On the morning of the third day, the British merchants arrived at the yamen. Yinzhen first had someone arrange for them to sit down, and then had someone invite the more well-known wealthy merchants and local officials from Guangzhou.
Most of them knew each other, but some were unaware of each other's backgrounds and started asking each other questions, so the whole room was noisy.
"The prefect sent people to summon us here, but we don't know why he made such a big fuss."
"This doesn't seem like a trivial matter to me. All the important people in Guangzhou have come here. How could something so small warrant such a fuss?"
"That's true. I just hope nothing goes wrong, otherwise..."
...
Once everyone had arrived, Yinzhen decided to begin the trial.
Because there were so many people, the officials and wealthy merchants were made to stand in the courtyard, while the British businessmen kneeling in the central hall were those who used opium and those who participated in harming people with opium.
The people standing in the courtyard looked at this scene with some confusion and trepidation.
They were more or less familiar with the people kneeling in the main hall, and they had interacted with them on a regular basis. Now, kneeling there, they looked extremely disheveled. Some of them were not only unkempt, but also had snot running down their noses, looking like beggars.
Several British businessmen looked at their missing companions and saw them kneeling on the ground, quite surprised.
At the same time, I had a bad feeling.
Liang Jiugong: "His Majesty has arrived."
As soon as the voice was uttered, before Yinzhen even appeared, the hall and courtyard immediately fell silent, and no one spoke.
Not many people knew about Yinzhen's trip to Guangzhou; only a few local officials knew, so most people were unaware that the emperor had come to Guangzhou.
When Yinzhen appeared, he sat at the head of the table. Everyone bowed and kowtowed, and then Yinzhen had the evidence of crimes read out.
"...(a string of names) and others were secretly selling opium in the Qing Dynasty, causing...(a string of names) to become addicted. Upon investigation, it has been confirmed that opium is not only addictive, but long-term use will also cause dullness and shorten lifespan. In other words, opium is a slow-acting, deadly poison. Therefore, the following punishment is hereby imposed..."
The British merchant Yinzhen who was selling opium didn't take their lives. After all, they were foreigners. He simply had them ingest the opium, giving them a taste of their own medicine. It would have been too good for them to die.
Half of the property of other drug addicts was confiscated, and they could only return home when they were cured of their drug addiction. As for the scandals of the Liu and Wang families, he exposed them one by one. Their property was not confiscated, but the "nephew" and "stepmother" were severely punished.
Yinzhen glanced at the stunned crowd and asked, "Any objections?"
No one spoke; they knew nothing and had no idea what to say.
Yinzhen then said, "Since that's the case, then it's decided. Someone, bring the person up."
Next came the main event that Yinzhen was preparing to show them.
It was an iron cage, and inside was a person whose appearance was unclear. He looked extremely disheveled and was saying, "Give it to me, please, I beg you, give me the opium..."
Everyone was a little confused by this situation.
Yinzhen then said, "This is the third master of the Xie family, Xie Zhengzhang."
Upon hearing Yinzhen's words, those who knew Xie Zhengzhang immediately expressed disbelief. How could it be? Xie Zhengzhang was usually a respectable man who valued his reputation above all else; how could he be worse off than a beggar?
"I summoned you here today to serve as a warning. This is the consequence of drug addiction. If you can't quit, it's a form of slow suicide, a complete loss of dignity. I'm making this clear: anyone who gets involved with this drug will be executed, their family will be barred from military service for three generations, and from taking the imperial examinations for four generations. Furthermore, anyone found selling drug or similar drugs to the Qing Dynasty will be sentenced to death."
Upon hearing this, everyone understood how much importance the Emperor attached to this matter. Seeing Xie Zhengzhang, whose dignity had been completely shattered, in the cage, they also understood the dangers of this opium.
The British merchants initially wanted to argue their point, but upon seeing the people in the cage, they were rendered speechless. Some of the British merchants who came knew the effects of the drug and the consequences of ingesting it, while others did not.
This scene also made many British businessmen somewhat apprehensive.
Charlie and Carl weren't very old, and they were just starting out at sea. They really didn't know anything about opium.
Carl was usually more sociable than Charlie. After hearing this, Charlie turned to Carl and asked in a low voice, "Do you know what opioids are?"
Carl thought back for a moment, and he realized he had never heard of such a thing as ointment.
"No, I don't know either, but this kind of thing is really harmful."
As the two were discussing the novel, Yinzhen, who was seated at the head of the table, spoke up again: "A total of 560 catties of opium was found on the merchant ship from England. Apart from some of it being used to punish people, the rest of the 560 catties were destroyed."
After Yinzhen finished speaking, he ordered people to prepare some things. He had a space cleared in the courtyard and threw those things into the fire in front of everyone.
Yinzhen felt that this was not enough, so he ordered people to feed the British merchants who were selling opium to them with opium, and then planned to let them embark on a unique nationwide "tour" that was unparalleled in the Qing Dynasty.
Newspaper reports and live demonstrations of the dangers of opium, while seemingly excessive, do serve their purpose of publicity and teach people a lesson, letting them know that opium is not a good thing.
The court hearing went very smoothly. No one dared to say anything, mainly because they were confused by the drug and the Emperor's sudden appearance. The highest-ranking officials they had ever met were local prefects and provincial governors, so they didn't dare to contradict the Emperor.
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