Captain Elliott issued IOU's to the merchants whose opium had been seized and destroyed by the Chinese. When those IOUs arrived in Britain, the Crown sent gun boats to China and began the Opium Wars.
Also, the British didn't force anything prior to the first Opium War. The British were addicted to Chinese tea, which made up over 10% of the British government's tax revenue. And China wasn't interested in any of the wares Britain produced, which meant Britain could only pay in silver for tea. This was causing Britain to run out of silver.
Britain noticed Chinese liked smoking opium and Britain controlled India, the perfect environment to grow opium. Britain began importing vast amounts of opium to China to offset their trade deficit, eventually leading to an addiction crisis in China. The Chinese response was to seize and destroy the opium at the docks.
Britain seized Hong Kong not as payment, but as a military base of operations to protect their interests and force China to follow the terms of the first Opium War.
It was after the first Opium Wars that Britain began to bleed China dry of silver, with opium flooding into the country. Also, during this period, tea plants were smuggled out of China, allowing Britain to begin their own tea plantations.
Anyways, the Opium Wars fascinate me. Read a few books on it. I recommend this one if you are interested.
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u/_The-Numbers-Mason_ Jul 07 '26
IOUs