immediately attacked Beijing from Tianjin.
When the British and French invaders arrived in Tongzhou, Emperor Xianfeng sent a team to make peace again, and the protagonist Parkes appeared again. The peace talks basically went smoothly, but it was an unreasonable request made by the British and French aggressors before. As soon as the armistice agreement was signed, the two countries stopped fighting and the dispute was solved. But three days later, Parkes, as a negotiator, made another request: the British envoy personally presented the credentials to Emperor Xianfeng. Zai Yuan, the chief negotiator of the Qing government, and others thought that "this matter was related to the national system and could not be tolerated", and the two sides were deadlocked on this point.
The author saw on the Internet that many authors wrote articles at this time, all of which used "the Qing government failed to reach an understanding because of some details, which led to the breakdown of negotiations". What's more, they directly fabricated that Parkes was unwilling to kneel to the emperor, which led to the breakdown of negotiations. I really don't understand what this means. Imagine being signed by the other side and the head of state being humiliated in person? It is also unacceptable to put it in any generation.
Let's move on. After the talks broke down, the Qing government did something that made future generations feel incredible: it arrested 39 negotiators, including Parkes. Later, Zai Yuan reported to Emperor Xianfeng: "Parkes the Barbarian is good at fighting, and all barbarians obey his command. Now that he is captured, his soldiers will be in chaos. If he takes this opportunity to suppress it, he will win the battle. " The meaning is clear: catch the thief and capture the king! Xianfeng emperor gave Zai Yuan an edict:
Visible, in the Qing court, both monarch and minister, have clearly realized that Parkes is the mastermind and promoter of the whole event. The purpose of detaining Parkes is to force the British and French allied forces to sign an armistice agreement to withdraw their troops.
However, things didn't go according to their intention, and the British and French allied forces responded to the Qing occupation of Parkes with more fierce artillery fire. The war in Tongzhou rekindled, and the Qing army was losing ground. Some ministers in the imperial court strongly advocated killing Parkes, but under the pressure of Emperor Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng thought that we should wait for a while.
On the one hand, the British and French allied forces stepped up their attacks; on the other hand, they strongly demanded the release of Parkes and others who were detained. On the one hand, the Qing court responded negatively, on the other hand, it negotiated with the British minister to withdraw. But the two sides failed to reach an agreement. 6543810.5, the British and French allied forces advanced to Deshengmen and Andingmen in Beijing. 654381October 6, occupied Yuanmingyuan and began looting. However, the Qing army guarding Yuanmingyuan fled, and only a few eunuchs rose up to resist. Emperor Xianfeng fled to Jehol for refuge.
After Parkes was detained, the Qing court sent someone to wait on him with good wine and food, gave him expensive gifts, and said all the good things, hoping that he would come forward to persuade the British and French allied forces to stop fighting. However, Parkes is arrogant and domineering. I didn't want to write at first, but later I only wanted to write in English, not in Chinese. When he learned that the British and French allied forces had not stopped attacking, he wrote to the British diplomat instead: "Don't wait for me here, so stop invading", which means don't stop attacking because of me!
When the British saw the terrible situation of these people, they were still angry! Indemnity, land cession, monument erection, apology and various unreasonable demands followed, and China added two unequal treaties: the Sino-British Beijing Treaty and the Sino-French Beijing Treaty. For the Yuanmingyuan, which has been trampled for a long time, the French want to rob it, but the British insist on burning it to warn the Qing government!
Therefore, the Yuanmingyuan, known as the garden of ten thousand gardens, has not been extinguished for three days and nights, and the whole garden has become a sea of fire, covered with black smoke and full of flames. Over Beijing, more than 20 miles away, the sun is dim, like an eclipse. This unique and magnificent royal garden, except for a few buildings, has been reduced to ashes ... "
Parkes, the hero of the article, returned to Guangzhou as a consul, and later went to Japan and South Korea as a diplomat. It is worth mentioning that his experience of being detained by the Qing court turned out to be his honor and was awarded the Knight Medal by the British royal family.
There is a famous street in Hong Kong called Parkes Street, and its English name is Parks Street. I wonder if this has anything to do with this robber diplomat, Sir Harry Smith Parkes?