Chapter 263 Qing Dynasty in Asia

"Brother Shao, Sister Xiu'er has returned home. You should finish the battle as soon as possible and go back to Hailing to spend some time with her.

You will be proud again this time. I gave birth to your third son, and named him Shao Jiceng according to your previous instructions.

You once told me that your army, called the Huai Army, took away Li Hongzhang's luck. So your son, called Ji Zeng, is going to take away Zeng Guofan's luck? I really can't stand your superstition.

You also said that if it was a girl, you would not care, and I could give her any name I wanted. I really don't think you are that kind of person. Humph, you favor boys over girls, and you don't seem to be making any progress. I will ignore you - fortunately, I gave birth to two sons in a row.

By the way, the British authorities finally learned about my visit to London, and Ji Ming, Ji Si and Ji Shu were all invited to visit Buckingham Palace, accompanied by the ten-year-old Princess Beatrice.

I heard that you acted as a thug for the British this time and dealt with the Russians, which made the British very satisfied with you. "

My father-in-law, Luo Weilin, who was the first president of Union Hospital, was in charge of guarding me. The royal family specially invited Florence Nightingale to come with nurses to take care of me.

Queen Victoria also sent her unofficial secretary, her fourth daughter, Princess Louise, to visit and directly helped her stepfather obtain British citizenship.

Princess Louise said that her second brother Edward had just had a baby, a princess, named Louise like her. In the future, she and her step-son can grow up together, be childhood sweethearts, and get married when they grow up.

Anyway, Ji Zeng doesn't have to inherit your position, so it should be okay for him to marry a British wife, right?

When I can go out again, I will visit Prince Edward's wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, to see what my future daughter-in-law looks like. If she is ugly, we can't have her.

I don't need to worry about Jiming, he is already preparing for school. But I have to stay in the UK to take care of Ji Zeng and I can't go back for a while.

You should just take Liu Niang in as your roommate. She is already 25 or 26 years old. If she doesn't marry into the Shao family, it will be difficult for her to have children. She has been with you for so long, how can she marry someone else?
How long will it take for you to become a prince? Is status so important? As long as you give her equal status, who cares what others say? At most, you can upgrade her to a concubine when you are crowned king, right?
Sister Xiu'er has gone back, and the one who is taking care of me now is Elena, the third daughter of the tenant where Jisi and Jishu live. After all, she is an acquaintance.

It is not easy for a twelve-year-old girl to come out to work. I paid her double the wages. The girl always asked me when Zeng Xiaoyi would come back with the fleet.

Xiaoyi was always sent by Liao Rong to take care of Jiming and me, and later went to Dr. Du Dezhen's house to take care of Jisi and Jishu, running back and forth between the two host families.

It seems that this little girl has taken a fancy to Xiao Yi, who is good at talking and handling things. She herself said that Xiao Yi also likes her. Alas, the little girl is only twelve years old. Foreign girls are really precocious.

I told Zhang Siwen about this matter by telegram. Zhang Siwen said that the Taiping mercenaries had been settled and could contact you directly by telegram, and there was no need for him to act as a middleman.

He decided to take his wife back to Ireland to meet his father-in-law, and then come to London to meet his adopted son's future father-in-law to discuss his children's engagement and marriage.

Zhang Siwen was really good to Xiao Yi, his adopted son, and he didn't know when he would have a son of his own. He was very wealthy, and if he could give a large betrothal gift, the tenant wouldn't have to suffer poverty.

I accidentally said too much. Just focus on the war and don't worry about the three of us. But, if the war is over, can you come to London to see me, Jiming and Jimeng? I miss you a little.

——Rong Hui, March 1867, 3 in London.

After reading Rong Hui's telegram, Shao Quanzhong's anger towards the French was much lessened.

Now that his prestige has absolutely controlled the Huai Army, it is completely fine for him to go on a visit when he has time and visit his wife and children in London.

I have sent all the protons to the British old man's house, so I have to pay my respects to Queen Victoria.

It is still too early to take revenge on Britain. That is a plan for one's lifetime. We cannot fall out with Britain as our big brother for decades.

A real man can endure for decades when he needs to. To steer a great country like China, one must not be impulsive.

Bismarck also had to meet him, especially the Krupp and Mauser brothers, as he was counting on them for the Krupp cannons, Mauser rifles and mirror-bellied box guns that he had been dreaming about day and night.

What kind of rifle is the current matchlock gun? Pulling the bolt is the romance of men.

"Report, Prince Isfandiar of Khiva Khanate requests to see you."

Hmm? Why are the Shivans here?

The Khanate of Khiva was a small country to the north of the Khanate of Bukhara, sandwiched between the Khanate of Bukhara and Russia.

Shao Quanzhong had never heard of this country before, and it had very little presence.
In fact, if we go back a few hundred years, this country was very famous, and it became famous because of Genghis Khan’s massacre. It was called Khwarezm...

"Greetings, Lord Zhongcheng." Prince Shiva's Chinese accent was strange, and he learned this sentence in a hurry. Then his subordinate's interpreter spoke.

"We, the Khiva royal family, are Mongolians. The Mongolian lineage is in the Qing Dynasty, so we decided to return to our ancestral roots and become a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Please, Lord Zhongcheng, please accept us."

Shao Quanzhong understood. Khiva was just like the Bukhara Khanate, crying and shouting, looking for ways to rely on the Qing Dynasty to take it in and support it. My meow sounds very nice.

Now there are three countries in Central Asia, Kokand has annexed the country, Bukhara has become a vassal, and only Khiva is left. If the Qing Dynasty did not accept them, they would have been destroyed by the Russians.

Their main ethnic group is Uzbek, just like Bukhara and Kokand. The origin of the name of the Uzbek ethnic group comes from Uzbek Khan of the Golden Horde.

Anyway, as long as you can trace it back to the era of Genghis Khan and are willing to acknowledge your ancestors, whatever you say makes sense.

Shao Quanzhong tapped the table lightly, "If we become a vassal, we will lose our diplomatic and customs powers, and we will also need to station troops there."

"That's absolutely fine. We look forward to the Qing army like babies look forward to their parents..."

Come on, let's be honest. If you are a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, you can at least be a prince. If the Russians come, you will be dead, right? If you are dead, what's the point of talking about diplomacy and customs?
"For your sincerity, I agree to this, but you have to take the letter of credence to the capital to pay tribute and complete the formalities."

"Everything is ready. Khiva will always be a loyal vassal state of the Qing Dynasty."

The prince left happily, and his family's throne, property and life were finally saved.

At this point, the Qing Dynasty's sphere of influence has expanded westward to the Caspian Sea.

Shao Quanzhong sneered slightly and said, "Whether you are loyal or not does not depend on you. It depends on whether China continues to be strong. That depends on the efforts of two generations, Jiming and I."

Fortunately, I am only twenty-seven years old. Hehe, I will try my best to live at least another fifty years. Fifty years is enough for a country to revive.

Will he be confused when he is 77? What a joke, so-and-so is 78, so-and-so is 82, and they are still fighting over it - of course Shao Quanzhong didn't know about this.

…………

On March 1867, the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, the second day of Grain Rain, April 4, 21 in the Gregorian calendar, the Qinglu Tashkent negotiations officially began.

"To show our sincerity, I will first give Qing a gift."

A big man was pushed up, and Shao Quanzhong didn't recognize him.

The big man cursed, "The Russians are worthless, they sold me out. Shao Quanzhong, I, Bai Yanhu, have killed enough people, I am not afraid of death, do whatever you want, just kill me!"

Bai Yanhu was not afraid of death. He knew that he had committed many crimes and the Qing court would never let him go. Begging for mercy was useless, so he might as well pretend to be a hero before dying.

As soon as the Russians withdrew from the Qihe area, the vigilant Bai Yanhu fled to the Russian interior, where he was met head-on by the Gorchakov delegation that came to negotiate.

As a result, Bai Yanhu, who fled all the way from Shaanxi to Central Asia, was not caught by Shao Quanzhong, but was sold as a gift by the Russian lady whom he had devoted himself to.

Shao Quanzhong smiled and said, "You won't die anytime soon, so stay alive first. When you come back to Beijing with me, maybe you'll be lucky enough to see the emperor."

Bai Yanhu was taken away, and Shao Quanzhong was very satisfied. "We Chinese have always been courteous. Come, release Governor Kaufman and Colonel Chernyaev, and please come here."

On Shao Quanzhong's side, the main negotiator was Wu Ziyi. Shao Quanzhong brought all his important officials to participate, as well as Jin Shun, the newly arrived deputy governor of the Bordered Blue Banner.

There were much fewer people on Lucia's side, just Gorchakov, several secretaries, an interpreter, and two released prisoners joining them, and it suddenly looked like a diplomatic mission.

The talks began in a friendly atmosphere. Gorchakov stood up and said, "We have decided to agree to your request to withdraw from Tashkent, apologize to the vassal state that attacked you, and guarantee that such misunderstandings will not occur in the future."

Wu Ziyi's Latin preparation was in vain, because Russia's Foreign Minister knew all European languages and knew that no one here understood Russian, so he spoke French.

Wu Ziyi, who speaks French, can speak directly and immediately responds, "No, the Kazakh Khanate is also our vassal state and must be returned to us. Moreover, the previous request was an ultimatum before the war. You did not accept it at that time, but now that the war is over, our demands are different.

Russia is a European country. We ask you to retreat west of the Ural Mountains. Asia is our Qing Dynasty’s Asia.”

(End of this chapter)

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