"Oh, but as far as I know. The cannons of the giant ships of our Beiyang Naval Division are not available on the ships, and even if he fires five cannons, he can't match one of our cannons. Fighting at sea, what if I am subject to his five cannons? As long as we share the same hatred and unite as one, we can destroy it with one shot. ”

Qu Hongzhen, the head of the military department, who was quite familiar with the Beiyang Naval Division, stepped forward to argue.

To everyone's surprise, Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, suddenly laughed out loud at this time, "Hahahaha, well said!" Well said! ”

"Qu Bingbu, what you said is right, the 12-inch guns of our 'Dingyuan' and 'Zhenyuan' ironclad battleships are indeed unknown to Japanese warships. But I ask you, what about this cannonball?! Li Hongzhang said sharply.

"There's no need to discuss the matter of shells, what are you talking about such a trivial matter!"

At this time, Weng Tongsu on the side hurriedly jumped out and grabbed the conversation.

"A trifle? What Qu Bingbu said is no trivial matter! Li Hongzhang's fingers were unknown, and Qu Hongzhen said loudly in front of everyone.

"Well, today I am not afraid of falling into the crime of bullying the king. Your Majesty, last year, Prince Alcohol inspected the Beiyang Naval Division, and the 'Dingyuan' giant cannon roared, and the target ship overturned, which amazed the world. But do you all know that? That target ship was a planted explosive, which was detonated with the flesh and blood of my Beiyang sailors! ”

Guangxu was shocked by this and hurriedly asked, "Li Zhongtang, what's going on?!" ”

"The last three shells of the two giant ships of our Beiyang Naval Division have only the last three shells of their 12-inch guns. The soldiers were afraid that they would not be able to hit the target ship and lose the face of the imperial court in front of the ministers of many countries, and on the other hand, they were reluctant to give up the only few main guns and ammunition! ”

"What? Dingyuan, Zhenyuan's two ships only have three shells left in each shell?! Emperor Guangxu walked up to Li Hongzhang in astonishment and asked loudly.

Li Hongzhang broke the jar and broke it for a hundred times, "No! It was two ships with a total of eight 12-inch guns, and there were only three shells left. ”

"What do you say?!!" Guangxu said angrily.

"Exactly! Where is such a behemoth still a warship, it is a dead fish floating on the sea! Li Hongzhang said angrily.

Guangxu asked repeatedly, "What about the cannonballs, I ask you!" What about the cannonballs?!!! ——”

"About the cannonballs, please ask the emperor to ask Master Weng, the chief housekeeper of the household department." Li Hongzhang lowered his eyes.

"You say." Guangxu walked up to Weng Tongsu step by step and asked in a low voice, his voice making people shudder.

Weng Tongsu swallowed his saliva, "Your Majesty! Although the prime minister is a minister, he usually takes thrift as his duty. But the war broke out, uh! …… Who...... Who would have thought? ”

"You bastard!! ——" Guangxu shouted loudly.

Weng Tongsu was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty! The crime is so great that it is irrefutable. However, for several years, there is indeed no surplus silver in the household department, and even such a major event as the Queen Mother's longevity celebration is not simplified? Please ask the emperor to take a clear look. ”

Emperor Guangxu Zaiyan was sad when he heard this, the silver in the treasury over the years had indeed been looted away by the ** one, but he also knew that his teacher had made a mistake, and if he didn't make some silver to coax the Queen Mother of the West to the Summer Palace earlier, when would he be able to really take charge of the government.

After all, everything this teacher does is not for himself after all!

Zai Yan's anger suddenly disappeared, and he had no air, "Get up." ”

"Your Majesty." The elderly Weng Tongsu hurriedly thanked the Holy Grace and got up.

"Forget about the past," Zai Yan paced back to his place and said slowly, "Li Zhongtang—"

Li Hongzhang stepped forward and responded, "The minister is here!" ”

The Queen Mother said that three million taels of silver would be allocated from the cost of the longevity celebration to the Beiyang Navy and Army as military expenses. From now on, I will grant you any request from the Beiyang Naval Division. Whether it's a ship or a shell, whatever you say, let's buy it! As long as you can beat Japan! Zai Yan said fiercely.

"The Emperor Shengming!"

The Yamen of the Governor of Tianjin Zhili of the Qing Dynasty

Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, was sitting in the governor's palace hall with a group of staff members anxiously discussing the purchase of ships, while also waiting for news from various places.

"Newspaper -- the envoy to Britain sent a telegram that the three armored fast ships purchased by our Daqing Dynasty will not be shipped by the British government on the grounds of neutrality."

"Newspaper -- the minister in Germany telegraphed, the 305mm naval artillery shells ordered by me in the Qing Dynasty will not be shipped by Germany on the basis of neutrality."

"The United States openly announced that it would strictly maintain neutrality in the war between the Qing and Japan."

"Newspaper - Prime Minister Yamen called, the Chilean government broke the contract and canceled the agreement on the two armored fast ships."

Staff member Zhang Peilun wiped the sweat on his head, "How is this good?" Britain and Chile are not willing to sell me the warships of the Great Qing Kingdom, but the Ding Junmen of Weihaiwei is still waiting for news? ”

"The warship is still a trivial matter, it was bought late, if you don't buy it sooner or later, you can't complain that others will not sell it to you."

Guo Baiyin, the general office of the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, who was recruited by Li Hongzhang, also said eagerly, "But the twelve-inch shells of the two main battleships of 'Dingyuan' and 'Zhenyuan' are indispensable, and this kind of giant cannon shells cannot be produced by the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, and they were all purchased from Germany in the early years." Now I have to buy it for him anyway. ”

Han Dianjia, the person in charge of Jinling's military industry, agreed, "Yes! This will be all about nothing, so let's get a few rounds of these 12-inch blasting grenades back anyway! Ding, except for one main gun grenade each carrying, the rest of the two ships are solid shells, and they can only control the enemy by penetrating the side of the enemy ship to cause water ingress, and the lethality is limited! ”

"It's really not possible, so I have to disassemble a few batches of solid bullets, first load a batch of grenades with gunpowder, and give it to the sailor to use first." Qian Dingming, the quartermaster of the water division, frowned.

Han Dianjia said astringently, "Grenades are important, but solid bullets are not surplus, and they all play a role in naval battles." It's useless to put it together like this. Moreover, the explosives used in this large-caliber grenade cannot be produced by our own side, and the power of black powder is very small. ”

Li Hongzhang listened to the discussion of several staff members in the hall, paced by himself, and after hearing Qian Dingming's words, he responded, "Are there enough 150mm artillery shells in the Tianjin Machinery Bureau?" ”

Qian Dingming shook his head and sighed, "The six-inch sub-artillery shells commonly used by the sailors are all in reserve, but they are only enough for ordinary training, but it will be difficult to deal with the big battle." ”

"Alas-" Li Hongzhang sat down in his chair when he heard this, closed his eyes and said, "Let the Machinery Bureau step up and start making some 150-mm artillery shells, so that several ships can still use them, and the 305-mm main gun grenades can only find another way." ”

"Haha~ Father, look who is back!"

Just when everyone in the mansion was desperate, I saw Li Jingyuan, the youngest son of Li Hongzhang in the mansion, leading a person into the hall at this time......