From Liang Peiyou's mouth, Feng Yunshan learned that the Indian Ocean Fleet was powerful, which was already somewhat unexpected by him.

The two ironclad battleships are of the same type as the Glory launched by France in 1859, when the Glory had not yet appeared, Feng Yunshan made it easy for the French envoys to negotiate and insisted on ordering ironclad battleships, and at this time, many countries did not even know what ironclad ships were. If it weren't for the fact that there were only two shipyards in France that could manufacture ironclad battleships, Feng Yunshan would even want to order a few more, even if the French took the opportunity to blackmail and generally offered a terrifyingly expensive price.

To Feng Yunshan's relief, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau has hired many ship designers and technicians from French shipyards with high salaries, and has already begun to manufacture ironclad ships.

The two ironclad battleships of the Indian Ocean Fleet, using a single propeller, horizontal return steam engine, full of power, speed of 6.5 knots, one displacement is 6180 tons, the other is 5920 tons, the size is 78m×17m×8.6m, which is higher than the 5720 tons displacement of the master version of the Glory ironclad battleship, like two small peaks floating on the water, the black ironclad glow, like two sea monsters. Moreover, not only for the layman, but also for the main armament to be stronger than the Glory, after all, the Glory is 36 68-pounder front-loading rifled guns equipped by the French, and the Admiralty did not directly let the French install naval guns, but adopted their own modifications, adding 6 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled guns and 30 Krupp 150mm rear-loading rifled guns, such a giant naval gun configuration is much more powerful than the French rifled guns.

And the most important thing about these two ironclad ships is the armor of the shell. These two ironclad ships are not actually iron ships, but wooden ships wrapped in iron plate armor, the armor is 255 mm thick under the waterline and 286 mm thick at the waterline, which is difficult for ordinary artillery to penetrate.

For these two ironclad battleships, Luo Xuan and Liang Peiyou attach great importance to them, and regard them as the most important main combat ships of the Indian Ocean Fleet. They asked Feng Yunshan to name it, Feng Yunshan thought about it for a while, and finally sighed: "Let's call it 'Dingyuan No. 1' and 'Dingyuan No. 2'." Speaking of this, Feng Yunshan's mood became a little heavy, but thinking of the opponent of Dingyuan in the later generations, who was now completely under his control, he couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly, he couldn't help but be a little too worried and too entangled.

In addition to these two ironclad ships, the other 4 wooden-hulled steam battleships of the Indian Ocean Fleet are also quite spectacular. Of course, Feng Yunshan didn't see these warships, but through the excited tone description of Luo Xuan and Liang Peiyou, he realized the surging passion in the hearts of the two of them.

Two of them are purchased from France, one was formerly known as "Maranta", with a displacement of 6,832 tons, and the main armament is still the Krupp rifled naval guns installed by the Admiralty itself, 34 150mm rear-loading rifled guns, 6 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled guns and 4 260mm howitzers, with a size of 86m×57.5m×8.4m, using a single-propeller, horizontal return linkage engine, and the other was originally named "Solferno", with a slightly smaller displacement, 6480 tons, The armament is completely identical, these two are half-finished battleships built by the French Brest Naval Shipyard, and Guo Songtao saw it and directly persuaded the French Admiralty to buy it at a high price.

Feng Yunshan named the two battleships "Dingyin No. 1" and "Dingyin No. 2" respectively.

The other two battleships purchased by Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia were both small and medium-sized battleships. The wooden battleship purchased by Austria has a displacement of 3,845 tons, and the main armament is 26 Krupp 150mm rear-loading rifled guns, 4 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled guns, with a hull size of 70.2m×12.8m×6.3m, single propeller, horizontal composite engine, the ship is a wooden-hulled broadside ship, because of the large sail area, when the wind is slightly downwind, this battleship can reach a speed of 14 knots, almost the fastest ship in the fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy. The battleship purchased by the Kingdom of Sardinia has a displacement of 4,599 tons, and is mainly armed with 22 Krupp 150mm rear-loading rifled guns, 4 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled guns, with a hull size of 81.2m×15.2m×6.3m, a single propeller, a single expansion reciprocating steam engine as the power, the engine power is 2960 horsepower, the speed is 11 knots, and the coal stock on the hull alone can reach a long-distance voyage capacity of 5,000 kilometers without applying sailing ships. Feng Yunshan named it "Dingyin No. 3" and "Dingyin No. 4".

Feng Yunshan was not interested in knowing more about other cruisers and frigates, gunboats, steam-armed ships, and the like. He just knew that today's Indian Ocean Fleet was more than several times stronger than the South Ocean Fleet that defeated the Dutch East India Fleet and the British East India Combined Fleet, both in terms of the number of warships, the tonnage of warships, and the number and caliber of artillery!

What's more, in today's Indian Ocean Fleet, the officers and men are all outstanding ones who have been trained from the four fleets for a long time, and have experienced several years of life at sea, and they are no longer the original trainee navy.

"Your Majesty, Commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, it is up to you to decide." In the end, Luo Xuan was a little cautious to ask for Feng Yunshan's edict.

"Oh, do you have a favorite candidate for the Admiralty?" Feng Yunshan looked at Luo Outline, he knew that since Luo Outline asked like this, there must be a recommended candidate. In fact, he did have some candidates, but because after all, the fleet was under the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, and Luo Xuan, as the first admiral of the Imperial Naval Division, was also the Minister of the Admiralty, Feng Yunshan still wanted to see his opinion.

However, Feng Yunshan knew that he was probably just asking him, and in general, the fleet commander would listen to his appointment. In fact, the commanders of the four major fleets of the empire today, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet was succeeded by Luo Guanhua as Liang Peiyou, the commander of the Nanyang Fleet Tan Tiyuan, the commander of the Oriental Fleet Lu Shunde, and the commander of the Pacific Fleet Peng Yulin.

"Yes!"

What Feng Yunshan didn't expect was that Luo Outline actually replied categorically that there was a favorite candidate.

"Oh, King Shin Chung, who does the Admiralty like to be the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet?" Feng Yunshan couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Your Majesty, the Admiralty recommends Weichen himself!" Luo Xuan showed a sly smile: "Your Majesty, since Weichen was named the prince by His Majesty, he has lost the opportunity to command naval battles!" Now that he is the Minister of the Navy, although he is in a high position, Weichen is very unhappy and very depressed. Your Majesty, Wechen pleaded to resign from the post of Minister of the Admiralty, and now that Pei You is here, he, the Deputy Minister of the Admiralty, has done a better job than Wechen, and is more suitable for the overall development of the Imperial Navy. And Weichen is only suitable to be a general, not a civilian official like the Minister of the Navy. Wechen wants to go to the newly established Indian Ocean Fleet, please ask Your Majesty for permission! ”

Feng Yunshan was stunned! He didn't expect that Luo Xuan was so old and hadn't been on the battlefield for many years, so he still thought about returning to the battlefield and commanding warships to fight.

This is really an incorruptible person who refuses to accept the old.

But the point is that it is completely different from ancient times. Lian Po does not accept the old, and if he can eat a lot of food, he will have the strength to go to the battlefield to fight. But now is the era of strong ships and sharp guns, no matter how much you eat, it is all in vain if you do not adapt to the tactics of this era and give full play to the advantages of strong ships and artillery.

First, I was worried that Luo Outline would make a mistake, after all, he and Shi Dakai were his two old subordinates and brothers who came over from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. Second, Feng Yunshan was really worried about Luo Xuan's actual command ability in naval warfare. If the original inland water division fought, Feng Yunshan would never be worried, with Luo Xuan's personal bravery and prestige in the hearts of the sailors, Luo Xuan's naval army would definitely be able to win battles again and again. However, now it is the largest naval fleet of the Chinese Empire, and it is also an ocean-going operation dominated by firearms, and without systematic study of naval military operations such as the Luo Outline, all kinds of naval operations and command will be disconnected, which will lead to fatal results. Therefore, even if it was Luo Xuan's request, Feng Yunshan would not consider it!

The commander in command of the Indian Ocean Fleet must be familiar with naval warfare and be able to take full advantage of the Indian Ocean Fleet's powerful firepower to maximize the influence of the empire.

"King Xinzhong, aren't you embarrassed?" Feng Yunshan persuaded: "Aiqing is not young, I will not let you rush on the battlefield!" What's more, does Aiqing know those battle formations in sea battles? ”

Feng Yunshan's words made Luo Xuan speechless.

However, Feng Yunshan didn't let Luo Outline lose face, and said with a smile: "Brother Outline, don't think about it, if you really want to go to sea to fight, just watch the battle in the name of the Minister of the Admiralty, and don't interfere with the specific combat strategy of the fleet." ”

Luo Jian was a little ashamed when he heard this, thinking that he was indeed not familiar with today's naval warfare, when he was the commander of the South China Sea Fleet, he still fought bravely to kill the enemy according to the combat method of the inland water division, fortunately, many Irish staff officers on the warship gave him a lot of suggestions, and the empire's own artillery on the warship was sharp, and there was no major war, so it would not be a joke. Thinking about it this way, it is true that he is not suitable for the commander of this fleet, and he is almost 60 years old, but he is unable to do it, so he will stop this thought.

Moreover, the emperor even came out with the title of brother in the outline, the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty, except for Shi Dakai, the king of Yiwu, who has this honor to make the emperor call a brother? The emperor's heart for himself has never changed! Thinking of this, Luo Xuan's heart warmed, and the unhappiness of being rejected was also alleviated a lot.

He was calm at the moment, and smiled bitterly at himself: "Your Majesty, the old minister is abrupt. Lao Chen recommended that Wei Jun and Yang Zaifu of the inland river division are both good, they have always been the leaders of the water division, and they have both studied the knowledge of naval battle command in the Fuzhou Ship Master School, so they can be considered. ”

Feng Yunshan was relieved when he saw him, and smiled reassuringly: "I know that Aiqing is open-minded, dedicated to the country, and shares my worries for me. Very good, Wei Jun and Yang Zaifu are both good, it just so happens that I also thought of them, Aiqing's vision is the same as mine! But after all, Wei Jun is an old man in peace, so he can't shout his heart. In this case, Wei Jun was appointed commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet and Yang Zaifu was appointed deputy commander of the fleet. Aiqing thinks this arrangement is appropriate? ”

Luo Xuan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is wise! The Indian Ocean Fleet had exactly two ironclad battleships, one for each of them. ”

Feng Yunshan laughed: "You, you, still can't forget those two ironclad ships!" When the Fuzhou Ship Administration Bureau builds our empire's own ironclad ship, let them sail to Shengjing, and I will have a good time on the ironclad ship with you! ”

Last time, Feng Yunshan returned to Shengjing by sea and stayed in Fuzhou for a few days to inspect the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. At that time, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau had already begun to hire ship technicians and design engineers from France, and also obtained drawings from France to begin the development of ironclad ships. Calculating the time, even if it is the first time for the empire to build an ironclad ship on its own, the speed is slower, and after about half a year, the first ironclad ship should be launched.

Liang Peiyou saw that Luo Xuan's face was gloomy, and he knew that his boss's request was rejected by the emperor, and he was in a bad mood, so he changed the topic and took the initiative to report to the family of the Pacific Fleet: "Your Majesty, the Pacific Fleet, under the leadership of Commander Peng Yulin, together with France, occupied northern Mexico, and merged the Chinese Empire into several states in northern Mexico to become the province of New Mexico. In addition, there has been a civil war in the United States recently, and General Peng went to the Allied States to arrange arrangements according to His Majesty's arrangement, so the Admiralty is ready to add a deputy to General Peng, and Titang Zhengcai is the deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet, to assist and cooperate with General Peng's major affairs in the Americas, and temporarily command the Pacific Fleet to wait for General Peng's deployment. ”

"Tang Zhengcai?" Feng Yunshan naturally knew this person. As a famous sailor general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he served as a sailor, and was the confidant of Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, who fought bravely, and paid more attention to the logistics of the sailor's operation, and was a rare all-round general, as the deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet in long-distance operations, as Peng Yulin's deputy, it was the best. Moreover, this person surrendered himself with Wei Jun and them after Yang Xiuqing was killed, and he can be regarded as an old man in the kingdom of heaven, much more loyal and reliable than the generals of the Hunan army, Yang Zaifu and Zou Shouzhang. Such an arrangement is naturally figuring out his own thoughts.

Feng Yunshan naturally agreed, but when it came to the American Civil War, he nodded and said, "How is Peng Aiqing's side?" The distance is too far, the news is too slow, and I don't know how the war between the North and the South of the United States is going on! The last time I got the news, it was half a month ago, right? The Confederate army defeated the Northern Union army in a small town called Manassas and won a great victory! What happened later, how Peng Aiqing's implementation was, has not been known. ”

Luo Xuan and Liang Peiyou naturally couldn't answer. Fan Ruzeng on the side hurriedly took over: "Your Majesty, Weichen has something to report here, and it is the news from the United States that I just received." ”

"Oh! There's another battle over there, why don't you report it early!? Feng Yunshan was a little displeased, he was very concerned about the American Civil War, which could be said to affect the future pattern of the world. Because of this, he did not hesitate to risk making Peng Yulin a little suspicious, arranged for Peng Yulin's soldiers stationed in New Mexico Province to attack, and also prepared early, continuously recruiting mercenaries from Japan and Ireland to send them to New Mexico Province and enter the United States.

Such a huge plan, personally arranged by an emperor of the Chinese Empire who was thousands of miles away, could not help but make people suspicious. Fortunately, his current status in the empire no longer needs to rely on the emperor's lofty status to coerce his courtiers, and his prestige and contribution to the empire and the Chinese people alone are enough to make all his subjects love. Peng Yulin shouldn't think much about it, he will only think that he is like a god and makes arrangements in advance.

Fan Ruzeng hurriedly asked for an explanation: "Your Majesty is angry! When Wechen received the news, he hurriedly came to see His Majesty, but His Majesty discussed military affairs with the adults, and Wechen couldn't intervene for a while. Your Majesty, there are new changes on the American side, and furthermore, Your Majesty's strategy, General Peng, they have implemented it smoothly! ”

"Without further ado, tell me what the situation is going on in the United States recently!" Feng Yunshan was already impatient to know about the war over there.