Original sentence: A ban was placed on opium as early as 1729 by the Yongzheng Emperor, but little was done to enforce it.By the early 1800s the government began serious efforts to eradicate opium from Chinese society.China saw its status reduced by the now parasitic trade with Westerners.Europeans became enraged at the Chinese actions and demanded compensation.In order to tip the trade imbalance in their favor, British merchants began to sell Indian opium to the Chinese.Leading this endeavour was the respected scholar-official, Lin Zexu.Not only did this sap Chinese bullion reserves, it also created a drug-addicted bureaucracy and a society that could not run efficiently.Originally, European traders were at a disadvantage because the Chinese cared little for their goods, while European demand for Chinese commodities such as tea and porcelain only grew.The emperor had no choice but to sue for peace, resulting in the exile of Lin Zexu and the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded the British control of Hong Kong and opened up trade and diplomacy with other European countries, including Germany, France, and the USA.The outdated Chinese junks were no match for the advanced British gunboats, and soon the Yangzi River region came under threat of British bombardment and invasion.When it was not paid, the British declared war in 1839, starting the First Opium War
Edited sentence: Conflicts over trade resulted in the Opium War.Internal rebellion against the central government were common.The Chinese governemnt saw its status reduced by encroachent by imperial powers.The most prominent of these were the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan revolt.These wars resulted in millions of deaths.This resulted in the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded the British control of Hong Kong and opened up trade and diplomacy with other European countries, including Germany, France, and the USA