Zhang Yi hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed, and said: "Your Majesty, the position of a micro-minister, I really don't dare to discuss national affairs in vain, and ask the emperor for forgiveness." ”

Guangxu waved his hand and said: "Jianzhi, it's okay, you and others are the pillars of the country, now that China and Japan are at war, the country is in danger, what is the best way to do it, although in the future, even if the words are excessive, I will never pursue it." ”

Zhang Yi pondered for a moment before he said: "Your Majesty, the navy is different from the army, the army is on the battlefield and the battlefield, even if the combat strength is inferior, only if it is used properly, it can still defeat the enemy." However, the navy is in contention, on the sea, there is no cover-up, all plans are nonsense, relying on the strength of ships and guns, and the heart of soldiers to win to the death. Today, the total tonnage of the Japanese Navy has exceeded 70,000 tons, far exceeding the Beiyang Naval Division, and most of them are new warships newly purchased in recent years, and the rate of fire and accuracy of the artillery are excellent.......

Zhang Yi said this, stopped, and looked at Emperor Guangxu.

Emperor Guangxu asked anxiously: "What's not as good as it, Aiqing and talk quickly." ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Weichen is guilty of capital crimes, and the minister thinks that it is better to temporarily merge the four major naval divisions of the Qing Dynasty in Beiyang, Fujian, Guangdong and Nanyang, and transfer the main warships from other naval divisions to the north, and the four major naval divisions will meet the enemy together, so that they can have some chance of winning." ”

Emperor Guangxu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Merge the four major water divisions?" ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, the ministers traveled to various countries with their teachers when they were young, and now all countries in the West have unified command and dispatch of the naval and land armies, and the major fleets must obey the dispatch of the headquarters, and all the departments will work together to achieve the greatest combat power." If the enemy's strength is not strong, it can still win, once the enemy is strong, it is bound to be broken by each other, and the minister thinks that it is not the best policy. Now the Japanese Navy is far superior to any of the four naval divisions of the Qing Dynasty, if it is still against the enemy with one of them, our Qing Dynasty has no chance of winning, once defeated, **** shock, the situation will be irreparable. ”

"This ......" Emperor Guangxu hesitated a little in his heart, such a major event, it is indeed difficult to rush it, so he came to a conclusion.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Jianzhi's words are absolutely impossible, please think twice about Your Majesty." Weng Tongyi stood up and said, "Your Majesty, once the four major naval divisions are merged together, it will be all the naval forces of my Great Qing Dynasty, who will be in charge?" At the same time, with such a huge military force in the hands of others, how can the imperial power be guaranteed once there is a change? How can such a big event be child's play? ”

Emperor Guangxu was also a little worried in his heart, but Zhang Yishi made it clear that now the strength of the Japanese Navy has surpassed that of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the imperial court has stopped allocating naval military expenses in recent years.

Emperor Guangxu looked at Zhang Yi with his eyes and said, "Jianzhi, I also think that your suggestion is quite reasonable, but Master Weng's words are not unreasonable, can you deal with it?" ”

Zhang Yi's face remained unchanged, and he replied: "Your Majesty, the appropriate talent Weichen said that all the naval divisions are merged together and commanded and dispatched by the headquarters in a unified manner, and the headquarters is not just one person, and the headquarters has a prestigious general, and there is still a senatorial position under him, giving advice to the command of the headquarters, and the orders of the headquarters are issued by the joint generals after unifying their opinions, so that no one can fully control the navy and cannot pose a threat to the royal family." At the same time, the headquarters is responsible to the emperor and Galeries Lafayette, and in case of major events, it must report to the emperor and Galeries Lafayette. ”

Weng Tongyi replied: "Zhang Jianzhi, as you said, the four major sailors were originally not subordinate to each other, they were all self-contained, and now they are going to merge into one, then that person has such prestige and can suppress the arrogant soldiers and fierce generals of the various sailors." ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Master Weng, no matter how arrogant the sailors are, they are also the servants of the imperial court, serving the imperial court, they obey the dispatch of the imperial court, the four major naval divisions are merged, and the future commander will naturally act on behalf of the Son of Heaven, and his subordinates will naturally obey the command and disobey the command, that is, they will have no court and despise the imperial power." Military discipline is ruthless, and they need to think carefully about their heads. But all the strong countries in the world are forbidden by order, and the military discipline is strict, so that they can create an invincible army, if they can't even do this, they are not qualified soldiers supported by the imperial court, and it is useless to ask for them. ”

Zhang Yi turned around, thought about Cixi and Guangxu and said: "Lafayette, the emperor, now that the Japanese navy is strong, it is imperative for the four major sailors to respond to the enemy together, if it is really a little unsafe, when the Sino-Japanese war is over, it can be disbanded, each of them will be rebuilt, and return to their respective stations, but now the situation, the four major sailors are still together to respond to the enemy, more securely, and the strength is weak, this is the only law against the enemy, the words of the ministers, every sentence is true, please think twice." ”

Cixi said: "Well, what Jian Zhi said, is also for the stability of our Qing Dynasty, in order to ensure victory in the battle of the East, are all heartfelt words, the emperor, I think, you can refer to Jianzhi's advice, a little supplement, when the Sino-Japanese war is over in the future, you can send an order to each ministry to return to the building, defend one side, now the war is tight, transfer other sailors into the Sino-Japanese naval battle, at the right time, we can not only take Li Hongzhang alone to call, right?" ”

Guangxu was already a little moved, but now when he heard Cixi say this, he hurriedly agreed: "Yes, my father, my son has written it down." Since the three major naval divisions in the south are to be transferred to the north, after the four naval divisions are merged, who will take unified command? The three major sailors have been established for a long time, and they do not belong to each other, so I am afraid that it will take a lot of time to mobilize. ”

Cixi replied: "In the current dynasty, apart from Li Hongzhang, who else can lead such a huge and complex sailor? After Liu Kunyi, Li Hanzhang and others received the order, they sent the capital ships to the Yellow Sea to participate in the naval battle against Japan. As soon as the Sino-Japanese war ended, the sailors of each department returned to their respective establishments, and the imperial court rewarded meritorious deeds and promoted them based on meritorious deeds. ”

Zhang Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said in his mouth: "The queen mother is wise, the emperor is wise!" ”

Cixi asked: "Jianzhi, the mourning family has heard that you have trained your troops well, first set up a blue wolf battalion, and you will win every battle, and then Nie Gongting promoted you to be the chief instructor of the Korean army, and the governor of the army has trained, more than a month, the combat effectiveness of each department has improved significantly, and finally the Qing army has the strength to resist the Japanese army, can it be taken seriously at this time?" ”