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Since Song Xiaofei served as the Admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, he appointed British Navy Lieutenant Lang Weili as the Deputy Admiral of the Naval Division, and imported from Britain a physical warship, shipbuilding, training system and naval school, and built the navy for nearly 20 years.

From 1882 to 1901, the Chinese Navy's funding increased by 500 percent, and by 1900, the Chinese Navy's annual budget had reached 59.3 million yuan, accounting for 10 percent of the annual budget expenditure. More importantly, China's naval construction completely replicates the existing system of the British Royal Navy, from shipbuilding and personnel training to long-distance voyages and logistical support. In 1901, the total tonnage of Chinese naval vessels had increased from 60,000 tons in 1890 to 309,000 tons.

Therefore, China defeated Spain, the traditional European hegemon, in the Battle of Cuba, occupied the Philippines, Guam and other Pacific islands, and allied with Britain to defeat the Russian Empire, which has the world's third largest fleet, annihilated and captured 27 battleships of Tsarist Russia, replacing Russia as the world's third largest naval power, filling the "North Pacific vacuum", so at the Washington Conference in September 1901, it was recognized by European and American powers as one of the main controllers of the entire Pacific Ocean and one of the world powers, and became one of the great powers. Song Xiaofei instructed Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang to strengthen cooperation with the United States and begin negotiations with Britain, France, Germany, and other countries. Negotiating how to cancel the unequal treaties that China had signed with them allowed Song to establish his supremacy at home.

As soon as the Sino-Russian War ended, Song Xiaofei immediately set about solving the problem of the Black Dragon Society making trouble in Japan. Because the great powers, mainly Britain and the United States, had interests in Japan. In order to prevent US interference, when President Roosevelt Sr. mediated the Sino-Russian war, Song Xiaofei solemnly put forward a condition that the United States should not interfere in China's actions in Japan. So he agreed to China's "freedom of movement" in Japan.

Song Xiaofei considered that "100% of Japan's territory is surrounded by the sea, and it is impossible to survive without relying on sea communication", so he decided to firmly choke Japan's neck from the sea. In order to win over the British. At the same time, he was also actively responding to the upcoming "dreadnought era", Song Xiaofei asked Xu Shichang to immediately develop the silver mine in Nebuchu, supplement the navy's funds, and let the Chinese Navy order six 15,000-ton battleships and armored cruisers from Britain. In the first phase, three new 15,000-ton "Dahan" class battleships were purchased. The second phase is the purchase of three additional 20,000-ton battleships "Qin Shi Huang", "Datang" and "Gonghe II". In order to ensure the advancement of technology, all these warships were ordered from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom.

At this time, it was the era of liberal capitalism, and there was no so-called "ideological" struggle between China and the West, and there was basically no such thing as "purchase restrictions", and these six warships were a "big order" that made other powers jealous. The British Portsmouth Naval Shipyard provided not only warships, but also technical support. According to the customized requirements of the Chinese side. These six warships have been innovated in terms of armament, power, and protection, especially the firepower and power plant have been revolutionized, and once in place, China will enter the era of "dreadnoughts" ahead of schedule.

The most striking feature that distinguishes these six warships from previous battleships is the use of 10 305-mm guns of a unified caliber. Previously, the popular main gun arrangement method of each ** ship was to arrange a twin 280 mm or 305 mm main gun at the bow and tail of the hull, and the battleships of France, Italy, Russia and other naval powers had many different calibers of the 1st and 2nd main guns mixed arrangement, the specific method of this arrangement was to arrange the 1st main gun turret at the bow and tail of the hull, and the rest of the 2nd main gun turret was arranged on both sides of the hull. It's good to be able to hit one or two shots. These six warships customized by China can improve the hit rate by centrally controlling the fire "coverage" of the target area by artillery salvos, and the hit rate will be increased by five or six times.

The biggest improvement in power of these six ships was the use of steam turbines. At that time, warships of more than 10,000 tons could maintain a cruising speed of 14.5 knots, which could only be maintained within 8 hours, beyond which the reliability and life of the relatively complex steam engine were fatal, and at the same time, the spindle overheated, the engine was overloaded, and in the face of these failures, even the most experienced marine engineers could not do anything. The use of new steam turbines on battleships of more than 15,000 tons of "Dahan" class battleships was the first time in the world at that time, and it was considered a jump in design ideas, and many British designers exclaimed "Are the Chinese crazy?" According to China's custom design drawings, the power part of the "Dahan" class warship is equipped with 18 three-rise steam boilers, four Parsons steam turbine units with 24,000 horsepower, and a maximum speed of 24 knots, which can ensure that these warships can maintain good reliability for 13 hours at a speed of more than 20 knots, which is especially important in combat conditions.

In addition, there has been a breakthrough in armor protection, the protection of these giant warships is more comprehensive, the armor of key parts such as turrets, engine rooms, ammunition depots, and command towers has a thickness of 280 mm, and the thickest part of the armor belt on the amidship of the hull is also 280mm, all covering the hull, and ordinary shells cannot penetrate it at all. Moreover, the armor at both ends of the warship was 64 mm, and attention was paid to countering mine and torpedo attacks at and below the waterline. The deck is arranged in multiple layers, with 3 layers of armor at the thickest point totaling 75 mm, and the main deck is designed on the principle of eggshell, which is dome-shaped, with a central bulge slightly lower on both sides and docking with the side armor. In terms of hull structure, the cabin is miniaturized as much as possible and watertight to improve the watertight structure to increase the buoyancy reserve, and the supporting wall between the compartments is reinforced with steel structure to improve the strength and toughness of the compartments. Horizontal contact doors have been eliminated between cabins under and below the waterline, and the number of watertight doors has been minimized. In addition, the traditional bow ramming angle was canceled. These improved designs have a significant effect on improving the protection capability of warships, especially the anti-sinking ability.

Song Xiaofei's request was that the six warships must be delivered by China's National Day on September 28, 1902, and the British Portsmouth Naval Shipyard said that there was "no problem."

Resolving the possibility of the United States and Britain interfering in China's treatment of Japanese animals, Song Xiaofei sent Deng Shichang to lead eight warships of more than 7,000 tons, including the "Science" and "Democracy," to the Tokyo Bay to blockade the Sea of Japan. Then, Cao Kun's 10,000 new troops were transferred back to the northwest, and Feng Guozhang was asked to lead 100,000 new soldiers and stationed them in Tokyo.

After Feng Guozhang arrived in Tokyo Zhou, he immediately led 5,000 soldiers to surround the Japanese Imperial Palace called "Edo Castle", entered the palace to meet the Japanese Emperor Meiji, and demanded that Meiji issue a holy decree to uphold Japan's "Peace Constitution", declare the "Black Dragon Society" an illegal organization, and ask the Japanese police to arrest the leaders of the Black Dragon Society, Toyama Mitsuru and Uchida Ryohei.

In the main hall of the Japanese Imperial Palace, Emperor Meiji saw Feng Guozhang in military uniform and four heavily armed soldiers, and hurriedly stood up from his throne to greet him. According to the rules, Feng Guozhang and others are not allowed to bring weapons when they enter the palace, and Emperor Meiji looked at Feng Guozhang's small black eyes, not angry but mighty, full of murderous aura, staring at Emperor Meiji's face, which made Meiji, who was nearly fifty years old and had seen a big scene, also feel a little weak.

In addition to Empress Ichijomiko, Emperor Meiji also had concubines such as Aiko Yanagihara, Chikusa Renzi, Mitsuko Hamuro, and Hashimoto Natsuko. ”

Feng Guozhang held the black Mauser gun on his waist with one hand and said casually: "I heard Cao Kun, the former commander of China in Japan, say that during the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan, there were two emperors, the southern and the northern, and the 'Emperor Kumazawa' who was just assassinated is a descendant of the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and you should issue an edict to inform the 40 million subjects of Japan of this fact, and regard the Southern Dynasty as orthodox!" ”

Feng Guozhang has always been coarse and detailed, this move is actually very strategic, he plans to come step by step, to force the Meiji Emperor to recognize the Southern Dynasty as orthodox first, in this way, the Black Dragon Society assassinated "Xiong Ze", which is equivalent to murdering the Emperor, this crime is enough to declare the Black Dragon Society illegal, Toushan Man, Uchida Ryohei The leader of the Black Dragon Society committed the capital crime of "killing the king", and then it will be easy to do.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan, the Japanese imperial family did begin a forty or fifty-year rivalry. In 1392, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the 3rd shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, sent a letter to Emperor Kameyama of the Southern Dynasty, demanding the unification of the Northern and Southern Dynasties on the condition that the three artifacts (mirror, jade, and sword) that symbolized imperial power and the imperial throne be ceded to the Northern Dynasty, and that the throne would be inherited by the two factions of the Imperial Family in the future. In the same year, Emperor Go-Kameyama agreed to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's conditions and returned to Kyoto to hand over the artifact to Emperor Go-Komatsu of the Northern Dynasty.

Emperor Meiji didn't know what Feng Guozhang was going to do next, and at first he thought that Feng Guozhang was going to abolish him with troops, but seeing that Feng Guozhang only made this "reasonable" request at this time, his nervous mood relaxed a little, so he agreed to make the Southern Dynasty orthodox, but asked Feng Guozhang to ensure that his status and treatment as emperor remained unchanged. Feng Guozhang nodded in agreement. Emperor Meiji also added with fear: "The shogun doesn't have any other requests, does he?" ”

Feng Guozhang said coldly: "Not for the time being, please make an order immediately!" ”

As a result, Emperor Meiji, who was the representative of the Empress of the Northern Dynasty, immediately issued an order and made a ruling, confirming that the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty of Japan was orthodox, and that the emperors of the Northern Dynasty were not included in the Emperor Inheritance Series, but the status and treatment of the Emperor of the Northern Dynasty remained unchanged. (To be continued......)