Daoguang Emperor

British forces attacked China after Daoguang ordered the destruction of opium stocks in Canton. The Qing military was decisively defeated, leading to the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842.

Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu as Imperial Commissioner to suppress the opium trade in Canton. Lin confiscated and destroyed over 20,000 chests of opium, which triggered the British military response.

The Opium War exposed the Qing's fiscal and military weaknesses. Daoguang's government faced severe budget deficits, outdated military technology, and a corrupt bureaucracy, leading to a loss of imperial prestige.

Daoguang's government signed the Treaty of Nanjing, the first of the 'unequal treaties.' China ceded Hong Kong to Britain, opened five treaty ports, paid an indemnity, and granted extraterritorial rights to British subjects.

Daoguang's government signed the Treaty of the Bogue, which granted Britain most-favored-nation status and further extraterritorial rights. This treaty expanded the concessions made in the Treaty of Nanjing.