NationStates Jolt Archive

Stunning is perhaps the best word to describe the events in the Ming Empire on the day the Lin Zexu Declaration went into effect. Revolutionary, another.
Green Banner troops raiding opium dens across the Empire, kicking doors in and dragging semi-concious addicts into the street, lining them up and marching them off.
Here and there, riots formed, although, being opium addicts for the most part, few gained much force. It seemed, indeed, that many Chinese approved of their neighborhoods being ridden of these pests.

In every village square, and from every street corner in the larger cities, in all the temples, and, importantly, very clearly in front of European traders, the declaration was read. Later on it was posted, in Chinese of course.
However one cannot doubt that it would eventually make its way to the translators of the various western barbarisn who saw fit to call themselves leaders.

By Decree of the Son of Heaven, The Jingtai Emperor, Zhu Qiyu, Divine Lord of the World, Emperor of China, Lord of All he Surveys ((And so on and so forth, for quite a ways)),
I. It is hereby declared that, in view of the harmful effects upon the people of the Empire, and thus on the Empire itself, and because of its negative impact upon the trade of the Empire, that the substance refered to as 'Opium' and its derivatives, is and are hereby banned from the Empire of the Great Ming.

II. In order to enforce the divine will of the Son of Heaven, the following system of punishments will be introduced.
a. Any Chinese person found in possession or in use of the substance shall recieve ten lashes, and receive a fine of 100 wen.
b. Any Chinese person found distributing or warehousing these substances hall have his hands removed, and shall be divested of his property, which shall be used for the betterment of the community which he has previously devoted his existance to harming.
c. Any Chiense person over the age of 55 found in possession of these substances will be fined 50 wen.

III. In regards to European traders
a. All European traders will be issued an official Imperial document stating that they have been granted permission to trade within China. To receive this document they shall register at the Imperial Port Authority. There will be no fee for registration.
b. Any European who is found in possession of Opium shall be stripped of his liscence, and any property he possesses within the boundaries of the Empire of the Great Ming will be confiscated.
c. Europeans trading Opium within the Empire will no longer be tolerated. Opium traders will be banned from the Empire, their names struck on the list of sanctioned traders and every effort will be made to deport them should they attempt to return to China.
d. Any Opium stock discovered within the Empire falls to possession of the Emperor immidiatly.

IV. In regards to Chinese ports and European traders.
a. However, the Emperor in his wisdom has reached the descision that the current closed state of many of the Empires ports his not satisfactory.
b. It is hereby decreed that ALL Chinese ports which possess an Imperial Port Authority are hereby opened to European trade and commerce.
c. Note, though, that it is still illigal for Europeans to possess property outside of the 'Seven Open Ports' without official liscence from the Emperor.

V. Of Opium confiscated by the Empire.
a. Should no claim be made for these Opium stocks, they shall be destroyed.
b. However, should a party wish to claim confiscated Opium, it may be purchased at a rate of two silver tael per pound. This sale is conditional on the product leaving China as soon as it is purchased.

((Imperial Seal))

Aside from the minor Opium riots, the issue of morphine use in the Chinese army has arisin. No reply has been forthcoming from the Forbidden City on the subject.

A number of European traders found their right to trade in China revoked soon after the decree was issued, waking up in the borning to discover Green Banner troops at the end of their pier refusing them access to the port.

news of this decree found it's way, in time, to the Reichgone of the Anj Reich. that was the sum total of his titles, as new territory was in no way a separate entity, no matter what it's status was.

upon reading the report, and the contents of the decree it's self, the Reichgone put pen to paper himself, and wrote a message to the Ming Emperor.

"To His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of China, Zhu Qiyu,
Greetings from the Reichgone Albert Lux, ruler of the Anj Reich.

with regards to your recent decree on the matter of opium, the Reich, and i myself, applaud you. left unchecked, such a state of affairs as was developing could have easily crippled your nation. wise is he who sees trouble from afar and, rather than merely worrying or fearing, acts to prevent it.

however, as a large portion of our territory is very near your own, making us neighbours of a sort, we thought to wonder if your Imperial Majesty has considered a number of factors.

for example, opium is one of the more effective painkillers available, making the job of healers of all kinds easier, allowing more difficult techniques, and sparing the patient much suffering.

for this potential issue, we have a solution that is employed in our own lands.

it is the practice to test medical practitioners in a similar way to bureaucrats. granting only those of sufficient knowledge and skill license to ply their trade.
it is also the practice to give those who practice the art and science of chemistry, as it relates to medicine, similar tests and licenses. those who gain the license to practice medicine are phisianix, in our tongue, and those with the license to make and distribute medicines of various sorts are called Pharmasistix.
(i am unsure if you are familiar with the intricacies of the Anj language, so i shall note here that the 'ix' ending is a plural. a single person would not have this ending)
the idea then, is this: the phisian is responsible for deciding who does and doesn't get access to what medicines. when a particular person requires a specific medicine, the phisian fills out a form requesting it, including any relevant specific details, and sends it to the pharmasist. the pharmasist is not permitted to hand over any medicines unless presented with such a form, and the form must be valid.

either one, found to be abusing their position, would be stripped of their license, at the very least.

in this way, you can control the use of things such as opium, without necessarily removing a potentially valuable resource. such a system could be used to control any medicines or drugs, as well as making their quality more reliable. the decree your Imperial Majesty issued would still be entirely sound for dealing with those Without licenses or the proper documentation.

as i previously stated, a similar system is in place in the Reich, and used to great effect.

it should also please you to know that so far as the RES and the bureaucracy are aware, there is no opium trade between the Reich and your own nation, nor, in fact, any opium traders at all. certainly none are sanctioned by my government, and as such no objection will be raised if they are punished to the full extent of your law for such a crime, provided that it can be proved such a crime was committed.
the Reich feels very strongly about due legal process.
it cares somewhat less about legitimately convicted criminals.

may your dynasty prosper, and our nations remain on good terms.
signed
by his own hand
Albert Lux
Reichgone of the Anj Reich.

the letter was placed in an envelope, which was then sealed with both the seal of state, and the personal seal of Albert Lux, before being placed in a diplomatic courier bag, and loaded up on the Reichgone's private airship, the "Glorious Light" and sent to the pasiphik colonial holdings of the Reich, from whence it would be taken by ship to the Ming Empire, and delivered to the most senior member of the imperial court possible, with instructions to insure the emperor himself received it.

(OOC:
Just a note, nobody should expect the Emperor to write back to them...taking a bit of Chinese officialdom here, the Emperor is like a combination of the Pope, an Emperor, and two other religious figures of your choice. He also has 2,000 years of arrogance behind him backing him up.
Basically, the idea is that unless you come to the Emperor, do all the assorted bowing and scraping, give him something nice, and generally act subserviently, he isnt going to see you or communicate with you.
Now then...fourtunatly this isnt a historical RP so I dont have to worry about getting court titles wrong ^_^)

Gao Qi, Grand Secretariat to the Divine Son of Heaven, Supreme Emperor of the World, Light of the Empire, (and so on and so forth), to the Reichgone of the Anj Reich, Albert Lux.

We are most gratified that you have partaken of the wisdom of the Divine Son of Heaven, and while your advice is well considered and thought out, we must decline your proposal of partial legalization of opium and its products. Opium has been the bane of China since its discovery, even now we are attempting to put to work the thousands of addicts who now find themselves on the streets, jobless, and in the midst of withdrawl symptoms. No doubt there are thousands more who continue to obtain Opium from illigal European trade through the Southern Barbarians of so-called 'IndoChina'.
We are well aware of the institution of the pharmacy. The profession has been extant in the Empire since before the time of the First Great Ming, who now reigns from Heaven.

We do, however, grant you our thanks for being gracious enough to grant extraterritoriality in the matter of the Opium trade and citizens of your nation. We will be most energetic in its application.

Gao Qi,
Grand Secretariat of the Great Ming.
(Imperial Seal)

((In other words, feel sorry for any Opium traders claiming protection as Reich citizens. European punishments for the last two hundred years were a slap on the wrist compared to some of the things the Chinese did to people.
Lets see...fire needles, the ten-one thousand cuts, water tourture, and, of course, the many things you can do with bamboo.))

Message From: His Most Gracious Imperial Majesty Wyatt Von Waldenburg III
To: Illustrious and Heavenly Emperor Zhu Qiyu of China and Her Empires

It has come to his Imperial Majesty's attention that the Ming Government of China, has forbidden the possesion and through that the export and Import of opium. The current Colonial office in Waldenburg controls South-East Asia and finds this news troubling for our merchants and indeed our nation. Where shall our opium exports now travel, true China was only a limited fraction of our market due to, it's own production, but this edict shall surely cramp the profits of our merchants.

We politely request that you remove this ban for at least to Waldenburger merchants. However we realize that this is quite an impractical thing to request from our position, and that any reasonable nation, including ourselves, would not bow to this request. The effort must be made though for our merchants sake. Oppisitely we request that we be allowed to purchase the bulk of the seized opium at a suitable price, we assure China's government that if as influx of Opium came in, the Waldenburger government would be much more strict on punishments for merchants who disobeyed your edict. If our request is denied then our merchants must continue in whatever way it seems neccesary to generate profit.

We hope you shall consider this offer as it will empty your nation of this foul, drug, that can be put to a more limited benefit elsewhere in the world for the prosperity of all men.

Signed:
His Most Gracious Imperial Majesty Wyatt Von Waldenburg III

Wyatt Von Waldenburg III, Ruler of Waldenburg

Our answer, put simply, is no. While we wish to avoid conflict, it is in the interest of China to never suffer under the scourge of Opium again, and the Son of Heaven has made it clear that he will not change his position on the subject. Opium is never again to be permitted within the boundaries of the Empire of the Great Ming.
However, your merchants should not be too troubled, the opening of additional ports across the Chinese coast presents a great opportunity for them, access to significantly larger amounts of goods much sought after in Western markets, some perhaps even previously unavalible.
Does not a mutually benificial trade appeal to your merchants more than a parasetic existance, leeching off the poor and those who seek comfort in opium? Instead, consider the value of fine silks, laquered woods, and, of course, high quality porcaline.
Consider, previously there were seven ports open to European trade, even with legal opium imports, this limits the profitability of trade significantly. Now, with this edict, there are a hundred or more ports open to trade with your nations. Opium is no longer required to profit from China.

In regards to the seized opium, if the Waldenburg ruler would deliver to Ming Empire 420 taels of silver, then the Emperor would be pleased to release a suitably large stock of Opium to him to do with as he pleased, provided said Opium never again enters the Ming Empire.

Gao Qi,
Grand Secretariat of the Great Ming.
(Imperial Seal)

OOC I may not be up to date on Chinese currencies but isn't a tael about 1 1\2 ounces?

Message From: His Most Gracious Imperial Majesty Wyatt Von Waldenburg III
To: Illustrious and Heavenly Emperor Zhu Qiyu of China and Her Empires

We undesrstand, your foreign policy should not be directed by foreign wishes. We are grateful that you see it fit to sell the seized opium, and we are most willing to pay, the silver, by diplomatic cruiser from our colonies in South Asia. As for the export of opium into your nation is now punishable by death. The Ming Empire may also execute our traders if it can be proven without a doubt to the Waldenburger government that they were distributing Opium. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter and look forward to improved diplomatic relations between our countries.

Signed:
Emperor Wyatt Von Waldenburg III

(OOC: 1.3 ouces, I think.)

Wyatt Von Waldenburg III, Ruler of Waldenburg

The Emperor is athat you have aquiesed to his desires in regards to opium, we look forward to further dealings in the future and, in the mean time, hope that trade between the Great Ming and your own nation will continue to be profitable for both sides.
You may rest assured that any opium smugglers will be dealt with in a manner suitable to your desire.

Gao Qi,
Grand Secretariat of the Great Ming.
(Imperial Seal)

Bump

(You make me sad, FCN. :( )

The Byzantium League hearby pledges to outlaw opium, and wishes to increase trade to the Ming Empire with more ports open.