Qin Zheng led his men and horses to the west for more than 20 days, and finally arrived at the destination of this long-distance trip, Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province. At this time, the Qing court in Xi'an had already received a notice and sent people out of the city twenty miles to welcome them into the city and placed Qin Zheng's army in the military camp in Xi'an city. Qin Zheng and his teammates, as well as Li Jingfang, who were accompanying him, were arranged to rest in the inn in Xi'an City. Prince Qing had his original residence in Xi'an City. Although he had been to Beijing for several months, his family members were still in Xi'an, so he still lived there, so he returned to his residence to rest.

Everyone rested in the inn for a night. After lunch the next day, Prince Qing came to the inn to visit Qin Zheng, and also brought two Qing court officials, Rong Lu and Wang Wenshao.

It turned out that Prince Qing went to the palace early this morning to report the situation of overseas Chinese in Beijing. Although all the situations in Beijing had been reported in the telegram, it was not as detailed as the in-person Chengxu. Moreover, Cixi and Guangxu still had many questions to ask Prince Qing. Therefore, it took a whole morning for Jin to answer questions about Cixi and Guangxu. According to Li Hongzhang's reminder, in front of Cixi and Guangxu, in front of Cixi, Guangxu strongly advocated that overseas Chinese should be favored and kept hinting that overseas Chinese now only wants to separatist in Shandong and have no different ambitions to the court. However, if the court wants to return to Beijing, it must establish good relations with overseas Chinese, and at this time, it must follow the intentions of overseas Chinese.

After all, Prince Qing had direct contact with overseas Chinese. The message he conveyed was not only direct, but also much more credible. Therefore, after listening to Prince Qing’s speech, Cixi was a little relieved. No matter what, overseas Chinese have no plans to replace them. As long as the requirements of overseas Chinese are met, the Qing court can return to Beijing and continue the Qing Dynasty. As for what overseas Chinese do in the future, we will talk about it when we return to Beijing.

So Cixi and Guangxu immediately decided to recruit Qin Zheng early tomorrow morning, formally appointed him as the governor of Shandong, and complete the entire recruitment process so that they could return to Beijing as soon as possible. They also ordered Prince Qing, Ronglu and Wang Wenshao to see Qin Zheng together, on the one hand, to demonstrate the court's kindness to overseas Chinese, because these two people were military ministers and represented the highest officials of the Manchu and Han Dynasty. On the other hand, they also told Qin Zheng about the recruitment and negotiated the ceremony of the meeting, so as not to have an accident when the official Jin Dynasty met.

Of course, Qin Zheng knew that these two people, Ronglu was Cixi's most trusted minister. At this time, his status in the Qing court was second only to Li Hongzhang, while Wang Wenshao was an old minister who experienced the three dynasties of Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu. He was always known for his slickness and was a famous tumbler in the Qing court's political arena.

When the two sides met, Li Jingfang also invited him to accompany him. Prince Qing introduced each other. After a few words of politeness, Prince Qing first said: "Governor Qin, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have decided to call the Lord tomorrow morning, and they will specially send Rong Zhongtang to visit Wang Zhongtang. If you have any questions about Lord Qin, you can explain it to Lord Qin."

Qin Zheng bowed and said, "Thank you, sirs."

Rong Lu laughed and said, "This time, my Qing Dynasty encountered a national change, the eight countries invaded China, and the two palaces were in a Western tour, the court was in turmoil, and the country was almost out of order. Fortunately, the nobles returned to China at this time and defeated the power of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which made the Qing Dynasty safe and powerful. It was not an exaggeration to be appointed as the governor of Shandong. It was really inconsistent with the great contributions of the nobles."

Qin Zheng said: "Rong Zhongtang is too rewarding. We were originally descendants of the previous dynasty. This time we returned to China, we originally wanted to recognize our ancestors and return to our roots. We did not seek to be famous in the world, but we just wanted to have a place to live. But we just happened to meet the Eight-Nation Alliance invading China, so we naturally could not stand by and defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance. The main reason is that the soldiers defended their country and resisted aggression, and fought bloody battles without considering life and death. We were able to be granted the position of governor of Shandong. It is very satisfying to have a foothold in China, and we do not ask for anything else."

Wang Wenshao smiled and said, "We admire the noble people with high moral character and noble character and despise fame and fortune. However, we have to reward and punish them. We are the way to employ people for the court. However, the court is not yet stable yet. It is only a temporary measure to be granted Shandong. With the talent and wisdom of the people, the materials needed by the court. Therefore, once the court settles again, there will be a day to use the people."

Qin Zheng smiled slightly and said, "If the court needs it, we will naturally do our best to contribute to the country."

Ronglu laughed and said, "Okay, okay, tomorrow the Governor Qin will be very happy when he meets the Empress Dowager and the Emperor." He paused and said, "But when Jin meets the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, there should be Chinese etiquette. You have lived overseas for a long time, and the etiquette is very different from that of China. Please forgive me for this."

Qin Zheng knew that Ronglu meant kneeling and worship etiquette, which was also a major obstacle to exchanges between China and the West in the Qing Dynasty. During the Qianlong period, British envoy Macartney visited China, hoping to establish diplomatic and trade relations between China and the UK. However, both sides were not talking about the etiquette of the emperor when they met Jin. The Qing court asked Macartney to kneel down and meet Qianlong with the etiquette of three bows and nine bows. Macartney insisted on kneeling down in one knee according to the Western style, without having to kowtow, and had to part with disagreement. Later, the Qing court failed in the First Opium War and was unable to ask the envoys of Western countries to kneel down to the Qing emperor again, so they had to maintain the face of the Celestial Empire by prohibiting the ministers from entering Beijing. This was also one of the reasons why the Second Opium War broke out.

However, before coming to Xi'an, the Time Travel Group had already negotiated. There was no need to worry about etiquette. Isn't it just kowtow? There were also a lot of meat. Therefore, Qin Zheng said: "We founded the country overseas and did not have a bowing ceremony. However, since we returned to China, we naturally respected the etiquette of the court, but we just didn't know how to perform the ceremony."

Seeing that Qin Zheng was very straightforward to agree to the bowing ceremony, Prince Qing, Ronglu and Wang Wenshao couldn't help but be overjoyed. Now the Qing court basically agreed that overseas Chinese were separatist in Shandong, and there was nothing to negotiate. The Qing court was most worried that overseas Chinese would also be unwilling to bow to Cixi and Guangxu like envoys from other countries. This was related to the face of the court. Therefore, Ronglu and Wang Wenshao came this time mainly to negotiate with Qin Zheng. Prince Qing immediately said: "Governor Qin is safe, and the palace will send people to teach the adults to perform ceremonies in the evening, as well as the adults' official uniforms, wearing, court beads, court boots and other items."

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "I heard that the emperor was going to perform the great ceremony of three bows and nine bows. It was very complicated. I just didn't know if I could learn it overnight."

Rong Lu also smiled and said, "Actually, Governor Qin should not think too much about this bowing ceremony. Moreover, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor also understood that the Lord had lived overseas for a long time and did not understand Chinese etiquette. Moreover, the court is still in the west, and all etiquette should be simple, and there is no need to perform three bows and nine bows. Just kowtow simply, it is not difficult to learn. Moreover, as long as the Lord is fulfilling his intentions, even if there is something wrong with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are generous, they will not care about it."

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "I'll feel relieved if I say so." But he thought to himself that it would be better to be able to kowtow a few less.

The matter of etiquette was agreed upon, and Prince Qing, Ronglu, and Wang Wenshao also wanted to go back and report the matter, so Prince Qing said, "Since that is the case, we will not disturb the rest of the Governor Qin. When the Governor Qin meets the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, we will come to ask the Governor Qin for advice." As he said that, he stood up and said goodbye.

Qin Zheng and Li Jingfang sent them out of the inn together. Li Jingfang also said goodbye to Qin Zheng and went back to his room to rest. Qin Zheng returned to his room, and Deng Yongjian, Liu Hongjie, Zhang Jianping, Jiang Han and others who were accompanying him immediately surrounded him.

Deng Yongjian said: "Political Commissar, I have said so long ago that I am just trying to kowtow or not?"

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Of course, it doesn't matter whether we kowtow or not. What if we kowtow to Cixi? It's so difficult that we will really surrender to the Qing court because of kowtow? But from the perspective of the Qing court, this is not the case. If we bow to Cixi, then from the perspective of the form, even if we officially surrender to the Qing court, Cixi can be able to live up to its face. As for the essence, everyone knows it in their hearts."

Jiang Han said: "Political Commissar, I will go to see Cixi tomorrow. Are you the only one?"

Before Qin Zheng could speak, Liu Hongjie smiled and said, "What? Do you want to meet the Lady Buddha too?"

Jiang Han said: "Yes, I still want to take a photo with Lao Fu. Of course, it would be fine if I could take a photo with Guangxu. This is a rare opportunity. Maybe this photo can be passed down through the ages in the future."

Qin Zheng said: "Tomorrow is definitely not possible. Let's talk about it after I meet Cixi. If the negotiations are good, I think I can find a chance so that everyone can meet Cixi and Guangxu."

While several people were talking, the post officer came to report that the palace sent someone to send Qin Zheng's official uniforms and dressed them up, and asked Qin Zheng to welcome him to the gate of the inn. It turned out that after Prince Qing, Ronglu and Wang Wenshao left the inn, they immediately rushed to the palace to meet Cixi and Guangxu to report the results of the negotiation with Qin Zheng. After hearing this, Cixi and Guangxu were also very happy. In fact, Cixi and Guangxu did not think of asking overseas Chinese to perform the grand ceremony of three bows and nine bows, but no matter what, overseas Chinese were still ministers of the Qing court in fame. If they did not perform the ceremony of kneeling, then what ministers would they be?

So Cixi immediately ordered the eunuch Wan Haicheng to be sent as an envoy, with the official uniforms that had been prepared long ago, wearing court beads, court boots and other items, to the inn to give them to Qin Zheng, and to teach Qin Zheng the ceremony of bowing and worshiping. Cixi also turned around and told Wan Hai to comfort overseas Chinese with kind words.
Chapter completed!