17世纪晚期,当中国官员打开大门与外国进行贸易时,他们假定船只的到达和离开将依照季风的变化进行。7月、8月,西南季风把船只带到中国,交易季节开始;次年1月、2月,西北季风把船只送回去,交易季节结束。外国商人必须根据季风安排航程,这成为中国官员说服和控制外国商人,从而维持双方和谐关系的一个重要工具。当分歧出现时,政府官员只需简单地坐在后面,等着时间和金钱的压力制定出解决方案,因为他们很清楚,为了避免拖延到下一个交易季节,外国商人最后总会妥协。然而,到了18世纪末期,外国人发现了在非交易季节到达中国的航路,最终使全年性的商业贸易成为可能。在非交易季节到达中国的新航线的发现背后有几个刺激性因素:在非交易季节的中国几乎没有竞争,这对某些交易商来说是一项优势;全年都需要在中国的外国商船可以一直留在广州而不必在非交易季节时期离开去澳门,这对许多商人来说很有利;在一年的不同时间、使用不同的路线航行是对欧洲人有利的军事策略,这可以避开敌人或在亚洲水域上取得超过敌方的优势;来自亚洲其他国家的竞争者给交易商带来了压力,促使他们提高航行效率,优化航海技术,其中包括找出到达中国的新航线。由于外国船只可以在一年中的任意时间到达中国,当地官员逐渐失去了其控制外国客人的重要工具之一。由于新航线的开辟,更多的船只开始进入东南亚的新领域,并逐渐接管了一些传统上由亚洲帆船处理的贸易。 When Chinese officials opened their doors to trade with foreign countries in the late 17th century, they assumed that the arrival and departure of ships would be in accordance with changes in the monsoon. In July and August, the southwest monsoon brought the vessels to China and the trading season started. In January and February of the following year, the northwest monsoon returned the ships and the trading season was over. Foreign merchants must make voyages based on monsoons, which is an important tool for Chinese officials to persuade and control foreign businessmen and thus maintain a harmonious relationship between the two parties. When disagreements arise, government officials simply sit behind and wait for the pressure of time and money to come up with a solution because they know very well that foreign merchants will eventually compromise in order to avoid stalling for the next trading season. However, by the end of the 18th century, foreigners discovered routes to China during the non-trading season, eventually making annual trade business possible. There are several stimuli behind the findings of the new route to China during the non-trading seasons: China has almost no competition during the non-trading seasons, which is an advantage for some traders; Merchants can stay in Guangzhou without having to leave Macau during the non-trading seasons, which is good for many merchants; using different routes at different times of the year is a military tactic favorable to Europeans, which can be avoided Opening up enemies or gaining an advantage over the enemy in waters of Asia; competitors from other Asian countries put pressure on traders to increase their navigation efficiency and optimize navigation techniques, including identifying new routes to China. As foreign vessels can reach China at any time of the year, local officials have gradually lost one of their key tools for controlling foreign guests. As new routes opened up, more ships began to enter new areas of Southeast Asia and gradually took over some of the trades traditionally handled by Asian sailing vessels.