Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

That's how it was during the Qing Dynasty.

Solovyov now knows that although Jiaqing has some ideas about Kokand, these ideas are not enough to support him in waging a major war.

When trouble was about to arise, Jiaqing clearly lacked the ambition of Qianlong.

As for the fact that he may not live to see the final outcome of the Zhang Ge'er Rebellion, Solovyov is not in a position to comment or judge the matter.

However, regarding the trade in Guangzhou, although the emperor has already agreed and the princes and ministers are cooperating in the negotiations, Solovyov still learned some information about the situation in Guangzhou through Pan Youdu.

Although Tongwenhang is less affected by corrupt practices due to its relationship with Pan Youdu, it must still be considered that officials of all ranks in Guangdong, as well as the forces behind them, all rely on the Guangdong Customs to make money.

Beyond customs duties, it's hard to say where a lot of that shady practice ended up.

Anyway, the emperor's share all came from the merchants, and that amount of silver was quite substantial.

China didn't truly have a modern bank until the arrival of the British Robert Hart. Ironically, under Hart's management, the efficiency of the Qing Dynasty's customs service actually improved.

But if even someone like Pan Youdu, the head of the Guangdong Customs, dislikes this line of business, one can imagine what's going on inside.

Solovyov was not summoned, and the negotiations were suspended after trade was opened. The emperor remained noncommittal about the negotiations on subsequent projects. As envoys, they could not freely walk around the streets of the capital, so they stayed at Prince Qing's residence every day.

Then Princess Guren Hexiao liked his two children, and she would always call Pasha to practice archery, while she would hold Lisa and watch from the side.

Whether the princess lost her fertility or simply didn't want to have any more children, she had one son with Fengshen Yinde who died young, and then she had no more children.

He took two concubines, but each of them bore him only one daughter.

Although Solovyov said the princess was in good health, and mentioned that his lover, Lady Rykamir's, best friend, Lady Stael, had given birth to another child at the age of 45, and that the Russian Empress Dowager was also quite old when she gave birth to her youngest child, such comforting words seemed to be of little use.

The once competitive and assertive Tenth Princess now takes better care of other people's children and the children born to concubines, which prevents her from feeling bored in the mansion.

As for Fengshen Yinde, who lived a few more years, he was also frequently used as a tool.
Their relationship as a couple is good; if they spend more time together, according to...
In short, the Russian envoy mentioned that the reason for his high fertility with his wives, concubines, and lovers was always the right time, physical exercise, and a balanced diet.
I wonder if the old emperor will tease me when I'm over there with you, sir.

In short, that's the situation.

Whether there is any joy or not is unknown, but Fengshen Yinde has recently had to rely on the ginseng treasured by the master to keep him afloat.

At this time, Emperor Jiaqing was also pondering which person to send.

He originally wanted to send a member of the royal family, but considering the long distance, there were probably no suitable people among his own clansmen, except for those who served in the army or were Jinshi graduates who might be interested in being sent on a mission.

But this time, traveling back and forth on someone else's large ship was quite convenient.

If you can't return by sea, you can come back from Tarbagatai or Kyakhta and learn about the situation in Russia along the way.

After skipping over the imperial clan, he saw Fukang'an's son Delin, Fuchang'an who had been demoted and reprimanded for "forming a faction" with Heshen, and Fengshen Yinde, the unjustly accused son of Heshen.

These people in front of me are a bit annoying, but if I send them away, the journey is too far and I'm worried about them.

If there were an embassy, ​​they could just dump Delin in the Russian capital. He's made too many mistakes before, and the Russians have more lenient rules, so it would be peaceful to throw him away.

Because of the prestige of the Celestial Empire, Emperor Jiaqing was hesitant and reluctant to engage with Russia, even though they were on equal footing.

However, there was no problem with the selection of the delegation leader, who was a member of the nobility.

As for the officials below them, they always needed to be graduates of the imperial examinations and be learned scholars.

However, Xu Naiji, whom he had previously summoned, was inexplicably refuted to his face by the Russian envoy, and had already lost face, so he could not go.

As for Lin Zexu, such an outstanding scholar could not be released casually.

However, after returning from presiding over the provincial examination in Jiangxi, he submitted a memorial stating that he had some interest in Western artifacts and requested to conduct research on the bestowed artifacts at the Hanlin Academy.

Lin Zexu performed exceptionally well at the Hanlin Academy. He had also diligently studied Manchu and Mongolian languages ​​and had some interest in various machines. With such a well-rounded individual, Emperor Jiaqing was reluctant to let him go.

If he really wanted to do research, he should just stay in the Hanlin Academy.

Therefore, Lin Zexu was not included in the return visit mission.

However, he selected Niu Jian, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from the nineteenth year of the Jiaqing reign. This man did have one advantage: he was quite familiar with geography.

Solovyov was unaware of the situation regarding Emperor Jiaqing's personnel selection. If he had known, he would have discovered that the card decks from the Qing Dynasty during the Opium War era would soon be available online.

For example, in the following year, the 22nd year of Jiaqing's reign, Yuqian was also among those selected.

However, Yuqian is a name he changed later, and he doesn't use that name anymore. Even if you met him, you probably wouldn't know who he is.

Knowing that his son had gone to the garden to practice archery, he focused on his studies, mainly studying geography and the situation in various places.

Even though Prince Qing himself was not highly educated, it's hard to say that his level of education was particularly high, considering that even princes had to study diligently in the Southern Study.

However, he had quite a collection of books at home, and Solovyov figured that since he was already there, it wouldn't be right not to take advantage of such good resources.

Moreover, some books that weren't included in the list might still be found in the prince's house.

However, after looking at it for a long time, he didn't get much out of it.

However, a record related to the Cai family of Fujian during the Song Dynasty still piqued his interest.

Speaking of which, apart from Cai Xiang, all the members of that family who became high-ranking officials are now listed in the biographies of treacherous officials in the History of Song.

But there are always some advantages to things in Ryukyu.

After hearing what Solovyov said, Emperor Jiaqing became somewhat wary of the Ryukyu Islands.

However, it would be difficult for Qing Dynasty officials to represent the Emperor's will and uphold justice for the Ryukyuans.

After all, the Qing Dynasty's navy was incompetent, and its officials were unable to carry out the emperor's will.

The reason Qianlong kept an eye on these people was because they all had a land-based postal system.

Now that there are no telegrams, Jiaqing has no way of knowing the situation at sea.

In the past, Emperor Qianlong was able to resolve those border issues by directly refuting them with his imperial rescripts when he discovered problems, which allowed for quick corrections.

Those who disobey will either lose their heads or be roasted like Peking duck.

But once at sea, it would be good enough if they could do a good job of the investiture and pacification. Solovyov knew this, so even though he was still in Beijing, his attention was already focused on the sea.

Either go to Okinawa on your return trip, or make sure you get to the bottom of things while you're visiting Japan.

Alternatively, if Jiaqing summons him again in the future, he can bring up the matter again.

Emperor Jiaqing had already shown some displeasure, and by observing his words and expressions, it was still possible to discern the problem.

So he also started planning this scheme.

Given the Japanese level of expertise, having Sukufu develop Ryukyu into a supply depot for armed merchant ships would be a very feasible plan.

However, the final decision on what to do remains uncertain, as he resides in the royal palace and is not with many members of the delegation.

This was also the beauty of Emperor Jiaqing's arrangement, which granted him special treatment but made it less convenient for him to communicate with envoys from various countries.

However, given the level of their contributions, Jiaqing would still agree to any trade-related requests, as long as they didn't involve ceding territory or any unreasonable ambitions.

One reason for this is that Emperor Jiaqing has now discovered that more and more foreigners are speaking Mandarin, and it's not just the missionaries around him.

Solovyov's explanation makes sense, given that quite a few documents have been circulated.

Given the extent of the relationship between Vietnam and France, it's impossible to stop it from developing.

Moreover, many French people are self-taught, and there are quite a few who translate novels, like Solovyov.

Remusa is now taking the novels that the Jiaqing Emperor bestowed upon him for translation and beginning to organize the text for translation work, so that he can introduce some of the novels to Europe.

Even Goethe had this idea.

However, due to his advanced age, he was unable to bring this European literary giant with him this time.

Meanwhile, when Emperor Jiaqing summoned Yonglin, he asked his younger brother what Solovyov had been doing all these days.

The reply I received was that he spent all his time reading in his study.

"He is indeed diligent in his studies."

"Your Majesty, if he keeps borrowing books from my study like this, I'm afraid it won't be long before he confiscates all the books in my collection."

"It's alright, let him copy them. Among the Western officials, he is the only one who is well-versed in poetry and literature. Even that French sinologist is not as good as him in some aspects. It seems that even if the Westerners know it, they probably won't be able to learn it all. Yonglin, what harm is there in giving him all the books?"

"I simply feel..."

"He's not going to devour the knowledge in your books, nor does he necessarily possess the skills of Zhang Song from Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. What's so special about him?"

Emperor Jiaqing merely followed the rules and regulations, doing things according to Emperor Qianlong's strategies, which amplified his own shortcomings.

But it's okay to be carefree at times like this; after all, many books are taken abroad, but they still can't learn them.

Learning Chinese is actually quite difficult.

Solovyov himself felt that there were some inappropriate parts in the translation, but because of his long military service and many other things to do, it was difficult for him to have time to continue correcting them.

Therefore, it seems that much of what Europeans know may be inaccurate.

Therefore, even if knowledge is blocked, it probably won't be of much use.

After all, there was still a considerable gap between the cultural systems of China and the West at that time.

However, there are more opportunities for communication within the East Asian region.

Even in Korea and Vietnam, the imperial examination system was still in place, and Confucianism was flourishing in Ryukyu. In Ryukyu, the Min people of the Cai family, whether descendants of Cai Jing or Cai Xiang, often held official positions and even retaliated against their political enemies. Their methods were far more ruthless than those of Cai Jing's Yuanyou Party members—those opponents were completely baffled in the end.

The Okinawa governor who has been leading the Okinawans in opposing the US military bases is also a Ryukyuan. He claims to be a descendant of the Cai family, one of the thirty-six families of Fujian. Maybe the Cai family is some kind of innate political sage, and they have some kind of system.

Even in Japan, Confucianism flourished there, and at least the Chinese characters were written quite well. Even the "Great History of Japan," which the Mito Domain had been compiling, was written entirely in Chinese characters.

He also collected a lot of banned books, as well as things that had been lost in the Central Plains.

For example, such a magical book as "Dayi Juemi Lu," which Emperor Yongzheng personally refuted, can be found in Japan.

But Japan is also the only country that came up with strange things on a whim.

As for those few vassal states in the southwest, they have indeed never been very obedient, and they are still the same in modern times. Even in the 21st century, they still have restless thoughts.

Solovyov was now determined to teach them a lesson, so after reading the book, he copied down some useful parts, especially his notes from his visit to Ryukyu, and combined them with some intelligence he had previously collected from the Dutch that was related to Japan.

He had already begun to formulate a battle plan, and he also planned to present it to Emperor Jiaqing again during a future audience.

If Emperor Jiaqing had been aware of the difficulties faced by the Ryukyu king at that time, it's uncertain whether he would have agreed.

Because of natural disasters, population growth, and oppression from the Satsuma Domain, Ryukyu was already experiencing plague and famine, which was indeed a huge disaster for an island nation.

This situation was a common phenomenon worldwide in the early 19th century.

The Jiaqing Emperor was constantly blaming himself for the starving people, but no matter how much self-discipline he exercised, how much disaster relief he carried out, or how much he tried to control the floods, he could not solve the problem of the rapidly increasing population in the Qing Dynasty, which led to extremely serious land disputes.

Let alone a dynasty established by the Manchus after entering the pass, even a Han dynasty would probably not be able to withstand it.

Not to mention the previous Han Chinese dynasty, which was ruthless in killing refugees.

Moreover, Solovyov also realized that, given the current situation, even if Jiaqing knew some ways to disperse the refugees and alleviate land conflicts, he probably wouldn't have the courage to do so.

Ultimately, it is likely that Europeans will come to the Chinese coast, like the Japanese pirates who plundered many coastal residents at the end of the Ming Dynasty, or the Dutch who came in the early 17th century, to find another place outside of Africa to start their business.

Yes, it's the same "coolie" system. Many Chinese who were stranded overseas in the 19th century went through this route.

In addition, Solovyov was also considering the situation of these forts along the Qing Dynasty's coast.

He didn't intend to reveal any intelligence to the British; he just wanted to dig a trap for them, which required him to do it himself.

But the decision-making power was clearly in Jiaqing's hands.

Solovyov may not yet have enough trust in him. (End of Chapter)