At noon on April 22, 1859, eleven ironclad ships of the so-called Qing Nanyang Naval Division led by Lin Haijiang sounded their horns and fired salutes and slowly anchored in the sea off the mouth of Dagukou in Tianjin.

Yixin, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang and Tang Jiayao and others went to Dagukou to see the situation of the Nanyang Naval Division's military appearance, and after learning the news, Yixin also sent people to Ningfuyuan to report to Cixi, Cixi, who was chatting with Ai Yena, heard that the Nanyang Naval Division fleet had arrived, and was curious for a while, so she asked Ai Yena: "Do you want to meet the Lin hero in your mouth, Admiral Lin?" ”

Aiyena was grateful to the two palaces because her father was pardoned, so she nodded silently, and then said, "It's all up to the queen mother's orders." ”

Cixi also smiled calmly: "You know more than your father!" Our aunts and grandmothers in the Qing Dynasty don't live much, and the imperial historians always say how women are inferior to men, I think our aunts and grandmothers in the Qing Dynasty are much stronger than their grandfathers! What happened to Wu Zetian? Wu Zetian is also a woman, why didn't those people dare to jump out when she was in power? One who loses his head is not afraid, who is not afraid of a group of people who has fallen? ”

Cixi realized that she had lost her words, so she changed her words and said: "Xiao Anzi, start driving Dagukou, and the mourning family will also see the power of Nanyang, and see what kind of iron army has defeated the foreign Maozi of England and France." ”

Looking at Ai Yena's happy expression, Cixi suddenly had an inexplicable hatred in her heart? She has a kind of ** that wants to destroy all the good things and things in the world? As the queen mother, how can others who can't have it have?

However, Cixi still looked unfazed on the surface, Aiyena cautiously got on the Luan, and An Dehai shouted in a sharp voice: "The Empress Dowager Luan is driving in person, the left and right guards are waiting, and the cavalry camp and the guard camp should set off before and after!" ”

Just when Cixi was driving, Yixin, Zeng Guofan and others on fast horses still rushed to Dagukou, accompanied by the plenipotentiary envoy of Tsarist Russia, Duke Gomochlov, and Vice Admiral Duravyev.

Standing on the Zhixin Fort, Yixin and Zeng Guofan were stunned by the huge scale of the Nanyang Naval Division, while Li Hongzhang on the side was comparing the shadow pictures of the ships, and after a while, he said: "The four new ships added by Nanyang are the latest in front of them, and the giants such as England and France are building, and one of the two largest should be its ship, that is, the flagship, which does not include the two Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ironclad ships in Nanyang before. Moreover, a number of ships from various countries have been captured in previous naval battles, and they have not been seen, and it is believed that this is just a part of the Nanyang Naval Division. ”

Yixin put down the binoculars and said to Li Hongzhang in an inquiring tone: "The giant cannon on the giant ship is as thick as 200,000 catties?" ”

Saying that, Yixin stepped on the 10,000-jin general cannon in front of him with his foot, Li Hongzhang glanced at Zeng Guofan with some embarrassment and said: "Lord Wang, this foreigner's cannon is calculated in terms of caliber and projectile weight, and it is much more powerful than our Daqing one." ”

When Lin Haijiang's Zhenyuan ship slowly dropped anchor, the rest of the ships fell anchor one after another, but the boiler did not drop pressure, the battleship was fully upgraded, the muzzle of the gun was raised 20 degrees, and the salute was fired!

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! The eight 360-mm cannons of the Zhenyuan ship opened fire one after another!

The huge cannon mouth wind and flying flames made the nearby sea feel as if it had been hammered, and the waves more than a meter high hit the embankment.

The huge power almost stunned everyone present, as the so-called insiders watch the doorway, laymen look at the lively, strictly speaking, Li Hongzhang is also a guy who watches the excitement, compared to Zeng Guofan and Yixin, he does know some instructions of Western ships, but compared to Vice Admiral Duravyev brought by Duke Gomocherov, it is not on the same level.

In addition to being shocked, Duraviev first discovered that although the main guns of the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships were extremely powerful, and the advantages of arranging the turrets in high and low ranges, he also found that the tonnage of the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships was somewhat insufficient for this caliber of artillery, and the main guns could not fire continuously or at the same time, even when firing at anchor, the swing of the hull was also obvious, and if the sailing at high speed, the hit rate of the two ships would become a huge problem.

However, Duravyev was even more shocked that Prussia's shipbuilding technology was much more advanced than that of the Empire? Under the force of such huge artillery, the hulls of the two battleships appear to be extremely strong and strong, and what Duravyev is most eager to go inside the two ships now is to take a good look at the design, especially the arch of the fully enclosed turret, Duraviev knows very well that the manpower of such caliber artillery cannot meet his arch shell needs.

Duke Gomocherov found two bridges that were different from the others? Already the ship's secondary guns are installed almost in parallel up and down.

Duke Gomocherov glanced at Lieutenant General Duravyev and said, "How big is the caliber of the main gun?" Three hundred or even more? At least eighteen times the body! ”

Lieutenant General Duraviev nodded and said: "At least about three hundred and fifty, twenty times the body tube, and it is a duplex!" Your Excellency Duke Gomochlov, I must board these two warships, their design ideas and ideas are so important to the Empire, I am now sure that the Prussians have surpassed the Empire by many, many times in shipbuilding and artillery technology, and borrowing from the design of these two warships will make us take many detours. ”

Duraviev raised his telescope again and looked at it for a while and said: "Very well designed and reasonable ships, I am very curious why they are carrying naval guns of such caliber?" Do you know that the Fisher firing index of the naval gun is a very delicate balance? Ironclad ships are different from sail wood pressure-resistant hull warships with extreme restrictions, if metallurgical technology and power permit, 20,000 or 30,000 tons of warships are also theoretically feasible, completely ignoring the practical ship gun configuration is a pity for two warships, in the hands of well-trained sailors can only play at most about 60% of the combat effectiveness is already very good, if we can have such a warship in the Crimean War, the outcome of the war may have to be rewritten. ”

Duke Gomocherov looked at Duravyev in surprise and said, "Do you think that the shipbuilding industry of the empire cannot build such a warship?" ”

Duraviev said a little helplessly: "Your Excellency, this may have something to do with our nation, we do not have the strict habits of the Prussians, and a large part of us even regard this as a merit. ”

Duravyev looked at Duke Gomocherov and said, "I want to go on the ship to have a look, is there a way?" ”

Duke Gomocherov looked at the battleships in Dagukou Bay and nodded cautiously, and said with a slight smile: "The Qing people love face very much, they will not refuse our friendly compliments, what science and technology do they know there?" ”

Duke Gomocherov came to Yixin and smiled slightly: "Although there are many warships in the Nanyang Naval Division, I very much doubt that they have the ability to control these crystallization of the industrial revolution, I hope to be able to go to the warships to take a look, analyze their weaknesses, so as to build the Beiyang Naval Division for the surname, so as to suppress the Nanyang strategically and tactically." ”

After Yixin waited for the translation, he was immediately overjoyed, and then said to Zeng Guofan: "Lord Zeng, this Russian is still very caring?" You've thought it through! ”

Zeng Guofan snorted slightly: "I'm afraid it may not be, the prince, before the two of them whispered in Russian, and even the interpreter rushed to the side, there must be a plan, it is obvious that the battleship of the Nanyang Naval Division is Prussia from Europe, although Prussia is inferior to England in naval construction and other aspects, but the Prussians are born with a rigorous style, so the quality of their products is guaranteed. If it weren't for the fact that the Prussians would not have cooperated with us at all, I would have really wanted to train foreign students in England and buy Prussian warships. ”

Yixin nodded and said, "Their drunkards don't mean to drink, but in general, it's good for us, so why not do that?" ”

After the Nanyang Naval Division fleet finished firing the salute, Zeng Guofan ordered the salute fort, the Renzi fort, and the letter fort to fire empty cannons in return.

After the order was given, after a while, a fort garrison hurried over and said, "My lord, how many sounds should I make for my humble position?" ”

Zeng Guofan was slightly stunned for a moment, he knew that foreigners had a kind of etiquette to fire a salute to show respect, and how much response was to say what the occasion, but he didn't know the specifics, turned around and looked at Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang was also at a loss.

Zeng Guofan said angrily: "We will release as much as they released just now, don't lose our Beiyang face, let them say that we are rude." ”

Zeng Guofan turned around and found that the garrison hadn't left yet? Displeased: "Why don't you go yet?" ”

The garrison said timidly: "Qi Yu is listed as an adult, just looking at the excitement of the Nanyang warships, I didn't care about counting how much they released?" ”

"You! You! Zeng Guofan, you didn't come out of it two or three times, and finally waved his hand and said: "Let's put it roughly, only more, not less." ”

Listening to the roaring artillery on the Dagukou Fort, Lin Haijiang smiled slightly and said to Jia Wuji: "Go and call Zheng Zhipeng, the commander of the Fifth Marine Brigade who is with the ship, to me, and ask Lu Wei, the military police officer, to come over for me." ”

However, after a while, Zheng Zhipeng, who was tall and wide-nosed, walked into the bridge with a big stride, disarmed his weapon in the isolation room outside the command room, and then entered the bridge and saluted: "The Fifth Brigade of the Chinese Imperial Marine Corps is ready to go, please instruct the Führer!" ”

Lin Haijiang nodded with satisfaction, and motioned for Zheng Zhipeng to sit down and drink saliva first, Lu Wei, who was dressed in five-grade and facial costumes, entered the bridge with a strange expression, as if he was uncomfortable, the only difference was that Lu Wei's arm had a flannel and cowhide sleeve on it, and the word "guard NP" was sewn on it, which was the only object that could show Lu Wei's identity as a naval gendarmerie.

Looking at Lu Wei, who was alive and spirited, Zheng Zhipeng was extremely happy, in Lin Haijiang's troops, if the special intelligence detective team represents terror for the spies, then the gendarmes represent a nightmare for the soldiers, no matter where you are, even if the copper button on the door of your pants is not polished, they will find fault and kick your ass.

In the old port, the gendarmerie is the most hated by the soldiers, but it is also the largest number of applicants, and the people's favorite is the gendarmerie, the old port military discipline is like a mountain, but it is inevitable that the officers and soldiers will see some beautiful women whistling or something small step strict thing appears, but as long as there is a gendarme, almost all the GI officers do not squint, kind and respectable!

The gendarmerie has become the patron saint of maintaining military appearance and military discipline, Lin Haijiang gave this force great rights when he formed the gendarmerie force, and the current military police force of the Chinese Empire is roughly divided into two parts, namely the MP army gendarmerie and the NP naval gendarmerie.

The task of this unit is not to fight the enemy, but its main function is to maintain military discipline, restrain the behavior of other soldiers, and deal with all kinds of criminal incidents in the army, especially incidents of violations of military discipline by military personnel. Guarding important military premises and enforcement agencies, escorting military supplies, and interrogating prisoners of war, Lin Haijiang defined his gendarmerie as a special military force with the surname of judicial police.

Lin Haijiang looked at Zheng Zhipeng, then at Lu Wei and said: "This time the fleet will not routinely dock, only the military police troops will land to do guard work, escort the safety of Zhang Wei, the chief of staff, and be responsible for welcoming the empress dowager of the Qing court to board the ship, you have to pay attention to the manners, braids, etc., you understand?" ”

Lu Wei snapped a straight and said: "Please rest assured, our braids are glued to the top of our heads, and we guarantee that they will be fake." ”

Lin Haijiang nodded with satisfaction and turned to Zheng Zhipeng and said, "You go back and organize your five battalion commanders, and prepare for the battle of landing and beaching, I want you to put on a good show for the Qing court to see, understand?" ”

Zheng Zhipeng also snapped and said: "Please rest assured!" ”

Lin Haijiang nodded, the two turned to leave, and Zhang Wei, who had been preparing on the side, frowned and kept wiping his sweat, and said while wiping: "Führer, just rush at the sultry rags of the Qing court, three inside and three outside, they should be overthrown, where are these clothes!" What a sin! ”

Lin Haijiang glanced at Zhang Wei and said, "How many people have studied hard for ten years just for such a set of clothes, do you think it's easy?" You are the deputy general from the third grade, this set of clothes cost more than a thousand taels, and then keep it, pass it on for more than ten generations, this thing is an antique cultural relic, and you can marry dozens of wives when you sell it! ”

Zhang Wei knew that the Führer was spending himself again, so he said helplessly: "Don't say dozens, now all of them are problems!" My father-in-law, old Taishan, where are you? ”

Lin Haijiang hesitated for a moment and said, "I've been thinking about a question, do you want the empire to give each of the officers and administrators of a sufficient level a wife?" ”

Seeing this, Zhang Wei was immediately overjoyed and said, "Okay! But it's better to let me pick first! ”

Jia Wuji on the side was also distracted at the moment, his ears were obviously sticking to Lin Haijiang's side, his eyes swept around and waited for the following, Lin Haijiang smiled and said, "Who is the leftover?" ”

Zhang Weiman didn't care and said: "It's really not good to guess boxing and draw lots?" Is he unlucky to be unlucky? ”

Lin Haijiang glared at Zhang Wei and said, "Don't dream in vain, how are you preparing this time?" Remember to behave neither humble nor arrogant, we must give the Qing court a strong shock, because we need time to digest Hainan Island and Taiwan, in addition, Hainan's basic industry can not form a scale without three or five years, what we lack now is time, you can be a little bit in the past, in case of chaos, I can save and clean up, if I directly come forward to stalemate, it will be very difficult to do! ”

Zhang Wei nodded seriously and said: "I know the head of state, I will make a decision on the spot, and the entourage is also carefully selected, please rest assured!" ”

Regarding the fact that Lin Haijiang, the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, occasionally felt the wind and cold, and could not leave the ship to land to welcome the Empress Dowager, Yixin and Zeng Guofan looked at each other, this is obviously Lin Haijiang can't believe here, since the ship has arrived at Dagukou, but people don't go ashore? What's going on?

In fact, both Yixin and Zeng Guofan had already thought of the possibility that Lin Haijiang would not land, but they had been unwilling to face it, Lin Haijiang was unwilling to go ashore, and sent a deputy general from Sanpin, who was the chief of staff of the staff headquarters of the Nanyang Naval Division and the military police escort.

Yixin and Zeng Guofan could only wait for the Empress Dowager's Feng Luan to arrive, because the incident itself was beyond their capabilities.

Although Yixin said that you are Prince Gong, Yixin does not think that his Prince Gong is how heavy he is in Lin Haijiang, and Zeng Guofan and Lin Haijiang are at the same level, and Beiyang takes Nanyang as an imaginary enemy, and the two sides are the power of fire and water, so Zeng Guofan does not have to make a false trust with Lin Haijiang.

In the evening, Cixi's Fengluan arrived at the mouth of Dagu, and Cixi looked at the Nanyang sailors in the mouth of Dagu with the telescope handed over by Yixin, and asked Li Hongzhang next to Hou: "How much silver and time does Beiyang need to reach the scale of Nanyang today?" ”

Li Hongzhang had no choice but to reply: "The Empress Dowager, it will take about 20 million taels and five or seven years of work!" ”

Li Hongzhang then added: "The ship's maintenance, replacement of spare parts, replacement of artillery, coal burning, training, personnel salaries, and docks and docks are not included. ”

"Oh!" Li Hongzhang could clearly feel that the empress dowager gasped, and Cixi looked at the battleship moored outside the mouth of Dagu and sighed helplessly: "The father and son of the Lin family are really rich and rival the country!" What I need to think about carefully, they did it by themselves? What a talent? Do you say yes or no? ”

Yixin, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others on the side looked speechless......

(To be continued)