There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 324 East India Company

Early June.

Looking anxious, Wang Qiaosheng was being led into the Han Prince's Mansion by Yuan Mingyao.

As the first top scholar in the Han Dynasty, Yuan Mingyao first received the favor of being appointed as a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat, and then in just three months, he became familiar with several bigwigs in the cabinet.

According to the memorials submitted to Nie Yu by the cabinet ministers, Yuan Mingyao is quick-witted, has excellent literary talent, and is very knowledgeable; he is indeed a promising talent.

Since he was truly a promising talent, Nie Yu naturally didn't hesitate to give him an important position.

The rules set before remain unchanged: those who are supposed to go to Hefeng will still go to Hefeng, but if they return with satisfactory performance, they can be promoted without regard to precedent.

The main hall of the Prince of Han's residence.

"This humble subject, Wang Qiaosheng, pays his respects to the Prince of Han!" Wang Qiaosheng remembered it quite clearly, so he did not kneel hastily, but simply cupped his hands and bowed.

"Without courtesy, I will give you a seat."

Nie Yu raised his hand slightly and said in a friendly tone, "Manager Wang's journey to Guangzhou was long and arduous!"

Wang Qiaosheng hurriedly replied, "I dare not. I was ordered to go to Guangzhou on this mission, and after half a year, I have successfully brought back the foreign merchant that Your Majesty requested. He is now waiting outside the Prince of Han's residence."

Wang Qiaosheng was very sensible and didn't actually try to take advantage of the situation or emphasize his own contributions. Instead, he directly brought over the people that Nie Yu wanted.

Upon hearing this, Nie Yu smiled and said, "In that case, let him in!"

Not long after, Henry, the British merchant who had returned with Wang Qiaosheng, was led into the main hall of the Prince's Palace.

Wang Qiaosheng quickly stood up and reminded Henry, "This is His Majesty the King of Han, the wise and mighty ruler of our Great Han Kingdom, who is invincible in battle!"

Henry understood, and then naturally knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty the King of the Great Han Kingdom of the East, Henry, a merchant of the East India Company of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, pays his respects!"

Seeing the other person kneel down like that, Nie Yu's eyes darkened.

He clearly remembered that a few years ago, the British delegation led by Lord Macartney refused to kneel before Emperor Qianlong after arriving in China, using the excuse that the customs of China and Britain were different.

This event apparently even made it into later history textbooks.

Nie Yu was not sympathizing with Qianlong, but rather he had clearly seen through the wolfish ambitions of the British.

It's important to understand that at that time, the British still had a monarch. Although it was a constitutional monarchy, the actual monarch still held considerable power.

Commoners were one thing, they generally never even saw the king. But what about a British nobleman like Macartney, a high-ranking official on a diplomatic mission to China? Would he dare not kneel before the king?

Macartney's refusal to kneel before Emperor Qianlong stemmed from two main reasons. Firstly, it was to position himself on an equal footing with, or even superior to, the Qing dynasty in subsequent trade negotiations. Secondly, he recognized the Qing dynasty's outward strength but inner weakness.

Macartney's notes clearly state: "The Chinese officials treated us to lavish, even luxurious, meals, but their common people were filthy, impoverished, and even completely ignorant, believing us to be demons from hell..."

Henry knelt down to greet him, but Nie Yu didn't let him get up for a long time.

This puzzled Henry, who thought there was some special etiquette he didn't understand in this Eastern Han Kingdom. He could only bow again, his tone becoming even more respectful and solemn: "The great King of the Eastern Han Kingdom, Henry, a merchant of the East India Company of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, pays his respects to you!"

Nie Yu snapped out of his daze: "No need for formalities, please take a seat!"

Although he didn't have a very good impression of the British, Nie Yu wouldn't let those feelings influence his decisions regarding national affairs.

After making a slight adjustment, Nie Yu asked with a smile, "Are you English?"

Henry was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, and quickly stood up and said, "Yes, Your Majesty the Great Han King, I am English. I did not expect that you would know about England?"

Nie Yu was certainly familiar with the infamous European troublemakers; even if he hadn't, he had done his research beforehand.

In the current timeline, the United Kingdom has just merged with Scotland and Wales.

The Great Britain of the United Kingdom means the English, who, after merging with Wales and Scotland, essentially unified the main island of Great Britain.

Meanwhile, the neighboring island of Ireland will have to wait another three years before it is incorporated into British territory after several rounds of negotiations.

Nie Yu could recognize the English merchant Henry by his hair and eyes, a typical blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerner.

This is also the hair color of the English. If a Scotsman came over, he would be mistaken for a red-haired Portuguese by the Han Chinese.

“I’ve heard of England, Scotland, and Wales.” Nie Yu then asked, “By the way, who is your current king?”

Henry replied, "His Majesty the current King of the United Kingdom is His Majesty George III."

“George III…” Nie Yu had a fairly deep impression of this guy, because the two kings before him, George III, were both disliked by the British people because they could not speak English, and the monarchy quickly fell into other hands.

The first thing George III did upon taking the throne was to restore the monarchy and regain power, and he actually succeeded.

Although it was only a brief success, George III held power for only twelve years before his appointed "Friends of the King" cabinet was overthrown by angry citizens, gentry, and nobles.

The new cabinet that came to power took power back from George III, turning him back into Saint George, John Bull (the mascot).

It began with the failed restoration of George III, followed by George IV and Queen Victoria. Although Britain's overall national strength was on the rise, a period hailed as the "Golden Age" for the British, the monarchical power was completely lost, and Britain was reduced to a mere national symbol.

Judging by the timeline, King George III, who has become a mere figurehead, should be nearing the onset of dementia by now, and in a few years at most, he should pass the throne to his son, George IV, who will then assume the regency.

Although this George IV was also an oddball, he did nothing of substance during his reign, spending his time indulging in drinking, gambling, and prostitution, thus accumulating a mountain of debt, which was ultimately cleaned up by the British Parliament.

Nie Yu collected his thoughts and continued, "I recall that five years ago, your British envoy Lord Macartney's mission failed, and it seems that your purpose in going there was to persuade the Qing dynasty to open its seas to trade. So, do you still want to trade with China now?"

Nie Yu didn't know any negotiation skills, so he simply went straight for the hook.

Whether it works or not is unclear, but the British businessman in front of him has taken the bait.

Henry stood up almost immediately and bowed deeply to Nie Yu: "Your Majesty the Great King of the East, you are truly generous, far more so than the old and foolish Emperor of the Qing Dynasty!"

Nie Yu shook his head: "I am not a generous person. At most, within the next few years, this southern China will belong to my Great Han. So if you want me to open up trade along the coast, then you must first abide by my rules and show enough sincerity."

Henry said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured that as long as the coastal trade can be opened and British merchants are allowed to trade freely, I can go back and persuade the company to provide financial support to your army so that you can take control of the country as soon as possible.”

Wow, that's really satisfying!

Before Nie Yu could even agree to any of his conditions, Henry was already preparing to persuade the East India Company to intervene in the war.

Historically, this was roughly the case. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom only occupied the southeastern half of China, and its territory was even smaller than that of the Han Dynasty at present. The British even dared to negotiate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, willing to support them in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, as long as China was divided equally after the success.

When the British East India Company intervened, they probably didn't ask for as much. After all, the Opium War hadn't broken out yet, and the British weren't sure how much the Qing Dynasty had weakened internally despite its outward strength, so their conditions were still quite conservative.

Although this conservative condition was already quite excessive, Emperor Qianlong's refusal to open trade was partly due to his desire to close the country off from the world, and partly due to Lord Macartney's insatiable greed. His demands were essentially a replica of the Treaty of Nanjing, except that war reparations were omitted.

Henry's offer to persuade the East India Company to fund the Han Dynasty was no exaggeration.

The fact that he was able to come all the way to the Far East to do business, and even after losing money, he didn't jump into the sea, clearly indicates that his family background and wealth are extraordinary. It's only natural that he has connections with the company's senior management.

As for whether it can be successful?
It will most likely succeed, because the East India Company is on its last legs.

The year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War and Britain's defeat, in order to make up for the financial deficit, the British government first took drastic measures against the East India Company.

First, it was declared that all war and trade activities of the East India Company must comply with the will of the government and the royal family, not the company's own will.

This drew fierce opposition from the East India Company's senior council, as it would strip the company of its original rights to wage war and free trade. From now on, any war or colonization would require permission from the government and the monarchy, which was unacceptable to the company's shareholders.

Then, when the objections were ignored, the British government sent a Colonial Secretary to oversee and control the East India Company.

Every few years thereafter, another bill was issued to further weaken the East India Company and expand the powers of the colonial governor.

It can be said that times are changing, the world order is changing, and the East India Company, a product of the old era, has reached its end.

Take the East India Company's headquarters in the Indian colonies, for example. The Governor-General of India can now disregard the decisions of the Company's committee and forcibly initiate or halt wars, something that would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

In order to resolve the company's predicament and regain the rights that had been taken away by the government, the East India Company planned the previous Macartney visit to China.

The company hoped to open trade channels in China under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, so that it could regain financial balance and use the profits to continue bribing the cabinet and parliament.

Unfortunately, Macartney's failed visit to China worsened the East India Company's already dire situation.

If the big man could give them an opportunity at this moment, they certainly wouldn't refuse.

(End of this chapter)