Qing Dynasty, Tianjin City, Zhili Governor Tianjin Xingguan, study.

Li Hongzhang threw the letter in his hand on the table with a gloomy face, pointed to the letter and said to Zhou Fu, "How can it be that the Prime Minister's Affairs Yamen actually blamed He Ruzhang for Japan's annexation of the Ryukyus!" ”

Zhou Fu picked up the letter on the desk, read it carefully, and said, "Gradually, Zi'e's personality will never be so unbearable, I will cite one thing, after the thirteenth year of Tongzhi's Beijing special article, the Japanese government discriminated against the Chinese people in Japan in the Qing Dynasty, and wanted to cancel the consular jurisdiction of Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. If it weren't for Zi'e's arrival in office, he fought with the Japanese on reason, so that he could keep the consulates and jurisdictions of these three places, otherwise I would have lost the face of the Qing Dynasty a long time ago. In my opinion, this impeachment is purely out of nowhere. ”

"You don't believe Yushan, and I don't believe it either, old man," Li Hongzhang took out another letter from the wooden box on the desk and handed it to Zhou Fu, "This is Zi'e's private message to me, Yushan, take a look." ”

Zhou Fu only looked at it for a while, and then couldn't help but read out the content in his heart, "If you forbear and accommodate for the sake of resting things, and block the tribute, you will destroy Ryukyu in the future; The Ryukyus were destroyed, and then Korea. Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to do it, and the day will require it. Listen to it, how can it be a country? Refusal, is to let a Ryukyu, the side provocation is inevitable. ”

"At that time, Japan was a strong country, and he used ships and artillery to disturb our borders, and between Taiwan and Penghu, he would not be able to get peace overnight. It is for Taiwan's sake, and the trouble of today's dispute is still relieved, and the trouble of abandonment today is even deeper. Obey each other's tongues, and I'm afraid that there will be no end. However, no matter what the outcome is, compared to today's forbearance, he is still good at this. ”

Zhou Fu lightly patted the table, sighed, pointed to the content of He Ruzhang's letter and said to Li Hongzhang, "Gradually, this passage is Zi'e's heartfelt words!" He has such a vision for Japan, how can he be a corpse vegetarian person! ”

"But the people of the Prime Minister's Yamen don't believe it!" Li Hongzhang cleared his throat and spit heavily into the spittoon under his feet, "Our people have news from the capital, and now someone is making a big fuss about the matter that Zi'e can eat!" ”

"Zi'e can eat, everyone in my Huai army knows it, isn't it because he has a hidden disease of fasting and fainting." Zhou Fu said slowly, "Someone is plotting against Zi'e, don't they know that Zi'e is a member of my Huai Army, and someone is dancing a sword in Xiangzhuang?" ”

"It's not against me, old man." Li Hongzhang waved his hand, "Someone has taken a fancy to the position of Zi'e's envoy to Japan. ”

"Gradually, this son must be protected." Zhou Fu said in a deep voice, "Now I have three strategies for Japan in the Qing Dynasty, but if there are no children, there is no way to talk about them. ”

"Oh, Yushan, tell me about it!" Li Hongzhang was a little interested, straightened up and looked at Zhou Fu.

"The best policy, on the one hand, sent military ships to Japan, and on the other hand, let Zi'e protest in Japan, which is a show of authority to Japan. In the middle of the policy, let Zi'e confront the Japanese government in front of the ministers of various countries, ask the ministers of various countries to judge, and turn to public international law, which is an appeal to Japan. The next strategy is to drag it out on deaf ears. But even if you find a way to drag it out, someone will eventually have to come forward to give an explanation to the imperial court. Zhou Fu glanced at Li Hongzhang and stopped talking.

"Although the best strategy is good, you know Yushan, didn't you just say it a few days ago, there are no warships to send in Beiyang." Li Hongzhang said expressionlessly.

"Since I have no ships to go to Japan to establish power in the Qing Dynasty now, then I need talented people to open up for my Qing Dynasty in Japan, and now only Zi'e can be used. If Zi'e was dismissed due to a hidden illness, it was undoubtedly the Qing Dynasty that was cutting off his arm. Zhou Fu paused for a moment, and then said, "There are no warships to send to Japan, I Beiyang understand the reason, but the imperial court may not understand, if you want the imperial court to understand what the reason is, you also need to let the Qingliu people in the capital understand what the reason is!" ”

"What does Yushan mean?"

"Youqiao is available, why don't you send a letter to talk about the current predicament of Beiyang and the arrogance of the Japanese?"

"Hmm." Li Hongzhang nodded slowly, "Zhongce, which country's minister is appropriate to come forward?" ”

"Today's world powers are nothing more than Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria and the United States, and we can send people to ask. In addition, you and US President Grant have admired each other for a long time, so why don't you take advantage of his visit to Tianjin next month and ask him to maneuver between our Qing Dynasty and Japan? ”

"Well, this is a good solution, and the great powers will ask everywhere. Yushan, you go to draw up an excerpt, one must protect Zi'e's position, and the other must force Chen Zhongce's benefits to my Qing Dynasty, as for the best policy, I want to mention, but I must explain the suffering of Beiyang. ”

As for the next policy, the two tacitly did not mention it.

"Yushan, wait for the excerpt to be written, and then hand it over." Li Hongzhang rhythmically tapped the desk with his hand, "We handed it over a few days ago, and we asked the imperial court to agree to buy the ironclad ship, and there is no news from the Prime Minister's Yamen." I handed this fold again, I was afraid that the fire would be too big, and the matter of the ironclad ship would be scorched. You know in the court, everything must be tasted for three points, must..."

"Simmer." Zhou Fu added with a smile.

In the city of Nanjing, Dudu Street, the study of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion

At this moment, Shen Baozhen, the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of trade in Nanyang, was writing hard at his desk.

After receiving Li Hongzhang's letter from Beiyang, Shen Baozhen immediately wrote to the imperial court on the one hand, and actively ran for Li Hongzhang to buy ironclad ships in the court, but on the other hand, he deeply hated Li Hongzhang's words in the letter that he did not know anything about coastal defense.

To be more precise, Shen Baozhen did not hate Li Hongzhang himself, but hated Li Hongzhang's reuse of the Englishman Hurd. In Shen Baozhen's view, Hurd not only controlled the customs and postal financial routes of the Qing Dynasty, but also controlled the coastal defense matters of the Qing Dynasty's purchase of ironclad ships, which made Shen Baozhen, a person who always insisted on "self-improvement and sovereignty in me" as his life belief, intolerable.

Shen Baozhen once wrote to Li Hongzhang many times, bluntly saying that the Qing Dynasty needed large ironclad warships that could fight in the ocean, defend it in the open sea, and blockade the enemy's military port. During the Taiwan crisis in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Shen Baozhen frankly told Li Hongzhang that there were only three strategies for Japan, and the best strategy was to send warships to blockade Japan's important military ports; The middle strategy: the war with Japan on the ocean; The next policy: only lock the door of the Qing Dynasty and close the door.

Every time Shen Baozhen suggested that Li Hongzhang invest the money he bought on the ironclad ship, Hurd always contradicted Shen Baozhen. Every time Li Hongzhang wanted to buy a ship, Hurd often said to Li Hongzhang, "The size of the ship is not the key, the key to the battleship is the thickness of the barrel, as long as the pipe is thick, the cannonball can penetrate the iron armor." It was enough for the Qing Dynasty to buy a small boat to carry a cannon, and spending a lot of money to buy an ironclad ship was completely worth the loss. Shen Baozhen hated Hurt's arguments and behaviors.

"Gradually, ironclad ships are not unbreakable cannons, but compared with wooden-hulled iron-clad ships, the difficulty is very different. Moreover, there is a partition in the ironclad ship, and even if it is wounded, it will not sink immediately, and it can still fight the enemy. Moreover, the guns of Armstrong and Krupp used on my ship can be hit by the enemy, and I can also hit the enemy. If only forts, mines, mosquito boats and other things, these things can not hold the Qing coastal defense, if the enemy comes to bypass the fort fortress and attack the unprepared place of the Qing Dynasty, although the fort and fortress are good, but what is the use? ”

"Haven't you and I spent a lot of money on the fort fort that you have spent years and months to prepare? Therefore, the Qing Dynasty wanted to guard the coastal defense, and in addition to the forts, ironclad ships were still needed! ”

"It is not said that there are ironclad ships and all ships can be scrapped, only ironclad and then all ships can be used, ironclad ships are really not the enemy of military ships, but ironclad ships must be indispensable."

"I am glad to hear that I am interested in the ironclad ship, my brother has the military resources of Nanyang over the years, a total of 6 million taels of official silver, and I am willing to donate all of them to Beiyang, but I hope that I will be able to strengthen the prestige of my Daqing Shizu Division one day."

Shen Baozhen finished the reply in one go, and was about to stop writing when his eyes fell on the last few sentences of Li Hongzhang's letter.

Li Hongzhang's letter, in addition to stating that he wanted to buy an ironclad ship and wanted to seek his support, also said one thing at the end of the letter, that is, he hoped that Shen Baozhen would be able to take Guangxu for three years, and after he dismantled the Wusong Railway, the remaining railroad tracks and locomotives and other railway items were sent to Beiyang, and Li Hongzhang was ready to use this batch of equipment to build the Tangxu Railway in Beiyang.

Shen Baozhen couldn't help but be angry when he saw it, and scolded, "What do you Li Jianfu want to do!" Don't you know that the imperial court explicitly forbade the construction of railways in various places, whether it was foreigners or local officials! I really don't know what's so good about the railway, let you Li Jianfu be confused by phlegm, no, I have to write to stop you from doing such a stupid thing! ”

"As Fu said, the Wusong Railway is similar to the Yokohama Railway in Japan, which is a big mistake! All the public works of each country, as well as the construction of roads, were originally under the control of the imperial courts of each country. Even if Japan builds a railway, it only borrows money from other countries, and in the end, that country will continue to build its own country. If I let other countries make a way for the Qing Dynasty, I can't help but be laughed at by the countries on the earth, the Qing Dynasty is the Heavenly Empire, but now it is not as good as Japan, where does my Qing Dynasty have face, long live the face? ”

"Britain built roads in the front, and it is difficult to ensure that other countries will not come later. When the British were building a railway in Shanghai, the Qing court and the people had never heard of it, and the movement of the train was extremely terrifying, so that the people of Shanghai were alarmed. This matter is unstable for the country and has changed for the people. ”

"Westerners are cunning people, when the British consul in Shanghai sent a letter, the British said that they just wanted to build an ordinary road, and called the steamer car and railroad tracks and other things iron tools for road construction, saying that it was only for road construction. But in the end, it turned out that it was not what they said, and it was a fraud against me from beginning to end. I once went to check the public law of all countries and the laws of various countries with the Qing Dynasty, and my Qing Emperor did not have an edict to build a railway. Gradually, you need to know that if there is no edict, ordinary roads are not allowed to be opened, and what about railways? The Tangxu Railway must not be built! ”

Shen Baozhen stopped writing and looked at the letter, and after half a ring, he felt that his tone was too intense for Li Zhongtang, and then he added with a pen, "This time, the foreign man-made railway uses a steamer car. It's all because I've never had it in the Qing Dynasty, and the foreigners just want to promote this thing in the Qing Dynasty. However, Western weapons such as ships and guns can be imitated one by one in the Qing Dynasty, not to mention railways and trains? These things are not difficult for me to make by myself, and I don't need a foreigner to start. ”

"No matter how much harm or benefit the Qing Dynasty has to do in this matter, it is difficult to suffocate it, even if it wants to be handled in accordance with the Western Law, it is also independent in power!" Shen Baozhen wrote a letter.