Taihe Hall is one of the "Three Great Halls of the East", the largest existing wooden structure hall in China in later generations, commonly known as "Jinluan Palace". In fact, the Taihe Hall is not used for the court, but for the place where various ceremonies are held, such as the emperor's ascension to the throne, the emperor's wedding, the canonization of the queen, and the order of the generals, in addition to the annual longevity festival, New Year's Day, and the winter solstice, the emperor accepts the congratulations of civil and military officials here, and gives a banquet to the princes and ministers.

At this time, the ministers of Britain, Russia and France were leisurely sipping the tea paid to the emperor in the Taihe Palace, and the emperor's close attendant Kou Liancai was standing aside. The French envoy came here only after hearing that the British and Russian envoys were going to the Summer Palace to protest. Regarding the choice of the location for the ministers of various countries to meet the Qing Emperor, from the Ziguang Pavilion to the Chengguang Palace, the ministers of various countries have been arguing for decades about where the Qing Emperor should meet with the ministers of various countries. The ministers of various countries were still not satisfied with the Chengguang Hall chosen by the Qing Dynasty. "The Western countries treat each other with the same etiquette as the general practice of all nations, and all the heads of state receive Chinese envoys in the imperial palace or the presidential palace, so the audience should be received in the palace at the place of the great court and the regular court." In other words, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was supposed to receive foreign envoys within the imperial palace. For this place of reception, from Xianfeng to Tongzhi to Guangxu, there was no result. And now their protest has been received by the emperor of the Qing State in the first hall of the palace, which makes them feel extremely honored. Even if it was worth the extra wait. For many years, the question of the location of foreign ministers to meet the Qing Emperor did not seem to be much of a problem. It's just that in the heart of the British minister to China, Ogne, there is some regret that he came with the Russian minister Cassini. is even more disgusted with the French Minister Shi Allan, this cunning guy. Because he thought it should be the glory of the British Empire.

"The emperor has arrived—"

A message came from outside the palace, and the ministers of the three kingdoms stood up. Regardless of their views on the Qing state, this etiquette is absolutely indispensable.

"Hahaha......" There was a burst of hearty laughter outside the palace gate, and Guangxu stepped over the threshold with a smile: "The two ministers have been waiting for a long time." Oh, and the French minister has arrived, too. ”

"I've seen His Majesty the Emperor." After the three ministers waited for Guangxu to walk to the dragon chair, they all bowed five times.

"Please be seated." After the three ministers finished saluting, Guangxu didn't wait for them to say what they meant. Guangxu said: "I have encountered a problem that I really can't solve, so I have inquired in many ways. I don't know how many ministers are coming. So let you wait a long time. ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, we are here today......" Ogne had just opened his mouth when he was interrupted by Guangxu.

Guangxu suddenly got up and said to himself: "Yes, why didn't I think of this." There are a few ministers here, and I believe there will be no more problems. My railway can be built. By the way, Minister Ogne, what did you just say? ”

"Your Majesty wants to build a railway?" Ogne asked rhetorically.

"Exactly. But as you know, there are few people who know about railways. Therefore, it has been pending for a long time. Today, it happens that several ministers are here. It's better to help me come up with ideas. Guangxu paused: "Shaochuan brought the map, and the three ministers also came closely. ”

When Tang Shaoyi spread out the map on the dragon case, Guangxu drew a big cross on the map from Harbin in the north, Guangzhou in the south, Weihaiwei in the east, and Ili in the west. When Guangxu put down the pen, he sighed deeply: "My Qing Dynasty has a vast territory, and it is not easy to travel between the southeast and northwest, and the transaction of goods is also extremely inconvenient. I intend to build roads, and although there is no problem with the manpower to build this railway, it is technically difficult to solve. Of course, I believe that your ministers can solve this problem for me. ”

The eyes of the Russian minister Casini lit up, and the west and north ends of the railway line drawn by the Qing emperor were connected to Russia. This is a great thing for Russia's Far East project, which has already begun construction. If it could be connected to these two railways, it would mean that the Far East would go directly into the arms of Russia. And he himself will become a great hero of Russia. It is good for the country and for himself, and Cassini wants to do everything possible to make this happen, and he must notify the country as soon as he returns. Cassini hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I believe Your Majesty should know that the Great Railway of the Far East in our Russia is already under construction, and it is the longest railway in the world, nearly 10,000 kilometers. I believe that there is no problem in our country in terms of technology. ”

The Russian minister was secretly happy, but the British minister panicked. The dust has not yet settled on the competition between Britain and Russia in Kashmir. The Qing State put forward a railway plan again, but it was not in the hands of Russia. The Russian bear's greed for land is known to the world, and you still have to do this, aren't you giving the land of the Qing Kingdom to Russia? Eugene was angry in his heart, and he couldn't oppose it openly. I can only say: "Your Majesty, the world's first railroad was built by the British Empire, and the technology of building railways has no problem with the British Empire." ”

"It's not a problem for me to build railways in France. I wonder if Your Majesty has considered building a railway to Cochin? "As soon as the French Minister Schalain knew that this had nothing to do with France. But he still asked cautiously.

"No matter what, we have to wait for these two railways to be completed. Minister Shi Alan, please rest assured, I will definitely repair it to Cochin in the future, it is only a matter of time. Now we are not discussing the question of how the Grand Cross Railway should be built. ”

"It's just that His Majesty wants such a long railway to start construction at the same time?"

"Of course not, I believe that the construction of railways in various countries must also be repaired and then connected together. So where do you think I should start from with? ”

"South."

"Northeast."

Of course, it was the British and French ministers who spoke of the South. In order to maintain the balance in the Far East, Britain did not want Russia to make too much moves in the Far East. This is a characteristic of Britain's "balance-of-power diplomacy", which takes advantage of the contradictions between two or more blocs to contain each other in order to free itself to pursue a policy of colonial expansion. France, on the other hand, wanted Russia to turn its attention to Europe in order to contain a rising Germany. What worries Sallan the most is that Russia's Far Eastern Railway has shown signs of slowing down after receiving a loan from France. If the Qing State builds the Northeast Railway at this time, then the Russian Emperor Nicholas II's surname will definitely speed up the construction of the Far East Railway. In that case, the French loan to Russia would be in vain. The same purpose led the two countries to agree on the issue of railways in the Qing Kingdom.

Naturally, it was the Russian minister Casini who said that the northeast was the Russian minister, and naturally stated to the Qing emperor the benefits of building the Northeast Railway: "Your Majesty, it is better to build the Northern Railway first, and it is better for him to build the Northeast Railway first." In this way, once China's Far East Railway is completed and connected to your country's railway, the distance between East and West will be greatly shortened. Then the world will remember His Majesty's name. ”

The British minister Ogne also spoke: "Your Majesty, the southern provinces of the Qing Dynasty have been important places for state taxation since ancient times, and if the southern railway is built, it can increase the transportation between the north and the south, facilitate the flow of goods, and greatly increase the country's finances. That sounds like a lot of reality.

Guangxu is so difficult, and his heart is actually happy. Let's fight, when you all fight, I will have a cheap pickup. "Yes, yes, this money is still more practical. It seems that the technical problem of building the railway has been solved. But you know that the treasury of the Qing Dynasty is empty, and this railway will be repaired, and it is impossible to estimate how much silver taels it will cost. ”

Unexpectedly, Guangxu finished speaking. The ministers of the three countries said in unison: "Our country can provide loans. ”

Guangxu immediately smiled: "Then there doesn't seem to be a big problem with this railway." It's just that all three of you are willing, so how can I choose? Guangxu didn't expect that this fight would have such a good thing. Guangxu didn't think about it carefully, and said: "That's it, this railway repair is not a matter of a moment and a half, please go back first, ministers." I also have to consult with my servants again. When you go back, you don't want to come up with your own road construction plan. Who will choose whom, you say? ”

In fact, it does take a lot of time to build a railway, not only to build roads, but also to conduct preliminary investigations. There is nothing wrong with Guangxu saying this.

"Okay, Your Majesty, our country will come up with a plan as soon as possible. I believe that your country will eventually choose our plan, and the British Empire will be the most powerful. Ogne said something threatening as he left.

Cassini smiled: "Maybe it's worse than building a warship, but this land thing, my Tsarist Russia is no worse than you Britain." "It means that at sea, Russia is not comparable to you, but you are not comparable to the army. After all, Russia at this time had the largest number of route troops in Europe.

Gotcha, this is a fight before it even goes out. Shi Alan saw that we can't fall behind. What can I say? Stronger than the navy, stronger than Russia but not as good as Britain. It is stronger than the army, stronger than the British, but not as powerful as the Russians. Fortunately, Guangxu came out to play a round at this time.

"You don't have to argue. When your plan comes out, shall we discuss it? By the way, before I came back, I heard that the ministers of several countries came to protest, but I don't know why they protested? ”

Only then did the envoys of the Three Kingdoms remember that they had come here to protest against the content of Guangxu's decree in the morning. But who dares to say it now, if you say this, the railway plan of the Qing Kingdom will immediately exclude you. The ministers of the three countries looked at each other, looked at each other, and didn't know how to answer for a while. After all, Britain is an old power, and many years of diplomatic experience immediately brought Eugene back to his senses and replied: "Your Majesty, I didn't protest before waiting, I guess Your Majesty heard it wrong." We have come to discuss the location of the audience with His Majesty. Does the fact that Your Majesty is receiving us in the Taihe Hall mean that Your Majesty has identified this place as a place for envoys from various countries to visit? ”

"I'm not here to protest." Guangxu pretended to talk to himself.

Guangxu stepped down from the dragon chair: "Since the Ming Dynasty, this Taihe Hall has always been a place for me to hold various ceremonies in China. It was here that my wedding took place. I want to use this Taihe Hall as a place for you to meet, so you should have no objection. ”

"We have no objections."

"That's good. China has been a country of etiquette since ancient times, and it pays attention to etiquette and exchanges. Wherever the heads of state receive our envoys, then we will receive your envoys. What do you say? "Tell the ministers that the place where Guangxu meets depends on the place where you receive our envoys.

"It's nature."

"Of course, each country has its own etiquette. I hope that the envoys will abide by it. As for the details of the audience, I will send someone to discuss with you later. Shaochuan, send off the ministers on my behalf. In addition, you should visit the German and American ministers and inform them of the intention to build a railway. After all, there must be many people, and there is great strength. Come back quickly, I am waiting for you in the Palace of Heart Cultivation, and you will also go to meet the Queen Mother. ”

Guangxu has already sent off the guests, and the ministers of the Three Kingdoms have no choice but to leave. After the envoys of the Three Kingdoms left, Guangxu said to Kou Liancai: "Little Kouzi, pass on Zhang Yinhuan's heart palace to wait." ”

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