Xinshun 1730

Chapter 385 Ambassador to the UK
Tian Ping still didn't dare to ride a horse, but just rode a cart.The two went to a nearby restaurant, and ordered a table of dishes casually, and did not order a waitress to sing and play with.

After sitting down, Tian Ping smiled and threw a book to Liu Yu and said, "My sister asked me to bring it for you."

Liu Yu glanced at it and knew that there must be letters inside, so he put the book away first.

Tian Ping was not too polite, and after drinking a cup, he said: "My good sister also brought up the matter of my return to Beijing with my father. She only said that it was inappropriate, so as not to cause criticism in the future. Besides, now that Songjiang There are more and more things being managed by the side, and more and more money is collected, and my level is not suitable for so many things."

"However, in the past few years, stamp duty has been collected, tariffs, and share tax have been added. Thanks to Brother Shouchang, this has also been credited to me. Thinking about it, Songjiang is now a big money bag, and its status is not what it used to be."

"Father also thinks that's what it means. If you stay there for a long time, you will inevitably get into trouble. In the future, it will definitely be a troublesome place. There will be too much money. If you can't control it for a while, big trouble will happen."

Liu Yu toasted a glass and said with a smile: "There is a lot of vacancies there, but it is indeed prone to accidents. Since you have been promoted, it is good to come back, and stay away from that place."

Since Tian Ping came back from Songjiang, this should not only be said by Tian Zhenyi and Qi Guogong, but the necessity of the current situation.It's just that since he proposed it on his own initiative, the emperor could take this opportunity to adjust it.

In the past few years, Songjiang has been booming. With the advantages of silk and cotton producing areas, the advantages of foreign trade have gradually emerged.This money bag will only get bigger and bigger in the future, and the emperor himself should have realized it, so since it was a matter for Qi Guogong to also receive customs duties, Tian Ping had no choice but to leave.

It seems that the emperor is full of confidence in the future trade income, and I am afraid that in the future, the Songjiang customs, transaction tax and other departments will arrange officials of the Jiedushi rank to manage it, and they must be the emperor's confidantes.

Whether it's me or the Duke of Qi's family who are about to become relatives, it may be difficult to reach out to this big money bag in the eyes of the emperor in the future.

"Since Brother Tian is back, what position will he give?"

As soon as he said this, Tian Ping's expression turned ugly, and he said distressedly: "The old post has been resigned, and the new post has not been granted. But I may be thrown to Europa as a resident envoy."

Liu Yu laughed loudly and said, "Impossible? There were quite a few people who followed your father to Europe back then, so you should choose from there, right? Besides, you should avoid suspicion in Songjiang, but you shouldn't avoid suspicion in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

Tian Ping smiled wryly and said: "Diplomatic envoys, why avoid suspicion? Several people were elected together with me, and we will learn some Western etiquette in a few days. Besides, the Western countries are not limited to Rakshasa and France. Even if people have been there, it’s not just a quick look at the flowers? I’m in Songjiang, and I always know about tariffs and other things, and I also know the market.”

"Your Majesty has told another story."

At the beginning, Duke Lu Boqin was granted the title of Lu, and after three years, he reported to the Duke of Zhou.Zhou Gong said: "Why is it too late?" Boqin said: "Change its customs, change its rituals, mourn for three years and then get rid of it, so it is too late."The Duke of Zhou said: "What is the disease?" He said: "I simplify the rituals of the monarch and his ministers, and follow the customs."

After all, Tian Pingdao said: "Your Majesty thinks that if an imperial examination minister is stationed in the West, his heart will be resentful. He thinks that the heavenly dynasty has no dignity, so he must not do his best, and most of them will be ashamed and exiled. Moreover, his generation values ​​etiquette, and he cannot 'follow his example. Vulgar', I am afraid that there will be discomfort due to etiquette."

"I'm waiting for these people who came out of Wude Palace, and they have been in contact with Xiyi, so they are not so paranoid. In addition, when they are stationed abroad, they must put their own country first. Your Majesty thinks that it is not so easy for honored children to take care of their families. Western bribery, or tell the truth about some things."

Liu Yu nodded, thinking that half of what the emperor thought was reasonable and half was unreasonable.

Since the Song Dynasty, Chinese scholar-bureaucrats have been immersed in the long-standing habit of small script in chapters and sentences, and they really attach great importance to some things.

It's no wonder that under the confidence that the Celestial Dynasty system has not yet disintegrated, it is undoubtedly a shame and a great shame to take the initiative in diplomacy.

It was a Catholic country like Portugal that occupied Macau back then, and the first group of people who opened their eyes to see the world at the end of the Ming Dynasty must have been Catholics.Dashun was able to see the outside world before, and it was still those Catholics, but the problem of belief and religion made this road impossible.

At this time, Dashun was not as strong as Mongolia's military force, not to mention forcing the Holy See to issue a pardon in 1258, allowing Catholics to worship ancestors, etc., and even forcing the Pope to dig out this document from the pile of old papers.

Historically, it was not until the Catholics in Japan that they did not worship the emperor that they were punished by heaven, and the Puppet Manchukuo needed to worship Confucius, etc., which made the Catholic Church allow East Asian believers to worship their ancestors and Confucius—the name of God, and only after that It is used, because "God" is "the pagan evil god of the East", and the name of Dous cannot be called.

The current situation belongs to the Catholics. After the Pope started the etiquette dispute, it is basically over: if you Catholics don’t worship your ancestors, Confucius, Zhou Gong, or the emperor, then you are still Chinese. ?
Fortunately, in Xu Guangqi's time, there were still some smart people in the Society of Jesus.If the controversy over etiquette had reached such a fierce level back then, in the environment at the end of the Ming Dynasty, every Catholic would be sprayed to death.

Nowadays, the literati and bureaucrats are quite dissatisfied with Dashun's lowering of the status of the celestial dynasty and the diplomatic relations with Xiyi.

Sending them to be foreign envoys... Don't say whether they can get things done, it is very likely that they will be appointed today, and they will write a deadly poem and hang themselves that night to avoid their humiliation.

Just like when Guo Songtao was appointed as the ambassador to the UK in the late Qing Dynasty, one of the three major crimes of impeaching Guo Songtao was because of the cold weather. ".

There are too many things involved in this. The Romans will not think that they should be completely nomadic because of the Battle of Calle; China will not turn itself into a Hun because of the siege of Baideng. This is the self-confidence and arrogance accumulated by thousands of years of civilization.

As for the West at this time... what do the scholar-bureaucrats think they can learn from?Xu Guangqi himself did not learn the last few volumes of the original geometry, and expected that the scholar-bureaucrats at this time could understand the "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" that later Fields Medal winners would find obscure, and then exclaimed invincible?

Or do you think that the East India Company model, the bloody accumulation of slaves, the massacres in Southeast Asia to ensure that the supply is less than the demand to stabilize the price of spices, the workhouse and the enclosure movement are "rule of three generations" and "benevolence is better than civil and military"?
At this time, the East still has cultural self-confidence and a sense of superiority. In the ideal country model conceived by the French Enlightenment, there is also a place for Chinese Confucian benevolence and righteousness.

Liu Yu doesn't think that the scholar-bureaucrats did something wrong at this time. As a primitive civilization, these scholar-bureaucrats kept the civilization.

But nowadays, envoys stationed abroad are indeed not suitable for Confucian scholar-bureaucrats.

Besides, Dashun's foreign exchanges valued "practical learning" rather than "Western learning". Those who came out of the Martial Virtue Palace and had studied geometry and arithmetic, at least had some foundation, and they also had a certain foundation in Latin.

However, the distinction between "practical learning" and "Western learning", coupled with the arrival of Western envoys, made Liu Yu's opportunity to "monopoly" the right to interpret Western situations was lost.

It is estimated that the emperor was also afraid of some ancient Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, who felt that the British model "parliament is the method of election, which is almost the same as the world, and it is almost the will of three generations". Basically, the most conservative, reactionary, and most supportive of the imperial power will go to the noble heirs.

Looking at it now, this is considered a good thing. It is the time for ambition to open your eyes to see the world. Don't just open your eyes and see what the emperor is afraid of, and just be a shrinking turtle and an ostrich.

"Brother Tian, ​​do you have any news, which country are you going to?"

"Hmm...Britain. Your Majesty said that in any case, those who understand Western languages ​​in the court, that is, Latin, can add French at most. No one in the court understands the language of English, Guizhou and Lebanon, and it will be the same for anyone who goes there."

Hearing that Tian Ping might go to England, Liu Yu couldn't help laughing and said: "Hahahaha...Brother Tian has suffered. In ancient times, there was Su Wu who herded sheep in the wind and snow in the North Sea, but now there is Brother Tian, ​​the North Sea is wet and rainy. This Beihai is not that Beihai. The weather is bad. It's tight."

Tian Ping clapped his hands on the table and said: "That's right! I heard in Songjiang that the weather in England is cold. My father went to Paris once and said that Paris is not a place where people drink their blood. Although it is not as good as the capital, it has a unique flavor. But... However, the country of France has very close contacts with this dynasty, and the post of stationed in France is extremely important, so His Majesty has another candidate."

Having heard of the bad weather in England, Tian Ping also didn't want to leave, but this matter might be difficult to change.

"Brother Tian, ​​in my opinion, Duke Qi is also using you as an example. Envoys stationed abroad consider it a humiliation for scholar-bureaucrats, but they think it is a hard life for us people. Now the Duke is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and His Majesty has appointed him The son of Xungui went to practice, he can only throw you out first."

"I think it's a good place to go."

Tian Ping could probably guess what his father meant, but he didn't agree with Liu Yu's saying "this is a good place to go".

"A good place to go? Brother Shouchang, don't be so consoling."

"The Kingdom of England, although it is a big Western country, has had little contact with this dynasty, and there are no disputes around it. At this time, it is far inferior to Sweden, Rakshasa, France, and the Netherlands. I don't think this place is a good place to go."

Liu Yu chuckled lightly without explaining.

Tian Ping's view is absolutely correct now.The ambassador to Britain may not be as important as in Sweden in the eyes of the imperial court at this time.

Sweden can at least contain Russia. The Netherlands has intersects with Dashun in Southeast Asia. Needless to say, France. Apart from a little trade, Britain has not even bought Malacca yet.

Who wants to say that the ambassador to the UK will be an extremely important position in the future? People who listen to it will definitely think it is comforting. How can a country that has no intersection at all be important?
Liu Yu knew that it must be very important in the future, but he couldn't say it at this time, he just persuaded him: "Brother Tian, ​​there is a Tao, but the Tao is impermanent. No one in the court knows this English language, and they don't know much about England. When you come back in the future, you will be the one who knows the most about Britain. Maybe one day Britain will be so strong that it will intersect with this dynasty, and you will rise with the tide?"

Tian Ping smiled helplessly and said: "You are talking about self-respect. According to your statement, I should hope that Britain will become stronger and stronger, so that there will be conflicts with this dynasty in the future? Let it go... It's been decided, so don't mention it. Today is a gathering of friends."

"First, I came to send a letter to my sister, and second, I knew that you have always supported diplomatic missions. For me, this is a hard job, but I know you will like it, so I came to let you know."

(End of this chapter)