New Han Dynasty 1834

Chapter 18 The British Royal Mission

The Han dynasty expelled British merchants and imposed a trade embargo. The British in Han were in a state of great distress, discussing how to deal with the situation and preparing to lobby the British government to step in and resolve the problem.

However, at the same time, a large British government mission to Wuhan had already entered the South China Sea region.

The mission consisted of seven large and medium-sized sailing ships and more than a thousand members.

Head of the mission, British Minister Plenipotentiary to the Great Han, British Foreign Secretary, Viscount Palmerston, Henry John Temple.

Palmerston served as British Foreign Secretary for eleven years and as British Prime Minister for more than nine years.

He was Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary who issued an ultimatum to the Qing Dynasty during the Opium War, and also the British Prime Minister who formally launched the Second Opium War and participated in the Crimean War.

Then came the deputy envoy, George Thomas Staunton, from the Baron.

When Staunton was twelve years old, he accompanied his father, who was the deputy envoy to the Qing Dynasty, on a visit to the Qing Dynasty with the chief envoy, Lord Macartney. Because of his young age and his quick learning of some Chinese, he was granted a private audience with Emperor Qianlong.

When Staunton was thirty-five, he was supposed to accompany the chief envoy William Amherst to the Qing Dynasty to pay homage to Emperor Jiaqing as a deputy envoy. However, he actually arrived in the newly established Han Dynasty and paid homage to Liu Desheng, who had basically unified the country.

Staunton was the British Member of Parliament most familiar with Eastern culture and affairs. Before the Opium War, when the British Parliament was debating whether to use force against the Qing Dynasty, Staunton, as a scholar of Eastern culture, supported the use of force.

This is his third time visiting the East.

Palmerston and Staunton were both special envoys and were not scheduled to stay in the Great Han for an extended period. Their fleet also included British officials who were prepared to be stationed permanently in the Great Han.

First, there was William John Napier, the first British Trade Commissioner in Wuhan. Historically, he contracted malaria and died in Macau after a conflict with Lin Zexu due to acclimatization problems.

Then came the first Deputy Governor, John Francis Davis, who was the second Governor of Hong Kong in history.

There was also the Chief Trade Commissioner's Secretary, Charles Elliot, who was the cousin of George Elliot, the British Commander-in-Chief during the Opium War, and the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

The fact that these five people came as a group was equivalent to the arrival of key British figures during the Opium War.

The fleet carrying this massive mission sailed with the wind through the South China Sea, heading directly to Bao'an, the southern port of the Han Dynasty, which encompassed what later became Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

When the fleet approached the Pearl River Estuary, it encountered a South China Sea patrol fleet arranged by the Han Navy.

Upon spotting the British ships, the patrol fleet immediately signaled with flags, demanding that the British fleet lower its sails and slow down, and that they would send someone to make contact.

Palmerston's fleet didn't pay much attention, assuming the patrol fleet was cracking down on smuggling.

As a formal diplomatic mission, I shouldn't be too difficult for them. Once they confirm my identity, they should be able to guide me ashore.

The entire fleet quickly lowered its sails and slowed down as requested by the patrol team.

The two fleets slowly approached each other, and the patrol fleet sent a small boat to transport a squad of naval soldiers to the flagship of Palmerston's fleet.

After the soldiers boarded the ship and lined up, squad leader Hong Huoxiu took out two notices and shouted to the approaching British sailors:

"Is there anyone among you who can talk?!"

As the two fleets approached, Elliot came out with a translator to wait.

At this point, Elliot first explained their identities in English, and the translator beside him translated these words into Mandarin Chinese:

"We are an envoy specially dispatched by the King of Britain to the capital to congratulate the Emperor of the Great Han on his ascension to the throne."

"On board are His Excellency Viscount Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary, and His Excellency Elliot, the Chief Secretary to the British Trade Commissioner in Hanoi."

"We request the Han Navy to provide guidance and notification."

Squad leader Hong Huoxiu was clearly surprised to hear the other party's identity, and then handed over the two notices while muttering to himself:

"What's the difference? Your ship looks pretty big. So you're some kind of king's delegation?"

"That's perfect. Go back and tell your king to stop causing trouble in the Han Dynasty."

"Otherwise, I'll capture you and sell you into slavery in Liaodong. Our Emperor of the Great Han has already given his permission."

The translator was startled after hearing it:

"What do you mean by that, Your Excellency? We are an embassy of the King of Britain. Please explain yourself clearly."

Hong Huoxiu felt she had made herself clear enough:

"That is to say, our Great Han Emperor has ordered all of you Britons to leave our Great Han by the end of this year and never come back again."

"If we catch you again after the New Year, we'll sell you into slavery!"

"If any British ships approach the coast of the Great Han, the Great Han navy will no longer question them, but will sink them directly."

The translator was completely stunned.

Elliot took the two notices handed to him by Hong Huoxiu. They were all written in Chinese characters and had a red square seal at the end.

Elliot knew some Chinese characters, but not many. However, he could tell from the document's format that it was an official document from the Han government.

Elliot, unaware of what had happened, noticed the translator beside him seemed so agitated that he had forgotten to translate for himself. He handed the notice over while simultaneously asking:

"Why are you so surprised? What happened? What is the contents of this document?"

The translator finally came to his senses, glanced down at the official document, and found that the content was similar to what Hong Huoxiu had said. He quickly explained:

"The Emperor of the Great Han has ordered the expulsion of all Britons in Han, with a deadline of the end of the Han calendar, otherwise the Britons will be sold into slavery."

"His words are basically consistent with the notice; the difference is between verbal and written communication."

Elliot was stunned when he heard the whole thing. He was the first official chief secretary to the Director-General of Trade in Wuhan.

Before he even took office, all the British merchants had been expelled, and his position was naturally over.

"What's going on? Why is this happening? Is this the attitude of the new Han emperor towards Britain?"

Palmerston, Staunton, Napier, Davis, and Elliot's mission was ostensibly to congratulate Liu Jin'an, the new emperor of the Han Dynasty, on his formal ascension to the throne.

In reality, the first priority was to send Napoleon, Davis, and Elliot to their posts, hoping that the three of them would have the opportunity to leave an impression on the Emperor of Han and become de facto ambassadors to Han.

At the same time, it was necessary to ascertain the new emperor's attitude toward Britain and trade with Britain, to explore whether the scale and scope of trade could be further expanded, and to ascertain the Han Dynasty's attitude toward India, Central Asia, and Russia.

Although Britain felt much greater pressure facing the newly established Han Dynasty than it had during the Qing Dynasty, its envoys to the East were mentally more relaxed than when facing the Qing emperor.

Liu Desheng was able to "understand" what the British were saying, comprehend their thinking and logic, and would not kill indiscriminately.

Liu Desheng was able to have relatively normal exchanges with the British envoys, and did not force all visiting countries to become vassals and pay tribute, unlike the Qing emperors who made the British feel uncomfortable.

However, Liu Desheng also had his own obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Since Britain was unwilling to submit to the Han Dynasty and pay tribute, Liu Desheng would not formally summon the British envoy in the court, nor would he sign an equal written agreement with Britain.

The British envoy had to be of a sufficiently high rank for Liu Desheng to meet with him privately, to hear what the British wanted to do and whether there was any room for discussion and negotiation.

Therefore, the British delegation to the Han Dynasty had to be of the highest rank possible, with the chief envoy having to be a nobleman or a cabinet minister from the British court, usually a foreign minister with a noble title.

As for the demands that Britain made of the Han Dynasty, if they were already in Liu Desheng's plans, he would have agreed. If they were not in his plans, no matter how the British tried to persuade him, it would be of no use.

Upon learning of Liu Desheng's death and the ascension of Crown Prince Liu Jin'an to the throne, the British immediately prepared to send an envoy to the Han Dynasty again to specifically ascertain the new emperor's attitude towards Britain.

At this time, Palmerston and his party were unaware that Liu Jin'an had also passed away and that Liu Yulong had become the new emperor.

But that wasn't the most important thing. Although Liu Jin'an had passed away, their visit to Liu Yulong was considered a successful mission.

However, before they could even formally meet, they encountered a situation change that caught them completely off guard.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Elliot quickly instructed the translator beside him:

"I will immediately inform His Excellency Palmerston and His Excellency Staunton that you should stay here and do your best to comfort and calm these naval soldiers."

"Tell them that even if the Emperor has ordered the expulsion of all Britons, it is still a diplomatic matter for the British envoys to come and congratulate the Emperor on his coronation, and they should allow us to enter the capital to pay our respects to the Emperor."

Elliot's natural choice was to first see the emperor himself and find out what was going on.

The mission needed to confirm the emperor's attitude in person before seeing if there was any room for negotiation, so the mission certainly couldn't just retreat and return home.

The translator also felt that this was the right thing to do, so he immediately agreed and translated Elliot's words to Hong Ho-soo.

Elliot immediately dispatched several sailors to inform Staunton, Napier, and Davis that the situation in the Great Han had taken an unexpected and dramatic turn, and to have them go to Palmerston's cabin immediately, while he himself went directly to see Palmerston.

After Elliot entered Palmerston's cabin, he found that Staunton, who was most familiar with Eastern affairs, was already there and chatting with Palmerston.

Palmerston and Staunton were both very surprised to see Elliot rush in in such a flustered manner. Staunton asked first:

"Why are you in such a panic, Mr. Elliot? Has something happened outside?"

Elliot offered no explanation, simply handing the two notices to Staunton, who glanced at them and immediately jumped up:

"Your Excellency! Something terrible has happened!"

"The Ministry of Justice of the Great Han Dynasty ordered the expulsion of all British merchants."

"Everyone must leave the country before the end of the year, or they will be arrested and sold into indentured slavery."

"New British ships are now being refused entry."

"The people sent by the Han navy demanded that we leave immediately, or they would consider us invaders."

"They might open fire without any further warnings."

Palmerston was stunned upon hearing this, and then asked in a blank expression:

"Is this... how the new emperor treats us?"

"If so, have we already completed part of our mission?"

"So why expel the British? Were people from other countries expelled at the same time?"

Staunton then carefully reviewed the contents of the notification:

"The notice did not specify the details, but it was confirmed that some British people were arrested for smuggling opium."

"Moreover, according to the standards of the Han Dynasty, the scale is probably quite large."

"So the emperor was angry and demanded the expulsion of all Britons and a ban on their entry into the country."

Palmerston was speechless after hearing this, but he didn't dwell on the topic.

"Please tell them, Mr. Staunton, that we are the British King's delegation, here to congratulate His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han on his ascension to the throne."

"We have brought a gift from the King of Britain."

"Whether the emperor intends to expel the British merchants or not, we should be allowed to enter the capital to offer our congratulations."

Elliot then nodded and said:

"I have already had the translator convey this to them verbally, but I suggest that you provide a formal written response."

Palmerston nodded in agreement and then gestured for Staunton to prepare.