1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 194 The first meeting
The news of the Qing Dynasty mission's visit was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples.

Before Fillmore arrived in New York, the "New York Evening Post" published his article, praising the friendship between Qing and the United States, and angrily denouncing the shameless aggression of the British Empire against the Qing Dynasty ten years ago.

The friendship between Qing and the United States is not much touched by ordinary people in the United States. After all, more than [-] years have passed since the maiden voyage of the Empress of China, and the Chinese craze in American society at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China has subsided.

But talking about the oppression and aggression of the British Empire easily resonated with the American people.

One is that Great Britain is really not good at being a human being. The United States has long endured the suppression of the British Empire in the international community.

Second, American politicians like to divert the public's attention to the outside when faced with difficult internal conflicts.

The British Empire is naturally the best object of conflict transfer, especially after the British Empire raised tariffs in the United States, Britain’s enthusiasm for purchasing raw materials from the United States has diminished, which has dealt a fatal blow to the American economy.

Although it is normal business logic at this time, ordinary people in the United States don't care about these things. They only care about whether there are more or less dollars in their pockets.

Especially those exporters who are very dependent on the British Empire, under the instigation of external public opinion, have long been accustomed to blaming Britain for their misfortunes.

Politicians in the United States are also happy to see this. If the unfortunate people blame their misfortunes on the rulers, this is a more troublesome thing.

Liang Yao did not refuse the interviews from various New York newspapers, no matter how influential the newspapers were, they all accepted their interviews.

A favorable public opinion environment is more conducive to the promotion of negotiations. In order to win a more favorable public opinion environment for negotiations, it is still necessary to accept interviews from these media.

The purpose of Liang Yao's writing and publishing in the "New York Evening Post" was nothing more than to win the favor of the American people towards the Qing Dynasty.

President Fillmore attached great importance to the visit of the Qing Mission.

He arrived in New York as quickly as possible, and formally met with the Qing delegation at the New York City Municipal Building at the north end of Broadway in New York.

Municipal buildings are the embodiment of a city's financial strength, and New York is undoubtedly one of the most financially powerful cities in the United States.

Compared with the small and shabby municipal building in Houston, Texas, the municipal building in New York is magnificent, and even the back of the municipal building is decorated with marble.

"President of the United States sends the most sincere blessings to the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, wishing the emperor of the Qing Dynasty good health forever, and may the friendship between the Qing Dynasty and the United States last forever."

President Fillmore was dressed very formally, and his attitude towards members of the Qing Mission was particularly serious.

Liang Yao had communicated with President Fillmore several times before, and he had a good impression of President Fillmore.

In terms of image, President Fillmore's image is not good, and his appearance is a bit rough.

But under the rough appearance, there is a cautious and meticulous heart.

The two sides exchanged gifts, and Pan Zhengwei handed Fillmore a fake credential with a bunch of bullshit.

Just as no one doubted their identities, no one doubted the authenticity of this credential.

"Speaker Liang, you are proficient in both English and Chinese. I hope you can be my translator."

Before the formal meeting, Fillmore said to Liang Yao.

The Qing and the United States had no formal contact before, and the United States did not have a reserve of Chinese translation talents.

Mori of Qichang International Co., Ltd. is proficient in Cantonese and some simple Chinese sentences, but this level of Chinese is not suitable for translation work on official occasions.

"Happy to help, Mr. President." Liang Yao agreed.

"In recent years, more and more people from the Qing Dynasty have immigrated to the United States. Our emperor is full of interest in the increasingly prosperous United States."

Pan Zhengwei spoke, and then Liang Yao translated Pan Zhengwei's words to President Fillmore in proficient English.

"We in the United States also have a strong interest in the vast and populous Qing Dynasty. We hope that the two countries can formally establish diplomatic relations and deepen cooperation and exchanges, especially in terms of trade. There is a broad space for cooperation between the two countries." Phil President Moore said.

"One of the purposes of our mission's visit is to investigate the possibility of formally establishing diplomacy between the two countries. The Qing Dynasty has always been very cautious in its attitude towards diplomacy.

Our mission will conduct investigations in the United States and write down the investigation report. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty will determine whether to establish formal diplomatic relations with the United States based on our investigation report. "Pan Zhengwei said.

"Then I will thank you all. I think the friendship between Qing and the United States will go further with our joint efforts. We will jointly promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two great countries, and future generations will remember our contributions today."

Fillmore straightened up, straightened his sitting posture and said.

"If you need any help during the inspection, just ask."

"More and more immigrants from the Qing Dynasty came to work and settle in the United States. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty loved his people like his own son and cared about the living conditions of his people overseas.

Because the history of American civilization is very short, His Majesty the Emperor did not understand the situation in the United States. The British told His Majesty the Emperor that America was an uncivilized and barbaric country.

His Majesty the Emperor was worried that the people of the Qing Dynasty would not be treated fairly and justly in the United States. "

Pan Zhengwei said leisurely that he was going to pave the way for a treaty on free immigration between the two countries.

These words were taught by Liang Yao. In fact, the Qing rulers in Jingshi City hated contact with foreigners. After the Macartney mission, the Qing Dynasty has not officially received a British mission.

The highest-level officials of the Qing Dynasty that the British could see were limited to the governors and imperial envoys sent by the Qing Dynasty to the localities.

It is not easy for the British to meet officials of this level.

The local officials of the Qing Dynasty also hated the British and Westerners who disrupted the existing order of the Qing Dynasty, and their attitude towards foreigners was also avoided.

As for caring about the names of overseas Chinese, it is even more nonsense. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty didn't even care about the overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region, so how could they care about the overseas Chinese in the United States.

"The British are full of lies, and they are best at sowing discord." Fillmore said seriously, "America is a civilized and democratic country, not an uncivilized and barbaric country."

"This is also the reason why the emperor of the Qing Dynasty sent us to visit the United States." Pan Zhengwei said, "We hope that the two countries can formally sign a treaty to protect the interests of the business people of the two countries. This will be a great step forward in the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. first step."

As he spoke, Pan Zhengwei signaled Wu Yuanhua to hand over the Qing-US Free Immigration Treaty.

The treaty is in quadruplicate, two of which are in Chinese and two in English. At least on the surface, the treaty is very formal.

Fillmore carefully read the content of the contract word by word, and asked Liang Yao to help check the content of the Chinese contract to confirm whether the translation was wrong.

Liang Yao was in charge of dictating this treaty, and Pan Zhengwei was in charge of copying it. Of course, there can be no flaws in translation.

The content and terms of the treaty are also very simple, similar to the content of the later "Sino-US Tianjin Treaty Continuation Treaty".

The main content is: when the people of the Qing Dynasty and the people of the United States go to various countries, they may wish to live in and become naturalized, or they may come and go at any time.

The United States protects the legitimate rights and interests of the people of the Qing Dynasty in the United States, and the Qing Dynasty also guarantees the legitimate rights and interests of American business people in China.

It's just that the provision of mutual establishment of foreign affairs agencies in the original treaty was cancelled, and it was replaced by the encouragement of trade between the merchants and people of the two countries, and the mutual reduction and exemption of tariffs between the two countries.

Mutual protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the business people of the two countries is a very beneficial clause for both parties, and Fillmore has no reason to reject such a clause.

It's just that the matter of reducing or exempting the tariffs of the two countries is beyond his scope of power, and the president has no right to decide the tariffs of the United States without authorization.

"There is nothing wrong with this one, but the tariff reduction and exemption, I have no right to decide, I need to convene a parliament to discuss and vote to decide." Fillmore said.

"We respect your country's political system. If you can't reduce or exempt tariffs nationwide, it's okay to reduce or exempt tariffs in California." Pan Zhengwei said his bottom line.

"Since it is necessary to protect the rights and interests of the business people of the two countries, I think it is necessary for the two countries to establish consulates in each other's direction," Fillmore said.

"We hope to obtain a good port in the coastal area of ​​the Qing Dynasty to facilitate the replenishment of merchant ships from the United States. The Qing Dynasty has a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. I think this will not be a difficult task for your country."

As Liang Yao expected, Fillmore still made a very excessive request.

Before the meeting, Liang Yao had already vaccinated Pan Zhengwei and others.

Pan Zhengwei was furious when he heard the words, and got up angrily: "The mutual establishment of consulates is beyond the scope of my authority, but I can ask the emperor of the Qing Dynasty to make a decision after discussion with all officials.

With an attitude of friendship and equality, we put aside our pretensions of being a superior country and condescended to come to the United States for a visit. We don’t want your country to be so ignorant and ask for the territory of the Qing Dynasty when we come up. It seems that the British are right. The United States is indeed A country of savage gangsters.

Although my Qing Dynasty is rich all over the world and has a vast territory, not an inch of land is superfluous!
If you want the land of my Qing Dynasty, you can send troops to take it. My million soldiers of the Qing Dynasty are not vegetarians!Let's not talk about this treaty! "

Speaking of the remarks he had prepared in advance, Pan Zhengwei led the crowd and angrily walked away regardless of Fillmore's persuasion.

"Speaker Liang, please retain the envoys of the Qing Dynasty."

Fillmore said to Liang Yao regretfully.

"How to stay? If the Qing Dynasty came up and asked for the territory of the United States, would you accept it?"

Liang Yao shook his head and said in great disappointment.

"I tried my best to persuade His Majesty the Emperor to send envoys to visit the United States reluctantly, using my family's relationship in the Qing court. I never thought that you would make such a low-level mistake."

Fillmore paced back and forth, overlooking the Triangle Park not far from the New York Municipal Building from time to time, and said in a regretful tone: "It's true that I didn't think carefully, I was too impatient, and I really wanted a stronghold in the Far East .”

As the end of his term drew closer, Fillmore's mentality became irritable, and he lost the calmness that a mature and experienced politician should have.

Of course, this is also related to his stereotyped impression of officials from the Qing Dynasty because he has never dealt with officials from the Qing Dynasty before.

Perhaps this minister, who is neither humble nor overbearing, is a relatively upright official in the Qing Dynasty who pursues ideals, just like the imperial envoy who banned smoking mentioned by Morrie.

"It's not difficult to find a stronghold in the Far East, and the Qing Dynasty is not the only country in the Far East." Liang Yao found a comfortable seat and sat down.

"You mean Japan?" Fillmore suddenly became energetic.

"I did have the idea of ​​coercing Japan to establish a country by force, opening up the Japanese market, and establishing diplomatic relations with Japan.

The information you provided gave me a better understanding of Japan.You said that Japan is also a unified country with a population of [-] million, which is no less than that of the United States.

For such a huge country, it might not be that simple to force it to be founded. "

"This is just an appearance. The unity of Japan is a very fragile unity. Unlike the emperor of the Qing Dynasty who had supreme power, the power of the emperor of Japan has declined. He is just a puppet who acts as a mascot to maintain people's hearts."

Liang Yao said.

"The actual power holder in Japan is the hereditary shogun, and under this nominal unity, the shogun can actually control not enough places and armies.

To force Japan to found a state, it is only necessary to force the shogun to bow his head by force.

I believe that the United States has such strength. "

After listening carefully to Liang Yao's words, Fillmore returned to his seat and fell into deep thought.

The temptation to force Japan to open up was great.

If he can successfully force the Japanese shogunate to open the country, it will not only boost the morale of the American people, but also open up the Japanese market, which will be of great benefit to improving his personal prestige.

The prestige of Fillmore, who succeeded the president of the United States as the vice president, is not high. Being able to become the president of the United States has a lot of luck.

Fillmore has very little influence among the upper class elite in the United States. He must make a major event during his term of office to change this situation and break the stereotypes of all social classes against him.

If the founding of Japan can be done, both the common people and the middle class and the upper-class dignitaries will definitely look at him with admiration and win more votes for his next re-election.

"Forcing Japan to establish a state, how long will it take, how many troops, and how much military spending?" Fillmore was moved.

"As long as there is the support of the naval fleet, half a year is enough, not counting the trip to Japan."

Liang Yao said very confidently.

"If your Excellency the President is not willing to be a mediocre president, I am willing to help you, and a quick solution will not cost the federal government too much financial resources."

A mediocre president, these words deeply stimulated Fillmore.

After climbing from the bottom of the society to the pinnacle of power in the United States, he is indeed unwilling to be a mediocre president.

(End of this chapter)