Updated: 202-09-6

After the envoys of France, Britain and the United States arrived in Dinghai, Qian Shuiting, the first assistant, and Shao Bei, the Zhengqing of Honglu Temple, held talks with them respectively. Finally, Bai Baoxiang met with the French minister and the British and American consuls in the conference hall of the General Military Palace.

According to the practice of receiving foreign guests in later generations, Bai Baoxiang sat in the first seat on the left, Qian Shuiting, Shao Bei, Xu Nanying and others sat down in this row, and the visiting foreigners sat opposite them, arranged in the order of France, Britain, and the United States.

Bulbulon was separated from him by a coffee table from the big leader of the Ming Kingdom, and he felt very comfortable in his heart. However, Bourblon behaved very reservedly, and only secretly praised in his heart that this order was good, and it was very free and equal.

Although the actions of the Ming army made Bourblon feel a little favorable to them, the Far East springboard was a matter of France's national interests, and Bourblon decided to keep the principle of neutrality unchanged and not give any help to these rebel forces.

When it came to the rebel army, Bourblon was still a little worried about how to take Dinghai as a springboard for France in the Far East in the future. He thought that although the Ming army was strong, it was limited in number, and perhaps aiding the Qing army could solve this problem. In any case, Bourblon had to wait for the outcome of the negotiations between the British and American ministers to go north to revise the treaty before making plans.

After the two sides finished talking about those unnutritious opening remarks, Bourblon said: "First of all, thank you for your hospitality, in the past half a day, Prime Minister Qian has introduced to us some information about your Ming Dynasty system and current situation, and Minister Shao has briefly explained to us your foreign policy, for which we express our gratitude."

Now that we have a certain understanding of your department, we express our great admiration for your stubborn fighting for 200 years after the Manchus ruled China.

Your army is also very powerful, and your warships are also very rich in our European and American warships. However, we in Europe and the United States are peace-loving and civilized countries, and we abide by the principle of neutrality. I declare that in the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Tatars, we will remain neutral. At the same time, we also strongly urge your ministry to pay attention to protecting the rights and interests of our European and American countries.

We believe that the tax collection by your Coast Guard at sea is an infringement on the free passage of European and American merchant ships on the sea, and an infringement on free trade. ”

"Thank you, France, Britain and the United States for maintaining a neutral position in our war with the Manchu Tatars." Bai Baoxiang nodded in gratitude, "As for the tax collection behavior of our Coast Guard, I want to explain that we collect Jinghai tax.

As you know, some time ago, the sea area of Dinghai in Ningbo was flooded with pirates. Where are the pirates now? Give us the coast guard to wipe it out. As a responsible government, we are naturally responsible for Jinghai. But when merchant ships sailing in these waters enjoyed the right to be free from piracy, they were supposed to be liable to pay taxes. ”

Burblon was unceremonious, "However, we have not yet recognized you as a legitimate government, so our passing merchant ships will refuse to pay the so-called Jinghai tax." ”

Bai Baoxiang thought for a moment, he felt that there was no need to worry about this tax money. In the next stage, the focus of the work of the cross-cutting team will be shifted to the Taiwan Strait, and the eastern coast of Zhejiang will be used as a guerrilla zone for military training. Then suspending the collection of Jinghai tax in the waters around Dinghai is also a logical thing.

He and Qian Shuiting whispered a few times, and then said: "In view of the strong opposition of France, Britain and the United States, the Ming government agreed to suspend the collection of Jinghai taxes. However, we would like to state that rights and obligations complement each other, and if we suspend the collection of Jinghai taxes, we will no longer have the responsibility of Jinghai. ”

The British Acting Consul Wen Ji Si thought about it, this guy is so bold that he wants to threaten the powerful empire on which the sun never sets!

Wen Jisi looked at Bai Baoxiang with disdain, stood up without care, and held a piece of paper in his hand, "This is a joint note from our British, French and American consulates in Ningbo. We demand that your ministry refrain from harming or interfering with all European and American diplomats and their nationals in China during the war, otherwise they must pay full and full compensation.

We ask that your ministry refrain from imposing excessive taxes in the areas under your control;

We ask your ministry to be careful not to enter the foreign concession, otherwise it will cause serious consequences;

We ask your ministry to take care to protect and respect the lives and property of all foreigners, without any minor harm or interference;

We demand that your ministry attack Ningbo and other treaty ports must be notified five days in advance, so that foreign merchants can remove the sundries in the city. ”

In the face of the British's strongly worded note, the faces of the Chinese present suddenly darkened, and the atmosphere in the conference hall suddenly became very serious. At this moment, "Pap, pap, pap!" After listening to Bourblon's speech, Bai Baoxiang clapped his hands lightly, followed by Qian Shuiting, and then Shao Bei, Xu Nanying and others also applauded together, and soon all the people in the audience applauded together, and the atmosphere in the venue was slightly eased.

Bai Baoxiang received Hurd's note from the soldier, "It is very reasonable, these demands reflect the care of European and American countries for their own nationals, and we express our great admiration." We also understand your commitment to neutrality. However, this principle of neutrality does not conflict with the principle of free trade, does it? ”

"No contradictions! As long as it does not involve the purchase and sale of arms, European and American countries can trade with all Chinese without discrimination. ”

"I have a list here, Da Ming needs a hundred steam engines, two hundred silk carts, and two hundred thousand spindles. Now, are you French willing to do this business? ”

"No problem, it's not an arms trade, of course no problem. I will inform a few French foreign companies as soon as possible to negotiate this order with Ming Guocha. Bulbulon calculated that the total value of the order was close to four hundred thousand taels of silver, and he readily agreed.

Wen Ji Situ was very unhappy, "Mr. Jian Guo, our British industry is the strongest in the world, why doesn't Ming Guo hand over this order to our Britain?!" ”

After more than a hundred years of capitalist development, there have been signs of overproduction of various machinery and equipment in Britain, and various factory owners urgently need to develop new markets, but after the Opium War, China's self-sufficient society made the British have no market for industrial products, and the Chinese market has been open for seven or eight years, and Britain can sell things to the Chinese, except for opium or opium.

Therefore, if Wen Ji Situ can bring this order of nearly 400,000 silver back to England, there is no doubt that he will be rewarded, and the future is limitless.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Consul. I have another order here, and we hope that the UK will be able to provide us with a complete set of shipyard equipment. ”

This list is worth five or six hundred thousand! Wen Ji Si was in ecstasy, and he immediately agreed, "There is no problem at all." ”

But after he finished speaking, he suddenly calmed down, the rebels ordered so many machines, do they want to arrange the shipyard in Dinghai? Or will it soon attack the interior?

He looked at Bai Baoxiang with questioning eyes, "Dear Mr. Jianguo, where is your shipyard going to be placed?" ”

"We'll find out then." Bai Baoxiang smiled slightly, and he asked the American consul, "Can the American foreign bank help buy the equipment of a machine bureau and a batch of mining equipment?" ”

"No problem!"

American Consul Bradley knew that large-scale construction was going on in the United States, and a large number of machinery and equipment, steel rails and other materials needed to be imported from Britain, and he naturally did not have the ability to grab these orders from Britain and France, but he was overjoyed to hear that he could also get a piece of the pie, although the quantity could not be compared with Britain and France.

The carefully prepared gifts made the French, British and American envoys smile, and Bai Baoxiang was in a very comfortable mood, "Thank you France, Britain and the United States for their deep friendship with our Ming Dynasty." Here, on behalf of the only legitimate government of China, Daming, I would like to make the following statement: We support the principle of free trade, and the French, British and American expatriates will enjoy the right of free trade in our designated ports, and we will also respect and protect the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese in China. ”

"No, no, no!" The French minister, Bourblon, disagreed, "The designated port is too small, and France, Britain and the United States hope that in every inch of land controlled by your ministry, our expatriates can enjoy the right to free trade." In addition, we expatriates must also enjoy the right of free passage and the right to proselytize freely. ”

Appetite is not small, Bai Baoxiang immediately refused, "This issue, let's not consider it for the time being, and after you recognize the legitimacy of our government, we will discuss it." ”

The visit of the French, British, and American envoys was only an inspection, and they did not admit the plans of the Ming government, so they naturally had nothing to say about Bai Baoxiang's excuses.

In a warm and friendly atmosphere, Bai Baoxiang presented Jingdezhen's porcelain-painting plates to the French, British and American governments on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. On the plate are the color portraits of the French Emperor Napoleon, the British Queen Victoria, and the American President Washington.

These plates are specially customized gifts for Bai Baoxiang in the 21st century.

After the talks, Bai Baoxiang set up a buffet luncheon in the small garden of the General Military Mansion to entertain visiting French, British, and American envoys such as Bourblon.

A stone path leads guests to the garden pond by the water pavilion, which is relatively wide and is used as a casual dining area.

In the open space next to the water pavilion is a long Western-style dining table, on which are lined up with many large porcelain plates. A variety of seafood dishes such as mussels, conch, oysters, fish rolls, and prawns are displayed on the plate, as well as a variety of desserts.

On the dining table, there is also a row of charcoal stoves, which make mouth-watering "sizzle" sounds, and large pieces of steaks, pork chops, chicken chops and fish steaks are turning on iron plates, and the strange aroma almost melts the nasal mucosa.

There are also many champagnes and red wines on the table next to it.

The envoys of France, Britain and the United States seemed to be in a grand party in China, and their spirits were lifted. After greeting their hosts, they took their dishes from their plates one by one, and then took a seat in the relaxation area to enjoy the hearty and delicious dishes while chatting.

"Very-Beauty" American Consul Bradley sighed while enjoying the food, "It's incredible, the form of this buffet is fantastic, these rebels are simply yellow-skinned Europeans and Americans." ”

"That's right." The British Vice-Consul Moon, who was sitting across from Bradley, agreed, "The scheming of these fellows is as good as these dishes, all first-class. They want to tie us up with trade, but I like it, only if I can make business opportunities, I believe that China will give me a reward. ”

Bourbulon came to Bai Baoxiang's side with a dinner plate, "Mr. Jianguo, can I talk to you alone?" ”

Bai Baoxiang couldn't understand French, shrugged his shoulders, and responded in English: "I'm sorry, let's talk in English." ”

"Why?" Unable to understand it, Bourblon stubbornly said in French, "English is only the language of the coarse nouveau riche, and French is the language of the international high society." ”

Bai Baoxiang smiled bitterly, your uncle, who can understand French, in our time, English is the real international language? !

Fortunately, at this time, Xu Nanying rushed to help. "Mr. Minister, it is a pleasure for us to speak with you alone."

Ahh However, if you can use Dinghai Port as a neutral port, let us France and your Ming army work together to maintain the security, prosperity and stability of Dinghai. We are willing to recognize you as a sovereign state, and we are willing to help you conquer the Zhejiang region. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Minister, for your deep friendship with our Ming Dynasty." Bai Baoxiang laughed dryly, "But we won't discuss this issue for the time being." ”

Burbulon thought about it for a long time, and came up with a plan, but he didn't get a response from the Ming army, he was a little puzzled, "Why don't you discuss and establish a neutral zone, those Manchu adults won't dare to come and make trouble, and we can all enjoy the benefits of free trade together, which is beneficial to all of us." ”

Bai Baoxiang said with a smile, "Because we are a democratic country, all major events need to be voted by the parliament, and without the authorization of the parliament, I cannot agree to your proposal." ”

"And when will your council be able to discuss this proposal?" Burblon was a little depressed, and these rebel forces would also use parliament as a shield.

"Our parliament meets once a year." This Frenchman is too uninteresting, Bai Baoxiang feels that he can't blindly avoid the question, "However, as a power supervisor, I myself can't agree to your proposal." Freedom, equality, and fraternity are the beliefs of your European and American countries, and they are also our beliefs. Although the area under our control is only a fixed sea for the time being, we believe that all countries are equal, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak. We should establish friendly relations on the basis of the five principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. ”