Tianjin, the flag of the exhibition. The soldiers on both sides of the road stood in high spirits. When the emperor established a new army in the capital, he said that he would transfer his Beiyang Military Academy as the team, which were all elite soldiers of the Huai Army carefully selected by Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang, who had already been ready to take over various affairs, was waiting at the gate of the city at dawn, and the emperor would arrive this morning. But it hasn't been until most of the morning.

The sound of clattering horses' hooves came from afar. The rider waved the flag in his hand from afar. This means that the emperor's luan has driven five miles ahead. Li Hongzhang waved his hand, and the team drove forward.

"Report-" A cavalryman in the back caught up, knelt in front of Li Hongzhang as soon as he got off the horse, and presented a telegram with both hands: "Report to Li Zhongtang, the Beiyang Navy Division is in an emergency." The emperor has arrived at Liugong Island, and the Lord of the Chuan Zhongtang has seen the ship in the distance. ”

Li Hongzhang looked around and was a little dizzy for a while. What the hell is going on? The emperor Luan has just arrived, why did he run to Liugong Island? It's another raid. Although the current emperor doesn't care about other government affairs, even the queen mother never gives in to this matter related to the new army. But it doesn't matter if you think about it, he has already made the preparations of the Beiyang Naval Division. It's just what does this emperor mean. Now Li Hongzhang is becoming more and more unable to understand this young emperor. He thought that even if the emperor made a surprise inspection, it should be the Beiyang Martial Arts Academy.

Li Hongzhang's staff member Zhang Peilun, who is also his son-in-law, said on the side: "My lord, no matter whether the emperor goes to Liugong Island or not, there is no hurry to rush there now anyway. It's better to go up and listen to one or two. ”

When Li Hongzhang picked up the emperor according to the rules. Unexpectedly, Kou Liancai looked at himself with strange eyes: "Why is Li Zhongtang still here, the emperor has gone to Weihai." Li Zhongtang still doesn't know? ”

"Didn't the old man just receive the telegram?" Li Hongzhang shook the telegram in his hand and pulled Kou Liancai aside: "Anyway, I can't catch up for a while, so I can only come up to greet him first." Father-in-law Kou, which is this emperor singing? He said a silver ticket and handed it over.

Kou Liancai didn't even look at it and hurriedly blocked back: "Lord Zhongtang, your silver slave doesn't dare to accept it." This is for the emperor to know, but he has to pull out the skin of the slave. The emperor went first ten miles out of Beijing yesterday, but only explained that the servants arrived in Tianjin at the time of today's day. After Luan Jia and his entourage stayed in Tianjin, they asked the minions and the head of the Qi guard to rush to Weihai with the guards immediately. The rest of the minions don't know. ”

"Say it over there, Grandpa Kou, please."

When Li Hongzhang told Kou Liancai about this matter, Kou Liancai remembered something. The emperor seems to be going to see someone. I don't know what kind of person Kou Liancai is, so who will it be? Li Hongzhang was really a little dizzy.

After the emperor Luan was settled, Li Hongzhang hurried all the way, and when they arrived in Weihai and landed on Liugong Island, the Beiyang Naval Division had all returned. On the wharf, the officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division all lined up in a neat phalanx at the request of Guangxu.

"Weichen Li Hongzhang, see the emperor, long live long live long live." Li Hongzhang saw that Lang Weili was also present, and he understood that Guangxu had gone to see Lang Weili first. It seems that Luang Weili's re-entry into the North Ocean is unstoppable. At this moment, Qi Yide stepped forward and whispered something to Guangxu, and pointed to Leng Jun in the distance, holding an explosive bag and shaking his head.

"Zhongtang, please get up, I just took the Beiyang Naval Division to sail once. It's really unpleasant. Let's talk about it later. Guangxu turned his head and said to the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division: "What I have seen today is really too bad, and I will repeat it again." Anyone who smoked opium was expelled from the Beiyang Naval Division. Admiral Ding, disband. ”

"All the officials above the pipe band should speak to the Yamen of the Water Master."

Admiral Yamen, all the captains of warships have arrived. There was a room of densely packed seats. For today's performance of the water master, Guangxu showed extreme dissatisfaction. Then Guangxu asked the ship's management to talk about their views on today's performance. As Guangxu expected, everyone talked about how powerful the Beiyang Naval Division was, and also cited their views on the current situation in East Asia. Guangxu thinks that it is not that no one knows the shortcomings of the Beiyang Navy Division now, but that when everyone is present, they say that these are going to cause public anger. Maybe you can't say it.

"Well, I don't think I'm going to be able to ask anything. In this way, everyone will go back first, I will give you three days, and everyone will write an article about the Beiyang sailors today, and talk about their own thoughts. Of course, the matter of buying new ships should not be mentioned for the time being. At present, the household is in difficulty, and I can't get any money. There will be no new ships in the next two years. So if you want to write, write something else. For example, how to train, how to fight, etc., write with your heart. I also train hard. I'll give you an answer here. Three years, three years at most, I don't want my new warship to find a captain in three years. Li Hongzhang, Lang Weili, Ding Ruchang, Liu Buyun, and Deng Shichang stayed, and the others dispersed. Qi Yide, Leng Jun, the two of you also stay. ”

In a Beiyang sailor, who is all from Fujian, there must be advantages in managing his personal technical level, and being able to make friends with them shows that he is not bad at handling interpersonal relationships. Guangxu knew that in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, after Dingyuan lost his command, there was no one to take over the command. It was also an important reason for the failure of naval battles. The reason why Deng Shichang was left was to make foreshadowing in the future.

left in public, Li Hongzhang knelt down and didn't have time to speak. was stopped by Guangxu.

"It doesn't have to be like this. I came directly to the water master this time to let me see the real situation. I boarded the warship in the middle of the night, and you didn't find it until dawn. Also, you haven't been able to find the fake explosives package that Qi Yide put on the Zhenyuan ship last time. I couldn't be more disappointed. ”

"The emperor is a crime of the ministers, and please ask the emperor to punish him." Li Hongzhang didn't know what to say, he thought that the emperor was working hard for the construction of the new army, and this time he would first inspect the Beiyang Military Academy. Unexpectedly, the emperor went directly to the naval division, but he still stared at the weakness of Beiyang's insufficient defense. The key is that the emperor has long confessed to strengthening defense. The emperor's face was not good at this time, and Li Hongzhang could only deal with it carefully. No matter what he does, let alone the emperor now, even the queen mother will not dare to go to his official position easily.

"Get up, I don't want to punish anyone. This situation cannot be changed in a moment. Li Hongzhang, you are also an important minister of the imperial court and an old man of foreign affairs. Can you not know what is going on today? Besides, I reminded you. But you didn't do anything. Guangxu waved his hand to prevent Li Hongzhang from wanting to speak: "The ancients had a cloud: knowing oneself and knowing the other side can win all battles." This kind of defense allows the enemy to know himself and his opponent, but what about us. So Li Hongzhang, you select capable soldiers from the Huai Army and hand them over to Qi Yide, and I will also ask him to bring some people to train special security personnel for you for three months. I hope that in three months, there will never be another thing where someone will be able to break through at night. Leng Jun, you also bring some other people, just carry out latent practice, three months later, you and Qi Yide have a competition, I want to see if Qi Yide's shield is more powerful, or Leng Yide's spear is more powerful. Speaking of this, Guangxu showed a rare smile on his face.

"Minister, honorable will."

But Li Hongzhang's face was not good-looking. Guangxu reacted suddenly. It seems that I am still too anxious, this country has already formed one interest group after another, and under the premise that I don't have the strength to do so, too fast a move will lead to a counterattack.

"Li Hongzhang, you have to choose these security personnel carefully. After completing the first competition three months later, Qi Yide and these people wanted to take it back. After that, it's up to you to compete with the cold. ”

"I understand." He said he understood, but he didn't understand in his heart. Li Hongzhang thought that the emperor was going to take advantage of this matter to extend his hand into Beiyang. I didn't want the emperor to say this, doesn't that mean that Beiyang is still your Li Hongzhang's, I am just here to help. What does the emperor mean, thinking of this, Li Hongzhang is really dizzy.

"Okay, let's not talk about it anymore. Now let's talk about the sailor. Luang Weili, tell me. ”

As soon as the topic of sailors started, with many years of experience in bringing Beiyang, Lang Weili said a long bunch of words. The proposals for the current situation of the Beiyang also attracted the words of the other three Beiyang pipe belts. Due to Lang Weili's behavior and habits in the West, when talking about the sailor, there is nothing to think about showing the emperor's important surname and the wise surname of decision-making. However, this also made others less worried, and they talked more, and the issues discussed were all to the point. Well, Guangxu thinks so. Who doesn't want to show it in front of the emperor.

Gradually, the sun has set in the west. The tea in front of me has been changed a few times. Guangxu, who hadn't slept all night, was fighting hard, and finally couldn't stand it at this time. Although what they say is getting more and more vigorous.

Guangxu yawned: "Let's stop for a while." In the future, Luang Weili will stay in Beiyang, and it will be said that there will be time in the future. I don't know anything about it, but I can hear it. Liu Buyun and Deng Shichang deserved to have returned from studying in the UK. As for Ding Ruchang, after all, you didn't learn it from a special sailor, and some of the things you said, I, a layman, can hear that there are problems. However, judging from your familiarity with the water master, as a Lu master, you still worked hard to become a water master halfway. I've always had an idea. If you want to occupy a small island in the sea. Then the sailors must be dispatched. But the island is not big, and it would be too troublesome to transfer Lu Shizhen specifically. I wanted to set up a ground combat force dedicated to the Marine Division, the Marine Corps. In my opinion, it should be appropriate for Ding Ruchang, who was born in the land division and has been in the water division, to be in charge of the marine corps of the water division. I just don't know that Lord Ding is willing to let go of this position as the admiral of the water division. Guangxu looked at Ding Ruchang and smiled.

"Wechen is willing." Since Li Hongzhang transferred him to be the admiral of the water division, Ding Ruchang knew that he did not have the ability to be a water master, and he studied hard. But there was no way out. Although he is not an expert until now, he is no longer a landlubber who knows nothing. Today, the emperor's dissatisfaction is written on his face from beginning to end, if he really wins the position of admiral of the water division, I am afraid that Li Zhongtang will not be able to protect him. I didn't think that the emperor would ask him to form a new army. It can be regarded as the emperor's special kindness. Besides, Master Lu is finally the old man.

"What about Li Zhongtang?" Guangxu was afraid that Li Hongzhang would think too much, thinking that he Guangxu was going to meddle in Beiyang: "The Marine Corps of the Navy I said is still picking people from your Huai Army." Or put it under your Beiyang, and the personnel and soldiers still have to worry about you. The new army in the capital has made me too busy to get out, and this naval division and land war are just like this, food and salary, and you Li Zhongtang are still the ones who do things. ”

"Your Majesty, it's okay to do this. It's just a matter of transferring people from the existing army to build a new army. There is no pressure on pay. It's a lot of fun. With Yu Ting here, the old minister is just moving his mouth. "It seems that the emperor does not have the intention of interfering in Beiyang, but how the Emperor Lang Weili arranged it has not been explained so far. But he, Li Hongzhang, is not easy to ask.

"As for the vacant position of Admiral of the Marine, I will hand it over to Lang Weili. In non-wartime, let's take Luang Weili as the leader. If you have no objections, so be it. ”

"Honorable Ministers."

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