林则徐努力的结果是中国的一场灾难

 权衡辩论双方的论点后，道光决定支持道德家。

抛开复杂的问题，皇帝认为麻醉品不仅会腐蚀他的臣民，而且还会带来无法控制的金融波动和侮辱性的野蛮人对天朝帝国的侵占，他认为这肯定能被击退。

Weighing the arguments on both sides of the debate, Daoguang decided to back the moralists. Sweeping aside complexity, the emperor saw a narcotic not only corrupting his subjects but also introducing uncontrollable financial volatility and insulting barbarian encroachment on the celestial empire, which, he believed, could certainly be repulsed.

1834年，中国和英国几乎发生了冲突，当时被任命为中国贸易第一任监督的纳皮尔勋爵试图打破先例，在给广州总督的正式信函中宣布自己的身份，而不是遵守禁止中国官员与外国人直接接触的规定。

总督命令纳皮尔离开，当他拒绝时，派出一支军舰舰队，阻止皇家海军前来援助他。

贸易停止了。

纳皮尔被疟疾击垮了，商人们担心他们的生意会受到影响，于是他撤退到澳门，在那里去世。

China and Britain almost came to blows in 1834, when Lord Napier, appointed as the first superintendent of the China trade, tried to break with precedent by announcing himself in a formal letter to the governor of Guangzhou instead of abiding by the regulations, which forbade direct contact between Chinese officials and foreigners. The governor ordered Napier to leave and, when he refused, sent a fleet of war junks to block the Royal Navy from coming to his aid. Trade halted. Broken by malaria and let down by the merchants, who feared for their businesses, Napier retreated to Macau, where he died.

中国人和英国人从纳皮尔的惨败中得出了截然相反的结论。

在北京，皇帝读了他的官员所写的赞叹的奏折，觉得可以轻松地把野蛮人作为人质，迫使他们服从。

在伦敦，政府意识到，在没有足够的兵力进行战争的情况下挑战清朝是草率的。

继续进行贸易符合双方的利益，但这种悲剧性的误解意味着平静期只是休战。

The Chinese and the British drew diametrically opposed conclusions from the Napier fiasco. In Beijing, the emperor read the exultant memorials from his officials and felt the barbarians could be held hostage with ease to compel their obedience. In London, the government realised it was rash to challenge the Qing dynasty without having sufficient force at its disposal to fight a war. It was in the interests of both sides for trade to continue, but this tragicomic misunderstanding meant that the period of calm was only a truce.

英国和中国并没有宣战。

他们渐渐地进入了战争。

1838年，道光任命了林则徐，一位严厉的学者和行政官员，他是一位清正廉洁的人，在广州消灭了鸦片贸易。

今天，林则徐是一位民族英雄，南方各城市都有纪念他的雕像，雕像中的林则徐总是身着官袍，显得严肃而庄重。

林则徐以一份以儒家哲学为基础的奏折赢得了皇帝的青睐，他主张在打击毒品贩子的同时，开明地对待吸毒者，少用死刑。

然而，他的努力的结果是中国的一场灾难。

Britain and China did not declare war. They drifted into it. In 1838, Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu, a stern scholar-administrator of incorruptible rectitude, to exterminate the opium trade in Guangzhou. Today Lin is a national hero, memorialised in statues, in which he invariably looks severe and dignified in his robes of office, in the cities of the south. Lin won the emperor over with a memorial grounded in Confucian philosophy, arguing for a campaign against traffickers that would be tempered by the enlightened treatment of addicts and the sparing use of executions. The outcome of his efforts, however, was a disaster for China.