Chapter 226 Far East Ambassador
The Far East, 1870.
"Mr. Richard!"
"What's wrong, King?"
"It's only been less than a few months, why did you change the plaque again?"
"Hahaha, to be honest with you, I won't be working here anymore." Richard said with a proud look on his face.
"Ah! Mr. Richard, are you going back to Europe?" Wang Enke asked with a little concern. Richard was usually easy to talk to, so would it be difficult to communicate with his successor?
"No, no, in your Far Eastern language it's called promotion."
"Congratulations." Wang Enke bowed and congratulated.
"Congratulations, congratulations!"
"I wonder where you are doing, sir?"
"This time, I will establish diplomatic relations with your country on behalf of the East African Kingdom, and will serve as the East African Kingdom's ambassador to the Far East in your capital."
"The Kingdom of East Africa? Then won't you be the same as Great Britain and France in the future?"
"Almost, almost." Richard said with a little guilt.
This is really too much of a compliment to East Africa, comparing the world's maritime hegemon and the world's second most powerful country with East Africa.
…
"Mr. Leefus, there is a man outside who claims to represent the Principality of Hechingen in Prussia, Germany, asking to see you."
"Hei Xinggen? Let me go check it out!"
As soon as the Prussian Minister to the Far East, Liefs, walked out of the yard, he saw Richard coming from Jiaozhou.
"I wonder who you are?"
"Mr. Lee Fuss, I'm Richard, the former head of the Far East Commercial Liaison Office in Hechingen."
"Oh, I know that. I wonder why you are looking for me."
"I have a handwritten letter from Prince Constantine." Richard took out a letter from his pocket.
"A letter from Prince Constantine?"
Li Fusi hurriedly took the letter, opened it and began to read.
After a while.
"Well, Mr. Richard, Prince Constantine's request puts me in a difficult position! Without the confirmation of the Prussian government, I dare not act on my own."
"Mr. Lee Fuss, you worry too much! In fact, the establishment of the East African Kingdom was agreed by the Prussian royal family and government, but the news from Europe has not yet arrived at this time."
"Then how did you get the news?"
"We have naturally made preparations in advance for the establishment of our East African Kingdom. In fact, I got the authorization half a month ago, but the kingdom had not been established at that time, so I did not come."
"Prince Constantine took Zhou Xiang's situation into consideration, but why didn't he ask the Prussian government to send us the news in advance? We could have made preparations earlier. Isn't this embarrassing for me now?"
"Mr. Lee Fuss, in fact, you only need to be responsible for the introduction in this matter. You can use personal relationship as an excuse, and you don't have to represent the Prussian government."
Lee Fus' eyes lit up and he said, "That's indeed a good idea. I'll contact the Far East government for you in my personal capacity."
In the blink of an eye, the two arrived at a mansion in the capital.
"Mr. Li Fusi! I wonder what the purpose of your visit today is?" Chonghou, a minister of the Qing government, asked in surprise.
"Your Excellency Chonghou, this is the envoy of the Kingdom of East Africa. He came to the capital to establish diplomatic relations with your country, so I am here to introduce him to you."
"The Kingdom of East Africa? I wonder where it is? Is it also a country in the West?"
"Let Mr. Richard tell you! He knows more than I do."
"Hello, Mr. Chonghou, I am Richard, the representative of the East African Kingdom."
Listening to the words in Mandarin with a Shandong accent, Chonghou asked, "Hello, Sir Richard, where did your East African kingdom come from? Why have I never heard of it? And your language has a Shandong flavor. Have you ever been to Shandong?"
"Hahaha, Mr. Chonghou, you are really smart. I am indeed from Jiaozhou, where I was in charge of the trade between the Heixinggen Consortium and your country!"
"Heixingen! I know, it's the place where the newly established Jiaozhou Customs is located! I heard that Heixingen is also a company in your German region? I wonder what its relationship is with the East African Kingdom?" Chonghou asked Li Fus in confusion.
Hearing that Richard was from the Hexingen Consortium, Chonghou immediately grasped the key point. Isn't this Hexingen from Germany? Isn't that the same as Prussia? Li Fus often said that Prussia was the leader of Germany, so this Hexingen could not be a vest of the Prussian government?
"I was indeed an employee of the Hechingen Company in the past, but now I represent the Kingdom of East Africa. Although the Hechingen Consortium is from Germany, it is a large company that spans Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of East Africa. It also has trade relations in various European countries and around the world."
"I see! I know a little bit about Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but I have never heard of the Kingdom of East Africa, forgive my ignorance."
"Sir, it's not your fault. In fact, the East African Kingdom is a new country."
"A new country? Is it also a German country?"
"Of course, but the Kingdom of East Africa is quite special. It is an emerging country established in East Africa by our German Prince Constantine." Li Fus said on the side.
"Eastern Africa?"
"That's right. His monarch is our Prussian Prince Constantine, who is now also the King of the Kingdom of East Africa."
…
The reason why Richard asked Lee Fus for help was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not yet established diplomatic relations with the Qing government in the Far East, while Prussia had established diplomatic relations with the Qing government as early as 1861.
Even during the Second Schleswig War in 1864, the Prussian Minister Liefels deliberately clashed with Danish ships in the Bohai Sea and secretly captured three Danish ships as trophies at Dagukou.
Finally, under the serious protest of the Qing government based on international law, Lee Fusi returned the ship and paid compensation of 1,500 US dollars. This was also a rare diplomatic achievement of the Qing government.
On May 13, the day when the East African Kingdom was established, Emperor Tongzhi met with Richard, the representative of the East African Kingdom, at the introduction of Chonghou.
May 15, 1870.
Richard, the ambassador of the Kingdom of East Africa, signed a treaty with Chonghou, the representative minister of the Qing government. It is called the "Two East Treaties" in history, referring to East Africa and the Far East.
The Treaty of the Two Easts was signed, and the East formally established diplomatic relations with the Far Eastern Empire.
The Treaty of the Two East contains 57 articles. The main contents are as follows:
(1) The Kingdom of East Africa may send envoys to Beijing and travel to various places in the Far East; (2) The Kingdom of East Africa may establish consuls in all trading ports in the Far East, allowing citizens of the Kingdom of East Africa to trade, reside, rent land for construction, employ Chinese, and buy and sell various books and commodities; (3) The Kingdom of East Africa shall pay commercial taxes in China in accordance with the general rules and be equal to those of the great powers; (4) The Qing government shall be responsible for protecting the property and credits of East African citizens in China; (5) The Kingdom of East Africa shall enjoy consular jurisdiction and unilateral most-favored-nation treatment. (6) The Kingdom of East Africa may recruit Chinese workers in various places in the Far East, and the Qing government shall not prevent it. Along with this agreement, the "Trade Agreement and Customs Tariff" was also signed.
Overall it was an equal treaty. The problem lay in Article 6, but the Qing government did not raise any objection, so it was passed.
According to the treaty, in addition to establishing the East African Kingdom's embassy in the Far East in the capital, consulates were also established in Jiaozhou, Shanghai, Xiangshan County (Zhuhai), Xuzhou, and Kaifeng.
Chonghou, a minister of the Qing government, did not feel strange about the first two locations, but was quite surprised that this Western country actually knew about Xuzhou and Kaifeng, and they themselves did not even know about the small place of Xiangshan. How did the East Africans know about it?
Richard's explanation was that there was commercial trade with the East African kingdom in these three places, and in fact these were the nodes on the route of immigrants from North China to East Africa.
Kaifeng and Xuzhou are important transportation hubs in North China. Kaifeng can gather immigrants from Henan and the Northwest, while Xuzhou is located at the intersection of four provinces, which is convenient for the development of East African immigration work. Zhuhai and Jiaozhou are the earliest trading stations established by the Heixingen Consortium in the Far East. As for Shanghai, it is a place that almost all countries pay attention to.
(End of this chapter)
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