Baron Maximilian Auguste Scipio von Barand came to East Asia in 1861 as the common commercial representative of the German Customs Union states in Canton in the Qing Dynasty to deal with the commercial relations between the Customs Union and East Asia (Qing, Japan, and Korea).

In 1871, when the German Customs Union became the Second German Reich, Baron Barand was promoted from a commercial representative of a commercial alliance to the plenipotentiary minister of the German Empire in Qing and Japan, and he moved from Guangzhou to Beijing, where he had full authority over all East Asian countries, including Korea.

In 1875, Minister Barland was the head of the Western diplomatic missions in Beijing because he was the oldest, the most experienced, and had the best relations with the Qing and Japanese governments.

Having lived in East Asia for nearly twenty years, Minister Barand has long since become an East Asian expert, or rather a Qing Guotong, since he came to Beijing, he immediately liked this place, if it weren't for the high nose bridge and blue eyes and no braids on the back of his head, he was more like an authentic Beijinger in terms of living habits, especially in terms of eating habits, he was not at all like a Prussian nobleman.

Early in the morning, Minister Barand set out from Dongjiaomin Lane, followed the tall inner city wall of Beijing to the south, passed through the Guangqu Gate and then faced west, and directly entered the outer city of Beijing, which is commonly known as the southern city of the old Beijingers.

And the place where Minister Barland is going to go in the morning is called the Flower Market Fire Temple, which is called by Beijingers, and a nouple shop called "Bean Juice Ding".

At the beginning of May, the weather in Beijing had begun to dry out, and Minister Barland, like the old Beijingers, asked the shopkeeper to replace the hot bean juice with a bowl of chilled bean juice, and ate it with scorched rings and spicy pickles. In Minister Barland's authentic Beijing dialect, it is "I am proud of this!" ”

Not to mention, the child's pronunciation is also more standard.

Judging from the back, if it weren't for the golden hair of Minister Barland, who betrayed him, judging from the robe and horse coat on his body, plus all kinds of miscellaneous small bits and pieces hanging on his body, he would have been dressed as a Manchu nobleman.

If it is said that what the nobles and ordinary people eat together in Beijing are not ridiculed, it is only the matter of drinking bean juice and eating coke rings.

The old Beijingers who often come to the "bean juice ding" powder room to drink bean juice and eat coke circles have long been surprised by Minister Barland, and they have known that the minister speaks Chinese well and can speak authentic Beijing dialect, so they can also say hello twice.

But outsiders who came to the capital for the first time have seen this, a tall horse, a foreigner dressed in Chinese style sitting in the store eating bean juice coke rings, this is definitely a rare thing, especially a pair of Chengde horse merchants sitting next to Barland, since the moment they entered the store, their eyes have never left Barland.

Minister Barand put the last scorched circle into his mouth with chopsticks, and shouted to the shopkeeper of "Bean Juice Ding", "The shopkeeper knows how to bank!" ”

The shopkeeper of "Bean Juice Ding" hurriedly sent a wrapped oiled paper bag and a porcelain jar to Barand, "Master Ba, the old son, four scorched circles, a piece of bean juice that was taken away, you are affected, 5 cents for you." ”

Barand put the ten cents on the table and arched his hand, "The hard work of the shopkeeper, let's go!" ”

"Master Ba, you go well, go slowly!"

Barland, who was sent away by Ding's shopkeeper, was just about to turn around and enter the counter, but was suddenly grabbed by the Chengde horse merchant next to him. Shopkeeper Ding was startled, turned his head to look at the guest, and hurriedly asked, "Yo, this master, what are you doing here?" ”

"What for! You Qing Dynasty people are so lowly to entertain foreigners, you forgot that foreigners burned our emperor's garden, you actually dare to sell to foreigners to eat and drink, you are going to rebel, aren't you! The horse merchant in Chengde rebuked angrily.

When the shopkeeper Ding heard this, he stopped doing it, shook his hand and knocked off the horse merchant's hand, copied both hands, glared at his eyes and scolded angrily, "Grandma! Do you know that the master just entertained the foreigners of that country? German! You know that it was the people of that country who burned the emperor's garden, and they were called British and French! ”

"As the saying goes, there is a debtor who is wronged, the British and the French do bad things, you are to blame on the head of the old man, this is the business of that family? ! Beijingers are particular about doing things, and whoever is is whoever! In a fit of anger, the shopkeeper Ding brought out all the dirty words raised by the old Beijing scolding girl.

"Besides, the master is also a person in the flag, tell you Ya, the master is serious with the blue flag, our flag owner Prince Gong, but the person who came to me with Master Ba to drink bean juice. Being able to drink this cheap bean juice in Nancheng shows that Master Ba, a foreigner, can afford our Beijing masters! ”

"Let me tell you clearly, the bean juice and coke rings that Master Ba brought just now were brought to our flag master. You, give me a slippery drink of bean juice and leave, then give me a cool stay! I don't serve you! After saying that, the shopkeeper Ding dusted off his cuffs with a towel and went directly into the back room.

"Good! Lao Ding's words are righteous! ”

"The gentlemen of Beijing Sijiu City are here, and revenge is also our lord's business, you guys are looking for a cool place to stay!"

"There is a debtor who is wronged, and you must pay attention to things!"

"After drinking the hemp and slipping away, Sensei is embarrassed here!"

In the midst of the uproar of the neighbors of old Beijing, the two horse merchants threw down a few copper plates in embarrassment and prepared to leave.

But he didn't want to be stopped by the "bean juice ding" guy, the guy smiled and said, "A few masters, in the capital, you don't need money to drink bean juice in the store, just now Master Ba, we didn't ask for money, and you can't ask for it, remember, lest you say that our masters bully you." ”

The laughter rang out again.

Minister Barand did not hear these discussions behind him, and had already gotten into the carriage and left.

And the shopkeeper Ding was a clever businessman in the end, and he could see at a glance that Barland was bringing bean juice and a coke ring to visit his own flag owner, Prince Gong.

Minister Barand is one of the two foreigners who can speak the most in front of Prince Gong.

In addition to Minister Barland, another foreigner was the Englishman Hurd. In terms of personal relations alone, in fact, Minister Barand is better than Hurd, after all, it is not possible that foreigners can like Prince Gong's proud bean juice, but Minister Barand is also good at this bite.

Of course, the Englishman Hurd also has his advantages, especially in official affairs, as an external senior manager of the Qing Empire, he has the right to speak in the affairs of the Qing State but Minister Barand cannot match.

But today, Minister Barand is going to compete with the British in the field that Hurd is good at, and try to influence the direction of Qing government.

This contest was not only provoked by Minister Barand himself, but was also an important task assigned by Berlin, which was caused by the telegram sent back home by Minister Barand in the third week of April, concerning the purchase of fast guns, ironclad ships, railways, and the sending of special envoys to Russia.

Initially, according to the meaning of Minister Barland, he wanted to send an economic information to his life-saving benefactor, Crown Prince Frederick, to support the work of the crown prince. Baland personally thinks the chances are zero.

Barand never thought that the crown prince would immediately reply to him the next day with a telegram, which meant that he must learn more about how strong the Qing country's intentions were for these three purchases, and Barland's interpretation of this telegram was that Germany seemed to want to eat all the inquiries of the Qing country.

This telegram, full of ambition, really startled Barland, when did the empire's economic ambitions become so strong?!

Since it was a matter of his own choice, no matter how hard it was, Minister Barand spent a whole week going back and forth between the Prime Minister Yamen in Beijing and the Governor of Zhili's Tianjin Pavilion, and finally sent a detailed report back to China.

Two days later, a surprisingly long diplomatic telegram, signed by Prime Minister Bismarck, Count Blow, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Crown Prince Frederick, Minister of Economy, was again on Minister Barland's desk.

After reading this telegram, Minister Barand pondered for a long time and summarized the Berlin demands as follows:

1. Actively intervene in the mediation between Qing and Japan, and in principle, the position needs to be biased towards the Qing side. (Note. Unless the benefits provided by the Japanese side are much greater than those provided by the Qing side, or when the interests of both sides are the same, appropriate partial neutrality may be adopted. ）

2. Make every effort to provoke the contradictions between Qing and Japan, Qing France, and Qing Russia. (Note. The above contradictions must serve the empire's trade with the Qing and Japan, with the aim of making every effort to expand arms exports to the Qing and Japan; In addition, the contradiction between the Qing and the French was the focus, and the empire urgently needed to reduce the military pressure on France; With regard to the contradictions between Qing and Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs authorized itself to contact the British Minister in China to jointly advance the conflict. ）

3. Based on the above contradictions, we will make every effort to promote the sales of industrial products, reduce the sales of textiles and primary processed products, and make every effort to compete with other powers in differentiated commodities. (Note. For example, Britain and France are now dumping textiles against the Qing Dynasty, so the focus of Minister Barland's work is to help the Qing and Japan establish textile factories to resist the British and French dumping, and by the way, vigorously recommend German chemical dyes and new textile technologies to the Qing Dynasty. ）

4. Rear Admiral Ernst Otto von Dietrich will remain in Asia for your Qing-Japanese diplomacy, and Rear Admiral Dietrich will obey your assignment and hope that you will make good use of this naval force. (Note. Only deterrence, not war. ）

5. Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich, who accompanied the Grand Fleet, will visit the Qing royal family on behalf of the Hohenzollern royal family, and hope that Minister Barand will arrange all diplomatic matters. (Note. Prince Heinrich's visit will represent the goodwill and goodwill of the German royal family and the top brass, and will formally support all the efforts made by the Qing Dynasty to maintain its imperial power. ）

6. Show the Qing people the level and strength of German shipbuilding, based on the contradiction between Qing and Japan, Qing and France, and create a sense of anxiety that there will be no peace without a navy for Qing Guo, and be sure to win the order for Qing Guo to purchase warships. (Note. Prince Heinrich's royal visit will also serve this goal. ）

7. Based on the contradiction between Qing and Russia, we must win the fast gun order of Qing State. (Note. Prince Heinrich also served this goal. ）

8. If you have understood the controversy on the railway issue in the Qing Dynasty, please be sure to establish a good personal relationship with Minister Li of the Qing Dynasty, and be sure to pay attention to the Luanping Coal Mine and related railway construction in the Qing Dynasty. (Note. Prince Heinrich also served this goal. ）

The telegram, with its cumbersome eight-point request, surprised and delighted Barland.

Surprisingly, I didn't expect the ambition of the empire to be so big, and they were actually ready to eat all the inquiries of the Qing State, and even did not hesitate to create contradictions between countries, sent the emperor and grandson to support the Qing State, and finally sent the large fleet of the world to be their own backing;

Happily, if he does this well, it means that he will not only become an important figure in the German economic circles in the Qing Dynasty, but also when he returns to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, this will definitely be a wonderful page on his diplomatic resume.

Money and honor, power and ideals were intertwined in Minister Barand's heart.

The carriage soon left the flower market and headed north through the Chongwen Gate into the inner city of Beijing.

As soon as he passed the Chongwen Gate, the noise of the outer city was suddenly replaced by the silence of the inner city, and Minister Barand was able to calm down, carefully recalling his diplomatic itinerary in the past few days, and the upcoming meeting with Prince Gong.