In order to ensure the success of the fort construction, Li Shaoquan once suggested that foreign technicians be hired to preside over the construction of the Yantai fort, but Ding Zhihuang did not think so, and he still insisted that the people of China should be responsible for the construction. At the beginning of 9075 (the first year of Guangxu), according to Ding Zhihuang's overall plan, under the specific auspices of Zhang Yinhuan, the construction of the Tongshengang project began. Ding Zhihuang then went to Yantai to review the water division and inspected the newly built Tongshengang Fort. In his recital to the imperial court, Ding Zhihuang gave a detailed introduction to the overall situation of the Tongshengang Fort.

Ding Zhihuang said in the recital that the weizi was built along the mountain, with a height of one zhang and two feet, a width of one zhang and six feet, a thickness of two zhang and one foot at the bottom, and a circumference of two hundred and ninety-five zhang. A camp gate is set up in the south of the polder, and another layer of outer polder is added outside the door. Three small balancing platforms were built on the east side of the polder to prepare for contact. There are 6 forts built in the polder: a double-decker circular fort is built in the northeast and southeast directions; An open-air fort was built in the southwest and northwest directions; Two small forts were built due west. Among them, the double-decker circular forts in the northeast are mainly responsible for defending Haikou, the two forts in the southeast and southwest are mainly responsible for defending the rear road, and the forts in the northwest are mainly responsible for defending the sand bank and the Zhifu land route.

The two circular forts in the northeast and southeast can be said to be the main forts of the Tongshengang Fort. It is divided into two floors, the upper floor is open-air and is used for the installation of cannons. The lower level houses artillery firing, as well as ammunition depots, soldiers' quarters, etc., and is topped by a layer of lids, called "taigai", inlaid with iron plates for protection. Ding Zhihuang believes that the construction method of these two forts is "no different from that of Western law". And other projects are also "new." with a co-ordination". He was very satisfied.

The Tsushinooka Fort is under construction. "All projects are built with triple soil." It was only in the construction of a watchtower in the northeast corner for lookout that "masonry was used".

After inspecting Tsushioka, Ding Zhihuang felt that the fort as a whole still needed to be further improved. He thought that another fort should be built on the mountainside of the Duoshan Mountain, two miles north of the Weizi, so as to form a horn with the Weizi; At the same time, it is necessary to build a small bunker-type fort at the bend of the mound on the east side of the polder. After conducting a field survey. Ding Zhihuang asked Zhang Yinhuan and others to seize the time to purchase land and build these two forts.

Although Li Shaoquan expressed his support for Ding Zhihuang's single-minded efforts to repair the fort, he also reminded him many times that he should also pay attention to the construction of the water division. In order to strengthen the defense of the Beijing-Tianjin gateway area, Li Shaoquan suggested to Ding Zhihuang that the powers of affairs be unified, and that the Shandong Naval Division and the Beiyang Naval Division be "combined in one place" and set up a single commander to unify the exercise and command, so that they can "work together to resist the enemy" when encountering an invasion by foreign enemies. But it was resolutely opposed by Ding Zhihuang.

The reason why Ding Zhihuang opposed the merger of the Shandong Naval Division and the Beiyang Naval Division was very simple. He did not intend to lose control of the Rong Deng Naval Division, as well as the corresponding right to allocate funds for coastal defense.

Since Shandong is a province that only has a governor and no governor, although Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili, is nominally one level higher than the governor of Shandong, in fact the governor of Shandong is at the same level as the governor of Zhili, and the two sides can only discuss the issue of coastal defense construction, because at that time, under the resolute opposition of Ding Zhihuang, Li Shaoquan could only give up the idea of merging the water divisions. It was not until later that the Rongdeng Naval Division mutinied because Ding Zhihuang ignored the imperial court's edict of "replacing the small steamer" to ration the old-style rushing ships in order to save money, and Ding Zhihuang was dismissed from the post of governor of Shandong and demoted to Sichuan.

After Lin Yiqing learned the details of that year from Li Shaoquan, he had doubts about the quality of these forts built under the auspices of Ding Zhihuang, and after discussing with Li Shaoquan, the first place he went to was Dengzhou.

Lin Yiqing questioned the quality of the fort, not because he suspected that Ding Zhihuang, who had a clean reputation, was greedy for ink, but because he doubted the ability of a clean official like Ding Zhihuang.

In addition to the mutiny caused by the purchase of a boat, another important reason for Ding Zhihuang's resignation was the breach of the Yellow River embankment that he presided over.

A person who can turn such a "project for the benefit of the people" as the Yellow River embankment into a "project that harms the people" will have to put a big question mark on the quality of the forts he presided over.

With Lin Yiqing's understanding of Ding Zhihuang, he can be compared to Zhang Boxing, a "famous minister" of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Whether in the past or now, whether at home or abroad, there will always be a part of people who have the ability to "be a man". They may not have outstanding performance, but they can be appreciated by their superiors; may not have extraordinary talents, but they can rise to the top. For example, the famous Zhang Boxing, although Emperor Ningxu praised him, Lin Yiqing was able to conclude through his understanding of the history of this era that this is a master who can "whole the scene" (Northeast dialect, like to do superficial articles).

Zhang Boxing is a person from Yifeng in Henan of the Qing River (that is, Lankao, there has been a similar celebrity in this place, because of the well-known reasons, omitted not to be listed), the word filial piety first, the number Jingan, and the number one Shu Zhai. Jinshi of the Ningxu Dynasty. He has successively served as a scholar in Zhongshu, a servant of Jining, an envoy of Jiangsu, a governor of Fujian, a governor of Jiangsu, a waiter in the warehouse, a right waiter in the household department, and a secretary in the Ministry of Rites. When he was an official, he once had "Forbidden Feeding" famous all over the world: "One millet and one baht, all the people's fat." For every penny, the people will receive a portion; If you want a penny, your body will be tainted by a penny. Although it is said that communication is common, it is not wasted in etiquette. Think about the utensils of the ritual text, where does this thing come from? The capital court is not only the heart of the ice tiller alliance, but also the comrades of the division, the service period is bud tho Yongdu, and the wind is rising. "Zhang Boxing has indeed been consistent with his words and deeds in terms of honesty and integrity, and sometimes even overkill. When Ning Xu was transferred from Fujian to the governor of Jiangsu in the forty-eighth year, the entire travel fee only cost one or two silver, which was unbelievable. During his tenure as an official, all personal expenses, including rice, wheat and vegetables, clothing, and even flour-grinding cattle and stone mills, were all transported from his hometown in Henan. When he left Jiangsu, the local people saw him off along the way and praised him: he served as an official for several years, "stop drinking a glass of water in the south of the Yangtze River". During the "prosperous era of Ningrong" in the Great Qian Dynasty, the salaries of officials were extremely low, and the meager salaries of government officials could hardly even support their families. As a result, officials at all levels are greedy. In order to change this situation, the imperial court also issued "maintenance silver" in an attempt to improve the treatment of civil servants at all levels by increasing subsidies. But it didn't work out well. Corruption remains rampant. Therefore. The imperial court attaches great importance to advocating the issue of honesty and integrity, and Zhang Boxing's ability to be so honest and self-disciplined is a typical example of the emperor's grasp. As a result, Emperor Ningxu not only advertised him as "the first clean official in the world", but also said good things for him many times during the cadre assessment to protect this model.

In fact, Zhang Boxing can be so honest. The main reason is that he was born in a large landlord family, and he was originally worried about food and clothing, so he could make some moves in this regard to attract the attention of the emperor. Of course, the wealth of his family did not constitute a sufficient condition for Zhang Boxing to become a Qing official, who was a scholar, a physicist, and deeply influenced by Cheng Zhu's thought, who once said, "If you receive a penny, you are not only disloyal, but also unfilial." The family is wealthy and has no worries. The deep-rooted ideology of science is the basis of his economic thinking to become a generation of Qing officials.

But. While known for his integrity, as a senior government official and provincial and ministerial-level leader, Zhang Boxing's political achievements are difficult to compliment; he has been an official in Fujian and Jiangsu for many years, although he can be diligent and compassionate to the people, but he has no political achievements. When I was in office, my favorite thing to do was to be diligent in writing, either reporting or impeaching. During his years as governor of Jiangsu, Jiangsu Province was infested with thieves and a mountain of cases, showing his mediocrity and incompetence in handling government affairs. Therefore, another comment given to him by the common people in Jiangnan divided into two is "be diligent in your work, lazy in closing the case, quasi-lies, and be wronged to the end". Even Emperor Ningxu said, "Although Zhang Boxing's ethics are clear, he is confused and has no talent for doing things." Emperor Rongfang simply reprimanded Zhang Bo as a "puppet". The "Yifeng County Chronicles," which was compiled and revised by Ji Huangzhong and Wang Ji of Yifeng Zhixian County, Zhang Boxing's hometown, and published in the 29th year of Daqian Quanlong, believes that as a celebrity in the county, Zhang Boxing's "political achievements really need to be re-studied."

As emperors, Emperor Ning Xu and his son Emperor Rongfang, although they were dissatisfied with Zhang Boxing's political achievements, they still fully affirmed his integrity when he was in politics. In the first year of Emperor Rongfang's reign, he appointed the 73-year-old Zhang Boxing as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and gave him the list of "Famous Ministers of Rites and Music", giving high praise. On February 16, the third year of Rongfang, Zhang Boxing died of illness, and Emperor Rongfang gave him the title of "Qing Ke" and posthumously awarded the title of Prince Taibao. In the fourth year of Guangxu, Zhang Boxing was allowed to worship the Confucian Temple. From the Great Qian Dynasty to the present, there are only three people who worship the Temple of Literature with famous ministers: Zhang Boxing, Tang Bin, and Lu Longqi. Zhang Boxing was able to put the "scene" to this point, and it was not in vain that he did not waste his life's thoughts.

Zhang Boxing's example is a good illustration of the essence of those so-called "clean officials", and Ding Zhihuang's actions are the same as Zhang Boxing's.

Seeing Lin Yiqing touching the wall made of Sanhe soil, his face was a little wrong, and the heart of the fort guard couldn't help but chuckle.

How well this fort was built, in fact, these people knew very well in their hearts.

But they can't help it, who will let ...... The money allocated by the Qing official Ding Daqing to repair the fort is pitiful?

"The four walls of this fort are all built with 'Sanhe soil', right?" Lin Yiqing straightened up, brushed his hand, and asked calmly.

"If you go back to the lord, it is indeed built with 'Sanhe soil'." The fort guard hurriedly replied.

The so-called Sanhe soil is a common name and there is no precise definition. Some say that after the sand is mixed with a certain proportion of lime, it is rammed, from one foot to two inches; It is also said that lime, glutinous rice juice, clam ash, cow hair, etc. are mixed with the soil, and then rammed, from four inches to eight points. At the time, it was said that this kind of triple clay was harder than iron and stone, and it was difficult to cut down the whole piece even if it was cut with an axe. Therefore, most of the imitation Western-style forts built during this period were made of triple soil.

Lin Yiqing didn't ask again, but took the axe that had been prepared a long time ago, and slashed it at the wall a few times, but sure enough, he didn't cut it, Rao is strong because he had a lot of strength, and he only cut some pieces down with a few axes.

Seeing that the wall was not cracked, the fort guard and several officers accompanying him were all relieved.

Lin Yiqing picked up the fragment and looked at it, put it under his nose and sniffed it, as if he understood something.

Lin Yiqing threw away the fragments in his hand, turned around and walked to a gun emplacement, on which a huge cannon was covered with a red tarpaulin, Lin Yiqing stepped forward to take a look, waved his hand, and the two relatives stepped forward and immediately lifted the tarpaulin, revealing the covered artillery.

This is a huge breech cannon, the barrel is short and sleek, the muzzle is thick, and it is very powerful at a glance, but after Lin Yiqing saw it, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He was very familiar with modern weapons, and he recognized it at a glance as an Armstrong-style breech gun. In the Great Qianguo. Probably a new type of artillery. But in its place of origin, I'm afraid that such a model can no longer be found.

Lin Yiqing stepped forward and stroked the cannon body, the surface of the cannon body was very smooth, black and shiny, and there were oil stains on it, indicating that the maintenance was still okay, but judging from the friction marks on the shaft below, this cannon should not have been let go for a long time.

"Can you shoot it?" Lin Yiqing looked at the fort guard. He pointed to the cannon in front of him.

The "......" battery guard had a difficult face, he turned his head to look at the two armored cruisers "Yangwu" and "Chaoyong" parked on the sea, and said, "The last general...... Afraid...... Accidentally injured ...... Warship. ”

Lin Yiqing went north to inspect the ship, and the shipping minister Ding Yusheng was worried that he would "have no official position and be despised by the guards," so he specially arranged for him to sit on the latest armored cruiser "Yangwu" to "act with great strength." After learning the news, the Beiyang side also dispatched the latest main cruiser "Chaoyong" to escort him. Wherever Lin Yiqing went, officials and generals from all over the country obeyed his orders.

Hear the answer of the battery guard. Lin Yiqing just smiled slightly, "It doesn't matter, I just wanted to see if the warship could withstand such a cannon bombardment, so you can put it away." ”

The words of the fort guard were actually just excuses, of course he knew that with the range of this cannon, it would not be able to hit the warship in the sea at all, but he didn't expect Lin Yiqing to say such a thing, he knew that Lin Yiqing had seen through the reality of this cannon, and he couldn't help but blush.

The garrison of the battery hardened his head and gave the order to fire the cannon, and with the officer's order and command, the fort began to get busy.

Seeing so many people working around this cannon, Lin Yiqing couldn't help grinning.

Although there has been no exercise for a long time, the gunners' operations are very rusty, but the command of several artillery is still quite experienced, under their command, a gunner stands on the right side of the cannon with a projectile pusher and a gun brush, a gunner stands next to the cannon ready to receive ammunition, two gunners clean the cannon's chamber and fire door, a gunner punches holes in the cartridge, loads the cartridge and inserts the ignition tube.

Immediately after receiving the order to fire, the gun commander gave the order to reload the ammunition and specify the type of ammunition required, indicating the range at which the shell would reach the target. The two gunners consulted a table detailing the required angles of fire for the shells, charges and ranges, as well as the flight time of the corresponding shells, and after consulting the tables, the gunners reported aloud to the gunner the required angles of fire.

Lin Yiqing saw that the gun commander used a quadrant to determine the angle of fire and adjust it with the sight, and at the same time ordered the two gunners to adjust the gun with the stick and rocker arm of the gun position, and made appropriate corrections according to the wind direction.

A large, long, cannonball was laboriously transported by the gunner to the muzzle, where another gunner was stuffed into the chamber, and a gunner guarded the fire door, and the loaded gunner quickly pulled the ejector from the muzzle, and several other gunners stepped back, and then a gunner came to the fire door and installed the firing tube.

After much effort, the ammunition was finally loaded, and the gunner checked the cannon to make sure that the shell was fitted, that it was the one that was needed, and that the cartridge had not leaked gunpowder or suffered any other damage. After that, one of the gunners pulled up the fire rope and waited for the order to fire.

"Sir, you're ready, you're ready to fire." The fort guard saw that his subordinates were doing a good job, and he was a little proud, he looked at Lin Yiqing, and asked for instructions as if demonstrating.

"Let's go." Lin Yiqing nodded, his mouth opened slightly, and he raised his hands to cover his ears.

Seeing Lin Yiqing and his subordinates all acting like this, the fort guard's heart sank, he knew that the actions of these people looked a little ridiculous, but it showed that they had really been on the battlefield, because only people who had experienced the artillery battle formation would have such a reaction.

The fort guard covered his ears with one hand, waved the other hand at the gunners, signaled to open the cannon, and the gunner with the arquebus, seeing this, pulled the arquebus with all his might.

"Boom!" With an earth-shattering bang, a huge cloud of black smoke erupted from the huge cannon muzzle, instantly enveloping the entire gun position, followed by the piercing whistling sound of the cannonball flying through the air.

Because the black smoke produced by this cannon was too thick, when the shell fell into the sea, everyone could not see it clearly, fortunately, Lin Yiqing did not give the order to release the second cannon, and the gun commander naturally did not need to be more accurate, so it was easy to wait until the sea breeze blew away the black smoke, everyone looked at the sea, saw the sea water surging in the distance, and roughly knew the impact point, and the distance from the two warships on the sea was not half a star.

"What does the lord think?" Seeing that a cannon was successfully fired, the fort guard asked Lin Yiqing proudly.

Lin Yiqing didn't seem to hear what he was saying, his eyes were just staring closely at the base of the cannon that had just been fired, and the muzzle was still smoking.

The fort guard was about to ask again, but when he saw Lin Yiqing's face change, he shouted: "Everyone evacuate the gun position!" ”

"Sir, what did you say?" The guard of the fort was puzzled and asked again.

"Tell everyone to get out of their gun positions and come over here at once! Fast! Lin Yiqing glared at him fiercely and shouted.

The fort guards let him be confused, but the gunners heard the clue, and immediately threw away the belongings in their hands and ran quickly to the surroundings where Lin Yiqing and his party were. (To be continued......)

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