"Stand up straight. You, say you-" Feng Qi was reprimanding a guard in front of the Yingtai Gate with a serious face.

I saw the guard leaning against the wall, looking like a dead man, not even a spear in his hand. The guards on the other side of him stood straight, and when they saw the generals coming, they immediately saluted, and then looked ahead with bright eyes. The guards here glanced at Feng Qi and twisted lazily, as if standing up straight.

As a private, instead of saluting his superiors, he looked at him in the white eye. The guards' rude behavior immediately angered Ouyang Zhenhua, the secretary of the military department of the prime minister's world's soldiers and horses, and Ouyang Li scolded: "As a private, I saw that the superior did not salute, and the commander reprimanded him with a blank eye. I think you're planning to take the private to the end. Don't look at what Ouyang Zhenhua said was very serious, but the smile on his face really couldn't be hidden.

The guards simply stared at each other, a picture of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water. It's like this, you watch it. So the generals who came with him came forward one by one to reprimand the guard, saying that he did not stand like him, that he did not wear a neat uniform, and that he had no eyes in his eyes...... In short, this guard has no eye-catching place from head to toe, and even the different lengths of the bands of military boots have become a point of criticism.

"Close your beaks. Didn't you just beat a little staff officer, and when you beat him, you look up to him. When the emperor punished the elderly, he didn't see a single person who came out to help the old man speak, and now he is saying something cool. When I see you, I get angry. Wu Deren, a newly transferred guard from the navy, had a dark face, and the border guards didn't even pay attention to the basic guard regulations, took the gun and laid it across the two stones, sat down on one ass, and didn't look at the group of generals. The guard on the other side glanced at it quietly, and his heart was infinitely emotional. Shouting at the full crowd of generals in front of the palace gate, this is probably the most arrogant guard in the world.

Wu Deren, former commander-in-chief of the Qing Imperial Navy. Yu led the main force of the Qing Imperial Navy fleet to defeat the Japanese Combined Fleet in a battle that was far superior to him, and became internationally famous. In the subsequent war against Japan, the marines under the navy took the lead in completing the landing battle, and then cooperated with the army to attack. Finally, the shelling of Tokyo forced the Japanese to surrender. Wu Deren escorted the last batch of cargo ships carrying the army with the warships, and after getting off the ship, he naturally had to eat a big meal, and drank two more drinks as soon as he was happy. I didn't expect that I had just returned to the camp drunk and met a staff officer sent by the General Staff Headquarters, who had come to coordinate the transfer of warships from the vassal states. Wu Deren, who has always regarded warships as more important than his life. As soon as he heard that the emperor was going to give his warship to the vassal state Wu Deren, he was furious, and beat the staff officer to a violent death, and he is still lying in the hospital.

When the news reached the capital, the emperor was furious and said that he would beat him up: "The commander of the lieutenant general has no rules at all, let Wu Deren come to watch the door for me." "Although it is not going to be beaten. But Wu Deren, who should have been rewarded later, was relieved of all official positions by the angry emperor and demoted to the rank of private. was really stuffed into the royal guard camp by the emperor as a guard. So there was a scene of the generals who came to thank the emperor for his reward today, waiting outside the palace gate to summon and laugh at Wu Deren.

Wang Shizhen couldn't stand it anymore: "Lord Wu, can you be a little presentable." The emperor asked you to be a guard just to make you behave, so you can't be good? ”

"What. Will there be a war if you know the rules? Wu Deren pointed at the guards on the other side with a look of disdain and said, "This guy has good rules, you let him command the fleet?" ”

Cheng Cheng, the only one in the army who could calm Wu Deren, stood up: "Do the rules have anything to do with commanding the fleet?" Look at yourself, a bit like the commander-in-chief of the Navy? Remember, you are the commander-in-chief of the Qing Imperial Navy, and your words and deeds represent the Qing Imperial Navy. Look what you look like, scratching your ears and cheeks like a monkey. The face of the Qing Imperial Navy has been lost by you. ”

"If you lose the face of the navy, forget it. Anyway, Lord Wu is so virtuous, and it is estimated that his soldiers are also like birds. Without waiting for Wu Deren to answer, Duan Qirui, chief of the General Staff of the Army, said nonchalantly: "Think about it, this foreigner saw that the commander of my Qing Royal Navy turned out to be a monkey, so maybe how to organize my Qing army." The face of our army is lost, and whoever calls us all members of the imperial army of the Qing Dynasty is lost. In my opinion, this Lord Wu is still hidden. If this is to let the foreigners arrange our subjects of the Qing Dynasty, this will damage the prestige of the country. ”

After Duan Qirui finished speaking, the generals burst into laughter. Wu Deren angrily shouted "Roll ......" and began to drive people away.

Without waiting for Wu Deren to drive people away, the closed palace door opened. Kou Liancai walked out. He ignored the noisy generals in front of the door, and just coughed heavily: "The emperor has an order, and the generals will see you-"

The generals stopped frolicking and tidied up their clothes, and lined up in two rows according to their ranks, ranks, and ranks. Wu Deren returned to his position as a guard with a dark face. Standing lazily.

"Lord Wu, today is the day for the newly knighted lord to see His Majesty and thank the emperor. Lord Wu, please go with all the generals to see Your Majesty. Kou Liancai persuaded on the side.

"The old man is just a small soldier, how can he be qualified to meet His Majesty with the generals. Don't go. Wu Deren sat down as if you looked at it.

"It's the emperor who passed on the lord to see him together." After Kou Liancai finished speaking, he shook his head and chose to enter it himself.

Wu Deren pursed his lips and got up and clapped his hands, then casually pointed to a guard who was just walking past and was patrolling normally and said, "You, come here." Stand here and watch the door. After speaking, he didn't care what the guard's expression was, he raised his leg and walked towards the palace gate.

"Sir. According to the regulations, when you are laid off and enter the palace, you should return the gun. Huang Huaming, the acting commander of the Praetorian Guard Battalion and the commander of the First Janissary Company, cautiously reminded Wu Deren.

"Who's that, bring the old gun." Wu Deren didn't look back, but just stretched his hand back.

The patrol guard's face twitched, and under the signal of Huang Huaming's eyes, he still went over and picked up the gun and handed it to Wu Deren. Wu Deren took the gun and stuffed it into Huang Huaming's arms without looking at it, and walked inside without looking back. The emperor's original intention of stuffing Lord Wu into the Praetorian Guard camp was to hope that he could be like a real soldier, with the demeanor of a general in his gestures, and he also entrusted himself with the responsibility of teaching Lord Wu. But only ten minutes after Lord Wu participated in the physical training of the Praetorian Guard Battalion on the first day, Lord Wu left the team without permission and sat aside. Before Huang Huaming could speak, he was glared back by Wu Deren: "The old station is tired, and I plan to sit down, do you have any opinions?" Since then, Huang Huaming has never asked Lord Wu to participate in any training, and if he loves to come, he will not come to pull him down. As for the story of the sea battle with the guards after the errand, not to mention the other guards. Even Huang Huaming himself likes to listen to it. Huang Huaming also arranged for Lord Wu to patrol and stand guard normally, except for standing and not standing like he was walking or not out of shape, as long as there were no other serious violations of discipline, Huang Huaming did not plan to care about Lord Wu. Don't look at it as just a private rank. But the real commander-in-chief of the navy. People said that the British ** ship was hit, and the household department Shangshu said that it was tied up, and the Daqing Bank said that it was robbed, but what happened? Wu Deren was sent to the shipyard as the director, but he was still the commander-in-chief of the navy when this battle started. It was when all the generals of the royal army were anxious to dissociate themselves from the Western Empress in that year. After people entered Beijing to see the West with great fanfare, they didn't see what the emperor did to him. This time, the staff officers of the staff headquarters were beaten, and as soon as the official rank was pushed to the end, Huang Huaming didn't think that the emperor would do anything to Wu Deren, and this was not just the reward at yesterday's sacrifice ceremony or Wu Deren was awarded the title of Earl of Mindong. Huang Huaming looked at Wu Deren's back and was very envious in his heart. When will he be able to mix Wu Deren and Lord Wu so chic and complacent?

How did Huang Huaming know that Wu Deren and Ben were deliberate. Which general did not want as many generals as possible under his command, Wu Deren led the Qing Navy to conquer the south and the north, and at the same time established a great reputation, he also captured a number of warships from Russia, and later purchased warships from the United States and Germany. His own fleet is getting stronger and stronger. When Japan was defeated and ten warships were captured from Japan, the Qing Navy became the world's largest naval power overnight, which made Wu Deren, as the commander-in-chief, very happy. Just when he was going to take the Qing fleet to conquer the ocean, he heard the emperor say that he wanted to buy some warships, especially to transfer the warships to vassal states, and the reason for this was because the army had to prepare, and the navy would give it to the army if the funds were not much. It's unbearable.

Therefore, Wu Deren was drunk and beat the staff officer, but he was a little heavier, and the next day the military police escorted him back to Beijing from his bed, and then he was stripped of all his duties and stuffed into the Praetorian Guard camp. Things were a bit unexpected though. But Wu Deren didn't feel that there was anything wrong, in short, he beat people to serious injuries, and he had to have an explanation. But the point is that since the gendarmes escorted him back to Beijing from his bed, they cut him off from the outside world. He now receives no information about any fleet. So he started to do things from the first day he entered the Praetorian Guard camp, and he made big mistakes without making small mistakes, just counting on the emperor to get him out. As a result, nothing happened, no colleagues interceded for him, and the emperor turned a blind eye. It seems that the whole world has forgotten that there is Wu Deren. This is the most fatal thing, if the emperor takes this opportunity to really sell or give away the fleet. Then he's still swimming in the ocean.

Wu Deren walked outside the Ziguang Pavilion slowly, and heard all the generals in the hall shouting the slogan of allegiance to the emperor and allegiance to China, and then the emperor gave a few words of praise after the speech. Wu Deren entered the palace under the guidance of the prisoner, and naturally it was indispensable to shout long live to show his loyalty.

The emperor didn't speak, but frowned and asked: "Wu Deren, why am you so awkward when I hear you shouting long live." ”

"Your Majesty, that's because the ministers are heartfelt and heartfelt voices. It may be that the emperor is not used to hearing it for a while. ”

"Heh, according to what you say, all I hear all day long is the insincere words of the ministers? Are the other ministers duplicitous in front of me? Before Guangxu finished speaking, the other generals had already glared at Wu Deren.

"No, no, everyone is heartfelt from the heart, it's just that the ministers are more sincere than them." Wu Deren hurriedly waved his hand to deny. From the military headquarters to the general staff headquarters, the chief officers are all here, and it would be bad if they put on a small shoe for the navy and cut some funds. Wu Deren has a clear understanding of the consequences of offending his colleagues.

Guangxu didn't let Wu Deren calm down, and after looking at him for a while, he sighed: "Can't you follow the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard Battalion to practice well?" Huang Huaming is already begging me to transfer you away, otherwise his soldiers will be ruined by you sooner or later. ”

"Yes, yes, so does the minister. Xiao Chen went back to pack his luggage. ”

"Don't think that you are deliberately causing trouble these days, I don't know, I have strictly ordered Huang Huaming to strictly discipline you. You can't get out without my will, so you can participate in the training with peace of mind. ”

"No, no, no. Our Qing navy is also the emperor's navy, and the emperor should deal with it as he wants. Xiao Chen was just worried that if no one was watching those little bastards in the navy, something might happen. Besides, didn't our navy receive Dahl's invitation to visit, and it will leave after this time, so we have to prepare early, right?! ”

"No need, Lin Yongxiang will take the Nanyang ship to Australia this time, so you can train here with peace of mind."

"What is he going to do?" Wu Deren was glared back by Guangxu before he spoke loudly, and then whispered: "No." What the minister means is that Lord Lin hasn't been there—"

"What's the matter, without you, the Wu butcher, Daqing is going to eat pigs with hair?"

Wu Deren always wants to bring the topic to the warship, including Cheng Cheng. There was no one in the hall to speak for him. The emperor deliberately did not say anything about the sale of warships, and did not let Wu Deren be flattened. Wu Deren knelt on the ground and scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, the emperor was determined not to let himself go out, but if he didn't go out to watch, when he went out, I was afraid that there would be not much left. Wu Deren gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty." Don't lose your appetite. Did you make it clear, how many warships are left? ”

"There's no kneeling statue, so forget it. But I want to know, how many warships do you think the Qing Dynasty needs to be enough? ”

"Your Majesty, my homeland in the Qing Dynasty is tens of thousands of miles of sea frontier, and even if we defend our homeland, we need at least two fleets of the current Pingyang Fleet to meet the needs of defense. Now that Japan has just been defeated, it is inevitable that Japan will also be included in the defense system of the Qing Dynasty, plus the Ryukyus and Guangxu Islands, and if possible, it is better to advance the naval outpost position to Hawaii, which is only the coastal defense on the eastern side. in the South Seas. It is necessary to include the Malacca and Java fronts in the front line. Since then, our Nanyang Navy has gone west and we have gone south. In this way, our Qing Dynasty needs at least a capital ship group the size of the Pingyang Fleet, plus sub-fleets stationed in various places. Your Majesty, it is becoming more and more difficult for us to buy warships from foreign ghosts, and it is not enough to build our own technology. Our Qing warships really can't be sold—"

"It seems that you, the commander-in-chief, are qualified, and your first thought as a general should be to fight out. It's just that so many warships can be fed by the Qing Dynasty? ”

After looking at the generals who were thinking about the meaning of the emperor's words, Wu Deren smiled slyly: "Don't worry, the emperor, the minister has already inquired." There's a lot of gold in the Spanish Doge's palace in Luzon, so let the ministers run it. Xiaochen promises to bring back a gram of a lot for you. Xiaochen is going to Lushun to prepare? ”

Wu Deren's voice was full of laughter, and Wu Deren was unscrupulous in order to keep the warship. Wu Deren glanced at it and said indifferently: "Smile and smile, what's so funny." ”

"You're afraid I'll sell your warship. If you are in a hurry to go back and guard the warship, you might as well save your worries. After Guangxu finished speaking, he stood up and walked to the apse. All the generals got up to send the emperor, but Wu Deren was shouting: Your Majesty, you should think about it again.

When the emperor left, Wu Deren also got up, pulled Cheng Cheng and asked as he walked: "Old Cheng, give my brother a thorough explanation." I really don't feel at ease. ”

Cheng Cheng said with a serious face: "Although the emperor has stripped you of all your official titles. But the post of commander-in-chief of the navy has been vacant, and in the final analysis, the emperor just wants you to be the commander-in-chief. Look at what you look like when you get off the boat, it's all photographed and printed in the newspaper. You are the commander-in-chief of the Qing Imperial Navy, don't be like a hooligan, it's best to practice in the Praetorian Guard Battalion......"

"Okay, being a soldier is the job of killing people and stealing goods. If you want to be so dry bird, don't talk to the old man about this......"

"What do you think of the Qing Navy? Pirates? Cheng Cheng kicked it up, but was flashed by Wu Deren. Cheng Cheng scolded angrily: "I've told you eight times a long time ago, we are the army, not bandits and pirates, and the army should have an army......

Wu Deren saw that Cheng Cheng didn't hear any news here, so he turned his head and left Cheng Cheng aside, but he didn't expect Feng Qi to tell him to pay attention to the nonsense of the army. Wu Deren went to Wang Shizhen and Ouyang Zhenhua with a calm face, but he didn't expect to be reprimanded. If you get it, it's all the big guys who can't afford to provoke it, and you can't get a word back for bowing and beating a thousand. When he arrived at the Yingtai Bridge, Wu Deren was furious, grabbed Cheng Cheng's collar and didn't let go, and there was a great posture of starting a fight without saying anything. Wang Shizhen smiled and slapped the strips into Wu Deren's arms, and then left with a smile with the generals.

"Is Wu Deren still kneeling outside?" Guangxu, who finished dinner, drank tea leisurely and asked Kou Liancai casually.

"Lord Wu is a rule-abiding person. At most, he knelt for five minutes, and he was already sitting on the ground. If this had been placed in the years since the founding of the country, it would have been pulled out and beheaded, that is, bullying the emperor's kindness. ”

Guangxu smiled, picked up his coat and put it on, pushed open the door and went out to face the cold wind.

Wu Deren was wearing a thick leather jacket and sitting outside the palace gate with a bed, ignoring anyone who came to persuade him. At this moment, his heart had fallen into the Nine Shadows Abyss, and he never imagined that the emperor would be so ruthless. Counting the warships captured from Japan, the Qing Navy already had more than ten main warships, plus various small destroyers, etc., the total displacement of the Qing Navy was close to 500,000 tons. However, the sea area actually controlled by the Qing Dynasty is the entire Western Plain Ocean west of the Guangxu Islands and north of Taiwan, plus the South Ocean and the future southward strategy, even ten more ships will not be enough.

Jingyuan was scrapped, and Laiyuan was also seriously damaged, and it is not wrong that these two old ships have no repair value. The two ships of Zhenyuan were removed from the list, and it was acceptable to keep them in the naval academy only as the meritorious ships of the Chinese Navy. Haiqi and Huahai were sent to North Korea, and Hairong and Jinghai were sent to Siam, which gritted their teeth and recognized it.

The four battleships of Jingang, Hiei, Haichen, and Haichou, the two heavy cruisers of Ninghai and Jihai, and the four light cruisers of the Dinghai class, together with the necessary escort destroyers and reconnaissance destroyers, constituted the new Daqing Pingyang Fleet. The Asama and Joban ships demoted some of their armor to light cruisers, and together with the Azuma, which became the flagship of the Nanyang Fleet, and the protective cruiser Suma, they formed the main force of the new Nanyang Fleet.

Yes, the Qing Dynasty was not wealthy, and for the sake of a more urgent northward strategy, the navy could make concessions to the army. It's not like we're going to cut off more than half of the fleet. Wu Deren is determined today, even if he is a scoundrel, he wants the emperor to take back his life.

"If you've had enough trouble, you'll go with me." Guangxu saw that Wu Deren was not angry. Other ministers are kneeling respectfully when they want to die, Wu Deren is good, wrapped in a quilt and gnawing on roast chicken, what kind of trouble is this?

Chunhui Hall, the Emperor's Office.

"As technology advances, so does weaponry. In naval guns, artillery with a longer and longer range will inevitably take advantage of the old short-range artillery, so what is the purpose of keeping the old warships? When targeted? So buying it while there's still some value is like selling scrap metal in the future. The battle of Lushun was a battle to show the majesty of the Qing Navy, and we will not face an urgent challenge on the surface of the Qing Sea for at least five years. At present, the only person who can pose a threat to China in the entire Western Ocean is Russia, except for Britain. Britain is a naval power, and no matter how many warships there are in the Qing Dynasty, it is not enough to challenge Britain. As long as the Qing Dynasty can maintain the strength that overwhelms the Russian Far East Fleet. As for Russia's plans for a new Pacific Fleet, it will not be threatened until five years later. Then in these five years, we will build new warships ourselves. Guangxu took out a drawing and put it on the table, motioning for Wu Deren to come and see.

Wu Deren only glanced at it and couldn't put it down. The hull of about 11,000 tons adopts a structure similar to that of the Dinghai 4 ships, with two or four knapsack guns in the front and two or four in the rear, and a design maximum speed of 21 knots...... Two ships were also built at once.

"Your Majesty, the Dinghai-class light cruisers are similar to the Longyin-class, this new heavy cruiser is smaller than the Dinghai light cruiser, okay?" Wu Deren was not immersed in the design drawings of the most powerful heavy cruise, but keenly noticed the differences in the hull.

"Because there is no time for testing, the Dinghai four ships need to be put into battle as soon as they are produced, so too many conservative designs have been added to the design of the Dinghai four ships, and in the final analysis, we still have no experience in building warships. After inspecting the four ships in Dinghai after actual combat, the design department optimized and adjusted the new ships. Once built, there is also time to re-optimise, which naturally allows for bold designs. ”

Wu Deren put down the drawings, stood straight and saluted: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, my old Wu will personally go and keep an eye on it." ”

"Who told you you could leave the Praetorian Guard?"

"Your Majesty, this new warship is about to be built, how can you rest assured if you don't keep an eye on it yourself?"

"Is it difficult for the Qing Navy to make you a person who understands warships?"

"Your Majesty, you can let my old Wu out-" Wu Deren wept bitterly. (To be continued.) )xh118