Du Little entered Beijing to be knighted, and the Ministry of Rites was in charge. However, just like the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces meeting with Emperor Sakura, the Ministry of Rites has never done such an envoy. Not to mention the rest, just arranging Du Little's accommodation in Beijing will be one person and one mouth, and there are different opinions, and there is no consensus.

The easiest way to do this is to ask Doolittle to stay at the American legation. But Doolittle resolutely refused. Doolittle did not regard himself as an American diplomat, and what he did on this trip was to dilute the status of an American public official and strengthen the status of a first-class baron of the Qing Dynasty -- if you tell me to live in the legation, I might as well go to the guest house.

Of course, you can't ask people to really crowd the inn - in that case, wouldn't the inn become a place to watch monkey shows?

It's really time to open a luxury hotel that "meets international standards".

Someone from the Ministry of Rites said that "Commander Du" should be arranged to be assigned to the "Huitong Four Translation Hall".

"Huitong Four Translation Hall" is an institution under the Ministry of Rites, in the former Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the country, there were names such as "Huitong Hall", "Siyi Hall", "Four Translation Hall" and so on, the main messenger is to translate foreign languages and receive foreign guests.

It's just that the "foreign", "foreign", or "foreign guest" all refer to "foreign vassals", that is, vassals such as Vietnam, Korea, Burma, and the Ryukyus. Although countries such as Japan and Persia, which were not really "foreign vassals", were also included, in general, the "Huitong Siyi Museum" was only a place to receive envoys of the vassal and was also a low-level envoy.

This kind of place does not seem very suitable for receiving high-ranking generals of "friendly countries".

Besides, under the "Huitong Four Translation Pavilion". Country-specific branch libraries. Which branch library to stuff "Commander Du" into? "Siam Pavilion" or "Sulu Pavilion"? Anyway, there is no "American Pavilion".

At last. After consulting Baylor, the Ministry of Rites decided to satisfy Doolittle's request and treat him only as a "first-class baron-elect". In this way, Du Lide's "entering Beijing to receive the knighthood" has an extra layer of "waiting for His Majesty's meeting", so Commander Du and Admiral Ding are together. The group lived in the Xianliang Temple in Bingzhan Hutong.

As mentioned above, Xianliang Temple was originally the residence of Prince Yunxiang of Lao Yi of the Yongzheng Dynasty, which was exquisite and clean, and was quiet all around; In addition, Xianliang Temple is close to the Donghua Gate of the Forbidden City, which is convenient to enter the palace, and later became a mansion dedicated to receiving the feudal officials who came to Beijing to meet them.

In this place, Guan Zhuofan has lived, Zuo Zongtang has lived, and arranged for Du Lide to live here. It can be regarded as "very courteous", and it is very face-saving.

Doolittle was certainly satisfied. Ding Ruchang was also a surprise. Although the admiral is from the first rank, the military position at the end of the Qing Dynasty is not valuable, and the admiral from the first rank must be subject to the control of the governor from the second rank; Even, being suppressed by the feudal clan and the puppet is also a common thing. When the admiral entered the capital, if he did not have other part-time jobs, he was not qualified to live in Xianliang Temple. Speaking of which, Ding Ruchang is stained with Du Lide's light.

After settling down, Du Yide did not sit idle in the pavilions, but immediately took the newly made "handbook" and "famous thorn" -- exactly like the Chinese officials, wearing a black tuxedo and a bowler hat, accompanied by the brilliant Admiral Ding, Shi Shiran went out to "pay homage".

Du Yide met with several Chinese officials: Gong Wang, Guan Zhuofan, Zhu Fengbiao, Wen Xiang, Wan Qingqui, Cao Yuying, and Guo Songtao.

Guan Zhuofan and Du Lide are "comrades-in-arms", and both the front and back scenes of Du Lide's "entering Beijing to be knighted" are controlled by Guan Zhuofan.

The choice of the other people to visit is very particular.

King Gong and Guan Zhuofan are the first assistants, and they are also in charge of the Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen. He is also the Prime Minister and Minister of State Affairs. Guo Songtao is the "chairman" of the "advisory committee". Although Du Little refused to call himself a diplomatic envoy, his affairs in China belonged to the category of "foreign affairs" after all, and China's "foreign affairs" were handled by the prime minister's national affairs yamen and the "advisory committee" at the central level. Visiting Shousuke is courtesy; Visiting the prime minister's national affairs yamen and the principal of the "advisory committee" are detained by "foreign affairs," which can be regarded as the proper meaning of the question.

Cao Yuying is the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Du Lide is an active military officer, and it is also natural for him to visit the officials of the Ministry of War in China, and to "match the unit".

Zhu Fengbiao is a scholar of Wuyingdian University, Wan Qingqu is a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, and Du Lide visited these two, which is incredible.

Zhu Fengbiao and Wan Qingqui himself were even more unexpected.

However, the reason brought by Zhang Jing, the military aircraft who was responsible for notifying the incident, was irretrievable: Du Lide "entered Beijing to receive a knighthood", and the person in charge was the Ministry of Rites, and the person in charge of the matter was the "leader in charge" of the "reception unit." Isn't it justified that the person concerned visited the "leader in charge" of the "reception unit"?

Wan Qing quinoa was dumbfounded.

Zhu Fengbiao also knew why he wanted to meet with foreign devils: the bachelor of the "management department" of the Ministry of Rites was none other than Zhu Zhongtang.

This is awkward!

How should the two sides meet? Also, what are you talking about? -- By the way, no matter what you say, isn't it just "chickens and ducks"? We can't understand foreign languages!

It doesn't matter. Let's talk about the salute first. Foreigners see the courtesy, all of them are happy to hold hands, let's not do this, just make a good - let's do it, the foreigner bows - look, the etiquette is very simple.

Besides, it doesn't matter if you can't understand foreign language, Admiral Ding, who is traveling with him, can speak foreign language, and he can act as a translator. As for what to say, it's just "today's weather, hehehe", it's the road, how are the family? And so on and so forth.

However, having said that, Guan Zhuofan actually did not ignore Zhu Fengbiao and Wan Qingquio's concerns. In order to alleviate as much as possible the helplessness of these two "scholars in the traditional sense" in the face of foreigners for the first time, Guan Zhuofan personally drew up a list of how to enter and stop and what to say on such occasions -- which is not only in line with the identities of Zhu and Wan, but also in line with the practice of ordinary international exchanges.

This "cheat sheet" played a considerable role. During the meeting, Zhu Fengbiao and Wan Qingqui "read according to the script", and Du Yide did not play at will, and the process of the meeting was actually quite smooth. And Du Lide has done enough to understand the rules of Chinese officialdom meetings in advance, and he is in order.

When he saw Zhu Fengbiao, Du Yide called him "Zhu Zhongtang" - although it was strange and strange, Zhu Fengbiao could hear what this foreign devil called him without Ding Ruchang's translation; When he saw Wan Qingquinoa, Du Lide called him "Minister Wan", which translated, of course, it was still "Wan Shangshu". Although it sounds a little awkward, it can't be called "Wen Weng" or "Wen Gong" or something?

Wan Qing quinoa character Wenfu.

When he was about to say goodbye, this foreign devil actually had a gift to give.

Doolittle gave Zhu and Wan the same gift: a large gold pocket watch.

This gift is both precious and practical; Moreover, although it is novel, but these days, the Western-style affairs have been done, and the thing of pocket watches, even in the people who defend the old way, is no longer regarded as "strange tricks". Therefore, whether it is Zhu Fengbiao or Wan Qingquinoa, they can accept this gift gladly.

In addition to this, there are eight bottles of red wine per person.

This kind of foreign wine, Zhu Fengbiao and Wan Qingquinoa have been famous for a long time, but in Beijing, even if they are dignitaries, only people like King Gong and Guan Beile who are both foreign and have "coming" can drink this kind of wine. And this kind of wine probably can't be regarded as "strange tricks".

Doolittle also explained on the side, "Wine nourishes the skin and invigorates the blood, and the medicinal properties are king, which is especially beneficial to the elderly." ”

"Zhu Zhongtang" and "Minister Wan" are all full of smiles, saying that "General Du is generous and deserved".

After the meeting, the awkwardness before the meeting basically disappeared. Foreign devils and foreign devils' things don't seem to be so annoying.

Taking advantage of the reason of the Ministry of Rites' "Lord Du Little Receiving the Lord", he arranged or forced Zhu Fengbiao, Wan Qingqu and Du Little to meet, out of Guan Zhuofan's careful planning.

The Ministry of Rites is in charge of etiquette and systems, and many reform measures are inevitably accompanied by the reform of etiquette and systems, which require the cooperation of the Ministry of Etiquette; At the same time, the Ministry of Rites itself is also one of the targets of reform. However, the duty of the courtiers is to maintain the system, and they have always been the most conservative, so it is necessary to seize the opportunity to "desensitize" the attitude of the courtiers towards new things.

*(To be continued......)