Chapter 154 Foreign Affairs Yamen

Old Summer Palace, including the scripture hall.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that after Zhu Jishi pretended to be the Southern Ming Dynasty, he seized the land of Lanfang, attached himself to Yingyi, lived in Hong Kong, and spied on Fujian and Guangdong, which was really a great disaster for the country.

The one who spoke was Pan Shien, an old minister with gorgeous hair, and his current official position was a scholar of Wuyingdian University, the title of prince and Taibao, and he joined the military aircraft, which is what later generations called the minister of military aircraft. He is the champion of Qianlong for 58 years, has gone through the three dynasties of Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang, and can be called a veteran minister, and he is 78 years old this year. Because of his old age and frailty, his actions remained unchanged, and Emperor Daoguang also granted him a sedan chair ride in the Forbidden City.

Emperor Daoguang nodded, Pan Shien's words are not faulty, whether it is serious, whether it is an old fox, it is always the leader of the Qingliu, and now Zhu Jishi is holding up the banner of "middle school-based, Western learning for use" in Hong Kong, thinking that it is to win these scholars, although the Qing Dynasty is based on the Eight Banners, but the face is still Confucian.

"Master Pan," Pan Shien is still the chief master of the study, theoretically the teacher of all princes, and Emperor Daoguang also respectfully called him "Master Pan". Daoguang said: "The governor of Liangguang, Qi Ying, played, please open the coastal defense donation and raise money to train the Guangdong Eight Banners New Army, what do you think?" ”

Hearing Daoguang talk about the formation and training of the Eight Banners New Army, Pan Shien frowned slightly, Zhu Jishi, the "after the Southern Ming Dynasty", arrived in Hong Kong, and the imperial court hurriedly trained the Eight Banners New Army in Guangzhou, didn't it make it clear that he didn't believe in the Han people? This move may be a matter of course in the eyes of Hanchen, who has become an official in the court, but what will those talents and lifters who always land in the exams think?

"Eight Flags...... The new army is the foundation of the country and the dynasty, and it should be trained. Just persuade donations...... "Pan Shien is a Hanchen, and the Hanchen of the Qing Dynasty always want to behave more favorably towards the Manchus on issues involving the Manchus and Hans." Pan Shien has been an official for decades, so of course he will not be ambiguous on this issue. But soliciting donations and raising wages is not a trick, who doesn't know how greedy the filthy officials below are? 700,000 taels will be raised above, and they can dig 2 million taels out of the pockets of the common people.

"The training of the Eight Banners New Army is also to protect the people of Guangzhou, only 700,000 taels, with the wealth of Guangdong, shouldn't it be a problem?"

Daoguang has obviously decided to train the Eight Banners New Army, and Bai Siwen has already said the general situation of Lan Fang's change on the secret fold given to him, including Liu Axing's "helping the Qing Dynasty to seek the Ming". For Zhu Jishi, Daoguang already felt a tangible threat.

"I know." Pan Shien said no more.

Daoguang's gaze turned to Mu Zhang'a, and Mu Zhang'a took a step forward and said, "The slave thinks that he may be able to negotiate with Yingyi and force him to expel Zhu Yi from Hong Kong." ”

"You can give it a try." Daoguang nodded, but he didn't plan to make any substantive concessions to Britain, such as banning opium or the like, which would also shake the foundation of the Qing Dynasty and never let it go.

Seeing that Daoguang had no further instructions, Mu Zhang'a knew that it would be difficult to complete the negotiations, and suggested: "Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangning, and other places also need to organize and train the Eight Banners New Army, and in addition, a New Army of the Eight Banners can be stationed in Taiwan, so as to prevent Zhu from taking Taiwan to disturb the southeast coast." The slaves asked Fujian, Zhejiang, and Liangjiang to set up coastal defense donations and raise salaries. ”

If the Eight Banners New Army in Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangning, and Taiwan cost 700,000 taels every year, it would be 2.8 million taels, and the amount of silver that the people of the Qing Dynasty wanted to take out would probably have to be multiplied several times!

"It's a feasible idea." Emperor Daoguang said in a deep voice, "Qiying and Bai Siwen also said that the French Minister Laverny suggested that I run my own military industry in the Qing Dynasty, so as not to be controlled by others in matters such as guns, gunpowder, and lead bullets. In addition, the minister also proposed the establishment of a foreign affairs yamen, and selected capable ministers who were proficient in foreign affairs to be responsible for all foreign affairs. What do you think? ”

The officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not know anything about foreign affairs, because they did not understand it, they disdained it, and because they did not want to have anything to do with foreign affairs. Historically, during the Westernization Movement, although the government-run enterprises set up by the Westernists had good salaries and more abundant oil and water, it was difficult to find bureaucrats from the right path to manage them, so they used more donations.

And now, the ministers of Emperor Daoguang have the same mentality, no one wants to be this minister of foreign affairs, so no one squeaks for a while, so as not to be sent by Daoguang to be a minister of foreign affairs.

"The old minister thinks that Lahuni's request is really for my sake, and it should be accepted." The first to stand up and express his stance was Pan Shien, he was 78 years old, so naturally he would not be sent by Emperor Daoguang to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he also wanted to recommend someone. "Lin Zexu, the acting governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, is proficient in Yi affairs, and he is still in Beijing, or he can be ordered to manage the foreign affairs yamen."

"Mu Zhang'a, what do you say?" Emperor Daoguang was noncommittal, but asked the opinion of Mu Zhang'a, the foreman of the military aircraft.

"The slave also agrees with Master Pan's opinion that a foreign affairs yamen should be set up, and Lin Zexu should also be the minister of foreign affairs." He thought for a while, and then said, "In addition, the servant recommended Qi Shan to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs. ”

The six departments of the Qing Dynasty have always set up two chief officials, one for each of the Manchu and Han dynasties, and nominally the two are not divided into ranks when exercising their powers, but the official rank of the Manshangshu is half a grade higher than that of the Han Shangshu, the Manchu Shangshu is the second rank, and the Han Shangshu is the second rank. Now that the foreign affairs yamen is to be set up, this foreign minister should naturally be a Manchu and Han minister, Lin Zexu is the Han minister, and Mu Zhang'a recommended his henchman Qi Shan to be the Manchu minister.

Daoguang shook his head and said: "Qi Shan is still his Chengdu general, the full minister of the foreign affairs yamen, let Qi Ying be the one, and the official title of the foreign minister will be set as the first and second rank." The other two foreign ministers should not stay in Beijing, let them both be stationed in Beijing and the other in Guangzhou. Daoguang paused for a moment, and then said, "Lin Zexu is stationed in Guangzhou, Qiying is sitting in the Western-style yamen in Beijing, and the governor of Liangguang will let Xu Guangjin be in charge." ”

"Your Majesty, should this Eight Banners New Army be managed by that yamen?" The question was asked by the military department, He Rulin, who joined the direct military aircraft, the military department of the Qing Dynasty had no real power, and could not control the Eight Banners. However, Emperor Daoguang only said that he wanted to train the Eight Banners New Army, and did not say which yamen should be in charge of this matter, so He Rulin asked this question. In fact, it reminded Daoguang to arrange a special person to supervise the training of the Eight Banners New Army, otherwise this Eight Banners New Army would most likely be on paper.

Daoguang stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said: "The Eight Banners have always been divided into the Eight Banners of the Garrison and the Eight Banners of the Guards, and the New Army of the Eight Banners trained in Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, and Jiangning is in charge of the General Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, and Jiangning. As for the Eight Banners of the Praetorian Guard, it is also necessary to replace them with foreign guns and strictly supervise the training, but it is not necessary to expand the number of posts, and it is enough to lead the Minister of the Guard to supervise and supervise it. ”

He Rulin sighed secretly, it seems that the New Army of the Eight Banners has no future! One of the major drawbacks of the Qing Dynasty's military affairs was the multi-headed management, taking the Green Battalion as an example, the military department in charge of the nominal army could only manage the personnel of the military attachés, and the specific military affairs were not carried out by the governors of the provinces, and the general soldiers of each town were responsible for the overall responsibility. Governors, governors, generals stationed in the Eight Banners, and even sub-patrols and preparations must intervene in the management, and the governors and generals, as well as the superintendents, fubiaos and military standards directly under the central government. The result of multi-headed management is naturally that the authority is not clear, everyone shares the profit when there is a benefit, and everyone shirks the blame when the face is responsible.

As for the Eight Banners, the situation is similar. Although the generals and commanders stationed in the Eight Banners have clear functions and powers, most of these military attaches to the Eight Banners are not familiar with military affairs, and most of them are appointed by relatives and nobles, and their tenure is not long. The low-level officers and soldiers below are the same as the green battalion, there is no distinction between the military and the people, and they usually live at home, they don't look like soldiers at all, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are a group of armed ordinary people.

Where can such a military system be fought? Even if you change to a Western firearm, how useful can it be?