Ambassador Van Horn of the Netherlands; The former Dutch ambassador mentioned by Count Cage is related to a long-standing incident in the case of a Dutch mission arriving in Beijing in 1656. The Qing court, which had just been in charge of the Central Plains for eight years, received them with an attitude of excitement. But the Dutch encountered a problem that all diplomatic missions to China at that time had to bow three times and bow nine times when they met the emperor.

In fact, until the end of the 18th century, almost no diplomat from a European country was willing to accept this harsh Celestial Empire rules, but the Dutch did not hesitate to agree, for this reason, the Qing Emperor Shunzhi was very happy to agree to the Dutch's request, allowing the Dutch to set up a trading firm in Guangzhou to engage in commercial activities, but in the Kangxi period, due to the rebellion of the three feudatories and the need for the platform, the Qing Dynasty once again closed the country and moved to Jinghai, thus suspending the right of the Dutch to open a trading house in Guangzhou, In the 27th year of Kangxi, the old man Kangxi ordered the opening of part of the sea ban and allowed a small number of foreign merchant ships to dock at a few ports such as Guangzhou, but did not agree to the Dutch's request to set up a commercial house again, and after Yinzuo began large-scale overseas trade in the 37th year of Kangxi, even the right of foreign fleets to enter Chinese ports was abolished.

Whether it is according to the European diplomatic practice at that time or according to Chinese etiquette, no matter how you look at it, the Qing Dynasty is a loss to the Dutch, after all, the Dutch completely gave up the so-called dignity and agreed to the conditions of the Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Shunzhi also issued a Ming edict to agree to the request of the Dutch, but it was only in the hands of the old man Kangxi that the Dutch were driven out of China, and there was not even an explanation. This point is not unfamiliar to Qing officials who have studied the history of Qing and Dutch interactions, so when Van Horn; When the Earl of Cage made this promise. The faces of the Qing officials couldn't help but be a little stupid, but they couldn't find a good explanation for a while, and the negotiation scene suddenly calmed down.

It stands to reason that the Dutch were a betrayal of England, but the British ambassador Van Forster; Green looked nonchalant, with a professional smile on his face, silently looking at the officials who were a little overwhelmed. Prince Cheng Yunzhi has long been an old fox who has cultivated to perfection, and he can see at a glance that this is one of the countermeasures negotiated by Britain and the Netherlands. As long as the Qing Dynasty agreed to the request of the Dutch, as soon as the door of the country was opened, the British would definitely not mind coming to the East to follow suit and play such a hand, and the Qing Dynasty could only end up losing all the games. If this negotiation is lost, others may be fine, and Yunzhi will not be able to keep his ass. Yinzuo knocked down the board, maybe Yunzhi would have to be with Lao Ba, this result was not what Yunzhi wanted.

As soon as the translation of the translation was finished, Yunzhi rolled his eyes and muttered, "Your Excellency Earl Van Horn." On the issue of the commitment you mentioned, we welcome it, and the establishment of embassies in each other is a consensus between you and China, and I naturally have no objection to this point. Well. In view of the traditional friendship between our two countries, and in view of the long distance between our two countries and the difficult sea routes, we really cannot bear to let your country's merchants travel far and wide. Maintaining good and harmonious relations is my duty to my friends in the Qing Dynasty, and I ask that Your Excellency the Ambassador do not mind. ”

Yunzhi's words went around and around, and at the end he turned back to the plan proposed by the Qing side, and he looked like he was completely thinking about the Netherlands, and put Van Horn on the spot; Count Cage choked so hard that his face turned red, and he couldn't find any reason to object. Helpless. I had to sit down dejectedly. Van Forster; Seeing that the situation was not good, Green hurriedly spoke: "Honorable Royal Highness. I am glad that you and we have reached the first consensus on the establishment of mutual embassies, and with this good start, we believe that we will be able to reach a consensus on all aspects, and we propose to move on to the next topic: We ask you to agree to open the three ports of Guangzhou, Qingdao and Tianjin as places for friendly trade between the two sides, and I would like to ask you to forward it to His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty for approval. ”

"Huh? Aren't you and me trading right now? I trade with you nearly 1,000 ships every year, and I am afraid that there is no need to open the port, so why bother? My direction is based on the principle of doing my best for my friends and sparing no effort, and I would rather suffer a loss than let my friend be wronged. Bombay and Batavia are close to our country and far away from your country, well, you still have lost some money, so well, we can send a fleet to your country for direct transactions, what do you think, Your Excellency the Ambassador? Yun Zhi pretended to be confused.

Are you kidding? As far as the current mode of local trading is concerned, the East India Company can still make some money, and once the huge fleet of ships in the Qing Dynasty reaches Europe, not to mention the bankruptcy of the fledgling industrial production in England, the East India Company will not be able to survive. Van Forster; Green was almost mad, if it weren't for the fact that this was the Qing Dynasty, he would have already asked Yunzhi for a duel, but in the face of Yunzhi's smiling face, Van Furster; Green really didn't have anything to do, he really couldn't find a good reason to refuse Yunzhi's "kindness", so he had to give his own vice-admiral, Admiral Cannington; Quinine gave Cunnington a look; Colonel Quinine stepped in to confront Yunzhi's "reasonable demands".

Cannington; Colonel Quinine is a tall man in his early forties, with blonde hair and a dark complexion, as a captain of the Great England Advance Fleet in the Far East, he has experienced countless naval battles, and originally had the attitude of visiting the Far East, in his opinion, the so-called warships in the Far East are just children's tricks, as long as several detachments of Great England arrive, they can cut melons and cut vegetables to wipe out the Great Qing Navy, of course, after seeing the exercises of the First Fleet of the Great Qing Navy, This unrealistic idea has long been thrown into the Pacific Ocean by himself, but Colonel Cunnington did not think that the huge naval fleet of the Qing Dynasty would definitely be able to defeat the battle-hardened fleet of Great England, and Colonel Cunnington had a strong sense of pride in the strength of the English Navy, and in his heart, no navy in the world would be an opponent of the English Navy. See Van Forst at this moment; Green signaled for help, and Colonel Cunnington stood to his feet, the sudden movement startling the negotiators on both sides.

"Your Royal Highness, Honorable Prince. Please remember that the sea is the sea of England, and there is no place where our Great England Navy cannot reach, and the reason why we are here to negotiate, rather than choosing to use force, is out of respect for your country, and for the long-standing friendship between our two countries, of course. If your country is determined to defy the sincerity of our Great England, please consider the position of our Great England Navy. Colonel Cunnington stared at Yunzhi without squinting and said in a loud voice.

"Presumptuous!"

"!"

"Look for death!"

……

As soon as the officials of the Qing Rites Department who participated in the negotiation heard the translation, they immediately rebuked angrily, if it weren't for the fact that the Holy Lord was in the inner hall, I was afraid that this group of enraged officials of the Ministry of Rites would swing their old fists and give Colonel Cunnington a good beating. With a calm face, he waved his hand and motioned for the officials on the Qing side to be quiet. A pair of eyes as sharp as knives stared at Colonel Cunnington for a long time, and he saw that Colonel Cunnington's heart was empty.

"Colonel Cunnington, be careful of what you say and do, if you do not retract it, and apologize. We will regard you as preparing to declare war on our Qing Dynasty, and you will be responsible for all the consequences. Carry forward said with a sneer.

Van Forster; Green originally thought that the Qing Dynasty would be afraid of war, but he didn't expect that Hongyang would release cruel words, let alone Van Foster; Green didn't want to fight. Even if he wanted to fight, he did not have the right to declare war, and in the face of promoting aggressive words, Van Forster; Green said busily and mudily: "Your Royal Highness, the differences between you and me are too big, and we propose to adjourn the meeting for the time being and discuss it at another date." ”

"I'm sorry we didn't receive an apology from you. We regard you as having put forward a declaration of war and that there is no longer any need for this negotiation, so we ask all your personnel to leave Daqing immediately, and we can send someone to escort you without leaving for three days, and we cannot guarantee the safety of your mission. "Carry forward the van forst without concession; Green's words pushed back. I don't talk about the slightest affection.

"This ......" Van Forster; Green groaned. In the end, he put down his arrogant shelf and got up. He bowed and said with a pious look: "Your Royal Highness, I retract what I just said and sincerely apologize to you. Due to some misunderstandings between the two sides, in line with the principle of friendly consultation, we propose to adjourn the meeting and resume the talks in the afternoon, and invite His Royal Highness the Prince Haihan. ”

"We accept your apology and agree to your request for a temporary adjournment. He nodded and waved his hand, signaling the officials of the Ministry of Rites to send off the guests. A dozen people from the British and Dutch envoys left the Yunya Pavilion in a bit of embarrassment.

"Good. In the inner hall of Yunya Pavilion, Yinzuo looked at Yunzhi and Hongyang who were standing at the bottom with great satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Reasonable and modest, neither humble nor arrogant, this is the demeanor that I should have in the Qing Dynasty, I said, I am not afraid of war in the Qing Dynasty, but I need time, the matter of setting up embassies for each other can be decided first, and the rest of the conditions are not accepted, well, they want to talk, then take out the Dongying issue and negotiate, you can open the Dongying Port as a place for the two sides to trade, just wait for the specific details to be grasped, I will not ask about this matter anymore, When you talk about the results, you can report it to me. ”

"Yes, the ministers obey the commandment. "Yun Zhi, carry forward the busy bow to promise.

"That's it, let's go and rest first, you must know that this negotiation is not ten or eight days to negotiate, well, let's talk first, in a few days, you might as well visit the Dutch ambassador, first find out the movements of the Dutch and then discuss, if I guess correctly, the Dutch are still very unconvinced by the rise of the English, this is a loophole that can be used, okay, I will go first, you will discuss it yourself. Yinzuo confessed a few words, nodded, and ignored Yunzhi and Hongyang's kneeling, strode out of Yunya Pavilion, and turned back to his own residence, Yanbo Zhishuang Pavilion.

"The ministers knock before the Holy One. "I have been waiting outside the door of Yanbo Zhishuang Pavilion for a long time, Prince Yong, Yun Jin, the eldest brother Hongli, Shi Shilun, the head of the household department, and Yang Mingshi, the head of the household, and a few people saw Yinzuo walking on foot, and they were busy kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to say goodbye.

"Oh, the fourth brother is here, get up, and follow me to the inner hall to talk in detail. Yinzuo's footsteps did not stop, he just raised his hand, said indifferently, and walked into the Yanbo Zhishuang Pavilion without looking back.

"Holy Lord, the minister has already sorted out the regulations of the currency reform, please take a look. Yun Jin took out a fold from his big sleeve, bowed his head, and respectfully raised the fold above his head with both hands. Yinzuo didn't say anything, just waved his hand, and motioned to the eunuch Gao Nianying to take the fold and take it in his hand and look at it carefully.

"Okay, yes, it seems that the fourth brother has put a lot of effort into it, and I am very satisfied with this charter, well, it's just that December is the end of the year, and it's a little inconvenient for those money bank shopkeepers to enter Beijing at this time, what does the fourth brother think?" After reading the excerpt, Yinzuo said with a satisfied smile on his face.

"The minister does not dare to be the saint on the false award, the credit of the charter should be Hongli, famous, the minister is just a name, really dare not take credit, as for the money shopkeeper into Beijing, the minister thought that there is no inconvenience, these money shopkeepers originally had to send people or things into Beijing to personally send Bing Jing at this time of the year, moreover, such a big thing, only afraid of the wind out, they will gather to come, and after the spring, the household department must set a budget, if it can not be done before the year, I am afraid that it will affect the normal operation of the household, It's not beautiful. Yun Zhen said as he bowed.

Well, that's true. Yinzuo thought about it, didn't insist anymore, nodded and said: "Yes, this matter will be done quickly, and I will give the fourth brother a will, and I will make it clear to the world, and the new currency system will be officially launched on the fifteenth day of the first month of next year." ”

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