"By the blessing of heaven, the Quartet comes to congratulate!"

For Chinese who have been accustomed to the "center of China" for thousands of years, they are accustomed to calling themselves "the Celestial Empire" and are accustomed to "coming from all directions", which has nothing to do with anything else, just a kind of consciousness of being the "center of the world" for thousands of years. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Perhaps for Europeans, they have experienced the era of "Roman rule", but in China, since the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the Chinese have been accustomed to "Chinese rule" and "four directions to congratulate".

In this "millennium of unprecedented changes," all traditions have been questioned and subverted, including people's world outlook, through the popularization of geography in the past many years, it is very clear to people who are arrogant and arrogant that China cannot be the "center of the world" now, and that the "Celestial Empire" only exists in the memory of history books, and even civilization -- under the enslavement of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Chinese civilization has not made progress for more than 200 years, and China is now learning from the West in all aspects with the mentality of "Han soul and foreign studies."

In this case, will the "Celestial Empire" still be the "Celestial Empire"?

Two years ago, there might have been suspicions that the "Celestial Empire was not there," but now, even Vietnam, which was the most resistant to China of all the vassal states, dared not doubt it.

Because everyone knows very well that the "Celestial Empire" was never established by gentle writing, perhaps the "Celestial Empire" relied on Confucianism to influence the surrounding vassal states and built the "Chinese system" in East Asia, but the export of culture initially relied on fists.

In fact, the export of Chinese culture is still relied on a chaotic fist, and in the long river of history for thousands of years, those unruly people are either knocked to the ground by the fist of China and conquered by Confucian culture, or they completely disappear in the long river of history.

This is the essence of the "Celestial Empire"!

A few years ago, people were suspicious because the Celestial Empire had to take over its own face and learn from the West, and people saw the power of the West through various channels, and they saw the world, and people knew that Britain occupied half of the world with only three islands, and they knew what the "world under British rule" looked like.

But now, when China, as a weakling, rushed forward and taught Britain a hard lesson, and Britain did not even have the strength to fight back. After seeing this power, no one dared to question the "Celestial Empire" and the fact that the Chinese Empire was still the "Celestial Empire".

Under these circumstances, neither Japan, which is under protection, nor Vietnam, which has become more and more centrifugal in the past few years because of China's meddling in its internal affairs, cannot choose to remain silent, knowing full well that they simply do not have the strength to challenge the "Celestial Empire."

Not only that, but even for Westerners, whether they want to or not, they have to accept a point of view from the East - "Celestial Empire!" ”。 Especially for the weak, the "Celestial Empire" may be unfamiliar, but they must accept it.

Unlike the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was established to manage the affairs of ethnic minorities in the border areas, the Ministry of the Interior's Yuan is an institution dedicated to the management of the vassal states, and there is no special agency to manage the affairs of the ethnic minorities in the border areas.

The function of the Imperial Court was very simple—to administer the vassal states, according to the principle that "all the subjugated states are subject to the Legion." The vassals of the empire included Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and Vietnam, all of which had been in the "Chinese system" for thousands of years. To a certain extent, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior regarded them as "half Chinese", and Burma, Siam, and Nepal were undoubtedly relatively inferior in this system, because they were not affected by Chinese civilization, and they were simply half colonies in the Chinese suzerainty system. Among the vassal states, the most special status is probably Hawaii and Panama, which have just "surrendered", and although they have not been influenced by Chinese civilization, this does not prevent China from setting up prime ministers in the two places and sending prime ministers -- this is the treatment of first-class vassal states. And the fundamental reason why they have obtained this status is that their special strategic position makes China willing to give them special treatment.

Unlike other diplomatic venues located in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Street, the representatives of the vassal states stationed in the imperial capital all live in the courtesy hotel, which is said to be a hall, but in addition to the magnificent courtesy hotel, there are dozens of single-family villas in its garden, and those villas are where the offices of the vassal states are located.

In the past, perhaps the prosperous scene of "coming from all directions" was the dream of every Chinese emperor, for them, it was a happy thing for the Fan State to come to vote, but today is not the past, for China after the opening of the Honghong, maintaining the "imperial vassal" is only limited to a certain degree of traditional responsibility, and even refuses the submission of some countries, after all, vassalage means responsibility and dedication. Moreover, these vassal states are not static, just like Myanmar was abolished last year because of the old grudge of "cursing the water", although the Gongbang Dynasty has nothing to do with the Taungoo Dynasty that launched the "curse of the water", its royal family is still deposed, and the whole country has been reduced to an imperial colony and placed under the management of the Imperial Colonial Department. Since then, the Burma Pavilion has been sitting idle until it is now welcoming guests again, all of whom look very different from each other, all of them with blonde hair and blue eyes.

These were the officials of the Republic of Ireland who had come to China from Ireland, and what they had come to China to seek was the status of "imperial vassals."

"Imperial Vassal ......"

Putting down the book "Imperial Vassals" in his hand, Ferris said in an exclamatory tone.

"If there had been such an idea in Europe, perhaps Ireland would not have perished at all, and the small country would not have been invaded by a large country!"

The reason for his exclamation was that he had been looking through the book for some time, trying to fully understand what an "imperial vassal" was, and the books published by the Ministry of the Interior were undoubtedly the most standard answer.

"Oh? Why do you say that? Professor Ferris! ”

Because Ferris was a professor at Trinity College, Charlie had always referred to him as a professor, and he found that in China, it seemed that Ferris's status as a professor was more popular than his status as the head of the delegation, Chinese he had always had great respect for knowledgeable people, and it was even through cultural identity that they established the hierarchy of the imperial vassals.

"The so-called "imperial vassals", I personally think that it is similar to an international relationship under the coordination of China, conflicts and affairs between small countries are often arbitrated by China, for example, between many small countries in Southeast Asia, their conflicts are often arbitrated by China, in this suzerainty system, China is more like a chief judge, as much as possible to maintain order in a peaceful way, if one of the countries tries to challenge this order, for example, Japan tried to challenge this order more than two hundred years ago, launched an attack on KoreaImmediately after China's order to withdraw its troops was refused, China sent troops to help Korea, which had almost destroyed the country, defeat Japan and restore the Korean royal family, without which Korea might have been occupied by Japan, like Ireland......"

Even as a professor of Oriental Studies, Ferris was able to speak a fairly fluent Chinese language - which is why he was chosen deputy head of the delegation, but he still had difficulty understanding the "East Asian vassal view", and certainly did not know that the "Imperial Vassals" was more of an official vocabulary.

"Well, I'll admit it's true, but, Professor Ferris, there are also hierarchies among the vassal states of the Empire......"

When Charles mentions rank, he immediately thinks of Japan, Korea, the Ryukyus, and Vietnam, which are the so-called "first-class vassal states" whose nationals are also considered "naturalizable", and in the African colonies, these people are listed as "honorary Chinese", enjoying almost the same status as the Chinese.

"Charlie!"

Looking at Charlie, the head of the delegation, Professor Ferris said with a smile.

"This level is exactly what we need!"

Ferris pressed his hand on the book, and he said in a low voice.

"One of the most fundamental reasons why Ireland wants to be a vassal of the empire is that the problems between us and the British cannot be resolved in the next few decades, and without the protection of China, Ireland may be invaded by the British at any time, and in this case, if there is a Chinese flag, it is undoubtedly extremely advantageous for the Irish......"

Sometimes, the reality dictates that every country has to make some choices, just as Ireland is doing now.

"As vassals of the Empire, we can receive unconditional protection from the Chinese Empire, of course, we only need to express "submission", and this submission is nominal, for example, in the Khmer, the Khmer Governor almost never asks about Khmer affairs, and the Khmer Governor is only a representative of the Chinese Emperor, although according to the vassal regulations, the laws of the vassal state can only have legal effect after the Governor has signed them. And the Governor is also the commander-in-chief of his army, but this is only in name, isn't this exactly the name we need? ”

The "governor" in Ferris's mouth refers to the most inferior vassal state in the three levels of "vassals", and the mastery of this kind of vassal state is more limited to nominal control, in fact, Zhu Yifeng himself borrowed the concept of the "British Commonwealth" in later generations.

In this "vassal" level, the members of the East Asian cultural circles of Japan, Korea, Ryukyu and Vietnam, which are most deeply influenced by Chinese civilization, will become provincialized in the future, and their royal families will become the nobles of the empire. Despite their very high status in the "vassal" rank, the involvement of the Prime Minister in the affairs of his country is also the highest, their laws require the Prime Minister's signature, their officials require the Prime Minister's consent, and even the army, which must be under the command of the Prime Minister, not in name but in substance, and all officers must be graduates of the Chinese Army and Naval Academy, and these countries are now not so much states as states under the control of China, Although their officials, big and small, still go about their business as usual, and their Dai Lu still spends as usual, the day-to-day management of the country has been entirely the responsibility of the Prime Minister's Office, and its royal family is often only a symbol.

The second-class members of this system are the vassals of countries such as the Khmer and Nepal, whose submission is only nominal, and the governors sent are only as representatives of the emperor, and the royal family in the country still holds the power of the country, and their presence in their own countries can even be ignored.

As for the vassals like Hawaii and Panama, they are a very special existence, and it is their existence that makes the vassals of the empire divided into three levels.

"All Ireland needs is this nominal submission, and even if we recognize the Emperor of China as the head of state of Ireland, what is there to be? We just need to report the elected Prime Minister to the Governor as the representative of His Majesty the Emperor after the election, wait for His Majesty's approval, everything is simple, we don't even need to pay heavy taxes like we did with the British, we can get the protection of the Empire, well, all this requires symbolic submission! Of course, there is also the annual tribute, which is more like a gift between countries. ”

The Irish may be stubborn, but they are also realistic, they are willing to give something to ensure the independence of Ireland, but they stubbornly adhere to some so-called principles, which is why they agreed a few months ago - to become vassals of the Empire in order to obtain the protection of the Empire, which in their opinion is the best option to maintain independence.

Although this choice was initially opposed by the Church, because the Emperor of China was also a pagan, in the end they chose to accept it because of reality and their hatred of the British.

However, when they made this choice, they only did not know much about the vassal policy of the empire based on hearsay, and now that they understand it, Ferris believes that Ireland has made the right choice, and Charlie, who can be the head of the delegation, expresses his concerns.

"Professor, don't forget, there are also Hawaii and Panama among the vassals of the empire, their status is due to their location, and Ireland is located in Europe, and it may be the only vassal of China in Europe in the future, if they want to upgrade the vassal state at that time, how can we refuse? Just like Japan! ”

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