Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 615: The Servant Army and the Masquerade
The servant who opened the door was very angry. He couldn't understand how these two beggars dared to knock on the door of the mansion so rudely?

Just as he was about to curse, the beggar spoke again.

汉~
Chinese.

In an instant, he was frightened.

It turned out to be the master of the upper country in person?

Incredible.

Nowadays in Indochina, the people of the upper countries are the superior people. Even a clerk in a small shop dares to swagger into the local government office and sit opposite the master to discuss business.

I can’t afford to offend you, the heavenly soldier’s sword is too fast!

The news that 20 lives were wiped out in Ava City overnight spread across Indochina like a hurricane.

……

Upon hearing the news, the landlord hurried over and cordially invited the two "simple-dressed" masters into his house.

Full of wine and food.

Mr. Ying used gestures and writing to finally explain his purpose clearly.

Recommend yourself! !
next day~
In the landlord's house, firecrackers were set off and red silk was hung on the door.

Marry a girl~
The news spread like wildfire in the village:
A hermit from Jiangning Prefecture in the upper country who lived in Zhenla, the son of Master Ying, married an unmarried girl from a local landlord's family.

……

After all, Mr. Ying Erye had seen the world. He was very good at dancing at the wedding banquet and quickly became friends with the local powerful people.

He used the tiger's skin and waved the banner to help his father-in-law to enclose land and open mines everywhere.

Anyone who dares to stop it is defying God! It is a rebellion!

The father and son privately sighed:
"It's easy to use the name of the country, and it's easy to learn Jiangning dialect."

In short, the father and son were doing very well in a foreign country.

Mr. Ying himself unexpectedly made a comeback and married a young daughter of a local wealthy family.

Although I am the same age as my father-in-law, and I need to bow to my peers during the ceremony, what is there to be ashamed of? There are many more shameful things in the world~
This person.

Everything is determined by fate and has no control over us.

Mr. Ying is a positive person.

People who can't think straight have died long ago.

Most people who think positively can live to 88.
……

Sometimes when he tossed and turned late at night, he would miss his old friends in Yanjing. Could the Nine Dogs of the Zhenghongqi meet again in this life?

Mr. Ying, who was becoming more and more courageous, even started a brokerage business.

He took the gold given by the person who asked for help in his left hand and sent it to Saigon Port with his right hand to open up the connections. Hey, it actually worked.

The 4th Legion is a chaotic and black-hearted group that only cares about money from top to bottom.

Get the job done for the money.

Big money does big things, small money does small things.

5 taels of gold for a musket, for sale!
10 taels of gold for a pass, selling!

50 taels of gold to invite the heavenly soldiers to come for a cup of tea and support, drink!

The 4th Legion firmly believes that "those who are not of my race must have different hearts", but at the same time they also recognize that "those who are not of my race are all the same as gold".

The stance is very flexible.

If it had not been for the 4th Legion that Mr. Ying met when he came to his house, the young lady in her prime would have become a widow by now.

……

Pathein Port.

Movements were frequent and armed merchant ships frequently docked.

200 lobster soldiers and 500 mercenaries carrying flintlock rifles entered the city to strengthen the city's defense.

Among them was Lieutenant Colonel Buck, who suffered burns on his face.

In Kolkata,
He attended the closed-door meetings of the East India Company's management and recounted what he saw on the battlefield truthfully.

Governor-General Adelaide said nothing throughout the meeting.

Because the last king of the Konbaung Dynasty, Mengyun, died.

As they were fleeing in panic, a rocket dropped from the sky.

Meng Yun and several guards died on the spot. Major Buck suffered multiple burns and returned to Calcutta in an armed merchant ship anchored on the Irrawaddy River. He was promoted to colonial lieutenant colonel for his military achievements.

Buck's battlefield diary was also sent to London.

The only good news for Governor Adelaide was that Wu and Luosha had officially declared war.

The focus of Wu will shift to the north.

In Nanyang, the pressure suddenly dropped.

……

In the dripping rain.

Lieutenant Colonel Buck stood in the castle's turret, looking at the sea in silence.

Starting today,
He was promoted to commander of the Pathein Fortress.

The mission is: hold the fortress and stick to it like a nail.

Before leaving,
The Governor pointed to the map and told himself:

"The strategy of the Wu Kingdom was extremely cunning. Their main purpose in attacking the Konbaung Dynasty was to open up a new route. Through the Irrawaddy River, they extended their tentacles directly to the Indian Ocean."

"We control the port of Pathein, and the 4th Army of the Wu Army controls Yangon. The two places are almost at the same latitude and are 300 miles apart. Together, our two countries control the estuary of the Irrawaddy River."

"If we lose Pathein Port, we will lose our voice in the entire Indochina Peninsula."

"Buck, you have to make Pathein the number one fortress in the Far East."

“Paseng-Malacca will be our lifeline.”

……

"Sir, please review the new recruits."

"it is good."

Buck turned his head and saw scars on his face, which was shocking to the viewers.

In the rain, he inspected the two battalions of native recruits belonging to the fort. Their clothes were varied, but their weapons were unified.

Treat soil with soil.

This is London's consistent policy towards colonies and it is very effective.

"Train the troops carefully and train diligently. Sooner or later, the enemy will come from Rangoon."

"Yes."

The officers looked at each other.

I thought to myself that the commander should really open his mouth. Is it right for a mere lieutenant colonel like you to say such things? The masters in London and Suzhou still have to do business~
……

The world situation is treacherous and changeable. It appears peaceful on the surface, but undercurrents are surging underneath.

After obtaining permission from His Majesty, the 4th Legion began to recruit vassal troops in Indochina.

of course,

The official name is the Imperial Army's Overseas Assistance Force.

But for some reason, the abbreviation gradually became "servant army".

When the name of the vassal army gradually became famous and reached your majesty's ears, it was already well-known and inconvenient to change, so you could only stick with it.

The vassal army has a wide variety of soldiers.

The 4th Legion was recruited from all the surrounding small countries and tribes.

The standard is that the candidates are young, strong and honest men, and they will be given preferential treatment in terms of military pay and food.

It is easy to recruit soldiers.

People in the 18th century had little awareness of Guo Jia, especially the natives of Southeast Asia.

The vassal army consisted of 1 men, all wearing coarse khaki cloth uniforms.

Only equipped with light weapons, no heavy weapons.

The defensive pressure on the 4th Army was suddenly reduced.

Overseas garrisons continued to expand, with the addition of Ryukyu Island, Jeju Island, Mindoro Island, and the southern coast of Sumatra.

……

It was 1783.

The ambition of the Wu State was like a sharp awl hidden in a cloth bag, which could no longer be hidden.

The whole world is worried.

An empire larger than all the empires in Europe combined rumbled onto the colonial track.

In the newspaper,

The name Macartney is mentioned repeatedly.

Some scholars even publicly predicted:

Fifty years later, Macartney's reputation would take a sharp turn from a hero to a villain, because he opened Pandora's box with his own hands and brought out a behemoth.

London, Downing Street.

The kingdom's bureaucrats repeatedly discussed one thing: the five-year deadline for the memorandum of understanding with the State of Wu was approaching.

Renew?

Or abandoned?

What modifications or deletions should be made to the terms?

The bureaucrats, who had been walking a balancing act all their lives, decided to wait for Wu's response to "the proposal of other nations to divide up the power in Southeast Asia."

……

Count Jia Xiaozhen is very busy.

I haven't lived in London for the past two months, but have been living in Paris, across the Channel.

busy!
Really busy. Endless banquets, endless dances, endless meetings with noble ladies.

He is now the empire's plenipotentiary envoy to Europe and holds great power.

Recently, a brand new Chinese-style palace has been built near the famous Galleria d'Esplanade shopping mall in Paris.

Everyone in Paris knows that this is the embassy of the Wu State.

London has the "Heart of the Ocean", and Paris should also have the "Heart of the Seine".

The names are all good.

Paris newspapers reported on it repeatedly for more than ten days, tirelessly introducing the design, meaning, furniture, architectural technology, and humanistic concepts contained in the Chateau de la Coeur de Seine.

……

The Galleria d'Art is a famous art and cultural center in Paris.

It is bustling and chaotic during the day and bizarre at night.

Both the upper third and the lower class like this place.

If we make an analogy, it would be roughly: Qinhuai River + Qianmen Street + Liulichang.

Earl Jia built the embassy here after careful consideration, in order to maximize its influence.

As for how could there be such a large piece of vacant land in the crowded Paris?
That's thanks to the most spendthrift woman in the 18th century - Queen Marie of Louis XVI.

She and Earl Jia hit it off right away and had a great conversation.
A good partner for dancing, a good partner for soul, and a lover of luxury enjoyment.

Queen Mary personally ordered an infantry regiment to vacate the land, demolish more than 300 houses and drive out the original owners.

The public was so angry that they were boiling with resentment.

……

Count Jia sent people to visit these unfortunate people who were driven out of Paris, and gave them compensation one by one, fully implementing the concept of "humanitarian care".

Reputation is important.

Emperor Wu's ten thousand-word letter is incisive and profound.

"~My dear, you must always remember your only two missions in Europe. One, free trade. Two, cultural export."

“Guns are powerful and can destroy nations, but they cannot conquer people’s hearts.”

"We can't kill a billion people with guns and dominate the world. Only a madman would have such an idea."

"We also cannot become obsessed with killing. An empire that is overly obsessed with force can easily lose its way and move toward self-destruction."

"We must always remember that war is not the goal, but only a means to a better life for the 300 million people of the empire."

"The Empire has no intention of monopolizing the planet. The Empire is willing to coexist with many small countries that cannot pose a serious threat. You are in me, I am in you."

"To achieve this ambitious goal, we need to leave a profound ideological imprint on a generation of Europeans, which requires both hard and soft power."

"Hard power is war. Sooner or later, the East and the West will fight each other. The Empire will defeat all opponents on the battlefield and break their knees."

“Soft power is culture.”

"The surrender of guns and cannons is temporary, but the crushing of culture is long-lasting."

"I must remind you again, export benefits to bind the upper class. Export Chinese civilization and tea, silk and porcelain to infiltrate the middle class. Export ideas to win over the lower class."

Jia Xiaozhen pondered and finally came up with three viewpoints: "Eastern civilization", "Soviet-style new life" and "Chinese-style humanistic care".

……

The sun is shining and there is a lawn party.

The natural barrier formed by green plants and flowers is the only wall of the embassy.

Queen Mary, getting off the carriage, was very pleased with the green lawn and colorful barriers.

She gracefully stretched out her slender left arm:
"Jia, you are an artist."

Jia Xiaozhen kissed her, took the queen's hand, and said with a smile:

"No, beautiful lady, I am only nature's porter. Come, a grand ball awaits us."

"That would be great."

……

For one dance, you have to change clothes three times.

Show off your wealth and new clothes.

When changing clothes~
Earl Jia personally served as a butler to help Queen Mary remove her armor and change her into an expensive dress that had just been shipped from Suzhou Prefecture by sea.

The effect on the upper body is very good.

What should be big should be big, and what should be small should be small.

On the side, the queen's housekeeper praised it highly:

"So beautiful."

Earl Jia smiled and said:
"Shu brocade worth more than gold, a top-notch embroiderer, designed by your majesty himself, there is no mistake."

Queen Mary was devastated.

Other people’s husbands are romantic and rich, but my husband can only repair locks.

……

"Jia, is your Majesty also a senior ball lover?"

"of course."

“Is there any difference between a ball in Suzhou and a ball in Paris?”

While arranging the queen's hair, Earl Jia said:
"Masquerade balls are popular in our place."

The queen smiled.

"Jia, have you forgotten that you just attended a masquerade ball at the Palace of Versailles last week?"

Masquerade balls are a feature of European courts, with men dressing up as women, women dressing up as men, and all kinds of professional costumes appearing one after another.

It can be understood as the cosplay of the 18th century.

……

Jia Xiaozhen personally put on a Chinese phoenix crown and a jade hairpin for the queen.

Said softly:

"Different."

"The masquerade in Paris is mainly about showing off one's status through uniforms and makeup."

"The dance in Suzhou is different. Your Majesty advocates the unity of man and nature, returning to nature, and integrating man and nature."

The queen turned her head in surprise and asked:

“What does it mean to return to nature?”

"Just like the primitive people tens of thousands of years ago, ahem, wearing nothing but painting their faces with oil paint, they walked under waterfalls, beside streams, and among flowers."

The room was quiet for a while.

Queen Mary suddenly stood up:

"Jia, I agree with Emperor Wu's philosophy."

"I have decided that from today on, I will no longer wear corseted lady dresses. I will throw away the physical restraints and mental repression and embrace absolute freedom. Jia, help me order 5000 Chinese dresses and 1000 pieces of jewelry from Jiangnan."

……

After the queen left the room, Jia Xiaozhen suddenly grabbed the housekeeper:

"Sophie, I have a gift for you."

Countess Sophie is the royal housekeeper.

She opened the box and found that the gift was a set of solid-colored underwear made of exquisite workmanship and exquisite materials. How could a Parisian woman resist such a romantic gift?
Smiling like a flower.

The two earls chatted about some palace secrets and financial and tax trends, and then walked out of the castle to join the ball.

There is a lively bonfire party in the evening.

Queen Mary, who was keen on experiencing a new life, was one step closer to the romantic primitive life.

……

During the break of the dance, Count Jia reached a preliminary agreement with many old Frankish nobles.

He took the lead in establishing an "Atlantic Trading Company" and welcomed nobles to invest.

Let’s make money together.

The nobles have huge daily expenses and are in urgent need of ways to make money.

A dance party attracted 23 shareholders, plus 15 shareholders in London, and the company's framework was established.

With such a luxurious lineup, it would be hard to lose money.

Now, all the nobles knew that the State of Wu wanted to engage in "free trade".

This concept is very subtle and it is impossible to completely agree or disagree with it.

In short, take one step at a time.

……

Earl Jia was a little uneasy.

Because the parties involved in the North American War tend to reconcile.

According to the gossip provided by Countess Sophie on the bed, with the continuous support of francs, Washington led the Continental Army to fight more and more bravely, and repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Saxon lobster soldiers.

London, which was deeply mired in the war, and Paris, which was financially exhausted, tended to reach a reconciliation.

no way.

I really can't fight anymore, I'm too tired.

The anger of Parisians and the London middle class has reached its peak.

Countess Sophie said implicitly:

"The doors of the Bastille prison are about to be broken down by the Parisian mob who are bravely resisting taxation. If the fighting continues, the crown of the Louis family will be lost."

The next day,

A secret letter was brought back to Suzhou Prefecture by a merchant ship.

Reminder to Your Majesty: There is a possibility of an early settlement of the North American War, so preparations must be made early.

(End of this chapter)