Amid the laughter of everyone, three more people came into the living room, none other than Jiang Tingfu, Fei Zhengqing, and Fei Weimei.
Fairbank and Jiang Tingfu had a very good relationship. It was through Jiang Tingfu's help that Fairbank had the opportunity to teach at Tsinghua University. Moreover, the courses taught by Fairbank were groundbreaking. He was the first to teach economic history and European Renaissance history at Tsinghua.
and three courses on Chinese customs history.
Note, this is economic history, not economics!
Fairbank's wife, Fei Weimei, had close contacts with Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin. Because Fei Weimei also studied architecture, she even went to Shanxi with Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin to inspect ancient buildings last year.
"John, this is Mr. Zhou Hexuan Zhou." Liang Sicheng introduced.
Fairbank's eyes lit up, he held Zhou Hexuan's hand and said respectfully: "Mr. Zhou, my wife and I admire you very much, and we are very happy to meet you!"
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Mr. Fei, you speak Chinese very well."
Fairbank said playfully: "Of course, I can also speak a few Shanxi and Henan dialects."
Lin Huiyin explained from the side: "Mr. and Mrs. Fei often go with us to inspect various places."
Zhou Hexuan asked: "How does Mr. Fei feel about China?"
Fairbank shrugged and said: "China's political situation is unfathomable and has exceeded the scope of my understanding, even beyond the scope of what I can notice."
"What about?" Zhou Hexuan asked.
Fairbank thought for a while and said: "For example, last year Yang Quan (Yang Xingfo) was assassinated. I studied the causes and consequences of this case very carefully. It involved too many factions in China, and there were even shadows of the United States, the Soviet Union and Japan.
.”
"Your research is indeed in-depth." Zhou Hexuan said.
Fairbank said: "The assassination of Yang Quan reminds me of the assassination of Lincoln. An assassin who participated in the assassination of Yang Quan committed suicide on the spot, and the police happened to be at the scene. The assassin who assassinated Lincoln also committed suicide afterwards.
There were also police present. Whether the assassin committed suicide or was killed, I have deep doubts about this. Since the founding of the Republic of China, there seems to be a prominent theme: arresting potential opposition leaders in order to
As a warning method, or to directly kill others. Song Jiaoren integrated the Kuomintang Party and passed the 1913 congressional election. President Yuan Shikai assassinated him, and the Kuomintang party immediately became a mess. The same is true for the current Kuomintang government.
, after Yang Quan was assassinated, the Civil Rights Protection Alliance was almost paralyzed, and Cai Yuanpei, one of the founders of the alliance, almost completely stopped political activities."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Mr. Fei, I think you still take things too simply. The assassination of Mr. Song Jiaoren back then is still an unsolved case. No one can be sure whether it was Yuan Shikai's fault. Personally,
I feel that Yuan Shikai would not do such a thing. First of all, the Beiyang sect does not have the tradition of assassination. Secondly, Yuan Shikai has no need to assassinate. He can achieve his goal through more legal means. Finally, Yuan Shikai is too suspicious, as long as he is a normal person.
They would not even choose to assassinate."
Fairbank was surprised and said: "It's not Yuan Shikai, could it be someone else? This is different from the information I read."
"Information can also be deceptive," Zhou Hexuan said. "The death of one of the suspects, Zhao Bingjun, was so strange that we cannot rule out the possibility of being silenced. The murderer was caught too quickly. Not only did he not escape after the murder, but he
He was waiting for someone to catch him, but was silenced inexplicably afterwards. Moreover, the mastermind of the assassination was a Youth Gang leader who betrayed the Revolutionary Party and defected to Yuan Shikai. After this person defected to Yuan Shikai, he also had close contacts with the Revolutionary Party in Shanghai..."
"Ahem," Hu Shi suddenly coughed a few times and interrupted, "It's better not to discuss such old things. No matter how much we talk about it, it will be a waste of time."
Zhou Hexuan shrugged: "Okay, I won't say anything anymore."
Fairbank looked at the two of them playfully, smiled and said nothing.
Jiang Tingfu also helped change the topic and asked: "John, you came to China this time to write a doctoral thesis. Do you have any idea of the content?"
Fairbank said: "I have recently been studying the legality of the opium trade in the late Qing Dynasty."
"Is there any need to ask?" Zhu Guangqian said matter-of-factly, "Since the ban on opium in Humen, the opium trade has been illegal in China. Although it has been banned repeatedly, it is impossible for the government to publicly admit the opium trade."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "On the contrary, the result of the Second Opium War was that the Qing government openly allowed the opium trade."
"Is there such a thing?" Zhu Guangqian was greatly surprised.
Zhou Hexuan explained: "During the Second Opium War, the Qing government was forced to sign the "Trade Charter and Customs Regulations" with Britain, France, and the United States, allowing foreign businessmen to sell opium at treaty ports and tax them as foreign medicines.
, from then on opium became a legal imported commodity in the late Qing Dynasty."
Zhu Guangqian had no research on modern Chinese history. He seemed to have his views subverted and said in shock: "How could this happen? The Qing government actually legalized the opium trade."
Zhou Hexuan said: "The main route of the opium trade at that time was 'Guangzhou-Shanghai-Wuhu', and then shipped from Wuhu to the whole country. In the 34 years from 1878 to 1912, Wuhu imported 90,000 tons of opium, and a total of 5,000 tons of silver was flowing out.
More than 10,000 taels. Due to the huge profits from the opium trade, domestic dealers often relied on smuggling to evade the tax. In order to collect taxes, the Qing government actually contracted the opium tax to private individuals. The results of the contract were very gratifying, and tax evasion was greatly reduced in just one year.
, the sharp increase in lijin caused strong opposition from opium merchants, and the Qing government canceled the contract system under pressure from foreigners."
Those who were aware of the situation could only smile bitterly, while those who were unaware were dumbfounded.
A country actually openly legalized the opium trade, levied taxes on opium in a blatant manner, and was so troubled by tax evasion that it contracted the opium tax to private individuals. This is ridiculous enough. What is even more ridiculous is that opium dealers dare to unite.
I criticized the government and made it clear that I wanted to forcefully evade taxes. The Qing government actually compromised due to pressure from foreigners!
Jin Yuelin shook his head and sighed: "If the Qing government does not collapse, how can it be justified?"
Fairbank went on to say: "The paper I am going to write this time is titled "The Legality of the Opium Trade before the Signing of the Treaty of 1858." I have read a lot of relevant information. Before the Qing government legalized the opium trade, the opium trade
It is actually a semi-legal state in China. For example, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Nanjing, Pu Dingcha formally raised the issue of opium trade, and Chinese official Qiying responded: The Chinese government will no longer interfere with whether merchant ships from various countries carry opium. In essence, it is a public admission.
Opium smuggling.”
Zhou Hexuan followed Fairbank's words: "So after the Opium War, although the Qing government ostensibly banned the opium trade, in fact it did not dare to control it at all. That is why the opium trade was later legalized, because after the opium trade was legalized, at least the Qing government
The government can tax it, which greatly increases the government's tax revenue."
Fairbank added: "What Morrison said to the officials of the Qing Dynasty summed up the situation well. He said: China banned opium in name only. It was called a ban on opium, but it was actually tax-free. For today's
It is better to tax it than to ban it."
Everyone was speechless. When talking about the Qing government, everyone naturally thought of the current Nanjing government, which was not much better in comparison.
Fairbank said to Zhou Hexuan: "Mr. Zhou, I am very interested in all the situations in China. Can I ask you academic questions in the future?"
"Of course, we can keep communicating." Zhou Hexuan said.
