[Qing Chuan] Mu Emperor's Grace

Some people say that when you fall in love with a person, you will clearly remember every look in his eyes.Because the eyes are the window that most directly reflects the inner thoughts.

Hongli remembers He Shen's eyes in many ways, exciting, hopeful, unyielding, angry, gentle, lingering, reluctant, and sad, but he has never seen this kind of eyes. Lost the luster of the eyes.

It was this kind of look that made Hongli's heart soften.

He promised: "Yes, I agree."

The young man hovering on the edge of despair couldn't believe what he heard. He looked at the emperor in astonishment, unable to recover for a while.

Hongli pinched his face lightly: "That's it, what else is there?"

He Shen regained his consciousness and felt a little dazed. Hongli agreed, so easy to agree?

He Shen began to complain about those foolish and loyal officials in history. He was obviously such a reasonable emperor, how could he let the situation develop to the point of irreversibility.

The man still doesn't realize that the person who changed the trajectory of history is the variable from the beginning to the end.It's not that He Shen in history was too incompetent, it's just that he was Shen He, whom the emperor put on top of his heart.

Just as he was thinking, He Shen suddenly heard the sound of a dispute coming from outside the hall.He quickly cleared up his mood, and in an instant he returned to a smiling minister in charge.

Hongli clearly saw the whole process of the man changing his face, and felt dumbfounded.Every time he watched Shen He treat others, he had the illusion that He Shen from his previous life had returned, but when the man faced him, Hongli clearly realized that Shen He was still the same Shen He.In front of people, he just put on a wolf's skin to disguise himself as a wolf with a big tail.

When Shen He walked outside the hall, he saw Hai Lancha arguing with a foreigner.Hai Lancha was also short-tempered, and the foreigner hesitated for a long time and couldn't speak a complete sentence, which made Hai Lancha annoyed.After all, he is a Lianjiazi, and he is not afraid to look at the tall and powerful foreigners.Looking at his appearance, He Shen knew it was not good, so he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile and said, "What's the matter, Mr. Hai?"

When Hai Lancha saw He Shen, it was as if he had seen a savior. He hurriedly pulled him and said, "Master He, you are finally here. I can't explain to this foreigner. I don't understand a single word he said." I don't understand, but I do understand one thing, this foreigner is unwilling to bow down to the emperor, how can you say that there is such a reason!"

While listening to Hailancha's words, He Shen sized up the foreigner, seeing him looking at him impatiently and helplessly, as if he regarded himself as Hailancha's accomplice, he burst out laughing.

Hai Lancha looked at He Shen in surprise: "Master He, what are you laughing at?"

He Shen didn't answer him, but went straight to the foreigner, took off his hat, and nodded to the foreigner.This action instantly made the light-colored eyes of the foreigner light up.

Immediately afterwards, Hai Lancha saw a scene that made his jaw drop. He Shen was actually communicating with the foreigner in fluent foreign language.

The foreigner didn't look as impatient as before, and He Shen also had a warm smile on his face. Hai Lancha felt that he seemed to be a superfluous person.

From the conversation, He Shen learned that the foreigner was George Macartney, who later strongly advocated the use of force against the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, although Macartney felt that he could not communicate with the officials of the Qing Dynasty, he still tried his best to maintain a gentleman's style, even though he was a little impatient waiting.

He tried his best to convey to Hai Lancha that he really respected the emperor of your country, but there was absolutely no reason to kneel down. In Macartney's point of view, only the lowest servants would prostrate At the feet of the king, as a foreigner who has just experienced the bourgeois revolution and has the idea of ​​freedom and democracy in his mind, he is frightened by the so-called civilization of this eastern empire.

It's a pity that Hailancha is a tough guy who doesn't understand Western thinking at all. Macartney even felt that Hailancha might fight him if the debate continued.

When he was desperate and depressed, he suddenly saw a man with handsome features. The man stood beside Hai Lancha, pointing at him, making him feel uncomfortable being talked about and peeped from behind.But in the next second, he saw the man walking towards him and took off his hat.

Macartney was overjoyed. He finally saw that someone was willing to take off the peculiarly shaped hat on his forehead. Before that, every time he took off his hat to Chinese officials, he had never received a corresponding gift in return.In his eyes, those officials value the hats on their heads more than their lives, and they will never take them off easily. As time goes by, he will not force them.

He Shen didn't know that with such a small action, he was recognized by Macartney as a person who could communicate.

The facts were not beyond Macartney's expectations, and He Shen's English was even better than he had imagined.He eagerly expressed his request to He Shen not to bow on both knees, and He Shen nodded with a smile, and responded: "The king of our country has agreed, and you can meet with the king with the highest etiquette. Kneel."

Macartney was overjoyed, because of He Shen's appearance, he felt that the Qing Dynasty was not as barbaric as he had seen, at least there were still sensible people.Furthermore, looking at He Shen's attire, it was obvious that he was the emperor's confidant. As expected, the ones he came into contact with just now were just low-level officials.

Thinking of this, he glanced arrogantly at Hai Lancha, and followed He Shen into the hall with a smile on his face.

Inside the main hall, the ministers lined up on both sides, watching He Shen lead a foreigner into the hall.It was not the first time for some senior officials in Beijing to see foreigners, but they still secretly looked at their clothes.

Macartney didn't care about the eyes cast on him from both sides, he just wanted to see the true face of the Qing emperor.When he saw Hongli, he was startled subconsciously. He remembered the portrait of the archbishop he had seen in England.Just like Hongli, sitting on a high position with a scepter in his hand, the king and nobles will prostrate at his feet and kiss the back of his hand reverently.

Even people like Macartney, who have been baptized with new ideas, feel that the man in the seat has an attitude of looking down on the world.As if infected by a certain atmosphere, he knelt down on one knee involuntarily, imitating what He Shen taught him just now: "British envoy Macartney, pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty."

He Shen stood aside, nodded secretly, and cast his eyes on Hongli, everything is going in a good direction, it depends on how Hongli behaves.

Looking at Macartney's gesture of saluting, Hongli frowned slightly, but didn't say much, but He Shen who was beside him said with a smile, "Sir, please get up."

Hongli was also stunned when he heard the English spoken by He Shen. Fortunately, Macartney took the lead in presenting the gift he brought to the emperor, which relieved the embarrassment of being speechless for a while.

All the gifts were packed according to Western etiquette, and from the outside, it was impossible to tell what was inside.But He Shen knew that showing off Western advanced science and technology was one of the purposes of Macartney's trip.Therefore, what is installed here must not be gold and silver treasures, but something that can best demonstrate the advanced technology of the West.

Hongli seemed to be used to this kind of offering process, and raised his hand to reward Macartney with gold and silver treasures.However, He Shen suddenly smiled at Hongli and said: "Your Majesty, I see that this gift is so beautifully wrapped, why don't you unpack it, so that everyone in the palace can open their eyes."

Hongli stared at He Shen's shining eyes, and ordered the guards: "Open the gift."

Macartney's eyes lit up suddenly, he was eager to know the expression of Emperor Qianlong when he saw these technological products.

When the first gift box was opened, everyone was stunned. It was a model of an unknown appliance. Hongli was also confused when he saw it. He said loudly: "Look, it looks a bit like our gun Where's the cannon?" After finishing speaking, he turned to Hailan and asked, "Does Ai Qing know, what kind of object is this?"

Hai Lancha looked at it carefully for a long time, and he was almost sure that it was a cannon, so he reported to Hongli, "Your Majesty, this object looks like a Western cannon."

As soon as Hai Lancha finished speaking, the servants in the palace began to whisper.

Hongli frowned and said: "If you have any objections, you might as well raise them in person." Finally, under the recommendation of everyone, Liu Yong came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think that barbarians are ambitious and blatantly throw artillery fire at the emperor. Damn it, I simply don't take my Heaven/Chaoshang Kingdom seriously."

He Shen's heart sank, and his heart really came.He hurriedly looked at Hongli, and saw that the emperor's face was slightly gloomy, but he resisted the attack.

He Shen said at the right time: "Your Majesty, slaves have different opinions. From ancient times to the present, no one has stipulated that guns cannot be offered when offering sacrifices. What's more, what the envoys bring into the palace is just a model. Xu is a barbarian. People don't know the rules, so they want to present the guns they developed to the emperor as gifts."

Macartney couldn't understand the debate between the two parties at all. He had been observing Hongli's expression, but he didn't see any wonder or surprise on Hongli's face. He even felt that the emperor's face was full of anger.

Hongli did not judge Liu Yong and He Shen's statement, he just ordered: "Unpack all these gifts that have been carried into the hall."

For a moment, the true faces of all the gifts were displayed in front of the courtiers, and this time the expressions on their faces were even more exciting.If they could tell just now that the gift was a model of a cannon, then this time there were many things that they couldn't even name.

He Shen looked over one by one, and his eyes on Macartney became more and more complicated: the astronomical device, the barometer, and the Herschel telescope.Macartney really brought the most advanced instruments from Western Europe.

He hurriedly turned his head to look at Hongli, and saw a trace of struggle in the depths of Hongli's eyes.While He Shen was feeling emotional, he was also relieved.In modern times, He Shen once read from history books that all the gifts brought by the Macartney mission to China were piled up in the Old Summer Palace. open.No one knows what kind of opportunity they missed.

This time, no courtiers came forward to report again, and the power of civilization is enough to silence anyone.Hongli looked at his lover silently: "He Shen, do you know what these are?"

He Shen did not disappoint Hongli, he chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, these utensils have their functions, but it is a long story, if the Emperor is interested, let the slaves report to the Emperor slowly in the future."

He Shen's words were especially clear in the silent hall, and in an instant, the courtiers looked at him differently.If they were jealous and disdainful of He Shen's favor before, then they have nothing to say at this moment.Aside from other things, just his fluent western language and his unflappable attitude determine that he is qualified to be the head of all the ministers.

Under He Shen's comfort, Hongli's mood gradually calmed down.Standing in the hall, the forgotten Macartney can only ask for help from He Shen, the only one who understands foreign language.So he rushed to Heshen and asked, "Master He, what's going on?"

He Shen replied: "The gift you brought, His Majesty the Emperor of our country is very satisfied, and please rest in the palace for a while, and we will discuss the matter later."

As soon as Macartney heard that there was room for discussion, he temporarily let go of his hanging heart, and an eager smile appeared on his face: "Then I will wait for the good news from my lord." Holding the model of the mortar in his hand and observing it repeatedly, Macartney was very proud. He simply said: "If His Majesty the Emperor allows, I can ask the craftsmen to demonstrate the Western cannon method for His Majesty on the spot."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked, and all the ministers and workers objected: "Your Majesty, it must not be done. It is unprecedented for the cannon to approach the Dagu port. If it really enters the capital, if foreigners try to plot evil, we will lure wolves into the house." Already."

Hai Lancha was always very upset when he saw Macartney. He pointed at Macartney and shouted: "Everyone here knows that no matter how high a minister is, you are not allowed to go to the palace with a sword. It's really unreasonable to fire artillery into Beijing."

He Shen looked at Macartney's inexplicable expression, and his heart was a little weak. I am afraid no one knew better than him that the demonstration that Macartney said was a real demonstration. There must be, but if you want to talk about unruly intentions, there must be no.After all, the foreign envoy came here this time, and the main event has not yet appeared. How can a lobbyist who wants to promise you a beautiful blueprint for free capitalism show their fangs at this moment.

To Heshen's delight, after hearing what the courtiers said, Hongli did not easily make a judgment. He turned to Heshen and said, "Heshen, what do you think?"

He Shen pondered for a while, and said, "It's not that I insist on being different, it's because I feel that the worries of the adults are a bit unfounded."

Hongli stroked the jade finger in his hand and asked, "How do you say that?"