Podcasts about Pekin

The Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte is the oldest, continually operating family owned Chinese restaurant in the country. But the story behind the Pekin is not just the story of one restaurant. It's a story about the Chinese-American experience of a distinct, authentic culture and cuisine that was created in this chaotic mixing bowl of the American West.

WCBU's On Deck podcast has everything you need to start your day for Wednesday, May 10th, 2023. First, Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois reopens a service helping the community find a career in Pekin. Then, Peoria Riverfront Museum's CEO and President John Morriss talks about bouncing back from the pandemic with some exhibits brand new to the area.

The 21st was joined by a local historian and a TikTokker who made a viral video talking about the history behind Pekin's name and former team nickname.

Dołącz na specjalne wydarzenie Raportu Międzynarodowego LIVE Całość TYLKO w aplikacji Onet Audio. Subskrybuj pakiet Onet Premium i słuchaj bez limitu. Raport międzynarodowy znajdziesz tutaj: https://onetaudio.app.link/RaportMiedzynarodowy Wagnerowcy obcinają głowę świadomemu, ukraińskiemu żołnierzowi. To bezmyślna improwizacja, czy świadome działanie i budowanie mitologii? Jak powinno się reagować na takie sytuacje? "Państwa wytwarzają cały system karania i dokonywania zemsty na przeciwnikach, którzy podejmują się praktyk haniebnych. Polska też. Były MSZ Radosław Sikorski zapowiadał zemstę za zabójstwo Piotra Stańczaka w Pakistanie" — podkreśla Zbigniew Parafianowicz. Wyciekają kolejne informacje odnośnie wojny na Ukrainie i zaangażowanych w nią bytów. Jaki jest cel publikacji tego typu informacji i jak można je interpretować? Tego typu wyciek to "uczta reporterska" podkreśla współprowadzący Witolda Jurasza. Emanuel Macron odwiedził Pekin i wszystko wskazuje na to, że to wizyta czysto transakcyjna, ale nie zabrakło też słów o suwerenności strategicznej europy, co bezpośrednio uderza w USA. W przestrzeni publicznej stale pojawia się hasło zdrady zachodu. Co się w nim kryje i gdzie jest jego źródło? "Teza o zdradzie zachodu jest pojemna i tak, jak jest pojemna, jest niemądra" — podsumowuje Zbigniew Parafianowicz. Stany Zjednoczone zaczynają traktować elity węgierskie podobnie jak Białoruskie czy Rosyjskie. To czas, żeby zadać sobie poważne pytanie, po której stronie barykady stoją nasi sąsiedzi.  

Author Robert D. Sampson spent 10 years pouring over newspaper clippings to write “Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois.” He discovered more than 1,000 teams across the state in the 1860s, including in Peoria and Pekin.

Author Robert D. Sampson spent 10 years pouring over newspaper clippings to write “Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois.” He discovered more than 1,000 teams across the state in the 1860s, including in Peoria and Pekin.

Prezydent Francji Emmanuel Macron mówi, że Europa musi się oprzeć presji, by stać się "naśladowcą Ameryki" i powinna budować własną autonomię strategiczną. Odnosząc się do napięć między Chinami a USA w sprawie Tajwanu, ostrzega, że wielkim ryzykiem dla Europy jest "uwikłanie się w kryzysy, które nie są nasze". Czy to tylko retoryka na potrzeby wewnętrzne osłabionego kryzysem w kraju prezydenta, czy zapowiedź istotnych działań politycznych. I jak Chiny wykorzystają polityczne zaloty Macrona i innych liderów odwiedzających Pekin? Gość: Bogdan Góralczyk

Bugün bültende Karamollaoğlu'nun Gelecek ve DEVA partileri ile ortak listede anlaşamadıkları açıklaması, Suudi Arabistan ve İran dışişleri bakanlarının 7 yıl aradan sonra Pekin'de bir araya gelmesi ve depremlerde can kaybının 50 bin 399'a yükselmesi var. İş dünyasının en önemli içgörüleri, sektör analizleri ve gelecek öngörüleri hafta içi her gün 17.00'de Pareto ile e-posta kutunda. Ücretsiz abone olmak için buraya tıklayabilirsiniz. Bu bölüm Paribu hakkında reklam içermektedir. Team Paribu'nun sporun iyileştirici gücünden faydalanarak bu yıl İhtiyaç Haritası ile birlikte hayata geçirmeye hazırlandığı Team Paribu Seninle Afet Bölgesi Spor Alanları Projesi'yle ilgili ayrıntıları burada bulabilirsiniz.

W pierwszej części programu rozmawiamy o chińskiej reakcji na zapowiedź Putina, by rozmieścić taktyczną broń nuklearną na Białorusi. W drugiej o wizycie byłego prezydenta Tajwanu Ma Ying-jeou w Chinach. "On próbuje ratować swoje dziedzictwo historyczne" - komentuje Michał Bogusz z Ośrodka Studiów Wschodnich.

For the first time on this podcast, we get to bring the concert to you!  Back on January 29, 2023, pianist sensation, Ying Li performed at Rait Recital Hall. Listen to Ying Li perform Fantasy in C Major, Opus 17 by ROBERT SCHUMANN, Sonata for Piano by BÉLA BARTÓK, Instants d'un opera de Pekin by QIGANG CHEN, and L'oiseau de feu by IGOR STRAVINSKY. More info about the Center for the Arts can be found: https://arts.pepperdine.edu/ Music by Jeremy Zerbe

Irán y Arabia Saudita, países rivales con una gran influencia en Medio Oriente, acordaron este mes la reanudación de sus relaciones diplomáticas bajo el auspicio de China. Luego de una negociación llevada a cabo en Pekin, los dos países anunciaron hace dos semanas que reabrirán sus embajadas en un plazo de dos meses. Arabia Saudita había interrumpido su vinculo diplomático con Irán hace más de siete años, después de que ciudadanos iraníes atacaran sus misiones diplomáticas en aquel país tras la ejecución, en Riad, del clérigo chiita Nimr Al Nimr. Irán, de mayoría chiita, y Arabia Saudita, de mayoría sunita, apoyan a países rivales en varias zonas en conflicto en Oriente Medio. En Yemen, por ejemplo, Irán respalda a los rebeldes hutíes, mientras que Arabia Saudita lidera una coalición militar que apoya al gobierno. La Casa Blanca celebró el acuerdo, pero dijo que queda por ver si los iraníes "cumplirán sus obligaciones". La Mesa de Análisis Internacional con Gustavo Calvo y Leonel Harari.

El presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, recibió ayer en Moscú a su par chino, Xi Jinping, con quien prevé firmar acuerdos de cooperación económica y dialogar sobre la guerra en Ucrania, su situación actual y las perspectivas. Luego del primer encuentro informal que mantuvieron, Putin alabó en público la posición “equilibrada” que, dijo, tiene China sobre el conflicto en Ucrania y aseguró que él y su gobierno están examinando "con respeto" el plan de paz propuesto por Pekin. "Siempre estamos abiertos a negociaciones. Hablaremos, sin duda, de todas estas cuestiones, incluidas sus iniciativas, que tratamos con respeto", dijo Putin dirigiéndose a Xi durante una reunión retransmitida por la televisión rusa, donde también aseguró que Moscú y Pekín tienen "numerosos objetivos en común". Por su parte, Xi celebró las "estrechas relaciones" entre los dos países y celebró la "cooperación estratégica global": China está "dispuesta a mantenerse firmemente al lado de Rusia" en aras de un "verdadero multilateralismo" y de una "multipolaridad en el mundo", agregó. En las actividades previstas para hoy, los dos líderes tienen previsto sostener conversaciones oficiales y firmar acuerdos para profundizar la cooperación bilateral, en particular en el terreno económico. Esta visita de Xi a Moscú tuvo lugar dos días después de que la Corte Penal Internacional emitiera una orden de arresto contra Putin para juzgarlo por su presunta responsabilidad en la “deportación ilegal” de menores ucranianos a territorio ruso. Consultado sobre este tema, el portavoz de la cancillería china, Wang Wenbin, dijo que la corte debería "mantener una postura objetiva e imparcial" y "respetar la inmunidad de jurisdicción de los jefes de Estado en virtud del derecho internacional". Además, instó al tribunal a "evitar la politización y el doble rasero". ¿Qué señal está dando Xi Jinping al visitar a Putin en este contexto? La Mesa de Análisis Internacional con Gustavo Calvo y Leonel Harari.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to start your day for Thursday, March 8th, 2023. First, Pekin mayoral candidate Becky Cloyd is facing questions over her vote to sell a piece of city-owned property to one of her campaign donors, hear her response. Then, a new program could create a revenue stream for the Peoria Fire Department, hear from Chief Shawn Sollberger on how it works.

This Hour-Craig talks with Brett Brooks joins Craig to speak the city of Pekin's memorial to Nance Legins-Costley; Later, Craig talks about George Santos and how common lying is in politics and finally Craig discusses his dislike of the MLB pitch clock which debuted today during Spring Training. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Hour-Craig talks with Brett Brooks joins Craig to speak the city of Pekin's memorial to Nance Legins-Costley; Later, Craig talks about George Santos and how common lying is in politics and finally Craig discusses his dislike of the MLB pitch clock which debuted today during Spring Training. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AMLO reaccionó a la declaración de culpabilidad de García Luna y exige respuestas de parte del ex presidente Felipe Calderón.Nuevamente una severa tormenta invernal azota unos 29 estados de la nación. Miles de vuelos han sido cancelados, cortes eléctricos, cierres de carreteras interestatales, etc.El presidente Biden concluyó su gira de tres días por Europa, reiterando su apoyo a Ucrania. Mientras tanto Putin se reunió con el principal dilplomático de Pekin.El bullying en las escuelas ha aumentado considerablemente. Hablamos con varias madres de víctimas.Así es la crisis migratoria que se vive en El Paso, Texas. 

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Tuesday, February 21st, 2023. You'll hear from the candidates for the upcoming Pekin mayoral election. Plus, the story of a damaged painting of OSF Healthcare's founder and its miraculous restoration.

La tensión entre China y Estados Unidos siguió escalando en estos últimos días. El episodio más reciente giró en torno a la guerra en Ucrania. El sábado pasado el secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Antony Blinken, se reunió con el jefe de la diplomacia china, Wang Yi, en ocasión de la Conferencia Internacional de Seguridad que se llevó a cabo en la ciudad alemana de Múnich Luego del encuentro, Blinken aseguró tener pruebas de que Beijing contempla la posibilidad de abastecer a Rusia con armas para sostener la invasión a Ucrania. El diplomático alertó que, si efectivamente China decidiera romper su neutralidad, ese podría ser un punto irreversible en la relación bilateral. “Hasta ahora hemos visto que proporcionan apoyo no letal a Rusia para su uso en Ucrania. Nuestra preocupación ahora se basa en que están considerando brindar apoyo letal, según información que tenemos” Desde China la respuesta fue contundente: “Estados Unidos no está en posición de darle órdenes a China”. “Quien no para de proporcionar armas al campo de batalla es Estados Unidos, no China. No están calificados para dar órdenes a China y nunca aceptaremos que dicten o impongan cómo deben ser las relaciones chino-rusas”, arremetió el portavoz de Exteriores, Wang Wenbin. Este nuevo cruce llegó pocos días después de que Estados Unidos derribara un supuesto globo espía de origen chino que sobrevolava su espacio aéreo. Este fin de semana Pekin declaró que, con aquella operación, Washington tuvo “una reacción histérica y absurda” e insistió en su aclaración de el globo abatido era un artefacto de uso civil. Por lo demás, el gobierno chino advirtió que en el último año detectó más de una decena de violaciones de su espacio aéreo, algo que la Casa Blanca negó. La Mesa de Análisis Internacional con Juan José Arteaga, Juan Pablo Corlazzoli y Leonel Harari.

This is the video version of the podcast, there is also an audio version available in a podcast format that fills in the visual details that can not be understood in an audio format. So if you are just listening, you might want to switch over to the audio podcast format. Robert Bee, AKA Bonzai was a 13 year old boy who went missing in November of 2016 in the small town of Pekin, Illinois. His body was found 8 months later in Rural Tazewell County. We are a group of filmmakers and investigators looking into this case. We are creating a podcast and series that delves into the investigation and what happened to Robert. To subscribe and see episodes early, please go to the website www.AshesToAshTV.com. Instagram, YouTube and Twitter: @AshesToAshTV Facebook: Ashes To Ash True Crime If you have information regarding the case, or would like to be added to our mailing list please email us at AshLand57@gmail.com. We can keep you anonymous if you have a tip and want your privacy. If you know of illegal activity, please call your local police department. Ashes to Ash website www.AshesToAshTV.com was created by Second Melody www.SecondMelody.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ash640/support

Last time we spoke Emperor Xianfeng died at the ripe age of 30 having spent a life smoking opium with his harem. Now the Qing dynasty was in the hands of his 5 year old son, but in reality henceforth until its collapse the Qing dynasty would actually to be controlled by the infamous Empress Dowager Cixi. Hong Rengan received a military defeat at Tongcheng and it seems he would never psychologically recover from it. Li Xiucheng went on the offensive and performed a grand eastern campaign taking multiple provinces. Zeng Guofan needed a new army created and chose his student Li Hongzhang to command it. The Anhui army was formed and it looked like the Qing side was going to win this civil war after all. The only thing that might turn the tide back for the Taiping was that ever sought after foreign support.   #33 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 10: The Ever Victorious Army   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 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. Meanwhile back in Nanjing, Hong Rengan's life was becoming more and more miserable. He lost at Anqing and his rivals used his absence to take away his authority in the capital. His continued efforts at gaining western support was going nowhere, in fact it was earning him embarrassment. The foreign relations to the Taiping had become poisoned due a large part to the eastern campaign led by Li Xiucheng. Many of the foreign missionaries stopped visiting Nanjing and soon that direct line of communication that Hong Rengan cherished had slipped away. Shanghai was bracing itself for what it believed was a Taiping offensive against the city and Hong Rengan could do little to nothing to stop Li Xiucheng. As for Zeng Guofan, he knew Shanghai was extremely wealthy and must be protected from the Taiping, but Nanjing was simply more important and he could not launch two enormous campaigns simultaneously against both. Zeng Guofan elected to focus on Nanjing and perhaps once Li Hongzhang had built up his Anhui army he could deal with Shanghai.    For Shanghai, it looked certain the Taiping would soon attack, and the Qing had no assurances from the foreigners that they would help defend the city. They had no one to turn to, then our old friend the filibuster wannabe Frederick Townsend Ward. Despite Britain's attempts to stop the mercenary leader, he was still going strong with his HQ at Songjiang. He only had 68 foreign mercenaries left because of the constant harassment from the Taiping and British, but he did have some Napoleon field guns and a promise form his Qing benefactors that if he took Qingpu he would be rewarded handsomely. Way back when we talked about how Ward's ragtag group failed to take Qingpu from the Taiping and they attempted 4 more times with disastrous results. They just kept using the same strategy over and over, blast the gates with artillery, storm the walls and hope the Qing military followed through. Ward's defeats were brutal and he lost a third of his force for his efforts. The foreign community of SHanghai had zero sympathy for the filibuster, he was just a source of embarrassment. But then the American civil war broke out and a rumor emerged about a group of Californians purchasing the vessel, Neva and that it was a confederate ship now being run by none other than Ward. According to these rumors, the Neva was outfitted with guns stolen from US munitions stored in Shanghai and this said vessel was firing up Union merchant ships going around the Chinese coast.    The United States only had a single warship in China at the time, the USS Saginaw which hunted the so called Neva. When they finally caught the Neva, the so called guns it held were actually whiskey, it was just a merchant ship, but still the rumors persisted raising Ward as this legendary figure. Now this was all awkward as hell in Shanghai, the american population was overwhelmingly pro union northerners, while the British were more pro confederacy. The American merchants were dependent on the British warships to protect their business and this caused all sorts of conflict. During one particularly bad incident, the Trent incident of 1862 in which a US captain chased down and boarded the British steamer Trent trying to arrest two confederate diplomats, if you know the story you know the story haha. Long story short it was the confederates trying to go to Britain to make their case and the Union illegally arrested them, anyways this led Admiral Hope to get his naval forces at Shanghai to seize the homes, vessels and assets of the American community. This led to a rumor, Ward was going to pre emptively attack Hope's force. The entire American community in Shanghai thought they might go to war with Britain yet again, but this never came to be.    Meanwhile during all that chaos, the very real threat, the Taiping began to appear on the horizons of Shanghai on January 11th.  The alarms all sounded when smoke emerged due north of the city and a new wave of refugees began pouring in. The smoke began to get closer and closer prompting the foreign community to hold emergency meetings to plan a defense. The Americans, British and French put aside their quarrels and banded together to man the walls. The threat was extremely real, one member of the community had been captured and interrogated by the Taiping about the city defenses and this man reported that he saw the rebels were carrying British and German muskets and that there appeared to be an Arab military advisor and a small group of European mercenaries in their ranks. Then a force of around 3000 Taiping branding muskets seized the town of Wusong just 10 miles north of the city. One British captain reported witnessing the battle and said the Taiping were quite astonishing, very well organized and equipped far better than the Qing seemed to be at the battle of Peiho.    Li Xiucheng did not want to smash Shanghai into pieces, he wanted to do everything possible to take it mostly intact. Thus his strategy was to surround the city and bring her to her knees. Beginning in January, 5 Taiping armies each numbering in the thousands to tens of thousands began surrounding Shanghai at a distance of several miles each. Soon a propaganda campaign emerged between Songjiang and Shanghai, with written notices stating the Taiping would ensure the safety and protection of all those who joined their side. As for the foreign community, Li Xiucheng warned them to stay out of the conflict, and that anyone caught giving aid to the Qing “will be like a flying moth dashing into the fire, seeking his own extirpation.” Thus Shanghai was under siege and the communications to inland places were severed. Admiral Hope sent word to Hong Kong asking for reinforcements and the consul of Canton relayed the dire news back to Britain. The new wave of refugees brought far too many mouths to the city. 80,000 or so Taiping surrounded Shanghai and word was that more would be coming from Suzhou by the end of the month.   The main defensive body for the foreign community were British and French troops who manned the walls, alongside 200 volunteers, some police and a contingent of Punjabi infantry. In an unusual fashion, on January the 26th, snow began to fall, now do remember Shanghai lays in a subtropical zone rarely seeing temperatures below freezing. By the time the Taiping began to fully encircling Shanghai there was about 2 feet of snow in the area and this had a paralyzing effect in the lower Yangtze region. By the end of January the eastern seaboard froze. The weather would break in early February, but the Taiping were delayed greatly by all of this. The Taiping found an unexpected resistance at Songjiang, Ward's force. Now after losing so many battles, Ward had stopped simply recruiting westerners, he now began training Chinese instead. He had a minimal staff of American and European officers overseeing the training of his Chinese forces and because of the payment differences, they Chinese were paid a tenth of what the westerns were paid, he had a pretty large force under him. Ward taught his Chinese soldiers how to respond to english commands and standard bugle calls. The men were outfitted with european style uniforms, typically blue jackets for artillery men and green jackets for infantry. They were trained in the western fashion and equipped with cutting edge weaponry, British enfield rifles, some Prussian made rifles and the odd American rifle or pistol here or there. But the Taiping were also getting their hands on some western weaponry. One report in 1862 showed a ship was caught smuggling 300 cannons, 100 cases of small arms and 50 tons of ammunition to the Taiping from Singapore. Another report indicated the Taiping at Wusong had been supplied with nearly 3000 muskets, 800 pieces of artillery and 18,000 cartridges, a dangerous amount to be sure.   On February the 3rd, Wards new militia fought the Taiping managing to hold out at Songjiang against a force of 20,000 rebels. Their success was largely due to hidden artillery batteries they had placed outside the town which surprised the rebels during their approach, gunning down over 2000 men before their commander called for a retreat. Wards men managed to capture 700 Taiping alive and shipped them back to Shanghai in chains. Two days after the battle, Ward went on the offensive attacking a Taiping outpost halfway between Songjiang and Qingpu forcing the garrison commander to pull out. This was the first time the Shanghai gentry funded private army had any real success and this prompted them to rename the force to give it more inspiration, and thus it Wards militia became known as the famous “Ever Victorious Army” (EVA). Many of you may have heard of this force if you are American, its probably one of the very few things known about the Taiping rebellion in the west to be honest. The EVA force took orders from Wu Xu, their main benefactor, who by no means trusted his General Ward. Ward and the westerners continuously plundered where they went, despite Wu Xu pleading for them not to. In order to try and secure some form of loyalty from Ward, one of the wealthiest backers, the banker Yang Fang married his daughter off to Ward. The Chinese women had been betrothed to another, but the man died before the wedding making her unmarriageable within the Chinese culture. It was a mutual arrangement, for Ward he could pressure his wife to push the backers to pay up and for the backers they could pressure Ward to remain loyal.    Now after the snowstorm dissipated, and I refer to it as a snowstorm simply because my source does, but as a Canadian if you think 2 feet of snow is a storm wow haha. Admiral Hope and Rear admiral Auguste Leopold Protet signed a joint agreement on February 13th to defend Shanghai from the Taiping based on Hope's 30 mile radius idea. They formed a land force to take out into the field against the Taiping, although the British parliament had made it clear to Hope he was not to break neutrality unless it was to save the lives of British subjects. Hope as you can imagine disregarded the orders. Their force was not very large, 900 French and 650 British soldiers, some sailors as a reserve and 200 civilian volunteers including Americans. The Qing forces in Shanghai were around 10,000 strong. Hope had no…well hope to match the Taiping out in the field, but he believed he could hold the walls. If he wanted to perform any action out in the field he simply needed more men, and take a wild guess who he went to. Oh yes the man he tried to arrest on countless occasions, the wild filibuster Ward.    Since Ward now was recruiting Chinese rather than trying to steal away westerners, and given his recent military victories, Admiral Hope decided to form an alliance with Ward. Ward had zero interest in the defense of Shanghai, but Hope enticed him with gunships that could move his men to hit Taiping towns along the riverways, un gagnon gagnon. Frederick Bruce approved the alliance of convenience, but stressed while they could perhaps drive the Taiping out of the immediate area, they had to allow the Qing forces to actually push further and to garrison towns taken. Zeng Guofan upon hearing of all of this, disapproved and did not think it would prove fruitful. But he had no large cards to play in the east, and if the EVA held Shanghai, well that would be just dandy. And when Wards men won the battle for Songjiang on february 20th, zeng Guofan begrudgingly sent word to Beijing that it was in the dynasty's best interests to allow the bizarre foreign mercenary force to continue its work in Shanghai and even Ningbo if they could get there. But he also strongly warned them not to let the EVA forces campaign further inland, especially not against Nanjing. If foreigners were to help defeat Nanjing, what might they demand as a reward for such deeds.    Now give the Eva would be augmenting the Shanghai area, now Zeng Guofan felt perhaps he could dedicate some forces there, afterall if he could grab Shanghai it would be an enormous boost to his power. He approached the Gentry of Shanghai and they found common ground. They sought further protection and Zeng sought funding for his campaign against Nanjing. Thus Zeng Guofan tossed an army to try and break the siege of Shanghai, if they were successful that said army could later be used to cut off Nanjing. Another enormous benefit of this arrangement was Zeng Guofan obtaining what Hong Rengan so desperately desired. The Shanghai backers, nominally Wu Xu formed a contract with a British firm, Mackenzie, Richardsons & company to use their steamships. Now Zeng Guofan could move his forces unimpeded down river to Shanghai aboard British steamers. The Taiping could not fire upon the ships because of the Union Jack and in just 3 round trips, 6500 of Li Hongzhangs new Anhui forces were encamped in Shanghai ready for campaigning. Li Hongzhang then assumed his role as governor of the province and by proxy became the leader of the Shanghai backers, while Wu Xu would retain control over the EVA forces. Meanwhile, with Shanghai under Li Hongzhang's oversight, Zeng Guofan and both his brothers Zeng Guoquan and Guobao began a march towards Nanjing.   Shanghai was under siege, albeit from quite a distance, still this had an enormous effect on its economy, its very lifeblood. The price of rice went up 50%, flour and firewood doubled, but the Taiping were not attacking the walls, not yet at least. Joint operations between the EVA and foreign defenders began on a small scale in mid february with an assault upon High Bridge, 8 miles away from Shanghai proper. Ward had 600 men while Hope and Protet brought 500. The battle was a quick one, with only a single Frenchman killed before the Taiping fled the town. Then on April the 23rd a rather fateful action occurred at Ningbo. A taiping commander received a promotion, now General Fan and in his honor they fired a 10am salute from the cannons facing the river. The guns apparently were not well aimed as a handful of projectiles went across the river and hit the French gunship l'etoile as it was passing by. Admiral Hope and Protet used the situation to dispatch their forces led by Captain Roderick Dew aboard Encounter to retaliate against Ningbo. However when Dew got to Ningbo the Taiping profusely apologized and stated they wanted to remain under friendly terms and would make sure it never happened again. Hope and Protet were not at all content with this and sent word to demand the Taiping take down all the guns on the eastward facing wall of Ningbo. They were given 24 hours to comply or else the British would do it themselves. Well the Taiping refused to comply, because they obviously needed said cannons where they were to defend against the Qing, but they offered to take away the gunpowder from said cannons and to only provide it back if the Qing attacked. Then on May 5th a large group led by the disposed Ningbo gentry, got together a group of 150 small armed boats led by some pirates and peasants to come up the river to attack Ningbo and as they did so they asked the British and French for aid. Just as a mere coincidence their point of attack was the same eastern wall. Thus the British and French invited the motley group to their side of the river. Then Captain Dew sent word to the Taiping “If you fire the guns or muskets from the battery or walls opposite the Settlement, on the advancing Imperialists, thereby endangering the lives of our men and people in the foreign Settlement, we shall then feel it our duty to return the fire, and bombard the city.” It would turn out this was all a planned scheme go figure.    The motley group began approaching Ningbo, but then positioned itself in such a way as to push the European gunships between them and the city. Accounts differ, by the Europeans state one of the Taiping cannons fired first upon the Encounter killing 2 crewmen. It is also alleged that the person operating said cannon was actually a servant of one of the Shanghai gentry backers. Then the British and French ships began to bombard Ningbo before the combined allied party stormed the eastern wall. The motley group were actually the last to storm the city, leaving most of the bloody work to the europeans. According to an eyewitness account “in a few hours did more damage than the rebels did in the whole of the five months that they had possession, chopping off the heads of the unlucky rebels that he caught.” The British press went right to work demonizing the Taiping, a lot of which was based on witness accounts from specific men responsible for trying to break the neutrality stance of Britain. There was also a need to create a narrative to control China in general. Britain had turned its attention squarely to asia since the American civil war had broken much of their trade. The Times declare “the only route to Great Britain's economic survival lay down the path of the Taipings Annihilation”. The Times carried on stating the tea market was being ruined allegedly by the Taiping, and to compensate Britain would have to raise the tax rate on tea to preserve revenue. This would bring hardship to the tea drinking working class of Britain who were already suffering from the textile depression. Thus the stance of neutrality was hurting the good people of Britain, boy oh boy do you see the parallels to today's politics.    The warmongers won the day and Britain's government's hands were tied, thus Britain was dragged into a proxy war with the Taiping. The European coalition, EVA, the Qing and Li Hongzhangs Anhui army were now an allied front embarking on a large campaign to push the Taiping out of the Shanghai region. The beginnings of the campaign were largely successful as a result of the superior firearms, by May 16th a combined force left Shanghai and Songjiang marched upon Qingpu. They bombarded the town for 2 hours using 40 artillery pieces, including a 68 pounder and 4 giant 110 pound naval armstrong guns. Its gates were blown to splinters and 3500 of Wards Chinese EVA troops stormed the town as “god save the queen” was blasted by the military band. 4 days later Admiral Protet led an assault upon South Bridge which lay due south of Songjiang and was shot right through the heart by a Taiping sniper. His death enraged the French who took out their vengeance upon the nearby town of Zhelin where they massacred 3000 civilians, including women and children before raising it to the ground.    While the allied force proved very capable at seizing walled cities, holding them was another matter entirely. They simply did not have enough manpower to hold everything they took. After taking Qingpu, Li Xiucheng sent a large force from Suzhou to hit Songjiang, since the EVA force was absent. Ward turned back to hit Songjiang with 2000 EVA troops, leaving 1500 to garrison Qingpu, which fell under a siege to more Taiping. The garrison of 1500 men held out for a month, but ultimately were forced to torch the city and make their escape. In the summer of 1862, the British and French handed over a group of Taiping prisoners over to Qing forces and according to an eyewitness sat by idly while the Qing performed horrible atrocities. Here is part of the harrowing account: “A young female, apparently about eight months pregnant, who never uttered a groan or sigh at all the previous cruelties she had endured from the surrounding mob, had her infant cut out of her womb, and held up in her sight by one of its little hands, bleeding and quivering; when, at the sight, she gave one heartrending, piercing screech that would have awakened pity in a tiger, and after it had been in that state dashed on her breast, she, with a last superhuman effort, released her arms from those holding her down, and clasped her infant to her bleeding heart, and died holding it there with such force that they could not be separated, and were thus thrown together on the pile of other carcasses. Another young woman among the prisoners awaiting her turn to be disembowelled, with a fine boy of ten months old crowing and jumping in her arms, had him snatched suddenly away from her, and flung to the executioner, who plunged the ruthless knife into his tender breast before his mother's eyes. Infants but recently born were torn from their mother's breasts, and disembowelled before their faces. Young strong men were disembowelled, mutilated, and the parts cut off thrust into their own mouths, or flung among the admiring and laughing crowd of Chinamen.“May God forgive England for the part she is taking in this war”    The foreign press ran rampant stories of the horror and brutality, many still trying to stop their nations from taking an active role in China. Others pointed out the savagery to be a justification for colonizing China. Admiral Hope's vision of creating a 30 mile radius around Shanghai proved impossible. The allied coalition did not have enough men to garrison the places they took from the rebels and given the gruesome events at Qingpu and the death of Protet, Hope was forced to toss the towel. Soon the forces pulled back to the walls of Shanghai and Hope was replaced by Rear Admiral Augustus Leopold Kuper. Captain Dew likewise was reprimanded for his part in the escalations to war. Ward could not be reprimanded of course, but his EVA force was left to fight on its own, something he did not mind too much as the British and French forces often stopped his men from plundering.   While things were going badly for Shanghai, Zeng Guofan was enjoying an amazing campaign. Duolonga's cavalry were harassing Chen Yucheng in northern Anhui for him to flee to Luzhou. From Luzhou Chen Yucheng had an extremely bold strategy, he began calling upon Taiping forces and Nian groups to launch a four pronged campaign going north through Henan and Shaanxi provinces with the ultimate goal of hitting Beijing. Three of the four armies marched north as planned early in 1862, but Chen Yucheng found himself stuck in Luzhou, under a siege by the forces of Duolonga and the Xiang army. His communication to the other 3 armies were cut off and his provisions were dwindling. On may 13th, he took 4000 men and broke out of the siege trying to flee north, but Duolonga's cavalry force gave quick pursuit. Chen Yucheng headed for the city of Souzhou which one of the army groups had been sent to attack. The army was led by Miao Peilin, someone Chen Yucheng had gotten to defect during the siege of Anqing. Chen Yucheng reached Shouzhou before Duolonga's cavalry cut him to pieces, much to his relief. But as he entered the city, Miao Peilin was nowhere to be found. It turns out, because of the severing of communication, Chen Yucheng had no idea that Miao Peilin had been defeated at Shouzhou already back on April 25th, his entire army surrendered to the Qing. Miao had turned back over to the other side, once a defector always a defector as they say. A large reason he was allowed to defect back was because he promised to deliver to the Qing a Taiping general, ie: Chen Yucheng.   Chen Yucheng was taken prisoner and before he was executed in June of 1862 he had this to say to his captors. “It is Heaven's will that has brought me here, and there is nothing that can be said of my past. I have long enjoyed the reputation of a victorious commander, but now I would prefer to look to the future. For the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to lose me, one single man, it will be as if the mountains and the rivers of the kingdom have been reduced by half. I bear a great debt of gratitude to my Heavenly Dynasty and will not surrender. The general of a defeated army cannot beg for his life. But as for the four thousand men I command, they are veterans of a hundred battles, and I do not know whether they are still alive. You can cut me to pieces for the crimes I have committed, but this has nothing to do with them.” And so the Brave King was dead.   The death of Chen Yucheng and the preoccupation of Li Xiucheng with the Shanghai front left Nanjing vulnerable. The Taiping garrisons along the Yangtze river between Anqing and Nanjing would have no hope for reinforcements from the north nor the east, and Zeng Guoquan was on the march towards the Taiping capital. As Zeng Guoquan advanced, Taiping garrisons simply abandoned their outposts and forts, setting fire to their stockades before fleeing. It was an absolute disaster for the Taiping. They had always known the Qing forces would strike Nanjing from Anqing, but they never expected it to come this soon. By late May, Zeng Guoquans forces were reaching the Nanjing outskirts. Zeng Guoquan first seized an important junction in the riverway that controlled Nanjing's moat. Then on May 30th, he attacked a small hill just outside the southern gate of Nanjing.   The hill was known as Yuhuatai “terrace of flowering rain”, and it held a fort at its top. While Nanjing had been so heavily fortified, people literally said it was impenetrable, it did have vulnerabilities and Yuhuatai was one of them. The hill was over 300 feet high, around a mile across and about a half mile away from Nanjing southern gate. From atop the hill one could peer into Nanjing, the perfect base of operations one would want when sieging such a grand city. Zeng Guoquan had 20,000 men with naval support to provision him. Zeng Guoquan dug in and began to send word back to his brother asking him to help procure western arms. Zeng Guofan was surprisingly not impressed with western arms. He wrote about how he found them quite finicky, overly complicated and prone to breaking down after 20-30 shots. He wrote back to his brother ‘the way to achieve victory is to be found in men, not in arms. Bao Chao has no foreign guns and no foriegn powder, yet he repeatedly achieves great victories. He Chun and Zhang Guoliang had foreign cannons with their Green standard force's siege of Nanjing in 1860, but they did not prevent their defeat. A true beauty doesn't fuss over pearls and jade, and a great writer needs no more than brush and ink. If a general is truly skilled at war, why should he go grasping for foreign weapons?””. Despite his views on the matter, Zeng Guoquan's persistent pleas eventually led him to purchase foreign arms from agents at Canton and Shanghai. Still Zeng Guofan insisted the foundation of their armies should rely on Jingalls, bird guns, Chinese made cannons and the good old sword and spear.    One thing Zeng Guofan did realize though was the dramatic advantage of steamships. While in Anqing in 1862 he purchased a small steamship from Shanghai and gathered all the Qing scientists and engineers he could to the city to try and reverse engineer it. The ship soon broke down and none were able to repair it. But by the summer one engineer managed to build a working prototype steam engine and a year later Anqing would create a 28 foot long steamer. Meanwhile Prince Gong was also enthralled by the power of the steam engine and was trying to procure the purchase of some ships from Britain. While Britain wanted to keep the facade of neutrality going, especially after the Shanghai embarrassment, the idea of selling steamships to the Qing was an interesting one. If they provided ships, perhaps Britain's interests in China could be secured simply by protecting major waterways like the Yangtze. Prince Gong found a agent to try to get the ships, one Horatio Nelson Lay. Lay went to work approaching Captain Sherard Osborn, the captain of the Furious during the second opium war. He offered the captain a 4 year contract stating the man would take orders only from the Qing emperor and no other in China. These orders would go first to Lay, who would take up residence in Beijing.   Now a nit picky piece of information here. Unlike the civil war in America, where Britain granted belligerent status to the confederates, in China no such recognition was ever made. This was because the British parliament wanted to officially remain neutral. But because there was no official belligerent status for the Taiping, this meant they were not protected by Britain's foreign enlistment act, which prevented the selling of things like, gunships to any party that was at war with a nation Britain had friendly relations with, ie: the Qing. Thus Britain was free to sell gunships to the Qing to be used against the Taiping. Ironically at the same time Lay was trying to procure a naval force from Britain, so was James Bulloch of the Confederate states of America. Lay would find success whereas James would find failure. Now there were some hiccups for Lay when it came to the foreign enlistment act. It was forbidden for British subjects to enlist in the national militaries of foreign states, thus captain Osborn would require special permission from the crown.    But wouldn't you know it, in August of 1862 the foreign enlistment act was suspended suddenly and parliament went into recess over the entire summer and would only reconvene in february. Thus Lay and Osborn were able to serve the Qing and were allowed to hire British crews for the ships. Four months later, Lord Palmerston's government issued a second order making it lawful for any British officer to enlist in the service of the Qing emperor to quote “to serve the said Emperor in any military, warlike, or other operations, and for that purpose to go to any place or places beyond the seas, and to accept any commission, warrant, or other appointment from or under the said Emperor, and to accept any money, pay, or reward for their services.” There was one twist to all of this, anyone who served the Qing would have to resign or take a leave of absence from the Royal Navy. As you can imagine this meant that anyone who took the job would go unregulated and be unaccountable for their behavior, basically they were becoming much like Ward's mercenaries. By the time february came, all the work could not be undone, though the Tory's tried to reverse everything accusing Palmerston and the Whigs for getting Britain directly involved in the Chinese civil war. The entire thing was lambasted by multiple presses in Britain who pointed out rightfully, that Britain's finances were tied to the Qing paying reparations, and if the Taiping toppled the Qing the money might stop flowing.    The first 3 vessels to be sent to China were the Mohawk, Jasper and Africa, renamed the Pekin, Amoy and China. The rest of the ships would be freshly constructed and it would take roughly a year to get them all over there. It was to be 7 gunships and one store vessel, they would range from men-of-war to smaller steamers that could traverse shallow riverways. They would carry around 40 guns and a crew of 400. Interestingly the Qing had never before required a naval ensign, so Lay helped them invent one, a green and yellow ensign with a dragon in the middle. The ships lacked the latest iron armoy, but this was insignificant as the Taiping had no decent artillery to hit them. The fleets flagship, the Kiang-soo was a 241 footer that could reach 19 knots, a very fast ship for its day. The fleet was called the Anglo-Chinese expedition, though many Historians refer to it as the Lay-Osborn flotilla. Though for the common Chinese people who were witnessing their weak imperial government's willingness to pay foreign mercenaries to win their battles, they deemed it the Vampire Fleet. The year of 1863 would prove very fruitful for the Qing forces.    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. It seems the rest of the world were now allied against the Taiping. Zeng Guoquan made an extremely bold attack upon Yuhuatai ushering in the deathrows of the Taiping capital. What could the Taiping do to stop it.  

Dave and John Bain with the play by play.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, January 11th. You'll hear how the City of Peoria is investing in preventing violence and juvenile crime in 2023. Plus, a not-for-profit is using settlement money to make energy efficient upgrades to Peoria and Pekin area homes.

The Packwood Locker presents Round Game of the week 3.0 Coach Edward of the Wolves Coach Swanson of the Panthers

Çin'de Şi Cinping nasıl tek adam oldu? Çin'deki ekonomik kriz, kimi-nasıl etkiliyor? Pekin, koronavirüs salgınını yönetmede neden başarısız kaldı? Türkiye, Uygur Türkleri konusunda nasıl politikalar izliyor? Şi Cinping, Rusya'nın Ukrayna'yı işgalinde kimin tarafında yer aldı, yer almaya devam edecek? Kordiplomatik'te Galatasaray Üniversitesi Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi Başkanı, Doktor Öğretim Üyesi Tolga Bilener, emekli Büyükelçi Selim Kuneralp ve Senem Görür değerlendirdi.

The Backyard Brawl Pekin Panther's at Sigourney Savages Dave with the play by play

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Friday, January 6th. You'll hear what names will be on the ballot this spring in the race for Mayor of Pekin, plus on this week's episode of Out and About, Dr. Andrew Morgan, founder of the Penguin Project, talks about their upcoming production of 'Footloose' the musical - youth edition.

In this episode of Ashes to Ash True Crime series, Ash and Bree head out to Pekin to speak with "Andy", someone who believes that they saw Bonzai pushed down the stairs at Jerry Burch's home. Andy then brings Ash and Bree to the location where the cooler was being kept and reflects on how she remembers the cooler being wrapped with chains. Thank you to everyone who participated in the letter writing campaign, it's nice to know that this fight is bigger than just us. Please follow us @AshesToAshTV Tw/Insta/YT & FB at Ashes to Ash True Crime. If you know of illegal activity involving this case, please reach out to your local law enforcement. If you have a tip, please email us at AshLand57@gmail.com. We can keep you anonymous. If you want to subscribe, please go to www.AshesToAshTV.com. Website created by Second Melody www.SecondMelody.com, to check it out go to www.AshesToAshTV.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ash640/support

Season 1 episode 17 brings more understanding to what might have happened to 13 year old Robert Bee, aka Bonzai in Pekin, Illinois. Ash gets to finally sit down with Kira and speak face to face. She learns about her relationship to the house at 1400 Heilman and the people who were frequenting it at the time. Ash also receives an eerie video that Teresa Vancil created. It appears to be a weird confession tape. Ash plays the first part of the tape, which begins to go into detail about what might have happened to Bonzai after he went missing. If you would like to support what Ash and her crew are doing, please subscribe on the website www.AshesToAshTV.com If you'd like to follow us on social media: Twitter/Instagram/YouTube: @AshesToAshTV Facebook: Ashes To Ash True Crime If you have a tip you'd like to give us, please email us at AshLand57@gmail.com or message us here. If you know of illegal information regarding this case, please reach out to your local law enforcement. Ashes to Ash website created by Second Melody www.SecondMelody.com. To check it out go to www.AshesToAshTV.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ash640/support

The Backyard Brawl and The Round Guy game of the week. Pekin Panther's Coach Swanson Sigourney Savage's Coach Eslick

Join Ash for this intense episode looking into the murder of 13 year old Robert Bee, aka Bonzai out of Pekin, Illinois. Bonzai went missing in November of 2016 and there are still no clear answers in this case. Ash tries to speak to Jonathan Tandy who was accused of possibly being involved in the murder of Bonzai, by a friend of his. Learn about there interaction and what Ash was able to uncover from this interaction. Ash continues to play the stomach wrenching tape that Teresa Vancil created that sounds sort of like a “confession tape” although she suggests throughout the video that this was only a vision. It makes you wonder however if she possibly knows more then she is saying. Ash attempts to get bigger media sources on board and starts to come up with an action plan so hopefully more powerful authorities will take a look at what's happening here in Pekin Illinois. If you want to subscribe to see episodes early, get discounted merchandise, get to be part of the subscribers facebook group, and Q&A facebook lives for subscribers only, please subscribe on the website www.AshToAshTV.com Insta/Tw/YT @AshesToAshTV FaceBook: Ashes To Ash True Crime If you have a tip, please message me here or at AshLand57@gmail.com If you know of illegal activity involving this case, please reach out to your local law enforcement. Ashes to Ash Website www.AshesToAshTV.com was created by Second Melody www.Second Melody.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ash640/support

Join Ash as she starts to pick apart each of the prevailing theories surrounding the murder of 13 year old Bonzai out of Pekin, Illinois. On this journey so far, we have heard a lot of theories, 2nd hand information, and 1st hand information. Now Ash wants to start dissecting all of this, to see what fits with the hard evidence. Those pieces of evidence that are well verified. The two theories that seem the strongest have been a suspect the police named early on in the investigation, Keith Brackett and the suspicion Kendra came forward with in episode 12. Ash now wants to see which of these theories fits with the hard evidence and to see if we can eliminate or confirm one of the alleged theories. Ash also plans next steps, to get additional law enforcement agencies to take a look at this cold case. She is planning a peaceful protest for November 21st from 1PM to 3PM. The goal of this protest is to hopefully get Pekin Police to ask the State Police to take over the investigation. Ash is asking for the communities help, the more people that show up, the better impact the team will have. The group will be wearing yellow in honor of Bonzai. If you want to subscribe for the opportunity to see episodes early, get behind the scenes content, access to a private Facebook group for subscribers only, and monthly Q&As, please go to the website www.AshesToAshTV.com. If you know of illegal activity involving this case, please reach out to your local law enforcement. Twitter/Instagram/YouTube: @AshesToAshTV Facebook: Ashes To Ash True Crime If you have a tip you would like to send us, we can keep you anonymous, please send that tip to AshLand57@gmail.com. Ashes To Ash Website was created by Second Melody www.SecondMelody.com, to check out the website, please go to www.AshesToAshTV.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ash640/support

CNDH se congratula por elección de ministra Norma Lucía PiñaHacienda apoya a Petróleos Mexicanos en pagoMás información en nuestro podcast

 Welcome back to Season 3 Episode 3 of The POTSCast! This time around we talk with cast and crew members of our three January-February shows. We sat down with new and familiar faces and delved into the nitty-gritty about what it's like to put on these incredible productions. Check out all three discussions in this episode and then head on over to our website to get your tickets! 

Michael O'Brien and Joe Henricksen look back at the busy holiday tournament week.  We go in-depth on Proviso West, York, Pontiac and the Big Dipper. Other tournaments mentioned include DeKalb, Bloomington, Pekin, Centralia, Maine East, IC Catholic, Hinsdale Central and Effingham/Teutopolis, Wheeling, Jacobs and Centralia. 

DE 1662 à 2022 une Île en eaux troubles

Coach Swanson talks about the first half of the season.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, December 7th. You'll get a roundup of the petition challenges that are shaking up races for elected office in Peoria and Pekin. Plus, learn how Peoria's Downtown Advisory Commission defines the value of Peoria's downtown and why they believe it serves as a measure of the entire city's overall health.

Protesti Ķīnā. Vēlēšanu rezultāti Taivanā. Baltkrievijas iesaiste Krievijas karā pret Ukrainu. Aktualitātes analizē Latvijas Nacionālā aizsardzības akadēmijas Drošības un stratēģiskās pētniecības centra direktors Toms Rostoks, žurnālists Andis Sedlenieks un politoloģe, Ķīnas pētniece, Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Ķīnas studiju centra vadītāja Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova. Protesti Ķīnā Pagājušās nedēļas nogalē Ķīnā bija vērojams kas ļoti neierasts – Ķīnas lielākajās pilsētās notika plaši protesti pret Covid-19 ierobežojumiem. Ķīnas sabiedrībā jau kādu brīdi pieaug neapmierinātība ar stingrajiem Covid-19 pasākumiem – karantīnas režīmiem un masveida testēšanas kampaņām. Stingrie pārvietošanās ierobežojumi pašreiz ir spēkā vairākās Ķīnas pilsētās ar vairāk nekā miljonu iedzīvotāju, tai skaitā Pekinā un Guandžou. Savukārt liela daļa Siņdzjanas reģiona un Urumči dzīvo karantīnas režīma apstākļos jau ilgāk nekā 100 dienas. Plašos protestus izprovocēja 24. novembrī notikušais traģiskais ugunsgrēks dzīvojamajā namā Siņdzjanas Uiguru autonomā reģiona administratīvajā centrā Urumči. Tajā, kā ziņo varasiestādes,  dzīvību zaudēja desmit cilvēku. Sociālajos tīklos izplatījās ziņas, ka tieši Covid-19 ierobežojumi un barjeras uz ielām traucējušas glābšanas darbus un vairāki nama iedzīvotāji nav varējuši pamest degošo ēku, jo durvis bija aizslēgtas. Savukārt citi pametuši savus dzīvokļus pārāk vēlu vai vispār nav atstājuši, baidoties pārkāpt karantīnas režīma ierobežojumus. Varasiestādes šīs apsūdzības noliedz un vaino notikušajā upurus, kas paši neesot ievērojuši vai pārpratuši drošības pasākumus. Iesākumā protestējošie pieprasīja atcelt visus Covid-19 ierobežojumus, bet drīz vien lozungu un saukļu saturs mainījās uz aicinājumiem Sji Dziņpinam atkāpties un ieviest demokrātiskas reformas, kā arī likvidēt komunistisko partiju. Internetā publiskotie video liecina, ka protestos visaktīvāk iesaistījušies studenti no desmitiem Ķīnas augstskolu. Jaunieši rokās turēja baltas lapas, kas simbolizē iebildes pret cenzūru. Daudzi ārvalstu analītiķi pasaules medijos uzsver, ka šādus cilvēku pūļus redzēt un dažādos saukļus dzirdēt Ķīnā ir neparasti, jo tieša valdības un prezidenta kritika var novest pie ļoti bargiem sodiem. Protestos nedēļas nogalē ir vairāki aizturētie, bet precīzs to skaits nav zināms. Aizturēto vidū bija arī žurnālisti. Viens no tiem Lielbritānijas sabiedriskās raidorganizācijas BBC reportieris Eds Lorenss, kas aizturēšanas brīdī tika piekauts. Kopš pirmdienas Pekinā, Šanhajā un citās lielās pilsētās vērojama pastiprināta policijas klātbūtne. Ķīnas Ārlietu ministrijas preses pārstāvis 29. novembrī, atbildot uz jautājumiem par sabiedrības neapmierinātību, uzsvēra, ka ierobežojumi ir balstīti zinātnē, ir pareizi un efektīvi. Savukārt, Ķīnas Veselības komisija paziņoja, ka plāno paplašināt vakcināciju pansionātos un ka citi pasākumi, kas jau ir izziņoti, tiks ieviesti ātri un rūpīgi. Tikmēr Ķīnas Komunistiskās partijas Centrālā politisko un juridisko lietu komisija, kas pārrauga Ķīnas tiesībsargāšanas iestādes, jau paziņojusi, ka nepieciešams cīnīties pret "naidīgu spēku iefiltrēšanos un sabotāžu". Esot ļoti svarīgi "saskaņā ar likumu vērsties pret nelikumīgām noziedzīgām darbībām, kas traucē sabiedrisko kārtību”. Šobrīd Ķīnas sociālo mediju cenzori ir bloķējuši visas ziņas, atslēgvārdus un atsauces, kas saistītas ar nedēļas nogalē notikušo protestu, bet policija īpaši pastiprināti uzrauga kārtību pilsētās. Kādas pārmaiņas vēlas Taivānā? Kopš ASV Kongresa apakšpalātas vadītājas Nensi Pelosi vizītes Taivānā medijos ir daudz runāts par spriedzi, kas valda starp Taivānu un kontinentālo Ķīnu. Tiesa, šī spriedze pastāv jau sen, īpaši pēdējo sešu gadu laikā, kad par Taivānas prezidenti kļuva Demokrātiski progresīvās partijas līdere Cai Inveņa. Taivānā faktiski ir divu lielo partiju konkurence. Gomindaņa partija, kuru dēvē par konservatīvu uzņēmēju atbalstītu partiju, iestājas par ciešākām attiecībām ar Ķīnu atšķirībā no valdošās Demokrātiski progresīvās partijas. Tiesa, daudzu gadu garumā Taivānā politisko toni ir noteikusi tieši Gomindaņa partija, palēnām veidojot ekonomiskus un politiskus līdzāspastāvēšanas tiltus ar Ķīnas Tautas republiku. Un Demokrātiski progresīvās partijas pārsteidzošie panākumi 2016.gada vēlēšanās Ķīnai bija ļoti nepatīkams pārsteigums. Cai Inveņa ir bijusi populāra prezidente, tādēļ valdošā partija cerēja, ka arī nedēļas nogalē notikušajās pašvaldību vēlēšanās viņas atbalstītie kandidāti baudīs vēlētāju uzticību. Taču rezultāti izrādījušies citādi nekā gaidīts. Daudzās pašvaldībās, tajā skaitā galvaspilsētā Taipejā, uzvarējuši Gomindaņas partijas virzītie pārstāvji. Reaģējot uz notikušo, Cai Inveņa jau paziņojusi, ka atkāpjas no partijas vadītājas amata. Kaut arī vietvaras nenosaka starptautisko attiecību dienaskārtību, vēlēšanu rezultāti liek jautāt, kāpēc gan vēlētāji šajā spriedzes pilnajā laikā ir gribējuši pārmaiņas, un vai līdzīgs noskaņojums varētu būt pēc pāris gadiem, kad Taivānā būs prezidenta vēlēšanas.  Baltkrievijas iekšpolitikas satricinājums? 26.novembrī negaidīti 64 gadu vecumā mira Baltkrievijas ārlietu ministrs Vladimirs Makejs. Viņa vadītās ministrijas preses sekretārs, izplatot šo ziņu, neslēpa pārsteigumu – vēl iepriekšējā dienā esot apspriedis ar ministru tuvāko dienu plānus un nekas neesot liecinājis par jelkādām Makeja veselības problēmām. Vladimirs Makejs bija viena no atpazīstamākajām Baltkrievijas amatpersonām. Aktīvi piedalījies sarunās starp Baltkrieviju un Eiropas valstīm 2021. gada migrācijas krīzes laikā. Pēc Krievijas iebrukuma Ukrainā palīdzējis organizēt sarunas starp Ukrainas un Krievijas delegācijām Baltkrievijā. Ārlietu ministra amatā viņš atradās kopš 2012.gada, bet pirms tam strādāja prezidenta administrācijā. Krievijas prokremliskajos medijos un "Telegram" kanālos Makejs līdz 2020.gadam vairakkārt tika apsūdzēts centienos uzlabot Baltkrievijas attiecības ar Rietumiem uz Krievijas interešu rēķina. Rietumvalstu vidū sankcijas Makejam noteikusi bija tikai Kanāda. Ne ASV, nedz Eiropas Savienība to neizdarīja. Par viņa nāves iemeslu joprojām oficiāli nekas nav zināms. Lai arī baltkrievu portāls „Naša Ņiva”, atsaucoties uz saviem avotiem, raksta, ka Makejs miris no infarkta, tomēr viņa pēkšņā aiziešana tai saulē radījusi daudz sazvērestības teoriju. Starp tām vispopulārākā šobrīd ir “Kremļa rokas” klātbūtne notikušajā. To īpaši uzsver politiskie analītiķi. Viņi uzskata, ka starp tiem, kas varētu gūt labumu no Aleksandram Lukašenko pietuvināta ministra nāves, var būt gan Baltkrievijas drošības amatpersonas, gan viņu Krievijas kolēģi, gan arī Rietumi, kaut vai – lai radītu diskomfortu un nedrošības sajūtu Baltkrievijas vadībā. Tā vai citādi, bet ārlietu ministra nāve ir atstājusi ietekmi uz Baltkrievijas pašpasludināto prezidentu Lukašenko. Publiskajā telpā tiek vēstīts, ka pēc sava ministra pēkšņās aiziešanas viņš ir devis rīkojumu par pavāra, apsardzes un personāla nomaiņu.  Eiropas Parlamenta granta projekta „Jaunā Eiropas nākotne” programma.* * Šī publikācija atspoguļo tikai materiāla veidošanā iesaistīto pušu viedokli. Eiropas Parlaments nav atbildīgs par tajā ietvertās informācijas jebkādu izmantošanu.

Con Robin Food aprendemos a preparar un delicioso pato pekinés o pato Pekín con la receta de Josep María Kao, uno de los mejores chefs de este plato en España. Además, Anna Giménez nos cuenta cómo crían los patos en la Granja Luisiana en el Delta del Ebro. 

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, November 23rd. You'll get updates on who is, and isn't running for Mayor of Pekin, plus a healthy alternative to butter could be hitting the shelves soon thanks to scientists at the Peoria Ag Lab.

A new business in Pekin is the first of its kind in the state. Krown LLC is a cannabis infusion company, as well as being the first cannabis infusion company to be licensed through a Social Equity application.

In today's episode, you hear about a proposal that would centralize cannabis regulation into one agency. And the co-founder of the first cannabis infusion company in Illinois, located in Pekin, talks about what the application process was like to open Krown LLC. Plus, WCBU's Joe Deacon talks with former ESPN sports broadcasters Charley Steiner and Bob Ley about how the sports landscape has evolved over the past half-century.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, November 16th. You'll hear about the Peoria City/County Health Department's new home, plus a cannabis infusion business now operational in Pekin is the first of its kind in Illinois.

Last time we spoke the first time the British and French armada attacked the Taku forts it was a literal cake walk. Reminscent of the first opium war, the Qing cannons proved inept at hitting the European ships. Elgin's coalition made their way to Tianjin where they were met by the Emperors emissaries who began the same old tired procrastination strategy. Elgin was simply fed up and left the job to his brother Bruce who thought he got the deal won and done, but little did they all know the Qing had no intention of following through with the new treaty. A rebellion broke out at Canton and now Bruce was left with a new coalition force to fight yet again to get to Beijing to force the Qing to heed the treaty. However this time the Taku Forts were led by Prince Seng and he served the Europeans a truly nasty defeat. The tides of war were turning in favor of the Qing dynasty.    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 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. #22 This episode is Part 4 of the Second Opium War: The March to Beijing   When news came back to Britain about the loss, Lord Derby's government fell on June 10th 1859. Lord Palmerston returned to power at the age of 75 and wrote to the foreign office  “We must in some way or other make the Chinese repent of the outrage. We might send a military-naval force to attack and occupy Peking.” Elgin sat in on a cabinet meeting as Palmerston had appointed him Postmaster-General in the new Whig government. Elgin proscribed a moderate response, fearing that if Britain toppled the Manchu government the new masters of China would become the Taiping who lets just say were not great friends to capitalism and especially not towards the opium trade. For those MP's who still sought diplomacy, a recent event had hurt their cause. American ambassador John Ward made an attempt at diplomacy, agreeing to go to Beitang around 160 miles north of Beijing before heading to the capital. Yet instead of traveling in a sedan chair like any respectable Qing official, Ward accepted the humiliating Chinese offer to use a wooden cart without springs or a cushioned seat. The Chinese it turns out slyly told Ward this was the preferred method of transport the Russians took when in reality it was the typical transport for tribute bearers. Apparently the trip was so bumpy and painful, Ward chose to walk the last few miles. The Qing were delighted at the sight of the western representative entering Beijing on July 27th on foot like a common peasant. Ward like so many before him, ran into the kowtow situation. Ward said he was willing to bow but “I am accustomed to kneel only to God and women” to which some Qing court official said “but the emperor is God'. Another absolutely ridiculous war about the logistics of Kowtowing emerged. Ward was unwilling to do the full blown deal and kept trying to cut corners. The Qing officials asked if he could touch the floor with his fingertips instead of his head, he said no. They then asked if he could hide his legs behind a curtain so the emperor thought he was kneeling when in fact he wouldnt be. Many letters went back and forth trying to find a way to accommodate Ward's kowtow, but at the last moment Emperor Xianfeng came out of an opium stupor and upon receiving the recent news about the grand victory at the Taku Forts demanded Ward do the full blown kowtow. The Emperor added, since the Americans decided to break neutrality at the Taku Forts it was the least Ward could do, ouch. If you can believe it, the kowtow argument went on for 14 days. The Emperor eventually ordered Ward and his entourage to be expelled from Beijing. Though this all looked horrible on the surface, in truth Ward went to Beitang without interference from the Emperor and signed a treaty with the Qing officials on August 15th of 1859. Wards success was due to the fact, unlike his British and French counterparts, America was not insistent on signing the treaty within the capital. The American experience made Bruce look bad and Palmerston was fed up with the Qing protocols, kowtowing and such. The British newspapers were calling for blood after hearing news about the Taku fort disaster. Yet the situation was delicate. 10% of Britains tax revenue came from the opium trade in China. As Elgin put it in a letter to a colleague “If you humiliate the Emperor beyond measure, if you seriously impair his influence over his own subjects, you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. [You] throw the country into confusion and imperil the most lucrative trade you have in the world. I know that these opinions are not popular. The general notion is that if we use the bludgeon freely enough we can do anything in China. I hold the opposite view so strongly that I must give expression to it at whatever cost to myself.” Then some international actions stirred things into motion. Italy suddenly seized the Austrian controlled territory of Lombardy. Rumors began to spread that France was mustering 12,000 infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, 6 batteries of artillery and 20 gunboats most likely to hit Beijing….or perhaps Britain. It does seem to all be hysteria, but one thing was for sure, the British needed to take action to secure their interests in China. The Foreign Secretary on October 29th ordered Bruce to demand an apology for the lives lost at the Taku forts, for unspecified reparations and an agreement to respect the terms of the Treaty of Tianjin. The Qing would be given 30 days to respond, no more tactical delays allowed, if they failed to meet the deadline Bruce would block the Bei He River. Bruce received the orders in January of 1860, but there were problems. The idea was to starve out Beijing, its been an idea tossed around a few times at this point. However blockading the Bei He river would result in just rice crop not getting north, those living in Beijing could simply sustain themselves on the other crops found abundantly at the time in the north, corn and beans for example. On top of this Admiral Hope needed to furnish the warships and it would take until April, thus Elgin began to showcase the issues and it was agreed to extend the deadline until March.  The Qing responded surprisingly quickly to Bruce's ultimatum on April 5th with a no. Instead the Qing officials invited Bruce to negotiate with some imperial commissioners, not the Emperor and at Beitang. It seems the Qing remained ever emboldened by their victory at the Taku Forts, they also ended the response off by telling Bruce the barbarian representatives in the future should be more respectful, ompf. Bruce was out of his depth and many officials in Britain knew it. Instead of replacing Bruce outright they simply superseded him with another British emissary…his brother Elgin, double ompf. Thus Bruce was to remain in China to help his brother. Elgin had spent his entire time in Britain trying to stop the escalation to war and was extremely reluctant to take the diplomatic role again. None the less he felt he had to defend the treaty he had built and was being stamped upon. En route back to China, Elgin stopped in Paris at the Tuileries to speak the Napoleon III to ask what Frances territorial ambitions were in China. Napoleon III said the major drive was for Indo-China and that France was more than happy to leave Britain the pesky nation of China to deal with. If anything, weakening China would just help France more so in Indo-China, une gagnon-gagnon.  Baron Gros caught up to Elgin en route to China and both steamed out of Sri Lanka aboard the Malabar. The pair were in for a real fun time, as a brutal storm hit their ship and it sunk taking with it Baron Gros's uninsured plate and Elgin's top secret instructions from Britain. Eglin and Gros were delayed 2 more weeks to retrieve their lost stuff, those documents Elgin had lost by the way held some brand new demands of China such as the annexation of Kowloon, something that might have distressed the French. Again, a rumor had been spread to London that Napoleon III sought to seize Kowloon. This prompted some panicky British officials such as our old friend Harry Parkes to negotiate a permanent lease over Kowloon with the Chinese Viceroy of Canton. In a bizarre fashion while the British forces were mustering for an expedition, this was occurring indifferently and the viceroy of Canton accused because he was bankrupt.  The international force sent to China was staggering, 18,000 men, 7000 being French. Because of Kowloon easily going over to Britain, this allowed Sikh cavalry to perform military exercises on their large arabian horses terrifying the locals. The Sikhs and British brought with them a terrifying new toy, the 25 pound Armstrong fieldgun. It held the accuracy of a rifle with the destructive power of a cannon. It was designed to scatter large armies by firing a shell that burst into 49 angular fragments, making it one of the most brutal antipersonnel weapon in existence. I can't state it enough here, this one piece of military technology is what will destroy the Qing forces, it performed tremendously. The French were armed with an outdated Napoleon gun for their own artillery. 2500 Chinese coolies were hired by the British at 9$ a month + rations and 2 uniforms. Ironically crime in Hong Kong declined dramatically after the British left with these men, seems they got all the criminals on the island haha. General Sir James Hope Grant led the British forces and commanded a special loyalty from the Sikhs as they served under his fair leadership during the Indian revolt. Grant got the job, not because he was particularly gifted, just merely the closest General in the east. An allied force of 2000 British and 500 French were sent to seize Chusan island allowing them to assert dominance over the Yangtze and its critical use as a supply road to Beijing. The residents of Chusan were so traumatized from the last invasion they gave up without a fight. 50 miles north of Chusan was Shanghai whom welcomed the allies also without a fight because the mayor desperately needed help fighting off the Taiping rebels. The Taiping had recently seized Fuzhou and were on their way to claim the grand prize of Shanghai. The mayor of Shanghai pleaded with the Europeans to help despite the fact they literally were going to war with other parts of the Qing dynasty. The mayor offered to secretly report the ongoings of Beijing to the Europeans. The French counterpart to Grant, General Cousin de Montauban hated the chinese in general but really hated the Taiping rebels particularly because they were protestant. The French general wanted to annihilate the Taiping menace once and for all, but the British held the mans bloodlust back agreeing to use forces just to defend Shanghai against any Taiping invasion. Even Baron Gros went against his General agreeing with the British. At Shanghai the Europeans helped augment the outdated Chinese cannons that could not aim properly to be placed as swivel cannons on the walls, which could fire outward and inward, a notably helpful feature against residents who might lend their support to the Taiping. They sold some pieces of artillery to the delight of the mayor of Shanghai. As Elgin approached Shanghai he was falling further into a spiral of depression, he had this to write in his diary “If I had been anything but the greatest fool that the world ever saw I should never have been where I now am. I deserve to suffer for it, and no doubt I shall do so.” Meanwhile the guy was getting letters from the Whig government saying if he did not conclude the China mission by the next meeting of parliament, their government would most likely fall and it would be his fault. Rumors had spread in London that Elgin's overly appeasement of the Chinese was dragging the conflict on. On July 26th, 150 British ships steamed up the northern coast to land near Beitang, just 8 miles north of the Taku Forts on the gulf of Zhili. The French fleet soon joined them and for 5 days they began to unload troops from more than 200 warships, if I was the Qing dynasty, already facing the Taiping horde I would be peeing my pants. None of the wall guns in Beitang fired upon the Europeans as they approached and as they opened the gates they soon figured out why, the garrison literally had run away. They also found out a lot of the wall mounted artillery turned out to be fakes made out of wood, and I just know theres a great embezzlement story for that one. The 20,000 residents of the city welcomed the invaders like liberators and even began to point out where the forces of the infamous Prince Seng had buried mines inside and outside the city. A lot of those kind residents were rewarded with rape and looting by the troops. It is alleged many of the women of Beitang escaped the rape by poisoning themselves with opium, strangaltion or drowning, my god. Many residents sought refuge fleeing to a fetid marsh outside the city. General Grant blamed the hired coolies who he said “were for the most part atrocious villains…the robberies and crimes they committed in the town were fearful”. But it is most certain all the groups present took part in the orgy of plunder and rape, war never changes. British Provost-Marshal Captain Con ordered 30 soldiers flogged for looting and military discipline was restored the next week. The march from Beitang to Tianjin was a mud filled nightmare, an advance company of 1000 British and 1000 French eventually crawled along a stone causeway for 4 miles until they finally spotted Tianjin in the distance and a large horde of Prince Seng's cavalry blocking the way. As the Europeans drew closer, hundreds of Manchus, Han and Mongol cavalry became visible. Their sheer numbers were intimidating at first until the Europeans saw their weaponry. Most were utilizing bows and arrows, spears, some 18th century flintlocks and of course Gingalls. The allies lacked enough cavalry to fight even such an under equipped force and pulled back for the time being. A Qing commander upon seeing the Europeans peel back away sent a letter immediately to Beijing proclaiming a grand victory had already been won. Then on August the 12th of 1860, Grant assembled 800 cavalry to march around the Qing blockading the causeway and to take them from the rear. The main allied forced would hit the Qing head on using 3 Armstrong guns. When the frontal units were within a mile of the Qing horde they open fire with the Armstrongs. The Armstrong shells exploded and tore to piece the Qing cavalry, but the defenders were truly fearless, even as their comrades at either side were literally blown to pieces, they charged at the invaders. The Qing forces got within 450 yards when the effectiveness of the invaders guns simply halted them in their tracks, creating 25 minutes of terror. The suicidal valor of the Qing impressed many of their opponents, Major General Sir Robert Napier commanding the second division under Grant wrote “they bore unflinchingly for a considerable time such a fire as would have tried any troops in the world”. The Sikh riflemen gunned down the Qing with enfields and pistols while they were met mostly bow arrows. Lt Col G Wolseley recalled “never saw men come on so pluckily”. The better armed but widely outnumbered Sikhs managed to force the Qing to break and flee. The Punjab cavalry would have caused an even larger bloodbath pursuing the fleeing Qing, but the mud trapped their horses. Many of the Qing fled all the way to the safety of the Taku forts.  At the same time Grant had launched an attack on the Qing cavalry guarding the causeway leading to Tianjin when quite an unfortunate event unfolded. A drunk Irish sergeant who had recently took too much rum that he was literally ordered to delivery to the troops and got lost and stumbled into what he thought was a pack of friendly Sikh cavalry, it turns out they were Manchu. The Manchu cavalrymen seized the man and a few unfortunate souls who were following him. The Manchu ordered the Europeans to kowtow and they all did except for a Scottish private named Moyse who was beheaded on the spot. The Irish sergeant and other survivors were allowed to make their way back to camp to tell the others what had happened and they got back safely a week later. Their story made it into The Times which published a poem about the man, though it got his nationality wrong, typical English “Let dusky Indians whine and kneel,/An English lad must die./And thus with eyes that would not shrink,/With knee to man unbent,/Unfaltering on its dreadful brink,/To his red grave he went.” Two days after the kowtow incident the Europeans made their way up the causeway coming to a village called Sin-ho where they found the defenders had recently fled from. Further past the village was a large outpost called Danggu and unlike Sin-ho this was defended by Qing forces. Prince Seng had abandoned Danggu leaving behind Green standard troops. General de Montauban wanted to attack immediately, but Grant cautioned that the men needed rest. In a typical French-British rivalry fashion, de Montauban decided to attack without the British, but they found themselves quickly overwhelmed by the mud-walled fortification's 45 wall cannons. This setback humiliated the French general who had personally led the assault, but it did not lessen up his pursuit for glory. De Montauban came up with a wild plan to attack all 4 of the Dagu forts at the same time. Grant insisted on singling out the most northern fort as it was the most vulnerable. De Montauban made a mention of the situation in his diary on August 20th “I shall nevertheless send a French land force to work conjointly with our allies. The object of my observations is, above all, to free myself from military responsibility with reference to my own government.” On August 14th, the British and French took Danggu using 36 guns and two rocket batteries before the infantry swept in. As one British Lt said to his commander “the Armstrong gun is a great success”. By taking Danggu, the Europeans were now in a great position to attack the northern most Dagu Fort that Grant had singled out, it was just a mile from Danggu across the Bei He River. There was a 6 day delay at this point as the Europeans were bringing the rest of their supplies and equipment along the causeway and the French garrison in Shanghai had a nasty situation leading them to burn some of the city's suburbs in an effort to drive out Taiping rebels. On August 20th the Europeans set up 6 artillery batteries within half a mile of the northernmost Taku Fort and called in for 8 gunboats to attack it from the south. Just before sunrise of August 21st the Taku Fort opened fire on their position. The Europeans responded by performing a rolling forward bombardment all the way up to 500 yards from the Forts walls. The European Armstrongs, 8 inch mortars, 24 pound howitzers and French 12 inch cannons rayes absolutely smashed the forts wall cannons until the Qing were only left with Gingalls to operate. At 6:30am a powder magazine blew up inside the fort causing a massive explosion, but the defenders kept the fight on. Once the Europeans were 30 yards from the fort, a French force led by General Collineau began to scale the walls, but there was a moat in the way. The French General forced a detachment of coolies to stand in the moat up to their necks while supporting the scaling ladders on their shoulders for the French to climb up and my god is that a heinous act. Apparently Grant felt so terrible upon seeing what happened to the coolies that he gave them all an extra months salary as bonus. Once the French got atop the walls they launched bayonet charges that scattered the remaining defenders while the British blew a small hole in the forts wall allowing their own troops to charge single file through. The Qing commander of the fort showed more bravery than many of his men. When he was cornered he refused to surrender until an agitated Captain named Prynne of the royal marines pulled out his revolver and shot the man dead. Prynne then took the commanders peacock feather cap as a trophy of war. It took a few hours for the fort to be secured. The casualties were quite heavy, the British and French reported losing about 200 men, the Chinese were said to have over 1000 dead and another 1500 had fled the scene. 9000 surrendered to General Collineau, kneeling at his feet. The inside of the fort was a horror story. Thomas Bowlby described the devastation caused by the Armstrong guns to the defenders inside the fort “a mass of brains and blood smelling most foully”. Grant awarded 6 Victoria Crosses to celebrate the taking of the first Taku Fort. The taking of the northern most fort meant the other Taku forts were now uselessly outflanked, they had all been built to withstand attacks only from the river and were open from behind. The psychological effect was very apparent as within 5 hours, two emissaries from Heng Fu and the Viceroy of Zhili province turned up to negotiate. They were met by the ever xenophobic Harry Parkes who at this point was quite famous to the Chinese for being so xenophobic. Heng Fu's emissaries offered to remove the booms blocking the Bei He River and to allow the European ships safe passage to Tianjin where peace negotiations could resume. Parkes proceeded to crumple heng fu's letter and threw it right in the face of one of his emissaries, a man named Wang who happened to be an anglophile and fluent in English. Parkes he personally knew the guy, what an asshole. Parkes then began screaming that if the other 3 Taku Forts did not surrender within the next two hours they would suffer the same fate as the northern one. One European present at this parley described Parkes to be “harsh and unnecessarily violent towards Wang. This was not customary among European nations and the envoys should be treaty with the courtesy common to civilization”. Long before Parkes two hour screamfest had elapsed, white flags were already waving amongst the 3 other Taku forts without a single shot being fired.  The path to Tianjin was now open and as of August 23rd, Grant took the armada unchallenged up to the riverway with the infantry as the cavalry made its way overland on the twin banks of the river. By August 27th the Europeans had an encampment just outside Tianjin and the ambassadors prepared to negotiate yet again. This time the Qing court sent the senior official Guilian who had previously negotiated the treaty of Tianjin, but this time he carried plenipotentiary powers. Elgin and Gros were notified of his authority beforehand and discussed amongst another the best strategy going forward. Both men presented new demands much harsher than the previous ones. The Qing were asked to make a formal apology for the casualties caused by the first battle of the Taku Forts in 1859; to pay double the original amount in reparations of 4 million taels of silver; the right to station ambassadors in the capital and to confirm the treaty of Tianjin. The Europeans would occupy Tianjin, which controlled the flow of food to Beijing, giving them the power to starve out the capital if the Qing did not agree. The Taku Forts would also be occupied and they demanded admission to Tongzhou, a suburb only 15 miles away from Beijing. Now Guiliang did indeed have carte blanche from Emperor Xianfeng, but he found the new terms so unacceptable he resorted to the classic Chinese ruse that he did not in fact have plenipotentiary which completely contradicted his original claims. Elgin recognized the classic Chinese stalling tactic because it had occurred so many times at this point. Elgin wrote in his diary “The blockheads have gone on negotiating with me just long enough to enable [Hope] Grant to bring all his army up to this point. Here we are with our base established in the heart of the country, in a capital climate, with abundance [food] around us, our army in excellent health, and these stupid people give me a snub which obliges me to break with them,” Elgin at the same time wrote to his wife “I am at war again! My idiotical Chinamen have taken to playing tricks, which give me an excellent excuse for carrying the army on to Pekin.” Thus Elgin and Gros both agreed the time had finally come to simply march on Beijing. After the fall of Beitang and the Taku forts came so easily, Prince Seng was prepared to commit suicide. However he was ordered to retreat north to the city of Tongzhou just outside Beijing. Tongzhou stood on the road between Tianjin and Beijing and it was there he would prepare a last stand. He had sent 10,000 of his infantry and 700 Cavalry from Danggu and 40,000 Mongolian troops towards Tongzhou where he was amassing an army of 60,000. His instructions were not to attack, but to simply ensure peace while protecting the capital. As the Europeans marched, the Emperor dispatched more envoys and countless letters to Elgin and Gros to delay them. They kept saying that Guiliang had been confused and that in fact the Emperor had accepted all the terms if the Europeans would just stop their advance they could ratify the treaty. It seemed the closer the European force got to Beijing the high the frequency of letters and envoys became. But Elgin was fed up with the Chinese delaying tactics and told them all they would not stop until they reached the  suburb of Beijing, Tongzhou. Many of the frantic envoys made a counteroffer asking the Europeans to go to Hesewu which was between Tianjin and Beijing. Grant liked the offer because in truth, the military force was having a hard time keeping up their logistics. In a kind of humorous way, when Grant began to press Elgin about the logistical issue, Elgin began to blame the troops for quote “the difficulty of getting our army along is incredible; our men are so pampered that they do nothing for themselves and their necessities so great that we are almost immovable. I was disgusted to find out the troops refuse to drink their daily ration of grog unless it is iced.” I love the 19th century its so wild.  On September 14th Elgin sent Harry Parkes and Thomas Wade to negotiate with two new emissaries the Emperor sent to Tongzhou. Their names were Zaiyuan and Muyin, Zaiyuan was also the emperor cousin and both men held real authority. On the very first day of negotiation at Tongzhou, after 8 hours of discussion which is light speed it seems for the Chinese, they accepted all terms. They also agreed to a protocol for ratification, the European forces would be allowed to advance to a place known as Zhengjiawan, just 6 miles from Tongzhou. From there Elgin would leave behind the majority of the forces and proceed to Tongzhou with an escort of 1000 men to sign the treaty. After that Elgin and his escort could continue to Beijing to meet Emperor Xianfeng for a formal ceremony of the treaty ratification. Harry Parkes traveled back to Elgin to report the great news and by September 17th he came back to Tongzhou to tell the Qing emissaries Elgin was preparing his arrival. However by the time Parkes got back, the Emperor had secretly instructed Prince Seng to destroy Elgins party when he came to sign the treaty. The Qing forces at Tongzhou were all hard at work preparing artillery batteries and surprise attack launching points such as millet coverings to conceal units. When Parkes began talking to the emissaries they suddenly began an argument about Elgin needing to Kowtow, it was all a ruse to delay. Prince Seng meanwhile counseled his Emperor to save face by going on a “hunting expedition” near the northern border. Seng did not want the Europeans to take the Emperor hostage, though there were many who believed it was actually a secret ploy to grab the dragon throne himself. Emperor Xianfangs concubine turned consort, Cixi urged him to remain in Beijing. The Emperor proposed to march out of the capital at the head of a huge army, make a feint attack at the European force and then flee to the safety of his hunting lodge at Rehe over 100 miles away near the Great Wall. The European military officials told Elgin and Gros to go to Tongzhou with such a small escort was suicide and they believed it to all be a trap. On september 18th as Parkes was riding back to Tianjin to report to Elgin, he noticed Prince Seng's cavalry massing behind these rows of millets. The cavalry were beginning to occupy Zhengjiawan and now Parkes suspected it was all a trap. Parkes dispatched Henry Loch, Lord Elgin's private secretary post-haste to rush back to Elgin and report all of this. Meanwhile Parkes alongside two Sikh's returned to Tongzhou to confront Zaiyuan and Muyin. When Loch got to Elgin it turns out his warning was unnecessary, Grant had sent scouts who had spotted the force at Zhengjiawan. Loch showing true courage quickly rode back to Tongzhou to report back to Parkes with only a single body guard. Both men were captured by Qing cavalry units and they alongside Parkes were offered safe conduct to meet with Prince Seng too which they agreed, I mean they had no real choice. Once they reached Seng they were both arrested alongside 19 Sikh, Thomas Bowlby and 3 British officers.  Parkes remained fearless as he confronted what he described to be “a acne plagued, short, fat Prince Seng”. Despite being in no position to reject such an order, Seng ordered Parkes to kowtow. Parkes refused and was met with his head being smashed into the marble floor multiple times. Qing soldiers pinned Parkes down as Seng screamed  “You have gained two victories to our one. Twice you have dared to take the [Dagu] forts. Why does not that content you? I know your name, and that you instigate all the evil that your people commit. It is time that foreigners should be taught respect.” Parkes managed to free his head to look up at Seng and screamed “we came to you under the flag of truce and you promised safe conduct”. Seng laughed and had his men slam Parkes head back to the floor before he responded “write to your people and tell them to stop the attack”. Parkes replied “I cannot control or influence military movement in any way. I will not deceive your highness”. Suddenly European artillery could be heard and Seng ordered Parkes and the rest of the prisoners to be tossed into wooden carts and sent to Beijing. Parkes and Loch were shackled and incarcerated in the board of Punishments awaiting an execution. The prisoners hands were secured with leather straps that were moistened so they would shrink and cut into the victims wrists. Some of the POW's were sent to the Summer palace for private inspection and public humiliation by the Emperor. It was Prince Seng's intention to showcase these prisoners as such so the Qing who witnessed them would see they were not invincible and stop believing the Chinese could not win the war. The prisoners were forced to kneel in the palace courtyard, bound without food or water for 3 days. Their hands swelled and many became gangrenous. Disease and dehydration led to deaths. Parkes and Loch at the board of punishments were placed in separate cells and interrogated and tortured. After days of this they were demanded to write back to Elgin to plead for better terms. Meanwhile Prince Seng had his men continue to dig in and for the first time the Qing forces held a lot of firepower, 70 guns in all. Seng had a 3 mile wide force of cavalry at Zhangjiawan serving as a road block between the Europeans and Beijing. Seng had over 20,000 troops and. approaching them was a force of 1000 French and 2500 British. Yet again the Qing were relying upon bow and arrows for the mounted cavalry and antiquated firelock muskets and gingalls for the, versus the British Enfield rifle, French Minie gun and the deadly Armstrong guns. Seng was using a strategy of encirclement before going in for the kill, something more akin to medieval tactics that had the serious flaw of stretching Seng's lines out making them easier for enemy penetration.  The smaller European force fought its way forward to meet head on with the bulk of Sings army just outside Tongzhou on september 21. The swift Mongolian cavalry charged in a broad wave at the left flank of the approaching European force which was moving in three columns, cavalry to the left, artillery in the center and infantry to the right. The British and French cavalry quickly split and pulled aside as the artillery in the center wheeled their guns around to fire upon the incoming Mongolians. The Armstrong guns poured salvo after salvo deep into the ranks of the charging cavalry to terrifying effect. The Mongolians pulled up in confusion then the British cavalry of Sikh and Spahi being led by De Montauban smashed into Seng's left flank, breaking through the lines and scattering them into a chaotic retreat. Then the true slaughter came as one British officer put it “Our artillery opened fire upon the retreating forces with good effect. Firing slowly, every Armstrong shell bursting amongst them and bringing down the enemy in clumps”. A Qing eye witness had this to say about the same event “Our cavalry went out in front, but they were Mongolian horsemen who had never seen battle before. As soon as they heard the sounds of the foreign cannons, they turned back. The foot soldiers behind them scattered ranks, and then everyone trampled one another.” French infantry assaulted the town of Zhangjiawan as Seng's Mongolian cavalry's ponies were being crushed by the larger Sikh and Spahi horses using their more advanced rifles. As De Montauban's cavalry penetrated the Qing lines, they retaliated as best they could with gingalls and firelock rifles all the while Armstrongs kept blasting. When the Qing cavalry began to rout and flee the Sikh and Spahi chased them down bayoneting stragglers. Despite the absolute carnage of the artillery and bayonets, Seng lost only 1500 men during the battle, but the Europeans reported only losing 35, a staggering difference. By the end of the day the Qing forces were broken and their remnants were in a full retreat to Beijing. Elgin worried about the consequences of their victory writing in his diary “I rode out very early this morning, to see my General before he started, and to give him a hint about the looting which has been very bad here. He disapproves of it as much as I do”. General Grant had allowed the troops to sack Zhangjiawan, he considered it reparations rather than vengeance and thievery. Many of the women at Zhangjiawan feared rape, and many of the looting europeans were shocked to find countless women and children committing suicide by opium overdose. One man named Swinhoe recalled ‘the more conscious of them, beating their breasts, condemned the opium for its slow work, crying out, ‘let us die; we do not wish to live'”. Some British army surgeons began pumping the victims stomachs with such success only one of the victims still alive when the army got there died. Baron Gros shared Elgin's disgust over the looting, he wrote in a communique to the French foreign minister  “J'ai le coeur serré par les actes de vandalisme que j'ai vu commis par nos soldats, comme par nos alliés, charmés de pouvoir rejeter mutuellement les uns sur les autres les actes abominable dont ils se rendaient coupables.” (I was heartbroken by the acts of vandalism that I saw committed by our soldiers as well as by those of our allies, each delighted at the chance of heaping upon the other the blame for abominable deeds for which all deserved punishment.)” After the looting was done the force began to march towards Tongzhou. While the Europeans were marching over at Baliqao where 2 large bridge went over the Bei He River towards Beijing a Qing army was forming. 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 coalition forces served Pring Seng a bunch of nasty defeats and it seems it was impossible to stop them from marching upon Beijing. All that was left in their path was the great bridges at Baliqao where Pring Seng would make his last stand.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, November 9th. You'll hear a roundup of how local races played out during last night's election, plus get a look into plans regarding the revitalization of downtown Pekin.

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, November 2nd. You'll hear how Methodist, Proctor, and Pekin hospitals are moving closer to joining Carle Health, plus Carl Holloway provides his insight on how the Peoria area can break down barriers to employment.

Last time we spoke the horrifying trade of Poison and Pigs. The “Poison” referring to the still thriving opium trade and “pig” being the kidnapping of Chinese coolies. We also briefly talked about the rise of the Taiping rebels under Hong Xiuquan, the self proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ. The Taiping rebellion alongside the trade of Poison and Pigs was wreaking havoc upon the Qing dynasty and then to ignite the powder keg came a rather small event. The Arrow incident set into motion Ye Mingchen to butt heads with Harry Parkes and John Bowring and all 3 of these men would begin a duel that set into motion the kindling for another opium war. Soon things got completely out of hand and Rear Admiral Seymour was brought into the mix leading to him ordering the first official shots of what will become the second opium war. #19 This episode is Part 1 of the Second Opium War: Seymour's onslaught   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 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. Ye Mingchen upon learning of the threat immediately called upon Canton's militia, but their response was not exactly enthusiastic. Unlike the previous Lin Zexu, a noble and very charismatic figure, Ye lacked public support and the rank and file soldiers often disregarded him. A large reason for this was because of the brutality he unleashed on the Taiping Rebels in the two provinces he ran. Ye's two hundred warships while numerous, in the face of the British state of the art gunboats and steamers, were basically childs toys. Parkes sent Ye another demand: to grant British residents the right to live and work outside the factories. Ye refused the demand and on October 28th, the British sent the steamer Encounter to shell the rooftop of the vice regal residence. This action did drive some popularity for Ye as many began to say the viceroy was fearless and had remained in his courtyard reading a book as the shells missed him. Ye then upted the anty by placing a price on British heads from 30 to 100 dollars. Ye also placed a whopping 30,000 dollars for Parkes head. When Seymour came to Canton he found the Encounter moored off the city near the factories. He sent the Sampson and Barracouta to seize the Blenheim and Macao forts meeting no resistance. One of the British sailors named William Kennedy described the city “The river was alive with every kind of craft, from the little sampan, propelled by a single oar in the stern, to the heavy trading junk with her single iron-wood mast and mat sails. Numerous flower-boats belonging to wealthy mandarins were moored off the town, conspicuous by their gaudy paint, and crowded with laughing girls, who kept up an incessant chatter as they peeped out at the foreign devils!” The next day, Seymour seized the Bird's nest fort and then the two Shameen forts guarding the passage. All of the guns they found in the forts were rendered unserviceable.  When the bombardment of Canton had begun, a hole was made in Canton's walls and this allowed a detachment of Royal Marines to land and get into the factory sector to protect the inhabitants. Chinese guns on the walls did not fire upon the invaders who all entered the city to an eerie silence. Some Chinese matchlocks did fire upon them but it seems many were antiquated and did no damage. W.t Bates, the captain of the HMS Actaeon planted the Union Jack atop Canton's wall, and he was joined by an American envoy to Hong Kong, James Keenan who likewise was waving the Stars and Stripes. Now this is an interesting bit, because the US remained neutral during the conflict between China and Britain. James Keenan apparently was shit faced when he did this haha. The British began to move a large cannon through the wall breach and used it to further shell Ye's residence.. The royal marines and sailors formed posts and barricades with field gun support around certain streets to guard against counter attacks. On October 25th the Chinese forces attacked the British pickets, but were easily repulsed, resulting in 14 casualties for them. On October 27th, the Encounter opened fire on Ye's poor residence as the Barracouta and Sulphur Creek shelled Chinese positions along the hills in the back of Canton. The British forces warned the Chinese civilians to evacuate themselves and their property. On october 28th, the British attacked again, this time from the Dutch Folly where they placed 2 large guns. The shelling of Cantons walls set fires within the city and the next morning the British began firing upon Chinese counter artillery being mounted on the opposite side of the Dutch Folly. Seymour then led a 400 man party personally to capture Ye's residence, but they found it to be abandoned. Seymour reported “the Chinese troops offered little resistance beyond a scattered fire from the streets and houses”, two British were killed with 12 wounded. Seymour did not have nearly enough men to hold Canton, so he soon pulled back to a safer encampment outside the walls, but not before sending Ye a threat “The lives and property of the entire city are at my mercy, and could be destroyed by me at any moment,”. Ye sent an emissary to Parks with a truce offer, but Parkes rebuffed it by making vague threats about allying with the Taiping rebels. It was most likely a bluff, because Bowring personally loathed what he called “the Jacobin like God worshippers”. It seems even Ye knew this to be a bluff as well. Seymour continued his siege of Canton and managed to gain control of all the seagoing traffic in the gulf of Canton by chasing off all the Chinese war junks that came near. Seymour estimated it would take at least 5000 men to hold the city.  Meanwhile Ye began to really saber rattle, making a proclamation to the residents of Canton to “preserve quiet minds, guard your property, but do not give way to alarm”. It should be noted Ye said this from a very safe hiding place. Well the Chinese and European residents gradually began to desert Canton as Seymour's bombardment grew more intense and many had to flee for their lives. Snipers inside the city returned fire on the British using antiquated matchlocks, but it amounted to nothing. By the end of October, Ye finally agreed to parley with the British, but still refused to meet them in person, instead sending subordinates, which was most likely also a face saving insult to the British. Bowring demanded in person negotiations and sent Seymour a letter to toss at Ye “In the administration of all matters in China the rule adhered to is that which heaven shows is the right one to pursue: the chief consideration is the people. It is said in The Book of History, ‘Heaven sees as my people see; Heaven hears as my people hear.' Is this not an additional reason why I should be unable to constrain the people? I must add that as it is the habit of Your Excellency's nation to adore the spirit of Heaven, it behooves you in my opinion so much the more to conform in your actions to the principle given us by heaven. Let Your Excellency maturely consider this. “ On November the 6th the British seized the French Folly fort along the pearl river near Canton. Enroute to it they ran into a armada of 23 Chinese war junks, but easily sent them into a rout, but at the cost of 1 death and 4 wounded sailors. The battle lasted no more than an hour and Parkes described the defenders as “putting up a very hot resistance, the battle was exceeding creditable to the bravery of not just our men, but of the Chinese also”.  Just before november the 12th, Seymour sent word to the Qing commanders garrisoning the bogue forts “The British Admiral wishes to spare life, and is not at war with the Chinese; and as it is necessary for him to hold possession of the Bogue Forts, until the conduct of the Viceroy Yeh can be referred to the Emperor of Pekin, one hour will be given for the purpose of clearing out; if this offer is at once accepted, boats will be permitted to pass to and from the main land and the Wantungs. In this case, the forts will remain uninjured, ready to be returned in the same state to the Chinese when these differences are over; and the rebels will neither be allowed to pass the Bogue Forts, nor to enter them whilst in our possession” Seymour waited an hour but received no answer. In truth the Qing commander of the forts could not give an answer, if he did he would be beheaded. On November 12th, a British squadron of 6 ships opened fire on the two Wangtong island forts which were both fully manned, holding over 200 guns. The Qing defenders tossed stink pots at the first Royal marines to enter the forts. The Chinese fired upon the invaders, but as soon as enough British had entered the forts the defenders fled to prepared escape boats. As Seymour described it “the battle was a considerable, though ill-directed resistance of about an hour or so”. The British had one death and 5 wounded aboard the HMS Nankin. The next day the British attacked and captured the Anunghoy forts, each holding 200 guns whereupon Seymour chided “there was some resistance”, there were no casualties. The Americans also got to have a go at the Qing at this time. The USS Portsmouth and USS Levant were sailing off the Chinese coast when they received news of the war. The two sloops of war were tasked with protecting American lives and to land 150 marines at Canton to do so. They made a peaceful landing and began to occupy the city. Commodore James Armstrong and Captain Henry Bell came aboard the USS Jacinto, landing additional forces in Canton. On November the 15th the American force withdrew from the city. As they were withdrawing, Commander Andrew Foote of the Portsmouth was rowing to his ship, but as he did so a Chinese garrison fired on his small boat a few times, nearly hitting him. The next day the US marines decided to retaliate against the Qing for what had occurred. The Steam frigate USS San Jacinto alongside the two slopes of war made their way up the Pearl River and launched an attack on Canton's coastal forts, also known as the barrier forts. The USS Portsmouth was the first to fire upon the nearest fort on November 16th. For 2 hours the American bombardment harassed the forts until the forts stopped firing back. Before sending the marines to attack though, the Qing commander and American officials attempted diplomacy, but it failed to reach any result by November 20th. Commodore Armstrong ordered his ships to continue firing upon the forts. During the mayhem the USS Levant received 22 cannonball hits to her sail and hull. Under the cover of their naval bombardment, 287 American troops led by COmmander Andrew Foote landed unopposed. 50 marines led by Captain John Simms spearheaded the attack and they quickly captured the nearest fort and proceeded to unleash its 53 guns to attack the second nearest fort. When the Qing saw the fort was shooting at them they launched a counterattack of 3000 soldiers from Canton. The melee lasted until november 24th, until the combined efforts of the Americans on land and their naval squadron managed to push back the Qing army killing and wounding dozens. The Americans then seized 2 more of the forts and spiked 176 of their guns. It is alleged the Qing had around 250-500 casualties while the Americans suffered 22. The USS Levant lost a man and had 6 wounded during the cannon exchange. Afterwards Armstrong tried diplomacy again and signed an agreement of neutrality between the US and the Qing for the duration of the war. America would respect the agreement until another incident in 1859.    In the meantime with the siege going on at Canton trade fell apart. Howqua and the other Cohong merchants faced ruin. On november 12th, the Cohong merchants pleaded with Parkes. Howqua explained their impossible position. He said they agreed the British should be allowed to live in Canton outside the factories, but they currently lacked enough firepower to enforce this. Parkes said of the Cohong groveling “Their weight as a class both with [the] authorities and people is far less than we suppose. The people, particularly the rural population, were opposed to our admission.” Nonetheless the Canton stalemate continued till november 17th, when Bowring left for Hong Kong. Bowring reported to the foreign minister lord Clarendon “I have exhausted all the means with which I could influence either the hopes or fears of this incarnation of ancient Chinese pride, ignorance and unteachableness.” The Taiping Rebels heard about the situation and offered military assistance to the British, but the British distrusted them. Towards the end of november a armada of rebel ships with 1500 men showed up to Canton hoping to coordinate an attack on the Qing. Instead the Taiping were met by a British fleet commanded by Captain Keith Stewart. But Parkes did use the Taiping offer to intimidate Ye, telling one of his assistants  “partisans of the revolutionary factions had intimated their wish to cooperate in an attack on the city, but that the Admiral had declined all connection with their proceedings.” Parkes added to this that the British decision could change depending on Ye's actions.  Ye was making a mistake during all of this, he assumed because of the lack of British manpower that they also lacked resolve. So on November 28th Ye made another proclamation “The English barbarians have attacked the provincial city, and wounded and injured our soldiers and people. Wherefore I herewith distinctly command you to join together to exterminate them, killing them whenever you meet them, whether on shore or in their ships.”. By mid december Ye felt emboldened enough to order the destruction of the foreign factories, but also officially denied any involvement in it. At around midnight of December 14th, some Chinese bearing torches burnt the factories to the ground. The British tried to fight the fires, but were unable to extinguish them. All that remained of the foreign buildings were the British chapel and boathouse in the end. Parkes was in Hong Kong that night, but a member of his staff, Henry Lane died in the fire.  Ye's bounties prompted some atrocities to take place on december 29th. The chinese crew of the steamship Thistle, carrying mail from Hong Kong to Canton, mutinied en route and beheaded all 11 european passengers, aided by some other Chinese who had snuck aboard disguised as passengers. The Thistle was set on fire and found drifting into Canton harbor with the headless victims. The heads were brought for reward, at that point its alleged Ye was paying 100$ a head. The Chinese figured out a primitive but effective way of fighting the British. In January of 1857, the Qing launched a flotilla of fire ships containing over 8000 pounds of gunpowder against Seymour's ships at harbor. The attack failed, but it certainly unnerved Seymor who never expected such retaliation. Seymour sailed out of Canton harbor with 2 ships, the Encounter and Niger and made way for the relative safety of Macao.  Before making it to Macao, on January the 4th, Seymour took 9 ships to attack and capture the Macao Fort which was located on an islet around 3 miles south of Canton. The Qing threw 70 War junks at the force incorporating an array of strategies such as fire boats, regular naval cannon warfare and using smaller row boats to toss stink pots at the British vessels. The Qing were soon overwhelmed and had to give up on the naval battle, allowing Seymour to claim the fort. On January 15th, 400 residents in Hong Kong got extremely ill after eating bread from the local bakery. The doctors at the scene said it was arsenic poisoning, but the culprit had either not wanted the British to die or was too incompetent to know how to poison properly. Turns out he put so much arsenic in the dough that it forced the victims to throw up the poison and thus led to no fatalities. Bowring's wife and children were some of the victims and Lady Bowring almost died. This led Bowring to write to the Colonial secretary Labouchere “I beg to apologize if anything should have been forgotten at this last moment. I am shaken by the effects of poison, every member of my family being at this moment suffering from this new attempt upon our lives”. The owner of the bakery went on trial despite the fact his own family was poisoned as well, luckily he was acquitted. Yet the British public demanded justice and they pointing their fingers at Ye Mingchen. Ye Mingchen at the time was hosting Napoleon III's representative, the Comte de Courcy and said this to the man about the incident “Doubtless there are many Chinese whose hatred against the English has been much increased, but to poison people in this underhand manner is an act worthy of detestation. Whoever he is, the author of this poisoning is an abominable creature, but since he is in [Britishcontrolled] Hong Kong, I find it difficult to proceed against him.” Well the British police in Hong Kong arrested 52 of the Bakery's employees as Bowring prevented a mob from lynching them. The arrested were jammed into a single room only 15 feet square for 19 days, the jailers simply did not have the space. The prison doctor eventually demanded they be moved to better quarters fearing an outbreak of plague might occur. The public went into a mass hysteria because of the poisoning event and a witch hunt began. It became almost comical, almost 500 arrests were made and some of the charges were simply “the man looked suspicious”. The native population of Hong Kong began to freak out and nearly half of them would leave to immigrate to Australia and California.  The Arrow incident and Thistle massacre had provided Bowring a justification to increase hostilities. On January the 10th Bowring sent a letter to the Governor General of India, Lord Canning asking for reinforcements, because he thought Seymour's expeditions in the Gulf of Canton were not providing results. What Bowring really wanted was to seize Canton, in his words “The gate of China is Canton, and unless we can force an entrance there, I believe the difficulties of obtaining any improved position in China will be almost invincible. The valor of H.M. naval forces [is] not able to take the city.” Bowring also stated he had spoken with Seymour and that both men agreed on the necessity for military aid in the form of at least 5000 men with a small amount of artillery. Back home in Britain, parliament anticipated Bowrings requests and on January 31st, before learning of the request Bowring had sent to Canning, ordered Canning to dispatch a regiment and artillery to Canton. On February 9th, the foreign minister ordered Seymour to seize the entrance to the Grand Canal which would effectively cut off the capital's rice supply. Beijing could be starved into submission since Seymour's countless capturing of Forts and victories on the sea had not produced any real response from the Emperor. Bowring was given new orders to obtain new concessions, now Britain wanted; a permanent British ambassadorial presence at Beijing, even more ports and rivers open and the right for British commercial and missionary access to China's interior. However back in Britain there was great concern for the cost of conflict with China. The Times estimated that a war with China may cost up to 10 million pounds in lost trade and tax revenues. Eventually the leader of the Tories brought a motion of no confidence against the Whig government and in particular against Palmerstons management of the conflict in China. On February 24th, the Tories denounced Bowring and Palmerstons as a quote “bald faced and illegal land grab and the usurpation of an independent nations sovereign powers”.  The Torries leader, Earl of Derby said this “I am an advocate for the feeble defenselessness of China against the overpowering might of Great Britain. I am an advocate for weakness against power, for perplexed and bewildered barbarism against the arrogant demands of over-weaning self-styled civilization. The Arrow issue is the most despicable cause of war that has ever occured”. You know its kind of a meme today to mock Britain for being this evil empire for most of history, but instances like this that often go unheard that there were people trying to stop conflict. The more you know as they say. Derby called upon the conscience of the bishops in the House of Lords and his secular colleagues “to declare that they will not sanction the usurpation of the most awful prerogative of the Crown, the declaring of war; that they will not tolerate the destruction of the forts of a friendly country; that they will not tolerate the bombardment and the shelling of a commercial and open city”. Derby was met with a standing ovation for his speech. Palmerston managed to influence Lord Shaftebury, a philanthropist and notorious critique of the opium trade, to join his side of the argument. Turns out the prime minister had bribed him by giving him control of the appointments of bishops, such appointments brought with them a cathedral, extensive lands and a salary from rent that allowed many Bishops to live like lords. Yet Shaftesburys conscious was troubled by the situation and he wrote in his diary “A sad result. Right or wrong, the government must be supported to bring these matters to a satisfactory close. Hope and believe that God, having employed [the Prime Minister] as an instrument of good, would maintain him. But his ways are inscrutable. Opium and Christianity could not enter China together.” Now Lord Clarendon had quite a battle on his hands with his opposition, Mr. Derby. Clarendon stood up to give a speech after Derby, but the standing ovation and cheers for Derby persisted heavily. The foreign secretary argued the Arrow was indeed a British vessel and decried the Emperor for not living up to the terms of the Treaty of Nanjing. Clarendon then made a case for military action “I fear that we must come to the conclusion that in dealing with a nation like the Chinese, if we intend to preserve any amicable or useful relations with them, we must make them sensible of the law of force, and must appeal to them in the manner which they alone can appreciate.” Some responses began to pour out such as the tory member, Lord Malmesbury who began to denounce Bowringer as a warmonger who was lying to both Seymour and Ye Mingchen. Lord Ellenborough a former governor general of India tossed at Bowring “that he had disregarded the instructions of four successive secretaries of state, supported, as I supposed he is by an influence with the government which I cannot comprehend”. Ellenborough began to condemn Britain's activities in China on the basis of economic loss. After two days of debate, Derby's motion was put to a vote. It was 146 against 110, in favor of the current government.  On the same day the Whigs won out in the house of lords, the commons took up the Arrow registration debate and Bowrings requests for reinforcements to invade Canton. Richard Cobden, a MP from Manchester and a adamant pacifist brought the issue to a motion of no confidence. Cobden argued the seizure of the Arrow was justified and a legitimate exercise of Chinese sovereignty while condemning Bowring's and Seymou'rs actions. He addressed his colleagues stating Bowrings military actions threatened Britain's commerce in Canton. He ended his speech with this “Is not so venerable an empire as that deserving of some sympathy—at least of some justice—at the hands of conservative England?” The issue of the opium trade was brought up by other MP's such as Gladstone and Samuel Gregson. Gladstone said “Your greatest and most valuable trade in China is in opium. It is a smuggling trade. It is in the worst, the most pernicious, demoralizing and destructive of all the contraband trades that are carried upon the surface of the globe.” Gladstone and some other MP's called for negotiations and treaties rather than blockades and bombardments.  The Whig rebuttal to the Torries came in the form of a speech from the Prime Minister. He argued that when the Qing forces seized the Arrow, they had pulled down the Union Jack. This seems to have enraged more people in the house of commons than the seizure of the Chinese crew, don't be touching the Union Jack. Palmerston then made a speech rambled about how the opium trade had nothing to do with the situation at hand. But then went on to contradict himself by saying this  “The existing restrictions on our commerce are one cause of that trade in opium to which [Cobden and Derby et al.] so dexterously alluded to…We can pay for our purchases only partly in goods, the rest we must pay in opium and silver.” The vote was made, and it came to 263 vs 247 to censure. Queen Victoria then 38 years old and pregnant with her 8th child, confided in her husband Prince Albert “I am grieved at the success of evil party motives, spit and the total lack of patriotism”.  And so Palmerston dissolved Parliament and decried “there will be no change, and there can be no change, in the policy of the government with respect to China”. Palmerston continue to argue the Arrow was a British ship and that Ye Mingchen was a quote “An insolent barbarian wielding authority at Canton has violated the British flag, broken the engagements of treaties, offered rewards for the heads of British subjects in that part of China, and planned their destruction by murder, assassination and poisons. He is one of the most savage barbarians that ever disgraced a nation. Ye had been guilty of every crime which can degrade and debase human nature.” Kind of overkill don't you think Palmerston? Palmerston then pointing fingers at the Torries saying their moral high ground was simply an act to force the Whig ministry to fall and not in fact to save China from Britain's war upon her. He then alleged there would be a massacre of all European residents in Canton if the house did not back the war.  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.  Rear Admiral Seymour led an onslaught against the city of Canton and multiple Qing forts along their riverways. The British politicians were racking their heads trying to figure out how to proceed, but in the end it seems war will be back on the menu.  

WCBU's On Deck has everything you need to know to start your day for Wednesday, October 19th. You'll hear about the first cannabis infusion business in Illinois located in Pekin, plus a bird watching mobile game has added a new Illinois location that allows players to explore the state's rich wildlife.

Çin Komünist Partisi'nin 20. Ulusal Kongresi başladı. Çin Devlet Başkanı Şi Cinping, şimdiye dek örneği görülmemiş şekilde üçüncü dönemine başlamak üzere. Cinping kongrenin açılışında yaptığı konuşmada daha hızlı askeri kalkınma çağrısında bulundu, Tayvan'ı yeniden birleştirme sözü verdi. Kordiplomatik'in bu bölümünde emekli Büyükelçi Selim Kuneralp ve Galatasaray Üniversitesi Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Öğretim Üyesi ve Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi Başkanı Dr. Tolga Bilener ile tüm yönleriyle Çin'i ve politikalarını değerlendirdik.

Content/Trigger warning: murder of a minor; mentions of mental health On a chilly day in Pekin, Illinois on November of 2016, 13 year old Robert “Bonzai” Bee went missing. Nearly a year later, evidence and remains were found consistent with the boy. This case will be confusing, heartbreaking, frustrating and infuriating. Another story of a kid who never stood a chance. His mom, Lisa, would be known as someone who couldn't keep her story straight, which added to speculation of her involvement. As a reminder, all parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But with this episode, we will be diving into what so many have had to say, as this case remains cold today.  Sources -  https://youtu.be/daoV_MWe-lE https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/lkttdi/the_disappearance_of_robert_bee/ https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/protesters-want-robert-bee-jr-case-turned-over-to-illinois-state-police/ https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/wmbd-special-investigation-part-i-what-happened-to-robert-bee-junior/amp/ https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/wmbd-special-investigation-part-ii-what-happened-to-robert-bee-junior/amp/ https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/A-year-later-family-recovering-from-tragedy-12589745.php https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/community-mourns-one-year-anniversary-of-robert-bees-disappearance/amp/ https://patch.com/illinois/peoria/skeletal-remains-found-near-pekin-sheriff https://www.crimeonline.com/2017/07/25/breaking-skeletal-remains-found-near-last-location-of-missing-robert-bee-jr-are-consistent-with-boy-his-age/ https://www.facebook.com/FindRobertBee/ Obituary- https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/pekin-il/robert-bonzai-bee-9364384 Crime Stoppers - 309-673-9000 Pekin Police Department - 309-346-3132 CREDITS FOR THIS CASE -  Ashes to Ash (although we normally avoid podcasts until episode completion, since this case is very little known, we want to credit a majority of our research to this podcast) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ashes-to-ash-tv/id1490247066 Pubtime Podcast (recommended this case) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pubtime-podcast/id1588994637 Erica Bennett (who lived in the neighborhood/ a source for this episode) tiktok @assassinsqueen1 Sonya Coen (ADDITIONAL research for this episode) tiktok @sonyacoen OUR LINKS -  Patreon - www.patreon.com/a_nefarious_nightmare linktr.ee/anefariousnightmarepodcast Twitter - @anefariouspod Instagram and Tiktok - @nefariousnightmarepod Email - anefariousnightmare@gmail.com SUPPORT JASON VUKOVICH! Linktr.ee/Jason.Vukovich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices