Illustrated Gazetteer of the Maritime Kingdoms

Volume 101, Part II

One package of raw opium original: "tu" (土), literally 'soil' or 'earth'; a common euphemism for opium contains three catties approximately 1.8 kilograms, with a value of twenty-two silver dollars original: "yang yin" (洋銀); likely referring to the Spanish or Mexican silver pesos then dominant in Asian trade. After deducting the "leakage" profits of the distribution brokers original: "yaokou" (窰口), clandestine wholesale outlets and the customary fees of the brokerage houses, the foreigners original: "fanyi" (番夷), literally 'foreign barbarians' receive approximately thirteen or fourteen silver dollars. When the market price is low, each package might sell for only thirteen or fourteen dollars, from which the foreigners receive about eight or nine silver dollars.

If one calculates based on an annual volume of one million packages, the foreigners actually receive some thirteen million silver dollars, more or less. The remaining value—still amounting to seven or eight million, or perhaps four or five million silver dollars—is largely distributed as bribes and overhead. Generally, there are fees for the water braves the naval forces, fees for the patrol boats, fees for the customs officers, fees for the military outposts, and fees for the runners and their guarantors.

By using the distribution brokers as the point of exchange and the price of "smoke" opium as the means of compensation, the trade has become a "rare commodity" that everyone seeks to hoard. People everywhere compete for a chance to "dip their fingers" into the wealth. This is the nature of the profit from selling the smoke.

Its harm is deep, the addiction is ingrained, its history is long, its profit is vast, its participants are numerous, and its momentum is tyrannical. The establishment of laws and decrees has become nothing more than a dead letter original: "juwen" (具文); a formal document with no practical effect. The roots of this trade have struck so deep that it now coils like a dragon throughout the entire realm. Commentators suggest that the cargo brought by foreign ships is also stored on the receiving ships stationary warehouse hulks; if these are prohibited or taxed in the future...