1857, the British and French allied forces captured Guangzhou. After the British and French allied forces occupied Guangzhou, journey to the south.
1858, British and French forces attacked Tianjin and threatened to attack Beijing. The Qing government soon sent someone to make peace.
1859, the British and French ministers each led a fleet to Beijing to exchange contracts. The Qing government appointed British and French representatives to land in Beijing from Beitang, Tianjin, but the British and French ministers led the fleet into Dagukou by force. The Qing army stationed in Dagukou fired a gun to stop it, and the British and French Coalition forces fled Dagukou in confusion.
During the negotiations in Tongzhou, the envoys of the two sides had a fierce dispute over minor issues, and Britain's unreasonable demands were rejected by the Qing government, which detained 39 people and sent them to Beijing as hostages.
1860, 10, 10 On October 6th, the British and French allied forces occupied Yuanmingyuan. From the next day, in order to retaliate, the British and French allied officers and men frantically robbed and destroyed.
In order to force the Qing government to accept the peace conditions as soon as possible, British leader Erkin and British nominal commander Grant ordered Lieutenant General Mitchell to lead more than 3,500 invading troops to Yuanmingyuan on June 5438+0860+ 10/8 on the pretext that the Qing government had imprisoned British and French prisoners of war in Yuanmingyuan.
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Afterwards, according to the official investigation of the Qing Dynasty, there were only 20 or 30 temples, pavilions, temples, official doors, value rooms and other buildings in the huge Yuanming Three Gardens, but many doors and windows were uneven, and the indoor furnishings and several cases were looted. At the same time, some buildings of Qingyi Garden in Wanshou Mountain, Jingyi Garden in Xiangshan Mountain and Jingming Garden in Yuquan Mountain were also burned.
According to relevant records, in June of 10, when the British invading army burned down Anyou Palace, 300 eunuchs, maids-in-waiting, craftsmen, etc. were burned alive because they came suddenly and the eunuch in charge locked the gate of Anyou Palace.
When Yuanmingyuan fell into a sea of fire, Erjin proudly declared: "This move will shake China and Europe, and its effect far exceeds the imagination of people thousands of miles away." . The main emissary of the fire regarded this behavior as a great achievement, and upright people all over the world were angered by this barbaric crime.
When Yuanmingyuan was still burning, Prince Gong, who was ordered to stay in Beijing, wholeheartedly agreed to all the conditions of the invaders. Soon, the Tianjin Treaty text was exchanged with Britain, France and Russia, and the Beijing Treaty was signed. In this way, the imperialist powers occupied China's Kowloon Peninsula and a large area of northern territory, and extorted huge military compensation of162,000 silver.
Baidu encyclopedia-burning Yuanmingyuan