I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 400 The British and the French

The Lantern Festival was a holiday in ancient times!

And the holiday is not short, Qianming even turned on the exaggerated "Ten Nights of Lights".

In the former Ming Dynasty, the total number of holidays for officials, people and the royal family was almost 50 days a year.The TV series talks about only eighteen days a year, which is not only nonsense, but also a covert change of concept.

Because the Yuan Dynasty had the lowest holidays in history, with only sixteen days in the whole year.

When the Manchu Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains, due to the foreign rule, the palace no longer organized the Lantern Festival, but only held it among the people. The Lantern Festival holiday was also shortened to three days.

Now, Zhu Yijiong has recovered again.

The Lantern Festival and the ten nights of lanterns allow the people to open up and play.

After all, there were no entertainment activities in ancient times, and this can also stimulate the private commodity market economy.

After the Lantern Festival holiday, the Ming Emperor resumed his duties. The British and French envoys who arrived in Nanjing as early as the Lantern Festival were finally summoned by the Chinese Emperor.

Although the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty were a little surprised that the British and French envoys came at the same time, they were not too surprised.

Because today China is the Ming Dynasty, not the Qing Dynasty.The emperor liked to be deviant and treacherous, and the courtiers, officials, and students naturally had to follow his preferences.

Fan Shouyi's "Shen Jian Lu" and Mei Yingcheng's astronomical and mathematical works were collected by the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty at home. They would look through them when they had nothing to do and try to figure out the holy meaning.

Be careful.

This is usually the palace where the emperor cultivates his character. Four cabinet ministers and Xue Yingcheng, the minister of Honglu Temple, were called here to discuss matters.

Zhu Yijiong, wearing a Gunlong robe (ordinary uniform), closed the lists of envoys from the two countries and asked: "What do you think of the British and French envoys coming to the DPRK?"

Wang Li said: "Your Majesty, I am the Ming Dynasty, but Britain and France are also European powers and should be treated with caution. You can first summon the British and French envoys to see what they are here for, and then make a decision. "

Zhu Yijiong raised his eyebrows and asked, "Does Wang Qing mean to summon the British envoy first?"

"Exactly." Wang Li said, "Although Britain and France seem to be at odds with each other in Europe today, and they are trying to conquer the world together. However, Britain is becoming more and more powerful, while France is under the control of France, and its country is doubtful. It is up to your Majesty to decide which one is more important!"

Zhu Yijiong nodded slightly, then looked at Xue Yingcheng and asked, "What do Xue Qing think of what Wang Qing said?"

Xue Yingcheng hurriedly raised his hands and said: "Everything Yuan Fu said is reasonable. However, I think that even if the British envoy is summoned first, the French envoy should not be neglected too much. After all, only the fisherman will benefit from the snipe and the clam. "

"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman will benefit... Hmm."

Zhu Yi nodded, which set the tone for this matter.

Even without discussing with the cabinet and Honglu Temple, Zhu Yijiong still had a draft in mind.

There is no other reason, because Zhu Yijiong remembers that the French lost the Second Hundred Years War between England and France, and King Louis XVI was beheaded, and the current French king is named Louis XV.

The British and French envoys gathered in the reception room of the palace. They were enemies and were extremely jealous when they met.

If this was not the reception room of the Chinese emperor, they might have started fighting.

After waiting for a long time, officials from Honglu Temple and palace ladies finally came to announce their presence. The British envoy was summoned first.

The name of the British envoy representative was Henry. From this surname alone, one could tell that this guy was a nobleman, but he must have done well. If he had done well, he would not have gone to the Far East.

Henry glanced at the French envoy next door with a slightly provocative look, and then followed the emperor's maid to the Jinshen Hall.

"Henry, the British envoy, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of China, and pays the highest respect to His Majesty on behalf of the British King." Henry took the lead directly to kneel down and salute Zhu Yijiong.

The highest etiquette in Britain is to kneel down and bow down. In another time and space, Qianlong was simply deceived, or he could not save his face and pretended not to know.

Although Zhu Yijiong was a little surprised, he still smiled and nodded: "No courtesy, I will give you a seat." The other party was very generous, so Zhu Yijiong naturally did not hesitate to give the other party face.

The king of England at this time was George I, but this king was German and could not speak English his whole life, which made him unpopular in Britain.

However, this does not mean that the British king has no power at this time, although the Glorious Revolution broke out in Britain 40 years ago.

But in fact, by his son's generation, the power of the British king was still astonishing. He was not only the supreme commander-in-chief of the army, but also had diplomatic power, administrative power, and parliamentary appointments and removals. In terms of power, it far exceeded that of later American presidents.

Before Henry came to China, he had studied Chinese culture and knew that being able to sit down when meeting the emperor was a sign of great respect. This made him very happy and thought it was China's friendship with Britain.Then he said: "Your Majesty, the great Emperor of China, when we were still in Bencoolen, we heard that the Chinese army defeated Spain. This is exciting good news. Britain, Spain and France are also enemies. China and Britain can definitely become staunch allies. allies."

Zhu Yijiong nodded and said: "Spain slaughtered our Han people and is actually a country of barbarians. Britain and Spain are also enemies. It seems that Britain is indeed not a barbarian like Spain."

Henry said quickly: "His Majesty the Emperor is wise and wise, and Britain is not the cruel and despicable Spain."

After talking about both sides, he chatted for a long time before getting to the point. Henry explained the purpose of his visit: "Britain requested to establish trade with China and buy a piece of land in Guangzhou, China. I also ask His Majesty, the great Emperor of China, for permission."

Zhu Yijiong shook his head and said: "It goes without saying about buying land. I will not allow you an inch of land, but trade is allowed. As long as you abide by Chinese laws, you can buy and sell freely in Guangzhou."

Henry had already expected it and said: "Can British merchants purchase everything in Guangzhou? Including the beautiful porcelain that the Dutch have and those special tobaccos?"

Zhu Yijiong said: "Enamel porcelain and cigars are temporarily monopolized by China and the Netherlands. If you want to buy them, you can only buy and sell them with Dutch merchants. However, slightly lower-grade porcelain and tobacco can be bought and sold freely, and the same is true for other commodities, as long as you abide by the rules. , can afford the money.”

Henry was a little regretful that the Chinese emperor was still not as generous as the Indian emperor.However, being able to establish commercial relations with China is already a big deal for the British: "Your Majesty, the great Emperor of China, thank you for your generosity. May the Lord bless you!"

Zhu Yijiong frowned and added: "I have said it before. You can do business, but you must not spread religion in Chinese territory. Otherwise, don't blame me for ordering the expulsion of all British people."

Henry realized that he had made a mistake. The Chinese emperor hated religion, and he quickly said: "We will not violate the decree of His Majesty the Emperor!"

After getting down to business, Henry gave the French envoy some eye drops: "Your Majesty, please be careful of those despicable French people."

Zhu Yijiong had already expected it and asked, "Oh? Why is this?"

Henry said quickly: "These French people are despicable and shameless. Not only do they claim to be the Sun King of Europe, but they have also tried to intervene and split Britain several times. They are a group of dictators and tyrants who want to conquer the world. Please do not let your majesty be They were deceived!"

Zhu Yijiong pretended to be surprised: "Is there such a thing? France has indeed crossed the line a bit, I will pay attention to it."

Fan Shouyi's "Shen Jian Lu" wrote clearly about the nonsense between Britain and France.

It is nothing more than that after the British Glorious Revolution, the original king was expelled, and then with the support of the French (because Louis XIV was the uncle of the British king), he attempted to return to the country several times for restoration.

From James III to the failure of the restoration of Prince Charles, the pretender to the throne, the possibility of the Stuart dynasty's comeback was finally shattered.

Zhu Yijiong chatted with the British envoy for a while before ordering the interview to end.

Then came the announcement by the French envoy, which was a repetition of the process of receiving the British envoy. Even the requests made by the two countries were similar. They both asked for land for trade, and they both threw dirty water on each other.

Although we know that France is in decline and is still facing doubts about its mastery, diplomacy between countries has never been settled in one word.

It is normal to have both sides and be friends with each other.

France is still decades away from its real demise. At this stage, it is still mainly about maintaining superficial relations. It must not be a direct enemy until there is no conflict of interest.However, a secret alliance with the British still had to be concluded, which would also be beneficial to the future colonization of America.

The British and the French are not stupid, and they would not have guessed that China would have good relations with both sides, or even come with this idea.

The prosperity of the world is all for profit.

　Edmund Leighton's oil painting depicting the Investiture of the Knights of Bath records a knight falling to his knees.Moreover, the person this knight was kneeling to was not the King of England, but a high-ranking knight sent by the King of England.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)