Lin Zexu: China was the first person in the modern world.

Lin Zexu had ups and downs all his life. He was born in poverty, but he was diligent and studious since childhood. I began to study at the age of 4 and began to practice writing at the age of 7. 13 years old, first in the provincial examination. 65,438+04 years old, scholar. 20 years old, a scholar, began to step into officialdom. He has served as a Taoist supervisor in Jiangnan, a salt envoy in Zhejiang, a political envoy in Jiangning, Henan and Hunan, a governor in Donghe, a governor in Jiangsu and a governor in Huguang. He built water conservancy projects and came to the conclusion that "gravel is beneficial to river engineering"; He banned opium and warned the world that "if left unchecked, there would not be many soldiers who could defend the enemy in decades, and there would be no money to pay"; He and Humen banned smoking, which was the first pioneer in the history of human civilization to advocate and resolutely put it into practice; He was the first person who opened his eyes to see the world, and he was the leader of the famous thought of "learning from foreigners to control foreigners". He is the digger of Gong Lin Canal, a wasteland in Yili. ......

Why is Lin "Zexu"

According to legend, on the day of Lin Zexu's birth, that is, August 30th, the 50th year of Qianlong (1785), the weather was sultry and the summer heat was hard to get rid of. A "premeditated" rainstorm arrived as scheduled, and raindrops the size of peas poured down. Coincidentally, at this time, Xu Si, the governor of Fujian, was sitting in a sedan chair near Dingyuan Bridge in Ximen Street. Seeing this, the governor had to get out of the sedan chair and find shelter from the rain. There is a shabby hut not far from here, so I hurried over. Just stopped for a while, I heard a baby crying, and the sound of crying resounded around, and this child was Lin Zexu. The governor was overjoyed and was about to push the door to congratulate him. It happened that Lin Zexu's father Lin Binri came home from outside. Seeing the governor's adult, he was really shocked and happy to learn that the governor's adult was coming to congratulate himself. He thought the arrival of distinguished guests when his son was born was a good sign. He named his son Zexu, hoping that his son would one day become a beloved official like Governor Xu.

There are joys and sorrows in childhood.

Although Lin Zexu was born in a poor family, he was able to have an enlightened father and a warm family. Under the careful guidance of his father and the care of his mother, his childhood was quite happy.

At the age of four, Lin Binri took him to school and taught him to read. At the age of seven, he began to write articles. Some people advise children to be too young to rush in, but Lin Binri believes that children are smart since childhood, and failure to guide them will delay spirituality. When he was eight or nine years old, Lin Zexu often wrote amazing words, and his couplets shocked all the teachers. I remember one time, the teacher ordered the students to make seven-character couplets beginning with "mountain" and "sea", and Lin Zexu Lang recited: "The sea reaches the shore in endless days, and the mountain climbs to the top, and I am the peak." This majestic spirit embodies Lin Zexu's open mind and superb taste. At the age of thirteen, Lin Zexu became a slim teenager. This year, he ushered in the first leap in his life. With the expectation and encouragement of his parents, Lin Zexu boldly took part in the imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty and finally entered the final interview in the second year of Jiaqing. At that time, an old man with white hair entered the interview with him, and they were evenly matched, so the interviewer was ready to compete with each other. The interviewer pointed to him and said, "What does a boy know? Lin Zexu calmly replied: "Adults are interested in watching", while the old man silently sighed: "I am old! ".In the end, Lin Zexu, aged 13, won the title of having obtained the provincial examination, and Lin Zexu was admitted as a scholar the following year.

When Lin Zexu was 19 years old, he took the provincial examination and was admitted to juren. On the day the results were announced, Lin Zexu married Zheng Shuqing, the daughter of Zheng Da Mo, the county magistrate of Yongcheng County, Henan Province. The couple respect each other and live a harmonious and happy life. At the end of the year, Lin Zexu went to Beijing to take the exam, but this time he failed in Sun Shan. Later, Lin Zexu took Zhang Shicheng as his teacher, took two exams, and was finally admitted to Jinshi. Lin Zexu, a young man, entered imperial academy after entering high school. Began a new life journey.

Build irrigation projects

At the beginning of the 25th year of Jiaqing (1820), Lin Zexu was appointed to supervise the empire on Jiangnan Road. When he heard that his subordinates reported that the river worker had bad habits such as graft, corruption and bribery, he took his entourage to Yifeng (now Lankao, Henan) for a surprise inspection at 5 am. It is found that some people engage in speculation in cutting materials and drive up the price of materials, resulting in migrant workers no longer working for materials. He immediately ordered the court to buy goods at a fair price and put an end to intermediate exploitation. For a time, the construction site went up and down, the material pile was new, and the instrument sealing worker quickly repaired it. Officials of all sizes praised Lin Zexu for his careful inspection and strict political discipline.

In February of the 11th year of Daoguang (183 1), he was promoted to the position of Governor of Donghe to handle the Yellow River affairs. The main building for water control on the Yellow River in Qing Dynasty was "masonry" built with barnyard grass. He said: "Straw is the first disadvantage for river workers" and must be resolutely put an end to it. Therefore, after he took office, he inspected each section of the haystacks in the north and south sides of the jurisdiction 15 halls one by one, and strictly rewarded and punished them according to the actual situation of the haystacks in each hall, so as to put an end to the accumulated disadvantages of river engineering. Daoguang rewarded him and said, "I have never been a river minister." At the same time, in view of the fact that the shovel workers in the Yellow River are often seriously washed by the big valve, and the defense is difficult, he personally made a riprap inspection and came to the conclusion that "gravel is beneficial to river workers" and vigorously promoted the new riprap technology. This is a great progress in the prevention and control project in the later period of Qinghe. Lin Zexu believes that only by building water conservancy projects can we improve flood control capacity and ensure that there are drought and flood resources. During his tenure as governor of Jiangsu Province, his achievements in managing water conservancy projects have been unanimously praised by people.

Opium is strictly prohibited.

The destruction of opium in Humen

Everyone knows that June 26th this year is the 35th International Anti-Drug Day, but I believe few people know that the International Anti-Drug Day is related to Lin Zexu, because this day is also the 82nd anniversary of Lin Zexu's "Destroying Opium in Humen"/KLOC-0.

On April 22nd, Daoguang 19 (1June 3rd, 893), Humen, which shocked China and foreign countries, destroyed opium and started with the sound of gongs and drums. On that day, Lin Zexu personally went to the scene to monitor. Humen is crowded with people. After three shots, groups of soldiers bravely put water into the no-smoking pool, added salt to make strong brine, then put the chopped opium into the pool to soak for half a day, and then added lime. Suddenly, the pool boiled, the smoke from Humen Beach rose into the sky, and opium was beaten into slag foam. When a pool was damaged, it opened the gate and rushed into the sea, back and forth. In 23 days of smoke in Humen, * * * destroyed 2,376,254 Jin of opium, which shocked China and foreign countries. His feat has written a glorious page in the history of China's anti-aggression. He declared to the world that the Chinese nation would never give in and turned a glorious page in the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle of China people in modern times. In order to commemorate him, the League of Nations designated June 3rd, when Humen started smoking, as the International Anti-Smoking Day, and June 26th, when the ban was completed, as the International Anti-Drug Day.

Open your eyes and see the world.

/kloc-the outbreak of the Opium War in 0/840 officially kicked off the modern history of China. Before Lin Zexu banned smoking, China people were at a loss about the outside world. They think that the British eat powder made of beef and mutton. If they don't eat it, tea and rhubarb will "defecate and die" when they leave China. The Qing Dynasty prided itself on "China's going to the whole country" and thought that "China's products are all-encompassing", and it could be far away from other countries and self-sufficient in isolation. When Lin Zexu first arrived in Guangzhou, he also called tea and rhubarb "the power to control foreigners", but with his contact with the outside world, he gradually changed this prejudice against western ignorance and proposed to learn from the west for the first time, becoming "the first person to see the world with his eyes open".

Lin Zexu first began to extensively seek to understand foreign culture and technology. He sent people to collect newspapers and periodicals run by foreigners published in Macao, and recruited people from poor backgrounds who knew English to do translation work. He himself carefully reads and studies the translated materials every night, and edits Macau Monthly into five series: On China, On Tea, On Smoking Ban, On Fighting and On Foreign Feelings. He also organized a large number of intellectuals to cooperate with Wei Yuan in compiling "Hai Tu Zhi", trained the army by being familiar with the West, trained the Qing army to fight against Britain in the Opium War, and wrote a letter asking for political and military rejuvenation of the country. This series of behaviors can actually prove that Lin Zexu has surpassed the traditional Confucian scholar-bureaucrat mindset.

Tuntian Ili

In the twenty years of Daoguang (1840), at the end of May, the British invading army launched a war of dialogue and aggression. At that time, Lin Zexu took strict precautions in Guangzhou, forcing British ships to dare not attack Guangdong easily and turn north. Daoguang Emperor thought it was Lin Zexu's fault, so he dismissed Lin Zexu for investigation and exiled him to Yili on the charge of "treating the country and people wrongly". Lin Zexu, 58, wept bitterly.

Seeing that Xinjiang was barren and full of deserts at that time, Lin Zexu took the belief that "peace of mind can also be home" and began preparations for forgetting to eat and sleep. He read the information of Xinjiang day and night, entrusted General Yili to look for local historical materials among the people, and gradually knew Xinjiang like the back of his hand, thus a century-old plan about Xinjiang reclamation came into being. In the winter of the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), Lin Zexu began to reclaim the wasteland of Aqwusu, but it was abandoned due to the lack of water resources. Later, he used his long-term experience in river regulation in the mainland to plan to open a canal to introduce the Hash River. Lin Zexu, together with local officials and gentry, donated money to build a large-scale water diversion project to draw the Hash River out. Lin Zexu, with more than 65,438+10,000 workers, built a canal more than 200 kilometers long in more than four months, regardless of the personal supervision of the old, the weak and the sick. After the completion of the canal, 654.38+ 10,000 mu of land in Aziwusu area was irrigated. Today, this wide strait is still sparkling and still moistens the land in the west. Locals call it "Gong Lin Canal".