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Northern Qing envoy Guerjia. Yuan Bao arrived in Jiangnan. It was in the Tsarist envoy Nikolai. Accompanied by Rear Admiral Muravyov, he arrived in Shanghai on the armed merchant ship Amur. On the day before Zhu Jishi's sacrifice to the filial piety tomb, he arrived at Yingtianfu City.

Gualca. Yuanbao's identity is a secret envoy, and the purpose of coming to Jiangnan is to sue for peace with Zhu Ming, while the mission of the Tsarist envoy Muravyov is to mediate. However, Zhu Jishi did not hide the secrecy for Beiqing, and found out Guerjia. After the ingot's intention, the news was passed out.

"Have you heard, Imperial Court...... No, it was the Northern Qing Dynasty who sent people to sue for peace. ”

"Really?"

"Of course, the messengers are all in the city! I heard that he came with the Russian envoy, what is it called, Guerjia. Ingots! ”

"Ingots? That's a good name. But why did he come with the Russian envoys? ”

"This, I heard that this time the Northern Qing Dynasty was afraid that our saints would not agree to their request for peace, so they begged Tsarist Russia to mediate. If our son of heaven does not agree, Tsarist Russia will send troops! ”

"Tsarist Russia is going to send troops? What are you doing? Aren't our sons of heaven and foreign devils friends? In that "European Travel Experience", it is also said that our son of heaven slept with the princess of Tsarist Russia when he was in Europa......"

"You don't know what to do, our family's saint and foreign devils are friends, but Prince Gong of the Northern Qing Dynasty is the godson of the emperor of Tsarist Russia! If it is difficult to be a godson, can you not be a godfather? ”

"Ah, I recognized the foreign devil as my father! Why doesn't this Prince Gong have any backbone! ”

"Not only to recognize my father, but also to cut the land, I heard that half of Manchuria and half of Xinjiang will be cut out. He also proclaimed himself a vassal to Tsarist Russia. To enter the court at the age of the year. Every year of the tribute. ”

"Ahh

It has been 200 years since the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, and this influence naturally cannot be completely eliminated overnight.

Hearing that "I have been in the Qing Dynasty" has been the father of Tsarist Russia, the Jiangnan gentry are angry and condemned, but many people also express pessimism and disappointment.

"The panic of the Qing Dynasty has also reached the point of his father Yidi, it seems that he is at most a Shi Jin, and almost a Northern Han! Lamentable. What a pity! ”

The remarks of the gentry of the people in Jiangnan reached Zhu Jishi's ears through various channels, and at the same time, Shen Baozhen, a chamberlain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also received the task of entertaining the envoys of Tsarist Russia and the Northern Qing Dynasty.

At present, Li Hongzhang, the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, sent an envoy to Luoyang but did not return, and Wu Chunqiu, the left attendant, was ordered to send an envoy to Japan in early May to discuss with the Tokugawa shogunate the issue of revising the "Treaty of Tomorrow." Therefore, only Shen Baozhen stayed in Yingtian to preside over the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shen Baozhen is Lin Zexu's fast son-in-law, a Jinshi of Daoguang for 27 years, and has served in the Western-style Yamen. Ingot is an old acquaintance. But now, his eyes were fixed on the Russian envoy next to Yuanbao, Major General Muravyov.

In the eyes of all the old Manchu ministers who took refuge in Zhu Ming, the loss of Beijing. The Manchu Qing Dynasty, who retreated outside the customs, was already a bitter bone in the grave, and it was no accident. It was only a matter of time before it fell, and this accident was Tsarist Russia. According to news from Europe, Luo Xiangmei, the queen of Zhu Ming, and Liu Peng, the right prime minister, have made great progress in their diplomatic activities. France and Britain were successfully wooed, but negotiations with Russia were fruitless. There were great differences between the two sides on the issue of land ownership in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang after the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Ming's latest proposition is that the demarcation of the border between Zhu Ming and Tsarist Russia should be based on the "Treaty of Nebuchu of Qing Russia". The Tsarist side demanded all of Manchuria, all of Mongolia and the area north of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Moreover, Zhu Jishi's attitude on this issue is extremely tough, and there is no room for concession.

Shen Baozhen is not a fool, after learning about Zhu Jishi's policy towards Russia, he vaguely noticed that Zhu Jishi did not have the sincerity to negotiate with Tsarist Russia, of course, he did not expect that Zhu Jishi had already made up his mind to start a war with Tsarist Russia.

But in the conversation, the two sides had a good time. Formal negotiations have not yet begun, and both sides are carefully testing their opponents' cards while flexing their muscles.

Under the leadership of Shen Baozhen, Muravyov and Gualja. Yuan Bao visited various construction sites in Yingtianfu, and even attended a meeting of the Constituent Assembly of the Ming Dynasty.

In the chamber, more than 100 constituents dressed in civilian clothes are voting on the "Ming Civil Code" one by one, which is based on the Napoleonic Code, that is, the "French Civil Code" of 1804, which basically implements the "principle of freedom and equality" in the civil capacity of subjects; The principle of ownership and the principle of freedom of contract. The articles are extremely trivial, with more than 2,000 articles.

A group of constitutional legislators debated and voted on every law with relish, and there were many Yingtian citizens and reporters who were watching at the meeting of the parliament - the people of Yingtianfu were also very new to this kind of public discussion of national affairs, and they all wanted to come and see the excitement, but unfortunately the parliament only allowed 80 people to enter the meeting every day, so there were people queuing up in front of the parliament early every morning to receive tickets for the visit. The newspapers in Gangnam are also full of parliamentary debates. It is clear that everyone is extremely interested in the activities of the Constituent Assembly.

And Gualca. Yuan Bao also felt extremely inexplicable about Zhu Ming's "gentlemanly discussion of politics" - how could this military affairs be openly discussed by a group of unofficial and unemployed "parliamentarians"? If it goes on like this, it's not messed up!

Muravyov reacted with apprehension, as he was a so-called "liberal and democrat" who wrote to Tsar Nicholas I asking for the abolition of serfdom. They are also very envious of the constitutional systems of Western European countries. Unexpectedly, Russia has not even had time to abolish serfdom, and the Chinese have already established a constitution and opened a parliament! This is the leading position in the system!

And in the process of visiting the construction of Yingtianfu, Guerjia. Yuan Bao saw Zhu Jishi's grandeur and luxury, the Ming Palace's palace and filial piety mausoleum, even in the Qianlong year is not small, but the Zhu family in early May ordered to start construction of a pure Western-style palace at the northwest foot of the Purple Mountain-Fort Maria, the cost is said to be as high as two million silver dollars, it is really poor and extravagant. But all these expenses were paid by Zhu Jishi himself.

According to Gualca. According to the information that Yuan Bao has, Zhu Jishi has spent 12 million yuan on collecting antiques in the past six months, 10 million yuan on repairing the Yingtian Forbidden City and Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, and 2 million yuan on building Fort Maria, which is 24 million yuan before and after...... Where did this Zhu Datianzi get so much silver!

However, what attracted Muravyov's attention was the Meishan iron mine, iron factory, and arsenal project in the southwest of Yingtianfu City. The second plant of this mine was jointly invested by Lanfang Bank and Segul Bank, and the scale was so large that even Muravyov was envious. Such a large iron factory and arsenal are not available in Russia at the moment!

Seeing Muravyov's surprised expression, Shen Baozhen said with a smile: "Mr. Special Envoy, factories of this scale abound in Guangdong, and now the iron and weapons produced by Daming can not only meet their own needs, but also export a large number of them to Japan, Siam, Myanmar and other countries. ”

It seems that the Ming State is not only one step ahead in terms of constitutional system, but also not necessarily behind the Russian Empire in terms of industrialization!

Listening to the translator's paraphrase, Muravyov thought so to himself. Russia, the gendarme of Europe and the hegemon of Europe, is not industrially developed, far behind Britain, France, Prussia, and even inferior to Austria. Russia's strength lies in its large population and the ability to mobilize a large number of troops, but this advantage is fundamentally a disadvantage in the face of China, which has a larger population. It could have been counted on that little industry in Russia to bully the backward and conservative Manchus. But who would have thought that this eastern country would change almost overnight, with a bourgeois revolution breaking out, and then the process of industrialization would begin rapidly. Looking at their current development momentum, I am afraid that it will not take 10 years to surpass Russia in industrialization. At that time, Russia's eastern territories will probably become the target of expansion in a unified China.

Now in front of Russia, I am afraid there are only two paths. The first is to agree to the Ming Dynasty's request to use the "Nebuchu Treaty" as the basis for the future Sino-Russian border, and to take back the claws that have been stretched out. Then pray to God that Zhu Ming will never punch Russia's fragile back.

The second is to use all means, including military intervention, to prevent Zhu Ming from reunifying China! (To be continued......)