British and French Atrocities in the Opium War

In August and September 1860, the British and French forces once again captured Tianjin and headed straight for Beijing. The rulers headed by Emperor Xianfeng first wanted to rely on Seng Gelinqin to lead the army to repel the invaders. When Dagu Tianjin fell, they sent ministers to beg for peace and sent people to search for carriages and horses inside and outside the city in preparation for escape. The news caused resentment and uneasiness among residents. Officials such as the six ministries and nine ministers petitioned the emperor not to escape. On September 11, Emperor Xianfeng had no choice but to express that he was "preparing for an upcoming patrol as a personal expedition" and declared: If the British and French invade the Ma Tou and Tongzhou areas, "I will still lead a strong force and sit in the north of Beijing."

On the same day, 16,000 British and French troops invaded the north of Tianjin (including 10,000 British troops and 6 cadres of French troops). The invading army looted, burned and killed along the way, and hundreds of villages and towns they passed through, regardless of their size, were harassed. Yangcun, Caicun, Anping and Hexiwu, the richest areas, were all looted. The entire town of Ma Tou was destroyed to the ground, and many women in Zhangjiawan were forced to commit suicide.

The Chinese army conducted two fierce blocking battles against the invading troops in the suburbs of Beijing. On September 18, the invading army attacked Zhangjiawan. The Chinese Green Battalion infantry fought bravely and fought fiercely for four hours. Senggelinqin ordered the infantry to retreat and rest, followed by the Mongolian cavalry. The cavalry had a bad encounter, so they galloped back and scattered the Green Battalion infantry. The Chinese army retreated to Bali Bridge near Beijing. On September 21, another fierce battle broke out at Yuanhu Village in Baliqiao Nan. The Chinese soldiers "advanced like a mountain and fell. After fighting for a while, they wounded and killed more than a thousand enemy soldiers, and many white and black barbarians died. The thieves were overwhelmed and retreated invincibly." However, the army led by the great scholar Ruilin broke up before contacting the enemy. Seng Gelinqin withdrew his army in a mule cart during the fierce battle. As a result, the morale of the army was shaken and it was unable to resist the enemy. In the battles of Zhangjiawan and Baliqiao, Chinese soldiers fought bravely, but were severely damaged by the enemy's superior artillery fire. Senior generals fled before the battle, which greatly affected the morale of the army. After the defeat of the war, Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe in embarrassment with his queen, concubines, princes and some noble ministers early the next morning, eleven days after the "personal expedition" edict was issued. When the princes, ministers, Han officials and wealthy households in Beijing heard that Tianjin had been lost, they had already moved out of the capital. At this time, the price of food in the capital skyrocketed, and the defense was still almost unprepared. Many gates in the inner and outer cities were quickly closed and blocked with soil, leaving one or two westward gates for passage.

The two battles of Zhangjiawan and Baliqiao dealt a heavy blow and attrition to the invading army. The invading army's ammunition was exhausted and was waiting to be transported from Tianjin for replenishment. At the same time, they looted and destroyed everywhere outside the city. In the two cities of Chaoyang and Dongzhi, Panzhigao, Tuantun, and Huanghe had diarrhea. On October 3, the invading army went around Andingmen and set fire to it. Outside Deshengmen was also burned and looted.

On October 6th and 7th, French and British invaders successively arrived at the Old Summer Palace north of Haidian, and a shameful robbery in history began. The commanders-in-chief of the two invading armies first held negotiations on the division of spoils and prepared to plunder the treasures gold and silver in the park in a planned way. But their soldiers and officers had already gathered in groups and rushed into the park to rob. The robbers carried large bags and tried their best to stuff all kinds of precious items into them. They hit each other and cursed each other. Some put their heads into the red lacquered suitcases to look for things, and some used axes to hack away at the gems embedded in the suitcases. They looted and set fire to it. The fire burned more and more fiercely, but the robbers still braved the fire and ran through the palace to rob.

This robbery has almost wiped out the treasures and cultural relics in the Old Summer Palace, and part of the palace building was burned down. However, these barbaric bandits are still not satisfied with their intention to destroy human civilization. On October 18, a large number of British troops were dispatched, burning the remaining palaces of the Old Summer Palace and even the palaces and pavilions of Wanshou Mountain, Yuquan Mountain, and Xiangshan Mountain. The fire lasted for two days and two nights, and thick smoke covered the sky. Smoke and dust could be seen and pine wood could be smelled in Beijing. The Old Summer Palace, which is 20 to 30 miles away and was built over more than 100 years with the hard work of countless working people, was reduced to ruins under the barbaric destruction of the invaders within a few days. At the same time, markets in the Laohudong area of ??Haidian near the Old Summer Palace, Chengfu, Guajiatun, and Deshengmenguanxiang were all burned and looted. Hundreds of villages outside the four gates of Anding, Desheng, Xizhi, and Fucheng were also burned and looted. to savage ravages.

On October 13, the invading army forced the princes and ministers staying in Beijing to hand over the Anding Gate, and then occupied the entire northern city wall, set up flags and cannons, and pointed the muzzles of the cannons into the city. The invading officers and soldiers harassed everywhere inside and outside the city, bringing serious disasters to the people of Beijing. At the same time, they also received heroic resistance from the people of Beijing.

Under the pressure of the invaders, Prince Gong and Yiliu signed the Sino-British and Sino-French on behalf of the Qing government, and accepted all the unreasonable demands of the invaders, including approving the exchange 1858 The Treaty of Tianjin in 2008, and the Continuation Treaty signed this time are the Treaty of Beijing. The main contents of the "Beijing Treaty" include compensation, cession of territory, opening of ports, etc. Subsequently, the Qing government was forced to sign the Beijing Treaty between China and Russia, and approximately 1.5 million square kilometers of land in my country's northeastern and northwest frontiers was ceded. The "Tianjin Treaty" and "Beijing Treaty" caused extremely serious damage to China, and the degree of China's semi-colonialization was greatly deepened.

The invaders also forced the Qing government to print the full texts of the two treaties and publish them in all provinces. In Beijing, the invading army coerced Chinese soldiers and posted them everywhere on the streets.

The people of Beijing thought this was a great shame and humiliation, and were extremely angry.

The British and French bandits robbed and harassed the suburbs of Beijing for nearly fifty days. Seeing that the weather was getting colder, they evacuated Beijing separately in early November. During the retreat, the local government in Beijing was ordered to prepare a large number of vehicles to load the looted goods. The French army alone robbed as many as 300 vehicles.

This war further exposed the corruption and treason of the Qing government. Its prestige in the eyes of the people was ruined, but its exploitation and oppression of the people continued to increase. As soon as the Treaty of Beijing was signed, the Qing government ordered all provinces to send silver to Beijing on the pretext of paying huge indemnities. At this time, the people could no longer bear it, and the "Jifu" area near Beijing was ignited with the anger of resistance. Tens of thousands of people even gathered in Hejian to resist. Many poor people who could not make a living also took risks and became "robbers." The princes and ministers of Beijing were once again panicked and nervous. Many troops carried cannon stones to the city wall in preparation for defense. Ruilin, a former great scholar who had fled the enemy during the war, was sent to lead the imperial army to suppress the people's resistance. However, the people's spontaneous resistance struggles continued one after another and continued for several years.