Song Xiaofei supervised the officers' training at the training ground of the Army Officer Academy, and he was preparing to hold a large-scale autumn drill in the autumn. When he came back from North Korea this time, he also brought Ruan Zhongshu and other henchmen back to China to help take care of the military academy.

At the site of the meeting, Duan Qirui gave an order, and more than 100 artillery pieces on the field fired 280 mm German Krupp cannons in unison, and the cannon roared, and the earthen wall target four or five thousand meters away collapsed with a bang, and dust flew up. After a burst of artillery, the horn of the attack was blown on the field, Wang Shizhen rode a horse and drew a command knife, and rushed out with a hundred horse soldiers, the sound of horse hooves and shouting and killing shook the sky, Feng Guozhang led a team of infantry to press back and shoot in formation, the three armies were neat and coordinated, and Song Xiaofei showed a pleased smile on his face.

At the end of the meeting, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, and Feng Guozhang, who were sweating profusely, asked Song Xiaofei what his opinion was, and Song Xiaofei said: "Brothers have worked hard! I don't have a problem with horsemen and infantry, but when the artillery trains in the future, try to use moving targets, the enemy on the battlefield is alive, and it will not make you die like an earthen wall. Duan Qirui said "yes", and next time he will use the carriage as a target.

At this time, Ruan Zhongshu, who was in charge of the maintenance of the Wen Machine, came over with a letter in his hand, saying that Lord Zhongtang had sent someone to send it. Song Xiaofei took it apart and took a look, and Li Hongzhang asked him to deal with the "flag removal incident" of the Beiyang Naval Division.

According to the provisions of the "Beiyang Naval Division Regulations", the Beiyang Naval Division only has one commander and two chief soldiers, and under the commander, the chief officer has the highest rank. After Ding Ruchang left, Liu Buyun, the commander of the right wing and the commander of the "Dingyuan" ship, lowered the five-color admiral flag and raised the three-color general flag, declaring that he would be in charge of the fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division. At this time, the senior adviser of the Beiyang Navy, who thought that the "deputy admiral" Lang Weili was gone, immediately ran over and asked Liu Buyun sharply, Admiral Ding is gone, I am still in the fleet, you raise the general flag, don't you put me in the eyes of the deputy admiral? Liu Buyun had already seen him unpleasant, and told him the truth, you should first figure out the difference between the rank of admiral and the admiral. Lang Weili has been in the Beiyang Naval Division for four or five years, and this is the second time he has been hired, and he has always thought that he is the "No. 2 person" of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Song Xiaofei didn't want Li Hongzhang to know that this matter was planned by him behind the scenes, so he came to the Li Mansion in Tianjin to see Li Hongzhang, and deliberately excused himself: "Teacher, the student has always been in charge of the army and the officer academy, and this time the affairs of the Beiyang Navy Division should be in charge of Ding Ruchang, and the student may not be able to interfere." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The old man remembers that Liu Buyun is the person you recommended, and he has a conflict with Lang Weili, involving a diplomatic dispute with the British Navy, Admiral Ding Ruchang is not in the country, even if he is there, he does not understand the sailor nor diplomacy, it is more appropriate for you to deal with it, you must deal with it impartially, and settle the matter as soon as possible." ”

Song Xiaofei went to investigate and deal with the matter, and he asked Liu Buyun to go to Wangchun Tower for dinner. Liu Buyun went to the dinner and brought one more person, Lin Taizeng, the chief soldier of the left wing of the Beiyang Naval Division, introduced: "This is my own brother, my classmate and friend in the Fujian Shipbuilding School. ”

Lin Tai once stepped forward to salute Song Xiao and said: "I have heard the prestige of the general for a long time, and I have beaten the French in Vietnam and Taiwan, and I have the ambition of the people." When I saw it today, it was really a tiger's eye, and he was a talent, no wonder Lord Zhongtang was so serious about the general. ”

Song Xiaofei saw that this person had a high nose, dark skin, and full of energy, he must be a tiger general, and said with a smile: "They are all their own brothers, so don't be formal, you sailors will have the opportunity to make contributions and become famous all over the world in the future." ”

Lin Taizeng smiled and said: "Brother has been promoted, who doesn't know that now the imperial court and Li Zhongtang attach importance to the army, your army officer academy is the red flower, and our sailor is just a green leaf." ”

The three of them sat down and began to discuss how to deal with Luang Weili. As the saying goes, "if you listen to it, you will be clear, and if you listen to it, you will be dark", and Lin Taizeng chatted, Song Xiaofei found out that this Lang Weili is not simple, twice hired as the chief inspector of the Beiyang Navy, rewarded with the rank of commander, responsible for the organization, training, and exercises of the Beiyang Naval Division, strictly administering the army, and training the Beiyang Fleet in accordance with the British Navy's regulations.

However, behind the "flag removal incident" is a struggle for naval command, which cannot be easily compromised. After the German adviser Mulin betrayed China in Korea, Li Hongzhang's loyalty impression score on the foreign adviser dropped directly to less than 20. Lang Weili also wrote to Li Hongzhang to interfere in the "personnel" of the Beiyang Naval Division, saying that there were many Fujian pipes in the Naval Division, and Liu Buchan, Lin Taizeng, and Deng Shichang formed a gang, which was unruly and unruly, and the contradictions between the two sides intensified, so we must think of a solution to both worlds, neither let Lang Weili's power be too great, nor let Liu Buyun feel that they are under the command of Lang Weili, and after thinking about it, there is only one way to resolve all these contradictions: get rid of Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, and replace him himself.

Song Xiaofei pondered in his heart, the fundamental contradiction of the Beiyang Navy Division was that Ding Ruchang did not understand the sailor and blindly obeyed Lang Weili's orders, so that Liu Buyun and others felt that they were at the mercy of foreigners, and he would be the commander himself, so there would be no such problem.

Song Xiaofei felt that although this idea was bold, it was feasible, Ding Ruchang was not a national hero as said in the history books, on the contrary, he was incompetent in governing the naval division, afraid of war and avoided war, and wrote a surrender letter to himself before committing suicide, and he had unshirkable responsibility for the failure of the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and for the future of the Beiyang Naval Division, Ding Ruchang must be eliminated as soon as possible! It's just that Ding Ruchang has been with Li Hongzhang for many years, and if he makes a rash move, not only may he not be able to push down Ding Ruchang, but the infighting may cause Li Hongzhang to be disgusted, it is best to find a prestigious heavyweight in the Huai Army to make a move, in order to get Ding Ruchang, Song Xiaofei remembered his eldest brother Liu Mingchuan.

Liu Mingchuan and Ding Ruchang have an old feud, and the Huai army knows that the imperial court "cut troops and save salaries", Liu Mingchuan put Ding Ruchang's troops in the "idle" list, Ding Ruchang carried Liu Ming to the court behind his back to write a letter, saying that Liu Mingchuan had a personal vendetta, formed a party for personal gain, and embezzled military salaries, Liu Mingchuan was furious, and ordered someone to invite Ding Ruchang to the camp, ready to kill him, fortunately, Ding Ruchang was sharp at that time, ran fast, and escaped by hiding in Lujiang's hometown, Liu Mingchuan was also dismissed, and the two formed a bond.

So Song Xiaofei pointed the finger at Ding Ruchang, he first tested the tone of Liu Buyun and others, and said: "The reason why Lang Weili can fake the tiger is mainly because the Admiral is not familiar with the water master, and the Lord Zhongtang intends to replace it, what do you think?" ”

Ding Ruchang was born in a poor rural area, dropped out of school since he was ten years old, and went out to help people herd cattle, ducks, ferries, etc., to subsidize his family. At the age of fourteen, he was sent by his father to the apprenticeship of the tofu shop of his uncle, and later his parents died of hunger and illness in the drought, he took refuge in the Taiping Army and became Cheng Xueqi's subordinate. How to say it, although he fought bravely, he was a bit like Lu Bu, "three surnamed slaves", plus Ding Ruchang loved to gamble, Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng originally despised Ding Ruchang's personality and refused to accept the dispatch, and when they heard Song Xiaofei say that Li Hongzhang wanted to replace him, the two hurriedly said: "Lord Zhongtang is wise." ”

So, Song Xiaofei asked Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng to collect Ding Ruchang's "incriminating evidence", and in addition, let them see if there were any foreign advisers in the Beiyang Navy who knew the navy and could replace Lang Weili.