Chapter 167 Don’t Kneel before the Emperor
On May 15, 1903, Li Qiwei officially entered the Forbidden City under the leadership of his guards.
At this time, the area of the capital was far less than that of later generations, and it was mainly divided into two parts: the inner city and the outer city.
The central area of the inner city is the Imperial City, where all the royal relatives, princes and nobles live.
In the center of the imperial city, there is a rectangular area, the Forbidden City, which is dedicated to the residence of the emperor himself, princes, and concubines.
The Forbidden City was built by Zhu Di, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Di deposed Emperor Jianwen at that time, Nanjing was difficult to control because Nanjing was the opponent's sphere of influence.
So, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City was the residence and office of the emperor and members of the royal family.
The overall layout of its building can be roughly summarized as "the ancestors on the left and the society on the right, sleeping in the front and behind."
The South Gate of the Forbidden City is the most famous "Meridian Gate".
There is a large piece of flat land outside the Meridian Gate, where officials from the six ministries work.
This place no longer belongs to the Forbidden City, but to the Imperial City.
At the same time, taking the central axis of the Forbidden City as the dividing line, just outside the Meridian Gate, there is the Zuozu Youshe.
Zuozu refers to the Ancestral Temple on the left, which houses the tablets of emperors of the Qing Dynasty.
Youshe refers to the Sheji altar on the right, which symbolizes the foundation of the Qing Dynasty.
The Forbidden City can be divided into front and back bedrooms, and its dividing line is the Qianqing Gate.
In front of the Qianqing Gate are the three main halls, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe, and the Hall of Baohe. The most important ceremonies such as the emperor's enthronement, wedding, and canonization were held here.
This is the facade of the Forbidden City, which represents the nobility and mystery of the royal family, and its symbolic meaning is extremely important.
For a long time, the emperor held court meetings and handled government affairs at Qianqing Gate.
Behind the Qianqing Gate are the famous Three Palaces and Six Courtyards, Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, Imperial Garden, etc., where the emperor and his concubines went to have fun.
If the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the facade of the previous dynasty, then the Palace of Qianqing is the facade of the inner court and was the emperor's palace during the Ming Dynasty.
But when Emperor Yongzheng came, he took a fancy to the Yangxin Hall to the west of Qianqing Palace, so he moved there to live.
Yongzheng was a workaholic. He also established a military aircraft department in front of Yangxin Hall, close to each other, so that he could handle military and national affairs.
So, later emperors basically lived in Yangxin Hall.
The Qianqing Palace became the place where the emperor summoned courtiers and reviewed memorials, and some small-scale banquets were also held here.
However, Guangxu was very miserable. He did not live in the Yangxin Hall, but was placed under house arrest in Yingtai by Cixi.
Yingtai is no longer within the Forbidden City, but it is still within the scope of the Imperial City.
Guangxu still has to go to court. Every time he retreats, he will be taken to Yingtai. Yingtai is surrounded by water and has only one road leading to the outside.
There were many eunuchs monitoring Guangxu, and Cixi had to nod before he could bring anything in.
One time Guangxu was bored and asked a young eunuch to bring him a slingshot. When Cixi found out, he became furious and the young eunuch threw himself into a lake and committed suicide.
From then on, no one dared to listen to Guangxu's words. These eunuchs pretended not to hear anything Guangxu asked.
So, although he is an emperor, his food, clothing and clothing may not be as good as those of an ordinary wealthy family.
Until his death in 1908, Guangxu was in a state of confinement. Unfortunately, he died one day earlier than Cixi.
However, today, Guangxu was extremely excited because he was about to meet Li Qiwei.
Originally, Cixi did not allow Guangxu to summon Li Qiwei alone.
But for unknown reasons, the ministers from Britain, France and other countries strongly protested and asked Cixi to relent.
The British Minister Sa Daoyi even bluntly stated that Li Qiwei was a knight of their British Empire, and meeting the Qing Emperor was a courtesy and the Qing Dynasty was not allowed to stop him.
Cixi was not happy, but there was nothing she could do. Anyway, she was just a minor official and insignificant, so she sent someone to Yingtai to bring Guangxu back.
At this time, in the Yangxin Hall, Guangxu finally saw Li Qiwei, whom he had longed for.
The opponent's entire body was like a sword with a hidden edge, sharp and compelling.
Guangxu was overjoyed. It was indeed different from those wine bags and rice bags that were used for plain meals.
Such a person's temperament is worthy of being my chosen one.
Li Qiwei was tall, handsome, and had a unique Western temperament. He impressed Guangxu at a glance.
And Li Qiwei saw Guangxu with his own eyes for the first time, and it was completely different from what he imagined.
There is no domineering aura in the opponent's body, and he will tremble as soon as he gets close to him.
Guangxu, 33 years old, was wearing casual clothes at this time, just like a big brother next door, with joy in his eyes.
Li Qiwei was a little suspicious. Guangxu had been suppressed and imprisoned for a long time, and his mental state might not be normal.
Seeing that Li Qiwei was stunned and did not kneel down to kowtow, the little eunuch shouted sharply: "How dare you, why don't you kneel down when you see your majesty!"
Li Qiwei smiled, he finally To face this moment.
Since the birth of the position of emperor, he has always been the most noble being in the world.
More than ten thousand people, Daitian herdsmen.
When mortals see the Emperor, they must kneel in the dust.
Although in some dynasties, the emperor and ministers got along like friends, the Qing Dynasty was different.
This is the most feudal dynasty in Chinese history, and its rules are extremely strict.
However, the imperial spirit accumulated during the Kangxi, Yongzong and Qianlong dynasties has been shattered in recent decades.
There are too many people in the world who do not take the Qing emperor seriously.
Li Qiwei is one of them.
"I am a knight conferred by the King of England himself, so I don't have to kneel down to the Qing Emperor."
"What's the crime?"
After speaking, Li Qiwei rarely took out his knighthood certificate to prove his identity.
This immediately silenced the little eunuch.
Because Britain really had a dispute with the Qing Dynasty about kneeling down.
In 1792, the British government sent a mission headed by Macartney to visit the Qing Dynasty in an attempt to do business in the Qing Dynasty.
As a result, the two parties had a fierce quarrel due to issues of meeting etiquette.
Macartney believed that Britain and the Qing Dynasty were two independent countries, and Britain was not a client of the Qing Dynasty, so there was no need to kneel to the Qing emperor.
But Qianlong was very angry after hearing this and said that if you foreigners are sincere and respectful, I will treat you favorably; if you are arrogant, then go back to your UK.
In the end, He Shen came forward and came up with a compromise plan, asking Macartney to kneel down on one knee to meet the Qing emperor as a courtesy to the King of England.
In order to open up the market for Britain, Macartney could only swallow his words and do as he said.
After Macartney returned to China, he immediately began to curse. He publicly declared:
The Qing Empire is like a dilapidated first-class battleship.
The reason it has not sunk during the past one hundred and fifty years is simply due to a group of lucky and capable officers holding it together.
The only place where the Qing Dynasty surpassed its neighboring ships was in its size and appearance. Once an untalented person takes command on the deck, there will no longer be discipline and safety.
He also said: The policy of the Qing government is related to pride. It wants to dominate other countries, but its vision is extremely short-sighted and only knows how to prevent the people's intellectual progress.
But no matter how dissatisfied Macartney was, Britain was still helpless and beyond its reach towards the Qing Dynasty.
In 1816, Britain once again sent Amherst to lead a delegation to visit the Qing Dynasty. At this time, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was Jiaqing.
As a result, the two parties failed to reach an agreement again. Jiaqing, like his father, demanded that he must kneel down.
Hey, if you kneel to my father but not to me, are you looking down on me?
This time it was even worse. Amesh just refused to obey, and in the end he didn’t even see Jiaqing’s face.
Everyone knows what happened next.
After the British national power surged due to the Industrial Revolution, they immediately traveled thousands of miles to beat the Qing Dynasty.
After the beating, he was not satisfied because the Qing Dynasty opened too few ports, so he was beaten a few more times and finally reached the current situation.
Today's British minister no longer has to kneel down when seeing Guangxu and Cixi, and the other party has no objection.
And to show contempt, the highest British diplomat in the Qing Dynasty was the minister, not the ambassador.
Because the British felt that although the Qing Dynasty was large, it was essentially a small country and was not worthy of being at the same level as itself, so it only sent ministers.
The Qing Dynasty sent ambassadors to Britain.
Ambassador, minister, counselor.
The level of diplomats also represents the face of the country.
So, when Li Qiwei showed his certificate of British knighthood, the little eunuch was dumbfounded and did not dare to force Li Qiwei to kneel down.
If there is another diplomatic incident, even ten of his heads won't be enough to cut him off.
There is no strict nationality system in this era.
Li Qiwei was a Qing man, but he was awarded the British knighthood. No one can tell how it is calculated.
This time, the situation became awkward.
In the end, Guangxu took the initiative to speak and resolved the problem.
"Well, Li Aiqing studied abroad and was highly regarded by the British king. It is reasonable not to kneel before the emperor."
"Don't be too harsh on him."
The little eunuch replied He groaned, then stepped aside angrily.
He is Cixi's man, and he is here to monitor Guangxu. He doesn't care whether Guangxu is angry or not.
Guangxu even thoughtfully asked Li Qiwei to sit down and reply, which in the eyes of the young eunuch was a blessing.
In his mind, he slandered Ridgway as having bad luck.
Li Qiwei looked calm and never smiled, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
After the interlude, Guangxu immediately entered the topic and asked: "Ai Qing is studying in England, do you know why the Western powers are so powerful? "
Li Qiwei thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty's teachers must have explained these issues very clearly."
"Let me give you my own personal opinion. ”
Guangxu immediately cheered up and listened carefully.
Because the information he usually receives is beautified and processed, the same, and has no new ideas.
As for Li Qiwei, he had really been in the West, so he naturally had different feelings.
“German Prime Minister Bismarck once said: If a country wants to be strong, it must pay attention to education.”
“And they did so.”
“In Germany, education is compulsory. If a child does not go to school, his parents will even be fined.”
“This sounds like a fantasy in China.”
< br>“Let’s talk about university education. Western governments are all trying their best to build a high-end university.”
“To attract talents from all over the world.”
“The UK has Cambridge University and Oxford University; Germany has the University of Berlin and the University of Göttingen; France has the University of Paris; the United States has Harvard University, etc.”
"The status of the University of Cambridge where I am located is so high that no one in the country can imagine it."
"Even the British government has no jurisdiction over the University of Cambridge, whether it is the recruitment rules of students or the hiring of professors. It’s all up to the university itself.”
“The only role of the government is to provide administrative convenience to the university.”
“This is very similar to our Chinese idea of governing by doing nothing. Like."
"This is especially true in the field of education."
"The purpose of education is to liberate people's imagination and not be subject to any constraints, so that they can produce original research."
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry, the students are no longer constrained and will remain loyal to the university." Is it clear?”
“Because the imagination here refers to the imagination of studying things, not the imagination of studying the Four Books and Five Classics.”
“The great Western scientists are also rich in knowledge. I have never seen anyone who specifically opposes his own country."
"Looking at the Qing Dynasty, the only one who can do it is the Capital University."
"But with all due respect, compared with Cambridge University, it is the difference between children and adults."
Li Qiwei's analysis immediately confused Guangxu Qian.
He had never heard of this before, and no one told him about it.
How many people in the Qing Dynasty studied at Cambridge University.
So, Guangxu could not imagine that the university could be run like this, and that the government could not even control it.
At the same time, a fiery emotion appeared in Guangxu's eyes.
"So is this the reason why Li Aiqing returned to China to start education?"
"You still care about our Qing Dynasty, right?"
Li Qiwei talks about lies Without changing his face, he picked it up at his fingertips, "Your Majesty, the innocent heart of a humble minister can be learned from heaven and earth."
"Our Qing Dynasty has been weak for a long time and has too many problems. If we want to become strong, we have countless problems. Work to be done.”
“But the core of these tasks is education.”
“Only education can strengthen the country, and only education can achieve sustainable development.”
“Even if the Qing Dynasty can keep buying guns and cannons from abroad, it will not be possible. What if one day they stop selling it? "
"So we have to make it ourselves, and making these high-tech products requires a lot of talent."
"These talents are all through innovation. Cultivated by education.”
"This is why Weichen has always suggested building more universities, and also focusing on the cultivation of science and engineering."
Thanks to Li Qiwei's memorial, Guangxu can now roughly understand the meaning of these professional words.
"Ai Qing is really my loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty!" Guangxu sighed sincerely, and was fooled around.
(End of this chapter)