Liu Buyun wanted to replace Ding Ruchang by himself, and he was very active, and the next day he sent Song Xiaofei Ding Ruchang's "black materials": first, life [***]: Although he is the commander of the water division, he usually lives in prostitutes and gambles, and does not live in the camp; The second is lax military discipline: the sailors patrol the South Seas every year, and lead the silver to gamble in Hong Kong and Shanghai; Third, they do not care about the maintenance and repair of warships, and use a large number of warships to transport passengers on a regular basis, which affects training; Fourth, there was deception, and when Li Zhongtang inspected the parade as usual, all the ships and cannons were whitewashed and painted.

Song Xiaofei took a look, this Liu Buyun didn't know Li Hongzhang too much, Ding Ruchang's life was corrupt for Li Hongzhang, it was not a matter at all, Li Hongzhang liked to use the life of corrupt generals, "Good martial artists. Color, is his surname, but if he can be greedy for fame, he will naturally be a rope ruler", the second and third, Ding Ruchang can say that he doesn't understand the sailor to fool the past. Only the fourth one has offensive power, Li Hongzhang can tolerate anything for his subordinates, but there is a "high-voltage line", that is, "deception", prostitution and gambling, as long as you honestly explain, there is no problem, but if you want to deceive Li Hongzhang, you will inevitably "get out".

Lin Tai once recommended a foreign consultant to Song Xiaofei, the American Magiffen, this person's dream is to be a navy, graduated from the Annapolis Naval Academy in the United States in 1884, the United States Navy only recruited twelve people that year, he did not get in, not far away from the ocean to join the Beiyang Naval Division, want to find a job, he found the United States Vice Consul Patrick, recommended to Li Hongzhang, this person is good at ship driving, gun use, navigation and steam turbine maintenance. The most important thing is that he has a very good personal relationship with Ding Ruchang!

Song Xiaofei secretly exclaimed in his heart: "God really helps me", and he had a strategy of killing three birds with one stone in his heart.

After Ding Ruchang returned to China, Song Xiaofei handed over the "report letter" passed by Liu Ming to Li Hongzhang to Ding Ruchang, Ding Ruchang looked at it, his heart was empty, and said: "This Liu Liumazi stabbed me in the back, but fortunately, my brother told me that I would never dare to deceive Lord Zhongtang!" ”

Song Xiaofei said: "In this report letter, it is written in black and white, and even the Lord Zhongtang will go to the Beiyang Navy Division to inspect it clearly, it must be that someone within the Navy Master is dissatisfied with the Admiral, so he informed Liu Mingchuan of your situation." You also know that he defeated the French in Taiwan, and his reputation is great, if he forwards this letter to which imperial historian, he will not be able to protect you in the court. ”

"Gold is garbage in the wrong place", Ding Ruchang was already unpopular in the sailor, Liu Buchan, Lin Taizeng, Deng Shichang and other captains of the pipe belt did not accept him, he was like a rabbit that could run to the sea, and he was not happy, so he asked Song Xiaofei: "According to my brother's opinion, what should I do?" ”

Song Xiaofei saw that the time was almost up, so he said his suggestion: "Lord Admiral can take advantage of this flag-lowering incident to take the initiative to ask for a transfer from his post, my brother is from the army, and our army academy needs a famous general like my brother to be in charge, it should be no problem for you to be the general office." Moreover, on the side of the Beiyang Naval Division, you can ask Lord Zhongtang to hire Ma Jifen as a senior advisor, and like Lang Weili, he will be rewarded with the title of Admiral, and then find a chance to go back in the future, what does my brother think? ”

Ding Ruchang is also a veteran of the Huai Army, the army is experienced, and going to the military academy is also considered to be the best of his talents, he is nearly fifty years old, and he went to the water division to avoid Liu Mingchuan's helpless move, Song Xiaofei was in the Huai Army at this time, equivalent to Li Hongzhang's "spokesperson", he said this, Ding Ruchang suspected that this was what Li Hongzhang meant, at that time, the Beiyang Navy Division did not have much oil and water, and he could not see his family for several months when he went to sea, he wanted to return to the Beiyang Army for development, The officer academy is also well-known inside and outside the imperial court, and even Liu Mingchuan has made a move, Ding Ruchang knows that it is not trivial for the Huai army to get rid of his forces this time, so he pushed the boat down the river and said: "Thank you brother for thinking about me, the Beiyang Navy Division wants me to leave, it is nothing more than Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng, the two general soldiers, I will never let them occupy my position." In this way, I recommend you to Lord Zhongtang to be the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, and you will be promoted to one level, how about it? But I don't hide it from my brother, there is a little deficit in the accounts of the sailor, and you have to help me bear it, brother. ”

Now money is not a problem for Song Xiaofei, Ding Ruchang's proposal is in Song Xiaofei's hands, but he is inconvenient to be too excited, so he said: "Thank you brother for your support, if I can serve as the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, I will naturally smooth out all the accounts for my brother, and I will not be responsible for the past." ”

When Song Xiaofei went to report the "flag-raising incident" to Li Hongzhang, Ding Ruchang had already gone to meet Li Hongzhang, saying that he was old, had been at sea for a long time, and his old injuries had recurred, and asked to resign from the post of admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Li Hongzhang asked Song Xiaofei's opinion, Song Xiaofei said, Ma Jifen, I have heard Liu Buyun and them mention, loyal and reliable, not as ambitious as Lang Weili, hiring them as advisers, conferring the post of deputy admiral, and hanging the rank of admiral, can form an effective check and balance, and can also take the opportunity to establish good relations with the British and American navies, so that we can win them over to deal with Yue himself, at least let them remain neutral, I think it is very good! Otherwise, Luang Weili was a major in the British Navy, and he would have been difficult to accept only giving him the false title of admiral. Ding Ruchang came to the officer academy and could be the general office, but the military academy lacked a senior general of the Huai Army like him. It's just that the student has now served as the Minister of International Trade of Korea and the principal of the Army Academy, and then concurrently serves as the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Li Hongzhang intended to cultivate Song Xiaofei, and said: "At the beginning, Ding Ruchang was asked to go to the water division to avoid Liu Liumazi, but now that he is old, he said that the old disease has recurred, but in fact, the old man knows that he is thinking about his daughter-in-law, and now it is good to go back to the army academy!" You go to serve as the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, don't worry! If you hire Lang Weili and Ma Jifen as deputy admirals, then the Beiyang Navy Division will have two foreign deputy admirals at once, you know diplomacy and English, and you have defeated Yue himself in the Korean naval battle, and you can control the field. As for other people's criticism, you don't have to worry, since ancient times, people who are capable have worked hard, think about Wen Zhenggong (Zeng Guofan) who was a servant of the five ministries, what are your positions. ”

With the support of Li Hongzhang, in February of the twelfth year of Guangxu, Song Xiaofei was appointed by the Guangxu Emperor as the Beiyang Admiral from Yipin, and as soon as he took office, he immediately announced the personnel adjustment of the Beiyang Naval Division: the British Navy Lieutenant Lang Weili and the American adviser Ma Jifen were hired as the actual deputy admiral, but Luang Weili's salary was 3600 US dollars, about 400 taels of silver, and Ma Jifen's annual salary was 2400 US dollars, about 300 taels, to show that he attached more importance to Lang Weili, but the two had the same power. In addition, Liu Buyun, the commander-in-chief of the right wing of the Beiyang Naval Division, was designated as the successor of the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, which was also equivalent to a "promotion" for Liu Buyun, because according to the constitution of the Beiyang Naval Division, the status of the left-wing commander-in-chief should be higher than that of the right-wing commander-in-chief. Because Ding Ruchang brought back two ocean-going ironclad ships from Germany, Song Xiaofei increased the middle wing of the Beiyang Naval Division, and promoted Deng Shichang, deputy commander of the left wing, to the general commander of the middle wing of the Beiyang Naval Division. As for Lin Taizeng, the commander-in-chief of the left wing, Song Xiaofei saw that he was really brave and brave, so he allocated an extra ironclad warship to his left wing fleet, and also handed over the "Zhenyuan" among the only two 7,000-ton ironclad giant ships in the Beiyang Naval Division to him to manage. In this way, the five people are more satisfied with Song Xiaofei.

Song Xiaofei learned that at that time, the world's naval equipment was changing with each passing day, and the main engine, boiler, artillery, and armor of warships were rapidly being updated, and the concepts of "speed is heavier than armor" and "rate of fire is heavier than artillery caliber" had gradually taken over the mainstream position, so he first embezzled the funds for the third year of the Beiyang Army Academy, allocated 100,000 taels of silver, replaced steam boilers for 15 warships, and spent 800,000 taels of silver to purchase 40 Krupp fast guns for warships. All of them are the most powerful blooming bombs.

After this personnel adjustment and equipment and ammunition upgrades, coupled with Song Xiaofei's experience in naval warfare, he was Li Hongzhang's confidant, he quickly established his prestige in the Beiyang Naval Division, Song Xiaofei ordered the Beiyang Naval Division to seize the time to train in accordance with the British Navy regulations formulated by Lang Weili, train the one-word column, fish scale team and other formations, practice target shooting, play and release mines, and actively prepare for war, because his next goal will be: to recover the Ryukyus!;