24. Prince Kung ratified the 1858 Tientsin Treaty after the fall of Beijing
On October 18, 1860, as French and British troops began the destruction of the Old Summer Palace, Prince Kung ratified the revised Treaty of Tientsin in the Convention of Beijing. Christians were accorded full civil rights in China as they applied to non-Christians. Embassies were established in Beijing. A large portion of Kowloon was ceded to the British, and they retained their Crown Colony of Hong Kong. As before, the Chinese were forced to pay reparations for the cost of the war to their invaders. Britain gained territory, retained favored nation status, and most importantly to the merchants who supported the war in Great Britain, the opium trade was legalized.
Following the Convention, the Russians forced another treaty on the Qing government, in which the latter ceded parts of Northern Manchuria to the Russian Empire. The Russians began construction of the port of Vladivostok later that year. In France and in Great Britain the war was considered a complete victory by their combined arms. Trade increased with China immediately. The Xianfeng Emperor did not return to Beijing, dying in Chengde in August, 1861. In China, the use of opium continued to increase through the remainder of the 19th century. In 1906, of the 41,000 tons of opium produced worldwide, 39,000 tons were consumed in China.