Chapter 123 The Problem of the Ryukyu Kingdom

Chapter 123 The Problem of the Ryukyu Kingdom

On the issue of shells, Lin Deping of the bomb group of the Artillery Bureau patted his chest and said that he was going all out to produce, but he still asked the machine tool workshop to assist in providing machine tools with higher processing accuracy.

In terms of firearms, the production capacity is very abundant, and the production of 2 rifles and 8O submachine guns is carried out in an orderly manner, especially the 8O submachine guns, but Qin Kai still canceled the plan to equip this thing on a large scale after thinking about it again and again, and the cost of 8 8O submachine gun bullets is close to one tael of silver, if the troops of a thousand people have been spitting out a few times, it will be ten thousand taels of silver...... Thinking of this, Qin Kai was depressed for a while, he hadn't taken out a military salary or two from Li Zhongtang's mouth so far!

At present, Qin Kai's direct industry, the fastest exhibition is Mawei shipping company, the Qing Dynasty's huge domestic offshore freight market in the past only steamship China Merchants in the operation, this is mainly because China Merchants has Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau this series of foreign factories as a backing, has a stable demand for cargo transportation, and there are some places want to do shipping, one is no industrial chain, the other is no source of goods, basically belongs to the situation of dying before birth.

And now relying on the strong industrial system of Mawei, Mawei shipping company can be said to be thriving, just to undertake the transportation within the Mawei industrial system, it occupies seventy percent of the capacity, plus the "China Textile Association" brought by the bulk sales of goods to Southeast Asia, in the near future, despite the continuous purchase of five 2,000-ton cargo ships, still the capacity is very tight.

In addition, Mawei shipping is preparing to open up Europe, weekly routes, which makes the captain of the shipping company, the crew is also very tight, the first direct cargo ship to the United Kingdom is now in the merchant dock of Mawei shipping bureau nervously laying the hull, this is still the old steel keel double-hull cargo ship, but the modification is a new type of three-expansion steam engine, greatly saving fuel, increasing the range.

To tell the truth, for He Xing, Wu Jingui two people in the Mawei shipping business, Qin Kai is very satisfied, the current focus of the business has begun to shift from the textile machine, cotton cloth to the shipping company, through guò set up warehouses and subsidiaries in various places, it is very convenient to form a trade system covering the various ports of the Qing Dynasty, although this trade system is still in the new stage, but with the help of the huge technical advantages of the Mawei industrial system of goods, has fully squandered the potential for high growth.

Both He Xing and Wu Jingui agreed that it was necessary to speed up the investment of shipping companies, especially large cargo ships, and establish more profitable routes.

After thinking about the matter of Mawei, Qin Kai pondered the Vietnamese side again, the situation in Vietnam is still unclear, what makes him even more uneasy is the movement of the French Cochinchina fleet, which is definitely a vicious wolf waiting at the door of the house, making it difficult for him to sleep, although Song Xing on the Hue side sent a group of Vietnamese from Quang Yi along the river to the south to find out the news of the French, but the reconnaissance efficiency of this era is really low and scared to death.

Many months had passed since the last battle, and the scouts sent out to hear the news had sent back a few pieces of news, and among them, after being screened by the commander stationed in Hue, Xue, there was only one piece of really useful news...... Obviously, this will require the work of Saigon's French team.

The French didn't come to make trouble, the Vietnamese themselves began to make trouble, Wu Jing, the general soldier over there in the broad sense, is also a slightly alternative general in the Vietnamese army, he has no birth background, and he has firmly established his current position by virtue of his exploits eight years ago, but for the new king of Vietnam, this general soldier naturally has nothing to say, and he is not enough to buy the current prime minister Song Xing!

Song Xing even got the news that Wu Jing openly said at a meeting with his subordinates that there should not be a Chinese prime minister in this court, but a prime minister should be elected from among the Yue people, and he also made irresponsible remarks about the Zhendong Marquis who held the military power in the court, which was naturally accusations such as "I will not be in charge of the army, and the battle of the Beijing division will be lost".

Song Xing was naturally quite angry about this, and discussed this matter with Xue a few times, but the place in Guangyi was far away from the emperor of the sky, and it was inconvenient to nest in the mountains, and it was an outpost of Yuefa, so there was nothing to do for a while. Lao Song was naturally quite jealous of these Yue generals, and began to ponder the military power of these people all day long.

Now Hue is guarded by the guard, and the fort in the port has already been built, according to the commander of the guard, in the front of the sea, Lord Qin has also secretly laid a net, which makes him happy again for choosing to take refuge in Qin Kai. ,

Among the 3,000 servant troops in Hue City, they have long been controlled by the officers of the Chinese and pro-Chinese forces who have gradually settled in, and Guangzhi's 5,000 tuntian troops are now farmers who are simply farming, and all the weapons have been collected, and Song Xing plans to pour some industries from Lord Chincha to settle these strong laborers, and it is not a good idea to plant the cheap rice without using it.

At this time, Qin Kai had already thought of the problem of the Vietnamese soldiers, which also had a population of nearly 10 million, and these are all strong farmers who are familiar with the local climate, and the most powerful weapon in South Asia is actually the jungle, of course, he is very sure of the ability to protect **, but it is not a wise decision to use the Chinese battalion and descendants that he has worked hard to train to fight with the French.

And now that Song Xing proposed to solve the problem of the Vietnamese army, he felt that this was the time to solve this matter completely and completely!

After arranging the affairs of the Mawei Shipmaster, just as Qin Kai was about to leave, he unexpectedly received a message from the governor Zhang Peilun, inviting him to the governor's mansion for a while.

Strangely, he took advantage of the passing by the governor's yamen to run to see Sun Fu, who was discussing the issue in Fuzhou with Lao Ding, and after the official quietly brought him a message, he slipped out under the pretext.

"Gale Wind, why did you get to the Yamen and didn't go in to see Lord Xiading, what's the urgency?"

Qin Kai snorted and said, "My lord, I'll go back and say goodbye, I came to you to inquire about something at this time, and Governor Zhang asked me to go over to discuss the matter just now!" There's nothing special going on in the yamen lately, right? I'm wondering, why are you talking to me? ”

Sun Fu's head turned, this Fuzhou Mansion has been very calm recently, the industry and commerce are prosperous, the people are healthy, and his related households have not mentioned anything, but since he is looking for Qin Kai, it is not difficult to speculate, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed, "Oh...... Gale, I guessed some clues! ”

"What's the matter? Governor Zhang's side also has something to do with me, and I really can't think of anything else that needs to be discussed so solemnly! Qin Kai had a question mark on his face.

"I guess it has something to do with your new battleship!" Sun Fu glanced at Qin Kai, "When I came back from the dock that day, Lord Ding said that Governor Zhang remembered the incident of Ryukyu two years ago, and he revealed that he intended to bring up this matter again in the court."

Qin Kai was naturally stunned, the Ryukyu Kingdom of the Qing Dynasty was forcibly annexed by Japan, when this thing was born, he had just come to this time and space, at that time he was in the shipyard all day long to do his technical work, and the things in the court were unknown, but from the history he knew, the Qing Dynasty was naturally completely opposed to this matter, but it was just a mouth, and then defeated the Japanese attack on Taiwan, lost the territory and lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

However, this Ryukyu thing, it is indeed a pit, thinking of recovering Ryukyu, this history is by no means a Qingliu faction, when the Qingliu cadres will be the Huai Army, the Huai Army is not actually without action, Wu Changqing and several Huai Army newcomers want to crusade, but Li Zhongtang will not agree to these plans in the face of the disadvantage of the navy.

In history, just after the Korean Renwu Army, Zhang Shusheng, one of the high-level officials of Beiyang, Li Zhongtang's descendant, and the then governor of Zhili, discussed with Wu Changqing, the general of the Qingzi Army, and planned to take the opportunity to recover Ryukyu, but unfortunately they were all stillborn due to infighting.

And the reason for this infighting is because Li Zhongtang thinks that these Huaijun descendants have signs of going against his intentions, and there is a suspicion of using Ryukyu to establish personal prestige, so he quickly exerted his strong hand, and the direct consequence is that Zhang Shusheng was deprived of the position of governor of Zhili, and died of illness after being hit, Wu Changqing was assigned to North Korea as the head of the local army, which unexpectedly created the glory of Yuan Datou.

If it is because of this matter, it is indeed a hot potato, this Qingliu party and Li Zhongtang of the Westernization faction are incompatible, although when it comes to the position of superintendent, the two major cadres of Qingliu Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Peilun have more or less begun to favor the view of "Western learning in China", which does not mean that they agree with Li Zhongtang, the backbone of the Westernization faction.

"Brother Sun, I understand, this is a big trouble!" Qin Kai nodded depressedly, didn't the trouble come to the door by himself, we didn't mean to provoke Li Zhongtang at all, in this Qing Dynasty officialdom, he was still a character, although he was also a second-grade member ...... now,

Sun Fu smiled slightly, "Gale wind, I can't see it!" In the past two years of officialdom training, you have experienced it, this is a big whirlpool, don't mess with it! ”

Qin Kai smiled, "I know, Brother Sun, I'm going to meet the Governor, and you can also help me figure it out, this matter has to run to Tianjin Wei!" I can't even mess with that side right now! ”

Sun Fu smiled, pointed to the yamen behind him, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

When I arrived at the Governor's Palace, Master Zeng was already waiting at the door, and the two were naturally very polite when they met, this Master Zeng was approved by Qin Kai and invested a cargo ship in the Mawei Sea, and now the Mawei industry is thriving, and the gross profit is very rich, so he whispered when he met: "Lord Qin, the Lord Governor reported to the imperial court yesterday and re-mentioned the public case of the annexation of Ryukyu by the Wa Kingdom three years ago!" Today's Fujian Xinbao has an article by Chen Baochen, a famous man of the Qing Dynasty, on the front page, talking about the affairs of this vassal country! ”

This Master Zeng is really interesting, Qin Kai smiled slightly, thanked him, and said: "Brother Zeng, you can rest assured that this shipping business will be done, our Mawei Shipping will be bigger than the steamship China Merchants in the future!" ”

When he arrived at the main hall, Zhang Peilun was watching with a few letters, and when he saw Qin Kai coming in, he pointed to the position next to him to signal him to be casual, and there were already clever maids pouring tea next to him, and seeing no less than seven or eight maids in and out of Zhang Peilun's hall, Qin Kai suddenly remembered that he had not enjoyed such a gentle taste in this evil old society.

I'm busy all day long, although I'm getting ahead now, but it's too hard! Wait for you to go back, do you want to consider finding a few maids, it's best to catch it with Sister Lori...... It's just that, to be honest, he really hasn't seen a few beautiful mm who are eye-catching, and the beauties he can see in this era are really limited, even the number of times Qi Shuxuan meets in dress mm is also a little less!

At this time, Zhang Peilun also read the letter, turned his head and said: "Gale Wind, have you read today's Fuzhou News?" ”

Sure enough, this is the case, Qin Kai smiled slightly, and played Taijiquan, "My lord, I have been busy with the matter of the shipyard for the past two days, the shell of this battleship has been launched, and it will be a big trouble to turn it into a weapon to defeat the enemy!" ”

Zhang Peilun smiled slightly, thinking to himself, this Qin Liefeng didn't answer the call, then just pick it out, he waved at the door, and immediately a servant sent a copy of Fuzhou News, "This is the "Detailed Review of the Ryukyu Public Case" written by Chen Boqian, you take a look first!" ”

Qin Kai's face is black, this old Chen classmate is a good player, this article is written with flowers, citing classics, this can be bitter for later generations of language grades are still okay with themselves, that era, familiar with a few Tang poems and Song lyrics, it is already a great elegance, this literary Chinese, that textbook has also read the test, after that, it is a dog's hundred!

He looked at it very seriously, but fortunately, there were really not many words, and he saw a little bit of something, in fact, it was more due to his understanding of history, so he raised his head and pretended to be indignant, "My lord, this Ryukyu Kingdom was our vassal during the Tang and Song dynasties, and the Wa Kingdom is so unscrupulous, it is really a wolf's ambition, and its heart can be punished!" ”

Obviously, Qin Kai's expression still made Zhang Peilun quite satisfied, and it was also in line with his imagination, "Gale Wind, I have gone to the imperial court to seek justice from the Wa Kingdom, this Ryukyu is the cruising range of my Nanyang Naval Division, you are the only person in my Qing Dynasty who is better than the Western Naval Division, I am looking for you today, and I also ask you, if there is a dispute with the Japanese Guosheng, can my Nanyang Naval Division win over Ryukyu Island!" ”

Qin Kai has some impulse to give the middle finger to this boss with outstanding writing, and he is still tossing with the French here, this one wants to do whatever he wants, completely ignoring the cannon pointed by the French on the door of his head, but Lao Zhang's enthusiasm is still commendable, which is rare among officials in this era, and needs to be guided well.

He picked up the teacup, drank saliva and thought about it by the way, and then arched his hand and said: "My lord, if you only deal with this Japanese country, although the Japanese have ironclad ships such as 'Fuso', 'King Kong', and 'Hiei', although these British customized warships are acceptable, but if it is a decisive battle against the sea, I am also determined to win in one battle......"

"Good!" Zhang Peilun slapped the table, but Qin Kai was startled.

Qin Kai's face was black, I didn't speak, I just made up my mind first, there is no need to make such a big move, this Japanese 'Fuso', 'King Kong', 'Hiei' is not vegetarian, they are all British customized ironclad ships, they have only been in the water for two years, with a tonnage of 38oo tons, equipped with 4 24omm heavy guns, two 17omm secondary guns, and Green guns and the like. ,

However, the armor of these three ironclad ships is only 15o-23omm ordinary wrought iron armor, and although the gun layout is the fashionable waist quadrangular gun room layout in this era, this is actually a very poor design, although it seems that there are no shooting corners at all, but there is only one cannon that can really be waved in many cases.

Moreover, the voyage of this ship is only 12 knots, and in the face of a 16-knot 5o1 ironclad ship and three twin heavy guns, apart from pouting his ass and waiting to be kicked, Qin Kai really can't think of anything Japan can do.

He scratched his head and glanced at Zhang Peilun, Lao Zhang obviously realized that he had not maintained Shangguan's calmness, and smiled slightly, "The gale is really arrogant, you continue to say that I will listen to you." ”

"My lord, it's just that there are a few problems right now!"

When Zhang Peilun heard a few questions, he frowned and asked, "But it's okay to say it!" ”

"First, this Ryukyu Island is far away from the garrison of our Nanyang Naval Division, this labor army is attacking from afar, and the Japanese are sticking to the shore, how can our army win? I, the Nanyang Naval Division, have only a few hundred security regiments, and I have to defend this ship's political and important place! Can't the sailors and gunners on this ship be used as foot soldiers? ”

Zhang Peilun shook his head and asked him to improvise a poem, which is estimated to be not very difficult, and this problem must be solved...... Now the strong army of the Qing Dynasty is naturally the Huai army that they criticize every day, how can they ask for reinforcements? There is also a new unit of the Hunan Army trained by Nanyang Minister Liu Kunyi in Liangguang, but because it is newly organized, not to mention how much combat power there is, if Lao Liu consumes the strength in his hands for their Qingliu operation, is it possible?

"Gale, is there anything you can do?" Zhang Peilun has learned Ding Richang's ability to throw burdens!

Qin Kai has any way, use his own strength to fill in, he won't do it, Ryukyu is too far away from Fuzhou, how can the few ships on hand be enough to defend there, take it is definitely going to take it, that is a maritime defense chain, but not now!

"My lord, train a new army, and it is a new army for the purpose of cross-sea operations, I call it the 6th Naval Division," Qin Kai began to sell dog skin plasters, anyway, Lao Zhang is a military blind, take advantage of the fact that he is now a blank piece of paper, instill a little more in him, "With the Naval Division to transport the 6th Brigade, we can also carry out a long-range attack on the enemy country thousands of miles away, not to mention the Ryukyu and Wa countries of this projectile!" ”

"Gale is really a military wizard, that's a good idea!" Zhang Peilun doesn't understand military affairs, but he is not stupid, but he is also very smart, so he naturally understands the tricks, "I'll report to the court to ...... Fujian Navy Division as a framework, recruit children from good families, and train a new army! Gale, do you think this is possible? ”