History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
When the Opium War broke out in 1840, the British opened the long-closed gates of the Qing Dynasty with strong boats and cannons, and the kingdom was defeated by barbarians. As the emperor, Daoguang was furious, but he could only knock out his teeth and swallow it into his stomach, and he felt faceless to face the ancestors, especially his grandfather Qianlong. Because, only more than forty years ago, the British also came to visit, but at that time, Qianlong Ye was an eight-sided mighty man, and he could only bear to swallow the compensation for cutting the land.
During the Qianlong period, there were many "Chinese fans" in Europe, the great scholar Voltaire once said: "Morally Europeans should be apprentices of Chinese", Europeans legend "Chinese is the world's smartest and most polite country", is a country paved with gold. Macartney grew up in this legend, and his lifelong dream was to reach the mysterious eastern country of China.
Finally, in 1792, the King of England sent Macartney to lead a mission to China. They led the fleet from England to prepare for the eightieth birthday of The Chinese Emperor Qianlong. They set out with reverence and eagerness, and after 9 months of arduous voyages, they finally reached the mouth of the Baihe River in Tianjin.
On the way from the mouth of the Baihe River to Beijing, what he saw and heard stunned Macartney, the houses on both sides of the road were mostly thatched houses, the road was rough, and the oriental country he longed for was not like Marco Polo's description of "golden splendor, gold paving".
According to Macartney's idea, China and Britain were originally two independent countries, which should be independent and equal, and there is no such thing as who pays tribute to whom, but Qing officials believe that the whole world can not be the royal land, and deliberately changed "gifts" to "tributes".
When he arrived in Beijing and met Qianlong, Macartney presented a handwritten letter from the King of England, but after the translation, Qianlong's face turned green. Originally, the British king called Qianlong a brother, saying that Britain and the Qing Dynasty were brotherly states, and the signature at the end was also "your brother Brother Emperor George's own handwriting".
Qianlong was furious, a barbarian monarch dared to call himself a brother, are you worthy? Immediately, reject all requests from Macartney, including the trade agreement, the heavens and the earth are vast, there is no need to communicate with each other, go back!
Macartney returned to England with the gift of Qianlong's reward and disappointment with the country he once considered the most polite. It was more than forty years after this failed diplomacy that the British came to China again, but this time instead of "gifts," they brought strong ships and cannons.