With the development of the Jiaqing New Deal, the Qing State changed significantly in military reform. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The power of the Eight Banners was completely weakened, and as soon as the hardcore crops were gone, the state naturally saved a lot of funds, of course, the consequence was that many Manchu people who did not have the ability to make a living began to become street beggars, and many people either sold their arts to survive, or went directly to the countryside to farm. Jiaqing is not unaware of this situation, but he can't change it. Of course, he didn't have a strong intention to change, because after there were no hardcore crops, the Qing court saved a lot of money and was able to do more.

Although the new army and the Janissary army needed more weapons and equipment, and invested more, they implemented the practice of streamlining the administration of the army and clarifying the officers in charge of the army, so that the utilization rate of military spending was improved. The original military expenditure of 20 million taels could not even be spent on the new army and the Praetorian Guard. This also made Jiaqing denounce the corruption of the previous Qing military system.

The Qing army not only built a new army of hundreds of thousands, but also focused on developing its own naval divisions. The steam ironclad warships purchased by the imperial court from the Tang Dynasty have also been equipped with newly formed naval divisions, although these naval divisions are not considered navy in the modern sense, but they are somewhat of the same. The two fleets of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Nanyang Naval Division set up by the Great Qingshui Division are equipped with more than 30 modified steam ironclad ships, which can be regarded as a hegemon in Europe in terms of equipment level.

Compared with Datang, which is also developing rapidly, there is nothing to compare. Today, Bai Nan appeared at Wusongkou Military Port to welcome the flagship of the Western Pacific Fleet of the Tang Navy, the Makino.

The Makino was the second of the Zhuolu-class battleships, which had been under construction since 1784. A total of two ships were built. The Zhuolu class was completed just last year. It took several months of trial voyages before being sent to the Far East. With a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, the Makino became the flagship of the Western Pacific Fleet. Whether it is the largest caliber 305 mm gun in the history of the Tang Army, or the seaplane she is equipped with, the Makino battleship appeared in this era, and it can almost be described as Qu Cai.

The huge steel battleship slowly approached the harbor under the guidance of the tugboat, and the people on the shore began to cheer. It doesn't matter if they are the earliest members of the Tang Dynasty Crossing Crowd, or the later immigrants. Residents who moved to Shanghai from other places, or even citizens of different ethnic origins from other overseas territories, all of them had a heartfelt admiration for the Tang Navy. This is due to the invincibility of the navy, and of course it is also related to the continuous advertorial propaganda of Datang's media.

As long as you live in the land of the Tang Dynasty, people can always hear all kinds of hymns about the army. They are the loyal guardians of the country, dedicated to protecting the personal and property safety of every citizen. Datang has always paid attention to building itself into a country that attaches great importance to the sense of honor, and the cultural foundation comes from the integrity and ethics of Chinese culture, which subtly makes this country very deep in national complex.

At the same time, the battleship Makino of more than 10,000 tons. It also conclusively represents the strong national strength of the Tang Republic. People are proud to be a part of the country, and sometimes this pride even spreads to the Qing country. Some Qing people have all kinds of beautiful visions for the Tang Dynasty. It was even unrealistic, and many people also thought that the Tang Qing were friendly and that the Tang army was also part of defending them.

The local population of the Tang Dynasty exceeded 10 million, but in fact, the size of the Tang army did not increase. Most immigrants want to live at home, and few consider joining the army, but considering that the population base is so large, Datang actually has no shortage in terms of military resources. In addition, the overall economy of the Tang Republic has continued to rise, and its financial resources have also been improved, so there is no problem in terms of funds for expanding the army. The main reason why it didn't do that was that Datang didn't need any large-scale troops now. There is almost no defensive pressure on the local side, Spain has been too busy to take care of itself in the past two years because of the chaos in the colonies, and the Americans have given them 10,000 dares not dare to make a mistake against the Tang Dynasty. Although the Tang Dynasty had vast overseas territorial colonies, there were not many soldiers stationed in these areas. This is also why the Don Army has always maintained the basic size of seven army brigades. In addition to the addition of two Zhuolu-class battleships, the navy began to build replacements for the Liberty Wind class and the Pinghai class, and new warships began to be officially launched in 1786. The replacement for the Liberty class will be the 2,600-ton Rainstorm-class frigate, while the Pinghai-class replacement will be the Dingyuan-class cruiser with a full load displacement of 8,600 tons.

The name Dingyuan was also a tribute to the other plane, she was armed with four twin 203 mm guns, the keel of the lead ship was laid at the end of 1786, it was officially completed in August 1787, and entered active service three months later. The sister ship, the cruiser Zhenyuan, was keeled in February 1787, launched in July, and officially entered service in January 1788.

Such a speed of construction is not the limit of Datang's shipbuilding industry, the navy will spread the budget evenly over multiple fiscal years, because there is no need for large-scale rearmament and dismantling for the time being, so it is not built quickly, otherwise the Datang Navy can get more than 8 cruisers in one year.

The construction speed of the Tempest class is not very fast, also because most of the active Liberty Wind class has only been in service for ten years, even if it is conservatively calculated, it has a service period of ten years, and the mainstream warships of the current European powers are still a gap from the Liberty Wind class, so there is no need to quickly reequip.

With the help of Datang, intentionally or unintentionally, the European navy is also developing very fast. By this time, basically the major European powers had completed the steam-ironclad of their navies. Even the British themselves built a 9,000-ton Warrior steam ironclad ship last year, they copied the rifled guns exported by the Tang people, raised the caliber to eight inches (203 mm), and also imported a number of Datang multi-expansion steam engines, which simply increased the speed of the 9,000-ton battleship to 16 knots. To be sure, the level of design of this battleship was low, and there were quite a few technical problems, but the industrial capabilities of the British were well demonstrated. They absorbed a lot of Datang's technology and designed and built their own naval warships. The launch of the Warrior caused panic in all parts of Europe. Louis XVI also wrote a personal letter to the Tang Congress, hoping that they would provide technical assistance to France in building a French warship comparable to the Warrior.

Even from the perspective of the Tang Navy, a ship like the Warrior is an object that can fight with the Tang Army at sea, and it is really not possible to defeat her with one or two Free Winds, and it has to be the more powerful Pinghai class. Of course, the Warrior still can't outrun the Datang ships, and if the tactics are right, the Datang Navy still has a comprehensive advantage. (To be continued.) )