 After the British took Canton, they sailed up the Yangtze and took the tax barges, a devastating blow to the Empire as it slashed the revenue of the imperial court in Beijing to just a small fraction of what it had been.In 1842, the Qing authorities sued for peace, which concluded with the Treaty of Nanking signed on a gunboat in the river, negotiated in August of that year and ratified in 1843.In the treaty, China was forced to pay an indemnity to Britain, open five ports to Britain, and cede Hong Kong to Queen Victoria.