In his small study, Li Hongzhang was distraught by the reports and official documents he had received, which showed that the situation was getting worse and worse: the Japanese, the main war faction in the imperial court, and the emperor, who had been bewitched by the main war faction, now all wanted China to start a war with Japan immediately, and even Ding Ruchang took the initiative to ask for war and lead a fleet to "fight each other" with Japan......

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Although the emperor had twice issued orders to prepare for war, Li Hongzhang did not intend to go to war with Japan. As long as there is political hope for a peaceful solution to the Korean problem, a declaration of war is not a good idea. Moreover, he was not very optimistic about whether the Beiyang Naval Division could defeat the Japanese Combined Fleet.

There is a significant difference in the number of warships equipped by the two fleets. Although there were two first-class ironclad ships, there were only eleven cruisers that could be used by the Beiyang Naval Division to fight in the open ocean—and this was the number after adding the "Guangjia", "Guangyi" and "Guangc" of the Guangdong Naval Division. The Combined Japanese Fleet, on the other hand, had three second-class ironclads and eighteen cruisers[note 1] capable of fighting in the open ocean.

The Japanese had almost twice as many warships as the Beiyang Naval Division, and they did not have an advantage only in the number of warships. Since the Beiyang Naval Division put the "Pingyuan" into service, it has not added a single battleship, nor has it updated the old guns on the battleship, and it has not even purchased shells. However, the Japanese Combined Fleet has been adding new warships, which also have enough shells, and its new warships also have a large number of slipway guns that are not available on the Beiyang battleships[Note 2].

Can relying only on the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ships make up for these gaps? When pigs fly. Although Li Hongzhang lacked a deep understanding of naval warfare and did not know the answer to his question, three years ago, Liu Buyun, the commander-in-chief of the right wing of the naval division and the "Dingyuan" pipe band, who had visited Japan, had already issued a warning that the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang naval division was far inferior to that of the Japanese navy, and demanded the immediate purchase of new warships and artillery.

However, this reasonable request was rejected because the imperial court had already approved the proposal put forward by the leader of the Qingliu River, Tobe Shangshu Weng Tongyong, to stop the purchase of foreign arms for two years, and refused to allocate funds not only for the purchase of new warships and artillery, but also for the purchase of artillery shells and the routine maintenance of warships.

If you don't advance, you will retreat, so how much combat power can the current Beiyang Naval Division have?

Moreover, even now, when the main war faction was trying their best to advocate war with Japan, his proposal to allocate 300,000 taels in installments to purchase 12 slipway guns was no longer available after it was sent to Beijing, so that he could only buy some small-caliber fast guns to fill up the number. With such a situation and attitude, the imperial court even wanted the Beiyang Naval Division to challenge the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had become even more powerful than three years ago?

"Not very optimistic", this is already an extremely conservative statement.

Even so, those main battle factions in the court are still making a big fuss about this reason.

Of course, they do, especially Weng Tongyong. Li Hongzhang knew very well that since his brother Weng Tongshu was impeached by himself, the leader of the Qing school regarded himself as an enemy. Almost every time, whenever he put forward a new proposition, such as changing the imperial examination, emphasizing Western law, or training the navy, Weng Tongyi would definitely hold him back.

This has always been the case, and nothing has changed until now. Since he advocated inviting Britain to mediate with Russia and use peaceful diplomatic means to resolve the Korean issue, he must resolutely advocate war with Japan.

As for what preparations needed to be made for the start of the war, whether the Japanese could be defeated after the war, and what kind of predicament the imperial court would face if it failed, the emperor's master Weng neither cared nor wanted to care.

Weng Tongyi definitely wouldn't care about this. Li Hongzhang knows this very well. He doesn't care about victory - if the war is won, then he is a "hero" who advocates resistance to the enemy; If the war is lost, he will not have to bear any responsibility, but will find a reasonable reason to clean himself up.

Whatever the outcome, as long as China goes to war with Japan, Weng Tonggong can benefit - in fact, not only Weng Tongyong, but also those who are in the main battle in the imperial court. In this case, Li Hongzhang was of course even more reluctant to go to war with Japan.

However, war or peace, this is not something that he can decide on his own. There is pressure at home, and Japan's attitude is too tough, and it is not entirely certain whether the mediation between Britain and Russia will work, and it seems that a peaceful settlement will be ......

"Your Excellency," someone knocked softly on the door, "and a foreign merchant has asked to see your Excellency." ”

"Didn't I say it, don't bother me now!" Li Hongzhang felt irritated. Foreign businessmen? A few days ago, a doctor from Guangdong who had studied Western medicine in Hong Kong came to his door to ask him to show him the "Book of Ten Thousand Words of Shang Li Hongzhang" and to discuss with him a plan to improve the current situation in China...... Don't these people know that the situation is tense right now and that his work is very busy?

"Tell him that I don't have time to meet him right now." Although his entourage was outside the door, he waved his sleeve as if to wave away a fly.

The retinue left, but soon returned. "My lord, it is impossible for that foreign merchant to leave. He said that there was something important to discuss with the adults...... It is related to the current situation between China and Japan. ”

The situation between China and Japan? What can a Western merchant know? Perhaps, it was just a deliberate excuse for him to try to get an audience. "Tell him I'm busy right now and ask him to wait a few days and come back."

But even if he is the minister of Beiyang, it is impossible to let Wang Zhen and Easter. Hartman gave up their assignment — in contrast to a high-ranking Chinese official, Rachel. Miss McBride's threat was much more direct. So it didn't take long for the retinue to return to the door again. "My lord, the foreign merchant insisted on seeing you now, and he said he could ......"

He didn't speak for a while, so Li Hongzhang asked, "What can he do?" ”

"He said he could buy a warship for the adults."

Warship? "What kind of business does that foreign merchant do?" Li Hongzhang wanted to know.

The attendant thought for a moment. "Yes...... Engaged in the arms business. ”

"Munitions?" An arms dealer must have only one purpose in visiting his home now: to take advantage of the growing tension between China and Japan to sell him his own arms. Li Hongzhang didn't want to meet him very much, although he also wanted to buy warships or other munitions, but he didn't have any extra funds at all, and Weng Tongyi, who was the head of the household department, was definitely not willing to allocate funds to him. But...... He thought about it for a while, but decided to meet the foreign merchant.

He decided to use the arms dealer to test Beijing's attitude. If those Qingliu, who only knew how to make trouble and drag his feet, still refused to allocate funds to rectify the armament, he could confidently reject the emperor's edict to prepare for war in Beiyang; If the imperial court agrees to allocate funds, he can at least purchase a batch of new Western-made fast guns and shells urgently needed by the fleet according to the plan......

"Let the foreign merchant wait in the front hall first, and I'll be there in a moment." He corrected his orders.

The retinue left. After a while, Li Hongzhang also stood up and slowly walked to the living room. Seeing the master appear, Hartman and Wang Zhen immediately stood up and saluted him. This made Li Hongzhang a little surprised and unhappy - Hartmann was a foreigner, it didn't matter, but Wang Zhen, although he obviously showed restraint and fear, still according to the etiquette of Westerners, only took off his hat and bowed to himself.

He frowned at once, but quickly regained his composure, sat down in his chair as if he had never felt unhappy, and nodded. "Sit."

After Hartman and Wang Zhen sat down, he immediately asked, "This gentleman, do you have anything important to discuss with me?" In fact, he should have ordered his subordinates to serve tea first, but now Li Hongzhang's mood is not very good, so this step has been omitted.

And Wang Zhen was too nervous to realize this etiquette problem at all. He quickly translated Li Hongzhang's question to Hartmann, and the German-American nodded, and said according to the lines prepared in advance: "Your Excellency Minister of Beiyang, I am Easter, the commercial representative of the American Viper Weapons Company in the Far East. Hartman. I heard that China was about to go to war with Japan, so—"

"Please wait, Mr. Hartman." Li Hongzhang's brows furrowed again, "The imperial court has not yet decided to declare war on Japan, and your statement is too rash." ”

"Master Li said that you should not say right now that China is going to war with Japan." Wang Zhen translates it like this.

"If you translate my speech according to the prepared lines, your Excellency the Minister of Beiyang will not notice that I just said 'go to war.'" Hartman replied unceremoniously.

"My lord, Mr. Hartmann said that he was very sorry for the rash remarks just made." Wang Zhen translated again - according to the lines that had been prepared in advance and that he had just forgotten, "However, Mr. Hartmann believes that in the current situation, it is necessary for China to buy a batch of arms to strengthen its defenses." ”

His transformation was so rapid that Hartmann didn't react at all. "What are you talking about?"

"Rifles and bullets." Wang Zhen immediately "translated" this sentence.

"You tell Mr. Hartman that I need clippers and guns more than guns and ammunition." In fact, rifles and ammunition were also things he needed, but the problem now was that Tobe didn't give him that much silver.

Wang Zhen completed the translation quickly. Then, when Hartman began to memorize his lines again, he continued to memorize his lines: "My lord, Mr. Hartman said that as long as you pay, he can sell you a rifle or a warship." ”

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Note 1: The Japanese Navy's three second-class ironclads and eighteen cruisers include: the ironclad ships "Hiei", "Kongo", and Fuso, the armored cruiser "Chiyoda", the protection cruisers "Naniwa", "Takachiho", "Matsushima", "Itsukushima", "Hashidate", "Yoshino", and "Akitsushu", and the cruisers "Nisshin", "Amagi", "Chikushi", "Kaimon", "Tenryu", "Katsuragi", "Yamato", "Musashi", "Takao", and "Yaeyama"

Note 2: The slipway fast gun is China's name for rapid-fire guns (to be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log in to the WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )