"Your Majesty, Kalakaua has arrived in Beijing by train at nine o'clock this morning. Available in two days! ”

The New Year's Day was just around the corner, and Kalakaua I had just arrived in Shanghai had left for the north, and Liu Xian was also in the midst of 'training'.

I'm going crazy!

After receiving the telegram handed by the attendant, Liu Xian glanced at it and threw it aside. Then four master of etiquette rushed up again.

During these days in Shanghai, Kalakaua I was instructed by two ceremonial officials sent by the new Qin, and Liu Xian was even more instructed in this area in Beijing. He didn't know much about this at all, and even the enthronement ceremony was very simple. Then, whether it is Vietnam or North Korea, they are all subject countries, and etiquette is easy to deal with. Kalakaua I is different, this is a foreign head of state, a monarch who has never appeared in the scope of the great Chinese cultural circle, and etiquette can never be equated with vassals. Liu Xian can only suffer!

No way. China's etiquette is changing, and so is China's status and influence.

During the Han Dynasty, the princes and kings either lived once a year, or every few years, or stayed in Kyoto for a long time, and there was no strict system. The princes and kings with the same surname come to the dynasty, and often treat each other with family courtesy, and sometimes Yan Yin does not pay much attention to the etiquette of the monarch and ministers.

Tang's "Kaiyuan Ceremony" has a vassal lord to come to the court. The Tongshi Sheren guided the lord of the domain from the Chengtian Gate to the outside of the Taiji Palace. Drums are played in unison, and the emperor is the throne. When the feudal lord enters, he also uses drums to stop the music, and the feudal lord bows to the head again. The servant read out the book, announced the edict, led the lord of the domain to sit down, and asked the lord of the domain.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Siyi Pavilion was set up to receive vassal and foreign envoys. On the day of tribute, civil and military officials stood on both sides of the palace. After the tribute. The officials of the Ministry of Rites were ordered to give a banquet in the hall. In addition to meeting the emperor, he also had to meet the crown prince in the East Palace.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Ming system was also used for general vassal envoys.

At that time, China had the strength and confidence to regard the feudal lord as his subordinate. When you come to see the Emperor of China, you have to follow Chinese etiquette. Kneel is a matter of course.

But now? In the late Qing Dynasty, the etiquette of envoys from Western countries was constantly declining.

Fortunately, Liu Xian did not cross after 1900. After the Eight-Nation Coalition reached an agreement with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the countries further coerced the Qing court to change their etiquette, proposing that the envoys of various countries should meet together in the Taihe Palace, and the envoys of one country would meet alone in the Qianqing Palace; The submission of credentials must be picked up by the Qing court and accepted by the emperor himself; Set up a banquet in the Qing Palace, and the emperor will attend in person. It's just a fucking envoy. It was not the head of state who came in person.

When the emperor of China submits his credentials to foreigners, he will send a sedan chair to pick him up, and the emperor will personally accept it; Set up a banquet in the Qing Palace, and the emperor must attend in person?

Therefore, this meeting with Kalakaua I, a qiē etiquette system must be new, and China regards Kalakaua I as a 'king', and the etiquette is equivalent to that of a vassal lord, not as an 'emperor', and treats each other equally. This must also be explained to Kalakaua I. Don't make a fuss about it. If he doesn't want to, he will go directly to Nanyang from Shanghai!

Of course, the etiquette is not limited to the section where Liu Xian received Kalakaua I, but also the rules and music for welcoming Kalakaua I to the state guesthouse. Arrangements for the subordinates of Kalakaua I, security of the Hawaiian Mission. In short, it's complicated.

The New Year's Festival is getting closer and closer day by day. China's celebration of the New Year is definitely no less than what Westerners expect from Christmas. As early as the middle of the wax month. Restaurants, hotels, and shops in Beijing began to be lit up outside the streets, and red lanterns were everywhere.

This is very attractive for foreigners who are new to China.

China is already on the rise. Its status and influence in the world are getting higher and higher. And want to understand a country, a civilization. You must first understand his history, folk customs, and folk customs.

Because Westerners could no longer use their guns to destroy the resistance of this civilization, when the role of force disappeared, there were more and more Westerners like Matteo Ricci in the late Ming Dynasty. These 'Matteo Ricci' are not necessarily interested in Chinese culture, folk customs, and folk customs, but they have strong support behind them.

Therefore, in the past two years, Chinese language scholars in the Western world have been very popular. Even if he is no longer ambassador to China, he will be able to return to the UK to find a respectable job at his alma mater. He graduated from Cambridge University!

Morris is just a pioneer, as a writer, a semi-professional journalist, the big topic of Chinese history does not need Morris to delve into, but the folk customs, and the current spiritual outlook and living standards of the Chinese are his main research objects.

The four telegrams he had sent back to Britain aimed at the current living standards of the Chinese, the speed of industrial development and industrial strength of foreign countries, the attitude of ordinary Chinese civilians towards foreigners, and the spread of God in China were highly praised by the editor-in-chief of the Daily Newsletter.

And Morris's private diary recorded what he saw in China these days, from the food, drink, clothing, and life of the people, to the folk customs and appearance, from festivals and religious beliefs, to science, education, culture and health.

He has been to a lot of streets and alleys in Beijing, the market culture, the prosperity of the market, Morris is to see it with his own eyes, experience it firsthand.

When comparing London with Beijing, and comparing the lives of the British with those of the Chinese, the material disparities are not very obvious. Chinese incomes are much lower than in the UK, but prices in China are also cheaper.

Especially in terms of medical care, although Morris is strange about the ancient Chinese medicine, even the cost of diagnosis and treatment in the new Western-style hospitals is far cheaper than that of British hospitals. What Morris can't forget is that China's hospitals are three streets away from British hospitals in terms of cleanliness!

Accommodation, meals, clothes, and what the Chinese call 'chai, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar tea' are all cheaper than in the UK.

Spiritually, at least the Chinese in Beijing are full of spirit and entertainment.

The temple fairs here, the public performances here, one after another. Although Morris can't understand drama and crosstalk, he knows that the Chinese are happy to watch this. He mentioned this in his first article on the standard of living sent back to Britain, and the abundance of entertainment was one of the things that kept the civilians of Beijing, China, energized. In the message, he likened drama to Western opera.

And China also has a record of football. The rules are generally the same as those of English football, but in terms of detailed planning, they are much more perfect than English football. In this respect, the emperor of China, His Majesty, apparently copied English football.

Morris was initially proud of it, but he soon heard the word 'keju' in conversations with people. After understanding this, Morris had to sigh that 'the Tatars blocked the development of Chinese civilization'. After watching the final championship match of the Beijing-Tianjin League, Morris felt that the football level of the Chinese was much higher than that of the current United Kingdom.

Morris saw a professional sports newspaper from Dick on the second day of his arrival in Beijing, and the football section on it took up a large chunk. At that time, Morris was in a very unimpressed mood. After all, football has only been emerging in China for a few years, how high can it be competitive? However, which Westerner can have Liu Xian's brain? In his previous life, Liu Xian was a novice to football, and the terms he heard and the tactics he learned were far away from throwing the current British football out of 108,000 miles. As a result, the fierce competition in the eyes of Morris in England seems to be so barbaric and rough and has no technical content compared with Chinese football.

In addition to football, a sport that is gradually gaining influence, Beijing also has a horse racing association, a polo sport, a shooting association, and wrestling, which itself is widely spread in Hebei circles and has a very good popular base.

The three major schools of Chinese wrestling have all made their debut on stage. And from its own play, now it has gradually formed a competition model, just wait for a new set of wrestling guidelines that can take into account the three major schools and be recognized by the three major schools to be formulated, then another competition league will be formed.

And then there's the Martial Alliance!

The Qin army was invincible, the army was mighty, and the war laid down China's current position, and the folk customs were very martial. Liu Xian also likes martial arts, and although he himself is Yan Zhan's hemp claw, the development of this event only needs Liu Xian's approval.

Beijing's martial arts are blazing, martial arts competitions are endless, and the country just held a martial arts conference last year, which blew a strong wind on this fire.

And these fierce campaigns, in Morris's eyes, are the exuberance of the national spirit and the exuberance of the people's spirit. It is the most direct table of public opinion boiling in a country!

On the 24th of the lunar month, Kalakaua I arrived at the Beijing station.

Morris arrived early in the morning and waited outside the station, along with dozens of Chinese and foreign journalists, each with a stamped pass around his neck.

"Your Majesty, Kalakaua I arrives at the station at 9:30. After resting at the State Guesthouse, come to the palace at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Then Liu Xian can give a banquet in the evening.

"Reception preparation, I am relieved. The main thing is security, and you must do a good job of defending it. ”

China now does not have the strength to compete with the United States and Britain in Hawaii. If Kalakaua I had died in Beijing, the United States and Britain would have joined forces to establish a new ruler, which would have excluded China from Hawaii's power structure.

With Egypt completely falling into the hands of the British, the minions of the British Empire once again have the power to play a dance, and this threat is not only felt by France and Russia, but also by China.

According to a report by the Office for Europe, a public opinion has now been formed in the British domestic media to enhance the combat effectiveness of the British Far East Fleet. Let Liu Xian just want to scold his mother in his heart.

He has already ordered the European Office to go to the event, but it is still unknown what the effect will be and whether it will be as Liu Xian meant.

Thinking of the recent negotiation process between China and Britain on the corridor area of the southern foothills of the Himalayas, one cannot but doubt the intention of the British media to make this drama at this time.

Although the British are not as greedy for land as the Russians, they are too nervous about the treasure of India! (To be continued......)