September 8, 1793, Rehe Chengde.

After the members of the British mission to the Qing Dynasty entered the Chengde Summer Resort, they felt that their eyes were a little insufficient! Different from the small pocket palaces of European royal families to spend the summer, Chengde Summer Resort covers an extremely vast area, which took three generations of emperors more than 80 years to complete, and the area alone is more than 100 times that of Windsor Castle, the later British royal resort!

Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong both liked to go down to the south of the Yangtze River to play, so the Chengde Summer Resort is not only majestic and majestic to show the royal majesty, but also has a gentle and beautiful style in the Wuyue area, which has a unique charm.

Emperor Kangxi has always regarded himself as a "literary and artistic youth", so he named thirty-six scenic spots in four words, and showed his cultivation to the harem concubines and ministers. Qianlong has always been complacent about his poetry and literary attainments, and he also imitated his grandfather and named 36 scenic spots with three words, which is the origin of the 72 scenic spots of Chengde Summer Resort.

In later generations, Wickham once accompanied his girlfriend Gao Yuanyuan to Chengde to visit once during the National Day, but to be honest, Wickham basically didn't have much feeling for this royal garden at that time, because there were too many tourists. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, it is also destroyed by the black oppressive head, how can you still be in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery?

But at this time, unlike more than two hundred years later, there was hardly anyone in the whole garden, except for a small number of guards, eunuchs and palace maids who came and went in a hurry, which gave Wickham the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the garden leisurely.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites who led the way for the mission saw that this group of Yi people looked like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and scolded with some disdain in their hearts: I have never seen the barbarian buns in the world!

The temporary residence of the members of the mission was on the edge of the Chengde Summer Resort, a long distance away from where the royals lived, much to the disappointment of Wickham. Because the photos of the concubine of Guangxu on the Internet in later generations are really a bit infiltrating, which triggered a big discussion on the Internet about whether the Qing Dynasty emperor is "sexual or not".

Wickham originally wanted to take this opportunity to take a look at what the Manchu concubine looked like, but it seemed that he could only say regret, if he wanted to see the emperor's concubine this year, he might have to castrate himself first, and Wickham had no plans to be Li Lianying now.

Not long after the British mission settled down, He Shen received the imperial order to come to this inconspicuous small courtyard, saying that it was an interview, but in fact, he came to probe the bottom of the British and see if there was room for negotiation in the etiquette of the audience.

The last time the ceremonial dispute between China and Britain made Emperor Qianlong very unhappy, in his opinion, he was the emperor of the Celestial Empire, that is, the co-lord of the four seas, but the current British envoys were unwilling to perform the salute of kneeling three times and bowing nine times, which made him feel a little unbearable on his face.

But the British mission came from afar, and he couldn't be too harsh, otherwise he wouldn't scare away the Western states who wanted to pay tribute later (of course, this was Qianlong's own obscenity). Therefore, it is really appropriate for Qianlong to let He Shen come over, not only to euphemistically state his position, but also to leave himself room to maneuver.

"Presumably this is Lord Ma, I take the liberty to visit, and I hope Lord Ma doesn't mind." The thick-eyed, big-eyed, heroic Minister of Military Aircraft He Shen walked into the small courtyard with two officials and smiled at Ma Garni.

He Shen's voice is loud and has a sense of affinity, but the middle-aged figure is not out of shape, and at first glance it is a personable middle-aged beautiful man, which can't help but make people feel good.

Wickham smacked his lips, thinking that this and Shen really deserved to be Qianlong's most trusted minister, not to mention the ability, this body shape and appearance alone can add a lot of points, in ancient China, being an official could not only be a powerful faction, appearance was also equally important.

When Wickham's gaze swept over an official behind He Shen, he was shocked! The latter one is none other than Fucha Fukangan, the governor of Liangguang who he met in Guangzhou not long ago!

Because he came to the heart of the Qing Empire, Magalni no longer wore ordinary casual clothes as usual, but changed into a graceful and luxurious formal dress, which was full of medals and ribbons, which were extremely gorgeous and very conspicuous among the members of the mission, so He Shen had recognized Magalni since then.

Wickham walked over and reminded in a low voice: "Your Excellency, the person who spoke is He Shen, the most powerful official of the Qing Kingdom, and is trusted by the Qing Emperor. ”

Magalny said he understood, then walked over briskly and took off his hat to Heshen: "It turned out to be Mr. Heshen, and it is my honor to visit you." ”

Then Magalni also found Fukangan, who had met in Liangguang, and smiled at him: "Mr. Fukangan, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon. It seems that this is God's arrangement, and maybe we can be very good friends. ”

Fukang nodded reservedly and said, "Yes, Master Ma, we meet again." Although Fukangan is in a high position, he is still a soldier at heart, and his personality is a little dull, so he doesn't say anything after a simple greeting.

He Shen stroked his beard and came out to the rescue: "I didn't expect Lord Fukangan to be the old man of Lord Ma!" Lord Fukangan was also promoted to Minister of Military Aircraft some time ago, and when he first came to Chengde, he met Master Ma again, and the two of you are really destined. ”

Wickham glanced at Fukangan, and secretly thought that this guy became the Minister of Military Aircraft at a young age, and many Red Sons in later generations were not as good as him, and he was worthy of being raised by Emperor Qianlong, not a son is better than a son.

Magalny didn't quite understand what "fate" meant, but finally understood it after some explanation from Wickham: "I didn't expect the Chinese language to be so subtle, it's really interesting." ”

After chatting for a while about the topic of unnutritious, He Shen again raised the issue of audience etiquette, but he didn't expect Margarny's words to be very fierce, insisting on paying homage to Emperor Qianlong with the etiquette of kneeling on one knee, and also brought out the reason why Wickham was fooling: "My lord, it's not that we don't follow the etiquette of your country, it's just that our English right leg kneecap lacks a piece of cartilage compared with yours, so we can't kneel down on both knees." Therefore, we can only kneel on one knee when we salute our honorable people. ”

The ins and outs of the etiquette dispute have long been made clear in the letter, how could He Shen not know that this so-called reason is just a step given by the two sides. Seeing that Magarni had no room for negotiation, He Shen also borrowed the slope to get off the donkey: "In this case, then come according to the etiquette of your country." ”

In the ensuing conversation, He Shen knowingly avoided questions about the etiquette of the audience and talked about China's customs and customs, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Ma Garni remembered that the Qing Dynasty army he had seen along the way was basically only equipped with cold weapons, and there was no large-scale equipment of guns and guns, and he wanted to see if he could sell some weapons, so he said enthusiastically to Fukangan: "I heard that Lord Fukangan is a great general, and he must know a lot about military affairs. I have a puzzle, and I just happened to ask Your Excellency for advice. From what I have observed along the way, your army is basically not equipped with muskets, which seems to me to be very unreasonable. Because the armies of our European countries have basically eliminated cold weapons, and the basic weapons of all infantry are smoothbore guns, and this configuration has been proven to be effective in many wars. ”

Although Magalny did not say it explicitly, everyone here knew that he meant that the Qing army's army was too backward, which made several Manchu officials present look bad.

After a pause, Magalny continued: "We in the United Kingdom of Great Britain are able to produce a large number of high-quality smoothbore guns, which are not only of high quality, but also very affordable. If your country wants to improve the combat effectiveness of your army, I think our United Kingdom will be more than happy to do so. ”

In fact, Magalny's role as an arms dealer was just a whim, because the British East India Company produced a large number of British Army standard weapons "Beth" rifles in India, but the officers of the British Army did not look down on the slightly inferior Beth rifles, so these Indian versions of Beth rifles were backlogged in warehouses.

When he saw that the infantry weapons of the Qing army were still in the age of cold weapons, Magarny, who was a shareholder of the East India Company, was moved. If he can convince the Qing army to update its equipment, this is a big business for millions of rifles! Not only can you digest the weapons that are backlogged in the warehouse, but you can also make a lot of money, so why not.

Fu Kangan did not hide his disdain, and said with a playful smile: "I am a peerless cavalry and archery in the Qing Dynasty, and I have won the world since I was a horse, and the firearm is Xiao Daoer, which is not worth mentioning." Back then, the Ming dog was sharp, and he was not still defeated by the iron cavalry of my Qing Dynasty. After all, strange and obscene skills are not the right way, and real swords and real guns are the foundation of the army. ”

When Fukangan was in Tibet to suppress the rebellion, he encountered the Nepalese army with the training equipment of the British army, and his 5,000 men and horses rushed up to the opponent and did not hold on to a stick of incense for a long time before they were defeated, which made him think that the smoothbore gun was not a great weapon.

However, what Fukangan didn't know was that the reason why he was able to defeat the Nepalese muskets was because the opponent's musketeers had no formation at all, and the reloading speed was ridiculously slow.

Listening to Fukangan's boasting, Wickham almost didn't squirt the tea in his mouth! I thought that this Manchurian Tartar was really bragging and not playing drafts, what kind of riding and shooting was unparalleled, and the Manchurian iron riders of the year were afraid that they would only walk dogs and tease cats now. The Manchurian cavalry did deserve the title of strong army before entering the customs, but after entering the customs, it quickly degenerated, and by the time Kangxi put down the rebellion of the three feudatories, the Eight Banners army was overwhelmed and could only rely on the green camp Han army.

After entering the customs, the Manchus quickly realized the challenge to their dominance with muskets, so they abandoned these weapons, which caused the squadron and the British army to lag behind by a whole era during the Opium War. Fukangan was the most important Manchu military general in the late Qianlong Dynasty, and even he held this view, so one can imagine what kind of attitude the entire Manchu regime had towards fire and guns.

Although Magarni touched his nose, he still did not give up: "Lord Fu, now the main force of the armies of European countries is no longer cavalry, but infantry equipped with fire and guns. This time, His Majesty's gift to the Emperor of your country includes fifty Beth rifles and two of the latest field guns, and I would like to ask your Excellency to allow my guards to demonstrate the power of fire and gun artillery for the two of you. ”

"Master Ma, please wait for me to inform the emperor, if the emperor nods and agrees, you can do it." He Shen hesitated a little, Chengde Villa is the royal summer palace, what kind of system is it to use knives and guns in it, and Emperor Qianlong is now living in the villa, if he disturbs the emperor and his old man, he is afraid that he will not be able to explain it.

Although Ma Garni was a little disappointed, he had no choice but to give up.

ps: Something was delayed yesterday.,Today's two more to make up.,The first time I wrote a book, I didn't do a daily update.,I'm sorry.