Britain has just come out of a war that's cost it not only much of its national treasury,

潤沢な植民地 北アメリカも失っており

but also one of its most lucrative overseas colonies:

新たな収入源、

North America.

新たな貿易利益の

The empire needs new sources of revenue,

大きなチャンスは

new opportunities for trade,

清だったのだ

and there's one clear possibility:

18世紀末には

China.

世界は小さくなっており

*Birth of the People plays*

ヨーロッパの商人が産業化した 地元の需要に

By the end of the 18th century, the world had become a much smaller place,

応えるべく地球を回っていた

with European traders traveling the globe

戦争が各地で

to feed the hungry markets of the industrializing West.

産業に必要な原材料を巡って

Wars were fought all over the planet

行われていた中

to secure exotic goods or the raw materials needed

清は関わっていなかった

to power new economies of the rising European empires.

商品の需要は高く

But China still remained aloof.

絹、磁器、そして特にお茶は

Demand for Chinese goods was high.

ヨーロッパ人に重宝されていた

Silk,

だが清の皇帝は外国の商人を

porcelain, and especially tea were coveted by buyers back in Europe.

脅威と考え

But the Chinese emperors saw all these foreign traders

それまでしてきたように

as a potentially destabilizing influence.

交易に厳しい規制を課した

And, as they had done throughout Chinese history,

具体的には

placed strict controls on foreign trade.

交易可能な港を限定した

Specifically, they limited trade to just a few ports.

商人はそれ以外の土地に入ることを 許されなかったのである

Traders weren't allowed to set foot in the empire

さらに交易は「公行」と 呼ばれる人々に独占され

except at a handful of cities designated for that purpose.

彼らの課税や規制に 従う必要があった

And all trade had to go through a trade monopoly known as the Hong,

18世紀半ばには

who could tax and regulate foreign trade as they saw fit.

さらに厳しくなり

By the middle of the 18th century, this was taken further,

広東以外の港は閉じられた

and all foreign trade was restricted to a single port:

これにヨーロッパの商人は憤った

Canton.

目の前の大儲けの機会に 手が出せないのだ

This drove resentment among the European traders,

そのヨーロッパ人達は 自分で自分を選んでいた

who saw limitless opportunity for profit

何千キロも遠くから 収入を得る以上

if they could just get their hands on it.

自由貿易を求めるのは自然と思われる

And those Europeans trading in China

ヨーロッパ人が不満になるのも無理はなく

were, in some ways, a self-selecting group.

海賊や密売が目立ち始めた

If you're going to make your living

合法な貿易ルートでも

transporting goods thousands of miles from your home,

商人は制限に苦しんでいた

you probably believe in the inherent value of unrestricted trade,

やがて東インド会社

which meant that these rules did not sit well with the Europeans,

（武装したイギリスの勅許会社）

and piracy and smuggling began to rise.

の社員の一人が

Even within the official channels of trade,

腐敗した役人や不当な規制

merchants began to strain at these limitations.

に堂々と違反する必要を確信した

Eventually, an employee of the Honorable East India Company,

皇帝に直訴するため

the militarized trade organization responsible for British affairs in India,

広東を出た

pushed by, what he saw, as abuses of corrupt officials

公行以外の人間と話し合うべく

and undue restrictions on free trade,

京杭大運河を上ったのだ

decided that it was time to openly break the rules that the Chinese imposed.

だが文化の違いに阻まれた

He left Canton and took his grievances upriver

この社員に悪意や不快を起こすつもりは なかったのかもしれない

(literally and figuratively), wanting to be heard by someone in the Chinese hierarchy

むしろイングランドなら道理に合う 行為だったかもしれない

who was outside the Hong,

でもイングランドではなかった

outside the monopoly set up in Canton.

このいきなり皇帝と 話そうという傲慢さ

And here's where divides of culture come in.

プロセスをすっ飛ばす突飛さは

Because it's possible that he wasn't acting in a way

信じ難かったのだ

that he saw as malicious or even inappropriate.

その上

In fact, he may have been acting in a way

ヨーロッパ人が素直に 広東にとどまってくれるのかが

that he thought of as perfectly reasonable, were he in England.

怪しまれるようになった結果

But he wasn't in England.

さらなる規制がかけられ

And the arrogance of this traitor just deciding that his complaint

貿易はますます難しくなったのだ

should be elevated to imperial court,

でもヨーロッパからの需要

rather than going through the proper authorities,

特にイングランド人の 紅茶を求める声は

was unbelievable to the Chinese.

高まり続けた

More than that, it put into question whether these Europeans

そして1792年

would stay in one port at all,

イギリスは毎年500万kg近く 紅茶を輸入していた

or even obey Chinese law.

次の20年は紅茶に対する関税が 政府の歳入を10％も占めた

And so, further restrictions were put into place.

紅茶が経済を後押ししていたのだ

Trade was clamped down on even more.

その重要性のため

But European demands for Chinese goods,

広東システムはもはや

especially English demands for their newfound love of black tea,

受け入れ難かった

continued to grow.

イギリスは中国に対して巨大な 貿易赤字を抱えていた

Which brings us back to 1792.

何百万ポンドもの銀が 清に流れ込んでいたのである

By this point, the British were importing

それに加え

tens of millions of pounds of tea every year.

ヨーロッパ内の争いで 南米の銀鉱山が使えなくなり

Within two decades,

戦争で国庫資金は底をついていた

import duties on tea would account for 10 percent

東インド会社も財政難となった

of the government's entire revenue.

インド征服のため膨大な借金をしていたのだ

Tea was one of the major drivers of the economy.

この強大な大英帝国

Tea was so essential to the British world,

世界中に領域を広げた帝国はもう

that the Canton system was simply no longer acceptable.

紅茶を支払い続けるだけの財力が なくなっていった

And more than that, the British were now running

そこでイギリスは清に外交使節を

an enormous trade deficit with the Chinese.

派遣することを決定した

Millions of pounds of silver were flowing out of the British Empire

商人や海賊ではなく

and into China.

イギリスの君主を代表して清の君主と

On top of that, recent European struggles had cut them off

自由貿易を交渉するために

from the silver mines of South America,

検討の末

and costly foreign wars had left the treasury dry.

経験豊富な行政官

Even the Honorable East India Company was broke,

ジョージ・マカートニーが選ばれた

incurring a huge debt to finance their military conquests

目的は3つ：

of parts of India.

広東システムの廃止

The British Empire, for all of its power and wealth,

イギリス大使館の設置か 大英帝国の代表者の常駐

for all its global might and territory in every region of the globe,

そして可能ならば

simply did not have the raw currency it needed

清の海外沿いの島のひとつで

to continue paying for its tea habit.

商人がイギリスの法の下 活動できるようにする

So, the British decided that it was time

ついに時計や望遠鏡、地球儀

to finally send an official diplomatic mission to China.

おまけに馬車も積んだ船に乗り

No more traders, merchants, or pirates.

一行は出発

This was going to be a real envoy,

喜望峰を通過したのち

from one monarch to another,

途中で貿易風に

to talk about opening up trade.

リオデジャネイロへ押し返されたが

After some consideration, it was decided

何とか広東に辿り着いた

that the first Earl of Macartney,

そこでより北京に近い 港に泊まれるよう要求した

a seasoned colonial governor, should lead the mission.

清からは始め拒否されたが

His aims were simple:

東インド会社の代表者が

end the Canton system,

皇帝への高価な贈り物を陸路で運んで

establish a permanent embassy

損傷させたくないと説得した結果

(or at least get a permanent British representative in the imperial court),

了承された

and, if possible, secure the grant of a small island off the coast of China

大運河を通って北京に移動し

where British merchants could operate

積み荷を降ろして最終目的地へ向かった

under British, rather than Chinese, law.

万里の長城を超え

So they packed the hold of a ship

皇帝の別荘がある熱河省へ到着し

with clocks and telescopes, and even carriages

ついに皇帝と対面した

to be presented to the Chinese Emperor,

そしてすぐにトラブルに

and began their trip.

まず皇帝の前では

They sailed east, around the Cape of Good Hope,

叩頭（顔を床につける礼）を求められたのだ

with only one minor detour when the trade winds

マカートニーは紳士的な行政官として

pushed them all the way to Rio de Janeiro.

最も優れた国イギリスの人として

At last though, they arrived in China.

最も神聖な君主と

They immediately asked to dock at a port

イギリス流を広める使命感から

much closer to Beijing than Canton.

それを拒否した

This was considered bad form by the Chinese,

ジョージ王にもしない行為を するつもりはなかったのだ

but representatives of the East India Company

幾分の揉め合いの末

explained that they had expensive gits for the emperor on board,

妥協案を出した

and didn't want any of them to get ruined in a long overland journey.

彼が叩頭をするたびに 同ランクの清の役人が

So, the Chinese acquiesced.

ジョージ3世の肖像に 叩頭するというものだ

They and their goods were ferried up the Grand Canal to Beijing,

これは清にとって馬鹿げていた

and here they assembled their gifts,

最も神聖な君主を持つ彼らの国に

and prepared for the last leg of their journey:

この蛮人は自らの王を のし上げる気なのか？

over the Great Wall, and to the emperor's summer palace at Jehol.

そう考えたのだ

Here, they finally met the emperor.

結局叩頭騒ぎは棚上げされ

And... trouble began immediately.

対ジョージ王と同様の匍匐礼に落ち着き

Because, in the presence of the emperor,

本題に入れた

it was expected that everyone "kowtow,"

実用性よりも 飾り目的の物が多かったが

or kneel and bow so low that their head touched the floor.

マカートニーはイギリスの 科学の力を見せた

And Macartney, being a seasoned British governor and gentleman,

ここでもコミュニケーションミスに遭った

hailing from, what he believed,

皇帝はこれを朝貢の一環と捉えた

was the most powerful and civilized nation in the world,

贈り物を抱える使節は皆朝貢なのだ

with, as he saw it, the most divine monarch,

他に何があり得る？

and, not only the right, but the duty

だがイギリス側は交易の自由化の

to spread the British way around the globe,

メリットをアピールしていたつもりだったのだ

refused to do so.

終いにマカートニーは目的を

After all, if he wasn't going to touch his head to the floor for King George,

ひとつも達成できないまま 帰されたのである

he certainly wasn't going to do it here.

そして皇帝はジョージ王に

So, after some wrangling and protestations,

嫌味たっぷりの手紙を送った

he proposed a counter-solution.

こちらから誰も要求しなかった 贈り物に感謝する

He would perform the kowtow,

長い旅路を通って来た使節から ありがたく受け取る

so long as every time it was done,

でもあなた方から干渉はされたくない

a Chinese official of equal rank

現行制度は変えない、と

would kowtow to a picture of George III.

イギリスは巨大な貿易赤字を抱えたまま

This was, of course, ludicrous to the Chinese,

東インド会社もインドでの活動で 2800万ポンドの借金を抱え

as, after all, they were from the most powerful and civilized nation in the world,

財政は底を突こうとしていた

with the most divine monarch,

清の人が欲しがる物を探した結果

and who was this barbarian to try to put his king

見つけたのが

on anything like the emperor's level?

アヘンだったのだ

Seriously?

But even without the kowtow issue truly resolved,

with Macartney merely genuflecting in the end,

as he would to King George.

the meeting went forward.

Macartney showed off the marvels of British science,

although mostly the flashier and less practical kind,

and presented them to the emperor.

And here too, signals got crossed,

because the Chinese court took this as a tribute mission.

After all, all gift-giving missions to the emperor

are tribute missions.

What else would it be?

And yet the British thought

that they were demonstrating all the reasons that China would benefit

from opening up trade with them.

So, in the end, Macartney was dismissed

without the emperor agreeing to a single one of the goals

he set out to achieve.

And the emperor sent one of the most

gloriously, imperially snarky letters

ever penned to King George,

thanking him for his tribute,

which, though neither he nor the Chinese actually wanted it,

he would graciously accept out of respect

for how far George had sent people

just to pay him tribute.

But no, China didn't need

baubles or knickknacks from England, thank you.

Trade would remain the way it was.

So Britain was left with a massive trade deficit.

The East India Company was 28 million pounds in debt

as a result of their war in India,

and the royal coffers were nearly dry.

They needed to find some product the Chinese wanted,

and then they did:

opium.

*outro theme plays*