The important ministers of the court saw that Prince Gong and a guard commander all stood up to donate, one was the famous first prince, the other was a little-known guard commander, and there were also emperors and Beiyang ministers in the middle, and the momentum of donation was unstoppable. No matter how much people have opinions, they don't dare to say it, is it because your gold and silver are precious? The royal family and the court officials came forward one after another to donate money to fund the war. In less than half an hour, Emperor Guangxu has accepted donations of more than two million taels, plus his own one million taels and one million taels of Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang, and the follow-up tax silver in Jiangnan, I am afraid that there should be no problem with these money and grain to support until the beginning of spring next year.

Emperor Guangxu saw that the courtiers had donated so much in a blink of an eye, and his heart was a lot more relaxed, and he said in his heart: "No wonder Jiaqing Ye wants to kill that He Shen, except for a corrupt official, you can get tens of thousands of taels of silver, which is really a good means to eliminate harm for the people and enrich the treasury." One day, I will have to find one to come out and get some silver, and now the Qing Dynasty is too poor. ”

Emperor Guangxu shook his head, shook off his inner thoughts, and asked Li Hongzhang: "Lao Zhongtang, now that I have made up part of the military spending, I don't know how to use it, and I ask Lao Zhongtang to teach me." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "Your Majesty, the war is about to start, the imperial court naturally wants to raise weapons and equipment at the moment, now the war is imminent, the minister asks the emperor to purchase ordnance and ammunition from the foreign powers, especially warships, according to the news sent back by Minister Xue Fucheng, the three cruisers ordered by the Japanese from the British government are about to be finalized, and then Japan will get the help of three cruisers, which is tantamount to adding wings to a tiger and making it more difficult to deal with. So we also need to order cruisers as soon as possible to deal with future Japanese attacks at sea. In addition, the imperial court also needs to mobilize heavy troops and move outside the customs to support Nie Shicheng at any time. ”

"Procurement cruisers?" After listening to this, Guangxu felt a toothache, when he purchased the Dingyuan ship, he saw that more than 900,000 taels of silver, he didn't come back with an iron frame, and now he bought three more ships, and the military funds just raised had to be thrown in.

But what if you don't buy it? Japan had already taken the lead in purchasing from Britain, and if the Qing Dynasty had not taken action, when the three newly purchased cruisers joined the Japanese Navy, the Beiyang Naval Division would not be an opponent of the Japanese Navy.

Guangxu hesitated: "Buy warships, this, I'm afraid this military expenditure can't be supported." Lao Zhongtang, how do you think this military spending should be adjusted? ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Your Majesty, Minister Xue Fucheng can communicate with the British government first about the warship, and this kind of procurement cannot be determined in half a year, and now that China and Japan are at war, the British will definitely take the opportunity to open their mouths, and we need to be prepared for hard negotiations." Even if it was necessary to pay a part of the cash in advance, I think eight or nine hundred thousand taels, it would be enough. As for the follow-up final payment, when the time comes, Jiangnan's financial endowment will definitely arrive, so we don't have to worry too much. If there is really no way, there is only a temporary loan from the Western powers. As for the other silver taels, it is necessary to take out 1.5 million taels to immediately go to Germany to purchase artillery and ammunition, and they will be purchased in the near future. We can allocate a sum of money to the arsenal of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and immediately order the Manufacturing Bureau to speed up the production of ammunition to supply the front war. ”

Guangxu continued to ask: "If you transfer troops, where can I use elite troops in Daqing now?" Who's going to be in the rear? ”

Li Hongzhang was a little silent, but Li Hongzhang didn't know where the so-called elite soldiers were in the country, and he had to admit that even if he was the first Huai army, the combat effectiveness of the current army has declined greatly, and it has long since lost its bloody nature. Not to mention the rest, after calculation, only the Hunan Army and the Chu Army left by Zuo Zongtang still have some combat power, and the others are really insignificant. He heard Nie Shicheng say that the quality of the Japanese army is so high that it is still above his Lutai training, is there a stronger training army in China than Nie Shicheng's army, no, even if the elites who can reach the level of Nie Shicheng's training are rare!

Li Hongzhang sighed lightly and replied: "Your Majesty, now the elite soldiers of the Qing Dynasty are still there, but they are scattered everywhere, the emperor can issue an order to transfer Liu Kun to the Hunan army, the Chu army left in the northwest Zuo Zhongtang is gathered, and the Huai army of the old minister still has 20,000 capable soldiers, in addition, the Shengjing general Yiketang Asuo, close to North Korea, can be ordered to lead the army into the DPRK in advance to support Nie Shicheng's department; There are also some elite troops in the rest of the places, and when mobilized, they should be able to be used. At the same time, the minister suggested that His Majesty recruit a new army, the battlefield is the best place to train soldiers, taking advantage of the Sino-Japanese war, just for the Qing Dynasty in forging an elite army out, since ancient times, all the good war divisions are from the battlefield, without experiencing the war, the army can not get real combat power. ”

Emperor Guangxu frowned and said: "Such a huge and complex army, from different places, does not belong to each other, I am afraid that ordinary people are difficult to convince, who is responsible for this commander?" ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "The army commander needs someone with high prestige, and Liu Shengsanyuan can take on this position, but this year, the third provincial army is sick, and I am afraid that he will not be able to go on an expedition, so he can only sit in the rear and coordinate the affairs." In the matter ahead, the old minister thought that Nie Shicheng was commanding well now, and he could still be in command. ”

Weng Tongyi said suspiciously: "Your Majesty, although what Li Zhongtang said is reasonable, however, Nie Shicheng's qualifications are still shallow, and he was just appointed as a commander a few days ago, and now, when the army from all walks of life enters North Korea, some generals are even higher than Nie Shicheng, and their rank will not be lower than Nie Shicheng. ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "What Master Weng said is reasonable, but then, except for Liu Xingsan and Nie Shicheng, I really don't know who else can take on this great responsibility. The minister suggested that the emperor give Nie Shicheng the right to dictate and give the Son of Heaven a sword to help him. ”

Weng Tongyi asked in surprise: "Sword of the Son of Heaven? Don't do it at this time! ”

Many ministers in the palace were also in an uproar, the Sword of the Son of Heaven, that is not a trivial matter, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, no one has ever given the Sword of the Son of Heaven to anyone, this is something more powerful than the patrol of the Heavenly Patrol Hunt, reward it to Nie Shicheng? How is it possible, even the four major governors have not enjoyed such glory. Zuo Wen Xianggong ruled Xinjiang, such a big danger, such a high status, he was not given the Son of Heaven Sword, a new admiral, he rewarded the Son of Heaven Sword, is there any rule for this?

Other courtiers also made suggestions to Guangxu.

"Your Majesty, by all means!"

"Your Majesty, this is against the ancestral system!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice!" ……

In the hall, the ministers roared and shouted in a ball.