Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

This time, because it involved the defeat of British warships and the capture of sailors, the British attitude was not so tough.

More than a decade ago, when the Royal Navy sailed into the seas of the Qing Dynasty, they could sail without restraint, going wherever they wanted, as long as they did not arouse the high vigilance of the Qing army.

Now, because France and Russia have meddled in other people's business and rearmed the Qing Dynasty, the Qing army now has a fleet that is actually quite formidable.

But another key point is that Solovyov had just finished the Persian Constituent Conference in Isfahan, which stipulated the special status of the Persian Empire within the Russian Empire, granting it freedom of religious belief and national customs. He was also aware of this.

That is, it is not like the Qing army that was later beaten half to death by foreigners. The current Qing army still dares to fight, and it is not at a disadvantage in local battles.

Moreover, the navy had giant ships and did not need to engage in close combat, so the navy's weaknesses were not as obvious as those of the Green Standard Army.

But he was still outside the main venue, returning from Isfahan to St. Petersburg to report back and then decide the final fate of Persia.

The crucial point is that both Britain and the Qing Dynasty are currently conducting tense assessments to determine what kind of power the other side truly is.

Forty years after Macartney's arrival in China, the British envoy was finally able to step through the gates of the Qianqing Palace again. As for etiquette, Emperor Daoguang granted leniency, stipulating that the first meeting required the grand ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, and subsequent visits would be conducted according to the standards for meeting the King of England.

This put Lucius Bentinck Carey, the tenth Viscount of Falkland, who had already arrived in Tianjin, at ease.

In return for Britain's assistance in Tehran in mediating Russian diplomacy and ultimately releasing Prince Menshikov, this time Britain was required to explain things clearly to the Qing Dynasty and facilitate an audience between the British envoy and the Daoguang Emperor. This was considered a very successful diplomatic exchange of interests.

Viscount Falkland still had some doubts about this, and he asked Anton about it whenever he saw him.

"Count, how is this any different from the past?"

"Of course there is a difference, Lucius. This is the treatment my brother received when he came to China. Besides, it's afternoon tea time now, and I have some fine Longjing tea here, a gift from my brother's friend, an official who serves as the governor of one of China's wealthiest provinces. Receiving a gift from that incorruptible Lord Lin is also a kind of gentlemanly exchange."

Anton was much more outgoing than his older brother. Solovyov needed to get to know people before he could activate his skill, but he was naturally outgoing. After giving Lin Zexu some Russian-translated chronicles last time, Lin Zexu reciprocated with tea and Song Dynasty books.

Lord Lin also knew that among the three brothers, the second brother, although somewhat learned, was not particularly refined. Prince Li had given his elder brother fan paintings by Ji Xiaolan, and although he also had fan paintings, the gifts they exchanged were mostly handicrafts and tea sets.

So the Viscount Falkland used a set of Jun ware teacups here.

It is also because of this characteristic of Jun ware that its appearance style is quite popular among Europeans.

"The tea here is served without sugar. However, if you want to add sugar, you can put in one or two pieces, but that will ruin the flavor."

"Chinese officials are really interesting. They don't have Oxford and Cambridge, but they have many academies. Unfortunately, these places don't issue diplomas. These qualifications are ultimately determined by the examination institutions organized by the emperor."

"My lord, you can certainly think that way. Even if their imperial examinations are divided into three levels of degrees, there is still an element of personal connections involved, and the room for cheating is far less than in Britain and Russia. It can be said to be an efficient system. We can also learn from them by arranging so many civil servants, and even more officials below them."

“But Earl, you must know that I have brought a mission from Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister. I am here as a special envoy to meet His Majesty the Emperor of China, and the focus is on the etiquette during the meeting.”

"The first meeting naturally involves three kneelings and nine kowtows. Macartney came here forty years ago and also followed the emperor's standards. It's just that the emperor at that time was more lenient and relaxed some of the etiquette. Subsequent emperors have been very faithful to royal etiquette. For example, your country's prime minister also followed the corresponding etiquette when meeting His Majesty the King in the past. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor's willingness to change the etiquette after the second meeting already shows his leniency."

"What about the meeting with His Excellency the Governor?"

"That's not the point, Lord. The Governor-General of Zhili is only responsible for the reception; the real point lies with His Majesty the Emperor's cabinet and the State Council."

Anton had to explain further, linking the Six Ministries, the Court of Colonial Affairs, and the Cabinet, and linking the Grand Council with the State Council of Russia, so that Viscount Falkland could easily understand the specific situation.

This thirty-year-old viscount was very shrewd. He believed that getting things done was the most important thing. Ideally, he could take this opportunity to sign a trade treaty with the Emperor's foreign minister so that there would be no more serious trade conflicts in the future, even if it was just at the port of Guangzhou.

The Queen and Earl Grey were both people who didn't want to cause trouble, and their attitude determined that Viscount Falkland was very polite when he arrived, so the Qing Dynasty was also quite satisfied.

Emperor Daoguang granted special permission for the audience and, upon learning that the young man was a representative of the House of Lords, he summoned the French ambassador to inquire about the British protocol.

Upon learning the parliamentary process, Daoguang was instantly transported back to the time before the Qing Dynasty rose to power beyond the Great Wall. This meeting method sounded just like the grand meetings held by the Bojilie during the time of Wanyan Aguda.

The upper house represented the nobles, and the lower house represented the gentry. Emperor Daoguang ultimately understood it this way. It must be said that after Solovyov patched up the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Daoguang's intelligence truly took over.

As for the rules of the British royal family, Daoguang felt that this system was really bad, as one had to walk backwards when meeting the emperor.

But he wanted to see for himself, and his tolerance towards the British would also help demonstrate the Celestial Empire's inclusiveness and the Emperor's benevolence.

Anyway, that's Cao Zhenyong's plan, and he's also worried about someone like Mu Zhang'a coming up to power.

He was just afraid of causing trouble. He didn't hide when something happened. The emperor would know what he needed to know. What about Mu Zhang'a?

Even among the Manchus, there must be treacherous officials. If someone tries to guess the emperor's intentions and doesn't handle things as well as someone like Master He, then that's very bad.

Mu Zhang'a might then resort to reporting only good news and concealing bad news, even deceiving the emperor.

The minister in charge of receiving guests is Mu Zhang'a. During the Daoguang reign, there were always some Manchus in the position of Grand Councilor.

In fact, during the Qing Dynasty from the Qianlong to the Daoguang period, the proportion of Manchus in the Grand Council was not that high. It was only in the later period that this proportion continued to increase, which squeezed out the Han officials who were originally in the central government.

There will also be some problems with this person receiving Viscount Falkland.

Fortunately, the Russian and French ambassadors mediated between the two sides, and the Dutch ambassador was responsible for appeasing the British side, so things went very smoothly for both sides.

Unlike the arrogant seasoned officials of the past, the Viscount Falkland didn't kneel when ordered to. The Ministry of Rites' performance indicated that only the Prince of Sue and his son could match the respect shown by this first-class viscount from England. Ah, that's quite a high compliment.

When the Viscount Falkland paid his respects in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he did so well, so Emperor Daoguang bestowed upon him a jade ruyi and a return gift upon the Queen.

And, with the Qing emperor's cleverness, he asked the queen and her husband how many children they had in total.

Then the Queen recently gave birth to a son who will be granted a title in the future. He was still an infant when Emperor Daoguang ordered that a longevity lock be given to this young prince.

This was also a well-intentioned gesture, and the Viscount Falkland, as a specially appointed plenipotentiary, accepted it on his behalf.

Even the Qing Dynasty officials standing nearby, because of Viscount Falkland's performance, thought it was the Emperor's grace that had made the British barbarians submit, and that there would be no more trouble in the world, and that peace could be said to prevail.

However, they were overthinking it.

The current Earl Grey cabinet believed that peace should be maintained, and he was able to suppress his ministers to force the bill through, which is why it passed safely in the House of Commons.

The Queen is now able to communicate with the House of Lords and work with the Duke of Clarence to stabilize the Botanic Gardens, thus preventing any problems from arising.

However, if the Duke of Clarence, the Queen’s uncle, and the Earl of Grey, the Prime Minister, are no longer in power, the Queen, despite her strength, will have to face members of the Liberal and Conservative parties, and may find herself in a situation where she cannot stand alone.

Moreover, both the Liberal and Conservative parties believe that the Royal Navy has lost face this time and must get revenge in the future to make the Qing Dynasty realize that they should not provoke the British Empire.

However, at this time, a problem arose: the Qing Dynasty had a mutual defense agreement with France and Russia. If the clause was triggered, although there might not necessarily be a war in Europe, the diplomatic pressure on the two countries and the various actions they could take in the Far East were things that Britain could not foresee.

Therefore, it is best to maintain a state of peace for the time being, and wait until Earl Grey, who can temporarily keep them in check and carry out internal reforms, steps down, and then there will naturally be an opportunity.

At least in the gentlemen's club, Foreign Secretary Palmerston indicated that this time the approach was peaceful, bringing back a temporary trade agreement, but the next time might not be so.

The British are determined to get back what they lost.

Sometimes you have to admit, they're like plucked beasts; those who work hard on stage are sabotaged from below.

In fact, Emperor Daoguang, knowing the advanced nature of British machinery, had already considered importing it, and this was even mentioned in Li Hongbin's reply to Napier and in official documents.

However, the British disagreed with this request. Viscount Falkland's task was to sign a trade agreement, hoping that the Chinese emperor would grant permission to open the Ningbo port.

They actually knew that the Ningbo trade route controlled by Solovyov, although only a few ships traveled on it each time, had low tariffs and almost no shady practices.

However, this place was only open to a few Russian ships that transited through Ryukyu, and occasionally the Dutch would stop here to resupply when they returned from Japan, and take a few goods back to Guangzhou along the way.

Furthermore, it was not open to foreigners.

Emperor Daoguang refused, stating that if the British were willing, they could sell the machinery and allow the relevant artisans and merchants to settle in Guangzhou and Xiamen, but they could not travel elsewhere without official permission.

In Emperor Daoguang's eyes, this was already considered an extraordinary act of mercy. Viscount Falkland did not have that much authority; he could only do his job well, and the rest was not something he could decide.

Things went smoothly, and the Qing government and the British subsequently returned to Tianjin to sign trade regulations.

However, the British were still operating in Guangzhou and were not allowed to operate in other ports. If such a trade treaty were brought back to Britain, only Earl Grey would agree to it for the sake of overall strategic considerations.

No one else would be satisfied; the Macartney administration demanded the opening of five ports for trade.

However, they also noticed that the Chinese emperor had allowed them to settle in Guangzhou and Xiamen, but this was a condition for which the Viscount Falkland himself did not have the authority, so the matter was put on hold.

The British are actually quite secretive about machinery.

They also hoped for another trading port, and the Chinese emperor was knowledgeable about machinery, which was probably Solovyov's doing again.

This guy was active in the Middle East. Not only did he complete the constitutional revision of the Persian Empire, but he also carried out in-depth anti-opium campaigns in the territories of the Ottoman Empire and the former territories of the Persian Empire, effectively cutting off the American supply.

However, Solovyov and Lin Zexu learned a trick and specifically taught these Americans to bring goods from the Middle East to the Qing Dynasty. Some local specialties were rarely seen in the Qing Dynasty, and exquisite handicrafts could often be sold at high prices.

Therefore, some American businessmen still found opportunities to get rich here.

But what pleased the British was that they now had only one supplier of opium.

Although the Queen and the Prime Minister opposed it, the merchants below didn't care and continued to engage in opium smuggling along the Chinese coast, keeping the Guangdong and Fujian navies very busy.

Even Guan Tianpei, the former Governor-General of Jiangnan, has now become the Governor-General of Jiangnan Water and Land Forces, making him the only commander-in-chief in the Qing army at this time who holds both positions. This not only strengthens the army but also ensures that the Qing army does not relax its vigilance along the coast.

Because the trade treaty between the two sides stated that both His Majesty the Emperor of China and His Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom abhorred the opium trade and demanded that the subjects of the Chinese Emperor abstain from opium, while British merchants should not smuggle opium into China. This was more of a moral admonition from the monarchs.

For those addicts, they really don't care about the emperor's good words. Some of them are about to have no descendants, but they are still using drugs.

Meanwhile, in Britain, the Queen's influence only kept a few major merchants in line, while the East India Company continued to do as it pleased.

As a result, the situation inevitably worsened. (End of Chapter)