Qing Dynasty, Tianjin City, Zhili Governor Tianjin Pavilion, Warm Pavilion Flower Hall.

This is the fifth year of Guangxu after the Haihe River in Tianjin opened spring and melted ice, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, returned to the Beiyang minister's residence in Tianjin from the Baoding Zhili Governor's Mansion, and held a meeting with his staff and subordinates for the first time.

After closing his eyes and spitting out the fog, Li Hongzhang put down the dry smoke gun in his hand, glanced around at his staff and subordinates, and opened his mouth to Zhou Fu and said, "Yushan, let's start"

Zhou Fu bowed to Li Hongzhang, raised his hand and hugged his fists around, and said with a smile, "Princes! Today's hotel is open, and the affairs are complicated, so please bear with me. ”

"Lord Zhongtang and Lord Zhou have worked hard!" "Yushan has something to do, just give orders!" "Lord Zhou, please speak!" After some noise, Zhou Fu smiled and said, "Lord Zhongtang instructed that there are a few affairs today, and it is necessary to ask you to come up with a charter." ”

"Incident one, 2 days ago, I sent the Qing Dynasty minister in Japan He Ruzhang sent people back to China with the Japanese credentials, and also brought a letter to Lord Zhongtang, in which Lord He said that the Japanese informed me that the Qing Dynasty would abolish Liuzhi County on April 4."

"How can this be justified, the Japanese deceive people too much!" "Lord Nakado, and you can't accommodate the Japanese people" "Lord Nakado, my subordinates are willing to lead a bid to cross to Japan and enter Kyoto!" "My subordinates are willing to go!" The noise rang out.

"Knock knock" Li Hongzhang knocked on the table with a dry tobacco pot, "Listen to Mr. Lanxi first!" ”

"Everyone, your heart to serve the court, the Lord Zhongtang knows it. Lord He Ruzhang's recital and Japanese credentials have been handed directly to the Prime Minister's Affairs Yamen. As you know, according to the style of the Prime Minister's Affairs Yamen, the benefits in hand will never be let go, and as for the troubles, the Prime Minister's Yamen will not touch a leaf. Zhou Fu paused slightly.

"This time, Lord He handed over a hot potato. Lord Nakado knew that they would throw this hot potato to us in Beiyang, so Lord Nakado asked everyone to discuss the matter of Japan's abolition of Ryuzhi County first. Zhou Fu made a downward gesture with both hands, signaling everyone to be quiet first.

Zhou Fu said loudly again, "The wolf ambition of the Japanese was known to passers-by as early as the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty. Today, the Japanese are once again plotting against our Qing Dynasty, which was expected by Lord Zhongtang. Now take this out, what Nakado-sama means, we in Beiyang need to have a position on how to treat Japan, so please be sure to think about a sound charter for Nakado-sama and Beiyang, so that Nakado-sama can stand for Beiyang above the court. Today, I am in Beiyang government affairs, military affairs, foreign affairs, and diplomacy, and I invite you. ”

Everyone present looked at each other, and the scene was slightly cold.

Ying Baoshi, who was in charge of Beiyang diplomacy, stood up first, "Lord Zhongtang, colleagues, the tenth year of Tongzhi and the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, thanks to Lord Zhongtang's promotion, I will handle the two contracts with Japan. The contents of the two contracts were negotiated by the princes and ministers in the court, and they were also approved by the first emperor. Whoever dares to talk about the past contract is disrespectful to the first emperor, and I must first participate in his great disrespect when I should be treasured. ”

Ying Baoshi glanced at Li Hongzhang and continued, "As for Japan's annexation of Ryukyu today, Lord Zhongtang has already reminded the imperial court as early as the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, asking the imperial court to beware of the wolf ambitions of the Japanese. Lord Li has been speaking out all these years, wanting the imperial court to vigorously enrich the coastal defense, why? Isn't it just to defend against the sea of Japanese and foreigners? After the dispute over coastal defense in the first year of Guangxu, the imperial court originally promised to pay attention to both. ”

However, in the third year of Guangxu, it became a heavy defense and a light coastal defense, and all the silver that should have been allocated to Beiyang was given to the northwest, so that the shipbuilding plan of the Beiyang Navy Division was delayed again and again. If Lord He Ruzhang could have the support of a sailor in Japan, even if there was an ironclad ship, it would not be the collapse situation today. From a diplomatic point of view, Japan's annexation of the Ryukyus was a bully to our Qing Dynasty's diplomacy without gunboats. Therefore, Xia Guan implored Lord Zhongtang to return to the imperial court, today's world powers are all gunboat diplomacy, if the imperial court is still light coastal defense, then the Qing Dynasty has no diplomacy at all! Ying Baoshi's voice was quite excited and said loudly.

Li Hongzhang nodded, "Min Zhai, I have written down your old words." ”

"Lord Zhongtang, Lord Ying, Lords." Liu Hanfang, one of the backbones of Beiyang Foreign Affairs, stood up and said with a wry smile: "After the imperial court put forward the shipbuilding plan of the Qing Dynasty in the first year of Guangxu, the lord of Zhongtang asked the lower officials to be responsible for the overall planning. Xia Guan made a report to Lord Zhongtang and the princes today. ”

"Let's talk about Beiyang first, originally Lord Zhongtang asked for a shipbuilding in Lushun, but the imperial court said that it was enough to have the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, forcing Lushun to only have an empty dock but not to build a ship. From the first year of Guangxu, the silver of Tianjin Customs was halved and halved to Beiyang, saying that it was to support the defense of Lord Zuo Zhongtang. Three years after Guangxu, the silver of Tianjin Customs was simply given to Lord Zuo Zhongtang, and asked Lord Zuo to buy military supplies from the Russians to pacify the northwest. Liu Hanfang spread her hands.

"Let me talk about the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau in the hands of the Governor of Liangjiang, Lord Shen was concurrently served as the Fuzhou Shipmaster in the first year of Guangxu, before that, Zuo Zhongtang concurrently served as the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Minister for five years, and the Fuzhou Shipbuilding only built a dozen or so 500-ton warships. The warships built by Zuo Zhongtang are all made of wood, and the wooden ships are simply overwhelmed in naval battles, so they can only transport troops. Before the first year of Guangxu, Fujian Customs originally allocated 600,000 taels of funds to Fuzhou Shipbuilding every year, but after Zuo Zhongtang left, it became less than 200,000 taels per year. ”

"The imperial court did not say that the shortage of funds allocated by the Fuzhou Shipmaster was to such an extent, so it was said that Lord Shen was looking for his own way out, and asked the imperial court to ask for the construction of merchant ships, hoping to subsidize the Fuzhou Shipyard after the sale, but Prince Gong did not allow it. In the past few years, Lord Shen has been scraping together to sell iron, relying on the relief of Beiyang, it is not easy to build two thousand-ton iron-ribbed ships of Weiyuan and Chaowu! If the imperial court wants to fight now, hehe, I only have these two boats available. Liu Hanfang smiled helplessly.

Subsequently, Liu Hanfang bowed his hand to everyone again, "But the lower official has to make it clear in advance, the Weiyuan is equipped with 1 7-inch gun and 6 4.7-inch guns, and the Chaowu is equipped with 1 7.5-inch gun and 4 2-inch guns, this kind of firepower is okay to kill pirates, but if you go to Japan, ....."

Liu Hanfang bowed his hand to Li Hongzhang, "Lord Zhongtang, in my hand is Mr. Hurd's provide, the parameters of the ironclad ship introduced by the Japanese from Britain in the fourth year of Guangxu, let me read it to all the princes here." Japanese national ironclad ship: "Fuso" ironclad ship, weighing 3,717 tons, has 4 240mm Krupp main guns, 2 bow and stern 170mm Krupp secondary guns, and 6 12-pounder guns. ”

"Princes, the opponent has such an ironclad ship, and the imperial court still wants to let the two iron-ribbed wooden ships of Weiyuan and Chaowu go east to Japan, so it is better to let the Beiyang sailors wash their necks and go to the door to be slaughtered!" Liu Hanfang raised the paper in his hand and said.

"Lord Liu, didn't Lord Zhongtang also order a gunboat to the British!" Someone below asked.

"Lord Zhongtang was in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, and ordered four ships from the British Armstrong shipyard, namely Longxiang, Huwei, Feiting, and Cedian, which had joined the Beiyang Naval Division last year. The guns of these four gunboats are 11 inches, which is larger than that of the Japanese, but the ship is only 400 tons..... In short, there was more than enough to defend the city, but not enough to attack. Beiyang gunboat superintendent Ding Ruchang interjected.

Liu Hanfang nodded slightly to Ding Ruchang, and then said: "If the Qing Dynasty starts a war against Japan, it must be a naval battle first. Lord Ying, I'm ashamed that someone Liu can't build an ironclad ship for you! ”

Ying Baoshi on the side was a little waxy, knowing in his heart that what he had just said about diplomacy with Japan had offended these people in charge of foreign affairs.

"Lord Nakado, everyone." Shen Bingcheng, the general office of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, then got up and said, "Lord Zhongtang, in the tenth year of Tongzhi, the imperial court ordered the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to imitate Lin Mingdun's mid-needle gun (American Remington 1866 breech single-shot No. 1 rifle), this gun is Jiangxi alternate Dao Hu Guangyong, the villain let Zuo Zhongtang introduce, this firearm has a lot of problems, just one thing, this gun is very easy to go off, Hunan army, Huai army soldiers because of the gun misfire and countless casualties, you military men are not willing to equip this gun at all. ”

"As a result, I have a backlog of tens of thousands in my warehouse. I have repeatedly petitioned Lord Shutang to ask the imperial court for permission from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to copy Mauser rifles. However, in order to take care of Zuo Zhongtang's face, the imperial court did not let the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau stop producing this gun. If there is a war against Japan in the future, and the soldiers on the front line refuse to equip this gun to fight, I, the general office of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, will not carry the black pot of my predecessor! Shen Bingcheng bowed his hand to everyone in a chic manner, not saying a word.

Li Hongzhang looked at Shen Bingcheng and shook his head, "Zhongfu, you can't be so negative!" ”

"Lord Zhongtang, my lords, the officials are ashamed, the imitation of the nitrate cotton made by my Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau has not yet been completed, so this year's flowering bombs have to be imported. However, the annual output of black powder last year was 260,000 catties, and this year it will not be less than this number, which can be used by the armies to fight for the sun. Shen Baojing, premier of Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, got up and said.

"If Zhongwei's Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau has an annual output of 260,000 catties of gunpowder is ashamed, then I, Gong Zhaoyi, should die," Gong Zhaoying, the general office of the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, stood up and smiled bitterly at everyone, "This year, the Wulongshan Machinery Bureau has just been merged into the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau. Machinery, personnel, and sites are complicated, so it will take time for Jinling Manufacturing Bureau to be put into production. However, Xia Guan still wants to thank Lord Zhongtang for his cultivation, so that the imperial court can agree to let Nanjing Customs approve 100,000 taels of silver to the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau every year from this year, so that Xia Guan's funds have a fixed source. Thank you, Lord Nakodor! ”

"Hehe, several adults who do foreign affairs are in bitter water, and the adults in the middle hall know about it. It's just that this bitter water is poured, and the adults must come up with a strategy! After Zhou Fu glanced at Li Hongzhang, he said with a smile to these officials in charge of foreign affairs.

Liu Hanfang, Shen Bingcheng, Shen Baojing, and Gong Zhaojing exchanged glances with each other, and after some tacit understanding, Shen Baojing stood up and said.

"Lord Zhongtang, I can't build an ironclad ship in the North Ocean, and I can't build it in the South Sea, so I can only buy it from foreigners for today's plan! And you have to buy a bigger and stronger ironclad than the current Japanese ironclad! Otherwise, it will be a waste of the court's silver! As for who decided to introduce the kind of guns and cannons of foreigners for production, his subordinates thought that it should be decided by the Manufacturing Bureau, and they must not let the court do the things of laymen leading insiders like Lin Mingdun's needle gun. Regarding the funds of the manufacturing bureau, the subordinates also thought that the example of the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau should be followed, and the source of funds for the major manufacturing offices should be guaranteed with customs tariff silver, and the imperial court could not embezzle it at will! ”

Li Hongzhang touched his beard under his chin, and said in his heart, "The imperial court took advantage of the chaos in northwest Xinjiang to let Zuo Jigao take away a lot of silver belonging to the Huai Army from me, this time I must borrow the hands of the Japanese to get it back, without the silver, what will the old man's foreign affairs do!" ”

"It's been ten years since the Qing Dynasty built ships, and now it seems that ironclad ships really can't be built. Must buy! It's just that what to buy and how to buy it still needs to be discussed. As for the decision of the Manufacturing Bureau on what Western weapons to imitate, doesn't this just let me decide what weapons to copy, and the imperial court must agree to this matter. There is also a source of funding for the Manufacturing Bureau, which is modeled after the Jinling Bureau, well, just took this opportunity to catch a few customs as well. "Lord Nakado also has his own secret wish on how to buy an ironclad ship.