Opium War Page #6

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dearly departed brother to the deep...

May the Lord have mercy

on his soul, amen

Charles, for heaven's sake,

let's weigh anchor and go home

Or there will be more dead

I've told you before,

you can go back to your church in Macao

Oh no. I'm needed here

You're leading these people to death

My Majesty's government won't

let there die for nothing

Yes, that's what you wanted, isn't it

No rescue but a cause of the war

That's what you wanted

Today you came here

You... you are the devil

Good heavens! You knew... by Jesus,

you knew! There they are

Our warships are coming

Our warships are coming!

We're saved! We're saved!

Your Excellency, the British warships

have arrived at Humen

and blocked the estuary

of the Zhujiang River!

Let's finish the game first

Mary!

Daddy!

You left me

You really have to forgive me, Mary

Soon we will have our reward. Oh Daddy!

I tell you Captain Bremer. I knew

this water like the back of my hand

If we attack now,

we can take Guangzhou by night

How well do you know Lin Zexu,

Mr. Elliot?

We shall meet the greatest resistance

here in Guangzhou

The heart of the Great Qing in Peking

Let's settle our account

with their Emperor

That would effect the greatest fear

He's a tricky customer to deal with

Lin Zexu

Strange, isn't it? I've never met

my old adversary face to face

Your Excellencies, the enemy ships,

finding us in full battle array,

fled away without any fighting

Have they withdrawn far enough?

I saw them sailing directly up

to the north

Lin, this... dismissed!

The British haven't fled. They sail

northwards to Beijing and Tianjin

Send our ships to chase after them

It might delay their attack

The British have sturdy ships

with powerful cannons and great speed

Send 600 couriers to inform...

all our forts along Xiamen,

Shoushan and Dinai

In truth, I'd rather battle

to the last in Guangzhou

than see them go up north

Attention!

We don't want to occupy Dinghai

but we ask to use this lovely,

small island

to replenish our ships

with some provisions and fresh water

We'll pay for it

If you don't agree, we'll wipe you up

Say. Yes or no?

They're always like this

This is so typically Chinese

They never say yes, they never say no

Stand by!

Open fire!

Open fire

Open fire!

Ready. Fire

Do you feel like talking now?

I've never seen such a large ship,

nor have I seen such powerful cannons

However, we must resist

We, the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty

would rather die than surrender

Come on! Lead the remaining soldiers

to retreat to the mountain

But you...

I'll stay. Hurry up!

What a great nation and imperial court

It is less than in an hour!

Seven forts in Dinghai

and over ten battleships

were burned to ashes

Hundreds of people were killed

England

China

As your Majesty are not feeling well,

I dare not present my report

Speak up!

The courier from Zhoushan has come

with an emergency report

that the British took Dinghai

seven days ago

Now that Dinghai is lost,

the British ships, I'm afraid,

are sailing up to the north

Your Majesty, Qishan, Viceroy of

Zhili Province, requests an audience

I kowtow to wish Your Majesty

all the best

This morning the British ships

reached Dagukou of Tianjin

How dare they invade the forbidden

zone of the imperial palace!

Where is Lin Zexu?

Why hasn't he held off the enemy

in Guangzhou?

I've just gotten a letter

the foreigner wrote to Your Majesty

Who is Palmerstone?

This foreigner is a high official

He is the British foreign secretary

Britain is only a very small island

and it is not even worthy to be

a province of the great Qing Dynasty

How dare they write

a diplomatic note to me?

In my opinion,

we should never appease the British!

Otherwise, other countries like France,

America will follow suit

How could that be allowed?

Our best move is

to deal head-on with the British

and drive them

out of our territorial sea

The British always dominate

the sea warfare

by their powerful warships and cannons

At Dagukou,

I have seen with my own eyes...

So?

Forgive me, Your Majesty...

Tell me what you have seen

The British have the warships

and cannons so powerful

that I have never seen

Their warships can even run faster on

water than our horses on land

Their cannons are

as powerful as the force...

of a thunderbolt when they fire

Lin Zexu is incompetent

He cannot root out

the scourge of opium from inside

or withstand the foreign invaders

from outside

Bad news has arrived continuously

through the night

Lin Zexu, you've done harm to

the country, to me and to my subjects

Your Majesty,

the British are marching northward

because of Lin Zexu's hastiness

in handling the opium problem

So, why not dismiss Lin Zexu from office

What?

In this way, the British no longer

have an ex cuse to resort to arms

Then we can persuade them

to withdraw with due respect

and resolve the conflict peacefully

No,

those foreigners have poisoned us

with opium,

and Lin Zexu did well by destroying

the opium at Humen

Now, the foreigners with guilt

are treated as guests of honour

while Lin Zexu with merit

is to be dismissed?

Our Great Qing Dynasty cannot suffer

such a humiliation

Your Majesty,

Lin Zexu alone is as light as a feather

but the integrity

of the Celestial Empire

is essential to the Great Qing Dynasty

Your Majesty,

I'm afraid that Qishan's idea means

making a concession to the foreigners

This will make them even more insatiable

That's enough

These foreigners

are barbarious and ignorant

I decided to try peaceful means

before resorting to force

Qishan, you have enjoyed

the imperial grace all life

and you are also seen

as a pillar of the Celestial Empire

So, I order you to go

back to Tianjin and

appease the British

by telling them that,

I have already dismissed Lin Zexu and

forgiven them for resorting to arms

I appoint you

as the Imperial Commissioner

to resolve the conflict

I'll obey Your Majesty's orders

Lin Zexu,

Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi

is required to listen

to the imperial edict

Lin Zexu,

Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi

is required to listen

to the imperial edict

Since this is a private meeting

of close friends

I hope all of us can speak

frankly and sincerely

Whatever...

we say will just be between us

Then I'd like to speak outright

Lin has fallen into

such a miserable state

and as officials of the imperial court,

we are bitterly disappointed!

It's like changing horses in midstream

A bad omen!

To tell the truth,

Lin's dismissal is actually my idea

The foreigners are resorting

to arms simply

because we destroyed their opium

If we want to put out the flames of war,

we must resolve this conflict first

Then, with the adoption

of both hard and soft tactics,

we can subdue our enemy

Lin, in order to safeguard

the Qing Dynasty,

govt officials like you and me must be

ready to sacrifice even our lives

Why bother your career and life?

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