The six-dimensional pictures of emperors of all dynasties were exposed, and the ancestors panicked

Chapter 792 China's Sovereignty: A Tribute to Burlingame
{I forgot where I saw this sentence, but it roughly means: China is almost the only former colony and semi-colony in the world today that has made a comeback.}
{Only China can make a comeback in this world. All of this is based on a unified geographical foundation, cultural foundation and identity.}
{So, it is hard to say whether the Westernization Movement was a success or a failure. Although its foundations had already doomed it to failure.}
{Late Qing historians were also a very difficult group of people, because they were prone to high blood pressure attacks when studying history.}
{Go read "History of the Southern Ming Dynasty". After reading for a while, I have to stand up and walk around to calm down before sitting down again.}
{Sometimes in the late Qing Dynasty, people could comfort themselves with historical limitations. If I were to defeat the Southern Ming, I could do it. Most likely, you could do it too.}
……

Ming dynasty.

"It's not over, isn't it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang had a sullen look on his face, and he sat in his chair muttering:

"You have the ability to release Nan Ming! Let's see how far you can go!"

"You're still here. You even have trouble getting into bed. Humph!"

Queen Ma poured him a cup of tea and changed the subject:
"What does the first sentence mean?"

"The Qing Dynasty was remotely controlled by overseas countries?"

Zhu Yuanzhang took the teacup, looked at the tea, thought for a moment and said:
"Hard to say……"

"It could be that the Westernization Movement failed and the technology was not as good as others, or it could be that the next dynasty used overseas forces to overthrow the Qing Dynasty."

"Then they were captured by the foreign devils."

“It’s hard to say.”

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip of tea.

Queen Ma was surprised:

"You don't seem angry at all? That's not like you."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head, glanced at her, snorted and said:

"In the end, things were finally sorted out."

"The result is already known."

"I think I have a rough idea in my mind."

Queen Ma looked at the words on the sky curtain and thought about jointly governing and long live the people.

Nodding subconsciously:

"Yes, that is truly a destiny I have never heard of before."

……

Qing Dynasty and Qianlong period
Qianlong would not give up on making the Qing Dynasty last for billions of years.

So he can pay the maximum price he can afford.

But this price definitely does not include the destruction of the Qing Dynasty.

because……

"Who knows how many descendants of the Aisin-Gioro family can survive..."

The emperor's whispers spread to the ears of his ministers after passing through the unique structure of the palace.

The ministers remained silent.

When the previous dynasty fell, the royal family did not have a good ending.

but……

That is also your Aisin-Gioro family’s business.

……

[Diplomatic Strategy: In the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign (1868), under the promotion and leadership of the American Burlingame, the Qing government formed the first formal diplomatic mission and set off to Europe and the United States.]

……

{1868 was also the year when Japan launched the Meiji Restoration.}
{Emperor Meiji issued an edict stating that Japan had decided to follow the path of "all matters are decided by public opinion" and to open its doors to "seek knowledge from the world."}
{Why didn't the Qing Dynasty reform and enter the industrial age before Japan?}

{This is the latecomer advantage of overseas countries under the influence of Chinese culture. Moreover, most of the attention of the Qing court was focused on how to defend against the Han people.}
……

Datang.

"Japan will eventually become a threat to the Central Plains."

Du Ruhui's words made everyone agree deeply.

Japan is a tiny country.

To achieve the kind of body shape that the United Kingdom has, the resources needed are not something that can be met in that small corner of the country.

And according to Li Hongzhang, Japan's reforms have been successful.

Since it is successful, it is necessary to expand the resource collection.

The question is, who has the most abundant resources around it?
Cheng Yaojin stroked his beard and suddenly said:

"Tianmu said that the Qing Dynasty navy was just a decoration..."

"You haven't fought against Japan before, have you?"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

It’s hard to say…

Although I don’t like the Qing Dynasty...but you can’t be so lame at this time!

……

[Dispatching diplomatic missions to Europe and the United States is related to "treaty revision"]

[1868 was the year for the revision of the Treaty of Tianjin, which was signed between the Qing government and the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States. The scope of the Treaty included trade, taxation, residence, missionary work, and many other aspects.]

[In order to cope with this treaty revision, the Qing court organized two major discussions on foreign policy with provincial governors.]

[The Zongli Yamen sent a document to the generals and governors-general of each province to solicit their opinions.]

【What Yi Xin meant in the document was that since the 1840th year of Daoguang's reign (), the traditional way of controlling the barbarians has become increasingly ineffective in dealing with foreign affairs.】

[In this revision of the treaty, if the foreigners' demands are really too excessive and "absolutely unfeasible", the court will naturally not give in, even if it means breaking with the foreigners, and the Zongli Yamen will not have any other opinions.]

……

The emperor of the early Qing Dynasty's eyes lit up.

Is this a sign of toughening up?
Do you dare to make the decision and call the number?

……

[But a breakup requires preparation, and the current preparation is not sufficient, so as long as there is still a possibility, it is okay to "temporarily restrain them". It is better to temporarily sign a treaty with them, "wait for the future to strengthen themselves", and continue to hide their strength and wait for the country to become stronger. ]

……

Song Zhenzong period
Zhao Heng looked serious.

“The key to the problem is to find the key problem.”

Then his face fell.

"Isn't this nonsense?"

……

Ming Dynasty - Tianqi Period
Zhu Youxiao scratched his head.

In short, the treaty needs to be revised, but the Zongli Yamen does not want to make a dictatorial decision on how to revise it, and hopes for a collective decision.

After all, being arbitrary means taking sole responsibility.

"I want the inside, and I want the face too!"

"What a good way to pass on the blame."

……

【The feedback can be roughly divided into two categories. 】

[One category is represented by the royal family. They admit that they cannot defeat the foreigners at the moment, and they understand the strategy of "must be restrained now", but since the court and the foreigners "must break up in the future", they might as well use the "righteous indignation of the subjects" to expel the foreigners indirectly. ]

……

Tang Dynasty and Gaozong period
Li Zhi could guess what they were thinking.

With a vast territory, there will inevitably be people who feel sad and tragic.

They wanted to encourage these people to destroy the barbarians.

Then they burned down foreign churches, looted foreign goods, killed foreign merchants coming to China, sank foreign ships, and so on.

If foreigners came to the Zongli Yamen to complain, the court would use words like "investigation and prosecution" to slow down the process and "strict investigation and prosecution" to deal with them.

And then it drags on day by day.

"I have already thought of the words."

Li Zhi laughed sarcastically:
"They use the excuse that the local governors are unable to control every citizen under their jurisdiction and delay the so-called handling until eternity."

Chang Sun Wuji smiled, stroked his beard and said:
"The premise for doing so is that they can suppress the counterattack of the foreigners."

"These people are not within the rules of the Central Plains game."

Li Zhi pointed to the sky and said with a smile:

“But they don’t think so.”

……

[The other category is represented by local governors and governors-general such as Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Shen Baozhen. ]

[They argued that the current situation forced them to revise the treaty with foreigners to maintain peaceful relations, and the only foolproof solution was to "strengthen ourselves." There was only one way, which was reform and self-strengthening.]

【The Zongli Yamen, after reviewing all the reports, came to the conclusion that: Neither making peace with the foreigners nor setting up defenses against them should be neglected. Now is not the time to break with the foreigners, and we must continue to use treaties to "control" them.】

[In order to make good use of the weapon of treaty diplomacy, we must know not only ourselves but also the enemy. ]

【So, a regular diplomatic mission was sent to Europe and America. 】

……

Yanhan·Mingdi period
"It seems that they still don't trust the strategies given by the Han people, but rather trust the strategies given by their own people."

Liu Zhuang leaned on the wooden stick in his hand and sneered:
"I never thought about becoming stronger, I just kept putting it off."

"But based on the combat effectiveness of the Qing army in the Opium War..."

It doesn’t matter if you fight, it doesn’t matter if you don’t fight.

It’s really hard to say.

……

【The Zongli Yamen also said in the document that Western countries have already sent envoys to each other in accordance with the treaty, but the Qing Dynasty has not.】【The envoys of various countries in China have repeatedly asked the Qing Dynasty to send envoys to foreign countries. The reply of the Zongli Yamen has always been: various countries have missionary work and trade in China, so they need to send envoys. The Qing Dynasty has nothing to do in foreign countries, so there is no need to send envoys.】

[But the consequence of doing so is that over the past decade, "the enemy has fully understood my true intentions, while I have been completely clueless about their true intentions." This is not in line with the military principle of knowing oneself and the enemy.]

[Moreover, foreign envoys acted arbitrarily in our Qing Dynasty, but we had no envoys in foreign countries, so we had no way to directly question foreign governments. This was also a big problem.]

【However, there are two major difficulties in sending envoys abroad. The first is that few people are willing to travel across the ocean. Once they are there, they need to eat, drink, and work, which is not cheap. Moreover, they are stationed in different countries, which costs more and it is even more difficult to raise funds.】

【The second is that we don’t speak the same language, so we have to rely on translation for everything, and we don’t have any professional personnel to handle diplomatic affairs.】

【The issue of sending envoys abroad is extremely urgent and cannot be delayed.】

【Therefore, "We hope that you will discuss and decide what to do." Please discuss and see what to do about this matter. 】

……

Song Dynasty: Zhezong Period
"Having said that."

Sima Guang carefully examined the wording and sentence structure in the Zongli Yamen document, and then said:
"It can be seen that the basic position of the Qing court was to advocate the dispatch of envoys to foreign countries. However, the defense against the barbarians was also deeply engraved in the minds of the Qing government and the people."

"This concept has a profound impact on the actual operation of government affairs in the court."

"So in order to avoid becoming the target of public criticism, Yi Xin could only carefully avoid making decisions arbitrarily and seek a collective decision from the governors and generals of each province."

A trace of doubt arose in Zhao Xu's heart and he looked at Sima Guang.

"What you said... is beyond my expectation."

Sima Guang said bluntly:
"A gentleman changes like a leopard."

Zhao Xu looked at Sima Guang meaningfully.

Does this mean that it is bad for Yi Xin not to be decisive?
But is this talking about Yi Xin?
Or are you still talking about me?
And if it's me... he's a scholar-official...

Let's rule the world together...

……

[However, the Zongli Yamen ultimately failed to wait for all the governors, governors-general and generals to submit their feedback, and made a decision at the end of 1867: an American named Anson Burlingame would lead a regular delegation to Europe and the United States.]

……

{I don't understand, why are Americans leading the way?}
{This may be because Burlingame has resigned as the US ambassador to China and is about to return to the United States. There is no time left for the Zongli Yamen to continue to delay waiting for the responses from the local governors.}
{At the same time, the Qing court could not find a suitable leader, so they had to rely on Pu Anchen's help.}
{Can't find a suitable leader?}

{This is the first time to send an embassy overseas. No one can say for sure whether it is good or bad, so no one has expressed their views. Now that the time has come to an end, the Zongli Yamen does not want to take the blame for arbitrary decisions, so it will pass the blame on to others.}
{Afterwards, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang also thought so, and felt that there should be a steady stream of foreign envoys in the future. Even if many of them were unqualified, there would definitely be talents like Su Wu and Ban Chao among them. This was a proper statement made afterwards.}
……

Ming Dynasty Yongle Period
Zhu Zhanji crossed his arms with a complicated look on his face.

"It is a rare diplomatic spectacle that a foreigner leads a diplomatic mission to Europe and America."

Zhu Di glanced at the strange delegation in the sky and snorted:

"The root cause of this peculiar appointment is another consideration of the Qing court based on the order between Hua and Yi."

"The Treaty of Tianjin stipulated that the Qing court and overseas countries could exchange envoys."

"But for many years, only overseas countries unilaterally sent envoys to China, and the Qing court did not make any move."

"This kind of silence is precisely to maintain the order between China and the barbarians."

Zhu Zhanji frowned and asked in confusion:
"What does this have to do with the Sino-Yi order?"

Zhu Di glanced at him and said unhappily:

"The Qing court emphasized the glory of the 'Heavenly Kingdom' in etiquette and performed the kneeling ceremony."

"Overseas countries emphasize handshakes and bows in etiquette, which is obviously to maintain equality between countries and not to recognize superiors and subordinates."

"By not sending envoys to European and American countries, we can avoid etiquette conflicts."

"Avoiding etiquette conflicts also avoids challenges to the Sino-barbarian order from the diplomacy of various countries."

Zhu Zhanji suddenly understood.

"So, it's urgent now?"

"On the one hand, in order to cope with the revision of the treaty, it is necessary to send diplomatic missions abroad."

"On the other hand, they are unwilling to give up the glory of the Celestial Empire under the Huayi order."

"So, letting foreigners lead the Qing Dynasty's diplomatic mission became the best way to take both into account."

"This is really..."

Zhu Zhanji didn't know how to describe it.

"Face is more important than anything else..."

……

On the canopy.

Among the tall buildings.

A blond man stood on the podium, shouting excitedly.

Below is a group of men and women who look the same.

And behind the man.

They were a group of officials wearing Qing Dynasty costumes.

They looked at everything around them with disgust.

……

[The first stop of the mission was the United States.]

[Bullin was originally an American. In San Francisco, he made full use of his oratory skills and told the outside world that his mission meant that the Qing Dynasty had embarked on the road of progress, and the time had come for this great nation to reach out to modern civilization. Such a day had already arrived.]

[In public, he has said something similar more than once: "I hope that China's autonomy can be maintained, I hope that her independence can be guaranteed, and I hope that she can be treated equally so that she can have the same rights as all countries."]

[The most important achievement of the mission in the United States was the Burlingame Treaty.]

[In the treaty, the United States guaranteed not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Qing court, and there were also clauses concerning the protection of overseas Chinese, free immigration, and freedom of religious belief.]

[Of particular importance is that after the treaty was signed, the U.S. government informed other countries that the United States would not recognize any interference in the internal affairs of the Qing court, and asked the U.S. ministers in European countries to assist the Burlingame Mission to successfully complete this visit.]

……

Great Qin.

Ying Zheng was dazzled by those unique buildings.

Then he regained his composure and sighed:
"No wonder... No wonder this foreign devil has such a broad mind..."

Liu Bang also forced himself to suppress the surprise in his eyes.

"Yes... because they are the ones who are looking down on us and trying to educate us..."

……

Big man.

"It's a good thing Ying Zheng has never seen it..."

Liu Bang put his hands in his sleeves and said with a smile:
"Otherwise, the Xianyang Palace will have to change its appearance."

Lu Zhi was quite speechless.

This person's focus is always so strange.

"But then again..."

Liu Bang admired the strange scenery in the sky and sighed:
"This is the most equal treaty since the Opium War."

"such a pity……"

It is hard to say whether the Qing court would recognize it or not.

……

[In September 1868, the mission arrived in London.]

【Just at this time, the "Yangzhou Incident" occurred in China. The British Consul in Shanghai, MacArthur, dispatched warships to Nanjing to threaten Zeng Guofan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang.】

[After months of fruitless negotiations, the Qing court ordered the Burlingame Mission to negotiate directly with the British government during its visit to Britain.]

【Depending on Pu's familiarity with the diplomatic rules of Europe and the United States, the negotiations were successful and the armed conflict was resolved. China and Britain also signed an agreement: if similar incidents occur again in the future, they will be handled in the same way as this time, and "no military ships should be dispatched without authorization to argue with local officials."】

[The British Foreign Office also issued an official statement, admitting that it was inappropriate to arbitrarily deploy troops to threaten Chinese local officials, and reiterated that it respects China's sovereignty and judicial power, but reserves the right to use force "in order to protect the lives and property of (British people) from imminent danger." ]

[Soon after the official statement was issued, another incident occurred in which the British Consul in Tamsui, Taiwan, China, Gibson, arbitrarily mobilized warships and extorted silver from local officials in Taiwan.]

[The Qing court notified the British government based on the agreement reached by Burlingame. The British government then ordered Ji Bixun to return the silver he had demanded, apologize to the Chinese officials in Tamsui, and dismissed Ji Bixun from his post "to warn consular personnel not to take reckless violent actions"]

[This diplomatic success was a very novel political experience for the Qing court.]

……

Qing Dynasty, Daoguang Period
Emperor Daoguang’s eyes widened!
The result of this treatment...

Is there such a way?!
Do I also need to find a foreigner to be an envoy?

Daoguang began to seriously consider this possibility.

Then he gave up the idea the next second.

……

[In January 1869, Burlingame went to France. Unfortunately, his negotiations with the government of Napoleon III did not yield any substantial results. Nine months later, he gave up promoting the Burlingame Treaty in France and led a delegation to Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, and then arrived in Berlin in November of the same year.]

[The delegation received a very formal and high-level reception in Prussia. The result of the talks between Prime Minister Bismarck and Burlingame was that Prussia issued a note acknowledging that "China should have the right to autonomy" and was willing to live in peace with the Qing court and trade with each other in order to "help China's right to autonomy."]

[Burlingham was very excited, and wrote to his good friend Wei Sanwei that "the United States, Britain and Prussia, the three major trading powers of China, all agree" and agree with the spirit and principles of the Burlingame Treaty.]

[In February 1870, the delegation arrived in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia.]

[At this time, the relationship between Russia and the Qing court in the northwest and the Heilongjiang River basin was very tense.]

[During the meeting, Tsar Alexander II deliberately talked to Burlingame about the irrelevant US-Russia relations and avoided talking about the Sino-Russian relations, which made Burlingame feel that the communication was very difficult.]

[On February 2, Pu Anchen suddenly fell ill and his condition did not improve despite various medical treatments.]

[On February 1870, 2, American Anson Burlingame died of illness while serving as the Chinese envoy.]

……

{Zhi Gang, a Chinese official accompanying him, recorded how Pu did not give up his work even after he became seriously ill:
As his illness worsened, he still read newspapers every day, worrying about the situation in Russia. Ambassador Pu was good at maritime business, and when he arrived in Russia, the land adjacent to China would be thousands of miles away, and the situation and measures in each place were different. He was afraid that if his measures were not good enough, he would lose face in front of China, and if his words were not appropriate, he would be laughed at by the Russians. He was anxious day and night, causing his illness to worsen.
{Before the diplomatic mission to Europe and America, Burlingame specially made a yellow national flag for China: "with a blue border and a dragon painted in the middle, one foot and three inches long and two feet wide, to serve as the vanguard when the envoys were ordered to drive."}
{Since then, the dragon flag has become a symbol of late Qing China.}
{China also appeared in the international community as a sovereign state for the first time.}
{Burling used his oratory skills to present China as a moderate and open country.}
{Wherever he went, he cheered that China was about to break through the barriers of tradition, embrace the world, and plunge into modern civilization.}
{Unfortunately, although this image marketing has been successful in Europe and the United States, it has not been able to benefit China.}
{The Qing court in his speech, which was on the path to enlightenment, still held great hostility toward modern civilization.}
{What's even more regrettable is that there is no record of such an important person in history textbooks.}
{Pullingham, a lofty idealist.}
I have the highest respect for all idealists.

On this point, I do not distinguish between countries.



(End of this chapter)