Podcasts about East India

Can hierarchies exist in a world of networks?'The Square & The Tower' by Niall Ferguson examines a selection of networks across history. In particular it focuses upon hierarchies & how they operate compared to decentralised/distributed collections of people. You'll learn about nodes & hubs, geopolitics of WW1/2, secret societies of Freemasons & Illuminati, the connectedness of Kissinger & James Watt, the East India shipping companies & modern technological advances in communication.Would love to hear your feedback and appreciate any support you wish to give :)Timeline:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:24) Themes/Questions(00:17:02) Author & Extras(00:22:02) Summary(00:24:47) Value 4 Value(00:26:08) Join Live! Value 4 Value Support:Boostagram: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/supportPaypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcastConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcast

This week on MYTH, we're traveling to East India for a very special birth in a very unusual jungle.  You'll learn that stars and diamonds look a lot alike, that cattails make surprisingly good arrows, and that thieves make good husbands. Then, in Gods and Monsters, how far would you go to win a bet with your wife over a pancake?  This is the Myths Your Teacher Hated podcast, where I tell the stories of cultures from around the world in all of their original, bloody, uncensored glory. Source: Indian Folklore

This discussion is a dip back into the extensive Intelligence Squared archive, first aired in late 2022. Jerk chicken, curried goat, ackee and saltfish - these are just some of the famous dishes which make up the varied patchwork of Jamaican cuisine. With influences from West Africa, Spain, China and the East India region, each dish can tell a different story ranging from the influence of indigenous groups to the arrival of settlers, colonialists, and enslaved people who have lived on the Caribbean island throughout history. In this episode of the podcast we're joined by cooks and food writers Melissa Thompson, author of Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook, and Riaz Phillips, author of West Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica, to explore how Jamaican food has evolved and travelled throughout the world. Let us know your thoughts! Take a moment to fill in our Intelligence Squared Audience Survey and be in with the chance of winning a £50 Amazon gift card. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series ... Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. ... Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In realtà l'apertura di questo testo è dedicata all'idea imprenditoriale del nostro Patreon Ale Fra: pagare profumatamente il Duca per performare atti di collera random e pugni sul tavolo, nei tempi e luoghi richiesti dal cliente, tipo ‘alle poste o al catasto'. Il futuro di questo podcast è chiaro: un costrutto di cartapesta, una ridicola facciata atta solamente a sorreggere l'ingombrante peso del suo membro più  coccolato. Ascoltatori che ne reclamano una sempre maggiore presenza in puntata, Patreon che gaiamente ne supportano i vizi e l'ortodonzia, groupie scatenate che chiedono solo di Lui, ignorando la voce fascinosa del Cap, l'esotico portamento del Doc o la gobbetta portafortuna di Jack. C'è solo Duca, e così sia.Buon ascolto e come sempre… Ci vediamo dall'altra parte!Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dunwich-buyers-club--2814177/support.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, June 19, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:The Indian stock market's record-breaking spree continued as key equity indices—the Sensex and the Nifty 50—settled at their fresh record highs on Tuesday. The Sensex closed up by 308 points, gaining 0.40 per cent. The Nifty gained 0.39 per cent at the close. A severe heatwave has been lashing parts of North and East India for weeks now. Daytime temperatures have perpetually been above 45°C, affecting Indians' daily lives. The recently concluded general election was notably impacted by the heat, with voters in 19 states enduring dangerous 'heat stress' during polling. A recent analysis by Respirer Living Sciences highlighted that during the last three phases of the election, over 70% of the constituencies experienced significant heat stress. The long-term effects of these rising temperatures are evident. Even areas traditionally unaffected by severe heat, like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, recorded multiple heatwave days this year. This year alone, heat-related illnesses have been deadly, and discrepancies in government-reported data on heatwave-related deaths have raised concerns. As the country continues to face record-breaking temperatures, the electricity demand has surged, hitting a five-year high in June. Mint's Manjul Paul explains through charts how the harsh effects of the heatwave have deepened the misery of millions of Indians. Click on the links in show notes to read the stories featured in today's podcast. India Inc is calling for a significant increase in government capital expenditure. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Sanjiv Puri argues for a 25% rise from the ₹11.11 trillion set in the 2024-25 interim budget for 2024-25. The proposed increase would cost an additional ₹2.78 trillion, raising capex to 4.25% of GDP. This demand is aimed at bolstering the rural sector, which has not fully recovered from the pandemic's impact. This demand is somewhat unexpected, given that other economic drivers like government spending, private consumption, and exports have improved. However, private investment has lagged despite significant corporate tax cuts since 2019. So how will this demand affect fiscal consolidation? And will the government heed the call by India Inc? Mint's senior editor N Madhavan tackles these questions in today's Mint primer. In Bengaluru, top tech companies like Cognizant, Infosys, and Wipro have seen their office spaces shrink over the past year, reflecting broader changes in the industry. Collectively, these firms ended the previous financial year with a collective 103.2 million sq.ft., a decrease of 3.7% from 107.25 million sq.ft. in FY23. This downsizing has helped bolster profitability amid concerns about the future role of these companies as major employers and leasers of extensive office areas. The contraction in the physical presence of these companies occurs against a backdrop of sluggish growth in the $254 billion Indian IT services sector, Mint's IT correspondent Varun Sood reports. The industry reported its weakest-ever dollar revenue growth of 3.8% in the fiscal year 2024. This year, the NEET results stirred significant controversy, revealing a major issue in the exam's handling. On the day the results were released, Alakh Pandey of Physics Wallah was engrossed in tallying NEET scores, noticing alarming discrepancies. Saurabh Pant of Sri Gosalites Medical Academy and concerned parents expressed shock at the unusually high scores. A staggering 67 students scored the maximum of 720 points, many from a single centre in Haryana, raising suspicions of potential misconduct. This anomaly led to widespread concern among students and parents, with many taking to social media and planning legal action to address the perceived injustices. The uproar centered around the inconsistency in scores and alleged issues at the testing centers, including delayed start times that led to the distribution of grace marks. The situation escalated as more individuals demanded a re-examination and a thorough investigation into the handling of NEET, emphasising the need for transparency and fairness in the examination process. Mint's careers correspondent Devina Sengupta, along with legal reporter Krishna Yadav, takes a look at the key figures driving the widespread protests against the alleged discrepancies and injustices surrounding the NEET examinations.Retail investor activity on the National Stock Exchange saw a significant uptick on the day of the Lok Sabha election results. This surge in buying brought their total investments for the first two-and-a-half months of this fiscal year close to the totals for each of the previous two fiscal years. Mint's markets correspondents Ram Sahgal and Sneha Shah report that this change suggests a shift in investment behaviour. On June 4, as the BJP failed to secure a clear majority, causing the Nifty to drop by 8.5%, retail investors bought shares worth more than 21 thousand crore rupees. This large purchase accounted for almost half of their total investments of 46,383 crore rupees up to June 14. In contrast, Foreign Institutional Investors and mutual funds combined sold off shares worth almost 19 thousand crore rupees. We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:Polls, deaths, and loaded power lines: India's summer misery deepensIs India Inc.'s call for more public capex justified?Why office space is shrinking at Cognizant, Infosys and WiproNEET fiasco: Meet the heroes behind the massive protestsRetail buying on 4 June pushes F25 buys to levels seen in whole of F24

Continuing our Primarily Political series, Joshua Noel is joined by Josh Patterson (of (Re)Thinking Faith) to discuss the East India Trading Company in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise! We will be discussing one of our favorite film franchises, the politics in these films, and the role that the East India Trading Company had in the larger story of the movies!.Is the East India Trading Company from Pirates of the Caribbean real? Did the East India Trading Company fight pirates? What is the East India Company ship in Pirates of the Caribbean? What did Jack Sparrow do to East India company? How did pirates affect the government? How were the lines between religion, the mystic, government, and finances blurred in the Pirates of the Caribbean films? We discuss all this and more in this one! Join in the conversation with us on Discord now!.Support our show on Captivate or Patreon, or by purchasing a comfy T-Shirt in our store!.Listen to the whole Primarily Political series we're doing:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/79d3809a-0854-4796-8abb-256d85faaa2b.Check out our other Disney episodes:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/09b1c796-b409-4cfe-bbd0-8b7a8032f846.Listen to our other pirate episodes:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/211962c0-6455-40b9-8259-3b17d264e082.Don't miss any episodes with Joshua:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/642da9db-496a-40f5-b212-7013d1e211e0.Listen to other episodes with guests like Josh Patterson:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/0d46051e-3772-49ec-9e2c-8739c9b74cdeMentioned in this episode:The SG StoreGet your exclusive merch and rep the show!Systematic Geekology StoreTheology Beer Camp 2024 - The Return of the God PodsUse our code, "GEEKSHIRE", to receive a discount on your tickets and to help support our show!Theology Beer Camp 2024CaptivateSupport the show through Captivate!Systematic GeekologyOur show focuses around our favorite fandoms that we discuss from a Christian perspective. We do not try to put Jesus into all our favorite stories, but rather we try to ask the questions the IPs are asking, then addressing those questions from our perspective. We are not all ordained, but we are the Priests to the Geeks, in the sense that we try to serve as mediators between the cultures around our favorite fandoms and our faith communities.Listener Discretion AdvisedOccasionally our show will discuss sensitive subject matter and will contain some strong language. Your discretion is advised for this...

There aren't many companies that have their own army and navy. The East India Co. was granted the power to seize land, ships, and enslave people. They shipped tons of opium into China to control the public. They invaded parts of India in the name of making money. There never was, and hopefully never will be, a company like it. 

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In this episode of Voice Over Par Charcha powered by VoicesBazaar , we're excited to introduce a dynamic, multitalented, and versatile Mr. Sumanto Ray - He is an actor, voice artist, podcaster, music composer, director, dubbing director, and writer.A seasoned content creator and management pro with over 20 years of experience. Originally from East India, Sumanto has explored all corners of the country, soaking in diverse cultures and languages. About Sumanto Ray:Sumanto isn't just a traveler; he's passionate about food and culture. His work in different places gave him a deep understanding of people, their languages, and their traditions—a treasure of knowledge that shapes his work. Professional Journey:Sumanto is an expert in radio, TV, and digital operations. He's not just a manager; he's been a key player in brands like Fever FM, Radio Nasha, and Radio One. As the founder of Mediazaadey Entertainment LLP, he now focuses on creating audio and visual content. Expertise Highlights:Strategic Management: A reliable leader with a "big picture" mindset.Programming Skills: Knows the ins and outs of radio, television, and digital content.Leadership & Mentoring: Good at guiding teams and managing projects.Whether you're into content creation or just curious about storytelling, Sumant Ray has a lot to share. Tune in and enjoy the conversation!

Nitish Rajput firmly believes that there are adequate tools available online, and people can be brought together, informed, and educated collectively. Social media and the Internet have the power to create any narrative but this channel will use the same to curate a healthy, informative narrative that can genuinely benefit people in forming an opinion that is backed by facts and uncompromised information without any bias. Nitish Rajput wants to empower and facilitate people to challenge atrocities and become more vocal about issues plaguing Indian society.

This is the first of six episodes in a series which details colonization and subjection of the Indian subcontinent by the British East India Company.  This episode serves to set the table for the the largest corporate takeover in world history by discussing questions related to capitalism and mercantilism, the economic systems that drove the East India company endlessly forward.  The creation of the stock market, its ties to Coffee, and how the EIC formed are all discussed in this episode. Contact the show at resourcesbylowery@gmail.com  f you would like to financially support the show, please use the following paypal link. Or remit PayPal payment to @Lowery80.  And here is a link for Venmo users. Any support is greatly appreciated and will be used to make future episodes of the show even better.   Expect new shows to drop on Wednesday mornings from September to January. Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound

The Kernel (https://www.thekernelbrewery.com) founder Evan O'Riordain embodies a few interesting contrasts—he's an Irishman in London committed to shining a light on the city's own dark beer past, and he's a brewer in Britain who caught the craft bug after experiencing hop-forward beers in the United States—but it's this dynamic range that drives and defines Kernel today. History is important, yet no modern techniques or ingredients are off the table, as the beers they make respect and reference the past without dogmatically recreating them. There's no such thing as textual accuracy when ingredients have changed so much over the past 100 years. Every act of recreating an old recipe from original text is an act of interpretation, and what matters most now is connecting that past to where drinkers are today. Over the past decade and a half, O'Riordain has focused particular energy on stout and porter, and we focus on that in this episode. Along the way, he covers: embracing hops as a defining creative angle helping rekindle London's dark beer lineage interpreting historical stout and porter recipes using brown malt as a main signifier of “London flavor” debunking the idea that British beers are less bitter the history of East India porter using whole-leaf hops for texture in dark and pale beers fermenting historical styles with London and California ale yeast strains And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across the country along the way. Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com (http://www.Gdchillers.com) or call to discuss your next project. BSG Craft Brewing (https://Bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG and HVG bring you Amira, the latest from their hop Breeding Program. With its classic hoppy, slightly herbal, and zesty lemon aromas it's the ideal hop for those looking to capture the traditional flavor of a classic German lager. Visit BSGCraftbrewing.com (https://Bsgcraftbrewing.com/) to learn more. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard supplies flavored craft juice concentrate blends to beverage brands for the production of beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, kombucha, and more. Flavor your lineup and streamline your sourcing by heading to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) The ProFill series of rotary can fillers from ProBrew are accelerating plant production everywhere. For more information, visit www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Thiolized yeast are a new tool for brewers to bring intense guava and passionfruit aromas out of your malt and hops. And wait, there's more! Omega Yeast makes yeast-to-order with a consistent one week lead time ensuring peak freshness and reliability. The American Homebrewers Association (https://HomebrewersAssociation.org/cbbpod): Join the American Homebrewers Association to unlock the 2023 National Homebrew Competition medal-winning recipes! Learn more at HomebrewersAssociation.org/cbbpod (https://HomebrewersAssociation.org/cbbpod) Lotus Beverage Alliance (https://lotusbevalliance.com): Building a brewery requires coordination: equipment, supplies, funding, and more. Lotus Beverage Alliance simplifies the process, offering all the elements for your business in one place. Their team of engineers, brewery consultants, and financial advisors are here to help.

Today's guest is Salvatore Buscemi.   Salvatore is currently serving as the CEO and Co-Founding Partner of HRN, LLC, a private multi-family investment office, Salvatore Buscemi has demonstrated a keen eye for successful investment strategies. He started his career at Goldman Sachs.   Show summary: In this podcast episode, Salvatore discusses the importance of networking and building meaningful relationships, especially in the investment industry. He shares his journey from considering medical school to raising $30 million for a fund at 29, and his ventures into life sciences and commercial real estate. Buscemi emphasizes the need for genuine interaction and understanding investors' preferences. He also discusses his upcoming book, "Investing Legacy: How the 0001% Invest," which offers insights into the current state of investments.   -------------------------------------------------------------- The importance of networking (00:00:00)   Salvatore Buscemi's background and career journey (00:00:53)   Investing in defaulted loans and impact-driven investments (00:02:38)   Networking and Building Relationships (00:09:29)   Being Busy vs. Being Meaningful (00:10:11)   The Law of Reciprocity (00:15:52)   Importance of building relationships with investors (00:18:20)   Helping investors by saying no (00:19:06)   Introduction to the book "Investing Legacy" (00:20:44) -------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Salvatore: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SMBuscemi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salvatorembuscemi/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salvatore.buscemi.589   Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Salvatore-M.-Buscemi/author/B00O5IHPTC?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvatore-buscemi/   Book: https://www.investinglegacy.com/book   Connect with Sam: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowtoscaleCRE/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samwilsonhowtoscalecre/ Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com   SUBSCRIBE and LEAVE A RATING. Listen to How To Scale Commercial Real Estate Investing with Sam Wilson Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-scale-commercial-real-estate/id1539979234 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4m0NWYzSvznEIjRBFtCgEL?si=e10d8e039b99475f -------------------------------------------------------------- Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: Salvatore Buscemi (00:00:00) - Your network is so important. It really is. And and the most extreme example of this is when somebody loses their job, they don't have a network. So they're groveling to all their friends. Right. And so, you know, there's no excuse for that today especially in LinkedIn. You have to treat your you know, you have to treat people like friends. You know, like really. And I think that there's been too much of an institutionalization that's been normalized now where, you know, coming after the pandemic, a lot of people are they're looking for that warmth and that intricate connectivity.   Intro (00:00:26) - Welcome to the how to Scale commercial real Estate show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we'll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big.   Sam Wilson (00:00:39) - Salvatore Buscemi is currently serving as the CEO and co-founding partner of Hrn, LLC. They are a private multifamily investment office, and he has demonstrated a keen eye for successful investment strategies. Sal, welcome to the show.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:00:53) - Sam, it's a pleasure and privilege.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:00:55) - Thank you.   Sam Wilson (00:00:56) - Absolutely. The pleasure is truly mine. Sal, there are three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show in 90s or less. Can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now? And how did you get there?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:01:06) - I started out after college not wanting to go to medical school because I passed out holding a tibia in the cadaver room, and I wound up networking because of the work I did for that doctor before I passed out. He had introduced me to his brother, who had just made partner at a firm that I would later work at called Goldman Sachs. At the age of 29, I left and raised $30 million institutionally from a Park Avenue investment manager. I was young, I was looking back. I was very driven. But there was an opportunity with Bear Stearns that collapsed, that was able to utilize my skills and network to be able to put together a $30 million fund institutionally, which a lot of people don't do unless you have that Wall Street pedigree.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:01:46) - And we had a lot of fun. The market's changed in about ten years ago. I started because of some of the families that I've worked with. They we went into like sciences because I was introduced to two partners of mine that have very illustrative careers in life sciences, managing money for the Rockefellers at the age of 26, 6 billion for them. And, you know, it's the same for Texas State Pension Teachers Pension Fund two as it related to the life sciences. So the deal flow that was coming in is great. And we built a whole consortium around that because a lot of people want to a lot of people have discretionary income and not only looking to place it into things like real estate, but also the other things that are a little more impact driven.   Sam Wilson (00:02:29) - That is a wild ride. Let's go back to the 30 million you raised right out of the gate on your own. What was that into?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:02:38) - That was into it was. It was interesting. It was sort of like the Big Short, but not really.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:02:42) - We were buying whole loans, right? Where if you look at the Big Short, they were looking at buying, you know, they were creating synthetics and then they were shorting them or trading them. So we were basically the kitchen sink for Bear Stearns. A lot of the stuff that came through, and this is during 2008. Now, a lot of people time thought that you couldn't short the housing market. Well, movies and books have been written to show otherwise, but it was really me connecting with someone who was a little older than me, but could see the fire in my eyes. I guess enough so that, you know, we were we put together this, you know, this, this, this fund that we were able to buy a lot of defaulted assets from Bear Stearns and some other banks that were going out of business.   Sam Wilson (00:03:21) - Got it. And what what did you do with them? So you bought all these defaulted loans and then what?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:03:25) - We bought low and sold just a little higher.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:03:28) - So what we were able to do is that we were able to clear title on these, the ones that we were going through the whole foreclosure process and then just selling them off to rehabs. Right. And they had as long as, you know, and the key to make it that really made that work, Sam, was to make sure you understood the metrics that they wanted as far as a profitability. And then this way that would affect your investment basis. So if, you know, these guys had to have a margin of like, I'm just saying 35%, for example, it makes it a lot easier for you to go into these deals knowing exactly what these guys want. And it was high velocity and we were able to do that. And then later I did it out in Las Vegas, too, with with commercial real estate, with private lenders. And I actually wrote my first book after that called Making the Yield, because a lot of people didn't know what hard money lending was, or private lending.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:04:09) - If you go to making the yield, you know you can get a copy. But and then after that, I wrote another book on fundraising because that was important to as well. People wanted to know, well what was the right way of doing this. And raising real money was actually came out about a year after that.   Sam Wilson (00:04:23) - What are so you've done a lot. Let's just start there. I hear, I hear, I hear the last 20 years and I go.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:04:29) - I like to say busy. I like to say busy.   Sam Wilson (00:04:32) - You've been busy. Okay. And it sounds like it's busy by choice. What drives you today to keep doing what you're doing? Like what's a what's a key motivator for you?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:04:43) - So we're not we haven't really done much in real estate. We do have 166,000 square foot Class-A industrial building we did in 2020, which has been performing very, very well because it's logistics and, you know, warehouse, light warehouse. But what gets me out of more out of bed in the morning right now is the impact that I've made.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:05:01) - And the track record that's starting, especially from this year. We've seen a lot of our, again, life science companies make a lot of improvements and strides as it relates to getting FDA approval for artificial defibrillator devices that every mother now will carry in her purse. Right. You can charge it with your iPhone. That is a big deal. And that came out in February. We also have a few other things that are happening to where people were. The ability to to really impact humanity is great to a lot of these wealthier families. And the ones that I'm talking about are over $100 million in net worth. They they're not looking for an extra zero, really. They're looking for that impact. They're looking for the bragging rights to go along with something. And we've been involved in a lot of deals right now where even outside of life sciences, we've had a tremendous impact on society. If you think about it, there's 260 million soccer players worldwide. We invested into a company alongside another large family called AI.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:05:53) - Scout. And Scout is a preeminent recruiting tool, and you'll hear some announcements, but they've already been chosen for Chelsea Football Club and a lot of the other Premier League sports, Premier League football teams in Europe, to be used for recruiting. And, you know, the impact that that is made is that in a town in East India where there's only one cell phone for 45 people, one kid was able to get recruited to Burnley, I think. So these are premier soccer clubs that are doing a lot of recruitment and the impact and the democratization of people through technology to be able to improve their lives is something that, you know, really, really draws to me. You know, it's like somewhere I don't have any kids and I'm not married, but at some point you got to look back and see who did you help, you know, what did you really do? And I think most people look at it from the altruistic standpoint where, you know, but look, I like to think big and I like to be alongside people who think just as big as I do to get into opportunities and to and to really communicate the strategy in a way where everybody can get their their hearts and minds around it.   Sam Wilson (00:06:50) - That is amazing. What do you do to put yourself in? Maybe at this point it just it's just the network that you've built. But how do you put yourself in front of these types of opportunities? Because those are pretty nuanced.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:07:04) - They you know, these are not my rule of thumb is the wider an opportunity is made available, the less valuable it is. Think about it. Everybody during the cryptocurrency days, do you buy Bitcoin? Why not everybody sneaking into your, you know, your DMs? I suppose it's a function of your network, but mostly your reputation. If I do not do what I was supposed to be doing with this one company, I would not have been invited to invest in space actually this past August. Right. And so that was an opportunity where I had to move fast. People could depend on me that we could move fast to do this. And we come to the table with money. So I think it's more or less a reputation, whereas people are looking for that certainty of execution, that you're actually going to write a check, you're going to do what you say you're going to do.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:07:44) - You are who you say you're going to do. And it's backed up by pedigree, too, as we talked about. And that gives people the creature comfort to say, hey, let's let Sal into this consortium. Let's let you know. Let's let them have a look. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to invest. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I get invited to things all the time, but even more so than that, what I like to do is I like to keep the networking on a very high level and a very active level. Tonight I'm invited to three things I don't want to, you know, cigars and cognac mean I'm just going to meet with a bunch of people real quick. You know, it's like a gathering here in Miami. But, you know, if I meet one person of consequence or somebody who I can help, it's worth it, right? And it's just a short walk. And it's a very cool day in Miami today. So it's not like I'm going to be sweating on the way over there.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:08:25) - There's other events too. And I moved to Miami because and this is something I want your listeners to really understand. Your network is so important. It really is. And and the most extreme example of this is when somebody loses their job, they don't have a network. So they're groveling to all their friends. Right. And so, you know, there's no excuse for that today, especially in LinkedIn. You have to treat your you know, you have to treat people like friends. You know, like really. And I think that there's been too much of an institutionalization that's been normalized now where, you know, coming after the pandemic, a lot of people are they're looking for that warmth and that intricate connectivity. And, you know, that's a whole other, you know, a whole other conversation we can have on that.   Sam Wilson (00:09:01) - Right? No, I think that's great. That's absolutely great. Yeah. I mean, I'm reading here on your website or on your website, actually on your LinkedIn profile view or profile, it says, you know, you guys are multifamily office Advisor and you put a bunch of things in there.   Sam Wilson (00:09:13) - And one of the one of the phrases I think that was unique was it says in other, not unique because you actually use the word in it, but was catching was in other unique invitation only opportunities. And so I started thinking about like, okay, so what is Sal doing to get one of those unique invitation only opportunities?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:09:29) - Yeah. You're networking. You're always out there. And for people at home who don't live in Miami or New York City, where I'm from, you have zoom today. There's it's there are people I know who open up their calendars just so they can sleep. You know, where they're meeting with people all over the world. It sounds kind of crazy. And there are people who are eccentric who do that. You don't have to go that crazy. But it would be great if you could meet some people over zoom just to, you know, to continue to build a network meaningfully, not just clicking and accept and, you know, people will forget and also be interactive.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:09:58) - I'm always interactive on people. Whenever I'm on a on a podcast, I always repost it. I always talk about the good things that are going on. I talk about a lot of things that are going on, but that interactivity is more important not just on LinkedIn, but also through email as well.   Sam Wilson (00:10:11) - Right? Absolutely. Let's let's talk about the something that we mentioned here in the beginning of the show. I said, you've done a lot, and you said, I like to define it as busy. How do you make sure that you're busy is also meaningful?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:10:26) - I have two that's a very good point. And you have to look at it and find out what's the highest and best use of your time and how do you leverage that activity. So I like to first of all, number one. Today. We live in a digital age, right. And so you have to continue to attract attention, whether you're me, whether you're someone else or the worst case scenario, politicians, they're constantly attracting attention.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:10:49) - Right. Because attention is the new oil. And, you know, there's there's there's a lot to be said for that. So what I do is the highest and best use of my time are two things. Number one, creating content to post on LinkedIn I like LinkedIn. Twitter for me is like a nice site. Like every time I post something, somebody, you know, I think people are drunk on Twitter, to be honest with you. I just don't understand it. But it's, you know, it has it serves this purpose as far as democratizing the voice. The second thing, too, is that I'm always talking to investors, whether they're current or new. That's the highest and best use of time, current or new. And I'm being very careful about what they're telling me. If it's a new investor, what do they like to invest in? What don't they like to invest into? Sometimes they like investing in stuff we won't touch. That's fine. We can still be friends. But he's not going to get my email distributions maybe.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:11:37) - Right. So I mean it's it's you just have to be meaningful and thoughtful about it because there's just so much noise out there today. And if you really are looking to build those relationships and you're sending out the emails and you're continuing to do things that really set you apart from everyone else, you're going to start to build a brand for yourself. And your brand really is your promise. When you think nobody tells you that they all have these great. You know, if you ask Madison Avenue what a brand was, they say it's a nice logo. And I've been down these road. I know exactly what it looks like, but at the end of the day, people are investing in you in a brand first before they invest in any sort of entity.   Sam Wilson (00:12:10) - Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And we talked about that a little bit before we started hitting record, which as you said, that we've moved into this transactional sort of capital raising environment where people have lost that relationship edge. How again, you know, maybe I'll just ask the question again, maybe in a different way, but how do how do you.   Sam Wilson (00:12:30) - That's a lot of high touch. I'll just say that in raising capital, in maintaining those relationships, how do you do that in a way that is scalable?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:12:39) - Yeah. Um. Today, I think less is more. When I moved to Miami a year ago, it was off of the. It was still during the tech hype and ether and a lot of people around the tech ether. And then Silicon Valley bank happened. Right. What happened is, is that everybody who I'd meet would be a founder, and it would scare me because they come and they'd have their iPad underneath their arm. And I'm like, oh, no, I'm going to be pitched like, this is terrible. I have to sit through this guy's PowerPoint. And what I think happened is, and you could actually maybe chalk it up to the, to the Bitcoin era when that was supercharged was that people became very transactional. And when you're dealing with people, you know, if you're selling something like a book or, you know, even a car, you know, it's very transactional.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:13:26) - You don't really have a relationship with your used car salesman, right? However, when it comes to getting money from people, people will never give you their money without first giving you their time. They want to get to know you. And this is something that goes back to biblical times that, you know, getting someone to part with their treasure for a higher calling is probably the highest calling is in sales. When you think about it, you know, funding. Look at what we're doing now raising money, bundling for politicians, war companies, whatever. There's a lot of power there. And that's the highest and best skill set you could have is not necessarily being a sales person, but being very social and being, you know, and building that network and really enjoying it. If you don't enjoy it, that's fine. Find someone who does, you know, maybe online, you can help to do that. You know, with I, I'm sure there's going to be all sorts of gimmickry that's going to be coming out with that.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:14:17) - However, you got to make an effort. And I think, you know, for me, if I make, you know, if I'm on the phone, I like meeting new people. I get introductions all the time because they do what I say I'm going to do. If you make an introduction to someone, I'm going to be there two minutes early before the zoom to make sure everything works, just to make sure you don't look like an idiot. Even if this guy doesn't do a, you know, even if this guy and I, you know, never do business together or anything like that, it's a function of your reputation. And people today, I don't think they really they don't value their reputation as much as they used to. I think they're hiding behind, you know, the pixelation of what they want the world to see as far as their Instagram and their social media. But the transactional nature has only accelerated. But in order to counter that, you have to go in the other direction.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:15:00) - And when everybody zigs, you should probably zag. And that's just fundamental for all humans. I mean, nobody goes to the movie theater to read numbers. They all get there to be entertained and hear a story, become a storyteller. People really like that. But it will also help you build your network. And then when the time comes where you need to make and ask for that network and you hold off as long as possible, then you're going to be pleasantly surprised.   Sam Wilson (00:15:22) - Hold off as long as possible.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:15:24) - Yeah, I think a lot of people are saying, oh, I just met this person. I want to know they're going to write a check. Well, they don't know you. They barely know your company. You can't even communicate your company correctly. It's too technical, it's too deep, it's too granular. It's confusing people. Why don't you build a relationship with this guy first, to see if this is something he's really into, rather than just treating like an ATM. And for me, it's the more value you give someone first, the better off in the position you are.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:15:52) - It's the law of reciprocal reciprocation, reciprocity. And that's really what people are motivated people today. You know, it's like I send you a copy of my book, right? I mean, thank you for having me on your podcast. But, you know, like there's reciprocity there, right? I mean, the cost a little money. Yes, I autograph it, but it's something you'll always remember. And for those of you who are looking to raise money, starting out writing a book could probably be the best thing you could ever do.   Sam Wilson (00:16:15) - That's interesting, I love that. That's a great that's a great tidbit. And it is. You're right. I mean, I'll be honest. I don't know what I've got episodes wise. And again, I'm not toot my own horn here, but maybe 870 some odd episodes at this point. And wow. Yeah, I remember every guest who has sent me a copy of their book. Yes. And that's I mean, that's a lot. Maybe. I mean, not a lot.   Sam Wilson (00:16:37) - Not not a lot that I remember, but it's like, you know, there's probably five people maybe of that 870 that sent me a copy of the book, and I can probably name them all off to you. I'm like, oh, they did. Yeah, they did, they did, they didn't, they did. Yeah. And there's a lot of episodes unfortunately, because this is quick, it's a 30 minute show. Not even it's a 20 minute interview, a 30 minute at most, where you and I might interact and remember those people and go like, well, are they hundred and 70? I can name off the top five. That's that's pretty powerful. So I love that law of reciprocity. I hadn't even really thought about that until right now.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:17:03) - Imagine bringing a book to an investment conference. And just I mean, I come with a bag and I just with a Sharpie, and I'll just sit there and, you know, if it's someone of consequence, I want to get to know instead of giving them a business card, which everybody's going to forget or nobody really understands, you have a book here and you're like, hey, you know, and somebody else notices it, what are you reading? And then it just goes around, and then people wind up buying it for their friends, and, you know, it becomes a good Christmas gift, right?   Sam Wilson (00:17:27) - Oh that's cool.   Sam Wilson (00:17:28) - That's very, very cool. And I think this is one of the things we really want to talk about on the show today was raising capital in a in a difficult capital raising environment. It sounds like that's one of the tools that really you're using to help raise capital.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:17:40) - Right now it is you know, a lot of people have come to me and they've asked and they, you know, a lot of the things that we've covered. But I think there's also some sort of people forget that. Especially new founders. We don't invest in new founders because there's a level of immaturity there that we don't, you know, they just don't have the experience. But we don't invest in new founders for several reasons, because they're, you know, they're still learning the ways and they don't have the network to get out of trouble if they, you know, should get caught into any sort of financial trouble or if they need something. Um, we I always send emails out. We interactivity is the new currency today.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:18:20) - And if you are not interacting with your investors on a regular basis, only when you're asking for money, giving them bad news, or giving them a tax bill, you're really you're not you're not doing this business correctly. Everybody today, as I said before, you are your own brand. And if you're raising capital, I don't care if it's sort of like science company. I don't care what it's for. You need to make sure that you have that connection more than just once with those investors, and you treat them like real friends. To take it a step further, you know, as I was joking around with all these founders, with their iPad underneath their arms, they were all looking for marriage on the first date. And that's creepy, right? Because when you think about it, when you're raising capital from someone, it is a marriage, right? Mean it is a marriage. You're with these people. There's an exchange of money, right? There's, you know, there is a contract there.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:19:06) - And a lot of people don't think about it that way. They just think of their investors as just being, like, needy or annoying or not. But I always make sure that I'm of service first. There are people who call me, they'll send something to me, I know I won't, I won't like at all, but I just have to be the no man to tell them no. Does that make sense? Yeah, that'd be like, look, I know this isn't for you, but can you do me a favor? Um, can you look at this? It's for my brother in law. I don't really respect him. I'm just giving you the cliff notes, you know? And he's never been successful with anything. Can you just give me a reason not to invest in this? So I just write five reasons, you know, and then, like, okay. Thank you. Right. But I'm serving them, you know, I'm helping them and that's that's important. Right. And that's, that's the most important part of it is you want to make sure that you're helping them.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:19:51) - I've helped people read their college essays, you know, rewrite their college essays sometimes, um, and I've helped, you know, I've done some consulting for families, too, who are looking to build their own family office and their own investment platforms using, you know, specialized SPV structures, fund structures, joint venture structures. And it's worked out really well. But it all comes down to one thing. If you are not building relationships actively with investors, you're not going anywhere. There's always going to be deals there. There's always going to be something there. And the last thing you want to do is go groveling to an investor when you have a great deal, when you don't have any sort of reputation with them or any sort of really relationship with them, or track record. Really.   Sam Wilson (00:20:29) - Right. Oh, that's that's great. That's absolutely golden. Sal, thank you for taking the time here to come on the show today. Absolutely. Last question I have for you. You've got a new book coming out.   Sam Wilson (00:20:38) - I know you mentioned it there briefly, but just so we make sure we capture this here on the show. What's the title of it and where do we find it?   Salvatore Buscemi (00:20:44) - Investing legacy how the 0.001% invest. This is all the sacred lambs that I've taken and it's slaughtered using and corroborating ex bosses at Goldman Sachs. And you know, even a Rockefeller that I sit on a board with, with a with a genius biotechnology in Boston. This is really how the bias is today. And as you're starting to see the bifurcation, unfortunately, in the country of wealth where there's no middle class, it's just a richer getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This is what people are really gravitating into. And there's really no mention of ETFs, but it talks about more or less the status of investments, like, you know, owning a professional sports team or being the guy that all your friends behind your back say, oh, I know the guy that owns that office tower over there. That's really what it is.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:21:28) - And anyone who's raising money, it would be a good fundamental insight into the psyche of how and what drives a lot of these people, because not all of them look like Warren Buffett and eat, you know, drink, you know, cherry Cokes and eat cheeseburgers. There's five different avatars I talk about in the book, and each one of them have different motivations. And I highly recommend to get the autograph version you go to investing Legacy.com forward slash book. That's investing Legacy.com forward slash book. It also is available on audible as narrated by author myself, so you can check it out there. Investing Legacy.com forward slash book. And yeah, people who buy the book will be automatically onboarded into our multifamily office platform so that you can actually see how we interact with our investors. So we'll treat you as an investor even if you're not one. Does that make sense?   Sam Wilson (00:22:16) - That's awesome. Sal, thank you very much for sharing that with us. We'll make sure to include that there in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on today.   Sam Wilson (00:22:22) - I certainly appreciate it.   Salvatore Buscemi (00:22:24) - Thank you so much, Sam. Appreciate you.   Sam Wilson (00:22:26) - Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen. If you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank higher on those directories. So appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.

We have all read indian history and its struggle for independence from Britisher Rule. But how come a corporate company like east india company, which came to trade, eventually captured and exploited the whole of India. How a traditional business of spice trade turned the course of indian history. How the east india company defeated long reigning emperors and kings to dominate the Indian land. On this independence day, lets dive down in the history again. Lets discuss.

The Act outlawed slavery throughout the British Empire although the impact took a long time to be felt. There were also some exceptions such as in areas controlled by the East India ...

https://www.youtube.com/live/Q-PR-uwmWQ8?feature=share sound is consciousness... #2023 #art #music #movies #poetry #poem #photooftheday #volcano #news #money #food #weather #climate #monkeys #horse #puppy #fyp #love #instagood #onelove #eyes #getyoked #horsie #gotmilk #book #shecomin #getready 

British prisoners of war were imprisoned in the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta' after the Bengali army captured Fort William from the East India ...

We gain an ally in the East India... I mean East Empire Trading Company and he gives up the name of the person who has been undermining the Guild!

Wir sprechen über die Spiele, die wir im April 2023 gespielt haben. Gezockt im April: TEN Next Station: London Lovecraft Letter Colour Square Cascadia Eine wundervolle Welt Catan Libertalia Great Western Trail Argentinien Concordia Scythe Revive Kneipenquiz Brass: Birmingham East India Companies On Mars Mindbug: First Contact Star Realms Insider Ganz schön clever Tempel des Schreckens Die Crew: Mission Tiefsee - Abonniert uns gerne auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spielerebellen/ Schaut auf unserer Webseite vorbei: http://spielerebellen.de/ - Unser Partner für diese Podcastfolge: HOLY - Die Soft Drink Revolution Wenn ihr bei HOLY shoppen und uns gleichzeitig unterstützen möchtet, dann über folgenden Link: https://weareholy.com/Spielerebellen Verwendet außerdem den Rabattcode SPIELEREBELLEN5 um 5 Euro bei eurem ersten Einkauf zu sparen.

Under ‘Move for Earth' initiative, co-founder of SwitchON Foundation Vinay Jaju cycled over 3,000 km across different states in East India, connecting with farmers, women and youth to address clean air, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy. Vinay Jaju is also the co-founder of ONergy and ONskills. He has collaborated with various ministries of Government of India and bilateral organizations such as US Embassy, United Nations Development Programme, General Electric and World Wildlife Fund. He is currently the Managing Director of SwitchON Foundation and looks after the daily operations of the organization. Full transcript of the episode is available here Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin & YouTube Vinay Jaju is on Twitter & Linkedin Our host, Shreya Jai on Twitter, Linkedin & Dr. Sandeep Pai on Twitter, Linkedin Podcast Producer, Tejas Dayananda Sagar on Twitter & Linkedin

Spieleindrücke - Flamecraft - East India Companies - Get on Board - Oros #Brettspielbar #BrettspielPodcast #Brettspielbuch @spielbar_com @brettspielbox

In der heutigen Podcast-Episode stelle ich vier neue Brettspiele vor, die ich in den letzten Wochen gespielt habe. Das sind diesmal East India Companies, Caldera Park, Planet B und Tiletum. Ihr erfahrt, wie diese Spiele funktionieren, was sie Besonders macht und was ich von diesen bisher halte. Viel Spaß.

Diesmal begeben wir uns in den Fernen Osten des 18. Jahrhunderts und fechten einen gnadenlosen Handelskrieg aus. “East India Companies” ist ein strategisches Wirtschaftsspiel rund um Schiffe, Märkte und Aktien. Wir erzählen euch wie wir es fanden.

Today, it's minus 10 Celcius outside. Winter is here. Not peak winter yet. Minus 30 Celcius coming by January. Have you ever wondered how the British empire waged war? By proxy, the Anglo Saxons, masters of the universe. The East India company literaly conquered the known world in a couple hundred years. Back in the day, those shareholders must have been really happy. We also talk a little bit about the collapse of empires, and the current degradation of society. A very chill and relax podcast. 3D SURROUND sound, upgraded included.

Sign up for Intelligence Squared Premium here: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/ for ad-free listening, bonus content, early access and much more. See below for details. Jerk chicken, curried goat, ackee and saltfish - these are just some of the famous dishes which make up the varied patchwork of Jamaican cuisine. With influences from West Africa, Spain, China and the East India region, each dish can tell a different story ranging from the influence of indigenous groups to the arrival of settlers, colonialists, and enslaved people who have lived on the Caribbean island throughout history. In this episode of the podcast we're joined by cooks and food writers Melissa Thompson, author of Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook, and Riaz Phillips, author of West Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica, to explore how Jamaican food has evolved and travelled throughout the world. … We are incredibly grateful for your support. To become an Intelligence Squared Premium subscriber, follow the link: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/  Here's a reminder of the benefits you'll receive as a subscriber: Ad-free listening, because we know some of you would prefer to listen without interruption  One early episode per week Two bonus episodes per month A 25% discount on IQ2+, our exciting streaming service, where you can watch and take part in events live at home and enjoy watching past events on demand and without ads  A 15% discount and priority access to live, in-person events in London, so you won't miss out on tickets Our premium monthly newsletter  Intelligence Squared Merch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke, the British government was walking a tight rope between getting their tea fix and not being banned from trade with China. When Britain ended the East India company's monopoly over the China trade, they assumed they could not be implicated in the illegal opium trade and they were soon proved very very wrong. Britain had managed to fix their silver problem, but at the cost of draining China's silver and that tight rope they were walking, well they fell. China was becoming chaotic again, revolts were likely to be on the horizon. The Qing dynasty had had enough of the situation and began to crack down in the 1830's more and more so. Now China is sending one man who had proven he knew how to stop the opium trade and soon he would wage war on the illicit trade.   This episode is Lin Zexu vs big opium   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on the history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   Lin Zexu gave the strongest and swiftest voice of approval and he was no ordinary official. Lin Zexu was the son of a schoolteacher and proved to be a great student. He passed the brutal competitive examination in Beijing in 1811 at the age of 26 emerging top of his class. Working as a judge in the 1820's he earned a reputation for fairness and the nickname “Lin, Clear as heaven” or “Lin the Clear sky” which was a testament to his incorruptibility. Over the years of his work he earned great renown as a pragmatic administrator deeply versed in how to deal with water management and flood relief. He was a rare official who could be relied upon to put the welfare of the people ahead of his own gain. He was frankly, incorruptible and because of this, in 1838 he was Emperor Daoguangs favorite minister and reached a rank comparable to Deng Tingzhen in Canton while being 10 years younger than him. He was a beacon of honesty and virtue in a time when the Qing government was full of corruption. One and a million as they say.    Lin Zexu's primary concerns had always been domestic, he had no dealings with foreigners as that was exclusively a Canton issue. Foreign relations were very far from his mind and this shaped his way of thinking. His main concerns were with the Chinese, not the foreigners when tackling the problem of opium. Lin Zexu was quite conservative and his support for suppressing opium was based on his abiding faith in moral suasion. When Huang Juezi made his proposal it marked a turning point for Lin Zexu. He seized on the proposal almost like a religious crusade and immediately offered the Emperor a detailed action plan. He recommended the confiscation and destruction of opium pipes and other equipment for using the drug. Local moral campaigns, education campaigns to teach the evils of opium to the people and active suppression of opium dens and corrupt officials. He also recommended medical treatments to help addicts wean off opium. He described various elixirs used to combat opium addiction.   One thing of interest to me as my first degree is in neurobehavioral science, Lin Zexu talked about giving patients a mix of small amounts of opium combined with herbs that would make the patients sick. This idea has been used in the field of addiction and can be effective. The Idea is based on operant conditioning, by linking to the act of taking opium with a negative stimulus you might get the patient to be more and more reluctant to take the drug. I will attest this in practice is a hit or miss depending on the drug or action. Anyways Lin Zexu's action plan was quite formidable and was hitting the issue at the source at multiple angles.    After sending his action plan to the Emperor, Lin Zexu took the initiative to test it out in his provinces of Hunan and Hubei. In august of 1838 he launched the campaign first setting out to hospitals to treat addicts. Then he jailed dealers, issued proclamations condemning the use of the drug and ordered local officials to round up and destroy whatever opium or opium using equipment they could find. Reports began to pour into Beijing about the success of Lin Zexu's plan. Tens of thousands of pipes were and ounces of opium were confiscated. Mind you 10 thousands ounces of opium was around 10 chests worth, during a time when 30,000 chests were coming into China annually. The pipes and opium were burnt publicly, which was a crucial element to the plan as they needed to prove to the public they indeed were destroying the substance, otherwise the public would assume they were taking it for themselves! Lin Zexu's reports to the Emperor were increasingly triumphant and their tone pressed the urgency to unleash the action plan outside Hunan and Hubei. In September of 1838 Lin Zexu declared opium to be the largest problem the Qing dynasty was facing. “Before opium was widespread, those who smoked it only harmed themselves. The punishments of canning and exile were enough to keep them in line. But when its evil influence has penetrated into the whole country, the effect is tremendous. Laws should be put into rigid enforcement. If left in a lax state, then after a few decades, there will be no soldier in this Central Empire to fight against invaders, nor money to bear the military expenses. I have the fear, that if the evil be suffered to grow at this critical moment there may be no more chance for remedy”.    In October of 1838, the Daoguang Emperor was leaning heavily towards initiating the suppression campaign while some of his officials still believed he might legalize opium. Those same officials were feeding Charles Elliot stories that at any moment the substance would be legalized and this influenced his actions. Then on November the 8th a Manchu official named Qishan who was the governor general of Zhili province reported the largest drug bust in the history of the Qing empire to that point. The confiscated opium was found in Tianjin, not too far away from Beijing. Qishan stated the opium had come from Canton through the Cantonese traders who managed to ship it north through various means. The major drug bust indicated to the Qing court, perhaps they needed to perform the same action in Canton. Emperor Daoguang then made the decision to summon Lin Zexu to Beijing in December of 1838. After the meeting, Emperor Daoguang tasked Lin Zexu with a mission to obliterate the opium trade in Canton. Lin Zexu would travel south as an imperial commissioner, holding the power to act on behalf of the Emperor, answerable to no other local officials. He would have command over all naval forces at Canton and Deng Tingzhen would give him support. Thus in early January of 1839, while Charles Elliot expected legalization of opium to be declared at any moment, Lin Zexu made his way to end the illicit trade once and for all.   Charles Elliot was being fed false information about the ongoing court battle over the opium question in China and he worried about his lack of authority over the British subjects in Canton. If the opium smugglers provoked a crisis under his watch, he was placed in quite a predicament. The British traders and Chinese did not actually know what Elliot's authority was and on many occasions tried to pry the information out of him. The English newspapers for example repeatedly asked him to clarify what his authorization was, but he refused to ever answer.  Elliots became increasingly concerned with British sailors getting into fights with local chinese and organized a naval police force to deal with the issue. Yet when he began doing this he was scolded by Palmerston for overstepping his authority. “You have no power of your own authority to make any such regulations. The establishment of a system of police at Whampoa within the dominions of the Emperor of China was in violation of the absolute right of sovereignty enjoyed by independent states”.    By the early winter of 1839 it seemed governor general Deng Tingzhen's ongoing efforts to crackdown on the Chinese opium smugglers was working. As noted by William Jardine “Not a broker to be seen, nor an Opium pipe; they have all vanished. The authorities are seizing smokers, dealers and shopkeepers innumerable. We must hope for better times and brisker deliveries”. Up to this point Deng Tingzhen limited his actions towards the Chinese and did not target any foreigners. Occasional shots were fired between government boats and foreign smuggling vessels, but nothing had gotten out of hand. Then on December 3rd, a small drug bust was performed and 2 Chinese workers were caught smuggling opium for a British merchant. In response to the incident, Deng Tingzhen decided to make an official statement to the foreign community. On december 12 a small force of Qing soldiers went to the gates of the foreign factories and hammered a wooden cross on the gate indicating they were about to execute a convicted Chinese opium dealer. The site of the execution was to be in front of the foreign factories, obviously Deng Tingzheng was sending a message to the foreigners, that they were responsible for the man's execution.    Its hard to know who acted out first. Elliot was at Whampoa and did not witness the event to come and those involved on the British side said they had no involvement. Its been theorized British sailors may have perpetuated it, regardless some foreigners decided that the execution in front of their homes was too distrubed and began to tear down the gallows being erected. The local Chinese soldiers did nothing to resist, some even began to help tear it down. A crowd of Chinese formed to watch the event and its remained peaceful, until some rowdy British began shoving their way through the crowd. These British hit several Chinese with sticks and some threw rocks, as you can imagine soon fights began and a full riot burst. Several thousand Chinese came and began pelting the foreigner with rocks prompting the Chinese soldiers to intervene and escort the foreigners back into the factories. In the end the gallow was torn down, but the convicted Chinese smuggler was executed elsewhere.    Palmerston demanded to know what had occurred, he was furious the British subjects had the audacity to get involved in Chinese affairs. “On what grounds did the traders imagine themselves entitled to interfere with the arrangements made by the Chinese officers of justice for carrying into effect, in a chinese town, the orders of their superior authorities”. Elliot was quite shaken by the situation. He knew he had to do something to thwart any further incident, but he had no real authority to do anything. He wrote back to Palmerston “that the danger and shame of the opium trade had reached a point where it was falling by rapid degrees into the hands of more and more desperate men”. Elliot then decided to take firm action, on december 18 he issued a proclamation ordering all British vessels carrying opium to depart the inner waters of Canton immediately. He had no authority to confiscate their cargoes, nor to arrest them and thus he fell back on the authority of the Qing government. If any British vessels refused, he would personally turn them over to the Chinese “Her Majesty's Government will in no way interpose if the Chinese Government shall think fit to seize and confiscate the same”. Simultaneously he wrote the governor of Canton pledging his support for the campaign against opium.    The opium traders were all very very pissed off. The superintendent, Elliot was supposed to protect them! James Matheson complained to the British press “that Elliot had adopted the novel course of assisting the Qing government in this, against his own countrymen! It appears to be the intention of Captain Elliot to offer himself as a kind of chief of the chinese preventive service”. Another execution of a convicted chinese opium smuggler took place in february of 1839, this time it was done much faster and with a large guard. William Jardine left Canton in late January of 1839, leaving Matheson to watch over the business. Enroute to Canton was Lin Zexu who was being counseled by many Qing officials. Qishan warned Lin Zexu not to start a war against the foreigners. Another official Gong Zizhen who was prolifically anti opium, advised that if Lin should try to shut off the source of opium directly at Canton, then both the foreign and Chinese dealers might start a revolt and China might not have sufficient military power to control them both. He recommended a gradual approach, first take action to reduce imports and only against the Chinese merchants and consumers while simultaneously increasing the military defenses at canton. He argued that China's existing naval forces could not possibly match the British and that efforts should be made to increase coastal and inland defenses. With all that being complete, in time they would be able to shut off the foreign merchants completely. Enroute to Canton, Lin Zexu visited Bao Shichen a official who had written since the 1820's on the subject of shutting down foreign trade to prevent the drain of silver from china. Bao Shichen told him “to clear a muddy stream you must purify the source. To put a law into effect you must first create order within”. Lin Zexu took this to mean he should first begin arresting all the government officials who had violated the ban on opium. Then he must completely shut off the flow of foreign opium imports coming into Canton. Bao Shichen would later state that Lin Zexu misunderstood him completely and that shutting down foreign trade was too dangerous.    In March of 1839, Canton was anxious about Lin Zexu's arrival. Everyone knew the great powers invested upon him, but nobody knew how he would use them. He arrived on March 10th and immediately struck hard. He began with mass arrests of the known Chinese smugglers and put up proclamations announcing his mission was to destroy the opium trade in its entirety. He ordered marchants to abandon the trade and for users to hand over their pipes to be smashed. Thousands of pounds of opium and tens of thousands of pipes were confiscated. In 3 months after his arrival, he would arrest 5 times the amount of people that Deng Tingzhen had done in his 2 year reign. As things were going along successfully with the Chinese affairs, Lin Zexu then decided to address the foreign merchants. On march 18 he issued an edict ordering the British merchants to surrender all of their opium to him and gave them 3 days to comply. The Hong merchants as the traditional mediators between the foreigners and the Qing government bore the heaviest blame and Lin Zexu began interrogating them all. Many were brought before him on their knees under threat of execution if they should lie.    The foreign merchants initially made no efforts toward surrendering their opium, they all wanted to see how far Lin Zexu would actually go. Lin Zexu was not accustomed to being disobeyed and quickly lost his patience. By March 19 he announced that no foreign merchants would be allowed to leave the Canton factories until they gave up their opium and signed papers stating they would never trade the drug again in China under penalty of death. Boom. If they continued to defy him after the 3 day, he would execute Houqua and other Hong merchants on the morning of March 22. The Hong merchants all panicked and pleaded with the British merchants to help. The British caved in someone and agreed to hand over 1000 chests of opium on the morning of march 22. Word came that the amount of chests would not be enough and thus the British simply held back.    Houqua and some other Hong merchants were paraded around the Canton square with iron collars and chains. Lin Zexu threatened to execute them if British merchants did not hand over the opium, but the deadline had passed and many were suspicious if Lin Zexu was bluffing. One person who did not think Lin Zexu was bluffing was Elliot who was in Macao when he heard of the situation. Elliot feared the British merchants would all be put on trial and executed. Elliot resolved to save them by standing up to the imperial commissioner, but also while trying to appease him. Elliot wrote to Palmerston “to save the merchants a firm tone and attitude was all that he needed to efuse the unjust and menacing disposition of the Imperial commissioner, but that he would also appease him by using his best efforts for fulfilling the reasonable purpose of the Qing government”.    Elliot arrived at the Canton factories at sundown of March 24 in a rowboat in full captain's uniform with a cocked hat and his sword in hand. He proclaimed to the merchants “given the imminent hazard of life and property and the dark and violent natures of Lin Zexu's threats, they should begin immediate preparations to evacuate the Canton factories. If Lin Zexu refused to grant them passage from Canton to Macao within 3 days, Elliot would conclude that the Chinese intended to hold them hostage. So long as their proceedings were moderate, defensible and just I will remain with you to my last gulp!”. That night Lin Zexu ordered all the Chinese staff in the factories to leave. The cooks, linguists, porters, servants and such all packed up and left. Then Lin Zexu shut off all supplies from entering the factories and surrounded them with soldiers. The foreign factories had become a prison for roughly 350 people, not all of whom were British. There were Americans, Parsis, some Dutch alongside the British. Lin Zexu was careful to order all guards to not provoke nor molest the foreigners, he wanted everything to be peaceful. Nobody was going to starve however, provisions were plentiful in the factories, however the merchants found cooking for themselves disastrous. One report came from the Americans who said Robert Frobes attempt at ham and eggs came out a hard black mass approximating the sole of a shoe.    Elliot was terrified they were all going to starve or be executed. Elliot resolved that they had to cooperate with Lin Zexu and hand over all the opium for if they didn't, he feared they would all be executed. In the name of her majesty, Elliot ordered everyone to surrender the opium to him and in return he would sign a promissory note guaranteeing that the British government would pay them its fair market value. The offer seemed too good to be true to the merchants. The Qing authorities could at any moment seize all the opium by force and with it their tremendous losses. James Matheson said “our surrender is the most fortunate thing that could have happened”. Throughout the afternoon on march 27th, the merchants brought Elliot statements of the amount of opium under the control of their firms and he in turn signed notes of guarantee payments by the British government. All told the amount was 20, 283 chests with a market value of roughly 10 million dollars. There was one glaring problem with this solution, Elliot had absolutely no authority to do it.   Elliots decision would turn out to be the crux of many events to come. Elliot had no authority nor any instructions to do what he did. It seems in hindsight it was a rash decision made in panic. From Elliots point of view he had to immediately save the lives of the British subjects and the overall trade relations between Britain and China. After making the choice he wrote to Palmerston “I am without doubt, that the safety of a great mass of human life hung upon my determination”. All the merchants who went along with it knew full well Elliots did not have the authority to purchase 10 million dollars worth of opium on behalf of the Crown, but because he had been so ambiguous in the past about his authority, they could all play coy that they went along with it believing he did have the authority. The signed document would give them a strong case against the British government for compensation if and when it came to that. Facing the choice of having their contraband seized by Elliot or Lin Zexu, it was a no brainer they had better chances dealing with their own government to get reimbursement. Both Elliot and the traders assumed there would be a compensation of sorts and with it the termination of the Indian Chinese opium trade for good. They had no idea how events in Britain would unfold as a result of all of this.    And so Elliot wrote to Lin Zexu informing him he would be surrendering all of the opium, which would be the single largest seizure of opium recorded in Chinese history up to that point. Lin Zexu wrote to the emperor on april 12 1839 after the seizure detailing how enormous the success was. He got them to seize all the opium in a short time and they made little conflict over it, hell no military force was really necessary “naturally they were cowed into submission”. Lin Zexu recommended they show benevolence towards the foreigners, to forgive them of their past crimes and send them a large gift of livestock, since he imagined they were starving and they no longer had their trade to support them. Yet Lin Zexu did not immediately release them, Elliot was livid! Lin Zexu told Elliot they could only be granted to leave once ¾'s of the opium had been collected a process that would take weeks, possibly months. Elliot sent a secret dispatch to Palmerston begging him for a naval fleet “it appear to me, my lord, that the response to all these unjust violences should be made in the form of a swift and heavy blow, prefaced by one word of written communication”. Elliot further argued for naval blockade of Canton and the Yangtze River, the capture of Chusan island all followed up by a northern expedition to demand the “disgrace and punishment” of Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen. Emperor Daoguang should be forced to apologize for the “indignities heaped upon the Queen and to pay an indemnity to satisfy British losses. The Qing government must be made to understand its obligations to the rest of the world.    It would take 6 weeks for all the opium to be collected and the Qing officials expected the opium to be sold off to reimburse the countless Chinese traders that had lost out. Emperor Daoguang however ordered Lin Zexu to destroy it all, and that is just what he did. I would like to mention at this time, I covered what is to come, the first Opium war on my personal channel, its a 45 minute or so documentary so please check it out it would mean a lot to me. But what I also want to let you know is there was a British/Chinese movie made on the Opium war called…the Opium War haha, which came out in 1997. I won't sugar coat it, not a amazing film by any measure, but the scene where Lin Zexu destroys the opium is quite impressive and does more merit to the story then me narrating it, so check it out if you would like! Over the course of 3 weeks in June, Lin Zexu destroyed the opium at a specially built site near the Tiger's Mouth. An american missionary named Elijah Bridgeman witnessed it and there are artist renditions of the event. In rectangular pools around 7 feet deep the opium balls were crushed and tossed in. Chinese workers would stir the thick opium filled water into a froth then cover it all with lime and salt for a few days before casting it out to sea.   Lord Palmerston learnt of the confiscated opium from the traders themselves before Elliots letter arrived. The letter that informed Palmerston was from James Matheson who was launching a campaign to make the government pay up. Suddenly petitions from all the merchants poured into Palmerstons office. A bunch of drug dealers were shaking down the British government to pay for their lost drugs. There was another major problem, since march of 1839 all trade with China had halted and there was no way to tell when it would open back up. Ships full of cotton textiles were stuck at Macao and tea shipments were stuck in Whampoa. All the non opium traders were petitioning Britain to do something and fast. Collectively the domestic manufacturers of goods that went to Canton held significant political power, much greater than the opium claimants. They demanded “prompt, vigorous and decided measures to reopen Canton and put the regular China trade on a more secure and permanent basis”. What they wanted was a treaty, done via force if necessary.   William Jardine arrived in Britain in September right as the news from Canton was spilling in and began a lobbying campaign. For the british government the talk of the opium trade was embarrassing and they wished to make the entire matter disappear as quickly as possible. However the amount of money owed to the opium traders was enormous and the Treasury of England was in no state to compensate them. Palmerston was in a terrible situation and he brought the issue of China to a cabinet meeting at Windsor castle on October 1 of 1839. He was being bombarded by business lobbyists demanding action, Elliots letter pleading for help and the English press. Britain was involved in a war in the Ottoman Empire against Russia, with a dispute between Maine and New Brunswick and an invasion of Afghanistan thus all the ministers did not want to distract themselves too much with the China problem. Palmerston offered a quick solution, he tossed in front of the cabinet several maps of the Chinese coast and explained how a small British squadron could blockade China's crucial ports and rivers to force the Qing government into submission. The plan was almost identical to a plan formulated by James Matheson in 1836 after Napiers death. The Prime minister Lord Melbourne was not so much concerned with the military aspect of the plan, but how were they going to pay the 10 million to the opium merchants, they had no financial resources to spare. They did not want to take on anymore government debt, the debt was already high after the Napoleonic wars. Also it was going to look terrible bad that the British government was paying off drug dealers. Then the solution came, the brand new secretary at war, Thomas Macaulay made a suggestion to Palmerston, a rather out of the box idea. Why not make China pay for it all.   Palmerston put forward Macaulay's idea and the cabinet agreed boom. The matter was settled, a naval squadron, not too large would be dispatched to obtain reparation from China for Lin Zexu's taking of Elliot and the other British subjects hostage. On may 21st of 1839, Lin Zexu finally allowed the foreigners to leave Canton and Elliot ordered all British subjects to abandon the factories and go to macao. Despite this more tense events would follow.    In early July there was a drunken melee in Hong Kong harbor. The comprador of the British ship Carnatic was arrested and the sailors of the Carnatic demanded his return, but the Chinese refused. Thus 30 sailors on July 12th from the Carnatic and Mangalore, both ships owned by Jardine Matheson & Co went ashore and to the village of Jianshazui on the Kowloon Peninsula. They all proceed to get drunk off Samshu, a fortified rice wine and vandalized the local temple and beat to death a man named Lin Weixi. Elliot was livid when he heard the news, he was trying to bide time in the hopes Britain was sending reinforcements. He immediately tried to rush to Jianshazui to bribe the family of the victim, but the bribery was to no avail. When Lin Zexu heard of the affair he demanded that the culprits be handed over for Chinese justice. At this time Lin Zexu he had just received new regulations from the Emperor that formully mandated the death sentence for opium users in China and for the first time also for foreigners who sold opium.The British assumed it was a death sentence to give the men up. Lin also put up postings that if any Chinese killed a foreigner unjustly they would be executed. Instead of giving up the men, Elliot called for a court of inquiry and charged 5 British sailors with riot and assault, but brought no murder or manslaughter chrages. Lin Zexu accused the British of denying China's sovereignty by issuing a court of their own.   Elliot then invited Lin Zexu to send government officials to observe a new trial for the said sailors, but Lin Zexu refused and promulgated an edict that forbade anyone from giving food or water to all the British citizens in China under penalty of death. The situation was growing more and more tense and Lin Zexu tossed Elliot a rope. On August 17 he ordered Elliot to hand over the murderer without specifiyng the perpetrators identity. Thus the idea was that Elliot could simply send whomever he wanted and the matter could be settled. From Elliots point of view however, to handover any British citizen would cause an uproar back home and he refused to do so.     On August 24, an English passenger aboard a boat near Hong Kong was attacked at night. The Chinese stripped the man naked, cut off his ear and stuffed it in his mouth. Rumors began to spread that Lin Zexu was amassing thousands of soldiers to invade Macao. Then the Portuguese governor general of Macao, Don Adraio Accacio a Silveira Pinto told Elliot he had been ordered by the Chinese to expel the British from the colony. He also told Elliot that the Chinese were secretly forming a military force to seize all the British in Macao. That very same day 2 ships belonging to Jardine Matheson & Co arrived to Macao, the Harriet towing the Black Joke. Living up to its name, the Black Joke was covered in blood all over her decks and her crew was missing. The crew of the Harriet reported that unidentified Chinese had boarded the Black Joke as it passed the island of Lantao and massacred the entire crew except for a single sailor they had rescued. Governor Pinto was so alarmed by this development he simply ordered the British to leave immediately.   Elliot finally took action. Elliot ordered all the British women and children to depart aboard some merchant ships and sail to Hong Kong Island. With no more hostages at stake Elliot now felt free to make a counterattack if necessary, but for now he would bide his time hoping that Britain was sending a squadron. His hopes were raised when a warship from India arrived, the Volage which held 26 cannons, she also brought with her news that another warship, the Hyacinth and 18 gunner was on its way shortly. Thus Elliot and all the men boarded the ships and sailed to the Kowloon peninsula and set up a flotilla just above Hong Kong island.   Lin Zexu got a report of the exodus of Macao and felt he had finally won and wrote to Emperor Daoguang “no doubt they have on their ships a certain stock of dried provisions; but they will very soon find themselves without the heavy, greasy meat dishes for which they have such a passion”. On September 1 the Emperor sent Lin Zexu a letter asking if the rumors were true that the barbarians had purchased female children and used them in diabolical rites. Lin Zexu replied that the foreigners employed Chinese adults as plantation workers and miners and a few children, but he did not believe that any black magic was involved in their employment. The Emperor also asked if the confiscated opium contained human flesh which he theorized might explain the illicit drugs preternatural addictive powers. Lin had heard these ridiculous rumors before, but he could not contradict the Emperor as it amounted to Lese Majeste, so he replied that the opium may have contained flesh of crows that second handedly eat human flesh.   After dealing with the Emperor letters which said a lot about the perspective of Beijing on the matter, Lin went to Macao to thank the Portuguese governor for his help. Then Lin Zezu learnt of the British flotilla at Hong Kong. Lin Zexu began to issue orders forbidding the supply of food or water to British ships under the penalty of death. Again the Chinese staff were removed and Chinese war junks began to surround the kowloon peninsula and Hong Kong harbor. Signs were raised stating that the wells and streams had been poisoned.   Elliot tried one last ditch effort at diplomacy and took 3 ships, the 14 gun cutter Louisa, the 6 gun schooner Pearl and the 18 gun Volage to Kowloon to demand provisions. They soon ran into 3 anchored Chinese war junks who were blocking them from landing. Elliot sent an interpreter to demand they be allowed food and water. The Chinese captains refused to comply and Elliot said if they did not comply by 2pm that day he would be forced to bombard them. 2pm came with no indication of provisions being sent and no response from the Chinese. So Captain Henry Smith of the Volage fired on the nearest Chinese war junk and the first shot of the First Opium War had been made.   According to Adam Elmslie a young superintendent clerk was witnessed the event Henry Smith ordered the volley and “The Junks then triced up their Boarding nettings, and came into action with us at half pistol shot; our guns were well served with grape and round shot; the first shot we gave them they opened a tremendous and well directed fire upon us, from all their Guns (each Junk had 10 Guns, and they brought all these over on the side which we engaged them on) ... The Junk's fire, Thank God! was not enough depressed, or ... none would have lived to tell the Story.—19 of their Guns we received in [the] mainsail,—the first Broadside I can assure you was not pleasant.”   Thus the outdated cannons aboard the Chinese war junks were aimed too high completely missed all the British ships. The ships continued to exchange fire and the shore batteries opened fire to support the war junks. By 4:30pm the British had used up almost all their ammunition and made a getaway with the war junks in quik pursuit. Adam Elmslie had this to say when the fire fight recommenced.  “The junks immediately made sail after the Louisa and at 4:45 [pm] they came up with the English vessels. We hove the vessel in stays on their starboard Beam, and the 'Pearl' on the larboard [portside] Bow of the van Junk, and gave them three such Broadsides that it made every Rope in the vessel grin again.—We loaded with Grape the fourth time, and gave them gun for gun.—The shrieking on board was dreadful, but it did not frighten me; this is the very first day I ever shed human blood, and I hope it will be the last”. During the second engagement the Chinese war junks retreated to their previous positions and the 3 British ships returned to the flotilla causing a stalemate. The captains of the Chinese war junks sent word to Lin Zexu of a great naval victory over the British claiming to have sunk a number of enemy ships and inflicting 50 casualties. The truth was there were no British casualties and no ships sunk however, in fact the Chinese had 2 killed and 6 wounded. Captain Henry of the Volage bagged Elliot to let him attack the Chinese war junks near Hong Kong harbor certain of victory, but Elliot refused fearing the outbreak of a wider battle and wanting the foreign ministers approval first before escalating things anymore. Despite the reported victory of the Chinese war junks, food and water was sent to the British ships. Lin Zexu was facing a personal and painful problem, an excruciating hernia. Chinese doctors were trying to help him to no avail, so Lin Zexu visited the office of one Dr. Peter Parker, no not spiderman, this was a Yale educated missionary. Parker fitted Lin Zexu with a truss that helped with the pain. After this Lin Zexu began reviewing the military situation at hand, at this time he wrote a poem about the battle of Kowloon “A vast display of Imperial might had shaken all the foreign tribes/And if they now confess their guilt we shall not be too hard on them.”. The Chinese began to war game while at Hong Kong the Hyacinth arrived to reinforce Elliots Flotilla. Lin Zexu continued to demand the surrender of the sailors who killed Lin Weixi, but as time went on the anger caused by the event had dissipated. Then a sailor allegedly drown from one of Jardine Mathesons & Co's ships and the Chinese volunteered to let that dead sailor be identified as the murderer, case closed.  Yet trade between Britain and China did not resume and Lin Zexu kept demanding all those who wished to trade in China sign the contract promising not to deal opium under penalty of death. Elliot told the traders not to sign the waivers and to simply sit tight for the time being as he waited for a British fleet. Some of the traders undercut his orders however and went ahead and signed the waiver and thus were allowed to trade legal cargo. One of these traders was Captain Warner of the British cargo ship Thomas Coutts and Lin Zexu was so impressed by the man he asked him to take a letter back to Britain for Queen Victoria. The letter was a remarkably frank document that explained the situation in Canton. It described all the evils of the opium trade and how it was hurting China and the response the Qing government was making to the opium crisis. It also stipulated how they could amend the situation to get rid of the opium menace and resume legal trade. Captain Warner alleges he made good on the promise to bring the letter, first to Lord Palmerston, but his office refused to receive the letter, and there is little evidence Queen Victoria read the letter in question. The Times of London did publish the letter however, it seems Captain Warner must have simply given it to them in the end. When Lin Zexu found out another British warship had joined the Flotilla he took action. He suddenly proclaimed the corpse of the drowned sailor was no longer sufficient for the murder of Lin Weixi and renewed his demands for the murders to be handed over. Failure to comply would result in the expulsion of the entire British colony. In the fall of 1839, 38 British trading vessels and 28 trading companies aboard them remained in Hong Kong harbor. Elliot begged the governor of Macao to let them come back, but he refused fearing the Portuguese would be dragged into what looked like an impending war. Then on October 20th, Elliot received a letter from Palmerston informing him that early next summer, 16 British warships with 4000 men were enroute to rescue the flotilla and to sit tight. However in the meantime more captains were signing the waiver and at the end of October Lin Zexu ordered all British ships to leave within 3 days time. Elliot set sail aboard the Volage with Hyacinth backing him up, for the Bogue as the British called it, it is also known as the Humen, it is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta. When Elliots ships reached Chuanbi near the mouth of the river on November 2nd, they came face to face with a Chinese fleet consisting of 15 war junks and 14 fire ships commanded by an old and revered Admiral named Guan Tianpei. Elliots ships came to a halt when he ran into Guan's fleet and they began to exchange a series of messages trying to ferret out the intentions of the other. Guan threatened to seize either ship if it was holding the murderer of Lin Weixi “All I want is the murderous barbarian who killed Lin Weixi. As soon as a time is named when he will be given up, my ships will return into the Bogue. Otherwise, by no means whatsoever shall I accede”. Elliot failed to persuade Guan that he was no threat and the admiral fleet began to maneuver into a position to attack the 2 British Warships. As this was occurring, the Royal Saxon arrived on the scene on its way to Canton. Elliot was anxious to not allow another Captain to sign the opium waiver and fired a warning shot across the Royal Saxon's bows to prevent the ship from entering the river. Guan proceeded to anchor hit ships in between the British warships and the Royal Saxon. Captain Smith pleaded with Elliot to allow him to attack before it was too late and Elliot gave in. The 2 British warships closed in and began to fire their broadsides. The stationary guns aboard the Chinese war junks could not be aimed effectively and fired right over the British masts. One lucky British volley hit a war junks magazines causing it to explode tremendously and sink. This caused the Chinese captains to panic as the Volage continued to score hits at point blank range. 3 more junks were hit and sunk and some of the crews aboard other ships literally jumped overboard. The entire Chinese fleet baegan to scatter and flee, all except for one ship, Admiral Guan's which suicidally stayed to return fire. Guan's ship posed a minimal threat and Elliot impressed by the old Admiral's courage, ordered Smith to stop the barrage and allow the damaged flagship of Admiral Guan to sail off. The Chinese fleet had 1 junk exploded, 3 sunk, countless damaged and the Volage sustained light damage to its sails while Hyacinth's mast received a hit from a 12 pound cannon ball. 15 Chinese sailors were dead with 1 British wounded. The battle of Chuanbi was over and the way to Canton was now open. News of the sea battle reached England and the government remained in denial about the cause of the conflict IE: the opium trade. A group of lobbyists led by William Jardine began to pelt the British press to save the opium trade while simultaneously demanding the British government reimburse the opium merchants. Parliament began to debate how to go about the situation and there emerged an anti-war camp and a war camp. One anti war advocate, Sir William Ewart Gladstone said   “Does he [Macaulay] know that the opium smuggled intoChina comes exclusively from British ports, that is, from Bengal and through Bombay? That we require no preventive service to put down this illegal traffic? We have only to stop the sailing of the smuggling vessels…it is a matter of certainty that if we stopped the exportation of opium from Bengal and broke up the depot at Lintin [near Canton] and checked the cultivation of it in Malwa [an Indian province] and put a moral stigma on it, we should greatly cripple if not extinguish the trade in it. They [the Chinese government] gave you notice to abandon your contraband trade. When they found you would not do so they had the right to drive you from their coasts on account of your obstinacy in persisting with this infamous and atrocious traffic…justice, in my opinion, is with them [the Chinese]; and whilst they, the Pagans, the semi-civilized barbarians have it on their side, we, the enlightened and civilized Christians, are pursuing objects at variance both with justice and with religion…a war more unjust in its origin, a war calculated in its progress to cover this country with a permanent disgrace, I do not know and I have not read of. Now, under the auspices of the noble Lord [Macaulay], that flag is become a pirate flag, to protect an infamous traffic.” Palmerston blamed the purchasers of the opium and not the sellers and that the effect of halting the opium exports to China would just drive Turkey and Persia to sell it instead. “I wonderwhat the House would have said to me if I had come down to it with a large naval estimate for a number of revenue cruisers…for the purpose of preserving the morals of the Chinese people, who were disposed to buy what other people were disposed to sell them?”   After 3 days to debate the house of commons voted on April 9th of 1840 271 vs 262 to proceed for war. On 20 February 1840 Palmerston sent 2 letters, 1 to Elliot and 1 to Emperor Doaguang. The letter to the Emperor informed the Qing dynasty that Britain had already sent  a military expeditionary force to the Chinese coast. These measures of hostility on the part of Great Britain against China are not only justified, but even rendered absolutely necessary, by the outrages which have been committed by the Chinese Authorities against British officers and Subjects, and these hostilities will not cease, until a satisfactory arrangement shall have been made by the Chinese Government. Palmerston's letter to Elliot instructed him to set up a blockade of the Pearl River and forward the letter from Palmerston to Emperor Daoguang. After that Elliot was to capture the Chusan Islands, blockade the mouth of the Yangtze River, start negotiations with the Qing officials. Palmerston also issued a list of objectives that the British government wanted accomplished, with said objectives being Demand to be treated with the respect due to a royal envoy by the Qing authorities. Secure the right of the British superintendent to administer justice to British subjects in China. Seek recompense for destroyed British property. Gain most favoured trading status with the Chinese government. Request the right for foreigners to safely inhabit and own private property in China. Ensure that, if contraband is seized in accordance with Chinese law, no harm comes to the person(s) of British subjects carrying illicit goods in China. End the system by which British merchants are restricted to trading solely in Canton. Ask that the cities of Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, Ningpo, and the province of northern Formosa be freely opened to trade from all foreign powers. Secure island(s) along the Chinese coast that can be easily defended and provisioned, or exchange captured islands for favourable trading terms. It was left to Elliot as to how these objectives would be fulfilled, but noted that while negotiation would be a preferable outcome, he did not trust that diplomacy would succeed, writing; To sum up in a few words the result of this Instruction, you will see, from what I have stated, that the British Government demands from that of China satisfaction for the past and security for the future; and does not choose to trust to negotiation for obtaining either of these things; but has sent out a Naval and Military Force with orders to begin at once to take the Measures necessary for attaining the object in view.   And so because of a drug cartel, run by some ruthless characters like Jardine & Matheson, Britain choose to go to war with the Qing Dynasty and begun a century of humiliation for China. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The incorruptible Lin Zexu was the perfect man for the job of putting an end to the opium problem. However the nefarious opium dealers would not go down without a fight and in the end this all would result in the first opium war. Buckle up it's about to get messy.   

Listen to the latest SBS Hindi news from India. 14/09/202

Last time we spoke about the numerous attempts of Britain to open the markets of the Qing dynasty. First we talked about the disastrous and quite embarrassing Macartney mission to China which would begin a series of more and more bad relations. After Macartney's mission came a significant increase in opium export to China via India on the part of the East India company. The British were literally and economically dependent on Chinese tea and were beginning to use nefarious methods to get their fix. Then came the Amherst mission which was even more of a catastrophe than the Macartney mission, the man did not even get to meet the Emperor. And so the Canton system of trade went unchanged, but for how long could this system manage the ever increasing demand from the British for more trade? Events are about to unfold which will see a entire nation swept up into a drug cartel.   This episode is how to start a drug cartel in the 19th century   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on the history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The year was 1830 and the 13 factories of Canton were rustling with business. The rules that governed the hundred or so foreigners who populated the factories were as strict as ever. After the Amherst mission George Staunton remained in Canton and took up a job working for the East India Company. What had changed the most since Staunton had come to Canton as a little boy was that competition was increasing. By 1830 the private traders taking up residence in the Canton foreign factories increased and they came from numerous nations such as India, Armenia, Britain, America and such. They were all competing with the East India Company which held a monopoly over British trade in Canton, but the private British traders now outnumbered the company 2 to 1. All of the private traders resented the company, as one scornful American put it “by its improper interferences and assumptions of superiority the company has earned the same dislike and unpopularity which a despotic and tyrannical government has entitled it to, in all other places where its influence extends”. The company was a mammoth, many of its armed vessels were at Canton, but it had become sluggish and slow to react. The trade between India and Canton which was making private merchants filthy rich was not being carried on the company's ships, the reason being that that cargo was opium.    Some private merchants built ships and anchored them 60 miles away from Canton on some outlying islands, not daring to come any closer to the port. They would station their “receiving ships” there at places like Lintin Island far away from the Canton authorities and these ships would act as floating warehouses for drug deals. Foreign vessels came from India with cargoes of opium and would stop at Lintin, offload their chests and then proceed to Canton with their cargo contained no contraband and thus clean for inspection. Their captains came to port and met with Hong merchants, though some dealt with black market merchants. After agreeing on a price, the foreign merchant took their payment for the opium and the Chinese dealers sent their own boats to Lintin to retrieve the shipments. The warehouse ships anchored at Lintin did not own the cargo, they were merely holding it for other unknown merchants who assumed the risks of getting it there. The Chinese smugglers then took the responsibility for the illicit drugs when they smuggled it into China. The Chinese smugglers also bribed government officials to ensure no inspections would be made at Lintin island or that such inspections would be announced in advance. One captain of a warehouse boat, Robert Bennet Forbes earned 800,000 dollars of today's currency per year for these operations.   The opium grew magnificently well in India and the East India Company would go bankrupt without the profit it gained from the illicit trade. Although the East India Company consistently avoided carrying opium to China on its own ships, that did not mean it did not take part in the trade network. The company dominated the opium supply within India and held auctions in Calcutta where it would sell to the smugglers. Everyone got a piece, the East India Company, the foreign smuggler and the Chinese merchants. The proceeds after all when said and done was payments of silver which were handed over to the East India Company's treasury whom would give the smugglers in return bills to use in India or Britain. Thus the company would enjoy a constant flow of silver.   Now the East India Company did its best to contain the cultivation of opium in India, but as time went by Indian entrepreneurs realized the massive gains that could be made and began to produce opium and ship it to ports on India's coast. The East India Company needed to keep a tight lid on how much opium made it to Canton to ensure prices remained high and that the Qing dynasty did not crack down on the trade. But in their efforts to thwart the opium cultivators trying to compete with them, they ended up simply increasing production exponentially. The company literally began to buy out its competitors to try and control the production of opium, but by that point the price per chest of opium had dropped to nearly half its value. This would have a disastrous side effect. Up until this point in the 1820's, opium remained an expensive luxury good, but with the price of it dropping soon the non wealthy in China began to purchase it and the trade expanded. By 1823 opium surpassed cotton as the largest Indian export to China. By 1828 opium was looking like the only commodity left that could reliably secure a profit for merchants in the area. 10,000 chests of opium made its way to Canton in 1828. By 1831 nearly 20,000 chests reached Canton, quadrupling the trade over the course of a decade.  Those chests did not include another 8% coming from Turkey via American smugglers, nor western Chinese grown opium. Those nearly 20,000 chests, 18956 to be more precise were worth nearly 13 million at the time, making it the most lucrative commodity trade in the world.    The independent traders, IE: smugglers formed their own community in Canton that rivaled the East India Company's factory. Their leader was the infamous William Jardine, a Scot with a degree in medicine from Edinburgh. Jardine had come to Canton as a surgeon's mate for the East India Company in 1802. When he graduated to full surgeon he was given a small space in the ship to carry his own cargo. He soon found that an illicit trade in Canton would provide him more profit than his work in medicine. Thus in 1817 after working 15 years for the company he quit to become a free merchant. After 3 years of his new life as a trader he ran into a fellow scot of higher birth named James Matheson who had like him begun the illicit business. The 2 men complemented another, Matheson was 12 years younger, more outspoken and temperamental and quite a good writer. He also had social connections back home in Britain and a lot of money. Jardine was more reserved and had a better head for business, but it was Matheson who was more willing to take big risks. In 1823 Matheson tried to sell some opium in Canton and failed horribly, but his family's wealth kept him afloat. In 1828 the 2 purchased a firm called Magniac & co and would rename it in 1832 to Jardine Matheson & Co. Stands to this very day.    Their company began doing business with opium merchants in Bombay and elsewhere in India. They settled down to live in “creek factory”, just 2 doors down from the East India company factory. They opened a newspaper called the Canton register which began a campaign to abolish the East India Company's monopoly in Canton. To allow their illicit business to work, Matheson got an appointment as a Danish consul and Jardine a Prussian consul. They both mingled with many of the big smugglers in Canton like a Parsi named Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and competed with other companies such as the Russel & Co. The Russel & Co was an American firm which would end up handling 1/5 of the Indian opium coming into Canton, so do not believe this was exclusively a British enterprise.   On the other side of this, the Qing government efforts to suppress the illicit trade were infrequent and half hearted in part because many officials were themselves involved in the business. Officials along the coast and those in Canton were many of the former corrupt officials that worked under Heshen and thus were not strangers to working the system. Despite its official illegal status, the Canton opium trades flourished. A Hong merchant named Wu Bingjian, but known to the foreigners as Houqua rose to prominence. As stated by Thomas Forbes in 1828 “Houqua as a man of business I consider the first in the country”. Houqua was the most influential trader in Canton. He was in his mid 60's, had drooping eyes, a pointed goatee and a long neck. Houqua handled all the business of the East India Company's factory in Canton along with other factories. He was revered by the foreign community for his honesty and business sense. Teas marked with his imprimatur were considered the best quality in the world. Houqua became a household name even in Britain and America and as it happens was likely the richest man in the world at one point. In the 1830's the Americans estimated Houqua was worth perhaps 26 million. Houqua lived on an island across from Canton and in a spare office there John Murray Forbes worked for Houqua as his secretary. Forbes at the age of 18 would be chartering multiple ships loaded with Houquas tea and would receive a generous 10% commission.    Now going back in time, in 1820, Emperor Jiaqing died and Emperor Daoguang took the throne. In 1810 Emperor Jiaqing revived his grandfather Emperor Yongheng's opium ban and by 1813 despaired at how it was spreading amongst the elite, even within his own palace. Apparently imperial guards and Qing officials in the palace were abusers of it. After his death, Emperor Daoguang carried forward his fathers opposition to opium. He said early into his reign “Opium is a great harm to the customs and morals of the people”. He ordered an end to the coastal drug smuggling, targeting corrupt officials who were allowing opium to come into China. “If there are traitors who try to collect taxes off opium to enrich themselves, or wh personally smuggle it into the country, punish them immediately and severely in order to expunge this massing of insects”. The same year he made these edicts a large number of scholars from coastal provinces showed up to take the civil service examination in Beijing only to die of convulsions from opium withdrawals over the 3 day test. How many addicts there were is hard to estimate. In 1820 with nearly 5000 chests being imported each year that would support roughly 40,000 habitual users, less than a hundredth of a single percent of the population. But by 1830 opium usage was exponentially increasing, the Daoguang emperor's initial concerns became full on alarm. He wrote an edict in January of 1830 “Opium is flooding into the interior, the multitude of users expands day by day, and there are more and more people who sell it; they are like fire and smoke, destroying our resources and harming our people. Each day is worse than the last”. The reports pouring in from provinces were shocking. From Zhili province a report read “there are opium smokers everywhere, especially in the government office. From the governor general all the way down through the ranks of officials and their subordinates, the ones who do not smoke opium are very few indeed”.   In response the the growing reports, in 1831, the Daoguang emperor order greater efforts be made to suppress the opium smuggling. Yet despite his orders, Beijing was unable to exert control over the provinces so affected because the local kingpins were proving themselves to be better providers for the locals than the central government. It was the kingpins employing people, providing income, security and by far could strike fear upon the populace if they were angered. When government officials would show up to crack down in the provinces, village mobs would attack them and turn them right back. This made Daoguang and his court tred very carefully as they understood how a full on rebellion was very possible. Thus Daoguang advisers cautioned any general campaign to stamp out opium smoking, do not go after the petty commoners suffering from financial hardships and addiction, but instead focus on hindering the smugglers.   Between 1831-1833 many minor conflicts occurred that would have amounted to nothing if it was not for the efforts of independent opium dealers looking to get rid of the East India Company. Of particular note was Jardine Matheson & Co who constantly wrote back to London the problems arising from allowing the company to hold a monopoly. Eventually the efforts of the smugglers paid off as in 1833 it was put to a vote to terminate the company's monopoly. By the autumn of 1833, news reached Canton that the East India company's monopoly would not be renewed when its charter expired the following May. Not only would it lose its monopoly, the East India Company would also no longer be allowed by the British government to continue its trade with China. The East India Company that had dominated trade for more than 2 centuries in Canton would vanish.   The Hong merchants were quite apprehensive at the news, it was not clear to them how the trade would now function. The Viceroy of Canton ordered the British to appoint a “tai pan” a chief executive who would be held accountable by Chinese officials for British trade conduct in Canton. The British government recognized the need to replace the role of the East India company with an alternative arrangement and agreed to create 3 superintendents of trade, a Chief superintendent, supported by 2 subordinates. “The Chief superintendent of trade would preside over a Court of Justice with criminal and admiralty jurisdiction for the trial of offenses committed by his majesty's subjects in the said dominions  or on the high sea within a hundred miles from the coast of China”. Now if you read that closely you realize, Britain just stipulated claims of extraterritoriality within the territory of the Qing dynasty.   Jardine and Matheson both worried the position of the superintendent would fall to George Stauton who arguably was the most qualified person for the job. But Staunton was an East India company man and they both worried he would bring with him the same bureaucracy that impeded upon the dealings of the independent merchants. Jardine and Matheson also took a hardline against Stauton between 1831-1833 trying to get the company abolished, he most likely would now return the favor. But to their joy, Staunton did not get the job, it went instead to William John Napier. Napier was a tall, redheaded and gallant captain of the Royal Navy and a veteran of the Napoleonic wars and fought in the legendary battle of Trafalgar. His qualifications and expertise in the trade of China amounted to nothing at all. Napier had zero experience in diplomacy, nor trade and he knew nothing about China. The cherry on top of all of this was that he was a proponent of free trade. He was to put it frankly, absolutely perfect for the smugglers.    For Napier it seems he fantasied about the power he might be capable of wielding in China, a country he understood to be “an enormous Empire of 40,000,000 that hands only together by a spiders web. What a glorious thing it would be to station a naval squadron along the coast and how easily a gun brig would raise a revolution and cause them to open their ports to the trading world”. Napiers ambitions were known to some, such as Earl Grey who sent him a private letter politely asking Napier to “exercise the most careful discretion in all your dealings with the Chinese. Given the suspicious character of the Qing government and the Chinese people, nothing must be done to shock their prejudices or to excite their fears”. Lord Napier was expected above all to keep the peace at Canton and to do no harm to the trade relations between Britain and China. Earl Grey had told him in person “persuasion and conciliation should be the means employed rather than anything approaching to the tone of hostile and menacing language. In the very worst case, should this not work, you are to show submission for a time and wait for new instructions from Britain”. Thus Napier was forbidden from pursuing any aggressive action. Napier also received instructions from Lord Palmertson at the foriegn office which likewise told him much of what Earl Grey said. Palmertson said the highest priority was to avoid any conflict with the Chinese. It was desirable to establish a line of communication with Beijing, but Napier was not an ambassador and should not go to Beijing even if opportunity arose because he “might awaken fears, or offend the prejudices of the Qing government”. Palmertson also asked Napier to find out if it was possible to make a survey of the Chinese coast, but not to make a survey. Lastly Palmertson instructed Napier not to negotiate with the Qing officials at Canton. If the opportunity presented itself, Napier was to write back home and await instructions. Just before departing, Napier would ask to be supplied with plenipotentiary powers just in case an opportunity to meet the Emperor arose, and was flat out denied this.    Napier sailed off from Plymouth on February 7 of 1834 on the 28 gunship Andromache, taking with him his wife and 2 daughters. While enroute, Napier read all that he could of the 2 previous missions particularly Amherst's notes about the status of China. Napier was excited to read about how Amherst described China as a nation oppressed by an alien dynasty and that the Han people wanted free trade. He became more and more convinced that his idea of sending a single squadron could force the Qing government to open every port in China to britain. He arrived at Macao on July 16 of 1834 and had instructions from Lord Palmertson to go straight to Canton and announce himself directly. This was an error on Palmertsons part as he obviously did not know that all foreigners were supposed to first go to Macao and await Chinese authority to come to Canton. This mistake would lead to terrible results.   OnJuly 23 Napier sailed for Canton and got to the city on July 25. He went to the factory compound at Canton and read aloud his commission to all the British traders.Then he wrote a letter to announce his arrival to the governor general.   The governor general was Lu Kun who refused to accept the letter because Napier had come to Canton unannounced without applying for a permit to enter Canton. Lu Kun said he had no idea why Napier was here, only that he had arrived on a warship and claimed to be in charge of British trade. Lu Kun was aware that Napiers arrival meant the East India companies role was ended in canton and that a new set of regulations for trade were going to be needed. However Lu Kun did not have the authority to establish any new regulations himself without orders from the emperor. So ironically both these men have the same issue. Lu Kun asked Houqua to meet with Napier to sound out the business and report back to him so they could inform Emperor Daoguang. On July 26 Houqua met with Napier and explained that the governor general required a Taipan to communicate and do trade, as they had done in the past. Napier brushed this off and said he preferred to communicate directly with the governor general. Napier ignored Houqua and sent a delegation of british merchants through canton to deliver his letter to Lu Kun. No Qing officials would dare accept the letter and Houqua pleaded with Napier to give him the letter so he could deliver it. Napier was insistent to directly address Lu Kun and refused. The next day, Houqua advised changing the letter into a petition implying Napier into a supplicant status. This greatly pissed off Napier. To add to Napiers anger, Lu Kun did not know what title to use for Napier so he wrote the term “yimu” meaning “headman” which was used for tribal chiefs and Napier's staff translated this out of context to mean “barbarian eye”. This came off as derogatory for the British.   Napier was making a large error, he thought he was dealing with China, but in reality he was only dealing with a single individual. That single individual, Lu Kun was in a position that should he disappoint the Emperor he would lose his job. All Lu Kun cared about was following protocol and not accidentally setting any new precedents. He had no authority to negotiate a new system of trade and to even border on that was to lose his job. Any of the former East India company veterans or many of the independent merchants could have easily explained this to Napier, but they didn't. Napier did not trust the former company staff and the independent merchants were vying for new trade negotiations. Napier ended up listening to the council of fellow Scots, Jardine and Matheson. Jardine and Matheson had gone to work on Napier from the very beginning helping him establish himself in Canton.   By august 9th, Napier still was unable to get his letter delivered and was becoming furious. Napier wrote to Palmersson complaining about the situation and that the Chinese were demanding he leave Canton and return to Macao. Napier went on to showcase his personal views “His majesty's government should not be ruled by the ordinary forms prescribed among civilized people. Lu Kun is a presumptuous savage. He was an alien Manchu, like the Daoguang emperor himself whom were nothing more than intruders in the country. The real people of China, the Han Chinese all wanted British trade, it was just this illegitimate government that was holding them back. The Manchus may have been fierce and strong once upon a time, but now after generations of rule they were a wretched people, inconceivably degraded, unfit for action or exertion. The British would be best off using its military power to force the Manchu government to open China's ports once and for all”. So in only 3 weeks the man sent to maintain peaceful trading relations was basically calling for war. On August 23 some Qing officials showed up sent by Lu Kun asking when Napier was going to return to Macao and Napier responded he would go entirely according to his own convenience.    Napier felt the trade relations were now threatened and decided to take his case to the people. Napier was certain the independent merchants and local cantonese would rally to him because they all wanted free trade. He began creating posters declaring how“He had been insulted and humiliated by the corrupt governor general Lu Kun whose ignorance and obstinacy were allowing the Hong merchants to shut down Britain's trade at Canton.Thousands of industrious Chinese who live by the European trade must suffer ruin and discomfort through the perversity of their Government. The only thing his people want is to trade with all China, on principles of mutual benefit, and that the British would never rest until they reached that goal”. The next day another poster went up, this one made by the Qing “a lawless foreign slave, Napier has issued a notice. We know not how such a dog barbarian of an outside nation as you, can have the audacious presumption to call yourself superintendent”. The poster also suggested cutting Napiers head off and displaying it on a stake.   On the evening of september the 4th, as Napier was eating dinner with some guests, servants rushed in to warn him that armed men had appeared at the front gates. Napier went to the gates to see Qing soldiers had surrounded the factory building and an official was nailing an edict from the governor general to the factory wall as he announced the official shutdown of trade and ordered all Chinese employees of the factory to vacate immediately.  Soon all the Chinese staff, servants, porters, guards and such left the factory, leaving Napier with just a handful of companions. Napier heard someone in the crowd say he was going to burn down the factory that very night and Napier knew action had to be taken.    Napier called upon his 2 nearby gunboats, Andromache and Imogene, both 6th rate Royal Navy frigates with 54 guns between them. Napier believed under the circumstances he had sufficient reason to defy his orders from Britain and ordered the gunboats to force passage through the Tiger's Mouth.  They were to deal with whatever resistance was made upon them and to take up positions in Whampoa and protect British subjects and their property. After ordering the ships off he addressed a letter to Lu Kun and the Hong merchants declaring “you have opened the preliminaries of war. His imperial majesty will not permit such folly, wickedness, and cruelty as you have been guilty of, since my arrival here, to go unpunished”. Unfortunately, the British governments actual response to Napiers call for war would not reach Canton until it was far too late. The British governments response was of course, to tell him to back down and to follow instructions and behave. “It is not by force and violence that his majesty intends to establish a commercial intercourse between his subjects and China”.    The 2 warships forced their passage through the Tiger's Mouth and exchanged fire with the Chinese forts that guarded it. Napiers 2 frigates unloaded more than 700 rounds into the Chinese forts, 2 British sailors were killed with 5 wounded.The forts were hammered into silence and thus ended what is called the Battle of the Bogue. The Chinese forts lacked the firepower that the British cannons held. The 2 warships proceeded to Whampoa, but the Chinese built heavy obstacles upriver, such as a large cable drawn across the river with hundreds of fire rafts loaded with gunpowder and a fleet of war junks to try and block the passage towards Canton. The 2 warships were not able to get close enough to Canton to be visible from the factories in it. The shock and awe that Napier had wanted to inflict did not come to fruition. The British merchants refused to followed Napiers lead, most simply wanted trade to resume, not a war. Jardine and Matheson were some of the very few who supported Napiers hardline stance, but most asked Napier to obey Lu Kun's orders and to go to Macao immediately. Many of the merchants began to petition Napier complaining how much financial losses he was causing them. Meanwhile Lu Kun made it clear he had zero problems with the merchants, it was Napier alone as to why trade was shut down and that normal commerce would resume the second he left. Napier felt betrayed by his own people and was humiliated.    Napier was quite alone in the empty factory building, out of reach from his 2 gunboats and the Qing were making sure no provisions reached the factory. He realized the consequences if British trade suffered serious harm from his personal actions and coincidentally he was beginning to become quite ill. Thus Napier backed down, on september 21 he ordered the 2 gunboats to pull out and he left Canton a broken man. Trade resumed to normal a fews days after his departure. Britain's first chief superintendent of trade, a proud veteran of Trafalgar and the Napoleonic wars had been brought to his knees by Lu Kun. After a 5 day trip under heavy Qing military escort, Napier arrived in Macao pale and feverish. He died 2 weeks later.   The British public did not mourn the loss of Napier. The Duke of Wellington summed up their views by stating “the attempt to force upon the Chinese authorities at Canton an accustomed mode of communication with an authority of whose powers and of whose nature they had no knowledge had failed, as it is obvious that such an attempt must invariably fail, and lead again to national disgrace”. Jardine and Matheson alongside 85 other independent merchants all signed a petition to the new King of England William IV, demanding revenge for Napiers humiliations. Within China the situation was getting worse. Patronage, bribery and embezzlement were becoming the norm among civil officials. Opium was weaving its way through the fabric of Chinese society. In spite of Daoguang's edicts to control the illicit drug the trade was growing exponentially. A major north south land transport route for opium emerged through Hunan province and with it some uprisings sprang up. The Qing government sent military forces to pacify the uprisings but ironically the soldiers that were sent were heavy users of opium and performed terribly. Forces which were sent to opium heavy regions would fall victim to the substance. The Chinese economy was falling into a depression. Grain prices deflated, driving down the income of farmers. Unemployment rose and the Qing government tax revenues were declining. Soon it became expensive to maintain public works like flood control which led to shoddy construction giving way to destructive episodes of flooding. With the flooding came agricultural failures and with that famines.   China's monetary system was collapsing, a major problem was the side effect of the opium trade, the exportation of silver. The Hong merchants paid for the opium with silver, but could not accept silver as payment for tea or silk because it would indicate that they had exported silver in the first place which was illegal. Thus silver was pouring out of China and not coming back in and on top of this, since the 1820 the worlds supply of silver had been coming from mines in Mexico and Peru, but national revolutions in Latin America had shut down those mines. The combination of these 2 factors had a disastrous effect on China.   Silver was the international currency, but copper coins were an important part of China's internal economy. A tael of silver was worth 1000 copper coins during normal times, moving such a large amount of copper was logistically unstable thus silver played a crucial role in China's economy. Silver was the basis of tax payments, a medium for all long distance trade conducted within China and abroad. But copper was used as a medium for the local economies, the marketplace and menial wages. The income and savings for all the lower classes of China, farmers laborers, craftsmen was all paid in copper. As silver flooded out of China it became more and more valuable and this skewed its exchange with copper to the point of absolute mayhem. By 1830 a tael of silver was worth 1365 copper coins and soon it rose to 1600, then to 2000 by the late 1830's. With the inflation came a need for higher taxes, but the lower class could not afford to pay them.   The Qing court debated many ways to remedy the situation. Some said they should merely open ports to appease the traders, some went as far as saying they should simply lift the illegal status of opium so it could be traded accordingly and proper taxes could be levied. In the end Emperor Daoguang increased his hardline stance against opium. Now commoners and soldiers convicted of smoking opium would be punished with 100 lashes and 2 months in the cangue (plank of wood with their hands and neck inside). Even family members of opium users could be punished, such as a father failing to control his children from smoking it.    Now when Britain got rid of the East India Company's monopoly, the responsibility for the conduct of British opium traders in China shifted from the company to the British government itself. The government of Britain tried to pretend the trade did not exist, but the public was learning more and more about it, especially after the Napier affair. Back to Jardine & Matheson's petitions to the king, they demanded a full fledged ambassador, backed up by a war fleet, to demand reparation for China's apparent crimes. More and more letters came to Britain demanding war like action and that just a small force of 2 frigates and 3 or 4 armed vessels could blockade most of the sea trade for the Qing empire. “Intercepting its revenues in their progres to the capital, and taking possession of all the armed vessels of the country”. Such actions they argued would not see full scale war, it would just lead to more amenable trade relations. The new man to replace Napier was a longtime East India company man named John Davis. And to their misery he immediately rejected their demand for reparations and was adamantly against their free trade movement. Davis subscribed to the idea that China trade should be conducted with caution and respect. As Jardine & Matheson continuously called for war, Davis sent word back to Palmersson in Britain to ignore them. Davis was far more optimistic that Britain could find a peaceful way after the embarrassing Napier situation. Jardine & Matheson would not quit, and Matheson went back to Britain to drum up support for a punitive expedition against China.   While Matheson held no significant influence over the British government, fortunately Lady Napier did whom he was pushing to rally support for the cause. He used Lady Napier to gain an audience with Lord Palmerston, but as much as he tried to persuade the man, Palmerston like many other officials believed the Canton trade would regain its balance naturally with time and noninterference. Before leaving to go back to China in 1836, Matheson created a hundred page pamphlet titled “the present position and prospects of the British trade with China”. The piece argued for the necessity of a british naval expedition to open China or trade would simply come to an end.    Back in Canton, Davis appointed Charles Elliot as secretary to the committee of superintendents. Charles Elliot was a light haired, thin lipped captain in the Royal Navy. In 1830 he was appointed protector of slaves in British Guyana where his job was to investigate the most abusive practices of the British plantation owners and represent the interests of the slaves who suffered under them. The experience hardened Elliot into an abolitionist. Lord Palmerston saw him as a convenient person at the right time to take up the cause in China against opium and had sent him alongside Napier. Eliot was a calculating man, obsessed on how his actions would be interpreted back home in Britain, angling to improve his career. Davis took a strong liking to Elliot, he was flexible and not as headstrong as Napier. Davis also knew he was not expected to hold his position long, the chief superintendent should not be a former company man. Davis wanted to save face and resigned preemptively. When he resigned he lobbied for Elliot to be made the new superintendent. And thus Elliot got the job to his surprise.    Elliot would likewise have a new governor general to deal with, Lu Kun died and was replaced by Deng Tingzhen. They started of on the right foot, Elliot presented his credentials as the new superintendent of trade at Macao and asked for permission to come to Canton. His polite and respectful approach was approved by the emperor and he was welcomed to Canton and took up residence at the old British factory. In Chinese he was referred to as Lingshi “consul” a respectable title that could not be confused with barbarian eye. In november of 1836, just 5 months after Elliots arrival, the Daoguang Emperor issued an edict banning both the importation and use of opium throughout China. Deng Tingzhen proclaimed “The smoke of opium is a deadly poison. Opium is nothing else but a flowing poison; that it leads to extravagant expenditure is a small evil, but as it utterly ruins the mind and morals of the people, it is a dreadful calamity.” The crackdown was immense, Qing forces under Deng chased down Chinese smugglers and destroyed their transport ships. They went after dealers on land breaking the supply lines leading the Chinese smugglers to demand higher and higher fees from the foreign traders to transport the opium.   Jardine wrote letters back to Bombay stating the once flourishing opium traffic was falling apart “the Drug market is becoming worse every day owing to the extreme vigilance of the authorities, and we see no chance of amendment”. Though Elliot hate the opium trade he knew it was a evil necessity for Britain and feared an outbreak of violence between the Chinese government forces and the increasingly desperate British opium traders. Because the traders were resorting to more dramatic actions Elliot feared the honest traders in canton would soon face consequences because of the opium traders. Then the Hong merchants sent word to Elliot from the Emperor urging him to banish the British opium traders vessels from Canton, but Eliot pleaded that his government never gave him such authority. Elliots orders the Foreign Office were to make sure Britain's drug of choice, tea, made it safely out of China and into the teacups of English drawing rooms for the ritual afternoon tea”. They were also to ensure the safety of British subjects in China. Without any authority to stop the opium smugglers he sought action that would at least thwart violence. Elliot wrote to Palmerston in 1837 asking if Britain could make a diplomatic intervention in China to reduce the risk of losing the tea commerce.   Elliot, Deng Tingzhen the Chinese and independent merchants all were under the belief the Emperor was on the verge of declaring opium legalized. Indeed Deng and many other high ranking Qing officials had pressed the case for legalization for quite awhile and the Emperor had been showing a lot of interest in it as a solution for the silver crisis. Elliot proposed sending another ambassador accompanied by a peaceful naval force to argue in favor of legalizing opium.  His thinking was that by displaying power, but not guns blazing, could in a respectful manner impress the Qing the importance of the tea trade to both nations. Elliot also had a lot of suggestions for the ambassador. For one that he should inform the emperor that half of the opium was coming from free areas of India that Britain did not control. Also that if Britain stopped its opium traders, other nations would simply fill its space. In light of such logic the only outcome had to be legalization of opium.   Palmerston was aghast, Elliot of all people who was so against the illicit trade was now arguing on the side of the opium smugglers? Palmerston could not agree to such an idea to argue the cause of the smugglers to the emperor no, instead he proposed a “china courts bill” that would grant Elliot formal legal authority over the British subjects in China. He foresaw the creation of a British court of law in Canton, under the superintendent with jurisdiction over all British subjects 100 miles of the Chinese coast. Thus Elliot would have authority both in civil and criminal disputes. Palmerston hoped Elliot would be able to keep the free traders in line and banish the worst offenders, thus appeasing the Chinese. Palmerston never thought such an act would be seen by the Chinese as interfering with their own jurisdiction and authority. The bill was a complete breach of Chinese sovereignty, and thus when it went through parliament it was utterly destroyed.    Meanwhile back on the Chinese side, Deng Tingzhen was continuing to make progress at crushing the opium trade. But then in 1838 a Qing official named Huang Juezi submitted a new method of crushing the opium trade and stopping the loss of silver. His proposal “thus, the way to defend against this calamity, lies not with foreign merchants but with the wicked chinese”. He argued it was impossible to block the opium by embargo and it risked foreign trade. To go after the traffickers had proven to be ineffective, because of the extremity of official corruption. Thus they should target the Chinese consumers. As he summed it up “if there were no common users of opium in China then there naturally would be no dealers, no traffickers and no international smuggling trade to drain silver out of China”. It was going to be an exceptionally harsh policy, but Emperor Daoguang was intrigued and brought the proposal to the court.   The majority of officials were against it, but the vast majority were also against legalization. One official who was for Huang Juezi's proposal was Lin Zexu the governor general of Hunan and Hubei provinces. Ah yes, for my Chinese listeners or those familiar with Chinese history, one of the most famous figures has emerged onto the stage.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The British were walking a tightrope between getting their tea fix and not being banned from trade with China because of the Opium smuggling. Silver was flooding back into Britain while being drained from China and enough was enough for the Qing dynasty, now they would wage war on the illicit drug.  

Last time we spoke, the Qing dynasty had enjoyed the first half of the 18th century with relative ease and prosperity, however the end half and emergence of the 19th century would not be so fruitful. The White Lotus Rebellion of 1794-1804 took root during one of the most corrupt ridden times in Chinese history. One of China's most corrupt figures and one of the richest men in history, Heshen was executed by the new Jiaqing Emperor. Then the Jiaqing Emperor had to quell the White Lotus menace which cost the empire a possible 100 million taels of silver. Despite being successful, the White Lotus rebellion would spread a seed of destruction for the Qing dynasty that would grow overtime and bloom into multiple revolts and rebellions. Now we look to another aspect of China during the early 19th century, its struggle against the looming threat of western greed.    This episode is the A West meets East story   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on the history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   #11 The West meets East failure   Now while the last podcast highlighted the corruption of Heshen and his long lasting effect on the Qing dynasty during the late half of the 18th century, I intentionally avoided speaking about something. That something was the envoys sent by Britain to China to open up trade relations. The rationale was that I wanted to highlight why the White Lotus came to be and the British envoy stories would have derailed it, but in actuality, the corruption, White Lotus rebellion and British envoys all simultaneously play a very important role in the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. So let us go back in time a bit to begin what is quite honestly the emergence of one of the largest drug cartel stories of all time.    Lord George Macartney was a well seasoned diplomat with an extensive resume and a reputation for getting things done. He had that classic story of being raised in poverty, but rising to the top. He began his career as a barrister in England before entering the foreign service. He was no aristocrat, came from no significant family, thus earned his way through merit. His skills and intellect eventually landed him the appointment as an envoy to the Qing Dynasty to establish a British embassy in China. Up to this point in his life, everything he did was a success, but China would prove to be a hard nut to crack. In 1764 Macartney was knighted at the young age of 27 and sent as an envoy to russia. It was a rather scandalous rumor that he was sent as the envoy not merely for his skills and intellect, but because of his good looks as it was believed it would sway the Empress, Catherine the Great to the interests of Britain. After 3 years in Russia, Sir Macartney returned with the Empress's good affection, symbolized in a gem-studded snuff box. This bolstered Macartney into the social circles of the elites and by 1767 he was elected to Parliament and soon appointed the Chief Secretary of Ireland. After some years of service within the United Kingdom, Macartney sought out more adventure and took up a post as governor of the Caribbean Islands in the West Indies. He was soon awarded with the title of Bron and in 1780 received the appointment as governor of Madras India. He worked that office 6 years and became a viscount. Then in 1793 he sailed for one of the most illusive and exotic lands, that of China.   Viscount Macartney was given a simple orders from George III: establish a British embassy in the capital and get permission for British ships to dock at ports besides Canton. Now you might be asking, whats the problem with Canton? Nothing, except for foreign barbarians it was the only port of access for all of China at this time. For those who have never heard of this, the Canton System which began in 1757 was a trade system of the Qing dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor faced numerous problems when he inherited the empire, one being the threat of foreign trade. While trade obviously is a beneficial thing, it can sometimes cause harm, as such the Qing dynasty had some worries about trade with foreign lands. For one thing, the intrusion of missionaries had caused some pretty brutal conflicts in China. After this Emperor Qianlong ordered his court to make some changes to foreign trade to thus stop more conflicts from occurring. He bottled necked all foreign trade to go through Canton and they were to deal exclusively with a group known as the Cohong merchants. The Cohong were granted a monopoly over the foreign trade, but were also the primary representative link between the Qing government and the outside world. There were strings attached of course, the Cohong merchants were to take on full responsibility for any foreign persons connected with a foreign ship that did trade. The Cohong were of course expected to pay taxes to the Qing government for all the trade being done, but by far and large they were able to control how they would levy such taxes. A perfect recipe for corruption.    A event occured known as the Flint Affair, a situation in which a Englishman named James Flint serving the East India Company was repeatedly warned to remain in Canton, but in 1755 he went against the Qing administrative warnings and tried to establish trade in some ports in Zhejiang. He was caught and deported to Macau where he was imprisoned for a few years. The situation prompted Emperor Qianlong to enact 5 measures against the foreign barbarians who wished to trade. 1) Trade by foreign barbarians in Canton is prohibited during the winter. 2) Foreign barbarians coming to the city must reside in the foreign factories under the supervision and control of the Cohong. 3) Chinese citizens are barred from borrowing capital from foreign barbarians and from employment by them. 4) Chinese citizens must not attempt to gain information on the current market situation from foreign barbarians 5) Inbound foreign barbarian vessels must anchor in the Whampoa Roads and await inspection by the authorities   Trade with China was beginning to really boom, but it was being frustrated into the bottleneck of Canton. The British were very eager to open up more trade with China and Macartney had instructions to offer something to the Chinese to open up trade. He could offer to end the importation of opium from British held India, something that was officially illegal in the Qing dynasty, but in reality the Qing could not stop the illicit smuggling of it into China.    On the morning of september 26, 1792 the HMS Lion a 64 gun ship of the line, cast off for China. When Macarney landed on the coast of China, all of his retinue and baggage were transferred to Chinese junks by the order of Emperor Qianlong before he was allowed to travel up the Bei He River enroute for Peking. His ship had a large sign tacked to its mast by the Qing officials with large black letters reading “tribute from the red barbarians”. Remember at this time in history, China was basically the pinnacle of civilization at least from its viewpoint. China had felt superior to the rest of the world for quite some time. Gunpowder, paper currency, eyeglasses and the printing press all were developed in China long before the west had acquired such things. As such the emperor of China did not receive ambassadors per say, as exchanging emissaries would denote equal rank amongst nations, for which China had no equal. Those who did come as emissaries were treated as tribute bearers and identified as foreign barbarians. From the perspective of the Chinese, foreign barbarians did not come to negotiate or make dealings, they came as subjects to pay homage and tribute.    Macartney believed he was bringing gifts from one sovereign nation to another, but the Qing considered him to be a vassal paying tribute. The gifts he brought were the best of British technology: telescopes, brass howitzers, globes, clocks, musical instruments and an entire hot air balloon complete with a balloonist. That one always puzzled me by the way, did that mean the balloonist was just going to be some sort of lifetime servant? In all Macartney brought over 600 gifts for Emperor Qianlong and this all required an astonishing 99 wagons, 40 wheelbarrows drawn by over 200 horses and 3000 people. Macartney was instructed to display the gifts at the Emperor's summer palace before he would be given any chance at seeing Emperor Qianlong. The Qing court apparently were not that impressed with most of the gifts, though they did admire the wood pottery and were particularly interested when Macartney ignited sulfur matches. Unfortunately the hot air balloon never got a chance to take off. The viceroy of Pechili told Macartney that he would not be meeting the emperor in his palace, but in a yurt outside the Imperial hunting lodge in Rehe of the tartary lands. They would pass through the great wall and Macartney was astonished by it stating it to be “the most stupendous work of human hands, probably greater in extent than all of the other forts in the world put together. Its construction was a sign of not only a very powerful empire, but a very wise and virtuous nation”. They traveled into Manchuria until they reached the Emperor's summer quarters on september 8th. The journey had nearly taken a year since they departed England in 1792 and the success or failure of the embassy would be decided in the matter of just mere days. They stopped a mile from the imperial summer residence to make themselves presentable.    Macartney had prepared a colorful and grandiose outfit for the occasion as described by his valet “A suite of spotted mulberry velvet, with a diamond star, and his ribbon, over which he wore the full habit of the order of the Bath, with the hat and the plume of feathers, which form a part of it”. So try to imagine a man dressed up like a peacock, certainly it was going to leave an impression, which is what he wanted. The entourage formed a makeshift parade formation with as much British pomp that could be mustered. The British soldiers and cavalry led the way on foot followed by servants, musicians, scientists and other gentry. The parade arrived at 10am to their designated quarters, with no one at all to greet them. Macartney was bewildered, he had expected this famed Manchu man named Heshen to meet them. However Heshen was nowhere to be found, Macartney deduced he must be delayed for some reason and so they all simply waited. 6 hours passed by as they all stood there in formation waiting with no sign of an imperial official, thus they lost heart and went into the assigned residence to eat. In the end Macartney was forced to go find Heshen himself, quite an uncomfortable start to the venture. Over the course of several days the mountain of British gifts were exchanged. They presented things such as rugs to the Emperors representatives and in turn were given luxurious fabrics such as silk, jade, porcelain, lacquerware and large quantities of the finest tea, oh tea will play quite a role in all of this rest assured. The British tried to awe them with the products of their science, but soon were realizing something was not right.    You see this entire process was confused. For the British they were trying to impress the Chinese to gain the ability to negotiate for more advantageous policies in the future, IE: gain the approval to open a permanent embassy in the capital. But for the Chinese the situation was literally just trade, they were trading goods they assumed the British would want to take home and sell. Nations like Vietnam and Korea would regularly come to pay tribute to the emperor for his approval which legitimized their governments. They came and performed the famous “kow tow” before the Emperor. For those who don't know the “kow tow” is a ritual of 9 kneeling bows to the ground in 3 sets of 3 in the direction of the emperor. The envoys from places like Vietnam or Korea did this readily as their nations were official tributaries to China and thus the Emperor was the overarching figure for their nations as well as their own emperors. But when Macartney showed up he knew nothing of this entire process. Initially Macartney did not even realize he was supposed to prostrate himself before emperor and when this was explained to him he was unwilling to do it. Because despite the great admiration he had for the Qing Empire, he thought he was an envoy between 2 equal and sovereign nations, he assumed the King of England was on equal footing with Emperor Qianlong. Macartney had never done anything like the kow tow for his own king why should he for a foreign king?   So Macartney expected what he considered a mere ceremony to be waved off and submitted a request for that to be so, which he alleged later he received approval for. But when he arrived at Jehol, Heshen denied ever seeing this request and insisted Macartney must perform the kow two before the emperor. Qing officials at the scene assured Macartney that it was just “a mere exterior and unmeaning ceremony” urging him on. Things began to get messy, Macartney said he would kow tow readily if a Qing official would do the same before a portrait he had brought of King George III. No Qing official would do it, so Macartney tried to compromise, what if he simply bent the knee and head once before Emperor Qianlong. To Mccartneys relief the proposal was accepted. A few more days went by, then on September 14th he was informed he could meet the emperor.   Macartney got into his peacock suit and his entourage marched behind Macartney who was carried on a litter until they made it to the Emperor's ceremonial tent. Macartney entered, carrying a jeweled encrusted golden box containing a letter from King George III. In his own account, Macartney stated he knelt on one knee as agreed and presented the emperor the box and the emperor did not seem in the slightest to have made any commotion about the ritual not being performed. Macartney said “Emperor Qianlong's eyes were full and clear and his countenance was open, despite the dark and gloomy demeanor we had expected to find”. Do not forget as I mentioned in the previous episode, at this point in time the Emperor was its pretty safe to say, very senile. The letter from George III was translated into Chinese carefully by European missionaries who made sure to take out any potentially offensive references, like for example anything about chrisianity. The letter spoke about how Emperor Qianlong “should live and rule for 10s of thousands of years and the word China was elevated one line above the rest of the text whenever it appeared and the name of the emperor was elevated 3 lines above the rest. The letters translation thus had been done in such a way it really did not conform to the letter between 2 equals anymore. Meanwhile while Emperor Qianlong read this, Macartney was simply awed by the tent they were in. In his words “the tapestries, carpets and rich draperies and lanterns were disposed with such harmony, the colors so artfully varied. It was as if he was inside a painting. The commanding feature of the ceremony was the calm dignity that sober pomp of asiatic greatness, which European refinements have not yet attained”. Macartney also went on to mention that he was also not the only envoy present in the tent. There were 6 Muslim enovys from tributary states near the Caspian sea an a Hindu envoy from Burma and they had allow performed the kow tow.    Emperor Qianlong asked Heshen if any of the English could speak Chinese and the son of British diplomat George Staunton stepped forward. The 12 year old boy named George stepped towards the throne and according to his diary “I spoke some Chinese words to him and thanked him for the presents”. Emperor Qianlong was apparently charmed by this and took a purse from his own waist to give to him as a token of his esteem. That little boy became the first Englishman after James Flint to cross the wall of language between Britain and China and it would shape his life after. After the meeting, Macartney and his entourage were allowed to stay in Jehol for a few days and were fortunate enough to partake in the emperor's birthday banquet. On September 21st, disaster struck when a member of Macartney's entourage died, a gunner named Reid. It was the day before their departure date and apparently Reid had eaten 40 apples for breakfast, which I have to say is one of the most bizarre rationales for a death I've ever heard. Regardless, the Qing assumed off the bat the man died of some contagious disease and urged them all to leave with haste.    Meanwhile in Peking, the Balloonist/scientist Mr Dinwiddie had been busy prepared all the scientific instruments for demonstrations awaiting Emperor Qianlong's return from Jehol at the end of september. He had begun filling a grand hall of the imperial palace outside the city of Beijing with globes, clocks, telescopes, the air pump for the balloon and such. He had signed a contract basically stating he could never return home and would be stuck as a foreigner in a small part of Beijing. Regardless he got everything ready for the emperor's visit. When the emperor came on October the 1st he showed no particular emotion as he toured the hall according to Dinwiddie. Upon looking through a telescope for roughly 2 minutes the emperor alleged stated “it was good enough to amuse children” and simply left. Heshen and other Qing officials came to see the wonders and showed a bit more interest. Unfortunately the hot air balloon demonstration was to be the grand finale in the course of a few days but never came to fruition, because all of a sudden on October the 6th the Emperor ordered all the British to leave. Everything was hastily packed up and every man by October 7th was being pushed out as the embassy mission was sent away from Peking. Once on the road out of Peking it dawned upon them all the embassy mission was a failure. As one British servant put it “we entered Peking like paupers; we remained in it like prisoners; and we quitted it like vagrants”.    Macartney had no idea how much he had offended the emperor with his negotiations. Back on september 10th, 4 days before they met the Emperor, Qianlong was always fuming mad about the English ambassadors dragging of the feet about the kow tow. In fact at that time Emperor Qianlong simply told his officials he would keep the promise to have the meetings, but as far as he was concerned they best be gone afterwards. Qianlong prior had planned to have them stay a long time to enjoy the sights of Jehol but “given the presumption and self important display by the English ambassador, they should be sent from Jehol immediately after the banquet, given 2 days to get to Peking to pack up their belongs and go. When foreigners who come seeking audience with me are sincere and submissive then I always treat them with kindness. But if they come in arrogance they get nothing”. On October 3rd, just a few days before they were ordered out, Macartney received the official response to King George III's letter, unfortunately it was in Chinese and he was unable to translate it for some time. It stated that the request for the British ambassador to remain at the capital was not consistent with the customs of the empire and therefore could not be allowed. And here is the kicker in regards to trade and the gifts he said “I accepted the gifts not because I wanted them, but merely, as tokens of your own affectionate regard for me. In truth the greatness and splendor of the Chinese empire have spread its fame far and wide, and as foreign nations, from a thousand parts of the world, crowd hither over mountains and seas, to pay us their homage and bring us the rarest and most precious offerings, what is it that we can want here? Strange and costly objects do not interest me. We possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your countries manufactures”. Oomphf there was a second little part after that went “we have never needed trade with foreign countries to give us anything we lacked. Tea, porcelain and silk are essential needs for countries like England that do not have such things and out of grace the dynasty had long permitted foreign merchants to come to Canton to purchase these goods. To satisfy your needs and to allow you to benefit from our surplus. England is but one of many countries that comes to trade in Canton and if we were to give Britain special treatment, then we would have to give it to all the others as well”.   Macartney was furious and wrote extensively enroute back home. “Can they be ignorant, that a couple of English frigates would be an overmatch for the whole naval force of their empire, that in half a summer they could totally destroy the navigation of their coasts and reduce the inhabitants of the maritime provinces, who subsist chiefly on fish, to absolute famine? We could destroy the Tiger's mouth forts guarding the river passage to Canton with just half a dozen boardsides and annihilate the Canton trade that employs millions of Chinese”. Yet despite all his military bravado talk, if Britain were at this time to make any aggression against China it would immediately result in them shutting down their trade. If that was allowed to happen both the economies of Britain and British held India would suffer tremendous economic damage. Thus Macartney knew the best course of action was to be patient and try try and try again.   So the Macartney mission ended in embarrassment. Macartney would tell those back in Britain “The empire of China is an old crazy first-rate man of war, which a fortunate succession of able and vigilant offers has contrived to keep afloat for these hundred and fifty years past; and to overawe their neighbors, merely by her bulk and appearance. She may perhaps not sink outright, she may drift some time as a wreck, and will then be dashed in pieces on the shore; but she can never be rebuilt on the old bottom”. Very dark and ominous words indeed. Prior to Macartney's report those had this perception of China to be the model of stable and virtuous government. But Macartney ranted that “the tyranny of a handful of Tartars over more than 300 millions of Chinese. And those Chinese subjects would not suffer the odium of a foreign yoke for much longer. A revolution was coming”. Macartney would elaborate further on what he believed to be the socio-political situation in China. “I often perceived the ground to be hollow under a vast superstructure and in trees of the most stately and flourishing appearance I discovered symptoms of speedy decay. The huge population of Han Chinese were just recovering blows that had stunned them they are awaking from the political stupor they had been thrown into by the Tartar impression, and begin to feel their native energie revive. A slight collision might elicit fire from the flint, and spread the flames of revolt from one extremity of China to the other. I should not be surprised if its dislocation or dismemberment were to take place before my own dissolution”. Please take note this is all coming from a bitterly anger man who, yes traveled the country for months, but he had not seen the interior of China. He could not speak or read the language and knew nothing of the culture. And yet he was almost 100% prophetic in what would occur.    Now as I went into with the past episode, the Qianlong Emperor was very old and going senile. When Macartney met with him, Qianlong had just turned 82 and had ruled for over 58 years an incredible reign. And despite the show the emperor had put on about never needing western trade, in reality he was deeply fascinated by western inventions. He cherished his collection of 70 British clocks and wrote poems about them and about western telescopes. Likewise he kept multiple western art pieces and employed many westerners in his court. Above all else he understood the value of China's foreign trade at Canton, because a significant portion of the tariff income fed his imperial household. The canton trade was also a primary source of silver import of which China was the largest importer of silver since the 1600s. Foreigners came and were forced to trade with silver if they wanted tea or porcelain. Tea, Tea is the crucial component of this story.   In 1664 King Charles II received 2 lbs of black, strange smelling leaves from China. Less than half a century later, tea became Britain's beverage of choice with an annual consumption of 12 million pounds per year. By 1785, Britain was importing 15 million lbs of tea per year from China. The people of Britain were literally addicted China's tea, which might I add is a mild stimulant. More so the British government became economically dependent on tea and the Exchequer levied a 100 percent import tax upon it whoa. Although China purchased some British goods like clocks, it was nothing compared to the British need for tea. Between 1710 to 1759 the imbalance of trade was enormous, literally draining Britain of its silver, because that was after all the only form of payment China accepted. During this time, Britain paid 26 million in silver to China, but sold only 9 million in goods.    Now lets talk a bit more about how this trade was being down in Canton. It was the East India Company who was given a monopoly over the tea trade in China. I mentioned the Cohong or sometimes called simply Hong merchants. They were directly in charge of the Canton trade, holding a monopoly over it. All western trade had to come through them, if you were a foreign ship, your cargo had to be guaranteed by a Hong merchant before it could sail up river to port Canton. Only a Hong merchant could rent you a warehouse or arrange for you any and all purchases for tea, silk and such. Personal relationships were thus key and having a friendship with any Hong merchant was immensely valuable. Hong merchants were accountable for the conduct of all foreing personnel. If some foreigner got drunk and beat up a local, the Hong merchant was held responsible, and this did in fact happen often. The Hong merchants were a small group, typically no more than a dozen any given time. As you can imagine with such a small group controlling the full trade between China and western nations, the opportunities for both sides merchants to become abundantly rich was enormous. However there was a ton of risk for the Hong since they took all the risk. Regardless the Hong merchants were some of the richest men in China, but they also went bankrupt regularly. Why was this, well because of their access to capital it made them primary targets for other government officials to squeeze.    You see despite their monopoly on the trade, the Hong merchants were almost always in a precarious situation. Their appointment and finance was done via the Hoppo. Also the social status of merchants within traditional confucianism was very low and the Hong merchants were at the mercy of other Qing officials. This led the Hong merchants to be forced to pay numerous bribes to said officials. More often than naught to get an appointment as a Hong came with a literal downpayment for the officials who got you the job! The Hong merchants were squeezed left right and center by countless officials in a pecking system built upon corruption and greed.    The senior superintendent of foreign trade at Canton was a Imperial customs commissioner known to the westerners as the “hoppo”. The hoppo reported directly to the board of revenue in Beijing and it was the Hoppo who was responsible for ensuring a proper flow of tariff income back to Beijing. The position of Hoppo was one of the greatest opportunities to get filthy rich.   Before the White Lotus rebellion the Qing silver surplus was a whopping 70 million taels, but over the course of the war it is estimated the Qing treasury would pay something like 100 million taels in silver. Then came another disaster.    The Napoleonic wars had a tremendous impact on the world, not limited to just the war itself. As the war grinding on, Britain was pressed for funds to finance its war against France and this led them to squeeze the East India Company harder. The British government began raising its tax on the company's tea in 1795, then again in 1802 where it reached 50%, then again in 1806 to a whopping 96% and by 1819 it would be 100%. The growing British tax on the company's tea led it to become a possible 1/10th of Britain's national revenue. As you can imagine with those numbers, the importance of maintaining the trade with Canton became a matter of national interest.    While the Qing dynasty spent millions of taels mobilizing armies to quell the white lotus rebellion, the British likewise spent millions during its war against france. Britain would spend around 12 times more than its previous 22 year war with France and ran up a monstrous national debt. By the time Napoleon was defeated, Britain had doubled the size of the royal navy and it was the most powerful maritime force in the world. Britain acquired more territories to expand its enormous empire. By 1820 the British Empire would control roughly a quarter of the world's population, almost rivaling China. The emperor of China, Jiaqing was forced to slash the budgets of things such as the military after the internal rebellion was over. In expectation for an era of peace for the empire, the emperor effectively had to mortgage the future improvement of China's military to simply stabilize the country.   Now Britain's tea fix needed to be met, but its silver was depleted. The Napoleonic war and the American revolution had drained Britain of its silver reserve, how was Britain going to get the tea? The British needed to find something the Chinese were willing to pay for in silver and the British would find what that in Opium. The British were not the first importers of Opium into China. Arab merchants had been selling opium cultivated in what is modern day turkey since the middle ages. It was primarily used for medicinal purposes, such as being used as a constipation drug to stop diarrhea, quite a useful thing to have to fight off dysentery which reeks its ugly head during times of conflict. In 1659 the East India Company began to export it in limited quantities from Bengal India. The East India Company had a monopoly over the trade with India and tried to prevent the business of opium importing to China since it was illegal and could interfere with the company's legitimate trade. However to get tea required silver and when the silver began to dry up the East India Company's tolerance for the illicit business began to loosen.    In 1782 the East India Company turned its eyes away and allowed the export of 3450 chests of opium. Each chest for reference weighed around 170 lbs, about the size of a small footlocker. 2 ships carried the illegal cargo and enroute 1 of them was captured by the French with the other arrived in Macao. The Chinese merchants refused to purchase the illegal contraband until the price was dropped to 210$ per chest. To break even the British needed to sell a chest at around 500$, it was a complete disaster. The British merchants ended up dumping most of their cargo at a loss in Malaysia for a price of around 340$. There were no eager buyers for opium in China in 1782 and this showcases the lack of users or better said addicts. Nonetheless the Qing government made a decree in 1799 condemning the illicit trade “foreigners obviously derive the most solid profits and advantages, but that our countrymen should pursue this destructive and ensnaring vice is indeed odious and deplorable”. The East India Company proclaimed it was forbidding British ships to carry the illicit cargo, because remember they had to make sure the Canton market remained open to britain. Yet this did not stop the East India company from selling opium within India to independent British and Indian merchants who in turn might smuggle the drugs into China. Its not the East India company after all and the company could see no other way to acquire silver to buy the tea Britain needed.    In 1773 opium earned the company 39,000 pounds, in 1793 opium earned them 250,000 pounds. The idea was working and the trade imbalance was soon shifting. By 1806 to 1809 China would pay out 7 million in silver for opium. During the first 2 decades of the 19th century opium addiction grew in China at a slow pace. The East India Company kept the price of the illicit substance artificially high, which meant only the upper class in China could afford it. The East India Company was doing its best not to antagonize the Qing government, IE: not rubbing their nose in the illicit trade, thus it did not increase imports and lower prices. Around 5000 chests were being sold per year and this stabilized the trade imbalance between Britain and China, no longer was Britain simply losing its silver to China, nor was China being depleted dry.    Then a technological innovation in Britain completely shattered the equilibrium. The invention of the steam engine in the previous century resulted in the mechanized production of cotton. Soon England had flooded the market with mass produced textiles and the surplus of this found its way to a very eager Indian market. Those merchants paid for the product in cash, but how do you think they got the cash? Bingo opium cultivation and with it the need to sell more of it. So as a result more and more opium began to flood into China, but it still had to go through the bottleneck of Canton.    Problems began to occur which affected the Canton trade. The Napoleonic wars began to send ripples throughout the world and one place that was affected was Macao in 1808. The British in Canton heard rumors that France was sending troops to occupy Macao. The British wanted to preemptively respond and sent a naval fleet under Rear Admiral William Drury in September of 1808. Drury sent a letter informing the Portuguese governor at Macao that he intended to occupy the city to which the governor refused him and began to appeal to the Chinese governor general for protection. On september 21st Drury landing 300 marines who quickly seized the shore batteries at Macao with no resistance being made by the Portuguese. However the Chinese governor general ordered a shutdown of the British trade in Canton, uh oh. The East India company had to pull full cargo ships out immediately and abandon their factory in Canton. Drury in response brought an additional 700 marines from India to occupy Macao. The Chinese governor general warned Drury if they did not withdraw, the fleet and all British residents in Macao would be cut off from food supplies. Drury panicked, he had not intended to start a war, nor were his orders remotely authorized to do so!   When Emperor Jiaqing got news of the British invasion of Macao he was furious to say the least. Emperor Jiaqing issued an edict to the governor general in Canton “such a brutal eruption at Macao indicates an affrontery without limit. To invoke such a pretext is to freely insult the Chinese Empire. It is important in any case to raise considerable troops, attack the foreigners, and exterminate them. In this way, they will understand that the seas of China are forbidden to them!”. So the governor general ordered 8000 troops at Canton to man the coastal forts in the vicinity in preparation for war. Drury got the news of this and knew the Canton trade could be shut off for good stating “it would exclude the English forever, from the most advantageous monopoly it possesses in the Universe”. So Admiral Drury backed down, refusing to risk war with China. Drury took the marines out, but left some ships in the hope trade in Canton would soon be restored. And thus 6 days later the Qing governor general restored trade in Canton, phew crisis averted.   Another rather unusual conflict occured when a British christian missionary named Thomas Manning attempted to enter into China by land. Manning had tried asking the Hoppo for permission to visit Beijing as a scientist envoy but it was refused as the Emperor had plenty of western scientists at his disposal. The frustrated Manning then began to climb aboard East India company ships going around Vietnam, to see if he could find a way to sneak into China via Vietnam roads. This did not pan out so he struck out at another place to get into China, Tibet. Manning went to Tibet pretending to be a Buddhist lama from India and would you believe it he got an audience with the Dalai Lama on december 17 of 1811. He climbed hundreds of steps and met with the Dalai Lama whom he described “His face was, I thought, poetically and effectively beautiful. He was of a gay and cheerful disposition; his beautiful mouth perpetually unbending into a graceful smile, which illuminated his whole countenance. Sometimes, particularly when he had looked at me, his smile almost approached a gentle laugh”. After meeting the Dalai Lama, Manning hoped to be granted permission to make the 1500 mile journey to Beijing, but this would not occur. In the holy city of Lhasa he was apprehended by the local Qing officials and quasi imprisoned until Emperor Jiaqing could be informed and send orders as to what to do. Orders finally came in February of 1812 to deport Manning and raise border security in response to this incursion.    Then in 1813 problems reeked their ugly head yet again for British-Chinese relations. The Emperor had reduced the number of Hong merchants that the British were allowed to do business with. The larger issue at hand was the War of 1812 which brought with it conflict between Britain and American ships around the waters of Canton. At this time the Americans were second only to the British in the size of their commerce in Canton. The US lacked cruisers to convoy their merchant ships and thus began arming the merchants ships into privateers. The US ships also tried to simply avoid the British by not landing at the same time intervals, but all of this would not avoid conflict. In march of 1814 the British frigate Doris captured a 300 ton American privateer, the USS Hunter and took her to Macao as a prize. 2 months later the Doris hunted down the USS Russel up the Pearl River near the Whampia anchorage just a few miles shy of Whampoa city. They fired upon another while another US ships the Sphynx was boarded and captured. More raids continued from both sides and the conflict greatly angered the Chinese authorities. Eventually the Qing governor general cut off supplies and suspended trade with both nations demanding they behave themselves.    The British merchants in Canton complained they had nothing to do with the Royal Navy, but the Chinese authorities would not hear it. Some minor conflicts occured in Canton and the British felt they had been wronged. The East India Company began to demand the British government send an embassy to remedy the entire situation. So Britain answered the plea and sent another embassy mission in 1816. Lord William Pitt Amherst, Earl Amherst of Arracan was born in 1773 in Bath. His father was General William Amherst and his uncle was Field Marshall Sir Jeffrey Amherst who had a distinguished military career including being the governor general of British north America after defeating Nouvelle France in 1760. Little Williams mother died and the widowed father would take care of William and his sister for awhile until in 1781 when he also died. William would end up living with his uncle in the Amherst estate in Montreal where I happen to live near. William would eventually go to oxford and became an accomplished linguist learning several languages. Eventually he landed a job as ambassador to Sicily and by the end of the Napleonic wars he was made a Privy Councillor. He proved to be able enough and was soon sent as Ambassador with Plenipotentiary to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty in 1816.    The China Amherst encountered in 1816 was very different compared to the one Lord Macrtney had visited. The Emperor was Jiaqing, the dynasty had quelled the White Lotus Rebellion, quite a few smaller revolts and had a real problem with pirates along the coast. Emperor Jiaqing had a loose hold over the empire and was not about to let some foreign power further threaten it.    Amherst was a bit of an odd choice to lead the mission. He was considered a dull, but well mannered man who was not very talented in public speaking. Neither brilliant nor particularly handsome, just hailed from an excellent family. Amherst brought with him 2 familiar faces, the former little boy who had courageously spoken to Emperor Qianlong, George Staunton, who was now an adult. George had been working for the East India Company in Canton and had mastered the Chinese language and learnt much of its culture. The second ws Thomas Manning after his great Tibet adventure. Amherst's departure would be 6 months after the Duke of Wellington's victory at Waterloo in June of 1815. Thus Amherst would be coming to China to inform them that the nearly continuous warfare between Britain and France for the past 22 years had finally come to an end. Amherst was instructed to make it clear to the Chinese that Great Britain was now the unrivaled dominant military power in Europe. The Amherst mission also was to remedy the Canton situation, but the perspective from Britain was quite off. They thought Emperor Jiaqing knew relatively not much about the ongoings in places like Canton, and if they simply came and complained about mistreatment that he would just offhand discipline the officials in Canton and place the British in a better position.The Emperor however was hardly oblivious to the ongoings in Canton, in fact he was paying a ton of attention to it. The Emperor had ordered investigation into the Canton situation over the past few years Emperor Jiaqing was particularly taking an interest into George Staunton who he viewed as a potential trouble maker in China, because the man had vast knowledge now of the language and culture and might induce more westerners to do the same. For certain the emperor was not pleased at all to find out Thomas Manning was coming as he had deported him and it was to be presumed Manning should never step foot back in China ever again. So the entourage was already doomed to fail.   As the entourage made their way, Amherst reported that the Qing dynasty seemed to have declined significantly compared to what Macartney had reported long ago. The entourage had learnt of the White Lotus rebellion and how suppressing it nearly bankrupt the Qing government. The entourage became rather bold and instead of waiting at the island of Chusan, Amherst ships, accompanied by 2 East India Company surveying vessels divided themselves into task forces and went to work dropping the embassy team off  at the White River. Soon some of the vessels began to explore the river networks going as far north to where the Great Wall meets the coast of Manchuria, sailed around the Liaodong Peninsula and parts of the Yalu river, very bold moves. They also took notes of the villages, populations and geology of their ventures. They particularly noted down the lack of military installations.    Both the Amherst mission and the Qing court intended to use the Macartney mission as a precedent, but neither communicated how they should go about it. What really loomed over the entire affair was the issue of the Kow Tow. Now Amherst was coming into this with less radical requests than Macartney. They were not asking for a permanent ambassador at the capital, nor the opening of new ports. They just wanted some kind of provision for direct communication between the East India Company staff in Canton and a high ranking official in Beijing in order to circumvent the troubles they had been having with the Hoppo and governor general of canton. They also wanted to be allowed to do business with others aside from the Hong merchants. Officials from Beijing met with Amherst as soon as the British ships anchored at the mouth of the white river in early august. They escorted him along the way, but also asked him to Kowtow in front of a piece of yellow silk that represented the emperor. They wanted to see that the man understood how to do the kowtow. Amherst was given instructions from the British government simply to do what he thinks best in the situation of the kow towing issue, but to make sure the mission was a success. Thus the first time he was asked to do it he refused and stated that since Macartney did not kow tow why should he. The Qing officials were confused and said as far as they knew Macartney did kow tow to the emperor in 1793. Then they reminded Amherst the Emperor Jiaqing was present in 1793 and would have seen it occur, best he kow tow as well. George Staunton told Amherst they were mistaken and that he never saw Macartney kow tow. As you can imagine it was now a case of Emperor Jiaqing's word against Staunton, a man the emperor did not like. Amherst was in a bad situation, so he simply stated he would do the kow tow when the time came, but stressed he would do it on one knee and not two. He tried to compromise by offering to kiss the emperors hand which utterly disgusted the Qing officials. The highest ranking Qing official escorting the foreigners was Heshitai, brother in law to Emperor Jaiqing. He told Amherst he had to bow on both knees or he would be expelled from the capital without audience.   The entourage made it just a mile outside Beijing where crowds of spectators began assembling on the sides of the roads to see their approach. They made their way to the eastern gate at night and the massive walls astounded them. They road in springless wooden carts, a quite uncomfortable ride at that. Amherst was told his audience would take place immediately and in fact he was actually late for it. Amherst panicked he was not ready, he was fatigued and unkept, his baggage had not even arrived yet which held his coronation robes for the occasion. He did not even have the letter from the prince regent to be given to the Emperor! Heshitai told him he had to go now, but Amherst refused. Amherst demanded they be given time to clean up, gather their baggage and rest. Heshitai eventually got another Qing official to grab hold of Amherst and dragged him to see the emperor.    It is here we get many conflicting stories about what goes down. In a classical one it is said, the Qing officials grab Amherst in the middle of the night when he is disoriented and try to force him to kow tow in a private room, hoping the half asleep man would just do it. Apparently Staunton grabs Amherst by the elbow before he can do the deed and they suddenly leave the place before seeing the emperor. A lot of unanswered questions to be sure. In another story the try to get Amherst to go see the emperor, but he simply refuses and him and his entourage basically fight their way out of their lodgings and leave on the evening of November 13. Regardless what is important to know is the British entourage and Emperor Jiaqing have no idea whats going on at all, they are both at the mercy of reports from the middle men, IE:  the escort officials like Heshitai.   During the slow journey back south to Canton, one of their ships, the Alceste had bombarded a Chinese fort guarding the Tiger's Mouth river entrance to Canton! Dozens of shots were fired and it is said 47 Chinese soldiers were killed. The Alceste had returned from surveying the Pearl river when the captain Murray Maxwell requested permission to sail up to the Whampoa anchorage so it could make repairs on the ship before picking up Amherst's entourage on their way back. Maxwell alleges he was taunted by the Qing representative to the governor general who told him that Amherst had been sent away from the capital without an audience. Murray Maxwell was thus denied permission to go to the Whampoa anchorage and was forced to wait on an outlying island. After a week of waiting, Maxwell had had it and decided to force up the river without permission. As soon as the Alceste began sailing it was confronted by a Chinese fleet and soon a fire fight. The Alceste began blasting away the Chinese coastal defenses, working her way up the river channel to get to Whampoa anchorage.    Both the British entourage and Emperor Jiaqing were mystified as to what happened. The Emperor sent his personal doctor to see to Amherst whom he had assumed must be very sick for missing the meeting only to find out the man was perfectly healthy. After some investigation the Emperor realized the entire debacle was the fault of the escorting officials, above all Heshitai! It turns out the Emperor had been lied to by the escorting officials and fed false reports. The British blamed the emperor for the entire misadventure. The Emperor was livid by everything, but there was a saving grace to the embarrassment on his nation's part, the embarrassment of the Alceste ordeal. When the Alceste made it to Whampoa the governor generals welcomed the ship as if nothing had ever happened. The Emperor sent conciliatory edicts and gifts for the King of England. The Emperor also sent a letter to the king, but he had written it before his investigation of all the matters and thus wrote that he blamed Amherst for the entire ordeal.   The mission was a catastrophe. Trade would continue unaffected, but now both nations had been humiliated. Now the Chinese would look with more suspicion at the British and the British hopes for extending trade outside the canton system were dashed. As quite a fitting end to the entire ordeal, the Alceste which was carrying Amherst and his retinue back to England slammed into a rock and sank. England's response to the Amherst mission was disappointment. The entire situation aided one group of people in Britain, those who sought to abolish the East India Company's monopoly over the China trade. One major critic of the Amherst mission was Napoleon Bonaparte exiled on Saint Helena in 1817. He thought it was ridiculous that such an ordeal came about because the British fretted over kow towing. But he ended his statements with this “It would be the worst thing you have done for a number of years, to go to war with an immense empire like China, what might happen if the dragon, as it were, should be awakened? You would doubtless, at first, succeed…but you would teach them their own strength. They would be compelled to adopt measures to defend themselves against you; they would consider, and say, ‘we must try to make ourselves equal to this nation. Why should we suffer a people, so far away, to do as they please to us? We must build ships, we must put guns into them, we must render ourselves equal to them.' They would get artificers, and ship builders, from France, and America, and even from London; they would build a fleet,and, in the course of time, defeat you.”    I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The attempts at opening up more trade with China were disastrous and embarrassing for Britain. She needed her tea fix, but her silver reserves were depleted and thus the East India Company began to deal in opium. How could this possibly all go wrong?

Sikhi is universal. Its moralistic aspect transcends borders, nations and territories. The Sikh faith was seeded beyond Punjab by its progenitor Guru Nanak. One of the fecund regions of the subcontinent which even today has a strong and growing Sikh population which Guru Nanak graced is this very same East India. The rich history of East Indian Sikhs has only now been revealed by eminent authority Professor Jagmohan Singh Gill who joins us to discuss the vanguard of Sikhi in the East of the subcontinent which has remained pristine and untouched since the advent of Guru Nanak and his successors. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-sikh-renaissance/message

Amborica migrated to Australia from East India, with no family or friendship support network, no professional contacts and without a job lined up. Amborica chose to bend the rules to seek her own identity and embrace life on her own terms. For tickets and social media links:  https://linktr.ee/storiesthatstirSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stories-that-stir/message

This week, we celebrate what God is doing in the nations through Grace Missions! We have a special panel session with Pastor Steve, the lead pastor in Grace Missions & one of our church planters from India, Rev Moses Murry to share with us praise reports & testimonies of God's mighty hand. Rev Moses Murry is the Senior Pastor of Bethesda Assembly of God Church (BAGC), Dimapur, Nagaland. He is also currently the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in East India and the Asst. General Superintendent, Assemblies of God, India. Besides these responsibilities, he is also the Chairman of the Christian Forum in Dimapur. His focus is on evangelism, church planting & raising the next generation of leaders in the Church. He is happily married to Pastor Esther & they have 3 wonderful children, Samuel, Joshua & Ruth. - Click here for different ways to connect with us. We are the youth and young adults ministry of Grace Assembly of God, Singapore. Follow us: YOUTH - @r_ageyouth, YA - @yayp.grace, CHURCH - @graceag1950

Henry Avery has just made perhaps the biggest score in pirate history – they are rich beyond their wildest dreams! But, like many before them, they now face the challenge of keeping what they've gained. Although they're not the first, their depredations in the Red Sea have set a new benchmark for horror. And it's not gone unnoticed. Soon the forces of two empires and the fury of the terrifying East India company will be breathing down Avery's neck. The race is on. Will he hang? Or can he slip the noose? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caffeine is the most consumed stimulant on the planet. In fact, 90% of humans consume caffeine on a daily basis. Most people do not even think about this tiny molecule as they drink their morning coffee, or sip on their afternoon tea, or as their children chug soda at a birthday party. We've gone so far as to claim that it's the sugar affecting the children, not the psychoactive drug they just consumed. And, humans aren't the only animal addicted to caffeine. Bees prefer nectar with caffeine over nectar without to a detriment to their own health.So how did we get to the point where most humans need caffeine to make it through their day? Well, the history of caffeine cannot be told without the history of Coffee and Tea, and this is because until 1819, we had not isolated the molecule known as 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine. Tea was discovered before coffee, and shaped nations through its trade. The British East India Company is an example of this, and for Americans, the Boston Tea Party. Coffee probably influenced the West first, though, and helped the world switch from beer and wine as the staple drink to coffee. Remember water wasn't very safe in the past, so beer and wine were often consumed instead of water. When we switched to coffee/tea, we started drinking something that wakes you up instead of slowing you down, which increased human production, both physically and mentally. Was the spread of Coffee and Tea, hence caffeine, a good thing for humanity? Well, like all things, it is complicated. What we do know is that caffeine is a drug that you can become addicted to and that does affect your behavior. This molecule changed the known world as humans spread it across the globe. Listen now to learn about how caffeine shaped the past, and affects your present.Follow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!

Between the billionaires, the fancy galas, the celebrity culture, and the massive income inequality, some have said that we are living through a new Gilded Age. This only leaves one question. What's a Gilded Age. This week on A Simple Broken Mind Podcast, Kevin had found a mole inside the ranks of the bourgeoisie, a class traitor ready to spill the beans and reveal all the dirty little secrets of the wealthy and powerful. And it just so happens that that mole . . . is frequent Simple Broken Mind co-host, Matthew Eitzen. So tune your giant old time's radio to our frequency. This is a scoop you won't want to miss!

We're back with Britain's great imperial project in India, going great guns (often literally) despite the war in Europe. It was still in principle being run by England's old East India company, though increasingly that was little more than a fiction behind which the British state exercised direct rule. There were more glorious wars against rebellious local leaders, where ‘rebellious' meant ‘more inclined to exercise power themselves than have it exercised from London'. Governor General Cornwallis, who'd had such a bad time in America at the hands of other rebels, scored some successes in India, as did his successor Lord Mornington, aka Richard Wellesley. The younger brother of Mornington, far better known later by his own alias of Duke of Wellington, got some invaluable military experience out there, and explored some interesting new tactics, such as the use of terror against local villagers. On a more positive note, we also get to meet a British judge in India, a remarkable linguist, William Jones. He deeply respected local culture, learning Sanskrit and providing the first translations of some Hindu sacred texts into English. Above all, he was struck (as some others before him) by the similarities of languages from South Asia with most European languages, so today he's generally seen as the father of international linguistics and of the study of the Indo-European language group. Illustration: Sir William Jones, by James Heath, after Sir Joshua Reynolds Stipple engraving, published 1799. National Portrait Gallery, D36735. Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

The pace of innovation and change has affected not only technology development but the business models that make those technologies available. The subscription model – which has been around since 17th century Britain when it was used to sell books and even products from traders like the East India company – is spreading quickly across […]

The pace of innovation and change has affected not only technology development but the business models that make those technologies available. The subscription model – which has been around since 17th century Britain when it was used to sell books and even products from traders like the East India company – is spreading quickly across […]

In this episode Dr Sam Willis and the multi winning historian William Dalrymple discuss the extraordinary story of the East India Company's dominance of India. It is still too easily assumed that the British conquered India through imperial conquest but the reality is even more shocking and relevant to the present day - because India was subdued not by a government, but by a private enterprise with global reach - a business, almost entirely unregulated, and controlled from a small office in London. How did a private enterprise come to control an entire subcontinent? How does maritime trade and seapower fit into this picture? The East India company was born out of Tudor seafarers, explorers and pirates. By 1803 it had its own navy, an army of 200,000 men, and had subdued or directly seized India - and it had done so in less than fifty years. It's a story of global trade in spice, textiles and tea; of shipbuilding, British-Indian warfare, British-European warfare, politics, law and terrifying amounts of murder, and it is a key moment in the shaping of the modern world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Sangeetha Kowsik, a Hindu Chaplain at New York University, as part of our series speaking with women religious leaders and scholars. Kowsik discusses the multitude of ways Hinduism is practiced, her love of pujas, and her thoughts on how the religion is depicted in popular culture. Guest: Sangeetha Kowsik, Hindu Chaplain at New York University 51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. It's hosted by Jesse King. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. Follow Along You're listening to 51%, a WAMC production dedicated to women's issues and experiences. Thanks for joining us, I'm Jesse King. This week, to kick off your new year, we're continuing our series speaking with women religious leaders and scholars, to celebrate the different ways that we worship. Our guest today is Sangeetha Kowsik, a Hindu Chaplain and founder of the Hindu Center at New York University. Kowsik has a lot of loves: she's an artist and fashion designer by profession, a scholar of Arabic calligraphy, an activist, and even a trained dancer. But she says her faith plays a role in every aspect of her life — and it has for as long as she can remember. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Kowsik says her father helped start three Hindu temples across the U.S., including her childhood temple in Livermore, California. Tell me about growing up by the temple. What was it that you connected with in Hinduism? Unfortunately in the West, there's a negative connotation, that they call our deities “idols,” and that Hindus are idol worshipers – which is not correct. The correct term for the statues, the deities that you see inside the temple, is “murti,” which is a symbolic representation of the divine. So these murtis stayed at my house and our puja room – a puja room is a special room, or a corner, or a cupboard, or anything in your house that you dedicate just for worship. We have an extra bedroom downstairs, so that's our puja room. So before the temple was consecrated, the deities stayed in our home. And for me, as a child – I'm a very small child here, [about] 4-years-old – these deities, I thought they were my friends. Just like I would play with my Barbie dolls and my stuffed toys, I would feed them, I would play with them. I gave them tea, played tea party with them. I loved them, and especially Durga. Hinduism is the only religion in the world that sees the divine as not just an almighty father, but almighty mother. So this murti, Durga, stayed in our puja room, and I thought she was my friend. I thought she was my bestie. I loved her so much. So when the deities – I think I was four – when the deities got moved, the temple was consecrated, I remember throwing a huge temper tantrum. Because you took my friends away. You took my dolls away, basically, right? But as I got older, I realized how much they mean to me, and how much Hinduism means to me. I'll give you an overview. So, India is the birthplace of Hinduism – South Asia, basically this giant landmass. So what is now India: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, parts of Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan. They were all one giant landmass before partition and lines occurred. So Hinduism has no historical founder, like the three Abrahamic religions. Islam, Christianity and Judaism all come from the prophet Abraham, peace be upon him. [But] we don't have that. Hindus don't have that. What I thought was so cool, is that you can see the divine in so many different ways. It's not some scary being in the sky, with a huge beard, telling you like, “This is wrong. That is wrong.” It could be the soft, sweet, beautiful deity like Ganesha – the elephant I'm wearing, it's written in Arabic here, right? So Ganesha, he's so sweet and gorgeous that you just want to pick him up and play with him, like a child. Or you see Lord Shiva, almighty Shiva, who is the mighty father. So whenever you have an issue or problem, you can call to Lord Shiva – like your dad, “Go kick his ass,” you know what I mean? It's like, “That dude is rude. Go kick his ass.” You can pray to Lord Shiva. You can see beautiful Mahalakshmi dressed in her gorgeous robe… And the fact that the songs that my mom taught me, the meaning behind them, is so beautiful – it's a very personalized relationship with God. That's why I love Hinduism so much. It's very personal, like you can feel it. You can feel him / her/ it, I don't know all these pronouns, [but] we believe in all the pronouns. So it's like all of them in your heart, and Hinduism doesn't state that something is wrong. It gives LGBTQI rights. It gives women's rights. It gives rights to all creation, because everything in this world is created by the mighty divine. Like paper, pens are all of the goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning. So we don't step on any paper or step on paint brushes or musical instruments with our feet – feet are nasty and gross, you walk outside with it – I always thought that was so cool, and wonderful, that we respect everything. Everything is divine. When you say namaskar or namaste to somebody, it literally means, “I bow to the divine in you.” The fact that you can see multiple ways of the divine is something that always appealed to me. Like whatever you're feeling inside, there's space for you. There's room at the table for you. There's room for you in the temple. Kowsik says the Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore showcases that inclusivity with a range of languages and priests, as well as a combination of North and South Indian architecture. When Kowsik moved to New York City, she found herself attending and volunteering at another temple her father had a history in: The Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, Queens. Kowsik says her work with youths there caught the attention of NYU — that, and her participation in another, what she calls “more hipster” temple at the time: Eddie Stern's Broom Street Temple in Brooklyn. Tell me about your work at Broom Street Temple and NYU. Well, I got 80 white people to sing [in service]. Pat on my back. Yeah, pronunciation was wack, but whatever. God accepts everything, you know. It's the intention behind the prayer, not your pronunciation. Anywho, NYU – they'd never met anyone who was born and raised in the U.S. who knows Hindu scriptures. Because generally, Jesse, most people who go to Hindu temples in the U.S., you just see older people. You see grandmas and grandpas, aunties and uncles. More people from India going to temples – you rarely see people born and raised here [in the U.S.] going to temple, because it's not clearly explained. I get it, I totally get it. You take a kid into a temple, the priest is doing something for like 40 minutes, he doesn't get what he's doing. He's bored, and thinks, “I'm gonna watch The Simpsons or some s***." You know what I mean? So it's like, I get it. Hinduism, it might be the oldest religion in the world, [but] it's still very much a baby religion in the United States. It's brought by immigrants. And so it's going to take a while for people to understand what this faith is. So I help the students [by] not just having events to teach about Hinduism [and] take part in worship, but also if they need spiritual advice, if they're having an issue, [I help them] solve that. I can refer them to a scripture passage, or teach them a mantra, or teach them a saying to help them get through their darkness as well. For those who might not know, what do Hindu prayers and services look like? OK, so again, Jesse, this depends on how you were born and brought up and raised – whether you're South Indian, North Indian, East Indian, this and that. “Puja” means ritualistic prayer. In Hinduism, when we're praying, we're not worshiping the idol. We're worshipping what this murti represents. We're asking the divine to come and inhabit this Ganesha, for example. Let's set Ganesha as an example, right? We're asking Lord Ganesha to inhabit this. And you have to go back into history: South Asia was very rich with gold, as well as agriculture, back in the day before colonization and partition. And so to express gratitude, they used to give everything to the temple. And they imagine that Ganesha is sitting right in front of them. We worship as though God is sitting right in front of us. So like the exalted king, or the exalted queen, these words that we're saying in the puja: “Avahayami, avahayami,” means, “Please come forth, my beloved.” So like a king or a queen, you offer them a seat, you offer them food, you offer them ritualistic bathing. At the end is the Aarti. People might be familiar with Aarti, because of all the Bollywood films. Everyone does it, right. But again, it's beautiful because when they sing it, it's saying, “You are my mother, you are my father, you are my friend, you are my beloved.” “You are my everything,” is what they are calling to the divine. So that's what a puja is. Puja is ritualistic prayer. Everything has to be neat and clean. Like, for example, before the priest starts the prayer, he cleanses himself with water, he'll drink the water to clean his insides, clean his heart, clean his brain, his ears – you know, to let only good thoughts [in] and let [him] be pure and clean when [he] offers these prayers. So a priest, he leads the prayer – but he's not God. Anybody can do this, that's another thing. But priests are trained, because they go to special schools in India where they study all these mantras, these chants, prayers. And then they come to the United States, and they lead it. And they're not chaplains. Like, you know how in Christianity, there's a pastor, and he goes up there, and he takes a Bible verse, and then he explains it? Or then he talks about day-to-day life, what's going on, and helps people? We don't have that. The priest, that's not his job to do something like that. His job is to lead the prayer rituals. And then he gives you the offering, the flowers, or the food that you offered, and stuff like that. So that's what puja is like. Pujas are very high flown in South India – because again, they didn't have the Islamic influence, they didn't have the Christian influence, because there's a mountain range that protects South India. Where my parents are from, it's called the Temple State. So these rituals for years on end, eons on end, have remained the same. Because they didn't have an influence from anybody else. North India, they have the Islamic influence. So a lot of North Indian women, they cover their hair when they go to prayer. And in North India, Sanskrit is the language, [they use] Sanskrit prayers. Sanskrit is supposed to be the mother of all languages – that's where Hindi came out of, Urdu came out of. Everything, all of our prayers and rituals, came out of Sanskrit language and came down here. But Tamil people also have a unique way of worshipping. So do Bengali people. So do Punjabi people. That's what makes Hinduism so cool, is its diversity, and multitude of practices. For example, if you took the New York City area: in Manhattan, there's only the Hari Krishna center, the Bhakti Center, which is in the East Village. So their main deity is Radha-Krishna, and they follow the sayings of the saint who started the Hari Krishna movement. But that's it. If you want to see a South Indian ginormous temple, you haul yourself on the seven train to go to Flushing, Queens, and then you can see the Flushing Ganesha temple. And then across the street from Flushing temple, there's a North Indian one that's there too. They have marble deities. And there's an Afghan Hindu temple, also. Afghan people were Hindus back in the day, and there's still some Afghan Hindus left. And the way they do things vary. But Flushing temple, you go on their website, and ever since COVID, they've been live streaming their prayer rituals every single day. And it's beautifully done. It starts on time ends on time, no Indian Standard Time, no brown standard time. Everything starts and ends on time. Why Jesse? Because it's run by a woman. Dr. Uma Mysorekar, for 45 years, she's been the president of flushing temple. Everything starts and ends on time, you know, complete efficiency. Well, on that note, is it becoming more common to see women becoming priests or taking leadership roles in temples? I think so. Like I read about in the New York Times, there's a – I think she's a North Indian lady – who married LGBTQI couples. She was featured in the New York Times, so that was pretty cool. I know another two or three like pujaris – “pujaris” means “lady priests” – in Chicago and in the New York area. So there are some people taking the initiative to learn these prayers and hymns and to be able to lead puja. Slowly but surely things are changing now in the community. You've mentioned some of the misconceptions about Hinduism. What are some other things that you feel people confuse between Hinduism in practice versus other societal or cultural norms? Of course, like, for example, the idea of arranged marriages. Did you see that crappy show, that show Indian Matchmaking on Netflix? Yes, I have. Yeah, I hate binge watched it along with Amina, my Muslim lady chaplain friend. We hate binge watched it, OK? Because, first of all, what she's saying – not all Indian people act like that. Not all Hindu people act like that. In fact, in Hinduism, none of our deities were arranged marriages. Goddess Parvati, who is the embodiment of beauty, and who's Shakti – “Shakti” means “energy,” like no male deity can live without his female counterpart, the energy, the almighty mother, right? Parvati won Shiva through penance. And her penance was so intense that the entire world shook. She chose Lord Shiva. She chose Lord Shiva. Lakshmi, she came out of the churning of the ocean. She chose Lord Vishnu. So not an arranged marriage, right? And Ganesha is technically Parvati's kid, Parvati didn't need Shiva to have a kid. Ganesh came out of a piece of Parvati's body, right. So why do we make fun of single mothers? Why is it such a taboo to be a single mom, when technically Parvati is a single mom? Subramanya, Kartikeya, [Ganesha's] younger brother came from the six sparks of Lord Shiva. So this is a modern-day family. Shiva and Parvati are a modern-day family because you have a father, you have a mother, and they have these two children. Ganesha's the first deity, you can't get around him. Every prayer begins with Lord Ganesha, can't get around him. Ganesha and Subramanya are brothers, but technically, they're not even half-brothers. They're brothers who came, one from Lord Shiva, one from Goddess Parvati. So why do we judge single parents? Why do we judge divorced people? Another cool thing, Lord Ayyappan – Ayyappa is a deity of South India, Kerala. He is the son of two male deities, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. So why is there so much animosity towards the LGBTQI community, when Ayyappa is the son of two fathers? Even though Vishnu took the form of the enchanter Mohini, the lady, to have the baby, still. It's like, why do we have these stigmas and taboos? Arranged marriages, it's a cultural phenomenon. It's not a religious phenomenon. And why is it always considered a Hindu thing, when the tutors in the European dynasties also had arranged marriages, in order to keep wealth in the family? Why is it a taboo that, “Hindus believe in arranged marriages?” No, we do not. It's a cultural thing. Maybe it's an Indian practice, or South Asian practice, you can say, but it's not a Hindu practice. That's something that I firmly believe in. Also, and we have Brahmacharya deities, celibate deities. Hanuman is a celibate deity. He didn't want to get married. Ganesha's technically a celibate deity. You know how he got out of marriage? They were pressuring him to get married. And he's like, “OK, fine.” He's also the lord of wisdom, right? It's like, “Alright, fine. Find me a woman more accomplished than my mama, more beautiful than my mama, and I will marry her,” right? And you can't get more beautiful or more accomplished than goddess Parvati, so he got out of it. But in some stories, in some ways of thinking, he has Siddhi and Buddhi, he has two wives. Also, when women have periods, they're considered impure. I remember, Jesse, when I went to India, and we went to a temple in North India, there's a huge sign outside that said, “Women on their periods who are menstruating should not enter the temple premises at all.” I'm like, “What are you going to do, check?” When I saw that, I was horrified, and I was disgusted also. I gave a lecture on this topic with Amina. So you have to go back, again, in history. When women had their periods, people didn't live in cities [back then] – they were gatherers and wanderers and nomads. They lived in like, tents in the middle of the forest. So when women bled, animals could smell the blood, right? Then they would attack. So that's why they kept these women isolated – so people could protect them. They would build the village around them. And where did everyone socialize and gather? It was at the temple back in the day. So when women are going there, animals could smell the blood, and they would attack. So that's why it's they kept them separate, they kept them from going there to keep [the community] safe. Plus, I don't know about you, but women, when we get our periods, we go crazy with PMS. It feels like someone stabbing us in the back with a stiletto. So why would you want to go to temple, when you're trying to pray and connect with God, and you're like, “Oh, my back hurts. Oh, my legs hurt.”? You know, that's another reason people kept them separate. But it's not because you're impure, or you're unclean. Actually, there are a couple of temples in northeastern India – I read about this – where the goddess menstruates. They have an entire festival built around this lady who menstruates. I thought that was so beautiful and so cool. You had asked me before what I love about Hinduism. There's always something new and fun and fascinating to learn about in Hinduism. Another deity, another way of thinking, another practice, another book, another scripture. Everyone says that in Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita is the only scripture that they're familiar with. No, that's not the only scripture we have. We have Vedas, we have Shastras. We have different books written by different saints and sages. So Bhagavad Gita isn't our “Hindu Bible.” That's another stigma that needs to be broken. While I was working at the Metropolitan Museum, a curator told me, he's like, “Think about it. Before the British came, the Bhagavad Gita wasn't really illustrated. It wasn't really written down. It wasn't really illustrated on paper. You saw carvings of it, but there's no paintings, no paper of this. Why? Because when the British came to South Asia, they saw all these people thinking in a multitude of different ways, praying in all sorts of ways, and they were massively confused, because they came from a Christian background. Because they came from one book, one prophet, one thing. And they saw all of this and they're like, ‘OK, you know what, we're going to take Mahabharat, the poem that Bhagavad Gita is extracted from, and here you go, this is the Hindu Bible.” And that's not right. So after the British came, you see a lot more paintings and drawings of Lord Krishna giving the sermon to Arjuna, and stuff like that written down. But it's interesting, you look in art history, and it teaches you a lot as well. So we don't just have one central text, we have a multitude of ways of thinking, and multiple books, and everyone should accept how the other ones think. North India isn't better than South India, South India isn't better than East India, East isn't better than the West. We're all equal, under the divine. You mentioned that Hinduism is growing in the US, but it's still one of the smaller religions. What do you see as both the obstacles and opportunities in Hinduism right now? For opportunities, first of all, we're all spending more time online, because we can't congregate in person because of COVID. Right? That means the reach is far. People can get to know about Hinduism through YouTube, through Facebook, through all these channels of communication, through the digital world. So that opportunity, and the fact that the world is becoming more inclusive. You see all of these different colleges have inclusivity and diversity trainings, so that's a step in the right direction – at least they're starting to care a bit more. The obstacles I face is that people don't know so much about Hinduism correctly in order to actually help. For example, I was part of NAHCA, the North American Hindu Chaplains Association when it was formed. And that's to help with spiritual caregiving and find chaplains to work in hospitals, the military, and the university system. But even the word chaplain, we don't have that in Hindu language. Like, when I went to NYU, Imam Khalid was the first person who took me under his wing, and I'm like, “What the hell's a chaplain, dude?” And he explained to me, it's spiritual caregiving. It's being there for someone the way they need you to be there for them. “Dope, that's so cool. I can do this.” But when you say Hindu chaplain, most Hindus, even the ones born and raised here, they don't know what a Hindu chaplain is. My parents don't know what a chaplain is, until I explained to them. Slowly, Hindu chaplaincy is growing in the United States. Like, I've had people contact me from the military, and from also prisons as well. But they also need to know the right terminology. For example, I'll get requests, “Can you marry this couple?” And I'm like, “OK, in Hinduism, what is the language that they speak? What culture did they come from? How are they raised? What do they prefer?” They can't explain these things to me, so you need to ask the right questions. Also, for example, one of my students at NYU, he wanted to study chaplaincy. So I wrote his recommendations to divinity schools – there's Harvard Divinity School, and there's one in Chicago. And the box check [on the form] says, “Affiliation: Church, Synagogue.” Yo, you forgot temple, you know what I mean? Stuff like that. But you know, Jesse, I have a positive outlook that things are growing. And because the world is becoming more inclusive, and people are starting to understand each other more, and have access to each other more – like, no matter how much I have a love-hate relationship with social media, at least you learn information, learn about new things. You can hear about some cool graffiti artist in the middle of Africa someplace, because he has an Instagram account. You know, there's a huge Hindu temple in Ghana, Africa, that I can't wait to go to. Yeah, Black people, African people are Hindus. There's a gigantic temple in Ghana, Africa. So [likewise] there are different Hindu people in the U.S. who are trying their level best to bring Hinduism to the mainstream. But I really don't appreciate [things like] this Indian Matchmaking show. You need to put a disclaimer on that, that this is only certain types of people who act like this. Meanwhile, there are other like good TV shows like Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever. Did you see that? I haven't seen that, no. It's about an Indian American family who lives in Southern California, in L.A. But you know, she beautifully illustrates what Indian American Hindu kids feel. Devi, that's the lead [character] in that show, she doesn't know anything about Hinduism. She's growing up like any other American kid, like, she has a crush on the hot guy or whatever. And then they take her to a Hindu puja in a school gymnasium, and it's just more a cultural thing than anything. No one is really worshiping. They don't understand the meaning behind it. That's how a lot of people feel, a lot of Hindu kids feel in the U.S. But I thought that was a beautifully done show. Because people assume, also, culturally, that everyone speaks Hindi. Like all Indians speak Hindi, which is not true. I don't speak Hindi. I don't understand Hindi so much, here and there. My father speaks Hindi fluently, because he lived in the north, and my mom does not. So it's like, at least Tamil has been put on the map, like, a South Indian language has been put on the map. And people need to realize that India is extremely diverse. There's over 5,000 languages that are spoken there. English and Hindi are not the only two, you know. People need to accept the diversity of Hinduism, the diversity of Indian cultures, as well as their different ways of thinking. And accept all of them. Lastly, do you have a favorite religious message or deity or story that you'd like to share with listeners? Oh, my God, I love all of them. That's the biggest thing is for me is this Sanskrit phrased that means, the world, the entire world, is one family. That's the principle that I adhere by. So technically, you're my sister. He's my brother. She's my mother. She's my sister. If you see everyone as one, as oneness, then you wouldn't have hatred or malice or judgement in your heart and your brain. And then another phrase, which means, “Let all creation be healthy, happy, prosperous.” It's said at the end, after every prayer ritual. So we're not just praying for Hindu people to be happy, or Indian people to be happy. We're praying for the entire world, entire planet, all creation. And creation includes animals, birds, plants, vegetation – all of that, too. Sangeetha Kowsik is the Hindu Chaplain at NYU. You can learn more about her work on the university's website, and her artwork at www.ihsanishan.com. You've been listening to 51%. 51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. It's hosted by me, Jesse King. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock, and our theme is “Lolita” by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. Thanks again to Sangeetha Kowsik for taking part in this week's episode. Until next week, I'm Jesse King for 51%. Happy New Year!

EPISODE SUMMARY: While we don't talk about it enough, let's put some power into your hands to reduce the viral load on your body. During the pandemic, the focus should also be on ways you can help yourself become healthier. ON THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS… We are going to learn a few different ways to help reduce the viral load. Dr. Pearson talks about viruses not bacterial. East India uses Seasume oil to do oil pulling. Dr. Pearson suggests coconut oil pulling, as coconut oil is viral fighting by its self. The second you feel a tickle in the back of your throat, do an oil pull. Sometimes if you have too much stress or other things going on in your life nothing is going to stop the virus from attacking you. Dr. Pearson tells us about Zinc and its importance of it. Quercetin helps the Zinc to get into the cells. Dr. Pearson then tells us about Monolaurin. And then of course she talks about Vitamin C. Below you will find some more information on all of these. 1. Oil Pulling - capture the enemy! J Tradit Complement Med. 2017 Jan; 7(1): 106–109. Published online 2016 Jun 6. 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and swoosh for 15 minutes and then spit it out! 2. Zinc 50 mg with Quercetin 3. Monolaurin - 1/4 tsp per day for anti-viral properties 4. Vitamin C - 4 to 5 grams per day when sick or 1 to 2 packs of Livon per day when sick (Regular dosing of Vit C for overall health is closer to 1 gram) Livon is a good lypo-spheric brand and can be purchased on Amazon Note: Regular Vitamin C can create diarrhea near 6 to 7 grams. CALLS-TO-ACTION: Get a copy of the book on Amazon. If you got some questions, reach out through the website: www.8minutestoageless.com www.8minutestoageless.org Who is Dr. Kelli Pearson? Experienced Chiropractor since 1982, working in collaborative health care settings. Currently a co-owner of a multi-disciplinary clinic, including chiropractors, massage therapists, movement specialists, and nutritional coaches. Owner of Real Work Life, a corporate wellbeing consulting company and author of "8 Minutes to Ageless," teaching a minimalistic approach to aging well. Graduate of UCLA with a BS in Kinesiology and a Doctorate from Palmer West Chiropractic College. Socials: www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-pearson-0695035/

In this episode of The Somali Nomad, Sameep talks about his experience growing up in East India and coming to Canada, settling down with a French-Canadian, his thoughts on the multicultural aspects of dating, marriage and raising kids in Canada. Intro Song: Comin From Where I'm From - Anthony Hamilton

In my second episode, I take you to the Eastern part of India, and this time it is a unique folktale about a very special and widely loved dessert of India, 'Malpua'. Enjoy the story and immerse yourself in the unique sweetness of life. Happy listening!

England in the early eighteenth century was undergoing great changes. London was Europe's biggest city. And the country was rapidly emerging as a major business centre, displacing the Netherlands from that position. It had a thriving stock exchange and huge overseas trade, led by the venerable East India company. It was also becoming a far livelier place in politics and in thought, with more tolerance for unorthodox ideas and political opposition than most countries. Though, as the experience of Daniel Defoe showed, there were still strict limits to just how far tolerance went. Limited or not, political dynamism, and above all the strong economy, would be the springboard for British imperial dominance in the future. Illustration: The Royal Exchange in London in the late eighteenth century By Thomas Bowles - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:RoyalExchangeThomasBowles1751.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2360480 Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

In this Silicon Valley Tech & AI episode presented by GSD Venture Studios Gary interviews Ruchi Dana & Vikram Gupta About GSD Venture Studios: We travel the world investing in resilient teams bold enough to #GoGlobal. For too long self-motivated entrepreneurs have navigated the minefield of challenges to launching a global company with very little support. The last thing you should bet on in this situation is an unproven team that you don't trust. GSD Venture Studios travels to every corner of the globe inviting resilient teams to establish partnerships that ensure organizations grow the right way, without games or gimmicks. Unlike traditional investors, we take senior operational (often co-founder) roles in these companies, capitalizing on our trusted reputation, experiences, and network to drive explosive growth. More information can be found at: https://www.gsdvs.com/post/interview-with-derek-everything-you-need-to-know-about-gsd About Gary Fowler: Gary has 30 years of operational, marketing, sales, and executive leadership experience including a $1.35 billion dollar exit and a successful Nasdaq IPO. He has founded 15 companies: DY Investments, Yva.ai, GVA LaunchGurus Venture Fund, GSD Venture Studios, Broadiant, etc. Under his leadership, Yva.ai was named one of the Top 10 AI HR Tech companies globally. Gary was recently named one of the top 10 Most Influential AI Executives to Watch in 2020. He is a writer at Forbes Magazine and published over 60 articles on AI and Technology over the last year. More information can be found at: https://www.gsdvs.com/post/meet-gary-fowler

#fourkingsoftarot #gameofthrones #prophecy #eschatology #armageddon #tigris #euphrates #india #china #usa #russia #4cornersofearth ⭐ To Be Continued... **Correction: Lord Holston Tully was over the Riverlands in "Game of Thrones," and he was the one who wanted one of his daughters to marry Rob Stark. --------- ** COPYRIGHT & LEGAL DISCLAIMER ** **The musical/audio content, websites, books, publications, etc., used in this video (or in others) belong to the original content creators/authors/copyright holders. It is used herein under Section 107 the United States Fair Use Copyright Act (1976), which allows for re-use without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder; allowable use includes the purposes of criticism, news, reporting, commentary, teaching, scholarship, and research. ** Read more about the Limitations on Exclusive Rights here at the United States Copyright Act website: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107 NOTE: My personal commentaries, notes, decodes, channeled spiritual messages, and opinions are my own intellectual property, and does not reflect the views of the featured artists, publications, the United States Federal Government, content creators, Google/YouTube, nor any other platform on which this video/recording may appear. Content belonging to other sources is always respectfully and honestly attributed to the original creators. All references to celebrities or "famous people" is herein legally prefaced with ALLEGEDLY. For Entertainment Purposes ONLY.** --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/metaphysicallifemastery/support

Tracey is from Trinidad and Tobago, a dual-island country lined in the Caribbean.  With grandparents from Lebanon on one side and great-great-grandparents from East India on the other, Tracey knows all too well what a melting pot of cultures looks like.  Her husband's pursuit of his dream to be able to become a U.S trained surgeon led them to moving to San Antonio, Texas in 2010. Tracey has her own family now and she can't help but compare her childhood to her daughter's as the differences between cultures surfaces.  Her interview will remind all of us that countries and cultures alike have values and teachings we can incorporate into our own lives, creating a space for celebrating each other as one.  

Informatie uit High Tea aflevering 19: Wat zit er in je joint vandaag? - Rens: Tha Melon (Karma Genetics) - Derrick: HighLife Cup sample D11 (Haze on hydro) Nog iets nieuws? - Trimbos: cannabisgebruikers blowen meer in corona tijden: https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/trimbos-instituut-cannabisgebruikers-blowen-in-coronatijd-meer-uit-verveling~bd94d38c/ - GROWLANDS uitgesteld tot 2021: https://www.growlands.nl/algemeen/growlands-uitgesteld-tot-2021/ - Mexico: eindelijk legaliseringswet om economie te boosten? https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mexican-lawmakers-set-to-take-up-marijuana-legalization-bill-with-focus-on-economic-recovery/ - Engeland: noodwet moet toegang tot medicinale cannabis vergemakkelijken https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52198187 Cannabis Cup seizoen is begonnen Column Derrick op CNNBS: 'Ideale lockdown klus: cannabis cup jurylid': https://www.cnnbs.nl/ideale-lockdown-klus-cannabis-cup-jurylid/ De Ouwe Doos Artikel van High Times over de geschiedenis van de High Times Cannabis Cup: https://www.cannabiscup.com/welcome-amsterdam-birthplace-cannabis-cup/ Wijze woorden ““I also gave the Gardener a few Seed of East India hemp to raise from, enquire for the seed which has been saved, and make the most of it at the proper Season for Sowing." George Washington (1863-1902) Website Mooon, de makers van onze begin- en eindtune ‘Mary You Wanna': http://www.mooonband.com/ Reacties van luisteraars Elke aflevering belonen we de leukste luisteraarsreactie met het fotoboek ‘Humboldt GreenGold USA' van Steef Fleur. Mail ons: Highteapotcast@gmail.com of reageer in de comments. Volg High Tea ook op Instagram: @Highteapotcast

Catalystas had the opportunity to interview Dr. Nirmala Nair, Founder of the child health, human trafficking and women's empowerment organisation Ekjut, that operates out of Panwar Jarkan Province. Ekjut has won countless awards on raising child mortality improvement of maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition of partnering underserved, marginalised communities, through their empowerment, community-based interventions and influence good governance for improving access and quality of services. In its Jarkan one of the most improvised provinces, today they are preparing to apply their medical and community expertise to other regions in India. Founder Dr. Nair tells us more about Ekjut's work that has saved countless lives since 2002.

East India was besieged by an enemy who would not retire until he had received six hundred dollars. Then the townsfolk caused it to be proclaimed by beat of drum that whosoever was able to procure the money should be burgomaster. Now there was a poor fisherman who fished on the lake with his son, and the enemy came and took the son prisoner, and gave the father six hundred dollars for him. So the father went and gave them to the great men of the town, and the enemy departed, and the fisherman became burgomaster. Then it was proclaimed that whosoever did not say, “Mr. Burgomaster,” should be put to death on the gallows.