Why did Emperor Xianfeng of Qing Dynasty dare not meet foreigners even though he was not afraid to cede territory and pay compensation?

These foreigners don't kowtow to Emperor Xianfeng for three times, which makes Emperor Xianfeng feel that he has lost face and is detrimental to his dignity as an emperor, so they don't want to meet these foreigners, not to mention that these foreigners have come to hand in their credentials and sign unequal treaties. There are many reasons for not wanting to meet these foreigners.

Emperor Xianfeng was the emperor in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, the Second Opium War broke out. Due to the failure of the Second Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the Tianjin Treaty with Britain and France again. Emperor Xianfeng and the court ministers were dissatisfied with these inequalities, but because of the weak national strength of the Qing Dynasty at that time, even if they were dissatisfied, they could only do so.

According to the regulations, signing a contract must be to see the emperor. These foreign envoys often go to Beijing, but Emperor Xianfeng doesn't want to see them, because these people don't kowtow to him three times, which violates the hierarchical system of the feudal society in Qing Dynasty and China. Failure to salute is actually a provocation to the authority of the emperor, but at that time, when the national strength of the Qing Dynasty declined and its international influence was low, even provocation was helpless, right? During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people felt that neighboring countries were vassal countries and all came to pay tribute to China. They need to abide by the etiquette of China, especially the rules of the Qing Dynasty, so it is not good to take it into their own hands. "The collapse of the ceremony was a sign of the decline of the dynasty."

So in the next period of time, Emperor Xianfeng wanted to break the contract, especially to get rid of the foreign minister in Beijing. If he were stationed in Beijing, he would kneel and knock. When the negotiations failed, Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing and set fire to Yuanmingyuan. In fact, I think it was the long-term seclusion of the Qing government that kept the thoughts of ministers and emperors of the Qing dynasty from keeping pace with the times, which led to the decline of the Qing government and many diplomatic jokes.