On May 25, 1875, The Times of London reported: "The Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xihong disappeared seven days ago. The Chinese Embassy has reported the case to the London Police Department. The Chinese Minister Mr. Guo Songtao has made solemn representations to the Imperial Foreign Office ¡This is a very serious diplomatic incident. Our reporter is paying close attention to the progress of the incident and the investigation work of the Metropolitan Police Department" "Guo Wengong Gongji: Message from the British Minister Guo to the General Office": "Deputy Ambassador Liu Xihong disappeared seven days ago. He has negotiated with the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The British Foreign Secretary Derby went to the embassy to apologize in person. The British King has strictly ordered the Police Department to search for it. There is no news yet"???¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù ¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù ¡°Sir, it¡¯s done¡ª¡± ¡°Well¡ªhow to do it?¡± ¡°Old rule, put it in a sack and sink it in the river.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no one left alive, right?¡± ¡°Back to the master, attach¨¦ One person, the coachman, both had their necks broken and were thrown into the Thames. No one else survived. ""Who arranged it?" "There were four people in total, all white Irish workers. They were quite strong. The younger one was watching. "They were all done neatly and it didn't take a while." "How did you arrange these four people?" "They were sent to Australia overnight for five hundred pounds. They are already on the way." Well done - such a headless murder case, they can't find out why." The old housekeeper said goodbye and left. Chen Tingxuan took another look at Liu Xihong's unsent telegram, sneered, and put it in. In the drawer. At about the same moment, in a morgue at the Metropolitan Police Department, a British forensic doctor shook his head. He shrugged his nose and covered the body with a white cloth. One of his assistants was sorting through the remains of the corpse - a broken paper fan, a small snuff bottle, a warm hat, a pair of gloves, a bunch of keys, and a broken gray stone seal. The assistant looked carefully at the strange and incomplete words on the seal. He shook his head and put the seal aside. At this time, there was a sound of rapid footsteps, and then the door of the morgue opened, and the detective from the Metropolitan Police Department hurried in accompanied by Guo Songtao. The forensic doctor looked at the detective with questioning eyes, and the detective nodded. He stretched out his hand and asked Guo Songtao to come forward. The forensic doctor reached out and carefully opened a corner of the white cloth covering the body. A foul smell came out. Guo Songtao frowned and gently waved his hand in front of his nose. Then he stepped forward and looked at the face of the corpse, and nodded sadly. The forensic assistant showed the seal to Guo Songtao. Although the handwriting was a little blurry, Guo Songtao still recognized the two seal characters "Ruxia" engraved on it and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. After taking care of Liu Xihong¡¯s funeral, Guo Songtao returned to the embassy, ??feeling unable to calm down for a long time. He has already guessed it. Who caused Liu Xihong¡¯s death? Guo Songtao walked around the room for a while, and finally calmed down. He thought about it, rang the bell, and called the servant. "Prepare the car and go to Chen Mansion." When Guo Songtao rushed to Chen Manor again, Chen Tingxuan heard that Guo Songtao was visiting and immediately came out to welcome him personally. Seeing Guo Songtao's angry expression, Chen Tingxuan roughly guessed Guo Songtao's purpose. The two entered the living room. Chen Tingxuan seemed to know what Guo Songtao was going to say, so he stepped back first. When only Chen Tingxuan and Guo Songtao were left in the hall, Guo Songtao showed Chen Tingxuan the Times of that day. "Why did Mr. Chen do this?" Guo Songtao asked bluntly. "It's for you, Mr. Guo." Chen Tingxuan met Guo Songtao's gaze and said frankly, "This person is the eyes and ears arranged by the stubborn and conservative ministers in the court to be around Mr. Guo. I think Mr. Guo knows it in his heart. There is someone in the court who wants to do harm to Mr. Guo. This person has been If the sun doesn't go away, Mr. Guo will not be able to perform his duties in England, and we Chinese businessmen will never be able to get ahead." After hearing Chen Tingxuan's answer without any excuse, Guo Songtao was speechless for a moment. The things that happened when he first went on a mission came to his mind again. Guo Songtao was devoted to Western learning. In the struggle between the Westernizationists and the die-hards in China, he spared no effort to defend the Westernizationists with his own knowledge and became an important member of the Westernizationists. The news that China sent a minister to the United Kingdom as an envoy spread, causing an uproar immediately. Because for thousands of years, Chinese civilization has been radiating all over the world with its splendid splendor, attracting "people from all over the world to come to Korea". Other countries are "vassals" of China and regularly send "tribute envoys" to China to worship. No envoys are ever sent by China. The theory of "stationing abroad". In traditional Chinese concepts, there are only "Li Fan" that embodies the relationship between clan (China) and vassal (foreign countries).There is no such thing as "diplomacy" among equals. In the late 19th century, although China was repeatedly invaded by foreign powers, this view of "diplomacy" did not change. Foreign envoys to China and China's dispatch of envoys to foreign countries were regarded as a great shame and a great disgrace that seriously damaged the national system. More people even think that going abroad means "doing evil" and being a traitor. Some people even made up a couplet and cursed: "Beyond one's kind, outstanding, and cannot be tolerated in the era of Yao and Shun; failing to do anything to others, Why go to the country of your parents if you can do anything?" The Hunan gentry with strong conservative sentiments at that time were even more excited. They believed that this trip would bring shame to the people of Hunan and wanted to expel him from the province and even threatened to destroy the Guo family. Under such tremendous pressure, Guo Songtao complained several times about illness, but was not allowed to do so. Empress Dowager Cixi personally summoned Guo Songtao to comfort him. Only then did Guo Songtao completely give up his intention to resign. Before Guo Songtao's trip, the imperial court responded to the request of the Prime Minister's Office and ordered Guo Songtao to submit the diaries he had recorded along the way to the General Administration. After Guo Songtao arrived in London, he immediately sent his extremely detailed diary of dozens of days back to the General Administration titled "Journey to the West". However, as soon as the Prime Minister's Office published this book, it immediately attracted a wave of verbal and written criticism from die-hard conservatives in both the government and the public, and even demanded that the book be destroyed and banned! He just wrote a book introducing Western customs and customs, but he attracted thousands of accusations. Liu Xihong even threatened to impeach him that day. It was hard for Guo Songtao to imagine that if Liu Xihong's excerpts really reached Beijing, it would cause another stir. What an uproar. From this point of view, Chen Tingxuan¡¯s concerns are completely justified. "Mr. Guo knows that we and other Chinese businessmen have been discriminated against in the UK. We have endured humiliation for many years to start our own business, and have gone through many hardships before we can reach our meager status today." Chen Tingxuan said sincerely, "We hope every day that our motherland will have a good minister who will love and care for us. We, the overseas Chinese, make the decision. The moment I met Mr. Guo, I determined that you are the one who can make the decision for us, the Chinese businessmen.¡± Treat Mr. Guo like this." Chen Tingxuan said, came to the table, opened the drawer, took out Liu Xihong's telegram and handed it to Guo Songtao. Guo Songtao took the telegram and only glanced at it, his expression immediately changed. He put the telegram into his sleeve, said goodbye to Chen Tingxuan, and left in a hurry. Chen Tingxuan watched Guo Songtao leave. As soon as he turned around, he suddenly found Chen Hong and Sarah walking out from behind the screen. "Master Guo is here to ask questions." Chen Hong said with some worry, "Will he do something to us" "Don't worry, Master Guo is a sensible person." Sara said with a smile and held Chen's hand. Hong's hand. When Guo Songtao rushed back to the embassy, ??it was already getting late. Guo Songtao didn't even change his clothes and walked straight to Liu Xihong's room. Liu Xihong¡¯s room door was always locked. Guo Songtao took the key found from Liu Xihong¡¯s body, opened the door, and walked in. Guo Songtao went straight to Liu Xihong's desk. At this time, the desk and study utensils were neatly placed, and they seemed to have not been used. Guo Songtao looked at the desk and found a locked and exquisite small wooden box. He took out Liu Xihong's bunch of keys. , found a few small keys, tried them, and opened the wooden box. There was Liu Xihong¡¯s unfinished memorial manuscript in the wooden box. Guo Songtao picked up the manuscript and read it. "the foreign merchants and government officials, the officials and merchants protect each other, and the merchants support the army. Their methods are not better than those in China, and the situation is completely different. The so-called ruler of the country by the foreigners does not mean the chief executive in a foreign country; the so-called official, There is no such thing as a wealthy family in a foreign country. The leader of a country is elected by the public and given a certain amount of salary to take charge of the affairs of a country. He cannot be arbitrary in his affairs. When something happens, he gathers the wealthy family and the people of the country to discuss it publiclyChina. The world has been one family for thousands of years. Governments are unified by one person, wealth belongs to one person, the system of hierarchy is very strict, and the ways of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants are divided into different factions. China's governance must be governed by the imperial court. However, Guo Songtao actually wanted to make overseas ministers official and manipulate business affairs without caring about national affairs. He also falsely claimed that the political system of the Western countries was superior to China, and wanted to convert the barbarians into Xia and make Chinese ministers serve the British barbarians" "Guo Songtao When visiting Jiadun Fort, he was actually wearing foreign clothes. Even if he froze to death, he would not be wearing it" "Guo Songtao saw the ruler of Brazil standing up without authorization. How could he pay homage to the little ruler of the country?" "Guo Songtao listened to music at the Parkin Palace. Guo Songtao often listened to music. "Single, imitate what foreigners do" "Guo Songtao admires the behavior of foreigners, uses umbrellas without fans, imitates foreigners to be right, does not use tea but uses silver trays to serve sugar and cheese, foreigners goes against Cheng Zhu, and wants women to imitate foreigners. Foreign language, listening to opera All kinds of rebellious behavior are outrageous I will not tolerate those who are accused of being traitors by the capital!" Guo Songtao was anxious for a moment after reading Liu Xihong's unfinished memorial. Angry and furious, his vision went dark. He held onto the table and steadied himself, and managed to prevent himself from falling. At this time, his ears were full of "converting barbarians into Xia" and "traitors".Kind of response. Guo Songtao fumbled himself to sit down on the chair. It took him a full cup of tea before he felt better. Guo Songtao leaned down, picked up Liu Xihong's "legacy" that fell at his feet, put it into his sleeve, stood up, left Liu Xihong's room, and came to the corridor. ps: The second update is here! Please collect! Please recommend! Please subscribe! Please click! Asking for a monthly ticket!