12. The British decided to expand the war in mainland China in the summer of 1841
When Elliot finally received word he had been relieved at the end of July, his arguments for restoring trade were silenced, and the British commanders agreed that prosecuting the war vigorously would force the Emperor to accept Palmerston’s terms. Palmerston wanted the city of Amoy to be an international trading port after the war, so Amoy was seized by the British, who garrisoned a nearby island in August. They then withdrew from the city and Qing troops reoccupied it. Meanwhile, Lord Palmerston was replaced by William Lamb, who supported the war and his predecessor’s terms for its end.
When Qishan had ceded Hong Kong to the British, Elliot in turn had ceded Zhoushan, which had been occupied by Qing troops. In October British troops captured the island and its harbor at Dinghai a second time. Hostilities ceased during the winter of 1841-42 for the most part, and the British used the lull to reinforce their holdings and consolidate forces for a campaign along the Yangtze River in the spring of 1842. They planned to take Shanghai, Nanjing, and force the Emperor to agree to the terms which had been dictated by Palmerston in London prior to the war being launched. In the early days of the campaign, in May 1842, the Emperor’s tax barges were seized by the Royal Navy.