Page:Chinese account of the Opium war (IA chineseaccountof00parkrich).pdf/82

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falling at the hands of his own men,[1] and Chinkiang was then given over to plunder and massacre. Tho Ningpo barbarian chieftain POTTINGER wished to proceed thence to Tientsin at once; but MORRISON prevented him, saying:—"This is the key to China's rice-tribute supply, and as long as we keep our finger on it, we shall have our own way;" and he did not go. At this moment there were over eighty foreign ships thundering in the river, and reaching up as far as I-chêng,[2] where all the salt- junks were set on fire, notwithstanding the offer of Tls. 500,000 on the part of the Yang-chow salt- merchants. On the 9th of August the ships had all reached Nanking, and the Emperor, anxious about the tribute-rice communications, gave K‘I-YING[3] carte blanche to act as he should see fit. The enemy had already received the King's instructions not to insist upon a military indemnity or the value of the opium, if only trading privileges were extended to the other provinces; and no more opium would come to China. It was for this reason that the foreign army left Ningpo in May, and issued a "proclamation" at Cha-p‘u, saying that they were going to Tientsin to seek peace in accordance with the King's commands. ILIPU now sent CHANG HI[4] and

  1. The Repository says he committed suicide, and received high posthumous honours.
  2. 儀徵
  3. 耆英
  4. 張喜