On March 4, 1865, the seventeenth President of the United States of America, Abraham A. Lincoln was sworn in. The ceremony was held at the newly completed Capitol Building, and Zheng Zaoru, China's first minister to the United States, was invited to attend.

Four years ago on the same day, the sixteenth President of the United States of America, Abraham Abraham. Lincoln was sworn in. By then, however, there were only twenty-seven states left in the Union, and six had defected – when Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the United States, the Union was still thirty-three.

At that time, when you climb the administrative building in Washington, you can see the rebel flag flying high on the other side of the Potomick River.

At that time, the country was divided, people's hearts were in turmoil, and it was stormy; The new president is trembling and treading on thin ice. Now, although the United States is devastated, large-scale construction is in full swing, and the "Gilded Age" has begun to appear.

In the cold wind, Lin Dabeard was full of ambition and high spirits.

At the banquet after the inauguration ceremony, Lincoln proposed to Zheng Zaoru that he should send a "goodwill delegation" to China on a certain scale.

This matter has become one of the most important tasks of Zheng Zaoru after taking office. It was only for well-known reasons that the central government of China at that time was busy with "internal affairs" and was inconvenient to receive friendly missions. After that, the railroad was planned, the national debt was carried out, and a combined fleet was created...... As soon as the "big case" of Sino-US cooperation came out, the matter of the "delegation visiting China" was squeezed backwards and could not be carried out.

However, the correspondence and telegrams on this matter have never been interrupted. After the conquest of Japan, the details of a qiē were finalized. The delegation was finally able to travel to China.

Lincoln called it "on a certain scale." It's time to make the trip. It has become "the scale is large, the specifications are high, and it is unprecedented".

The star-studded delegation featured Vice President and Senator Andrew Brown. Johnson leads, and the most important members are as follows:

Secretary of State William. Seward.

Finance Minister Simon. Chase.

Minister of Commerce David Brown. Davis.

Secretary of War Edwin. Stanton.

Ordnance Minister George. Ramsay.

Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army Ulysses. Grant.

Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military District of the Confederation, William Brown. Sherman.

Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, John Brown. Sherman. - To clarify, the above two Shermans are brothers.

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Simon Brown. Cameron.

Almost all of them are Guan Zhuofan's "old friends".

The delegation included dozens of business tycoons, among them, there were also many "old friends" of Guan Zhuofan: Willie. Hill. J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller -- this man has always been a "divine friend" and has never met.

Kwan Zhuofan's agent in the United States, Sandos, who is a real "private person," will also come with the delegation to "report on work" in person.

Ye Mao, who had recruited Chinese recruits for Guan Zhuofan, returned to China as an assistant to Sandoz. For this young man, who has almost lost his life twice in a foreign country, this trip is truly called "returning home".

And Christopher. Spencer.

Spencer finally agreed to relocate his arsenal to China in its entirety, this time to "inspect related matters."

After the end of the American Civil War. Domestic arms orders have been significantly reduced, including orders for Spencer repeaters. Spencer's arsenal was finally unsustainable. If they did not accept the construction of Guan Zhuofan and Sandoz and move to China in their entirety, they would have to sell their patents and end production.

All of them were expected by Guan Zhuofan.

In this case, Christopher. Spencer could only choose to work with Kwan Zhuofan.

However, Spencer is not so depressed, but full of hope for the future. Because Sandos, on behalf of Kwan Cheuk Fan, promised him that in addition to the Chinese government continuing to place orders, His Royal Highness the Prince would also invest sufficient funds in the Spencer Arsenal, which would not only maintain its operations, but also be able to further research and develop more advanced weapons.

Speaking of "more advanced weapons", there was one member of the delegation, who was inconspicuous, but brought something that Guan Zhuofan was extremely interested in. Jordan. Gatling - He brought a new and improved Gatling machine gun with him.

When Kwan Zhuofan was in the United States, he bought all of Gatling's patents. However, at that time, the Gatling machine gun was still very immature, with smoke, gas leakage, jamming, explosion, and countless problems, and it could not be put into actual combat. With the support of Citigroup's endless funds, after more than a year of repeated improvements, Richard. Gatling confidently believed that his machine gun was ready for production and the army.

Richard. Gatling came to China this time to demonstrate to Boss Guan how brave the new version of the Gatling machine gun was in order to obtain a "production license".

This delegation can be regarded as the achievement and symbol of the satisfactory cooperation between China and the United States since the formation of a quasi-alliance between the two sides. At the same time, it is also the starting point for changing "cooperation" into "comprehensive cooperation" and from "quasi-alliance" to a real "alliance".

As far as China's domestic affairs and economy are concerned, the visit of a huge high-level delegation from the United States will inevitably bring a new and strong impact. Guan Zhuofan took advantage of the situation to further strengthen the process of reform under the existing relatively favorable situation.

However, foreign-related reception is really a problem. Let's not talk about etiquette, just arranging the accommodation of these 100 or dozens of people is a big head.

It is impossible to throw them all at the legation - and it will not fit at all. There is no truly decent inn in China that can reach the level of luxury hotels abroad, so for the time being, it can only use the way of reception and Emperor Sakura, and use the idle princely mansion to undertake the reception task.

But even if Prince Gong's Mansion is vacated, it may not be enough. It's not that the place isn't big enough, it's not that there aren't enough rooms, it's that no matter how grand the royal palace is, the number of bedrooms for the master is limited - you can't stuff a group of high-ranking officials and tycoons into the dwellings of your subordinates!

Therefore, the establishment of a luxury hotel in the true sense of the word that meets international standards should be put on the agenda.

Originally, it was also possible to take the path of foreign-related reception at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. However, in this time and space, China's foreign exchanges in the modern sense have just begun, and the frequency of foreign-related receptions is still very limited, which is completely incomparable with the situation when the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse was built. In this time and space, the large-scale state guesthouse, in a considerable period of time, the utilization rate is not high, and it has been idle for a long time, and it must be muttering on the road again.

Unlike luxury hotels, when there is no heavy foreign affairs reception task, that is, commercial operation, will not cause idle waste; It's not uncommon to run well and make a lot of money.

Well, let me think about it.

Then again, after the crossing, I haven't been to Yuyuantan, I don't know what Diaoyutai looks like now? I remember that during the Qianlong Dynasty, Gaozong tossed a round there, diverted water, dug lakes, and built a lot of pavilions. And after that? Is it just being barren all the time?

I have time to take a walk and see if there is any life.

Calculating the time, sending the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces back from Tianjin, the US delegation to China will almost arrive at the port. The preparatory work for receiving the Americans had to be basically completed before "Feng Lianggong Luan" went to Tianjin. While picking up the clothes for the two royal sisters to go out for travel, and preparing to deal with the Americans, I am busy enough.

Americans don't just stay in Beijing, they go to Shanghai after visiting Beijing, and then return from Shanghai. Naturally, Guan Beile will accompany him all the way, and by the way, he can go back to his home in Shanghai to take a look at Wan'er's big fat boy and Qingqing's big belly. Well, just think about it, it makes people's hearts beat better.

Okay, let's do the business of the royal sister travel first.

For this reason, Guan Zhuofan needs to "borrow" the personal maid of the Queen Mother, Yu'er.

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

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