readx;

In the evening of November 6, 1861, Lu Wei, who had been anxiously waiting from the afternoon to the present, finally found a few plumes of smoke rising from the sea, and Lu Wei happily adjusted his telescope, hoping that it was a warship belonging to the Qing court!

In the end, when Lu Wei confirmed that the other party was flying the British flag, Lu Wei was really relieved, because there was no intelligence in Southeast Asia that the British had deployed armored protection cruisers, so these five warships must be target ships. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Lu Wei's only concern now is how the warships of the Qing court will dock at the port for replenishment? According to the plan, if the Qing court fleet is replenished in batches, then it will wait for the Haidongqing, Nanyuan, and Changfu to launch an attack when they dock at the port, while the Baturu and Zhefeng will rely on the hidden officers and non-commissioned officers on the ship to directly seize the rebel sailors, and all our rebels will wear red silk scarves as identification marks on their chests for the commandos to effectively identify.

In the bridge of the Haidongqing, the captain of the ship, Long Kelong, who was born with a red flag, was standing beside Tang Jiayao, the superintendent of the school from the second grade, Dai Shiqing, and the third grade.

Tang Jiayao is actually the real backbone and leader of this fleet, since Tang Jiayao was appointed to serve as the superintendent of the school to lead the cadets to the UK to learn naval technology, he has welcomed three batches of cadets, as the first batch of cadets to take the ship back to China, such a glamorous event, Tang Jiayao, who had long been homesick, could not wait to return home with the ship.

In fact, even if Tang Jiayao didn't want to return to China, Zeng Guofan and the imperial court would let him lead the ship back to China, because during his study in England, the cadet team was more inclined to the rebellious remarks of the forest bandits, although he dealt with the dangers and hidden dangers in time, but Tang Jiayao knew very well that the problem had not been solved, and more problems were deeply covered up, and this time the five warships returned to China, which was likely to be intercepted by the Chinese Empire. Tang Jiayao didn't think that he would be an experienced rebellious opponent of the forest bandits, not to mention that the strength of the forest bandits' rebellion was almost five times stronger than his own, but through Tang Jiayao's active communication with the British side, under the offensive of the silver bullet, the British Earl of Arcton and others came forward one after another, and this was the scene where the British flag could be hoisted and returned.

Even if the British flag is hung, Tang Jiayao can not be completely at ease, the Earl of Echoton and others swear that the guarantee can only be to give him one more empty guarantee, as well as the care of the British Empire colonies along the way, after all, Britain and France have been beaten by Lin Haijiang, in Guangzhou and Dagukou and the Indochina Peninsula, a total of three times before and after, Lin Haijiang did not hesitate at any time, Tang Jiayao's only hope is that the strong British forces will make Lin Haijiang have scruples, and when his warship arrives at Dagukou, after Lord Zeng carries out a major change of blood on the fleet, Even if all of them are sunk, it is none of his business Tang Jiayao, Tang Jiayao is not willing to follow in the footsteps of Li Hongzhang.

It can be said that the tripartite war in the East, the Franco-Prussian War in Europe, and the battle between the North and the South in the Americas have attracted the attention of too many people, and war means opportunity and a redivision of the international pattern, and a small-scale war can determine the division of local interests, while a large-scale war can rearrange the order.

Although Tang Jiayao was in Britain when he was in Europe, through exchanges and some understanding with the British, he found that some old colonial countries in Europe, such as Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, etc., seemed to be like sharks smelling blood, constantly looking for opportunities around these wars.

Jurong Island has appeared in front of him, Tang Jiayao relaxed his vigilance slightly at the moment, they can get information from the British along the way, at first it seems that the main force of the fleet of the Chinese Empire seems to be concentrated, this information has made Tang Jiayao have been unable to sleep for several days.

However, now that the fleet has arrived at Jurong Island, which is a secret anchorage and wartime supply center secretly built by the British for their Far East Fleet, Tang Jiayao believes that the British will be more cautious on this issue, because when the warship sailed away from Britain, in order to prompt the British to effectively fulfill their promises, Tang Jiayao played a small trick, only paid the British 60% of the total amount of the ship, and the remaining 40% of the ship price waited until the battleship arrived safely at Dagukou, and then Feng Tianyang, who stayed in London, paid for it.

For this reason, Tang Jiayao gave an additional 600,000 taels of benefits, and promised that if these warships were sunk by the Chinese Empire, he would still keep his promise to pay the final payment, but Tang Jiayao did not tell anyone about this matter, not even Zeng Guofan, who had been standing behind him to support him.

In Tang Jiayao's view, there is still no consensus among the British on whether to go to war against the Chinese Empire, only all the newly rising aristocratic families close to Empress Victoria want to go to war, and the old nobles want to maintain the status quo, because even if the Chinese Empire is eliminated, the British Empire will not get the benefits they want, and launching such a large-scale war in the Far East is a very heavy burden even for the British Empire, which is fundamentally not in line with the core interests of the British Empire.

So Tang Jiayao played a little trick, the battleship arrived safely is lucky, if it is sunk, then the rest of the matter is the British and the Chinese Empire, because the ship payment is only sixty percent, and the remaining forty percent If the battleship arrives safely, Tang Jiayao will naturally not deny it, but if it is sunk, then the British can still blackmail their remaining four layers of ship money? Besides, those British people have received their own red envelopes, and when the time comes, they can only speak for themselves.

This is actually an insurance that Tang Jiayao bought for himself, and this insurance can be said to be his last talisman!

The battleship began to slow down, and the three British two-masted fourth-class sail cruisers led the way to the Qing warships with bright hanging gas lights, and according to the rules, Tang Jiayao first sent people to go ashore in a small boat to communicate with the other party to negotiate specific arrangements, and the pipe bands and supervisors of the three ships of Haidongqing, Nanyuan, and Changfu all came to the war room of the Haidongqing, while the Baturu and Zhefeng only came to the Haidongqing for a meeting.

This is not that Tang Jiayao has suspicions about Xi Xun and Li Weiguo, the pipe leaders of the Batulu and Zhefeng, but that the supervisors of the two ships, Xu Changshou and Halmo, are deliberately embarrassing Li Weiguo and Xi Xun again.

Tang Jiayao didn't say anything about the actions of his subordinates, the three Mengman pipe belts were all ordered by him, and they were all entrusted to take care of by the DPRK and China, and Li Weiguo and Xi Xun belonged to the top cadets with high prestige among the sailors, and their academic performance was among the top two students, and the two temporary captains who had to be appointed when they left Princeton, England, arrived at Dagukou and waited for Zeng Guofan to reorganize the army, whether the two could get on the ship is another matter.

Tang Jiayao looked at all his own people, and saw that everyone was standing aside respectfully looking at him, so he cleared his throat with satisfaction and said in an official tone: "Everyone! Ladies and gentlemen! Please sit, please sit, don't stand and talk, you are all the pillars of optimus in my Qing Dynasty, across the sea Hongqiao, I saw the door of the house, tens of thousands of miles of wind and waves have broken through, I believe that the Lin rebel bandit army must have been eyeing us at this moment, this battleship is the imperial court, it is the work of the queen mother of the two palaces, and it is the foundation of Beiyang, so we must be careful and careful, cautious and cautious! ”

Almost all of the people present were full, so when Tang Jiayao mentioned the imperial court and the queen mother of the two palaces, they were a little proud, but the fear in everyone's hearts had already dissipated without a trace, because the British flag hanging on their warship was their biggest reliance, and they returned to the country for thousands of miles, and it can be said that the British flag has almost become their pass!

Priority to enter the port, priority to supply, loading the best bituminous coal, the attitude of the port officials is respectful, it can be said that this return to the country is a kind of enjoyment, because even in the Qing Dynasty, foreigners are not so easy to mess with, can make foreigners nod their heads? These flag masters have forgotten the white eyes and foreign temperament they suffered in England, and no one has paid attention to them, or they have forgotten an important aspect of their surname, and others may not respect them personally, but the British flag.

Tang Jiayao saw that everyone was in high spirits, so he said: "Everyone has been wandering for a long time, and they are really tired, but is it feasible to dock all of them?" Roncologne, you understand the navy, but I am a layman, and I need to ask you insiders when I encounter this kind of insider matter. ”

Long Kelong heard Tang Jiayao mention himself, so he smiled slightly: "Our five-ship formation, at least two ships must be on alert and patrolling, replenish overnight tonight, and concentrate on replenishment tomorrow morning, here is still not far from Dagukou, each ship can be replenished on the second or third floor, what we are fighting for now is time, as long as we rush back to Dagukou to join Haas's fleet, even if we encounter the main force of Lin Zhizhi's navy, we can still rely on the newly installed Armstrong cannons produced in Britain in each battery at Dagukou to resist the enemy, Subsequently, the mines brought back this time blocked the main shipping lanes, and our fleet concentrated its forces on the routes that had not yet been mined to meet the enemy, no matter how many more ships of the Chinese Empire were than us, no one could deploy them, and if they could not deploy them, they could still give full play to their advantages? ”

Good! Good! Good! Tang Jiayao, who didn't know anything about the navy, shouted three times in a row, and then said: "I can't figure it out, Yang Yi is clumsy!" Can't find a talent like Long Colon? Always take those Li Weiguo, Xi Xun and the like as treasures, and even held Li Jiang, Gao Zhixin, Wu Naihua and others who had rebellious tendencies in their hands before, and now the warships of our court don't know where to let these boys go. ”

Although Tang Jiayao said so, he knew better than anyone else in his heart that the British were not blind, if they chose this group of people who brought at least three or five girls, and the uncles who were still thinking about foreign girls all day long were really blind, not to mention changing girls to play with each other in private, there were no less than 20 people who had been dropped out of school in the past two years alone, if it weren't for the continuous flow of students sent by the imperial court, the number of people would have remained fairly barely able to get through, after all, the navy is not on land, Want to train a seasick person to be a ship's pipe belt? That was simply wishful thinking, so Tang Jiayao properly used the excuse that the employee was diligent and hardworking, and he was helpless and unwell, and barely covered up the matter.

Tang Jiayao's indignation immediately resonated with Xu Changshou, who stood up and said excitedly: "Li Weiguo, the pipe band of the Zhefeng, this little bastard, almost didn't make Lao Tzu angry today, and he actually called me out, what navy, what Beiyang!" my uncle! What a bird in the North Ocean! ”

Xu Changshou can be said to be a big character not the master of a basket, this time he came through the door of Prince Gong Yixin, and his words were very harsh only Tang Jiayao in the whole room, but who is Tang Jiayao? Of course, he said with an expressionless face: "What's the hurry? When they get to Dagukou, they will pick off his top, so what? At your disposal, the urgent need for delay now is to deliver the battleship safely to Dagukou, and let's talk about tonight's events first! ”

Xu Changshou listened to Tang Jiayao's tone and said suddenly: "Let the three ships Haidongqing, Nanyuan, and Changfu supply first!" This is the territory of the British, and we are hanging the British flag, can the Lin rebel bandit army still dare to take the initiative to attack? Sending a signal to the Baturu and the Zhefeng, to keep them on patrol all night, to keep them refreshed, and wait for them to finish their supplies tomorrow afternoon? How about this idea for adults? ”

What Xu Changshou said is actually what Long Kelong said in his heart, but this heart can not be put on the bright side, Long Kelong's Haidong Qing is the flagship of this formation, Haidong Qing, Nanyuan, Changfu He is the big brother in the three pipe belts, Ping said that he is always used to eating more and occupying more, and now he wants to return to Dagukou, whether it is to return to Prince Gong or Zeng Guofan, and everyone has no bottom in their hearts, and it is too boring to say that this kind of trivial matter is also to grab a head guest, although he is very eager in his heart, but he does not know what to say.

Tang Jiayao understood what they meant when he saw Long Kelong's expression, so he nodded and said: "Long Kelong, Minglan, Helda, you have to pay attention, remember to firmly control the battleship, including the soldiers, the whole ship is even more vigilant, the soldiers are strictly forbidden to land, there is a small town here on Jurong Island, and it is said that there are many Chinese-run restaurants in the town, lest there is a Chinese empire among them to take the opportunity to destroy, understand?" ”

Long Kelong smiled and said: "Don't worry, my lord, if you go down to your job, you will train this gang of filthy goods, and you will never let anyone land on the shore, and the sentries will be doubled tonight." ”

Tang Jiayao nodded with satisfaction, and Long Kelong stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Lord Tang, our brothers' legs have been weak after floating for so long, let's go ashore and sleep peacefully tonight, right?" ”

Tang Jiayao glared slightly, he didn't know what these Manchurians thought about Long Kelong, he had just finished talking with his front foot, and he made this kind of request to himself with his back foot? However, Tang Jiayao noticed that almost everyone's eyes were looking at him, and there was not only expectation in his eyes, but even something else?

As soon as Long Kelong saw Tang Jiayao hesitate, he knew the game, so he added fire and said: "Master Tang is sympathetic to us, the Han people are also allowed to leave the ship, and the full people can go ashore, but we absolutely guarantee to return to the ship for the night, what do you think?" If I can promise you this, Helda's Yangzhou skinny horse will stay with you tonight? How is it? ”

As soon as he mentioned Helda's Yangzhou thin horse, the corners of Tang Jiayao's eyes moved slightly, coughed lightly, and nodded slightly. I said, what kind of bird are you talking to me? Why did Lao Tzu's woman lend him to sleep? Do you think he's my dad or my second uncle? That chick was bought by Lao Tzu for real money. ”

Long Colon kicked Helda and said: "It's not a lift, if we go back this time under Zeng Guofan, we will all mention some gods, that guy is the master who dares to kill even the yellow belt, we will definitely not be ambiguous, so let's mention some gods!" This surname Tang is trusted by Zeng Guofan, and the benefits of getting closer to each other will naturally occur, so what are you anxious about? They are all bitches who want to be bitches and want to set up the archway, you have to talk about skills when you give him gifts! ”

After everyone dispersed, Tang Jiayao sat alone in the war room, Tang Jiayao remembered that it was from the Kangxi Dynasty that the Manchu and Han people had sat together, after so many years, the full staff was still full, the Han members were still Han members, and the blood flowing in the bones was not the same at all, and no one should treat themselves as outsiders.

The battleship was slowly moving and docking, and Tang Jiayao knew that this action would take at least half an hour, so he let out a hitch, and then looked for his smoking gun and bottle of Fushou paste all over the room.

Tang Jiayao knew that whether it was the Beiyang Navy Division of the Qing Dynasty or the Royal Navy of England, smoking big cigarettes, swallowing Fushou ointment, and piercing heroin on a warship would be hanged, but at present, he is the biggest on the ship, and the rules are set by people, so naturally they are for those who have no ability, whether it is the law or the rules, they can't control those who have the ability! At present, whether it is England or the Qing Dynasty, this Fushou paste and heroin are the gadgets of the upper class, that is to say, only people with status can afford to play, and the big smoking gun is the characteristic of the Qing Dynasty, especially the ivory gemstones! But foreigners don't like smoking guns! Most foreigners like to bite their cigars and take heroin.

According to Tang Jiayao's knowledge, many of the trainees of the ship's pipe belt swallowed the Fushou ointment, and it still became a matter of not being held accountable by the law, Tang Jiayao first took a few mouthfuls of Fushou ointment, and looked at the brightly lit dock outside the porthole while burning his eyes, nearly a thousand laborers on the wharf were waiting, and the people he sent stood on the wharf and seemed to be talking to the foreigners. Tang Jiayao, who is tasteless with the surname Suo, has already smelled the fragrance of big eye bubbles!

However, the light on the pier was refracted on the porthole, making Tang Jiayao feel a little dizzy? Maybe it's the longevity ointment that lifts the spirits? Tang Jiayao had a vague feeling of unease?

And a coolie on the dock looked at the three warships slowly approaching the port, and sighed secretly in his heart: God help me!

(To be continued)