When the Beiyang Fleet appeared off the coast of Pontianak, Hu Zhen had already ordered to send several old warships captured from the Dutch army to meet the Beiyang Fleet in the open sea with ribbons.

"It's finally Pontianak!" Admiral Ding Ruchang of the Beiyang Fleet looked at the not so neat ship formation of the Huaxia Army on the sea, and was very puzzled by this: "This is the Huaxia Army that once defeated the two fleets of the Netherlands?" ”

Booming cannons rang out.

It turned out that this was the Huaxia Army firing a salute to welcome the arrival of the Beiyang Fleet.

"Oh, yes, it's twenty-one!" Ding Ruchang knew that a 21-gun salute was the highest etiquette, and he was very satisfied. But when he was happy, he found that the Huaxia warships did not release 21 rings in a uniform manner, but some ships released 22 rings, and some ships released 23 rings.

"Hmph, Tubaozi, why don't you even understand this bit of international etiquette!" At this time, an officer who happened to be standing next to Ding Ruchang snorted.

Another officer said: "I don't understand international etiquette, but these dirt buns are not trained at all, they can't even count their fingers, and they put the salute wrong." ”

Is that really the case?

Ding Ruchang didn't speak, he just said: "Our fleet leans up and sees how they receive us!" ”

Of course, it is impossible for the officers and men of the Beiyang Fleet to know, and it was specially arranged by Hu Zhen, because in addition to the Chinese, there are many foreigners in the Beiyang Fleet, and the Huaxia Army must now show weakness in front of the whole world, so that the Europeans and the Chinese people will think that the capture of the Nanyang by the Huaxia Army is a complete accident, and their vigilance will be lowered so that they can gain time for development.

Hu Zhen behaved very enthusiastically, and as the supreme commander of the Huaxia Army, he personally took a small boat to meet Ding Ruchang on the Dingyuan, the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet.

The officers and men of the Beiyang Fleet were all taken aback, and they could not imagine that the commander of the Chinese Army in front of them was so young.

Ding Ruchang was also taken aback, but after all, he was a person who had experienced storms and rains, and when he saw Hu Zhen get on the Dingyuan ship, he immediately bowed his hand and said slightly: "I didn't expect Mr. Hu to be a hero and a young man!"

Hu Zhen hurriedly looked flattered, and bent down very respectfully to salute Ding Ruchang: "Don't dare." Don't dare, Ding Junmen Ding is a great hero in the world, rushing out of the battlefield with a knife and a shot, how can I rely on luck to get to this day like me! ”

Ding Ruchang looked humble and respectful when he saw Hu Zhen as soon as he came up. I was very happy, and suddenly laughed: "Mr. Hu is exaggerating!" Let's stop flattering each other. ”

Hu Zhen took out a brocade box from his entourage, sent it to Ding Ruchang, and said, "A small gift is not a tribute." Please accept it! ”

Hu Zhen ordered the mint to mint a set of commemorative coins, the value of which was the same as ordinary currency, but it was indicated that it was a commemorative currency, there were three kinds of coins, gold, silver and copper, and Ding Ruchang was given a hundred gold coins.

In addition to Ding Ruchang, Hu Zhen also gave ten gold coins to each officer of the Beiyang Fleet, and all the soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division had two silver coins.

"Ouch, this is not good, it is useless!" Ding Ruchang took the gold coin and weighed it, looking at the gold and silver coins given to other officers and soldiers. After a quick calculation in his heart, he immediately concluded that Hu Zhen would use at least six or seven thousand taels of silver this time, which was a heavy gift.

"Where, where, this is how it should be, Lord Ding Junmen Ding has worked hard and traveled thousands of miles to Nanyang, shocking Xiaoxiao, which makes us feel very excited, Nanyang Huaxia Guild has nothing to do. I just had to send some crafts to everyone as a souvenir! ”

Due to the infighting of various bureaucrats in the Qing court, the funds mobilized by the household department were often not in place in time, which led to the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Navy Division often not receiving their salaries regularly, and they were very sensitive to the money they received. When they received the "handicrafts" mentioned by Hu Zhen, they were very happy, and their hostility towards the Huaxia Guild was immediately eliminated.

But Hu Zhen's gift was much more than that, after berthing at the dock, Hu Zhen ordered all the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division to be given a rubber-tire bicycle each.

"Bikes! A means of transportation? "This time, even the foreigners in the Beiyang Naval Division find it strange, because it is in Europe. This kind of bicycle is not rare, but some nobles only come in handy in the fun competition, and European bicycles do not have rubber tires, but the bicycle sent by Hu Zhen can be used as a means of transportation.

Among the foreigners, the English Mclure (John), Tyler (William Ferdinad), the American Howie, the German Schnell (Theodore H), Hannagen (Von Hanneken) and others came to Nanyang for the first time and were very interested in what Hu Zhen had made.

On the wharf, it was immediately crowded with officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division who were learning to use bicycles. The sound of bicycle bells, falls, and people cheering loudly in a large area.

Ding Ruchang and those senior officers such as Guan Tie did not go to join in the fun with some young officers and soldiers, but only went to visit the city of Pontianak under the leadership of Hu Zhen with their hands behind their backs.

For the construction in the Pontianak urban area, these generals of the Beiyang Navy Division did not dare to be interested in this at all, and they just took a walk, and some people did not want to go before they were halfway there.

Hu Zhen had no choice but to get Ding Ruchang's consent, and then took everyone back to the restaurant to have a feast, and drank so darkly.

At the banquet, many officers of the Beiyang Naval Division asked about the two annihilations of the Dutch fleet by the Huaxia Army, and Hu Zhen gave vague answers, and they only used the word "luck" to prevaricate, and they really couldn't stop it, so they said that they completely defeated the Dutch by sneak attack.

"Sneak attack? How is this possible? ”

Hu Zhen looked up and saw that it was Deng Shichang, who had a little pockmarked face.

Hu Zhen still has enough respect for those who have been praised as national heroes by later generations, no matter how much credit the national hero has made for the country and the nation, this national hero has dedicated his precious life to this nation after all.

Thinking of this, Hu Zhen saluted respectfully: "Lord Deng, it is true that the Dutch defeated the Dutch by sneak attack, this can't say how powerful we are, the key is that the Dutch are too careless about us mud legs, thinking that we don't have a navy, and people who have not been trained in the navy are very contemptuous of us, so we won the battle." ”

"So, in this case, your record is entirely based on sneak attacks?"

Hu Zhen looked up again and found that it was Lin Taizeng who was holding a wine glass who was speaking, so he had no choice but to salute him and said: "Yes, Lord Lin, if it weren't for the sneak attack, we wouldn't have been able to fight such a naval battle without strictly trained naval officers, these two battles, one off the coast of Pontianak and the other off the coast of Batavia, if it was in the vast sea, where would we have a chance to defeat the Dutch?" ”

"Ouch, Lord Lin, Lord Deng, let's not talk about these things of beating and killing at the banquet, come, come, let's have a toast!"

Just as Hu Zhen woke up in order to deal with Lin Taizeng and Deng Shichang's continued questioning, Fang Boqian next to him came over with a full glass of wine and asked everyone to toast together, and finally relieved Hu Zhen.

"Lord Fang, let's have another drink, haha, Lord Fang, you are indeed a refreshing person, okay, okay, have another drink!"

Facing Fang Boqian, a runaway element who was not very positive in the history books, Hu Zhen felt very relaxed.

But Fang Boqian had a purpose, and when everyone was drunk, he grabbed Hu Zhen and asked, "Brother, can I ask you something?" ”

"Ah, Lord Fang, please just say it!"

Fang Boqian attached to Hu Zhen's ear and said: "Your bicycles in Nanyang, do you want to find merchants who are selling agents in the Qing Dynasty now?" ”

Hu Zhen thought to himself, this Fang Boqian is really interesting, and his business acumen is very good, so he said: "Does Master Fang want to do this business?" ”

"Yes, I want to do this business, can you give it to me as an agent for sales?"

"It's very easy to say, Lord Fang wants to act as an agent for sales, everything is easy to say, everything is easy to say, I will give you the sales agency in Hebei, and tomorrow I will let the specific people find you and keep it for you to make money!" Hu Zhen thought to himself, this Fang Boqian is the first person to act as a sales agent, he doesn't care who he is, besides, this Fang Boqian has a certain official background in the Qing Dynasty, and it is much more beneficial to the agent of the pure businessman in the Nanyang Huaxia Guild, he must let him make a lot of money, and there will be a steady stream of people coming to the door to be an agent in the future.

Just as Hu Zhen and Fang Boqian were muttering in a low voice, Liu Buyun took advantage of the wine to come over and say loudly: "I suggest that tomorrow Beiyang and your sailors hold an artillery shooting competition for entertainment, which is good!" ”

Ding Ruchang nodded when he heard this, and agreed: "Yes, let's have an artillery shooting competition, how about it?" ”

Hu Zhen didn't really want to expose his true level in front of the Beiyang Fleet, but at this time, it was difficult to refuse: "Okay, but we definitely can't compare to the dignified Beiyang Naval Division!" (To be continued.) )