Editing William Jardine (merchant) (section)

==War and the Chinese surrender==
Having arrived in London in September 1839,<ref name=HKU />{{rp|209}} Jardine's first order of business was to meet with [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]]. He carried with him a letter of introduction written by Superintendent Elliot that relayed a few of his credentials to Palmerston,

<blockquote>
This gentleman has for several years stood at the head of our commercial community and he carries with him the esteem and kind wishes of the whole foreign society, honourably acquired by a long career of private charity and public spirit.
</blockquote>

In 1839, Jardine successfully persuaded the British Foreign Minister, Lord Palmerston, to wage war on China, giving a full detailed plan for war, detailed strategic maps, battle strategies, the indemnifications and political demands from China and even the number of troops and warships needed. Aided by Matheson's nephew, Alexander Matheson (1805–1881) and MP John Abel Smith, Jardine met several times with Palmerston to argue the necessity for a war plan. 

This plan was known as the [[Jardine Paper]]. In the 'Jardine Paper', Jardine emphasized several points to Palmerston in several meetings and they are as follows: There was to be complete compensation for the 20,000 chests of opium that Lin had confiscated, the conclusion of a viable commercial treaty that would prevent any further hostilities, and the opening of further ports of trade such as [[Fuzhou]], [[Ningbo]], [[Shanghai]], and Keeson-chow. 

It was also suggested by Jardine that should the need arise to occupy an island or harbor in the vicinity of Guangzhou, [[Hong Kong]] would be perfect because it provided an extensive and protected anchorage. As early as the mid-1830s, the island of Hong Kong had already been used for transhipment points by Jardine Matheson and other firms' ships. 

Jardine clearly stated what he thought would be a sufficient naval and military force to complete the objectives he had outlined. He also provided maps and charts of the area. In a well calculated recommendation letter to Parliament, creating a precedent now infamously known as 'Gunboat Diplomacy', Jardine states:

<blockquote>
No formal Purchase, – no tedious negotiations,...A firman insistently issued to Sir F. Maitland authorizing him to take and retain possession is all that is necessary, and the Squadron under his Command is quite competent to do both,...until an adequate naval and military force...could be sent out from the mother Country. When All this is accomplished – but not till then, a negotiation may be commenced in some such Terms as the following – You take my opium – I take your Islands in return – we are therefore Quits, – and thenceforth if you please let us live in friendly Communion and good fellowship. You cannot protect your Seaboard against Pirates and Buccaneers. I can – So let us understand Each other, and study to promote our mutual Interests.
</blockquote>

Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary who succeeded Wellington, decided mainly on the "suggestions" of Jardine to dispatch a military expedition to China. In June 1840, a fleet of 16 [[Royal Navy]] warships and British merchantmen, many of the latter leased from Jardine Matheson & Co., arrived at Canton and the [[First Opium War]] quickly broke out. For the next two years, British forces engaged the Chinese military in numerous battles as part of a series of military campaigns intended to bring the Qing government to the negotiating table. Eventually, the British pushed far enough up north to threaten the [[Forbidden City|Imperial Palace]] in [[Beijing]] itself. The Qing government, forced to surrender, gave in to the demands of the British. 
Richard Hughes, in ''Hongkong: A Borrowed Place, A Borrowed Time'', stated "William Jardine would have made his mark as admirably as a soldier as he did as a ''Tai-pan''." Lord Palmerston wrote,

<blockquote>
To the assistance and information which you and Mr. Jardine so handsomely afforded us it was mainly owing that we were able to give our affairs naval, military and diplomatic, in China those detailed instructions which have led to these satisfactory results.
</blockquote>

In 1843, the [[Treaty of Nanjing|Treaty of Nanking]] was signed by official representatives of both Britain and China.  It allowed the opening of five major Chinese ports, granted extraterritoriality to foreigners and their activities in China, indemnification for the opium destroyed and completed the formal acquisition of the [[Hong Kong Island|island of Hong Kong]], which had been officially taken over as a trading and military base since 26 January 1841, though it had already been used years earlier as a transhipment point. Trade with China, especially in the illegal opium, grew, and so did the firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co., which was already known as the ''[[Prince's Building|Princely Hong]]'' for being the largest British trading firm in East Asia.

By 1841, Jardine had 19 intercontinental [[Clipper|clipper ships]], compared to close rival [[Dent & Co.|Dent and Company]] with 13. He also had hundreds of small ships, [[lorcha (boat)|lorchas]] and small [[smuggling]] craft for coastal and upriver smuggling.  In 1841, Jardine was elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]], a [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) representing [[Ashburton (UK Parliament constituency)|Ashburton]] in Devon.<ref name=HKU />{{rp|209}} He was also a partner, along with Magniac, in the merchant banking firm of Magniac, Smith & Co., later renamed Magniac, Jardine & Co.,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://auden.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I20092&ged=auden-bicknell.ged|title=William Jardine|publisher=[[Stanford University]]|access-date=27 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812005435/http://auden.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I20092&ged=auden-bicknell.ged|archive-date=12 August 2011}}</ref> the forerunner of the firm Matheson & Co. Despite his nominal retirement, Jardine was still very much active in business and politics and built a townhouse in 6 Upper Belgrave Street, then a new upscale residential district in London near Buckingham Palace. He had also bought a country estate, [[Lanrick Castle]], in Perthshire, Scotland.<ref name=HKU />{{rp|209}}