In the Forbidden City, Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty sat on the throne of the Qianqing Palace, looking at the foreign envoys who claimed to have come from overseas. Among them was a man who was dressed strangely, especially with blue eyes and blond hair.
Qianlong glanced at the foreign envoy who was kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but show a little displeasure. Those small foreign countries, when they come to our Qing Dynasty, should give us some face, but they don't know what to do, and they don't take us seriously.
Such a rude approach is really unpleasant. At this time, the man suddenly got up from the ground and said something in a language that Qianlong didn't know. He snorted coldly, and all the civil and military officials fell to their knees in fright.
Licentious! The emperor didn't let you stand up, and you actually got up so uninvited?
Get down on my knees! ”
And that man, in front of the majesty of the emperor, did not have the slightest timidity, and still stood straight, looking at the world. Emperor Qianlong was furious and was about to order someone to cut him down.
Your Majesty, this is a foreign country and does not understand our etiquette. Your Majesty, you are a benevolent emperor, how can you care about him? ”
When Emperor Qianlong heard this, the same thing happened, and the anger in his heart disappeared a lot. "Alright, you can stand up. At this time, the ** below finally mustered up the courage to get up, and Qianlong said to an interpreter beside him: You go and ask, what are the valuable things that are celebrating my birthday this time? 」
As the translator's voice fell, the middle-aged man waved his hand, and suddenly, boxes of things were moved out. He took out the treasures in the box one by one and let Emperor Qianlong admire them.
It is full of the products of modern industrial development in Europe, such as globes, astronomical calendars, astronomical telescopes, etc., Qianlong was very interested, and asked a few small chamberlains to take them out for him to take a look at and take a look.
The ambassadors of the British Empire also gave a detailed explanation to the Qianlong Emperor and introduced the role and characteristics of each cultural relic. Emperor Qianlong studied it for a while, and it was not uncommon for him to be interested in Parker's lenses, and as for the rifle and the loom, he took them out of the warehouse, which was not very unusual.
But for the sake of the other party coming all the way to congratulate him on his birthday, he was still very sincere, so he asked the eunuch to take him into his treasury. Just as he was about to say goodbye to the messengers.
Qianlong looked puzzled and asked the people around him: "What did he say this time?" This time, he said, he came in the name of the British Empire, not just to celebrate the emperor's birthday, but also to build a mansion in Beijing to serve as his private residence. ”
The British ambassador proposed to build an office building in Qianlong's capital, but Qianlong refused, citing that the Qing people had Western toys. The envoy was still a little incredulous, but when he arrived at Qianlong's treasury, he was even more surprised when he saw the rich land of the Qing Dynasty and the rare treasures collected by Qianlong, and couldn't help but say foreign Chinese words such as "even buy Ka".
Qianlong was very happy about this, waved his hand, and said, "It's okay, stand down!" The Qing Dynasty had more than 1,300 square kilometers of land and was another great empire after the Yuan Dynasty.
However, it is such a vast country, but there has never been an era of prosperity. In the Qing Dynasty, most people were hungry and hungry. Not only that, but in order to strengthen the ideological management of the people, the Qing ** also carried out the "**
Diplomatically, the Qing Dynasty adopted closed measures and strictly forbade ships from entering the sea. This policy finally allowed the British to pry open the door with strong ships and guns.
Before the Opium War, I always thought that I was the first Qing Dynasty, but I didn't know that I was outdated, and I was still indulging in the fantasy of "peace and prosperity". In the early 17th century, with the advent of the Age of Discovery, the European continent ushered in a new period of vigorous development, especially Britain, which was the first country to achieve industrialization and was in a leading position.
In the era of industrialization and agriculture, the huge difference in productivity, just as guns and knives and guns are superior, their advantages are obvious. Britain took this opportunity to send envoys to China under the pretext of congratulating Qianlong, in fact, to show its post-industrialized military strength and force Qianlong to accede to their demands.
Not only did Britain want to do business with China, and most importantly, to keep tariffs to a minimum, but they also demanded that the Qing Dynasty cede some offshore islands to them, which was tantamount to a blatant invasion of China's territory.
Although Qianlong was not aware of the power of the British, he had already guessed the intentions of the British ambassador due to his rich experience as an emperor. However, at that time, China's power was so strong that Britain was not taken seriously.
So Qianlong hastily met with the British envoys and drafted a 976-word edict for the British ambassador Magalny to pass on to their sovereign. Now, it is still in the collection of the British Museum for people to enjoy.
Qianlong's edict: He greatly appreciated Britain's birthday celebration, but severely opposed its request to demarcate the island, believing that it contradicted China's past practice.