Prime Minister Jin Zuogen had a gloomy face and glanced at the officials under the hall. Still, there were discordant voices.

"Your Majesty, Lord Jin, and the lower officials feel that we should mobilize the sailors and the Beijing soldiers to prepare for battle. At the beginning, the lower officials had already persuaded the monarch to pay tribute to the Chinese Empire earlier, but Lord Jin thought that it was a thief of the Celestial Empire, and sooner or later it would be quelled by the Qing court. How about now? Now that the Qing Dynasty has fled north, and the world is already the Chinese Empire, the imperial court's delay in paying tribute will cause the anger of the other party. At this point, it's better to prepare for the worst and prepare for war, just in case! ”

At first glance, Jin Zuogen was the Minister of Parliament Zhao Bingkui, who was the leader of the rival Fengyang Zhao family. Although I know that what he said has some truth, but if I want to put the responsibility on my head, I don't want to think about it. couldn't help but snort coldly and shouted: "Presumptuous! Who would have thought they would be as powerful as they are now? Besides, this is also a decision made by the king and the adults after a joint discussion. However, it's not bad what you said about preparing for the worst, since that's the case, your Zhao clan's Feng Xiao Battalion Sailor will go to the Han River to intercept it! My Jin family will naturally lead the Wuwei Battalion and the Zhuang Imperial Battalion to protect the capital and prevent an enemy from entering the capital. ”

Jin Zuogen, as the head of the Jin family and the high position of the prime minister, has always been a good word, and even the king is just an ornament. As soon as he spoke, the Jin family forces in the hall agreed and accused Zhao Bingkui of attacking.

Li Yu became impatient, he was even the third concubine last night, how could he have any spirit, yawning again and again at the moment, eager to go back to the dormitory to sleep, so he said directly: "It's noisy!" You are arguing slowly, and the widow will go back to the inner palace first. After speaking, he wanted to get up, but the princess Jin next to him hurriedly grabbed him and persuaded him to stay.

Prime Minister Jin Zuogen couldn't cry or laugh, he liked and was dissatisfied with Li Yu's behavior, but at the critical moment, he still had to be used as an ornament, so he said: "Don't be impatient!" The old minister led everyone to make up their minds. ”

After speaking, he shouted: "Silence! And then there are those who make casual noise, and the court staff is twenty! Seeing that everyone was quiet, Jin Zuogen nodded with satisfaction for his words, knowing that it would be in vain to discuss it again, so it was better to take an idea directly, so he said directly to Li Yu: "Your Majesty, it is better to send Zhao Bingkui and Lord Zhao as the envoy to take care of the army of the Celestial Empire on the Han River." Feng Xiao camp water division in the riverside to prepare for prevention, if the other party is really not good, will rely on the capital water village to protect the capital. The Wuwei Battalion and the Zhuangyu Battalion deployed artillery on the tower of the capital city and were ready for battle. However, no fire was allowed without an order. Lord Zhao, whether it is war or peace, it depends on you. ”

Jin Zuogen naturally wanted to drag his opponent Zhao Bingkui into the water, if there was a war, naturally the surname Zhao would be killed or captured first, and if he sued for peace, he would also say it through the mouth of the surname Zhao, and the crime of betraying the lord for glory in the future could be pushed to Zhao Bingkui's head.

However, the Jin family, who was sitting next to Li Yu, said something to Li Yu in his ear, Li Yu shook his head, and said: "Teacher, it is not appropriate to arrange Lord Zhao as the envoy, Lord Zhao has always advocated secession from China and the removal of his suzerainty status, and if he goes to meet it, it will inevitably lead to war." This king thinks that it is better to send Jin Binghua there. Jin Binghua has been in Shangguo for several years, he is a gentleman, familiar with Chinese etiquette, and he is the cousin of the princess. ”

Jin Zuogen was stunned for a moment, then nodded and agreed. Jin Binghua is his nephew, although he doesn't follow him very closely, but has always been good friends with Jin Wengen, but after all, he is a member of the Jin family. Let him go, although he can't embarrass Zhao Bingkui, but he is finally under the control of the Jin family, and he will send someone to send two sentences to tell him later.

Just wanted to continue to discuss the specific conditions of how to deal with the Celestial Empire, Jin Zuogen found that Li Yu had fallen asleep. In desperation, he could only announce the dissolution of the dynasty on his behalf and wait for the king to wake up before discussing the matter.

……

In the afternoon, in the official hall next to the Kakutsujin ferry crossing on Ganghwa Island, Li Gonglian, the envoy of Tongjin Prefecture, reported that a large group of warships was coming. Li Gonglian ordered an artillery warning to be issued, and if the incoming ship forced a landing, it would be aimed and fired.

But his subordinates turned pale and said in a panic: "My lord, it's better not to open fire, I think we should avoid it first." ”

Li Gonglian was furious, and kicked the former to the ground: "Bastard, the imperial court sent this official to guard here, if this official flees without a fight, won't he even lose the prestige of the entire North Korea!" No matter how many warships the other side has, we have set up two batteries and six cannons in Jiakutsu, and we are afraid that they will not succeed? Let's go, go to the ferry with the official to watch the battle! ”

After speaking, he led his men to the ferry. Before they reached the fort, they saw more than 100 people retreating from the fort and running to the island. Li Gonglian became more and more angry, and led his cronies to come forward and cut down a few, but he still couldn't stop him, and more than 100 soldiers fled regardless of it. At this time, he also came to a place not far from the coast, and through the woods, Li Gonglian was horrified to find that the seaside was densely packed with more than a dozen warships of different sizes, and the dragon flag with a red background and yellow stars was waving in the wind.

Several of the small warships were belching black smoke and were approaching, and sampans were thrown from the warships, and dozens of soldiers in earth-gray uniform uniforms were rushing down from the ships to occupy the batteries. Li Gonglian knew at a glance that it was an iron bull warship in the Western Ocean, and the three warships defeated a naval division of his own country, not to mention so many? Li Gonglian's face turned pale all of a sudden, and he felt that his legs were weak.

With such a delay, the already empty fort was already occupied by the soldiers.

"My lord, we, shall we go forward and drive them away?" A cronie approached Li Gonglian's side and whispered, because the sea breeze was strong, his voice was not small.

"Fuck you! To drive away, what shall we drive? Li Gonglian slapped him angrily, then remembered, turned around and led his subordinates to run to the island, and he didn't even have time to pack up the belongings in the official hall.

On the coast, among the more than 10 warships, the largest one has three Chinese characters engraved on the upper edge of the side plate, which is the "Mississippi", the flagship of the former U.S. Perry fleet, which was captured in the Battle of Tokyo Bay in Japan.

On the deck on the top deck of the "Exterminating Oceans," several generals of the Oriental Fleet, including Lu Shunde, Cheng Xueqi, Zou Shouzhang, and Ding Ruchang, were discussing.

"Exterminating the Ocean" was originally the ship of Luo Outline, because Luo Outline was old, and he was crowned the prince, Emperor Feng Yunshan transferred it back to Shengjing, and gave him a task to prepare for the establishment of the Admiralty, for it, although Luo Outline was a little reluctant, but the preparation for the Admiralty was a major event, except for him, no one really had such great prestige and qualifications, so he could only accept it. He left the sea fleet, and the original naval division was adjusted to three major fleets, and the "Annihilation" was originally the Nanyang Fleet serving in Guangzhou, but because of the need to transport a large number of troops to attack Korea, and there was no war in Nanyang for a while, half of the naval division of the Nanyang Fleet was transferred to join the Dongyang Fleet in Korea. This time, the troops were sent to North Korea by sea, and all the three major fleets participated, mainly with the Oriental Fleet, but the warships of the Beiyang Fleet were mainly old-fashioned red single sea ships, mainly to transport troops, so several warships of the Nanyang Fleet were also called. And the "Annihilation", which has the largest tonnage, naturally became the capital ship.

Lu Shunde, commander of the Oriental Fleet, was also the commander of the expedition to Korea. Cheng Xueqi and Zou Shouzhang are both commanders of the detachment of the Oriental Fleet, and their positions are equivalent to division commanders, while Ding Ruchang is the captain of the Nanyang Fleet, comparable to the regimental commander.

"Commander, I can't imagine that this Li Dynasty general has the same virtue as the Manchu generals, haha, it's just vulnerable." Cheng Xueqi said contemptuously.

Lu Shunde, Ding Ruchang and others also laughed.

Only Zou Shouzhang next to him was originally a Manchu official, and the general of the Hunan Army and the Navy's division returned to the empire, his face was a little unnatural, but it was not easy to object, so he was holding it there.

Lu Shunde saw it and said, "General Zou doesn't have to take it to heart. General Cheng didn't mean you. Besides, General Zou and General Cheng are now both generals of the Chinese Empire, and everyone is their own. Speaking of this, his face straightened, and he changed to the topic: "Not far from the mouth of the Han River, I wonder if Li Chaoshui dares to intercept it?" If you dare to come out and obstruct them, everyone will teach them a good lesson! ”

"Commander, it seems that Li Chao must not dare to stop my army. According to the intelligence of the Secret Service Division, the Li Dynasty is also some old-fashioned wooden sailing ships left over from the Ming Dynasty, and the turtle ships and banwu ships that were rampant back then have long been eliminated now, even if there are still them, how can they fight against Western warships if they seem to have low firepower and high cost now? I think that at the beginning, the warships of the Qing Dynasty were not like this, closed off from the country, resting on their laurels, and encountering Western sailors with strong ships and guns, they were completely defeated. Zou Shouzhang talked eloquently, he was the only one of the generals present who was born as a scholar, brave and strategic, through the ancient and modern, and was born as a Manchu official, who served as a battalion officer in the Hunan Army Naval Division for more than a year, and knew very well the advantages and disadvantages of these warships. When he was just transferred to the Oriental Fleet half a year ago, he saw the new warships of thousands of tons, and he understood why the Chinese Empire was able to kill the Manchus to the ground.

Ding Ruchang didn't speak, just clenched his fists, his heart full of pride and passion. He was only 20 years old, and although he should have been recommended and promoted by Cheng Xueqi to serve as the captain of a warship, since he entered the Nanyang Fleet for half a year, he has followed foreign instructors every day to ask for knowledge of naval warfare, and now it is no longer what it used to be.

Lu Shunde nodded, not only did the North Korean Navy Division decline, but according to intelligence, the land soldiers were even more vulnerable. The whole of Korea is like a copy of the original Manchu Qing Dynasty, to be precise, the combat power is not as good as the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Qing Dynasty still had at least some Eight Banner soldiers and local regiments to train some combat strength, while the North Korean army was scattered, and the already small number of troops still belonged to different forces, so there should not be much suspense in this battle, plus the Special Service Department and the General Staff still had internal cooperation in the capital, and it was possible that Korea could successfully surrender without much combat at all.