On May 18, Min Yongjun, a relative of the Joseon royal family and the nephew of Concubine Min, secretly visited Yuan Shikai, the minister of trade and trade sent by the Qing government axe to Seoul, and was obedient to the Chinese official who exercised power in Korea on behalf of the Celestial Empire at a young age, that is, the king of Joseon, Li Xi, who had been in the DPRK for 12 years.

Min Yongjun first finally agreed to the Korean royal family's request to send the bodies of the Korean assassin Hong Jong-woo and the slain Kim Ok-gyun back to North Korea, of course, this was just an excuse for the Korean foreign relative to the minister to visit, and after a few polite words, he immediately mentioned another piece of news.

The 12,000-strong army led by Korean general Yi Yong-nyun fought against the Donghak rebels near Jeolla Province, but the situation was very unfavorable, and the officers and troops had to temporarily retreat because they could not be supplied locally...... Therefore, the Korean royal family hopes that China will send troops to assist North Korea in quelling the rebellion as soon as possible!

In this regard, Yuan Shikai, who had already participated in the training of the DPRK's new army, immediately expressed his willingness to put forward relevant suggestions to China to assist the DPRK in restoring stability as soon as possible...... However, later that day, when Yuan Shikai was drafting the report on Li Hongzhang's recital, he unexpectedly got another piece of news that made him frown.

Concubine Min's faction for Jin Yujun in the early years of rebellion, expelled Concubine Min's behavior, although it has been nearly a full decade, but still extremely jealous, after the Beiyang Navy transferred Jin Yujun's body to North Korea, the North Koreans immediately opened the coffin and killed the corpse with great fanfare, and just a day ago, Sugimura Jun, the acting minister in North Korea, issued a warning to the Korean royal family, demanding that Jin Yujun's body be properly disposed of.

After getting the news, Yuan Shikai was a little crazy, in addition to rushing to the Korean palace to be furious, what made him feel even more urgent was that the damned North Koreans had created a timely and appropriate excuse for Yuben's intervention!

When the telegram was sent to the desk of the Tianjin Zhili Governor's Office, Li Hongzhang was meeting with Xue Fucheng, who had just arrived in Tianjin after recovering from illness, and Xue Fucheng was the most important adviser in his foreign affairs, and Xue Fucheng had served as a minister to various European countries for many years, and he was also one of the best diplomatic talents in the entire court.

After carefully inquiring about Xue Fucheng's condition, he was also quite surprised, this Lu Hong ...... In his opinion, that young man has overseas knowledge comparable to Xue Fucheng, and what is slightly immature is just officialdom experience, and in private, he also asked Zhang Peilun to pay attention to the opportunity to win over.

After that, he was busy negotiating with Yue himself on Korean affairs, and at the same time strictly ordered Yuan Shikai to grasp the situation in North Korea, first of all, to avoid Yue himself from intervening in North Korea...... But now, the situation in North Korea can be described as three changes in one day, not only is it said that he is stirring up the situation in it, but the Russians are trying to use North Korea as a springboard, and even the North Korean royal family has not stopped.

"Shu Yun (Xue Fucheng), Yuan Shikai sent an urgent telegram, saying that the rebellion of the Dongxue Party in North Korea is becoming more and more prosperous, and the minister Min Yongjun, on behalf of the royal family, asked our dynasty to send troops to suppress ......" Speaking of this, he glanced at Xue Fucheng, whose face was still slightly pale, "Originally, this matter was not impossible, in the early years of our dynasty was always like this, but yesterday, the consul of the small village of the Tianjin consulate suddenly sent someone to inquire about sending troops to the DPRK, this matter may be unusual!" ”

Xue Fucheng was passing through Tianjin this time, after he returned to China as the minister of the four countries, he was still in a hurry to go to Beijing to report to the little emperor, according to the usual practice, other substantive positions should be appointed, however, Lu Hong was worried that this Zhongtang Lord did not have the will to prepare for the war with all his might, and he naturally understood that this worry was definitely not unreasonable.

Therefore, he immediately got up and said very seriously: "Zhongtang, for many years, you have often been wary of the wolf ambitions of the Japanese people, 12 years ago in North Korea, the ambitions of the Japanese people have long been exposed...... Therefore, I think that at present, we should ask the imperial court to prepare for war with all its might, and if we can break the army in Korea, we should be able to maintain the current status quo, and if not, we must also hold the Korean pass and hold the Korean royal family in our hands! ”

After listening to Xue Fucheng's words, Li Hongzhang naturally understood that this was indeed the best plan to deal with it, and although it was impossible to conclude that the war between China and China would definitely break out, Eugener, the British minister who had come to visit before, still said very conclusively that he had no intention of confronting China on the Korean issue, and the Customs and Excise Department Hurd, who had a close relationship with him, also conveyed similar news to him, and said that the British Empire had no intention of breaking the current peace situation in the Far East!

These news made him feel a little relieved, and he was also working hard to be this pasteur for the Qing Dynasty, after all, he was in his 70s...... After thinking about it for a moment, he got up and took out a flat wooden box from the cabinet behind him, "Shuyun, these are a few long white ginsengs, you have to be careful with this body, I don't want you to refer to it here...... The matter of North Korea, I have asked Yuan Weiting to deal with it carefully, young man, let him hone and hone more, so that it can be of great use! ”

"Zhongtang, this matter of sending troops, I think I will be selected as a good general and a strong army?" Xue Fucheng could see that this old Zhongtang was tired, but this matter was very important, so he still added.

"Shuyun, don't worry about this matter, Zhengding General Soldier Ye Zhichao trained the army in Xincheng, the year before last he had just leveled the bandit Rehe Jindan Sect, and the march was moderate, I have already ordered him to transfer the elite, and commissioned Nie Shicheng to train the Tianjin training army, and to deal with it, at noon, but a few battalions of troops can deal with it, this time the Japanese people will not dare to make a big show, these troops are enough to deal with it!"

Xue Fucheng obviously couldn't say much about Li Hongzhang's prediction, and mentioned that the Beiyang Naval Division should be careful to prepare for war, and consider the matter of transferring warships from the Nanyang Naval Division and the Guangdong Naval Division, Li Hongzhang naturally nodded and agreed, and before breaking up, Li Hongzhang told Xue Fucheng again, "Shuyun, you are going to the Beijing Division, the errand of the new committee, the old man has already taken care of it for you, you have been an envoy in Shandong for many years, and this time you should be able to supervise one side!" ”

This news made Xue Fucheng naturally surprised and delighted, he has long been a member of the second rank now, but when he reaches this position, it is really not easy to take another step, and this old man is obviously already planning at this time, listening to this meaning, he should be able to go up to the half level, the governor's side!

The two said goodbye at the door, Li Hongzhang naturally told Xue Fucheng's body again and again, and now the old man of the Huai Department under him can be said to be a withered talent, the fourth bachelor of Zengmen back then, and this Xue Shuyun is still doing things, so he naturally has to cultivate it well.

Lu Hong was also busy at this time, and it had been a few days since he arrived in Port Arthur, but as a result, none of the senior officers of the Beiyang Naval Division had been seen, that is, Tang Wenjin, who had been on the Pingyuan to inquire about it, and it was said that he had also gone to sea, which made his only connections completely ineffective, but fortunately, Yan Fu was still here......

This guy's previous actions offended many of his classmates back then, and Luo Fenglu is now a pivotal figure in the Beiyang Navy Battalion, Lu Hong naturally thought about whether it could be that the matter of the North Bomb Depot examined by Yan Fu was related to this Luo Yingban, but at this point, Yan Fu did not have any clues!

However, today's situation has finally taken a turn for the better, Yan Fu found out the news, early in the morning the two of them waited on the dock to the Fulong torpedo boat that had just returned from an errand in North Korea, and Cai Tinggan, who had a relationship with the Fulong pipe before, was obviously very surprised by Lu Hong's appearance, and Lu Hong also noticed a detail, although Yan Fu and Cai Tinggan are also quite related, one is the general office of the Tianjin Sailor School, and the other is a senior officer from the school, and they have both studied in Europe and the United States, however, the two are only polite words, No more in-depth conversations.

Lu Hong naturally understands that his current identity is more special, after all, he is here to supervise military discipline, even if Cai Tinggan and himself know each other, it is unlikely that he will take the initiative to participate in this issue, so he took the initiative to visit the Fulong torpedo boat!

For this request, Cai Tinggan naturally agreed, and met Lu Hong through Tang Wenjin earlier, which was also because Lu Hong had mentioned Howell's torpedo, and getting acquainted with Lu Yunjuan, who had stayed abroad, obviously made him feel eye-opening, and Lu Hong also praised Cai Tinggan's talent in the naval business, so the two had the feeling of seeing each other late before.

Boarding this 40-meter-long torpedo boat with some of the characteristics of later ships, Lu Hong immediately realized that although this was a torpedo boat produced by the excellent craftsmanship of the German Sishaw shipyard, it already had some prototypes of later destroyers, especially in order to improve seaworthiness and navigation resistance, the bow was no longer straight into the water, but slightly stretched forward.

And when Cai Tinggan stood in the torpedo compartment and introduced Lu Hong's black-headed torpedo that looked extremely ugly, Lu Hong touched his chin and had a somewhat embarrassed expression for this big guy with a straight range of less than 100 meters and a maximum range of only 400 meters.

Yan Fu, who had not spoken, interjected very appropriately and asked: "Lu Dushi, the torpedo is a big killer weapon of the navy, looking at your expression, is there anything wrong?" ”

Hearing Yan Fu's words, Cai Tinggan was also stunned, he was still sentenced a month earlier, but he didn't expect to be promoted so soon...... Lu Hong didn't answer yet, but he immediately spoke first: "Brother Youling, for this reason, when I was in Tianjin a while ago, Lord Lu had already mentioned that under normal engagement, even if the torpedo boat forgets to break through, it is almost difficult to reach the launch distance within 100 meters!" ”

"Then that's not ...... Waste! Yan Fu opened his big mouth, and immediately said a cruel word, which made Cai Tinggan's face red!

;