1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 190 An Neng Can Tell I'm False (5K)

All the Chinese merchants changed into official robes and straw hats and came out of the cabin in a single file.

Pan Zhengwei and Wu Yuanhua, who are the leaders, are the highest rank among all the Chinese merchants, and they are both Cong Sanpin.

As the leaders of the thirteen merchants, the Pan family and Wu family donated the highest official titles in the court.

Taking the Wu family as an example, the official donated by the late Wu Bingjian was the third rank, and the current helm of the Wu family, Wu Shangrong (Shang Rong is the business name of Wu Chongyao), is the second rank.

Zheng Erpin is also the highest rank official title donated by various merchants in Guangzhou, and this is the only one.

According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Shangrong was unable to obtain the official title of the second rank. The reason why Wu Shangrong was able to obtain the official rank of the second rank was because Emperor Daoguang believed that he had done a good job in mediating the peace talks of the Opium War. Wearing Hualing on the top.

Except for the helm of the Wu family, the children of the Wu family basically have official positions, large and small.

Of course, in order to obtain these official positions and consolidate the family's status as an imperial merchant, the Wu family sent tens of millions of taels of silver to the imperial court through gifts, donations, and service.

According to the "Guangzhou Fuzhi" records: Ji Wu's donations have not been less than ten million, and the donations are the highest in the province.

The situation of the Pan family is similar, but not all the sons of the Pan family have obtained their official positions through donations or losses.

The Pan family transitioned to official career very early. There are not a few Pan family children who have been promoted, and there are even Pan family children who have served in the imperial court as Jinshi.

As for the Wu family, the person with the highest reputation is the current helm of the Wu family, Wu Shangrong, whose name is Juren.

However, Wu Shangrong's honorary title was awarded by Emperor Daoguang, which is not the same as the gold content of the honorary titles obtained by the Pan family's children on their own.

For example, Pan Zhengwei, Pan Zhengwei got the honor of juren by himself.

Therefore, in the circle of literati in the Qing Dynasty, the literati had a better impression of the Pan family than the Wu family.

It was the first time for Vanderbilt to see the official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty. He was full of curiosity about the strange official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty. He couldn't help but reached out and touched the sapphire bead on Pan Zhengwei's head.

"The official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty are really strange." Vanderbilt said to the Chinese businessmen, "Gentlemen, welcome to New York."

His current thoughts are all on the railway business, and he doesn't care about what Liang Yao, a partner, is going to do.

The port of New York is very lively, and the New York State authorities have also learned of the news of the visit of the Qing Dynasty Mission to the United States.

At this time, the position of the United States among the great powers was very embarrassing. Due to the bad relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, and the fact that it was far away from the European continent, the European powers did not take the United States seriously.

There are foreign missions, or missions from major countries, visiting the United States. The American authorities attach great importance to this matter.

The Qing Dynasty took the initiative to visit the United States, which in the eyes of American politicians is a very face-saving thing.

The European powers have marginalized the United States, and the United States has grown in national strength. It regards itself as a world power and is very eager to gain the recognition of other powers and major countries in diplomacy. Therefore, the United States is particularly concerned about face.

In the eastern part of the United States, people who are proficient in both English and Chinese are rare. In the whole state of New York, there is no one who can be a competent translator.

In the end, Yale University in Connecticut, next door, recommended Yung Wing, the only student from the Qing Dynasty in their school.

The news that the Qing Dynasty sent a mission to visit the United States made Rong Hong, a student studying alone in a foreign country, very excited, but besides being excited, Rong Hong felt incredible.

How could the Qing Dynasty, which has always regarded itself as a celestial kingdom, take the initiative to send a mission to the United States on the other side of the ocean to visit the United States?

In order to make himself more pleasing to the envoys of the Qing Dynasty, Yung Wing even put away the suits he usually wore, put on a long robe and mandarin jacket, and rushed to the port of New York to wait for the arrival of the embassy.

The port of New York is very busy. Although the New York City authorities have made preparations in advance for the arrival of the Qing Dynasty mission, it still took some time for the ships to dock and anchor.

After the boat came to a complete stop, everyone walked off the boat with their heads held high.

The naval fleet responsible for escorting along the way fired salutes to welcome the missions of the Qing Dynasty to disembark under the instructions of the officials of the Ministry of the Navy at the port.

The military band of the New York Infantry Regiment, who had been waiting at the port, began to play music to welcome the arrival of the Qing Dynasty Mission.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army was the learning object of many countries, and the United States was also a learning object.

The New York Infantry was deeply influenced by the French Army, which can be seen from the uniforms of the New York Infantry.

The military uniforms of the New York Infantry Regiment are similar to those of the French Army. The obvious difference is that the Shako bucket hats worn by the soldiers of the New York Infantry Regiment lean forward, which is more "American". It has evolved to the Hardy hat during the Civil War. the trend of.

Due to the special national conditions of the United States, the United States is a country that pays more attention to characteristics and individuality. Even if it is an army that least needs individuality, the American army can play well.

The military uniforms of the troops in each state are different. At the beginning of the outbreak of the Civil War, military uniforms of different countries such as France, Scotland, Ireland, and Poland could be seen on the battlefield.

In the final analysis, the reason for this phenomenon is that in order to save money, the federal government allows the commanders of the legions to choose and purchase military uniforms and military items by themselves.

Liang Yao's uniform of the California Infantry was also designed by himself, and the three companies that escorted the gold were all regular troops of the California Infantry.

Soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment wear Prussian-style pointed steel helmets with no spikes on the top of the helmet, and instead have hollow copper balls. The copper balls on the helmets of infantry and cavalry are different in color, green for infantry and blue for cavalry.

The military uniform is a black single-breasted tunic, the difference between the infantry and cavalry tunics is the color of the buttons, the infantry is yellow, and the cavalry is white.

The jacket is very simple, whether it is infantry or cavalry, ordinary soldiers or sergeants, there are no braids, and the cuffs are simply gathered to facilitate the movement of hands, without any extra decoration.

In terms of trousers, the infantry is gray trousers, and the cavalry is gray breeches, supplemented by red piping. The difference is that the infantry has one piping and the cavalry has two piping.

The flag bearers arranged the flags on the ship, and then walked ahead under the reprimand of the officers, and led the soldiers behind them off the ship in an orderly manner.

The American army, whether it is a regular army or a volunteer militia, generally carries two flags, one is the American flag and the other is the regimental flag.

In terms of regiment flags, militia regiments and volunteer regiments have great flexibility, and generally carry out magical reforms on the basis of state flags.

The formal standing regiment is relatively strict in terms of regiment flag, the background color is dark blue, the pattern is basically the bald eagle (bald eagle), the national bird representing the United States, and the name of the regiment is attached to it.

The situation in Liang Yao's California is quite special. Although the regiment flag follows the regulations of the Ministry of War and uses dark blue as the background color of the regiment flag, the pattern of the regiment flag is a five-clawed golden dragon with teeth and claws.

Therefore, Californians also like to call the California Infantry Regiment the Dragon Banner Regiment.

The visiting missions of the Qing Dynasty, soldiers dressed in Prussian style stepped off the ship one after another, which opened the eyes of the New York citizens who were watching.

Secretary of State Webster was in charge of receiving the "Great Qing Mission to the United States" in New York Harbor.

As for the foreign minister of the United States, there is no such thing as a foreign minister in the United States.

Not only is it not now, it will not be in the future, but it has been in the past.

At the beginning of the founding of the United States, the "Articles of Confederation" stipulated that the Federal Congress could select committees and personnel for foreign affairs of the United States as needed.

According to this regulation, the American Federal Congress established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1780. After several twists and turns, in September 1789, after Thomas Jefferson returned from France, Washington, who had just become the first president of the United States, signed a bill. Transferred diplomatic power to the State Department.

And the first Secretary of State of the US State Department was appointed by Jefferson. It can be said that the post of diplomacy is specially reserved for Jefferson.

After Jefferson, the Secretary of State was also responsible for the foreign affairs of the United States, which has not changed.

The 69-year-old Webster is an evergreen tree in American politics. He has been active in American politics since he entered politics in 1832.

Webster's prestige in American politics is no less than that of the late Calhoun. Unlike Calhoun, although Webster is highly respected, he is not a person who does not know how to adapt. His political skills and conduct are very flexible. changeable.

This is why Webster was able to serve as the Secretary of State of the United States for three times.

The fact that Webster greeted the "Qing Mission to the United States" shows that the United States attaches great importance to the "Qing Mission to the United States".

"Your Excellency Webster, this is Mr. Pan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Qing Dynasty, who is also in charge of the foreign affairs of the Qing Dynasty."

After a brief self-introduction with Webster, Liang Yao calmly introduced Pan Zhengwei to Webster.

Although Webster served as the Secretary of State of the United States for three times, he was already very skilled in foreign affairs.

However, during Webster's tenure as Secretary of State, he mainly dealt with European countries and never dealt with the Qing Dynasty. Webster didn't know much about the unfamiliar official position of Minister of Rites.

Hearing that Liang Yao said that the envoy of the Qing Dynasty was only in charge of foreign affairs, he felt a little dissatisfied. Webster frowned slightly and asked Rong Hong and Liang Yaodao.

"Does the Minister of Rites have a great status and power in the Qing Dynasty?"

Yung Wing was at a loss, not knowing how to explain to Webster the official position of Minister of Rites.

"Let's put it this way, the Qing Dynasty has a population of about 6 million, but there are only [-] real power ministers, and one of them is standing in front of you now." Liang Yao said to Webster with dignity.

Webster was overjoyed when he heard the words, the smile on his face was like a blooming chrysanthemum.

"Welcome! Welcome! It is an honor for the United States to visit the United States on behalf of the Qing Dynasty!"

Webster warmly extended a hand of friendship to Pan Zhengwei.

In these scenes in California, Pan Zhengwei was also used to the understanding of the United States. He snorted in a very airy manner, shook hands with Webster in a very dignified and formal manner, and then asked Liang Yaodao in Chinese.

"How big is the Secretary of State in the United States? Do I need to bow down? I only know that the president is the largest official in the United States."

"Officials who are about your age don't need to kneel. The United States doesn't like to kneel, even if you meet the president, you don't need to kneel."

Liang Yao said.

Not to mention, Pan Zhengwei's temperament and demeanor without anger and prestige really have the demeanor of a Qing court official. Even Liang Yao himself was taken aback, let alone those American politicians who have never met a Qing official .

"Speaker Liang, what did Your Excellency Shang Shu say just now?"

Webster asked Liang Yaodao very politely, and he completely ignored the international student from Yale University.

Webster, who had spent most of his life in foreign affairs, knew through brief contacts that Liang Yao understood the official system of the Qing Dynasty better than Rong Wing.

"Your Excellency Shangshu was a little unhappy, and asked why Mr. President didn't come to welcome the mission of the Qing Dynasty. Did he look down on the Qing Dynasty? The United States is too arrogant to neglect the envoys of the previous country!

Your Excellency Shang Shu intends to cancel the plan to visit the United States and go to England for a visit. "

Liang Yao said pretentiously, then lowered his voice to remind Webster.

"The Qing Dynasty pays great attention to etiquette. It is very embarrassing for the President not to meet with the President in person."

Pan Zhengwei was also very cooperative, snorted coldly and walked away in a huff.

Sure enough, as rumored, the officials of this old empire are very arrogant and arrogant, Webster secretly slandered in his heart.

Even though he thought so in his heart, as a mature and experienced diplomat, Webster still apologized to the Minister of the Qing Dynasty with a smile on his face.

"I'm very sorry, Your Excellency Shangshu. Please allow me to explain that Mr. President is dealing with some very difficult matters in Ohio and is on his way to New York. Mr. President is also very eager to meet with you. I wonder if you have the credentials of the Qing Dynasty?"

"The letter of credence of the Qing Dynasty can only be presented to the president. How can you, a mere secretary of state, ask for it?" Wu Yuanhua, who was on the side, was furious when he heard the words, and blurted out in fluent English.

"This is?" Webster asked cautiously.

"Minister of the Ministry of Rites, that is, the deputy minister, also serves as the translator of the mission." Liang Yao explained nonsense in a nonsensical manner.

"It turned out to be Your Excellency the Minister. I hope you can forgive my rudeness. This is the first official contact between the United States and your country. We don't know your country's diplomatic practices. Since your envoy wants to follow your country's It is customary to send the State Letter to Your Excellency the President, and we respect your country's diplomatic practices."

Webster has a good temper and explained with a smile on his face.

"Mr. President will arrive in New York the day after tomorrow at the earliest. Do you plan to rest in New York for two days or take a tour around? We will arrange reception."

"Gentlemen, my humble Buckhouse, my late father is like a brother to the businessmen of your country, especially Mr. Wu Bingjian of Jardine House. Our Astor family used to be the agent of Jardine House in the United States.

It would be the supreme honor of the Astor family to be able to receive your lords. "

Backhouse stepped forward to be courteous.

Many old rich and old nobles in New York earned their first pot of gold in trade with the Qing Dynasty.

To be precise, it is the opium trade. What Old Asi did in his early years was the business of reselling Turkish opium to Guangzhou, so he made a lot of money.

Only later, as the Qing Empire strengthened its opium ban and the squeeze from the British East India Company, American businessmen who did not have a strong backing from British businessmen had to temporarily withdraw from China's opium market.

At present, the only large commercial firm in the United States that still focuses on opium trade is Qichang Foreign Firm.

Backhouse and a group of rich New York businessmen and nobles were not so much courting the Qing mission to the United States as they were courting the huge market of the Qing Dynasty.

This is a market with a population of more than 4 million people, a market that makes the British salivate.

"You are Backhouse? I have heard a little about the Astor family. As far as I know, the Astor family is a family that does not keep their promises, is extremely stingy, and likes to owe money and never pay back.

Our Qing Dynasty is a country that attaches great importance to morality. We don't want a person with moral defects to entertain us, which will tarnish our reputation.

We chatted very happily with Mr. Liang and Mr. Fan on the way. The two gentlemen are also very noble. We plan to stay at Mr. Fan's house temporarily. "

Backhouse's initiative and courteousness reminded Wu Yuanhua of the situation when he went to the United States to collect debts last year. The feeling is that your family owes you money and won't pay it back?
John's rascal left a deep impression on Wu Yuanhua, as the saying goes, like father, like son, and vice versa.

"Mr. Fan?" Webster felt a little puzzled.

"On the boat, I boasted to the ambassadors that I bought a new estate by the Hudson River. The ambassadors are very interested in my new estate."

Vanderbilt said.

According to the plan, Liang Yao and the Chinese merchants were originally received by him as a landlord.

Vanderbilt glanced at the American dignitaries and New York dignitaries who came, the Astor family, the Livingston family, the Van Rensselaer family, the Schuyler family, the Beekman family, the Jay family, the Belle family, The Yard family, the Morris family, and other families.

These self-respecting families usually look down on Vanderbilt, who was born as a farmer and sailor. The proud people are deflated in front of the even more proud people, which makes Vanderbilt feel very comfortable.

He didn't know what Liang Yao and these Chinese businessmen were planning, but he decided to help the situation and make these New York noble families feel uncomfortable.

The unhappiness of the rich businessmen and nobles in New York is the greatest source of happiness for Vanderbilt.

"In this case, we respect the decisions of the adults."

Webster walked up to Vanderbilt leaning on his civilized stick, and said to Vanderbilt: "Mr. Vanderbilt, the diplomacy between the United States and the Qing Dynasty is very important. Please also entertain the visiting Qing Dynasty." US Mission.

If the two countries can achieve a breakthrough in diplomacy, both I and the United States will remember and thank you for your contribution to American diplomacy. "

The aging Webster's physical condition is not optimistic. The Civilization Staff is a dispensable decoration for those politicians who are in their prime, but for Webster, it is a necessity that cannot be obtained. It is his crutch.

Despite his poor health, Webster-Doo was passionate about his work.

"Your Excellency Webster, I will do my best."

Vanderbilt took off his hat and questioned Webster.

He did not refuse the request of a dedicated secretary of state.

Webster had a relatively good relationship with almost everyone, and Vanderbilt couldn't say he hated the smooth old politician.

Webster nodded in relief, and then introduced the American dignitaries and New York state dignitaries on the pier to the Qing mission.

"This is Mr Corwin, Secretary of the Treasury."

"Shangshu Kewen of the Household Department."

"This is Mr. Conrad, Secretary of War."

"Minister of War Conrad."

"This is the ex-Governor of New York, Fish, the Whig representative."

"Ex-Governor of New York Fish."

"This is the current Governor of New York, Hunter."

"Hunter, now Governor of New York."

On the one hand, Webster introduced, and on the other hand, Liang Yao translated and attached the corresponding official positions in the Qing court for the "envoys of the Qing Dynasty visiting the United States" to facilitate the understanding of these "envoys".

(End of this chapter)