The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 326: Qing Dynasty, would you consider going north to attack Russia? (Requesting subscription, requesting votes)
"What? I'm the Qing Dynasty's ambassador to Britain?" Li Hongzhang was stunned.

Wang Libin pondered for a moment and said, "Shaoquan, I heard from the Queen that she mentioned this to you two days ago. Did you forget to tell Lord Su?"

"I, I, she spoke English too fast, I didn't understand her!" Li Hongzhang shook his head again, "Besides, I am only a seventh-rank official, how can I be an envoy?"

Li Hongzhang was quite modest.
Wang Libin lowered his voice and said with a smile: "Shaoquan, you have hugged the Queen of England and slept with the French Princess. Luo Xueyan is much worse than you! I think you can not only be the Qing Dynasty's Minister to Britain, but also the Qing Dynasty's Minister to France!"

These words made Li Hongzhang not know whether he should be proud or ashamed?

Seeing Li Hongzhang's face turn red and white, Wang Libin, who was a little jealous of him, whispered: "Shaoquan, now the Qing Dynasty is begging England and France, otherwise Lord Su would not lead a delegation to Europe. Since we are asking for help, the queen and princess want you to be the minister to Britain and France, our emperor will definitely agree. The seventh rank is small, so I will promote you! The imperial envoy should be given the title of assistant minister, right?"

"Minister? Second rank."

Li Hongzhang took a breath of cold air. He was the Li Hongzhang who "worked hard to be an official"!

Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang made up his mind, bowed to Victoria, and then said to Victoria in a "Chinese-British mixed doubles" voice: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I forgot to tell Lord Sushun that you want me to be the ambassador to the UK. I will tell Lord Sushun when I go back today, and I believe he will agree!"

The Queen of England seemed to understand what he said, so she looked at Wang Libin - this mixed Chinese-English doubles would probably be a bit difficult for a British translator to translate.

Wang Libin quickly translated, "Your Majesty, Secretary Li said he forgot to tell Prince Sushun that you wanted him to be the Qing ambassador to Britain. He said right after he returned that Prince Sushun would definitely agree.

In addition, our Great Qing has always been a leading country in East Asia, with many vassal states. According to the principle that vassal states have no diplomacy, the Great Qing embassy in London will also represent all of the Great Qing vassal states. "

"Oh?"

The Queen of England frowned, looking unhappy - this Li Hongzhang actually forgot what she said! He must have forgotten it after sleeping with Mathilde. But at least he is an honest man.

"So how many vassal states did the Qing Dynasty have?" Queen Victoria's tone had become somewhat serious. "Can you tell me now?"

Wang Libin turned around and said to Li Hongzhang: "Shaoquan, the Queen wants to ask you, how many vassal states does our Qing Dynasty have?"

"Ah? You're asking this?" Li Hongzhang frowned. "Let me count. It seems that there are Korea, Vietnam, Ryukyu, Siam, Burma, Nepal, Nanzhan, Sulu, Bhutan, Darak, Kanjuti, Bukhara, Kokand, Great Juz, Middle Juz, and Aiwuhanlanqing. Is there anything missing?"

Wang Libin said: "It seems that Lan Fang and Brunei are still missing."

"Then add them up," Li Hongzhang counted them, "a total of eighteen countries!"

It would take a long time to sell the eighteen vassal states one by one!
However, when Queen Victoria heard this long list of vassal states, which looked like the names of dishes, her brows furrowed even more.

There are several vassal states here on the South Asian subcontinent, which are the most important colonies of the British Empire!

There are also two vassal states close to the Strait of Malacca, which is the throat of trade between the East and the West!

In addition, there is Burma. Britain has sent troops to attack Burma twice, once in the First Anglo-Burmese War from 1824 to 1826, and once in the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the entire Lower Burma area south of Mandalay had been completely occupied by Britain.

If Myanmar is confirmed as a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, will Britain give up its attempt to annex Myanmar?
"How come the Qing Dynasty has so many vassal states?" Victoria said with a little displeasure, "Li, are you sure you are not mistaken?"

"Shaoquan, the Queen said that our Qing Dynasty does not have so many vassal states, and that we are wrong." Wang Libin immediately translated the Queen's words into Chinese. Li Hongzhang frowned slightly when he heard it, and asked in a low voice: "Lanqing, what should we do?"

"That's fine," Wang Libin smiled. "We can check how many vassal states the Qing Dynasty has. Today, we just need to make sure that the Qing Dynasty's ambassador to the UK can represent the interests of the Qing Dynasty and all its vassal states in the UK."

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he also thought it made sense and immediately nodded and said, "Okay, okay, let's tell the Queen of England this way."

"Your Majesty, Secretary Li said that we can slowly investigate how many vassal states the Qing Dynasty has."

"Investigate? How?" asked Queen Victoria.

"Send someone to ask!" Wang Libin said, "The Qing and British envoys can go to this country together and ask their court. If they both recognize it, then it is a vassal of the Qing. If they don't recognize it, then it is not. But once it is confirmed, then the principle of no diplomacy for vassal states should be followed, and the Qing envoys and the Minister of Trade of the Five Ports should represent them in negotiations with the powers."

What Wang Libin said makes sense!
It is indeed possible to find out whether a country is a vassal of the Qing Dynasty - just send someone to investigate. If the country itself admits it, then no matter how domineering the British Empire is, it cannot be unreasonable and insist that it is not!

As for Britain recognizing the vassal relationship between a certain country and the Qing Dynasty and then forcing the Qing Dynasty to give up the vassal state, that is another matter.

When Victoria heard this, she also felt that she should be a reasonable queen. Unreasonable things were handled by the Chief Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of State for War. As the queen, she must be more reasonable.

For example, it makes sense not to allow the Turkish Sultan to send food to the Irish disaster victims!
Giving away food for free is a way of getting something for nothing, and it will also affect the price of grain in Britain and undermine the free economy.
"Well," said the Queen of England, "you can discuss these matters with my ministers!"

She thought about it for a moment, then suddenly smiled faintly and said to Li Hongzhang, "Li, although you have forgotten what I said to you, I am still very happy that you can serve as the Qing Dynasty's Minister to Britain.

Regarding the question of how many vassal states the Qing Dynasty actually had, I can personally give you some advice. This question depends not only on the facts, but also on the role that the Qing Dynasty can play in a major historical event that will happen in the future! If the Qing Dynasty becomes an ally of Britain and France, then many issues are not unacceptable.

Also, if I remember correctly, the Qing Dynasty also had some vassal states in Central Asia, and the Russian Empire has coveted those countries and the northeastern border areas of the Qing Dynasty for many years! Instead of claiming those vassal states on the South Asian subcontinent south of the Himalayas, you should think about how to keep your territory in Central Asia and Northeast Asia. "

After the Queen of England finished speaking, she raised her right hand and made a gesture of invitation without waiting for Li Hongzhang and Wang Libin to respond. Immediately, an attendant from Buckingham Palace came forward and said to Li and Wang in a respectful tone and Oxford-accented English: "Mr. Li, Mr. Wang, the time has come. Please follow me."

Li Hongzhang and Wang Libin realized that their meeting with the Queen was over, so they bowed quickly and followed the attendant out of the overly luxurious Buckingham Palace.

"Lan Qing, what did Queen Victoria mean by her last words? I don't quite understand."

On the carriage back to Brown Hotel, Li Hongzhang asked Wang Libin, who was in the same carriage, a little nervously - because he saw that Wang Libin's brows had not been relaxed since he came out of the audience hall.

"Today's meeting is informal. The Queen may have good intentions and hopes that we can work together with Britain and France to deal with Russia!" Wang Libin paused and whispered, "According to the Queen, if our Qing Dynasty is willing to join forces to fight against Russia, then the issue of vassal states and some other issues can all be discussed."

"What?" Li Hongzhang was shocked. "Together with Britain and France to deal with Russia? Even the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom couldn't deal with it!"

Wang Libin shook his head: "This is the Queen's intention. I think she is very friendly to you, so she won't deliberately deceive you, right?

Although the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty are not very good at fighting and the Taiping Rebellion is going on in China, our Northeast and Mongolia are thousands of miles away from Russia. As long as the Qing Dynasty forms an alliance with Britain and France and is hostile to Russia, Russia will have to deploy troops in the east. This will increase the chances of Britain and France winning!

In addition, Britain and France may also want to use our ports in Outer Manchuria and the ports of Korea to supply their fleets and then attack Russia's eastern coastline."

(End of this chapter)