第二次鸦片战争后,天津被辟为通商口岸。出于拱卫京师、抵御外侮和镇压人民反抗的需要,清王朝在天津及直隶地区驻扎了重兵。当时,这些军队装备的近代兵器均需从江南采购,路途遥远,运费巨大,颇感不便。为解决这个问题,同治五年(1866年),清政府决定在天津兴建近代兵器工业。 After the Second Opium War, Tianjin was turned into a trading port. For the sake of supporting the capitalists, defending against foreign aggression and suppressing the resistance of the people, the Qing Dynasty was stationed heavily in Tianjin and Zhili areas. At that time, the modern armaments equipped by these troops needed to be procured from the southern part of the country. The transportation was a long way and the freight was huge and inconvenient. To solve this problem, Tongzhi five years (1866), the Qing government decided to build modern weapons industry in Tianjin.