Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2197 Two Missions

After the banquet in the Hall of Mental Cultivation ended, the Izbrandt delegation did not leave in a hurry.It is not easy to come to the east now, it is very dangerous, especially when the situation on the grassland is chaotic, any accident may happen, we must make full use of this rare opportunity.

Izbrandt took his deputy Poretsky and finance officer Sumarotsky to the Beijing market.According to the tsar's will, they went to the market in Beijing to see if there were any commodities that could be traded. The tsar allowed Chinese businessmen to take silver from Russia, and they were ready for a large amount of Chinese goods to be imported.According to the instructions, they focused on various gems, patterned fabrics, tea, spices, porcelain, medicinal plant roots (this is to be transplanted) and other things, and bargained with the merchants to use the two thousand ruble reserves , Bought some samples to take back.

At the beginning, the Qing Guolifan Academy sent an official to accompany them all the way, but after two days with them, the official felt that it was really boring, so he went to the theater by himself, leaving Izbrandt and his party in Beijing. wander around.The Russians were so happy. They visited most of the markets in Beijing in great detail, and carefully understood the sales and taxation of the goods, as well as where the goods were shipped from. Obviously, they had done their homework.

On February 2, officials from the Lifan Academy came again, this time being summoned by Kangxi.Izbrandt hurried back to the hotel to change his clothes, then hurried into the Forbidden City, and met Kangxi in the Qianqing Palace.This time, Izbrandt performed the three-kneeling and nine-kowtow ceremony very skillfully without being taught by anyone, and was then given a seat by Kangxi, sitting about three feet away from him.

Kangxi personally gave him a glass of strong wine, and then asked a Jesuit priest in the hall to ask Izzy Brandt if he knew German, Latin, Italian and Portuguese?How far is it from Moscow to France, Italy, Poland by water and by land?Are Tsar Peter and the Sultan of Turkey now living in peace, or are they at war?These questions all show Kangxi's relatively strong thirst for knowledge.

Izzybrandt answered as much as he could, and Kangxi was very satisfied, and then ordered to give Izzybrandt gifts, including: a horse with full saddlery, ermine trim, and a satin hat with red tassels One, one silk robe, one silk belt with saber, two silk scarves, one pair of boots and one pair of long floral satin socks, one piece of brocade material, and thirty bolts of refined cotton.Other members of the mission also received rewards. The deputy and translator Semyon Poletsky and others received hats, robes, belts, sabers, scarves and other items, but the quantity and quality were not as good as Izbrandt.

On March 3, Izbrandt went to Lifanyuan to receive the reward, which cost him a full hundred rubles.There, Soetu sent people to submit memos written in Latin and Russian to them, mainly in response to some questions raised by Izbrandt, such as foreigners building churches-the Qing court allowed permanent settlement Foreigners build churches, but those who only stay for a short time are not allowed-the two countries started trade, Soetu sent Russia, the future border division (after the eradication of Galdan, after the recovery of Outer Mongolia), etc., answered in great detail.

Kangxi originally planned to recruit some Russian artisans, but the Jesuit missionaries discouraged this.They pointed out that Russia is a backward country in continental Europe, and its technology may be a little more advanced than that of the Qing Dynasty, but it is also limited. It is better to spend money on recruiting engineers from England and the Netherlands.Kangxi agreed to this point, so he didn't mention it, but he didn't fully believe what the foreign monks said, and then asked Suo Ertu to investigate carefully after he arrived in Moscow.

After receiving the reward, the officials of the Lifan Academy pointed out a very serious problem to Izbrandt, and asked them not to make such mistakes in the future: in the future, the tsar's letter of credence to the Qing emperor must first write the Qing emperor's letter. The title of the tsar, followed by the title of the tsar, otherwise it will not be accepted.Izbrandt was confused by this, but he was under the eaves, so he could only nod perfunctorily in the end. Anyway, he probably won't be himself next time he will go on an envoy, so he can write his title whatever he likes. People are really troublesome!

Izbrandt also asked if Soetu, who was going to Russia as an envoy, would go with them. After receiving a negative answer, he ordered his entourage to make final preparations, purchase supplies, pack their bags, and planned to leave within ten days. Leave Beijing and return to Russia.As for himself, he continued to hang out and investigate during the day, and returned to the Lifan Court at night to write a report, planning to submit it to the Tsar after returning home, in order to get a reward.

On March 3, another group of mysterious guests lived in the Lifan Courtyard, and it seemed that they were also some foreign mission.Izbrandt was a little curious, and after giving money to the servants of Lifanyuan, he learned that it was a mission from the Kingdom of Korea.Izbrandt was shocked immediately. He was not an ignorant barbarian. In fact, before he went to the Qing Dynasty, he had made up the basic situation of the countries in the Far East. At that time, he was told that the Kingdom of Korea belonged to the vassal state.But now there is obviously a problem. This group of North Korean envoys came to the Qing Dynasty in secret, and it seems that they are not particularly loyal to the east coast, so it is very interesting.

However, Izbrandt was not particularly a gossip person, nor was he very interested in other people's secrets that had nothing to do with Russia.He will only make a faithful note in his own record, and then submit it to the judgment of his Majesty the Tsar.And the North Koreans next door didn't seem to have any desire to communicate with them. They lived across a courtyard and didn't even nod when they met, as if they didn't see each other at all.

Of course, it's no wonder that the North Koreans don't pay attention to etiquette. It's really a shameful trip, so we have to act cautiously.As for the arrangement of the people of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Mingrong was really annoyed by what they were doing. He didn't pay attention to them at all, and instead of arranging a separate and secret residence for them, he threw them directly into the Lifan Court, which increased the chance of leaking secrets. Risk, how can this make people angry?

"You're so arrogant, do you still think it is the Central Plains Empire that dominates us?" Hong Mingrong was a little dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do about it.It will be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to change its attitude of being the big empire for a while, especially in front of the former vassals and servants, it is even more impossible for them to do anything to lower their status, which is especially annoying.

"I have worked hard to govern Korea for decades. The people are healthy and the army is mighty. The Tahu court still ignores us and the 800 million people of Tangun. It is ridiculous that some elders in the court still have a good impression of the Qing Dynasty. It is really ridiculous. I can't see the great changes in the world, and I only live within the Confucian articles. What future does this have? Now it seems that only by strengthening ties with the east coast of the Heavenly Motherland and sharing weal and woe, can we make further progress." Hong Mingrong punched He slammed it on the table, stared at the officials of the Qing Guolifan Academy who had just left, and said bitterly.

He is a cadre of the reform party that has risen in North Korea in the past 20 years, and he is a radical reformist.This time the conservatives in the country clamored to go to the Qing Dynasty. The Reform Party couldn't stand it and snatched the position of the envoy of the mission. It didn't want to improve the relationship with the Qing people. Now that the Li Fanyuan treats them so coldly, it is even more firm This made Hong Mingrong's determination to approach the east bank and wait for an opportunity to spy on the mainland.

Speaking of spying on the mainland, it is actually a consistent national policy of North Korea.Since the Ding Revolution in the late Ming Dynasty, the kings and ministers of North Korea have always had the idea of ​​​​expedition to Manchuria in the north, and the idea of ​​shame.After all, in their view, the Jurchens were the ones who were hanged and beaten by them back then. They didn't expect that after being expelled to the Yalu River, they would rise slowly and eventually control most of China.Therefore, even though they were severely beaten several times in the post-golden period, the North Koreans still did not improve their memory, thinking day and night how to fight back and further expand the country.It was the people on the east coast who really prevented them from "killing themselves". They conquered North Korea just like Houjin, and then signed a series of agreements with them. The human baton develops the economy and becomes an important part of the Far East economic circle.

However, after a period of economic development and a certain degree of modernization of the military with the help of the people on the east coast, the North Koreans are ready to move again.They became interested in the Northern Expedition again, especially after the Qing Dynasty fought against Junggar and Mongolia, and at the same time they were bullied miserably by the people on the east coast in Manchuria, the North Koreans became very active in their minds.Some of them began to imagine that the Qing Dynasty would collapse quickly, and then the Koreans could take advantage of the opportunity and send troops deep into Manchuria to seize a large amount of territory.

The mission led by Hong Mingrong is not so much that the domestic conservatives have a good impression of the Qing Dynasty and want to have cultural exchanges with them. That's all.

Their mission set out from the mountainous area of ​​Hamgyong Road, then detoured to Jilin, traveled a long way, and finally arrived in Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty.The reason for the detour is also very simple, for fear of being known by the people on the east coast of the "Heavenly Motherland", which will cause unnecessary trouble.They are still the slave state of the east bank, and the economy is closely tied to the east bank. There is also the army of the east bank in Busan. The separatist regime of the three counties of Gancheng is also the loyal lackey of the people of the east bank. The kingdom of Korea has no resistance Capital, so can only engage in small tricks in private.

After the Hong Mingrong mission arrived in Beijing, it has not yet been received by Kangxi. The officials of the Lifan Academy also looked down upon them as "second-five boys" and their attitude was rather bad. This made the Koreans full of anger.Hong Mingrong had already decided that if the Qing emperor did not receive them within a month, they would simply go home.As long as we have a good relationship with the people on the east coast and forged an army capable of recruiting and fighting well, once China changes in the future, they may not have no chance.

Thinking of this, Hong Mingrong gradually calmed down.He straightened his clothes, sat down at the table, and ordered his followers to make tea for him.The Manchurian Tartars had only a few million people, but they ruled over tens of millions of Qing slaves, so domestic conflicts must have been deep.For the Kingdom of Korea, just wait for their opportunity to disintegrate. It may not be impossible to restore the old territory of the ancient Koguryo Kingdom in the future.

(End of this chapter)