I recommend reading Opium Wars by Julia Lovell. [1] To answer your question - main lobbyst behind first Opium War was Scottish opium trader James Matheson [2].

I recommend reading Opium Wars by Julia Lovell. [1] To answer your question - main lobbyst behind first Opium War was Scottish opium trader James Matheson [2]. The fortune he had made on selling opium to China had been invested in Rio Tinto[3] - mining company that survived till today. [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12147002-the-opium-war https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12147002-the-opium-war [2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Matheson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Matheson [3]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Matheson_(industrialist) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Matheson_(industrialist...