It’s delightful to read someone who makes no bones about the arrogance and hypocrisy surrounding the Opium Wars, yet nevertheless is steeped enough in proper British schooling to refer to ships, their crew, and their weaponry in the old-fashioned manner (e.g. “Claremont (78 guns) waited opposite the bay, loaded with grape and ball”).  Pull sentence from the most recent chapter:

Jack Tar could not be kept from the rice wine.

“Jack Tar” referring to British seamen.