The renovation project of the "Wannian Qing" is nearing completion, but he knows that even this "China's first ship" that has been renovated and strengthened is absolutely incomparable with the ironclad ships of the French Navy. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because the victory of the French navy in the surprise attack on Kiel and the total annihilation of the Prussian navy turned the tide of the Franco-Prussian War in one fell swoop, the battle of Kiel attracted wide attention from all countries in the world. The ironclad ship showed great power in this naval battle and became the object of much attention. The world's naval powers have begun to re-study the tactics of ironclad ships, and it is obvious that there will be a round of construction of ironclad ships, but now China is still hesitating here with gunboats!

“…… At this meeting with the envoy of the French lord in Tianjin, seeing that the ironclad ship he was riding on had many cannons, the armor was strong and fast, and the cannons fired a salvo, like a flying dragon, he was not only frightened, but also felt the shortcomings of China's coastal defense...... With the Xueqin Water Division, if you still know this, you don't care about it......"

At this time, Lin Yizhe remembered the words in Zeng Guofan's letter again.

How can we change the fate of this big empire as soon as possible?

I don't know how long it took, and the sky unconsciously appeared fish belly white. After determining that it was impossible for him to sleep, Lin Yizhe quietly got out of Caiyue's arms, put on his clothes, and came to the window.

Lin Yizhe looked out the window, and through the thin mist, he could see the surface of the Majiang River in the distance.

Thinking that the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War had been rewritten, that the devastated France would focus on the Prussian threat for a while, that it would not have the strength to expand in the East, and that the possibility of the outbreak of the historical Battle of Majiang had become very small, Lin Yizhe was slightly relieved and diluted the depression brought by that nightmare.

"Sir! Master! Oh no! The figure of the porter hurriedly appeared in the corridor not far away, and when he saw Lin Yizhe standing in front of the window, he immediately shouted.

"What's wrong?" Lin Yizhe was shocked and immediately asked.

"The factory is reporting from there, Lord Zhou...... At the pier...... No......" said the porter breathlessly.

"What?!"

The shipyard area, the "Wannian Qing" ship transformation wharf.

Zhou Kaixi sat in a wheelchair, his eyes staring directly at the "Wannian Qing" gunboat that was being transformed. The wind blowing from the Ma River blew a corner of the blanket that covered his knees, and he seemed to be unaware of it.

Zhou Kaixi, who was still carefully looking at "Wannian Qing" through the telescope just now, sighed heavily in his throat, and the telescope was weakly put down, regret and unwillingness were written on Zhou Kaixi's face that had already lost his shape.

"Master, it's windy here, let's go back." Two attendants reminded from the side.

Zhou Kaixi didn't answer, still obsessively looking at the scaffolding "Wan Nian Qing", this boat embodies too much of his hard work and expectations, how much he wants to see the new "Wan Nian Qing" galloping on the sea again.

But now, he was destined not to see this day.

"Smack!"

As soon as the hand was released, the telescope fell to the ground and stopped after half a circle.

The two attendants were startled, "Master, master?" ”

There was no response.

The entourage was stunned, the muscles on their faces began to twitch slightly, and in order to confirm their judgment, one of them put his finger under Zhou Kaixi's nose-

He slowly retracted his trembling hands, and looked at the old master, who was still looking at the "Wannian Qing" like a sculpture, but there was no sign of life, "Master-" The two attendants immediately cried to the ground, crying silently.

After crying for a long time, the entourage did not forget their duties, one of them stayed in place to take care of Zhou Kaixi's body, and the other wiped his tears while rushing towards the Harbour Master's Office.

When Shen Baozhen hurried to Wannianqing's renovated dock with all the shipping officials, Zhou Kaixi was still sitting in a wheelchair. Mrs. Zhou and her children were already crying to death.

"Silky! Silky! Shen Baozhen, who had just rushed over after hearing the news, couldn't help but shed tears when she saw Zhou Kaixi's death.

At this time, Zhou Kaixi was lying on the recliner, his eyes were still looking directly at the "Wannian Qing" on the dock, his eyes were blazing, and his eyes full of hope were fixed on his face at this time.

Shen Baozhen stepped forward, looked at Zhou Kaixi's remains, and stretched out his hand while crying, wanting to cover Zhou Kaixi's eyes, but he repeated several times, and Zhou Kaixi's eyes never closed.

Lin Yizhe endured his grief and stepped forward, held Zhou Kaixi's hand, and whispered a few words in his ear. After Lin Yizhe finished speaking, he stood up, and Shen Baozhen gently covered Zhou Kaixi's eyelids with his hand again, and this time, Zhou Kaixi's eyes closed.

"What did you talk to him about?" Shen Baozhen asked with tears in her eyes.

"The unfulfilled wish of the public, my generation will meet it, and the public will go with peace of mind! On the day of the re-voyage of the 'Ten Thousand Years of Qing', the book burning will be announced! ”

On December 5, 1870, Zhou Kaixi, the harbour master, died of illness at the age of 62.

Zuo Zongtang, who was far away in the northwest, learned the news of Zhou Kaixi's death, and did not show grief, but in a letter to his friends, he briefly mentioned it:

"On the way to Jiuquan, I had to report the mourning of Shoushan, and I was deeply saddened. Gai Shoushan is in the shipyard, her spirit is difficult to declare, she has not recovered from her illness for a long time, and she is full of consciousness in danger, which can be a great relief. Shou Shan is simple and honest by nature, extremely resolute, since the Yu Governor in the northwest, no longer see each other, only correspondence. How do you know that it will become an eternal secret? …… I heard that the officials in Fujian said that this is just a false name, and it is not enough to make up for the dead! ”

And Hu Xueyan, who was far away in Hangzhou, learned the news of Zhou Kaixi's death almost at the same time, and this time, he wrote a few pairs of elegiac couplets in a comfortable mood, picked out the one he was most satisfied with, and asked someone to take it to Fuzhou.

On January 12, 1871, the renovated "Wannian Qing" was successfully tested. The modified "Wannianqing" has two 120-mm main guns (head and tail arrangement) and 6 75-mm secondary guns (broadside arrangement, 3 guns on one side), becoming a real gunboat. After the successful transformation, the "Wannianqing" underwent several sea trials and achieved satisfactory test results. Lin Yizhe immediately made a detailed report to the imperial court, and Dashibo and other relevant personnel were explicitly commended by the imperial court. Shen Baozhen then went to the imperial court and requested that the "Wannian Qing" be retained as a training ship for the shipmaster to train Chinese naval officers. However, at this time, due to the rampant piracy in Zhejiang, Zhejiang took a fancy to the transformed "Wannianqing" and requested that the "Wannianqing" be transferred to Zhejiang to be retained to eradicate the pirates.

The gunboat "Wannian Qing", which was greatly praised and affirmed by the Qing government, arrived in Zhejiang on February 2, 1870. Shortly thereafter, the "Wannian Qing" carried out its mission for the first time in line with its status as a warship, and led the warships "Meiyun" and "Zhenhai" that had been transferred to Zhejiang Province to the waters of Zhejiang to suppress pirates. Since then, the "Wannian Qing" has always served as the flagship of this small fleet, sailing and protecting merchants in the seas around Ningbo and Wenzhou, shelling pirates, and appeasing the seas.

On this day, Lin Yizhe came to the shipyard cemetery in the back mountain early to worship Zhou Kaixi, who was buried here.

After Zhou Kaixi's death, his family planned to transport his coffin back to his hometown for burial, but Zhou Kaixi left a will before his death, hoping that after his death, "I have to borrow the ship's office to dig the soil and watch here". In accordance with Zhou Kaixi's last wish, Lin Yizhe chose a piece of land in the mountain behind the shipyard and built a cemetery, so that Zhou Kaixi could get his wish and sleep here for a long time, watching the shipyard construction site.

After the worship was completed, the book was burned to inform the news that the gunboat "Wannian Qing" was retained in Zhejiang to suppress thieves, and after sprinkling and sweeping Zhou Kaixi's tomb, Lin Yizhe left the cemetery and came to the newly established shipyard gun station.

At present, the shipmaster gun station is in full swing producing "Lin's machine guns".

After Lin Yizhe handed over the sample guns and drawings of the "Lin's machine gun" to Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan immediately forwarded them to Li Hongzhang, who was very satisfied with this machine gun after watching and test-firing it himself. Immediately discussed with Lin Yizhe how to mass produce and equip it. After learning about the difficulty in the source of the barrel, Li Hongzhang, who was rich in money, immediately did something that Lin Yizhe admired.

After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the question of what to do with the large surplus of arms became a headache for the reunited government of the United States of America. At this time, the Westernization Movement was in full swing in China, and the huge number of Chinese military ordnance rearmament operations undoubtedly attracted the attention of many American arms dealers, and American-made weapons took the opportunity to expand their share of the Chinese arms market that they had occupied since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.

But at this time, China's Western-style tycoons are becoming more and more discerning about the choice of guns and artillery, and the taste is becoming more and more difficult to serve, and the outdated backlog can no longer fool them into digging their wallets, and they must use new gadgets to impress them. As a result, the "Remington" Model 1866 breech-loading single-shot No. 1 rifle came into play. The "No. 1 gun" is the largest and most widely equipped of the entire huge "Remington" family (the "Remington" family has developed from the "No. 1 gun" to the "No. 6 gun"), and when the Americans sent a sample gun through Latham & Watkins, Li Hongzhang openly accepted that this was a new thing for the West. But at the same time, he was also very embarrassed to say that these guns were all "old goods" that had been fired, and the life of the barrel would definitely be discounted, and it was not impossible for him to agree to the Americans' bid, but each gun had to come with accessories such as barrels and firing pins, that is, it was required to send a set of accessories for each gun, and the Americans, who were eager to dump the goods, actually expressed their willingness to give away three barrels and three sets of firing pins for every two guns in order to promote business. After the business was completed, the barrels and accessories that were given away were packed by Li Hongzhang and sent to the shipmaster, which became the materials for the "Lin's machine gun" made by the shipmaster's gun.

———— Dividing Line————

Collect! Ask for recommendations!