Chapter 144: Journeys to the West
Chapter 144: Journeys to the West
“It had become apparent to the court in Nanjing that their knowledge of the lands outside China’s borders, especially those to the far west, was inadequate. Even Russia, which had been viewed as at best a neutral player in Asia, was now seen as an enigmatic force of encroachment on the Middle Kingdom rather than a far away power. The goals of nations like France, Britain and the United States could only be guessed at. Ironically, when the forces of Proclamation had burned Beijing, they had inadvertently driven away the only foreigners in the interior who might have carried some sense of the outside world to them. Only the Russians maintained a formal delegate in Nanjing, the far flung European powers were unsure of the new emperor.
Thus, after the loss of so much of Manchuria in 1866, the emperor reasoned it was best to know his enemy. A great delegation would be prepared to travel to Europe, and from there to the United States, and across the Pacific and home again. This world tour was envisioned to at last give the court a full understanding of politics beyond China itself, and how they could best be used to their advantage. The insular policy of the old Qing was clearly no longer of use in a world where European weapons and warships regularly overpowered the Chinese soldiery, and if the dynasty was to survive, they would have to learn. Even from barbarians…
…this lack of a formal diplomatic corps was a stumbling point on the intended expedition. The Qing had done little to communicate with the outside world, viewing it as a larger series of vassal states and interacting through the framework of tribute. Such was not possible in the new world that the emperor found himself in. However, almost no member of his court had ever left China. Even then, it had been to Formosa, Hainan, or even Korea, never the lands beyond. As such then, it would need a tour de force to impress upon the powers of Europe, particularly Britain and France, that the Middle Kingdom was a power in its own right, and must be respected.
To the surprise of almost the whole court, the Crown Prince was selected for this journey. Though it raised no amount of scandalized eyebrows the emperor said “Mere ministers and courtiers will command no respect in foreign palaces,” which was to the emperor’s credit, a fair point.
Zeng Jize was somewhat unique in his father’s court. During the fighting first against the Taiping, and then the destructive campaign against the ailing Qing, he had taken a keen interest in the Europeans. First by learning English, largely to understand the military manuals imported by foreigners, but then to understand men who had offered their services to train the soldiers in his father’s armies. Taking an interest in Western learning he would read English treatise to teach himself their ways, try and understand their newspapers, but also learn something of the European world. He would also attempt to learn Russian and French, but became far more proficient in English, if only because he was familiar with the American and British soldiers of fortune who found their way to the court in Nanjing. Though such ‘undignified’ pursuits often scandalized his tutors and advisors, Jize had not grown up in the stiffling and stratified world of the Qing court, and so found himself rarely constrained to act as he pleased, often with the encouragement of his uncle Guobao.
While his interest was a stroke of luck for the family, this had made the decision to send him abroad easier. With a stronger understanding of English and his smattering of French and Russian, he would be less easily deceived by the powers of Europe. Something his father appreciated. A crown prince to an empire as important as China simply could not be totally ignored by the courts of Europe, especially from a land as lucrative as theirs.
To escort the Crown Prince there was of course need for proper aides and bodyguard, but also competent ministers. Of those chosen, Li Hongzhang was perhaps the most capable. A loyal supporter of his old teacher, the powerful viceroy had commanded armies during the campaigns against the Taiping and Qing, but he had also been involved in the difficult negotiations between the Russians wherein they had delivered the ultimatum. It had been enough that he secured the Russian assent to recognize the new dynasty, but he had also begun to vigorously campaign in favor of expanding the power of China and arming their people so that ‘such treachery might never humiliate the nation again.’ Going to Europe and learning their ways was the way to do it.
Included would also be the scholar Feng Guifen, a proponent of adopting Western ideals and a confidant of the emperor. Alongside him was Luo Bingzhang, an elderly scholar but capable field general. Younger, and with more experience with firearms and Western weapons, was Zhu Hongzhang, noted for his fierce fighting at Nanjing and Beijing for the emperor, he was thought to have a sharper mind. These were the most eminent men amongst a dozen other diplomats, but they paled in comparison to the most controversial choice.
Frederick Townsend Ward, commander of the Ever Victorious Army, the most successful ‘mercenary’ outfit that fought for the old Qing, had become something of a problem for the new regime. Though ostensibly loyal to the new government, it had largely been excluded from the march on Beijing and Ward’s men had been relegated to protecting Shanghai and mopping up operations in Zhejiang. Paid very well and lavished with gifts and titles, including a peerage by the emperor, he represented something of a wildcard in imperial politics. He could not be easily dismissed, and his benefactors could not be ignored[1].
Shanghai was a city which now boasted a large foreign population, and the merchants had, thanks to its importance in foreign trade and proximity to the new capital, quickly become a class unto themselves. Worse from the perspective of the government in Nanjing, though Ward had disbanded much of the Ever Victorious Army, 2,000 well armed and well trained veteran men were still under his personal command with the backing of the merchants of Shanghai, who were uncertain of the new dynasty and jealously wished to protect their new wealth. The combination of geography, trade, and the ever problematic encroachment of foreigners, meant that the emperor had to tread carefully when it came to his erstwhile subjects there.
Picking Ward, a now famous foreigner and extremely influential not-quite-warlord, was a dangerous gamble. He might undermine the expedition, or his merchant benefactors might encourage him to something else. However, he spoke English and pidgin Mandarin, so communication between the Crown Prince and the mercenary would not be impossible. He was also thought to be a better representative of a power that had not yet devastated China, the United States. Amid great fanfare, he was formally asked to participate in the expedition to the courts of Europe. Ward accepted…
The expedition departed China in June of 1867, leaving China aboard the chartered British steamer Orient on the first leg of their journey around Africa. They first stopped in Calcutta where they treated with the British Viceroy of India, John Lawrence. The Crown Prince congratulated him on the defeat of the rebels in 1857, commenting that ‘service to Heaven is all a man can strive for’ a statement which perplexed Lawrence, but he was diplomatic enough to congratulate the Crown Prince on his successful role in leading China out of civil war.
From there, the journey wound around Africa, stopping at various small British ports. Ward commented that this was to impress upon the Chinese the reach of the British Empire, the captain’s claims to need to take on fuel notwithstanding…
Arriving in Britain, the Crown Prince was cordially accepted into the halls of power. Though he never met with Prime Minister Palmerston, he did meet the Earl of Derby and gained an audience with the Foreign Office, and importantly, Queen Victoria. Though the protocol between the two monarchs was awkward, with neither quite knowing what to make of the other. Victoria had tried to beg off the meeting, but it was impressed upon her that she must prepare to meet the Ottoman Sultan soon as well, and the Queen had reluctantly agreeed. Through interpreters and very stilted conversation, the two would congratulate one another on recent victories, Jize would voice complaint about the British treatment of China while Victoria would be remonstrateful with him regarding the treatment of Christians in his country. Neither quite grasped the cultural divergences between their two systems, an effectively powerless constitutional monarch, and the other a ruler with the power of life and death in his hands. The formal exchange of gifts, from Jize an oriental style cross taken from a sacked church in Nanjing, and from Victoria, a tea set crafted in England imitating the Japanese style, merely underscored how poorly the two nations understood one another.
Guifen seemed to find the British system fascinating, wondering what a system that balanced the power of the monarch and what he termed a ‘committee of scholars’ as a government might look like in the Chinese sense. The soldiers were amazed by British parade drill, and the sheer power of the Royal Navy which the government in London was keen to demonstrate as an abject lesson to the new dynasty should they need reminding what the Royal Navy had done in the past. Ward was saddened to see how powerful it was as he learned the sheer scale of the defeat of the navy of his homeland by the British. It was not lost on him that they had the power to do what they wished with the Chinese coast at present, and all the soldiers were eager to find a way to rectify that problem…
…the drab of England was quickly forgotten in the palaces of France and the magnificence of the new city of Paris that Emperor Napoleon had constructed. To a dynasty itself not yet out of its infancy, and one seeking to rebuild the glory of an ancient capital, this appealed to the Chinese delegation. Napoleon was only too delighted to meet with all of the men, holding a vast military parade in their honor, demonstrating the maneuvers of his troops, and having lavish feasts and banquets with them. He entertained each member of the delegation personally, usually with a pair of translators on hand.
The welcome rolled out for the Chinese delegation was one which certainly impressed them compared to England. The vast array of gifts brought from China was almost exchanged token for token by the French court. A hunting rifle for the Crown Prince and a Manchu sword for the Emperor, Feng received a collection of the finest French philosophers, while exchanging a pristine work of early Confucian philosophy. The generals were each given ivory handled revolvers, while gifting exquisitely made bows to the imperial family. The protocol was well understood thanks to each side hoping to impress the other, and an accurate map of the world showing the French holdings was only briefly embarrassed when the Emperor had to admit that, yes, the British did have the larger empire…
What truly bothered the Crown Prince was seeing that, at the 1867 Universal Exposition, barely any mention was made of China. It was the Middle Kingdom, perhaps one of the largest empires in the world! True he had seen an accurate map of the globe, but he had seen just how large the domains he ruled were supposed to be by European reckoning. That ought to mean something to these powers. In discussion with his other advisors, it was recommended that China do its best to be invited to events such as this in the future…
Prussia and Austria had each shown the Crown Prince the power of European armies, and his generals had been eager to interrogate their European counterparts to gain some insights into how these barbarians waged war. In Prussia, the liberal and worldly minded King-President found his Chinese counterpart somewhat anachronistic, representative of a backwards empire that needed a dominant European hand. The Prussian heir would find the Chinese to be simply revolting, a view that would long color his ideas about the Orient. Prince Jize, in turn, found the willing weakness of the Prussian monarch puzzling. Why would the leader of an ostensibly powerful nation shackle himself to the opinions of his inferiors? The stratified social order of the Hofburg at least was familiar to the Chinese delegation. The strained and mutually unintelligible systems at least mirrored one another in their rigid adherence to class and protocol, and Austria had thus far done nothing to annoy the Celestial Kingdom…
…the loss of Feng Guifen is often portrayed as a great ‘what if’ of Chinese history[2]. His health rapidly deteriorated crossing the Atlantic, and he would pass away shortly before the imperial party arrived in New York. Had he experienced America perhaps his reformist minded writings might have been more ambitious. However, it is just as likely he would have been horrified by the noisy tenements, raucous public institutions and the ‘anarchy,’ as the prince called it, of the still young United States.
Certainly New York was a bustling modern metropolis, but even its vast population of over 1.1 million had been simply dwarfed by the three million of London, and did not even exceed some of the vastest cities in Asia. While the modern conveniences and amenities could be suitably compared to the European capitals, the delegates from China found themselves underwhelmed by America’s greatest city. Moving to Washington, they were further underwhelmed by its layout, squalor, and how ‘provincial’ even the greatest buildings, save the rotunda, seemed to the palaces of Europe, or even what they had burned in Beijing. The White House itself was even then still a partial armed camp, and the Crown Prince caused no small amount of irritation with his hosts when he requested to see the scorch marks the British had left in 1814 he had been told he could find.
What did impress the generals however, was what a modern viewer might describe as the ‘spit and polish’ of the Capital Guard. In fine blue uniforms with gold braid, they drilled and marched flawlessly, comparing favorably to any troops the Chinese had seen in Europe. The generals would examine their own dress and find it wanting, Li Hongzhang would avail himself of the opportunity to be fitted for a Western style suit. This change in dress and appearance would have long reaching implications for Chinese society in the near future.
Jize would dine with President McClellan and his family, and it was here that Ward would prove most useful. Ward was originally from Massachusetts, friendly to the Union cause and so an avowed opponent of the Confederacy. Having been abroad during the fighting he could do little but comment on it was unfortunate the war was lost. But as a native English speaker, and with a better grasp of American politics, he could speak around any diplomatic niceties that the prince would not understand. He would ‘cut the bull’ as he would elegantly put it later in life.
After this dinner, the Jize would be left with a distinctly unimpressed view of American politics. Though the president’s talk of a continent spanning railroad intrigued him, his discussion of the hidden wealth of America, her potential, and how useful she might be as an ally, was not taken seriously. A view which would change in time, but the future emperor’s only visit to American soil would cloud his view of the competence of men in Washington…
..final leg of the trip in California, did leave an impression on the Chinese. Tens of thousands of poor laborers who still acted as though the Qing ruled were shocked by the appearance of a Han royal. Many still wore their long queue as signs of serving the Manchu dynasty, and were bothered by someone so important not wearing one. Seeing them sweat away working on American infrastructure and as laborers in American cities made Jize realize that a vast resource was being wasted at home. “They could be building us a railway, but they flee abroad to work for pennies,” Hongzhang would lament. Seeing the state many Han ended up in did bother the emperor, and how ignorant his own subjects were of events in China was just as bothersome.
But hearing reports that even here, thousands of miles from China, Britain had smashed a great American fortification and taken the city of San Francisco and crushed the American fleet, he knew his nation had no choice but to embrace Western methods. How else could China fight back against the imposition of foreign outrages on her shores? It was a fortuitous education for the future monarch.” - Tongzhi: The Rising Emperor, Nanjing Publishing, 1959[3]
The Sultan in Paris
“The surprise meeting between the Turkish Sultan and the Chinese Crown Prince in Vienna is a rarely commented upon note from Abdulaziz’s European tour. The two royals only engaged in brief conversation, but two ‘Oriental’ rulers in the same room was certainly a fact to be remarked upon in the Hofburg.
When leaving Austria for the empire’s European provinces, where he sought to entertain the client rulers and vassal subjects, he found that he had a much more mixed reception that he anticipated. The reorganization of the vilayets and interior provinces as part of the tanzimat reforms proceeded apace, but not all his subjects were satisfied. Though none in the crowds would show so much disapproval. The Reform Edict of ten years earlier had not, as it was hoped, solved the myriad of religious differences in the Balkans. The response to the Cretan Insurrection of the year prior was still fresh in the minds of many Orthodox Christians, and while touring the United Principalities, explicit graven images of the saints were portrayed all along the Sultan’s path.
The meeting with King Carol was polite, but tense. Carol, despite having rammed the unification of the Danube principalities through to form a pseudo nation in all but name, now governed in the shadow of uncertainty. The death of the tsar and his replacement by a youth in St. Petersburg gave him pause from more overt action, and the sultan’s trip abroad showed that, at least on the surface, the great powers of Europe still supported the Ottomans. While his Orthodox subjects might chafe under Ottoman vassalage, Carol himself was not about to risk overt war with the Porte alone, and his subservient status to the Sultan in 1867 confirmed this.
For now, there would be peace in the Balkans, but the cherished reforms of Istanbul would cost, even with the loans from Europe…” - The House of Osman, Baron Kinross, 1977
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1] He did marry into a successful merchant clan to gain backing in history. He also seemed to respect the Chinese and his new wife by all accounts, a complete rarity for the time. However, this should underscore how his living and still commanding not insignificant influence may be a problem for the new empire in terms of their reach and control.
2] He died a little earlier OTL, but having him die crossing the sea to America seemed poetic.
3] Tongzhi will be the regnal name of the future emperor, as I think - and I stress think - its meaning is appropriate.
