Prince Gong's angry rebuke resounded through the hall, and Wu Ren was stunned for a moment, and the words of the sage who had been gushing just now were suddenly gone. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"The prince is angry, and Lord Wa and Lord Song are also loyal, but they just pay attention to it." Bao Jun, Minister of Military Aircraft, said, "What is to be discussed today, the prince has already made it clear that it is in the name of the envoy and the selection of the envoy. The mission to France has precedent first, and it seems that there is no need to fight. ”

Hearing Bao Jun say that there is a "precedent first", many ministers were stunned.

"What Lord Bao said is an example, but does it mean that Pu Anchen sent an envoy?" Wen Xiang asked.

"Exactly." Bao Jun said, "As a foreigner, Pu Envoy is concerned about the Qing Dynasty, and he has done his mission to promote the prestige of the Qing Dynasty. My emperor once rewarded him with a rank and gave him 10,000 taels of silver for funeral. Have you forgotten this incident that just passed last year? ”

What Bao Jun is talking about is the bizarre event of 1869: China's first diplomatic mission is visiting Europe and the United States.

This is a miracle in the history of Chinese diplomacy: the first diplomatic mission sent by China to the Western world in modern times was actually led by a Westerner.

The matter can be traced back to the Treaty of Tientsin signed by the Qing court with Britain, France, Russia and the United States in 1858. The treaty established 1868 as the year of amendment. The Qing court, which was accustomed to "Huayi diplomacy" and seriously rejected "treaty diplomacy," regarded the "treaty amendment" as a beast and struggled to find a way to deal with it. Sending an embassy to Europe and the United States in order to know oneself and the other was put on the agenda by Prime Minister Yamen.

On November 27, 1867, the Prime Minister's Minister of Yamen Affairs, Yixin, formally requested the Qing court to appoint the American Pu Anchen as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, and invited the Englishman Bai Zhuoan and the Frenchman Deshan to be the "assistants" on the left and right, acting as deputies, accompanied by Chinese officials Zhigang and Sun Jiagu, and more than 20 secretaries and attachés.

Anson's mission was strongly facilitated by Hurd. His motivation is clear: China should break away from the crowd and take the initiative to show its head internationally; China must have its own envoys in the capitals of Western countries, and can convey the views of the Chinese government to the Western governments at any time, instead of having the envoys of Western countries in Beijing convey them on their behalf. Although similar conclusions were reached, the Qing court's starting point for considering the matter was very different from that of Herder. The Celestial Empire's "Huayi concept" was deeply rooted, and the Treaty of Tientsin of 1858 stipulated that China and Western countries should exchange envoys, however, for many years, the dispatch of permanent envoys was a unilateral action by Western countries, and the Qing court never moved. The first reason is that the Qing court felt that there was a lack of talents in this area; More importantly, the Qing court had long followed the "ostrich policy" on the issue of "different etiquette between China and foreign countries", and adopted an evasive attitude - if no envoys were sent to Western countries, there would be no "conflict of etiquette". On the other hand, the request of Western envoys in China to meet the Chinese emperor in accordance with the usual practice has also been softly resisted by the Qing court - the audience ceremony under the "Huayi diplomatic concept" requires the envoys in China to bow down to the emperor; However, under the "concept of treaty diplomacy", all countries are equal, and it is tantamount to a fool's dream to make Western envoys in China bow down to the Chinese emperor. Since the Qing court understood this and was unwilling to abandon the "Huayi diplomatic outlook" that highlighted the glory of the Celestial Empire, the Qing court could only take evasive measures, procrastinating again and again, and always making no arrangements for the emperor to receive Western envoys in China on the grounds that the emperor was young. And as the "Year of Treaty Revision" was approaching, the Qing court had to send its own diplomatic mission to the West. It is imperative for the embassy to do so, and it must not lose face either: if the mission adopts Western etiquette when it goes to the West, it will inevitably affect the negotiations on the etiquette of the emperor in China to receive the Western envoys in China -- the Qing court has been "fighting" for 10 years at the negotiating table in order to prevent the emperor from receiving the Western envoys to China on an equal footing. Then, letting foreigners lead the Chinese mission has become the "best solution" to solve this contradiction, as Prime Minister Yamen said in his memoir: "It is inevitable to use the Chinese as envoys; There is no difficulty in using foreigners as envoys. ”

Despite this, the Qing court was not reassured and drew up eight more instructions for the mission. Among them, there are special instructions on "etiquette issues": the situation that can be "exempted" from salutation should be avoided as much as possible, and it will be discussed after negotiations in the future; It must be in accordance with the etiquette of Western countries, and those who cannot be shirked must solemnly state that this is the etiquette of the West, which is inconsistent with China's national conditions, and that "no matter when China is, the national system should never be changed"; All things that are contrary to China's national etiquette will not be held.

These instructions failed to restrain Pu Anchen. Prime Minister Yamen advised the mission not to hand the credentials directly to the heads of government of Western countries, lest they in turn demand that the credentials be handed directly to the Qing emperor, but as soon as Pu Anchen arrived in the United States, he accepted President Johnson's reception and personally delivered the credentials; Prime Minister Yamen instructed to avoid Western etiquette, and the mission was in full accordance with Western etiquette of bowing and shaking hands in the process of presenting credentials. Since then, when traveling to Britain, France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia and other countries, the missions have all adopted Western etiquette.

Because Pu Anchen was a foreigner, the Chinese officials Zhigang and Sun Jiagu, who had accompanied him on his trip, did not feel any shame. Zhigang wrote in his diary, "Courtesy is appropriate, so that it is customary, and it is also courteous." Perhaps as a result of his death, in February 1870, the mission continued to Belgium, Italy, and Spain, where it continued to use Western diplomatic protocol to bow to the monarchs and present their credentials.

In the description of the nature of Anson Pu and his mission under a certain special and distorted view of history in later generations, Anson Pu "has deceived them by his cunning tricks for many years, and they actually believe that this American aggressor is 'peaceful in handling affairs, can understand the general situation of China and foreign countries,' and is 'extremely willing to resolve disputes in the face of inconvenience to China,' and is therefore a very suitable candidate." ”

After receiving the news, Hurd immediately went to the Prime Minister's Yamen and strongly agreed. Therefore, at the instigation of the conspiracy of the American and British aggressors, the Qing government actually appointed Pu Anchen as the 'minister of foreign affairs of the Chin faction' to send envoys to various countries. …… In this way, a bizarre mission was formed. ”

In fact, the Anson Mission achieved great results, and the Treaty of Anson signed with the United States was the first treaty of equality between China and a Western country in modern times. In the treaty, the United States pledged not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Qing court, and also involved the protection of overseas Chinese, free immigration, and freedom of religious belief. What is particularly important is that immediately after the signing of the treaty, the US Government made diplomatic knowledge of the European and American countries, said that the United States would not recognize any intention or attitude of interfering in China's internal affairs, and asked the US envoys in Europe to assist the Anson Pu delegation in successfully completing the visit. The Anson Pu mission then visited Britain and forced the British government to publicly admit that the threat of force against the Chinese local government was inappropriate (the "Yangzhou Case"). In November 1869, the mission arrived in Berlin, where it received "the most formal and spectacular reception" from the Prussian side. In January 1870, Anson held an official meeting with Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck. As a result of the meeting, Bismarck stated that China needed a strong central government, and that the mission had broad support from Britain and the United States, and that Germany needed to maintain good relations with these countries. Bismarck said: "The Qing Empire, with its vast territory and large population, needed a central government that was respected, authoritative, and powerful. This is both a recognition of the legitimacy of the Qing court's rule and a recognition of China's status as a sovereign state. In February 1870, the mission arrived in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia. Half a month later, he was received by Tsar Alexander II. On February 18, Pu Anchen suddenly fell ill, and many treatments did not improve. "The illness is getting worse day by day, and I still read newsprint every day, and I am worried about the affairs of Russia. Gaipu is long in the sea and commerce, and in Russia, it is thousands of miles away from China on land, and the situation is not the same, I am afraid that the method is slightly worse, and it will lose its face in China; The wording is not appropriate, and it is laughed at by the Russians. It is anxious day and night, and the illness is worse. On February 23, Pu Anchen died of illness while serving as China's ambassador. The Qing court recognized Pu Anchen's contribution and gave him formal praise.

Baojun brought out this case that had only passed a short time, and sure enough, he blocked the mouths of Wu Ren and Song Jin at once.

"The purpose of sending the envoy to France this time is to make friends between the two countries, but if it is in the name of congratulating, it seems inappropriate, and the previous envoy traveled in the name of handling foreign affairs in various countries, and this envoy may wish to go in the name of thanking the Dharma Lord for sending back the national treasure before, and entrust him with the post of Minister of Negotiations, which will not only resentful of the Dharma Master's sincere invitation, but also preserve the dignity of the country." Bao Jun gave his advice.

"That's a good idea." A majestic female voice came from behind the curtain, "That's it." ”

Hearing that Bao Jun actually said such a suggestion, and got the consent of the Empress Dowager, the faces of the conservative ministers such as Wu Ren and Song Jin showed indignation, but they did not dare to say anything more.

"Ministers, which one is willing to share the emperor's worries and appoint this minister for negotiation affairs?" Prince Gong asked.

The hall was cold again, and this time, there was no one to speak.

Weng Tongyi noticed that Li Hongzao and Shen Guifen, the ministers of military aircraft, have not spoken until now.

After being silent for about a quarter of an hour, the Empress Dowager Cixi behind the curtain finally couldn't help but erupt:

"Last time, I sent a foreigner to serve as my plenipotentiary envoy of the Qing Dynasty, can I say that this time I have to send a foreigner? Is there no one in my big clearing? ”

The voice of the Empress Dowager Cixi echoed in the hall, and Weng Tongyi could feel the two aggressive gazes shot from behind the curtain sweeping towards the ministers, and he couldn't help but bow his head with everyone. It seems that if anyone looks up, he will be named by the Queen Mother to be the envoy of this Laoshzi.

After a long time, there was still no answer.

———— Dividing Line————

Collect! Ask for recommendations!