Over the past century, the concession, as a springboard for foreign powers to invade China, has become a "country within a country" on the land of China, seriously damaging China's sovereignty. However, in the initial unequal treaties signed between China and foreign countries, there was no so-called concession, and its appearance turned out to be the result of a transaction between the British consul and local officials in China.
Chinese businessmen took the initiative to please, and the British consul squeezed into Shanghai.
From the middle of18th century, in order to open up new trading ports in the East, British colonists have been spying on good ports in China, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other southeast coastal areas in various ways. Soon, they took a fancy to Shanghai, a land of feng shui.
After the Opium War, under the gun of the invaders, the Qing government was forced to sign the treaty of nanking, and five coastal cities, including Shanghai, were opened as trading ports. At the beginning of the treaty, only 25 British businessmen and missionaries were scattered in Shanghai. However, Pu Dingcha, the head of the British invading army who participated in the signing of the treaty, believes that Sino-British trade will grow rapidly and the number of British people coming to China will increase greatly. 1842, 10 at the beginning, he couldn't wait to get to Shanghai from Nanjing to pre-select the residential area of the British in Shanghai. After several days' investigation, Pudingcha took a fancy to a place at the intersection of Huangpu River and Suzhou River (now the Bund area in Shanghai). At that time, that area was still a barren beach with reeds. However, Pu Dingcha believes that the traffic here is convenient, the business transportation is convenient, and the development prospects are limitless.
1842 65438+In February, Pu Dingcha recommended Captain Buffel as the first British consul in Shanghai, and gave him an important task-to find a long-term settlement for the British. 1843165438+1On the evening of October 8, Pavel came to Shanghai with six assistants. Early the next morning, he rushed to the Daotai yamen and met the local official in Shanghai, Daotai Gongmujiu. Gong Mujiu politely led Baffo to the living room to be caring and attentive. As soon as Ba Fu took his seat, he said straight to the point: "My Lord Daotai, according to the treaty signed between your country and China, Shanghai has been turned into a trading port. I'm here to discuss the specific opening time with Mr. Daotai. 」
As a local official of the Qing government, Gong Mujiu certainly dared not disagree with the treaty signed by the imperial court, so the two sides quickly reached an agreement. Seeing that Gong Mujiu was so frank, he decided to open a port. Buffel came to his senses. When he came, he was thinking about finding a good piece of land in the county town of Shanghai and building a magnificent British consulate. "I'm new to you, and I will often associate with adults in the future. If it's not too much trouble, can you ask an adult to help you find a piece of land in the city to build a consulate? " Buffel said quietly.
These words made Gong Mujiu break out in a cold sweat. Think about it. If Chinese and foreign people live together in the future, it will inevitably cause some trouble. At this time, the court could not afford to blame itself. He suppressed his displeasure and said after a pause, "Mr. Consul, the county seat of Shanghai is known as' Little Suzhou', with a large population, and the city is already crowded. There is really no room for building a museum. If the consul doesn't mind, I'd like to do it for the consul outside the city. 」
Baffo was annoyed at Gong Mujiu's refusal, but he refused to give up. For several days, on the one hand, he sent people around the city to look for rented houses; On the other hand, he constantly put pressure on Gong Mujiu, threatening to set up tents in the city to live and work if he could not find a house. Just when the negotiations between the two sides reached a deadlock, a China businessman took the initiative to find Baffour and offered to rent his house to Baffour as a consulate. Buffalo elephant found a lifeline and immediately rented this old house with 52 rooms.
Gong Mujiu saw that it was no use crying over spilt milk, so he had to report it to the court on the grounds of not disturbing the people.
The negotiation lasted for two years, and the annual rent per mu was only 1500.
Shortly after his death in Hai 'an, Shanghai, Buffel announced that Shanghai officially opened in June 1843+065438+ 10/7. Within a month and a half after the port was opened, 1 1 a foreign firm flooded into Shanghai. British missionaries, doctors, consulate staff, etc. Also poured in. At the same time, adventurers, nouveau riche, comprador, financier, businessman and even gang hooligans from all over China also gathered in it. For a time, the whistle in the Huangpu River continued, and the lights along Happy Valley Road were brightly lit all night; Suits, ties, dresses and jackets are shoulder to shoulder, and the four dialects are mixed with European and American languages.
Since ordinary people in Shanghai have rarely seen foreigners before, they are always curious when they see foreigners marching in groups in the city. Foreigners' eating, dressing, drinking tea and even walking are watched by passers-by. At the same time, some foreigners took advantage of the weakness of the Qing court to make trouble everywhere, so disputes and frictions between China and foreign countries continued. Once, a Christian named Yao was arrested for doing evil, and Bavel threatened to send warships to force the Qing government to release him. The incident ended with Gong Mujiu being released and apologizing.
Afterwards, Baffo lost no time to visit Gong Mujiu again. "Daotai's adult, a lot of unhappiness between us is because we don't have our own residence. I took a fancy to the barren beach by the Huangpu River outside the county seat. I wonder if you can sell it to us for living. " Baffour envisaged buying the whole land and subletting it to foreigners.
In fact, Gong Mujiu also has this idea. In order to avoid disputes, he suggested to Bi Chang, Governor of Liangjiang and Sun Shanbao, Governor of Jiangsu, a few days ago that foreigners should be given a piece of land and separated from them. However, the two old bureaucrats neither agreed nor opposed it, but left the Shanghai local foreign negotiations to him to decide for himself. Knowing that the boss deliberately passed the buck, he had to take over the hot potato.
At Baffo's suggestion, Gong Mujiu waved, "According to the Qing statutes, land can't be sold to you. But it's ok to rent it to you. 」
In the following two years, Baffour and Gong Mujiu held intermittent negotiations on land lease, and finally they reached an understanding on the scope, procedures and matters that foreigners should abide by. 1845165438+1On October 29th, Gong Mujiu announced 23 articles of association of Shanghai Land. This charter, which is regarded as the "fundamental law" of Shanghai Concession, demarcates the boundaries of the concession: from Pidgin in the south (now Yan 'an East Road), to Lijiachang in the north (now beijing east road), to Huangpu River in the east and to Jielu Road in the west (now Henan Middle Road, 1846), with an area of about 830 mu and an annual rent of 1500 per mu. The promulgation of the articles of association marks the emergence of the first concession in China's modern history-the British Concession.
The concession was built in a "shanty town" and was originally managed by the Qing government.
In the early days of British Concession, territorial sovereignty, land jurisdiction, judicial power and administrative power were still in charge of the Qing government.
Soon, foreigners living in Shanghai moved into the concession. In order to prevent disputes between China and foreign countries, Baffo, after consulting with Miyagi, also stipulated that China residents were not allowed to live in the concession. Later, the regulations became stricter. China people are only allowed to do business in the concession during the day and must return to the urban area at night. Even China employees employed by foreigners are not allowed to live with their owners. At that time, the population of the concession was also very small. According to records, two years after the appearance of the Concession, there were only 134 foreigners. The living facilities in the concession are not perfect, and the buildings are basically "shanty towns". Fu Jun, a British botanist who first came to Shanghai, once recalled the humble room where he lived: "Every morning, the rain soaked his clothes. When it snows, six people fly out and enter through the window gap. Until the beginning of 1849, the first batch of brick and wood buildings were built on the Bund by foreign firms, and bamboo sheds were gradually eliminated.
With more and more foreigners coming to Shanghai, the British consul is also planning to expand the concession area and seek more power. 1848, Aligo, the new British consul in Shanghai, formally put forward the request to expand the British concession. In June165438+1October, China and Britain signed a contract to expand the area of British concession to 2820 mu. 1853, the Daohui uprising occupied the county seat of Shanghai, and a large number of China refugees flooded into the concession, which provided excellent opportunities for foreign businessmen to make a fortune. Because during the uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at that time, many foreign firms engaged in trade were slow in business. They just used idle funds to build more than 800 simple houses houses along the Pidgin for China refugees to live in and started real estate business.
The concession became a "country within a country"
With the influx of population and a large amount of funds, the British Concession appeared a prosperous scene. The price of land and houses in the concession soared. Among them, the land price along the Bund rose the fastest, from 1852 to 1862, with an average increase of 200 times in ten years. At the same time, the British Concession authorities took advantage of the turbulent situation and gradually seized the jurisdiction over the Chinese in the Concession, monopolizing all litigation cases in the Concession.
Since then, the British Concession authorities have unilaterally revised the Shanghai Land Charter for many times, and their powers have been continuously expanded. Concession has gradually developed into a "country within a country" integrating administrative power, legislative power, judicial power, police power and military power, and China government has no right to restrict it. Aligo, British consul in Shanghai, once bluntly said that the Shanghai Concession was "an independent country". In the Concession, China people were humiliated by foreigners, and foreigners even took China people as living targets and practiced shooting. Prostitutes, gambling, drug trafficking and human trafficking have also become open businesses protected by the concession authorities, and the concession has become synonymous with evil.
Following the British Concession, France, the United States and other countries also rushed to set up a concession in China. By 1902, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire opened its concession in Tianjin, the powers had established 27 concessions in China, including 8 in Tianjin alone. It was not until 1943 that the then Kuomintang government recovered the concession through negotiations, ending this century-long humiliating history. 1March 3rd, 853 (24th day of the first month of Xianfeng 3rd year) F.O.228/ 16 1
(Wu) In this letter, the Daotai formally requested the (Queen's) government warship "Lily" to sail into the Yangtze River to stop the rebels from advancing and cover Nanjing. The words are simple and clear, and the whole tone of asking for help can't wait. There is no doubt that the danger of Nanjing falling into the hands of rebels is very obvious. Without the foreign aid currently being sought, the result can be expected. ..... The rebels are advancing rapidly and unimpeded in the heart of the empire, and now they have threatened Nanjing and Beijing. Considering the danger of the situation in this respect, it is difficult to estimate all the major changes that may occur immediately (beneficial to us or damaging our business), and the importance of decision-making is beyond words.
I believe the time has come, and no one knows how short this opportunity will be. A devastating war is rapidly destroying all the foundations of a stable government and all the lifeblood of business. A country of Great Britain, or three foreign powers with fleets in the Sea of China, joined forces to stop this devastating war, and paid the price for his interference while the Emperor (China) was still able to conclude a treaty. Past experience can explain what kind of rights and interests we need to obtain in order to trade interests and maintain friendly relations forever. I firmly believe that unrestricted access to all ports in the mainland and coastal areas, the establishment of direct diplomatic relations with Beijing, and the legalization of opium are all rights that can be obtained at present and can be realized through formal treaties in the next two months. The rebels are in danger of dismembering the empire, so that during the transition from the old throne to the new one, the empire will fall into anarchy and chaos. In order to stop the advance of the Rebel Army and finally put it out, I think it is enough to do two things: First, Britain alone or jointly with other great powers that it thinks most suitable, sent a small fleet to the canal mouth of the Yangtze River to announce that they are going to cover some important places for the Emperor Beijing to enter and leave warships ... Second, treaties with these conclusions should be published nationwide. Before the ratification of the three foreign powers that signed the treaty, and before the conditions are met (in China), Zhenjiang Prefecture was occupied in the name of the three foreign powers that signed the treaty. The position of the emperor is desperate. He has no soldiers who can meet the rebels on the battlefield, and he has no money to hire good people. His only hope of final victory lies in the effective assistance of foreign forces.
The obvious fact is that Emperor China did not intend to fulfill the provisions of the existing treaties according to the spirit of the treaties. If it is unjust to take advantage of the danger of friendly countries to profit from it, then there is no need to hesitate to deal with people like Emperor China. I had this belief a long time ago: If it weren't for this rebellion, Emperor China would take a more resolute hostile attitude towards us.