Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Being summoned again could be considered a second visit to the palace.

Solovyov had previously heard a performance of "Da Tan Er" at the Sanqing Opera Troupe. If it were the full version, it would be called "Longfengge" (Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion). Surprisingly, the actors were able to perform this strange play very well.

Solovyov always used the same gate for audiences, but this time Songjun wasn't there to receive him, and he didn't have to wait in the Wuying Hall.

Because of today's events, we have to go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation again; it was all arranged by Emperor Jiaqing.

As for what to say, Solovyov probably learned some of the details from Yonglin.

He had previously mentioned the border demarcation issue, as well as the activities of the British.

Moreover, the British were mentioned many times during previous negotiations with Tozin and others.

Of course, Qianlong had dealt with the British several times before, so he was somewhat prepared and always on guard. Even after Macartney returned, although he invited the British to come back in the sixtieth year of Qianlong's reign, he never relaxed his vigilance.

He could get a general idea of ​​where the British were operating from the flintlock muskets that Fuheng and Fukang'an had captured when they went out to fight, without needing to specifically look up any intelligence.

As for the perplexing question about England, it was also a tactical concern of Emperor Daoguang. The presence of British barbarians everywhere had left him confused.

The problems faced by Emperor Jiaqing were similar.

However, Solovyov had already given him a heads-up, and he now knew to some extent where the British came from.

Recently, Nam Mide specifically talked about some things related to England, but since he has been in the church for a long time and was sent to East Asia, most of what he knows is secondhand information.

Solovyov had met the British Regent and the eldest princess, as well as several of the Regent's brothers, and he knew more about them.

Now, in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, several Grand Councilors and Grand Secretaries are all quite old.

When Emperor Qianlong was alive, they were all young. Although many of them were high-ranking officials of the first or second rank, they were older when people like Agui, Liu Yong, Wang Jie, and Ji Xiaolan were around. But the emperor was even older.

When Jiaqing came to power, he appointed these veteran officials as usual. Ever since his mentor Zhu Gui fell ill on his way to court, these veteran officials had received some special treatment.

They were sitting on either side, just like in the previous dynasty.

Emperor Jiaqing sat on the throne in the middle, with a desk in front of him, and did not stop writing for a while, as he still had to review memorials.

If we're talking about which emperor worked 997 hours a day, we'd have to ask the emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

Every single one of those memorials had to be approved.

"Your Majesty, the Russian envoy has arrived. Shall we let him in?"

"Wait here. Once I have reviewed this memorial, you can call him in."

"Whoo."

As for Solovyov, he doesn't need to kneel before the emperor; he can just walk in.

After the usual formalities, Jiaqing looked at the senior officials on both sides, and then at the Russian general standing below.

"Suoqing, when will you and Tuojin come up with a plan?"

"Your Majesty, it would be best to wait until both sides have reached a point of no further disagreement."

"Are there still disagreements? I have read the memorial on Tuojin and know where the discussions have reached. The opening of the port for trade was something I had already agreed to. As for the other items, each party should consider their own circumstances. Are you aware of that?"

"Your subject knows."

"Very well, I understand. But why do you insist on re-demarcating the border?"

"Your Majesty, this must be done again, and all the areas that were previously under discussion should also be surveyed and settled."

In fact, the Qing Dynasty had no problems with the area south of the Outer Khingan Mountains. The concessions made near Lake Baikal were simply due to the presence of the restless Galdan.

Otherwise, Russia's main forces wouldn't have come to Siberia to dig potatoes; the two sides would most likely have to engage in a few minor skirmishes before the real battle is decided at the table.

Solovyov mentioned that there were no problems with the Udi River, the Outer Khingan Mountains, and the Ergun River. The surveyors on both sides retraced the route and erected boundary markers.

In the central Khalkha and Tannu Uriankhai regions, they also each went through the route to confirm.

There are other territories on both sides, and naturally they need to inform each other of the Qing Dynasty's borders in Xinjiang, Russia's borders in Orenburg, and the current situation of Little Horde under their actual control.

"These are the points I have made. I wonder if Your Majesty's assessment is appropriate?"

"That makes some sense, but I wonder what use it is to you, Suo Qing?"

The four Grand Councilors remained silent, waiting for a signal from Emperor Jiaqing.

Solovyov heard Jiaqing's question and then made everything clear.

"Your Majesty, your foreign envoy has come to the Celestial Empire from thousands of miles away for the sake of lasting peace between our two nations. Determining the border is only one part of the process. As for forging an alliance and forming a coalition to contain the British, that is a long-term strategy that must be investigated."

Upon hearing about the alliance, Emperor Jiaqing found it somewhat strange.

"I have already told you that the Celestial Empire treats Russia as a tribute envoy and as an equal. This is an ancestral system left by the Holy Ancestor Emperor Ren. It is fine for the two countries to be on good terms, so why should we form an alliance against the British? The British are just a small country that relies on its strong ships and cannons to show off its strength. They have never launched a major invasion. Minister Suo is worrying too much."

"Your Majesty, I have always had some concerns. Do you know what I said before? The British rely on trade profits and a thousand warships. However, after more than twenty years of war in Europe, all sides are exhausted and want to trade with the Celestial Empire to profit and recuperate. That is why envoys from all sides have come. Among them, the British are not as friendly as we are and are not familiar with the etiquette of the Celestial Empire. They only know how to pursue profit and dump goods."

"What is profit-seeking, and what is dumping?"

"Your Majesty, I myself am a merchant by origin and am quite familiar with the principles involved. Those who pursue profit, like Sang Hongyang of the Former Han Dynasty, implemented the Han Dynasty's equalization of transport system, buying goods from cheap places and selling them where prices were high. This is how they profited at the expense of the people. The British trade tea, raw silk, and porcelain from Guangzhou, traveling thousands of miles, which is also profit-seeking. Along the way, they exploit wherever they go, squeezing the people dry to extract their wealth, which is why they have various British colonies. Examples include the United States of the past, and the East Indies and Malacca of today. As for dumping, the Celestial Empire has a population of tens of millions. If each person gets an inch of cloth from the British, the profit is in the millions."

Solovyov has not always been able to maintain a high level of competence, and he is now trying his best to make sure that the Jiaqing Emperor and the Grand Councilors understand him.

Dong Gao, who had been dozing off, suddenly became alert.

As the chief Grand Councilor, he understood the intricacies of the matter.

"No wonder the late Emperor was always wary of the British. Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, our Great Qing is richer than the four seas, possessing abundant resources and everything imaginable compared to the barbarians. Even European countries are known for their craftsmanship, with artisans everywhere imitating their clocks and other machines. If the British were to force everyone in our Great Qing to use their cloth, it would be competing with the people for profit, inevitably harming the populace." The old man, having seen it all, was a veteran of countless battles. When he served Emperor Qianlong, he had met envoys from dozens of countries, encountering all sorts of people.

He has found the key point, and India is currently facing this situation.

Those artisans were eventually crushed by the textile industry exported by Britain, starving to death on the roadside, which ultimately destroyed India's hand-woven textile industry on a large scale.

However, the Qing Dynasty did not actually need British goods; the only ones who could make money in the Qing Dynasty were the Russians.

Because they have always imported horses, if the Qing Dynasty is going to war with someone, the price of horses in Kyakhta will double.

At its peak, it even increased fivefold.

In addition, various animal furs are also a profitable business in European countries.

Solovyov also mentioned the advanced state of Britain's textile industry.

However, foreign cloth was not necessarily as useful as hand-woven cloth, and the Qing Dynasty was self-sufficient and still followed traditional lifestyles.

So Zhang Xu then asked, "General Suo, how do you know this? The Celestial Empire is naturally rich in resources from all over the world, and has no need for the cloth of the British barbarians. On the contrary, the fine horses of Russia, the clocks of France, and the treasures brought from Portugal and the Netherlands are usable items."

"Lord Zhang and the elder brother of the Tongwen Trading Company are from the same year and have some understanding of foreign affairs. However, the British have always harbored evil intentions, using opium to poison the people of the Celestial Empire. Especially those wealthy families with some savings, and below them, government officials and soldiers, and families with accumulated grain. If they smoke opium, like those in Fujian and Taiwan, they will become addicted and unable to quit, or even suffer the destruction of their families and death. Moreover, this substance is hallucinogenic and affects future generations, making it truly the most harmful substance in the world."

When opium was only used as a medicine, it wasn't so serious.

However, once it develops to the stage of opium smoking, it becomes very troublesome, as the addictiveness also doubles.

If it's an extract from the future, that would be even more troublesome.

The four Grand Councilors, sitting there, were all filled with resentment after hearing this.

"If that's the case, the Guangdong Customs will still have to hand over silver every year. As Governor-General Jiang of Guangdong and Guangxi said, it will be difficult to stop it in a short time."

Tojin added a sentence at this point, and then sat back down.

Lu Yinpu remained silent, while he and two military secretaries took notes.

"That is indeed the case. Currently, the British are still operating under the management of the East India Company. Although the opium is produced in Bengal, there is still some control. However, if the British were to open up the business, it would not be a monopoly by the East India Company alone. Among those who come to trade, there are bound to be people with malicious intentions."

"Suo Qing, in your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

"Your Majesty, the naval forces should indeed be given a separate unit specifically for inspection, with sufficient funds, and they should not be treated the same as ordinary soldiers. Although I am only thirty-six years old, I have seen much in the military. Like the Guangdong navy, they should be retrained, each recruiting volunteers and eliminating the old Green Standard Army. Such elite troops and carefully selected ships can patrol the Lingdingyang. Ships coming from India, Persia, and other opium-producing areas should be strictly inspected."

This was already a clear indication that Solovyov knew about the major opium-producing regions at that time.

Actually, it also happens in Central Asia and Afghanistan, but the volume of goods shipped from there is much smaller.

Trade between the Qing Dynasty and Russia was not a major issue, as long as the edicts from Emperor Jiaqing and the Tsar were delivered and the two ports were thoroughly inspected.

The troublesome ones are Kokand, Bukhara, and Khiva, who also trade through their own border crossings.

It's important to know that some things aren't so Halal; they've become very popular in the Middle East because they appeared earlier.

Even in the POW camps, the Turks were able to find wild marijuana in the northeast and sell it to the American troops, which gave the administrators quite a headache. If it weren't for a few American soldiers with a sense of justice exposing them, there would probably be a lot more marijuana addicts in the POW camps.

We need to be on high alert everywhere, which is really a headache.

This kind of nasty stuff is everywhere in the Middle East.

Although Solovyov's planned southern expedition was intended to defeat the Persian and Ottoman Empires and find a sea outlet for Russia in the Indian Ocean.

But there was also an important objective: to strike at the opium-producing regions in these directions and cut off the supply at the source.

Solovyov only occasionally smokes snuff. He is always highly vigilant about smoking and keeps his wife and children away from smoking environments.

To be fair, tobacco is still an option, but if he finds it troublesome, he'll probably just ban it all.

When the Qing emperor and his ministers heard these words, even though the emperor had been on the throne for more than 20 years and the four Grand Councilors were veteran officials, they could not help but feel a chill.

But at that moment, Lu Yinpu suddenly spoke up.

"Your Majesty, this old minister has consulted the Ministry of Personnel's archives in previous years and knows that among the current Jinshi graduates, quite a few have become advisors after passing the provincial examinations, and some of them must be in the capital. I wonder if it would be possible to select someone familiar with maritime affairs to assist in this matter?"

"Your Majesty, what Lord Lu said is very true."

Tuojin and Zhang Xu followed behind, providing the comedic relief, while Dong Gao, though not speaking, nodded in agreement.

That's one way to do it, but among the past graduates who passed the imperial examinations in Beijing, there aren't that many who are familiar with maritime affairs.

Solovyov probably never expected that he would be unable to leave the Hall of Mental Cultivation for the time being.

The questions he posed were already beyond the scope of Emperor Jiaqing's abilities.

They even needed to include some scholars who were familiar with maritime affairs, or officials with official titles. Among the students who bought their way into official positions over the years, there must have been some like that.

For a while, it would require the Minister of Personnel and the Hanlin Academy scholars to investigate and assign this temporary task. There were always people willing to volunteer.

Indeed, some members of the Hanlin Academy made small contributions to combating smuggling in places like Xiamen.

As for the people who came, Solovyov didn't know how Jiaqing had arranged it.

However, if he had known that it was Lin Zexu who was coming, he probably wouldn't have been modest and would have continued to criticize the British in court.

Of course, he didn't know that this was at Dong Gao's behest. Since Mr. Dong had already given his support, Solovyov had to give his support as well.

Lin Zexu had just returned from presiding over the provincial examinations in Jiangxi and had only been back in the capital for a few days when he was summoned by the Emperor to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. (End of Chapter)