Although Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, had agreed to receive Howard, it was not as easy for Howard to truly meet Zhu Jinsong as he had imagined.
This was different from when Zhu Jinsong was just the leader of rebels.
If Zhu Jinsong were still just the leader of rebels, then meeting him could be discussed freely, and there wouldn't be so many formalities.
The problem was that Zhu Jinsong was now the legitimate Emperor of Great Ming, and for Howard to see Zhu Jinsong, he had to follow the rules of audience.
The rules for audiences varied across dynasties. In my Qing Dynasty, princes, ministers of the Imperial Court, and leading Grand Councilors had to lead ministers to meet the emperor in turns. The introduction required submitting a list, a memorial of service, and a green ticket. One or several people would be received.
The audience process was not like standing and talking as depicted in later film and television dramas. When my Qing Emperor summoned or introduced officials, the eunuch from the Office of Petitions would first convey the imperial decree, call the summoned person by name, and lead them into the room. Ministers entering had to first perform the kneeling salute, say, "Your subject/servant XXX respectfully wishes Your Majesty well," stand up, walk to the emperor's seating area, kneel on the pre-set felt mat, answer when asked, and if multiple people were being received, only the leading person could answer, others could not interject, nor could they speak to each other, only answering when the emperor asked. Regardless of the length of the audience or introduction, officials had to remain kneeling throughout, until the emperor granted permission for "kneeling salute" to signify the end of the conversation, at which point they could stand up, retreat to the door, turn, and exit.
However, the regulations of my Great Ming were very humane—note, humane, the character for human is key.
The greatest etiquette for an audience with the Emperor of Great Ming was the "five bows and three kowtows," which meant kneeling for a long time, bowing the head to the hands (this is called bowing) five times, and kowtowing to the ground (this is called kowtowing) three times, then standing up, clasping hands, and waiting. And this was for the most formal occasions, such as officials' triennial visits to the capital for court audiences, and the ceremonies performed by successful candidates during the imperial examination and the announcement of the laureates.
On normal occasions, even an ordinary commoner meeting the emperor would generally only perform the "ji shou" ritual: kneeling, clasping hands together, bowing the head to the ground and remaining there for a period, then standing up and waiting.
As for situations like foreign states submitting to allegiance, or sending envoys to present tribute, the Ming Dynasty's rituals did not emphasize humanity—first, they would rest at the Hall of Converging Affairs, the Ministry of Rites would report the duplicate memorial to the throne, and the Rituals Department would guide the foreign envoys in practicing the rituals, and an audience would be scheduled.
On the appointed day, the Imperial Guard would set up the ceremonial procession... The master of ceremonies would lead the foreign envoys to the kneeling spot by the imperial steps, and the announcer would call for four bows... The outer announcer would order the foreign envoys to kneel... The foreign envoys would prostrate themselves, rise, perform four bows, and after the ceremony, all officials and foreign envoys would exit in order. For regular court audiences of foreign states, or for expressing gratitude for state affairs, or for sending envoys to present memorials and tribute, the same ceremony would be followed. Only the memorial would not be read aloud.
Simply put, envoys from foreign states had to not only kneel and bow four times in designated places but also kneel once more before the emperor, shouting "Long live His Majesty" several times, then bowing four more times, with someone loudly commanding the name of the envoy of country XXX.
The key point was that Zhu Jinsong, as the Emperor of Great Ming, was quite impoverished. Not only could he not be called the Son of Heaven who ruled the world, but his own imperial palace was still occupied by that old scoundrel Qianlong. Therefore, the audience etiquette could only be simplified as much as possible.
Of course, as an excellent five-good youth born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, Zhu Jinsong was not an unreasonable or demanding tyrannical ruler. If Howard and others were unwilling to follow the Ming Dynasty's etiquette for the audience, Zhu Jinsong would not force them.
At worst, they could part ways. He would then make a note in a small book: "On such and such a date, such and such a country's envoy did not perform the three kneels and nine kowtows, which is a grave disrespect to me." When he had the strength and opportunity, he would teach these barbarians what proper etiquette was, and only then would he cross out this note.
Fortunately, Howard and his entourage were only "so-called" special envoys of the British Empire and had spent many years in the Thirteen Factories of Guangdong. They had some understanding of the difference between kneeling and bowing, and were well aware of some of the previous Qing Dynasty's etiquette and rules, so they found the Ming Dynasty's etiquette rules acceptable.
Making money is not shameful.
If it were "special envoys of the British Empire" like Macartney, who were officially appointed by the Queen of Great Britain to come on a mission, this audience today would likely not have happened, and Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, would have had to waste more ink.
What made Howard and his entourage frustrated was that they had just learned the etiquette for the audience, and before Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, summoned them, the French barbarians arrived.
What made it even more infuriating was that the French barbarians were arranged right next door to the British delegation.
My heavens!
Howard, almost driven mad, unleashed a string of profanities starting with "f" and "s" before gathering his subordinates: "Gentlemen, the French frogs are next door to us, I..."
Before he could finish, someone from the neighboring courtyard shouted loudly: "Oh, look who's living next door to us? It's the rose beef from the culinary desert, the Anglo-Saxon bandits who like to call themselves gentlemen!"
That's right, these were the nicknames the two sides had for each other.
The gentlemen from Britain found the French people, who liked to put anything in their mouths, displeasing, hence the term "frogs." The gentlemen from France also found the Anglo-Saxons, whose skin turned reddish-brown when exposed to sunlight, displeasing, hence the term "rose beef."
Howard was furious and, forgetting to finish his sentence, wanted to rush directly into the neighboring courtyard to teach those damned French frogs a lesson.
Even though there was a slight alliance between Britain and France during World War II, in reality, before and during World War II, especially before World War II, Britain and France hated each other as much as they wanted the other to explode on the spot.
This was mainly because Louis VII married Eleanor, the daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine. Aquitaine was thus incorporated into the royal domain of the French monarchy. Crucially, after marrying Louis VII, Eleanor only gave birth to a daughter, and Louis VII, on the grounds of her infidelity and inability to produce a male heir, applied to the Holy See to annul his marriage to Eleanor.
After Eleanor remarried Henry II of the Plantagenet dynasty, she consecutively gave birth to four sons and three daughters.
Of course, if it were only about the inability to have sons, this matter would probably have ended with nothing resolved, even though Eleanor's remarriage occurred only six weeks after her divorce from Louis VII.
The real crux of the matter was Eleanor's massive dowry—the rich and vast Duchy of Aquitaine.
To爭奪 the ownership of the Duchy of Aquitaine, Britain and France quickly entered into a mode of mutual combat, fighting for over a hundred years, thus forging this deep-seated enmity.
Therefore, upon learning that the French frogs were living next door, Duke Howard could not help but engage in mockery.
What Duke Howard did not expect was that the French frogs next door were clearly not to be trifled with. Upon hearing the words "French frogs," they immediately retaliated with "rose beef," and added "Anglo-Saxon bandits."
This infuriated Duke Howard. Fortunately, Duke Howard's subordinates had not completely lost their minds. One of them stopped Howard and said, "Sir, you are a gentleman, you should not stoop to the level of those damned French frogs."
Howard huffed, tugged at the bow tie on his collar, and snorted, "Of course, a gentleman would not stoop to the level of frogs."
Then, from the neighboring courtyard, another voice called out: "He who sows thorns will only reap prickly bushes."
Howard knew he was in the wrong and simply snorted and said loudly, "When the wind and waves clash, only brave and steady sailors can reach the other shore."
After saying this, Howard took his subordinates back into the house.
As soon as he sat down, Howard said, "Gentlemen, I believe those damned French frogs are just the beginning, not the end."
"No doubt Latins, and people from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and other countries will come here, and perhaps those damned white trash will also come."
"The current situation is very unfavorable for our British Empire."
"Yes, that's right. The Ming Emperor we are about to meet has not unified the entire country but only occupies a part of it. If the French frogs are here, then it is clear that we will not be able to monopolize the entire Ming market."
"This means our profits will be affected."
The gentlemen in the room shrugged. One of them asked, "Then, esteemed Duke Howard, do you have any good solutions?"
"Of course, we can learn from a story that the Qing people once told us, which is that we can rush to the neighbor and eliminate those damned French frogs."
"However, ever since we arrived in this city, our weapons have been confiscated. This Ming Emperor does not wish us to possess weapons because he is very confident in the public order of his ruling region."
"Also, has anyone noticed that the farmers we see in 'Ming Country' are completely different from those we saw in Guangzhou before?"
As soon as the topic of farmers' associations was brought up, the gentlemen in the room started talking volubly.
"Yes, among the Qing people we saw in Guangzhou, it was difficult to find anyone with a beer belly like a British citizen or the cheerful faces of British farmers."
"Every time they received our leftovers, they thanked us profusely. For the used tea leaves, they always greedily scrambled for them and then boiled water to drink."
"Also, their government officials and their soldiers do not seem to care about their citizens or farmers at all, hitting and scolding them wantonly, and plundering them. And their citizens or farmers are also very afraid of their soldiers, which is unimaginable in our British Empire."
"They also have a pig's tail hanging from the back of their heads!"
"Good heavens, 'The Travels of Marco Polo' says this is a land of gold, where people live in peace and contentment, a harmonious family of polite and courteous people. What a damned Italian liar!"
Hearing his subordinates' words becoming more and more outrageous, Duke Howard slammed the table fiercely and shouted, "Shut your mouths, gentlemen! A righteous and kind person should not speak ill of others behind their backs!"
"Also, this is 'Ming Country,' and it is not the same as what we saw in Guangzhou before."
"Although the farmers here do not have beer bellies like our British citizens, the smiles on their faces are the same as the cheerful faces of our British farmers."
"These people of 'Ming Country' are not afraid of their soldiers. On the contrary, we always see their farmers greeting the soldiers who are protecting us along the way."
"They are merely curious about us, unlike the 'Qing people' we saw before who were afraid of us."
"Therefore, if the 'Qing people' we saw before were those lowly, inferior beings like diaper-heads, then please note, gentlemen, the citizens here are as noble as we white people, and you must respect everyone here."
"If any of us causes our failure, then you should know the consequences, right?"