I was a god in the 18th century

It took the group seven days to finally reach the Rehe Palace. But they could not immediately meet the emperor because the etiquette and rules had not yet been negotiated. However, Qianlong had already stood on the high platform of the villa and saw the British delegation.

Just as they unloaded their luggage, Zhengrui came over again and had a conversation with Macartney. Owen did not listen, and Xia Qingdai naturally had no interest either.

Just as Owen was about to take a look around the courtyard arranged for them, someone informed him that he and the prime minister wanted to meet two deputy envoys, who would be accompanied by Staunton's son, Little Staunton, and an interpreter.

The reason why we brought along young Staunton was that he was the one who copied the gift list. This young man had a talent for languages. On the ship from England to China, he learned Chinese characters from Owen and two translators, and made rapid progress. He could write Chinese characters in a fairly square manner, so he copied the gift list with Owen.

The headquarters where Heshen was located was about 1.6 kilometers away from the residence where the British delegation was staying. It had to pass through most of the streets of Rehe City, which made it convenient for Owen and Xia Qingdai, who was lying in the air and opening a new map with Owen, to observe the city.

As soon as we arrived, we could see Zheng Rui, who looked quite powerful outside, waiting outside the door to greet us in a very orderly manner.

Owen and Staunton both knew very well that Zhengrui did not value them more, but that he valued the Prime Minister He, whom he had only heard of but never seen.

Seeing several people being led into the hall by Zheng Rui, Xia Qingdai could not see anything because of the roof. She immediately rolled her eyes and turned into a little person and followed Owen.

This is to meet Heshen, Xia Qingdai must meet him in person no matter what. See what this corrupt official in history looks like.

Following Zheng Rui into a hall, I saw a handsome middle-aged man sitting in the middle, with a handsome appearance and elegant manners. Beside him stood four old officials, two of whom were wearing yellow jackets, and I thought they would not be small shrimps.

Xia Qingdai looked Heshen up and down, and felt that he was completely different from what she had imagined. Before coming here, she had specially watched the image of Heshen in modern film and television dramas, and the one that impressed people the most was the version played by Teacher Wang Gang.

But to be honest, although modern people almost equate Wang Gang and Heshen in their minds, in fact, the Heshen played by the other party is not at all like the real person in front of them!
The Heshen on TV is short and fat, with a flattering and greedy look on his face, but the real Heshen in front of us is an amiable and handsome uncle with a somewhat feminine look.

Even though he is not young anymore, he still looks very handsome. And because he is wearing a hat, which covers his rat-tailed head, Xia Qingdai is even quite surprised.

Such a handsome middle-aged man is rare even in the modern entertainment industry. In terms of temperament alone, he is far better than Heshen in film and television dramas.

Otherwise, how could he be promoted step by step from the bottom by Emperor Qianlong? His good looks definitely helped him a lot.

The reason why he called the two deputy envoys over this time was nothing else but the etiquette of the audience.

Ask the British what the etiquette and rules are here.

Although Staunton and others had communicated with Qing officials many times about this matter, since Heshen asked about it now, they naturally had to answer it seriously again.

It means that you can kneel on one knee, hold your Majesty's hand and kiss it.

The man in the yellow jacket next to him shouted, "No, no, absolutely no. Holding the hand of His Majesty and kissing him, how can this be accepted? It's not acceptable. Please don't hold hands and kiss, just kneel on the ground instead. We Chinese believe in following local customs and guests should follow the host's wishes."

Xia Qingdai almost laughed out loud when she heard this. She was about to laugh when she thought about Owen holding Qianlong's hand and saluting him personally. This scene is too beautiful. I dare not look at it!
The British still insisted on British etiquette, so the two sides could not reach an agreement. Zheng Rui, Qiao Renjie, Wang Wenxiong and others tried to persuade the British envoy many times, but to no avail.

In the minds of the Qing court officials, China was the Celestial Empire. Since the Qin Shihuang unified the world, the world had been subject to China. A small island of England was nothing. If it weren't for the fact that they even controlled neighboring India, they would have long since stopped taking them seriously.

These red-haired barbarians are able to see the Holy Face, which has been blessed by their ancestors, yet they refuse to worship!

Take the Europeans who preached in the country, whether they were Portuguese, French, or Italians, didn’t they all have to kowtow three times and nine times to the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty?
But the British envoys didn't think much of it. They didn't kneel to the King of England in England. Even when they were awarded honors, they only kneeled on one knee to the King of England. How could they accept running away from the Qing Dynasty to kneel to a foreign emperor?

At the end of the 18th century, Britain could be considered the most powerful country in the world. The British were at their most confident, and most of the world was their colony. Australia was where they exiled their criminals, America was where they grew sugar cane and cotton, and India, which bordered the Qing Dynasty, was a British colony.

Given such strength, how could the British be willing to kowtow to Emperor Qianlong?

If it weren't for Europe's defeat in the naval battle with the Ming Dynasty, the British would not have taken the Qing Dynasty seriously.

At this moment, the truth has not been fully revealed. Once they discover that the Qing Dynasty is a paper tiger, they will immediately reveal their ferocious fangs.

With this mentality, it would be strange if the two sides could reach an agreement.

However, Heshen was very well-mannered. He did not show any displeasure when they did not reach an agreement. He just waved his hand and asked people to leave, saying that he needed to consider it carefully.

When Xia Qingdai followed Owen out of the hall, she looked back at Heshen again and felt that the old man looked wise and confident.

But she had read this history and knew that in the end the British did not all kneel, but only accepted kneeling on one knee. So she was not very interested in the wrangling in the next few days.

However, she also followed Owen and met the brothers Fu Kang'an and Fu Chang'an. Both of them were only in their twenties or thirties, and they looked very handsome. When they put on their hats, they looked like elegant gentlemen.

They are all members of the Fucha family, and this time they are very similar to Xia Qingdai's impression of the Fucha family in TV dramas and movies.

He looked like the second male lead, Fu Cha Fu Heng, in a palace fighting drama she watched when she was a child. He was very handsome - of course, he was still inferior to Wen Ren Yi and Ou Wen.

However, the goodwill brought by her appearance did not last long, and Xia Qingdai was soon moved to tears by Fukangan's stupidity.

She asked Owen to persuade Macartney and others to invite them to watch the British Guards' new firearms exercises.

Fu Kang'an, a military commander who once served as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, was surprisingly indifferent and replied calmly: "You can watch it, or you can not watch it. This method of firearms training is not that unusual."

Xia Qingdai was so angry that she almost called him arrogant! (End of this chapter)