Chapter 297: Deadly Express

"Li Wenzhong's Public Collection: To Lin Kunyu Fujun": "...... It seems appropriate to transfer several thousand more effective troops, that is, to carry them to the vicinity of Langqiao in Fengshan by steamer, and to choose to settle down as a preemptive measure. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info set up Japanese soldiers to land without authorization, while reasoning and condemning, while waiting for the whole team, the enemy was hidden and there was no gap to take advantage of. …… The honorable show has been flown to the general of Fuzhou, the minister of Nanyang, and the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. However, the Minister of Shipping has jurisdiction over the newly built military ships, and he is a Fujian person, so the situation is familiar, so it seems that Shen Youdan Zhongcheng should be informed by the Jun Department, and the general and the governor should prepare for it quickly. If Japan does not plan carefully and wait for the revival, no matter whether they win or lose each other in the future, they will be afraid that the army will be in trouble. It has a lot to do with the overall situation of the coast. ……”

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Beijing, Forbidden City.

Li Lianying hurriedly came to a courtyard house located outside the Chongwen Gate and sat south and facing north, and a person who looked like a master inside saw him and immediately greeted him, he had been waiting here for a full hour.

"Mr. Lou has been waiting, waiting!" Li Lianying arrived before he arrived, and with a warm greeting, he rushed to the small courtyard where Li Hongzhang's master Lou Chunfan was.

"Mr. Li is so polite! It's all my own family, what are you doing with this Laoshzi's official article? Lou Chunfan hurriedly took a step forward, grabbed Li Lianying, and did not let him bow down.

Lou Chunfan saw that Li Lianying was covered in sweat, and he didn't even have time to change the small vest he wore when he used to serve the queen mother and teasing the dog, knowing that he must have learned the news of the past from his cronies, he found a free time and rushed all the way over, and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

"It's really hard work, Mr. Li!" Lou Chunfan took Li Lianying's hand and said quite sincerely.

"Mr. Lou is polite!" Li Lianying's black and red face was full of smiles, "Li Zhitai and Mr. Lou don't dislike Lianying's identity, and they are handed over, this is a brother's blessing, what is it if you work a little harder?" ”

"I see it's going to rain outside." Li Lianying pointed up at the already cloudy sky with her hand, "If Mr. Lou has anything to say, let's go into the house and say it." ”

Lou Chunfan nodded, but still took Li Lianying's hand, and the two walked into the two-story building on the side of the courtyard together.

After the fruits were laid out one by one, Li Lianying waved her hand to let everyone disperse, and walked to the door in person to cover the door, then returned to her seat and said to Lou Chunfan: "Mr. Lou called me in such a hurry? So what's going on? ”

"Manager Li, there is indeed something important," Lou Chunfan lowered his voice and said, "My Lord Li asked me to make a special trip to make this trip, in order to tell Manager Li the news as soon as possible!" ”

"Mr. Lou is serious, if there is anything wrong with Li Zhitai, just give an order." Li Lianying picked up the watermelon juice on the table and handed it to Lou Chunfan, waiting for his next step.

"Manager Li, I know that you have a lot of things, and you have to rush back to the palace in a hurry." Lou Chunfan took out a Western pocket watch from his arms, opened the lid and looked at it. See the short and thick pointer that represents half an hour and steadily draws the "5" character in a foreign script - the Ming and Qing Dynasty palace ban conventions. The Forbidden City is all open at the end of the day, and the key to the door of each palace is at three o'clock -- Li Lianying is a powerful eunuch in front of the empress dowager, and there is no reason not to spend the night in a private house outside the palace. And counting the hours, Li Lianying can stay here for only half an hour.

"Then I'll make a long story short." Lou Chunfan took a sip of watermelon juice and moistened his throat, and then told Li Lianying concisely about Li Hongzhang's explanation of Japan's possible dispatch of troops to Taiwan to crusade against Fanmin, which might affect the gardener's timber harvesting.

Before Lou Chunfan's words fell, Li Lianying snorted: "These Oriental slaves are really restless!" ”

"You must know that the Oriental soldiers are very strong, Fujian and Taiwan and other places are empty, and there is a lack of foreign guns, I am afraid that once there is a conflict, it will be difficult to resist the enemy." Lou Chunfan said, "Now the center doesn't know if there is any news, whether there is any arrangement." ”

"Mr. Lou said, what are these Oriental Japanese slaves doing in Taiwan?" Li Lianying asked quietly.

"I don't know yet, Li Zhitai has made many inquiries, and he can't get the gist of it, but there is news from the foreigners that the Japanese people went to Taiwan this time, and they may be interested in the forest products of Fandi......" Lou Chunfan deliberately said vaguely, but to Li Lianying's ears, it was tantamount to a thunderclap!

"Oh?" Li Lianying silently picked up a glass of watermelon juice and drank it.

Lou Chunfan noticed Li Lianying's movements, his body didn't move, but his eyes were shining!

He was ordered by Li Hongzhang to have a long relationship with Li Lianying, and they knew each other well, and he already knew Li Lianying's temper and details -- there has always been a folk legend about the life history of this eunuch who was quite favored by the Empress Dowager Cixi, saying that Li Lianying was originally a scoundrel in the area of Hejian Mansion in Zhili, and that the teenager was imprisoned for selling sulfur, and after being released from prison, he changed to repair leather shoes, thus earning the nickname of "Pi Lianying". Later, Li Lianying came to Beijing, because she had no life, and she learned from the eunuch Shen Lanyu that the Empress Dowager Xi was angry because the eunuch combed her hair without skill, so she first went to the Bada Hutong and practiced the skill of combing the new hairstyle by combing Sister Yao's hair. Then he asked Shen Lanyu to introduce him, and entered the palace as the combing eunuch of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and was favored by Cixi......

But Lou Chunfan knows that the above-mentioned Li Lianying's resume is actually just a romance of a folk boring person. The ban on the Qing Palace has always been strict, and if Li Lianying wants to enter the palace as a slave as an old age, it is purely a fantasy! What's more, now that the heroine is in the court, if her words and deeds are slightly different, there will be rumors of palace filth, and now the queen mother is a strong nature, even if it is not for the face of the Qing Dynasty, just for her own face, she will not allow a six-root impure adult man to be a slave.

In fact, Li Lianying was sent to the palace by Prince Zheng Duanhua as early as the seventh year of Xianfeng, when she was just a 13-year-old eunuch. However, this little eunuch who was still named Li Jinxi at that time was smart and well-behaved, and he was born with a wonderful mouth. It is also thanks to his well-behaved temperament that after the "Xinyou Change" in the first year of Tongzhi, Prince Zheng Duanhua was given to commit suicide as one of the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and his younger brother Su Shun - that is, the head of the eight ministers of Gu Ming who still hated the Empress Dowager Cixi, another "sixth master" among the nobles of the Qing Dynasty, Fu Xucaishikou, the Empress Dowager of the West immediately purged the guards and eunuchs associated with the eight ministers in the palace, and Li Lianying, as a eunuch sent into the palace by Prince Zheng's palace, was able to stay alone. It depends on the well-behaved and cautious nature that everyone likes.

In the third year of Tongzhi, Li Lianying was transferred from Jingren Palace to serve by the Empress Dowager of the West, and it was not until the eighth year of Tongzhi that the Empress Dowager of the West drove the last powerful eunuch An Dehai because of his flying and domineering, and was beheaded by Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, for the crime of "violating the ancestral system and leaving the Beijing division without permission", he began to emerge in the palace. However, I don't know if it's because he experienced the terrifying purge in the Forbidden City after the "Xinyou Coup" when he was a teenager, and when he became an adult, he saw the impact of the sad end of the once arrogant Father-in-law An.

For example, just now, even for such a big change, in the face of people who know his cronies well, he did not show the slightest abnormality.

Although Lou Chunfan didn't say it explicitly just now, the implication was very obvious: the Japanese went to Taiwan to attack Fanmin, and it was likely that they wanted to rob the golden silk nanmu used for garden workers!

Gardener! Whose gardener?

When today's Emperor Tongzhi issued an edict, announcing the rebuilding of the Old Summer Palace, "the amount of repairs", in order to "prepare for the mercy of public opinion", that is, to imitate the old example of Qianlong Ye, for the queen mother to build a pension place!

And once the Japanese army invades Taiwan, the first to delay must be the queen mother's garden workers!

And the person who can make him feel as anxious as an ant in a hot pot because of the delay of the garden worker, he does not dare to say that he is under the whole world, but only in this Qing Dynasty, except for the one who is "recuperating" in the Changchun Palace at this time, he will not think about the second person......

"I think Li Zhengtai must have been worried that the matter of the garden workers would be delayed because of this, so he sent Mr. Lou to remind me, right?" Li Lianying smiled and said, "Li Zhitai really has a heart. ”

"Exactly, the current news is not yet confirmed, if there is no such thing, it will naturally be better, but if such a thing really happens, I am afraid that it will ......" Lou Chunfan said.

I don't know when the wind has picked up outside, and the gloomy clouds are very low, covering the patio courtyard with a gray and gloomy tone, just like Li Lianying's mood at the moment.

encountered such a tricky incident, Li Lianying, who has always been known for her wisdom, felt that ten thousand ants were devouring her heart at this time, but he didn't want outsiders to see it, so he just sat on the chair and continued to drink watermelon juice.

"Li Zhengtai asked me to inform Mr. Li, which means that Mr. Li has a number in mind and keeps a back hand in advance." Lou Chunfan noticed that the atmosphere in the room was a little tense, and pretended to be relaxed and said, "There is nothing else." ”

"These military affairs, a slave like me, where can I speak, what can I do?" Seeing Lou Chunfan say this, Li Lianying smiled again, "Or, Mr. Lou will teach me a method?" ”

"Before I came, I heard my family Master Li say that the Japanese went to Taiwan this time, and they heard that they had hired American ships, and they themselves sent a few military ships to escort them." Lou Chunfan said, "To go to Taiwan, you must take the sea route, I think, if you can block them in the middle of the road in advance and prevent them from going to Taiwan, will this matter be easy to do?" ”

"Didn't the Harbour Master build a lot of warships? It shouldn't be a hassle to intercept a few Japanese boats, right? Li Lianying asked quietly.

"The shipmaster is to build a number of warships, and there are shipmasters and sailors, but this sailor ships, due to the needs of coastal defense in various provinces, are mostly stationed in various ports and passes, if you want to assemble an army, you need to have a competent person to lead." Lou Chunfan seemed to remind Li Lianying and said, "Most of the shipping masters are transferred by the Minister of Merchant Shipping of the Fujian Governor's Association, but now the Fujian Governor Wang Kaitai Wang has been sick, I am afraid it will be difficult to bear this heavy responsibility!" If the Japanese do not come to invade, it is better to say that once they really come, there will be no competent person to command, and the shipmaster and sailor will not be able to stop it. Lord Lin Yizhelin, the acting governor of Fujian, is a suitable candidate, but now that he is in mourning, he cannot command the army according to the rules. ”

"There is a priority, an urgent matter, a delay, no matter what, you still can't miss the garden worker." Li Lianying smiled, "Yes, I'll go back and find out the news." ”

After Li Lianying and Lou Chunfan said goodbye, they left in a hurry. After Lou Chunfan sent Li Lianying away, he recalled Li Lianying's reaction just now, and already knew that he had already done what Li Hongzhang told him.

Li Lianying hurried back to the palace and entered the palace gate, only then did he find that the back of his neck was covered with cold sweat.

"! Oriental devils can't get along with Lao Tzu! As he sat down alone in the room, he was in a rare rage.

Now he has made up his mind to say whatever he says, he will move the Empress Dowager Cixi, and immediately let his "virtuous brother" Lin Yizhe "regain his love"!

Only if he comes to command the shipmaster and sailor, it will be possible to defeat the Japanese!

And Lin Yizhe didn't know at this time that Li Lianying's words had bought him three days of precious time!

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"What's the speed now?"

The commander of the "Flying Thunder" high-speed notification ship, Lin Guoxiang looked at his pocket watch, turned his head and asked.

"It's 18 knots, and it's the top speed." The third officer, Yang Yonglin, replied.

"Throw all the wood from the ship into the hearth!" Lin Guoxiang thought about it and ordered in a deep voice.

Hearing Lin Guoxiang's order, Yang Yonglin and several officers widened their eyes in surprise.

"What are you doing? Just go! If this holy decree can't be delivered, you and I, as well as the officers and men of the whole ship, will all have to go to the vegetable market to gather together! Lin Guoxiang said angrily.

Of course, Yang Yonglin understood that Lin Guoxiang was not joking with everyone, and he also knew what was being transported on this warship, so he immediately replied loudly: "Yes!" ”

Soon, in the boiler room of the "Thunder", a large amount of wood was carried down by the sailors, including wood used to plug the leak, as well as beautifully made tables and chairs, which were chopped into pieces by several sailors with axes and thrown into the hearth.

After a while, Lin Guoxiang, who was standing in the command tower, felt the tremor under his feet, and knew that his subordinates carried out his orders to the letter, but at this time, his heart was still anxious.

After the "Flying Thunder" sent to Tianjin an excerpt from Li Henian, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Wang Kaitai, the governor of Fujian, Wen Yu, the general of Fuzhou, and Shen Baozhen, the minister of shipping of Fujian, about the Japanese invasion and the imminent dispatch of troops to Taiwan, and forwarded it from Tianjin to Beijing, the Military Aircraft Department headed by Prince Gong and the Prime Minister Yamen were shocked when they learned the news, and immediately reported this emergency. I went to the Shengfan area of Taiwan to inspect and "prepare for the camera". Now the "Flying Thunder" is sending this will!

The speed of the "Flying Thunder" increased again, and Lin Guoxiang asked about the speed again, and after getting the answer of "Section 19.5", he felt slightly better.

The line type of the "Thunder" high-speed notification ship was carefully designed by the chief engineer of the ship, Dashbo, and it lengthened the length of the "Meiyun" class (the total length reached 62.5 meters without the bow mast, and the "Meiyun" class was only 58 meters), and the width was shortened (from 7.48 meters to 7.3 meters in the "Meiyun" class), which was more conducive to high-speed navigation; the power system configuration was very trendy, using a British 2,000-horsepower three-rise composite steam turbine (an improved model of the "Weiyuan"-class main engine), and equipped with four automobile-type boilers. At that time, the three-rise composite steam turbine was also a novelty in Britain, and the British provided this kind of main engine to the shipmaster not only to counterbalance the influence of France in the shipyard, but also to use the Chinese warship as a "guinea pig" to test the new power system. (At that time, the performance of the automobile boiler and the French double-headed round high-pressure boiler was equally equal, so the shipmaster adopted an eclectic approach when building the "Feiting"-class high-speed notification ship -- the first ship "Feiting" and the second ship "Feiying" used automobile-type boilers, while the third ship "Feipeng" and the fourth ship "Feihong" used French-type circular high-pressure boilers) It is with such a luxurious power configuration that the "Feiting" becomes an out-and-out high-speed ship (of course, the warships of this class pay the price of living space). Because most of the internal space of the hull is occupied by the engine, boiler and coal bunker, the space of the main cabin of the crew and the living quarters of the officers is greatly compressed, and many crew members can only play hammocks in the open air, and being able to climb onto the deck to breathe has also become a "welfare" that the sailors of this class of ships think about day and night. At this time, Lin Guoxiang was so tossed that the "Feiting", which was designed to have a maximum speed of 18 knots, ran at a top speed of nearly 20 knots, which can be said to be like "flying" on the sea!

In fact, the "Flying Thunder" could run even faster, but Lin Guoxiang was afraid that if the speed was too high, the boiler would overheat and cause a borehole, leaving room for improvement.

If the boiler of the "Flying Thunder" exploded due to excessive combustion, not to mention that all the people on this ship would be finished, and the holy decree that the imperial court had ordered that it must be delivered early could not be delivered to Lin Yizhe, then it would be a great crime for all the people on the ship to be beheaded!

Yang Yonglin stood on the flybridge, feeling the slightly trembling "Flying Thunder" on the sea like an arrow from the string, and the strong sea breeze blowing over his body, he couldn't help but close his eyes, open his arms, and make a flying posture.