PFC Chapter 42 The Different Stances of the Royal Family and Politicians
Chapter 42 The Different Stances of the Royal Family and Politicians
British politicians like Palmerston and Staunton did not want the British royal family to marry into the Han Chinese.
The consensus among British politicians is to continue to limit the power of the British monarch.
Within the Kingdom of Britain, the power of the British monarch has been increasingly tightened by various tools such as law, parliament, political parties, and tradition.
The Bill of Rights stipulated that the British army belonged to Parliament, not the King, so the King could not command the army and therefore could not directly abolish Parliament.
Introducing external forces through marriage became almost the only way to enhance the power of the royal family.
George III, Victoria's grandfather and the father of the current King William IV, can be considered the last British monarch with significant real power.
George III had thirteen children who lived to adulthood, but none of them married into the royal family when they were young. Instead, they all had affairs with mistresses and lovers of lower status.
As a result, George III drafted a law stipulating that all marriages of royal family members without the king's permission were illegal, and the children born from such marriages would have no right of inheritance.
George III ultimately had only three legitimate grandchildren: his eldest granddaughter Charlotte, who died in childbirth; the future Queen Victoria of Britain; and the future King George of Hanover.
After the death of George III, the power of the British monarchs significantly declined.
After that, the king began to be controlled by the most powerful prime minister, some of whom would sometimes threaten the king with the term "republic".
Victoria's accession to the throne will lead to the dissolution of the Commonwealth of Britain and Hanover, which will obviously further reduce the actual influence of the British king.
British politicians did not want this situation to repeat itself, and of course would not allow Victoria to marry a king with greater actual power.
That way, she could rely on her husband's power, or even the army, to suppress the power of the British Parliament and politicians, or at least gain a stronger voice.
To avoid this situation, even if Victoria's husband were an ordinary member of the royal family of a small country, he would have to declare that he renounced his original right of succession.
He can only exist as the husband of the Queen of Britain.
At the same time, the British royal family hoped that their marriage partners would provide them with support, but they also did not want their marriage partners to be too powerful.
That would allow the other side to interfere with the British monarchy, making us their vassal.
In history, Victoria's first love was actually Alexander the Crown Prince of Russia, who later became Tsar Alexander II.
The royal families and politicians of both countries dared not allow anything to happen to the two of them.
As for the Han imperial family, they shouldn't even think about it.
Therefore, the king and politicians present instinctively spoke ill of the marriage alliance with the Han Dynasty.
After this topic was concluded, William IV instructed his servants:
"Find the best craftsmen as soon as possible to make the best frame for the portrait of His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty."
"It hangs in the center of the royal collection room, next to the portrait of His Majesty the Emperor's grandfather."
William IV's male servants bowed and accepted the order, carefully putting away Liu Yulong's portrait.
William IV continued to instruct his servants to pick up and display the clothing that the Emperor of the Great Han had given to him and Victoria.
William IV had three outfits: a straight-hemmed deep robe, a round-necked robe, and a close-fitting robe.
Victoria also wore three outfits: a quju (a type of traditional Chinese dress), a qixiong ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and an aoqun (another type of traditional Chinese dress).
Britain was not a vassal state, so the clothes the Han Dynasty returned as gifts were not imperial robes, but rather clothes worn by ordinary people.
It was made of relatively high-quality silk from the common people, and also had more delicate embroidery patterns.
William IV approached to observe, reached out and touched the fabric, and murmured in surprise:
"It's very comfortable, and seems to be better than any silk I've ever used before, but I don't know why."
"Does Your Excellency Staunton know that this type of clothing is the attire of the Han Dynasty's imperial family?"
Staunton quickly stepped forward to explain to the king:
"Your Majesty, these are clothes worn by nobles and the wealthy, for more formal, unofficial occasions."
"For example, formal attire for banquets, receiving important guests, etc., but not formal attire for official occasions such as royal ceremonies."
"Because Britain was not a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, it did not receive the formal attire of nobles and officials."
"These clothes are theoretically wearable by ordinary people, but most people can't afford them."
Victoria is also touching her own clothes:
"Are these really just clothes for nobles and the rich, and not exclusively for royalty?"
Why does it have a higher quality feel than what we've seen before?
"Is the finest silk available to European royalty inferior to that of an ordinary wealthy person in the Han Dynasty?"
Palmerston has now come out to explain:
"Your Highness, the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty holds the highest power in the East."
"Of all the luxury goods produced by the Han Dynasty, the highest-end ones were exclusively for the royal family."
"Ordinary nobles and wealthy people of the Han Dynasty had no opportunity to enjoy it, so it was even less likely to be exported to Europe."
"This includes porcelain, silk, and tea; they are all the same."
"Secondly, there are the highest-end products that the local nobles and wealthy people of the Han Dynasty could obtain, which circulated among the common people of the Han Dynasty."
"That is, the gifts Your Highness has received."
"In theory, traders could purchase goods of this level, but they don't do it."
"Because they don't need to send the best products to Europe to sell them at the highest prices."
"Europeans who have never seen better products cannot tell the difference."
After Victoria grasped the logic, her eyes widened in astonishment:
"This is blatant deception! These Eastern and Western traders are utterly despicable."
"If they can sell inferior products at the highest prices, then they won't introduce better products."
"If it weren't for the gift from His Majesty the Emperor, we wouldn't have known any of this!"
King William IV understood as well, and his interest grew even stronger:
"I'd like to try them on now. Does anyone know how to wear them?"
Victoria, who was standing nearby, also seemed very interested and said:
"I want to give it a try too..."
Staunton stepped forward to remind him:
"I remember there should have been a picture book."
The clothing that the Court of State Ceremonial presented to overseas monarchs and envoys would include illustrated instruction manuals.
Liu Desheng probably hopes that other ethnic groups will learn to wear Han Chinese clothing, and even wants to replace Western suits with Hanfu in the future.
Therefore, quite detailed arrangements have been made in this regard.
Staunton quickly found the catalogue and gave it to the personal servants of both William IV and Victoria.
William IV and Victoria were escorted separately by servants to the dressing room to change their clothes.
Soon after, William IV emerged, dressed in a straight-hemmed robe, somewhat resembling an old wealthy man in a historical drama.
William IV clasped his hands together and muttered somewhat awkwardly:
"These clothes are too loose. They are indeed very soft and comfortable, suitable for watching a play, but not for sports."
Staunton, seeing this, stepped forward and explained to the king:
"The formal attire of the wealthy class in the Han Dynasty was usually quite loose."
"Their nobles sought natural comfort and relaxation, rather than displaying their physical lines like we Europeans do."
"Therefore, clothing can be made without particularly detailed body data."
"There are special clothes for sports, and another set of clothes that are separate from the top and bottom, which should be suitable for activities."
William IV nodded and immediately went back to change into the two-piece suit, similar to the clothes worn by the Imperial Guards in historical dramas.
At this moment, Victoria also came out after changing her clothes.
It was a light green Ming-style jacket and skirt with large gold embroidered patterns.
The short jacket has pipa sleeves, and the skirt is a typical horse-face skirt, which is similar to the casual wear of noblewomen in the Ming Dynasty.
Compared to William IV's long robes and deep gowns, Victoria's jackets and skirts were much more flexible.
Victoria herself quickly discovered this, as she could take larger strides than European women in their long dresses.
Victoria wore this outfit and waited for her uncle to come out so she could continue looking at the other gifts.
Porcelain and tea, like their clothing, were items that would not normally appear in European markets.
After reading it once, Victoria harbored considerable resentment towards European merchants.
Finally, there were several waist knives similar to goose-feather sabers, several types of Eastern-style men's and women's headdresses and jewelry, several sets of traditional Eastern classic books, and a picture album showcasing various professions and costumes of people from the Han Dynasty.
After the king and crown prince had inspected their own gifts, they instructed their servants to put them away.
These are items that cannot be bought on the European market. Currently, even with money and power, it is impossible to obtain more, and both of them attach great importance to and are very careful about them.
However, they did not change out of their clothes immediately and continued the meeting in them.
Palmerston used a similar sequence of talks as he had with the Viscount of Melbourne.
He first explained the biggest problem he was facing: the Han Dynasty wanted to expel all the Britons.
He emphasized the Emperor's resolve, and then produced the original copy of Liu Yulong's reply and Staunton's translation.
Finally, it explains the invitation extended by the Han emperor to the British engineer to travel to the Han Dynasty.
William IV and his companions experienced a rollercoaster of emotions.
After listening to everything, the over-seventy-year-old William IV took a long time to slowly organize his thoughts:
"Whether merchants are willing to build factories in the Han Dynasty or accept the various management regulations of the Han emperor is not something I, as the King of Britain, will interfere with too much."
"But the affairs of Britain and the Han Dynasty should not affect the stability of India."
"Britain can cooperate in suppressing opium smuggling, and can allow Chinese civil officials to supervise it, but the army cannot be sent."
After listening, Palmerston reminded him:
"I have confirmed this repeatedly. Destroying the opium plantations directly is the bottom line that the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty cannot back down from. The Emperor refuses to have any further discussions with us."
"We either accept this crucial condition, or we sever all ties completely."
William IV was somewhat agitated.
"Why are they so tough? No other country in continental Europe can be this tough!"
Palmerston carefully considered his words and said:
"It may be because, after they destroyed the Tatar rule, they established militia organizations throughout the country, much like in Napoleonic France."
"They...theoretically have 20 million militiamen, and on that basis, they have selected more than one million elites as the standing army of their country. They are the masters of the East."
"So they are able to refuse to make any concessions to anyone on issues they deem important."
William IV was immediately rendered speechless, and Victoria, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but cry out:
"Twenty million...million! Militia! How is this possible!"
Palmerston explained:
"Because the Han Dynasty had four to five hundred million people, it accomplished a revolution similar to that of France..."
At that time, the British people generally regarded the militia as an elite force because they belonged to "good families".
At the same time, the standing army is viewed as a gang of trash, scum, and thugs, because the standing army is usually composed of mercenaries.
The 20 million militia of the Han Dynasty had a greater deterrent effect on the Britons than on the Han Dynasty's homeland and surrounding areas.