I was a god in the 18th century

Two days after entering the Old Summer Palace, Zheng Rui sent someone to report that he would meet with the European missionaries at the mission’s residence at ten o’clock in the morning today.

As usual, Xia Qingdai had dinner early and went into her room. After completing her daily study tasks, she washed up and lay in front of the glass tank to watch Lilliput.

At that time, Zheng Rui was bringing European missionaries over. She was curious about what they would talk about, so she transformed herself into a little man and hid beside Owen to listen.

There was a Frenchman, two Portuguese, three Italians, and a few insignificant Western minions.

These people were different from the British delegation who wore their own suits, shirts and lace-edged dresses. They were all wearing Chinese-style dresses and hats of clearly defined ranks on their heads.

The highest-ranking Portuguese, Pinardo, was a guest official of Emperor Qianlong and had treated Heshen. He wore a blue hat; the two Italians wore white hats, and the others wore gold-plated copper hats.

Xia Qingdai just sat on the sidelines and observed silently. Even though she didn't participate, she felt that she had learned a lot.

She had read Macartney's own travel notes about China and knew that Pinardo, the most prestigious Westerner in the East, was feared by him. From the moment they shook hands, they were both smiling falsely and warily.

However, the communication between the two sides seemed to be not smooth. One spoke Portuguese and the other spoke English, and they could not understand each other.

In Europe during this period, Latin, ancient Greek and French were required to be learned by the upper class. Their religious activities required the use of the first two language tools, which was equivalent to the status of classical Chinese in China. The latter was also sought after by the entire European upper class because of Paris's fashion status and was considered a common language, similar to English in later generations.

Under such circumstances, there shouldn't be any rift between the two sides. But now both sides are at a loss as to what is going on.

Xia Qingdai whispered in Owen's ear: "I remember you all have to learn Latin and ancient Greek, why can't you communicate?"

Owen whispered back, "Because I don't want to."

"Oh~" Xia Qingdai understood. Although they all came from the West, they all had their own hidden agenda, and there was no such feeling as "fellow countrymen meeting and tears welling up in their eyes"

After a brief exchange of greetings, Macartney mentioned to Zhengrui that he wanted to live in the capital. Previously, Wang Wenxiong and Qiao Renjie had declined Macartney's request, saying that they had no power to make a decision on the matter.

After listening to what the translator said, Zheng Rui stroked his beard twice and did not answer immediately. Instead, the Portuguese Pinado said, "It may not be a good idea for you to move to the capital. His Majesty the Emperor is now in the Chengde Mountain Resort. If you go to the capital, it will be very inconvenient to travel to Rehe."

Zheng Rui agreed with this and didn't really like the British making trouble. He would rather the British didn't make any trouble and just pack up and leave after celebrating Qianlong's birthday.

But Macartney, Staunton and others were obviously not going to give up. Although the Old Summer Palace was large, they were not allowed to move freely. They had been there for two days, but they were not allowed to go anywhere except the courtyard of the foreign embassy. It was like being in prison.

What’s more, the room in the embassy was not good either. After two days, the musty smell had not dissipated yet. They didn’t want to stay there for even a day longer.

More importantly, the Old Summer Palace is located in the suburbs of Beijing. Apart from the guards, there are only cold buildings. It is not suitable for cultural exchange between China and the West. How could they be willing to just sit in "jail" here?

Finally, after the British argued their case, Zheng Rui agreed to their request to move to the capital.

This made the Portuguese Pinardo angry and he immediately frowned. But Macartney, who had achieved his goal, smiled for the first time in a long time. The life of being almost under "house arrest" for the past two days had made him feel suffocated.

Xia Qingdai was bored of their quarrel and didn't want to listen any more. Just as she was about to leave, Wang Wenxiong and Qiao Renjie came together and told the British that Qianlong had sent new officials to take care of their affairs.

This made the British very happy. Let's not talk about the new official first. Anyway, no one likes Zheng Rui now. The communication is not pleasant at all. Change is definitely better than no change. It's just that they are happy too early. Zheng Rui is an imperial envoy and is destined to stay with them until the end.

Then the group was finally able to visit the entire Old Summer Palace, and Xia Qingdai once again witnessed history alongside.

Owen did not participate in the communication between the two parties. He only occasionally exchanged a glance with Xia Qingdai. Later, he left the team early and returned to the RV to write his own travel notes.

In the following days, nothing worth remembering happened, and Xia Qingdai put the delegation aside again. She would wait until the delegation arrived in the capital before making any comments. Now her attention was more focused on Wen Renyi's rebellion.

With sufficient food and the support of wood and bricks from the sky, the fortifications in the mountain stronghold were built at an astonishing speed, and granaries and arsenals were built one by one.

In addition, with the renovation of the village by Xia Qingdai herself, it is now completely different from the past.

As for the ambush of the yamen runners in Taohua Village, after reporting it to the county magistrate, there was no further news.

County Magistrate Lu had no interest in suppressing the bandits. As long as the bandits didn't come out of the mountains and cause a big mess, he would turn a blind eye and pretend that the incident had never happened. He could squeeze the soft persimmons, but he didn't want to touch the hard bones.

He didn't even tell the local general. After all, his term of office would end next year and he would be transferred away if nothing unexpected happened. So why create trouble?

Wen Renyi felt a little regretful that he didn't wait for the officers and soldiers to come in large numbers to "suppress the bandits", as he had originally wanted to train his soldiers.

However, if the officials did not come, he had another way to help his men gain more practical experience - that was to pick all the bandits within a ten-mile radius nearby.

Then those who could be merged were merged, and those who could not be merged were tied up, and the people of Taohua Village were sent to trade heads with the county magistrate.

When Magistrate Lu and his two advisers saw that there was such a political achievement coming their way, how could they not agree? They immediately began to cooperate tacitly with Taohua Village.

As for the yamen runners who died or disappeared before, naturally no one cared. In an era when life was worthless, killing innocent people to gain credit was not uncommon, so losing a few yamen runners was nothing. Fighting against bandits was bound to result in casualties.

Although County Magistrate Lu only organized one failed anti-bandit campaign, after Wen Renyi dealt with the scattered bandits, savages, and gangsters nearby, the county's public security actually improved. People no longer had to worry about being robbed when walking on mountain roads.

County Magistrate Lu benefited from this incident, as he got the credit in exchange for the head of the real bandit, and the people of Taohua Village were also put on the government's blacklist.

These are not rebellious people at all; they are clearly good citizens helping the government solve problems.

For Wen Renyi, who had absolute firepower, dealing with the small bandits around was as easy as playing house. It was even harder than recruiting "skilled workers" such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and silversmiths from outside.

Wen Renyi has decided to go out and recruit "talents" from the capital himself.

Taohua Village has also transformed from a poor and remote mountain village into a paradise, which continues to attract farmers from the surrounding areas.

(End of this chapter)