On the channel of the Yangtze River, four warships lined up and sailed on the channel, the sails on the mast would be lowered, several chimneys on the warships were spitting out billowing black smoke, a five-color flag fluttered high on the mast, and in front of the bow was a golden dragon emblem, which belonged to the imperial navy. Like the royal insignia, the www.biquge.info is a nine-clawed golden dragon, which shows the status of the navy in the royal mind.

Building a strong navy has been China's dream for the past few years, and in fact, since the creation of the first fleet in the Governor's Office, the nascent Chinese navy has fulfilled its responsibilities again and again.

"Open up the waves of thousands of miles, and spread the power of the country in all directions!"

From the Battle of Lingdingyang to the consolidation of the vassal states to the expedition to Kamchatka, the new Chinese navy has surprised the world again and again. Even in August of the first year of Kaihong, in the face of the invasion of Vietnam and the United Kingdom and the West trying to force Vietnam to cede land and pay reparations, in the face of the two ironclad ships of the navy, they still had to choose to withdraw from Vietnam and sign a peace treaty.

Although the Franco-Vietnamese conflict ended with the withdrawal of French troops, the threat from the sea was already aware of the founding of the country, and the situation became more dangerous because of the establishment of the empire.

"We must build a navy strong enough to deter any country in the world from having any ambitions against us!"

It was from that time that the navy began to expand its maritime forces, and when thousands of naval officers walked out of the Whampoa Naval Academy, the shipyard was also busy. From the first year of Kaihong to the third year of Kaihong, one after another ironclad ships were launched from Huangpu Shipyard and Wuchang Shipyard, although the Jiangnan Shipyard now located on Changxing Island is far larger than the other two shipyards, but Wuchang Shipyard as the oldest shipyard still accepts orders for the construction of warships, so in the Yangtze River, there will always be warships sailing from upstream to downstream.

In the eyes of the fisherman, the bow of the warships passing past the bow of the warships on the side of the board are inlaid with the names of the big ships "Hubei", "Guangdong", "Changsha", and "Chengdu"; according to the new naming rules of the navy, the main combat ships of the navy are named after the provinces, and the cruisers are the first-class cruisers named after the provincial capitals.

In total, there were four warships.

Without exception, they are all ironclads!

In the first year of Kaihong, the Chinese Navy had only two ironclad cruisers in the world, and in the third year of Kaihong, the Imperial Navy had as many as thirteen ironclad ships, which is equivalent to the total number of navies in the world.

Even so, the Navy did not stop its expansion, and two years ago, in the face of the threat posed by the ironclad ship Warrior, built by the British Royal Navy. At the request of the Admiralty, Shi Si presided over the design of a new type of warship, which was the "Hubei-class combat ship".

Unlike the old ironclads, this is the first type of ironclad in the Navy to be called a "combat ship". This is a completely new concept of warship, with twin masts, twin chimneys, diagonal batteries, and a superstructure arranged in the center, and the main guns can fire in the direction of the bow and tail of the ship...... Of course, what is even more striking is its advanced central ironclad fort-like armor, with 300 mm thick armor at the waist, 50-75 mm on the deck, 200 mm for the main turret armor, 250 mm for the panzer tower, and 150 mm for bulkheads. The center line of the hull is divided by longitudinal watertight bulkheads to separate the left and right engine rooms, and there are double-layer bottom and keels. In addition, there are as many as 214 watertight compartments on the ship.

It is arguably the most protected combat ship ever built, and its firepower is also impressive, with two diagonal twin 254mm breech guns as its main guns. The secondary guns are 6 single-barreled 150mm naval guns; 7 57mm guns, 6 "Gatling" machine guns. It has a coal capacity of 9,000 tons, twin-shaft propulsion, 8 boilers, and 2 state-of-the-art triple-expansion steam engines, providing it with a maximum of 7,293 hp and a range of more than 3,600 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Without a doubt, he was the first real combat ship in the world. It can be said that from the day its construction began, it was the lead ship of the Navy, and it is precisely because of this that it has received the cutting-edge name of "Combat Ship", which more or less contains the Navy's expectations for it.

The "Hubei-class" combat ship with a normal displacement of 6,682 tons may not be as tonnage as the Warrior ironclad ship, but China is an extremely rare large warship. Although the fishermen who fished in the Yangtze River had long been accustomed to seeing steamships and often saw steam warships, this was the first time they had seen such a huge warship. So much so that each and every one of them looked at this huge warship in amazement.

"What? So many warships have gone down, is there something happening in Shanghai? ”

"How is that possible? Do you really think that our Chinese Dynasty is the Manchu Qing Dynasty of the past. will be like them, and if you don't have a son, you will kneel down when you see a foreign devil! ”

"And what are these warships going down for?"

"How do I know, you ask me? Rest assured! It's better to rest assured to catch your fish, in short, no matter what, this world is no longer Manchu, you and I just need to be the ordinary people of the Chinese Dynasty with peace of mind. ”

"Yes, yes, the world's major events naturally have those who are adults to worry about, so I don't need to wait here to bother!"

Having said that, the relaxed expressions on the fishermen's faces disappeared and were replaced by a burst of laughter, yes, no matter how the situation in the world changes, what does it have to do with them ordinary people?

It doesn't matter at all.

At least for these fishermen, they don't care about the situation in the world, as long as they can eat enough. Perhaps this is what many people think most truly.

“…… Two months ago, 13 overseas Chinese in the United States were killed, and we have reason to believe that this is a systematic violation of Chinese under the inaction of the California government! ”

The temperature in Guling may be pleasant, but the atmosphere in the Victorian palace is a little tense, and the reason for the tension is very simple - the stalemate in the Sino-US negotiations.

If we say which country has the most tense relations with the United States after the founding of the Chinese Empire, I am afraid that the relationship with the United States is the most tense, and the reason for this is that, in addition to the old grudge of the "Battle of the Zero Ding Yang", the reality of the Manchu chieftain's flight to the United States also affects the relationship between the two countries.

Despite the intent of both countries to uncover this, differences over immigration and immigrant rights in California have continued to shape U.S.-China relations and normalize them over the past three years.

Just two months later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened forcefully in the face of a riot that led to the death of more than a dozen Chinese in the gold mine, but the negotiations did not go as smoothly as people thought.

"The United States must ensure that such an incident will never happen, and if you can't make a guarantee, then we will use our own way to protect the interests and safety of the Chinese diaspora!"

After saying this, Zeng Guoquan picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, who would have thought that being the ninth marshal in the Hunan army would now become a squire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, second only to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of course, what is even more surprising is that he can also speak fluent English.

Time has changed many people, and it has also changed Zeng Guoquan, but many habits he can't change, he can't like those young officials in the ministry, he likes to drink coffee, and he can't adapt to the kind of formal dress with a strong collar, and he will wear this red ceremonial robe on many occasions.

But this did not prevent him from negotiating with the new ambassador to China, Pu Anchen, who in fact had the upper hand in the past few weeks of negotiations, and Pu Anchen could only resist it.

"Your Excellency,"

Pu Anchen looked at Zeng Guoquan and replied directly in the face of his threat.

"The United States will never succumb to threats, but we believe that a negotiated solution can be made to the extremely unpleasant problem that occurred in California!"

When he said this, Anson even cursed California Governor John in his heart? Downey, if he could be a little more formal, he should know that China is far more powerful than he imagined, and now China can even bombard California at any time if it wants to, while the United States can only reluctantly accept the reality that compared to the ironclad fleet that China has, the US Navy does not even have a single ironclad ship.

But it's John who is infuriating? Downey simply did not take into account this reality, and in his eyes, the Chinese were still inferior colored people. It is precisely because of this that he condones the harm done by white miners to Chinese miners. And now all the pressure is thrown on him.

"And, Your Excellency, I believe that the laws of the United States will give those rioters a fair trial and justice to the Chinese expatriate!"

There seems to be little progress in the negotiations, and although the two of them have spent several hours each day negotiating here for two weeks, there has been little progress in reality.

For Zeng Guokui, what he hopes is to use this incident to force the United States to pass a bill to protect Chinese nationals, and at the same time to obtain the maximum compensation for the dead and injured foreigners, while for Pu Anchen, he hopes that this matter will be an "internal matter" and that the incident will be resolved within the scope of the law, so as to avoid the Chinese team's interference in California affairs.

Naturally, there can be no progress in negotiations when both sides have their own agendas. Even the threat in Zeng's mouth pales in comparison - after all, everyone knows that the Chinese navy cannot go on an expedition to the United States halfway around the world, which in itself is impossible. So the negotiations between the two sides are still going on, and they are still deadlocked.

"What if the laws of the United States can't give them justice?"

Zeng Guoquan asked reluctantly.

"Your Excellency, the law will definitely grant justice to the people of your country!"

When he said this, Pu Anchen complained secretly in his heart.

"If the United States were as powerful as Britain, would he push himself so hard? Apparently not! ”

The reason why he complained so much was that four years ago, more than 2,000 Chinese gold prospectors were robbed by whites at the Buckland River gold mine in the Victorian colony of Australia. Clothing was looted and homes were razed to the ground. Countless Chinese were injured, and dozens of Chinese fell into the river and drowned. The "Buckland Exclusion Incident" caused a great sensation at the time, but after the incident broke out, the then Han Governor's Office only protested, although in recent years, they would always protest to Britain on this matter when the incident broke out, but it was only a protest.

And their protest was only to let the British know that they had not forgotten. That's all!

But what about the United States?

These Chinese, however, show their aggressive side. And this is diplomacy, diplomacy is based on national strength, China did not have the strength to challenge Britain, so they chose to back down. But in the face of the United States, they are not willing to make any compromises.

"Your laws, your courts, your judges, your jurors......"

After saying four "you" in a row, Zeng Guoquan stared at Pu Anchen and asked rhetorically.

"In the end you will give us what you call "your justice", but I believe that by that time your justice will be done. Your justice will be the acquittal of the white miners. ”

After saying this, Zeng Guoquan's tone seemed a little excited.

"In the eyes of those arrogant white people, we Chinese like ants, we can be humiliated, bullied, and killed at will...... People, if in their eyes, the Chinese are people! Your Excellency Ambassador! ”

In the face of Zeng Guoquan's fierce accusation, Pu Anchen chose to remain silent, he knew that what the other party said was the truth, if he refuted it, this squire would come up with a bunch of evidence to prove all this, and this was exactly what he didn't want to see.

Noticing that the other party was unwilling to respond to him on this question, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Perhaps China is now more powerful than the Manchu Qing Dynasty. But the contempt of Westerners for Orientals has been a long history, and at least in the short term, this discrimination of the white race against the so-called colored people is impossible to change, and for the Westerners, it is very simple to win their respect - to defeat them on the battlefield.

"Your Excellency, the law is just! I believe that Washington will urge the California authorities to properly handle this matter! ”

Anson still did not give any direct answer, this is an internal affair of the United States, and he has emphasized this point again and again.

"However, according to the judicial principles of the United States, even Washington cannot interfere in the court proceedings in California, and I believe that Your Excellency Squire is understandable! After all, China is also a civilized country that pays attention to the law! ”

Faced with this sycophant, Zeng Guoquan just glanced at the other party, and then said.

"Each and every one of us is looking forward to the day when justice will come, and I believe that day will not be long!"

What the meaning of this pun is, I'm afraid only Zeng Guoquan himself knows, and deep down, he knows very well - the negotiations have ended from the beginning.

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