The Qing Empire and the United States jointly launched a war against Spain, and with the Qing Empire Expeditionary Force occupying the main island of Spanish Puerto Rico, as well as the attached islands of Vieques and Culebra, the expeditionary force's mission in the Americas has been completed.

In Asia, more than 2,000 Spanish Pacific islands, including Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Caroline Islands, had been secretly occupied by Wang Chenhao before the war, and after the Qing Empire declared war with the Spanish Empire, Wang Chenhao also announced to the world through the Prime Minister's Yamen that the Qing Empire had completed its military occupation of the above-mentioned islands.

According to the cooperation agreement reached between Wang Chenhao and Charles the US Minister Plenipotentiary to China, the Qing Empire has completed its battle plan. And the U.S. Army is still fighting the island of Cuba, and the expeditionary force sent to the Philippines is still on the way.

Originally, Wang Chenhao proposed to Charles that he was willing to send an expeditionary force to land on the island of Cuba to assist the US army in the war. But out of wariness of Wang Chenhao, Charles politely declined. However, Charles hoped that the Qing Imperial Navy would continue to assist the U.S. Navy in preparing for the Spanish fleet of Severa, to which Wang Chenhao agreed.

The news of the expeditionary force's victory spread back to China, and everyone from the central government of the Qing court to the common people of Li was excited. Originally, the Qing government axe was also worried about the defeat of the war against Spain, and feared that once the expeditionary force lost the battle, it would lead Spain to retaliate against the anti-Spanish movement that the Qing Empire had set off in the country before. Now that the expeditionary force has won a great victory, the Qing Zheng axe suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, the Qing Empire's navy and army seized a large number of Spanish colonies, which also made the Qing political axe proud. The people of Li continued to cheer and celebrate Wang Chenhao, and some local officials had reservations when trying cases of Spanish violations in China, but now they found that the Spanish Empire was vulnerable, so they no longer showed mercy and increased the punishment of the Spaniards.

The war against Spain achieved brilliant results, and Guangxu immediately convened a meeting in front of the emperor to officially issue a decree to severely punish Spain and show off our country's prestige. In fact, this is Guangxu robbing Wang Chenhao of the credit and putting gold on his face.

Of course, Guangxu also has his own deeper plans.

After a long period of persuasion by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and a large number of reformers, Guangxu finally nodded and agreed to change the law and reform.

However, the resistance to the reform of the law was enormous, and the Qing court, from the central to the local level, believed that the reform of the law was to change the status quo, so the opposition cries rose one after another.

The first obstacle to the reform was the Empress Dowager Cixi. If Guangxu wants to change the law and reform, he has to take back the right to appoint the first and second rank officials from Cixi. For this reason, Emperor Guangxu has visited the Summer Palace several times to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi, just to get Cixi to agree to the reform of the law. However, the results were not great, and the two parties of the emperor and queen did not make concessions to each other in the uneven distribution of power.

To this end, Guangxu followed Kang Youwei's suggestion and launched a public opinion offensive. Guangxu has let Wang Chenhao play tricks on the issue of public opinion many times and suffered a big loss. Therefore, he also organized his own newspaper, which was established by Tan Si and others. After the propaganda of the Shiwu Bao, Emperor Guangxu's proposal to learn from the West to reform the law was spread. At the same time, it was secretly said that Cixi was obstructing the change of the law, and as a result, the ministers of various countries in China were lured out.

The British Minister Sir Dou Nale attached great importance to Guangxu's preparation for the reform of the law, and also supported it very much, and formed a joint legation of Britain, the United States, Germany, France and other countries headed by Sir Dou Nale to note to Prime Minister Yamen, supporting Guangxu's reform of the law, and at the same time asking the Empress Dowager Cixi to agree to the reform of the law.

The role of foreigners is still very large, and Cixi is naturally very unhappy when she sees foreigners interfering in her political affairs. However, the outside world has spread that she opposes the reform of the law and obstructs the country's prosperity. Cixi had no choice, in order to protect her face, it was not good to continue to obstruct the change of the law.

In front of public opinion, Cixi ostensibly supported the reform of the law, but she was not a good master, and before agreeing to Emperor Guangxu's request for reform and reform, she summoned Li Hongzhang and Wang Chenhao to Beijing, praised them and encircled them.

Li Hongzhang was no longer as popular in front of Cixi as before at this time, and the expansion of Wang Chenhao's strength forced Cixi to envelop him even more.

Cixi already knew that the power of the governor of Zhili had actually been handed over to Wang Chenhao by Li Hongzhang, and the current Zhili Province was what Wang Chenhao said, and Li Hongzhang enjoyed Qingfu at home every day.

Now that it has become a fact, the surname Cixi Suo fulfills their request. Cixi appointed Li Hongzhang as the prime minister and minister of yamen affairs, and Wang Chenhao as the governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang.

For Wang Chenhao, it doesn't matter whether he is appointed as the governor of Zhili or not, he already has actual control of the military and political power of Zhili. Cixi also knew this, so she awarded him the title of Wenhua Hall Scholar. As the highest education in the Qing Empire, many people are worried about it, and this kind of reward has given Wang Chenhao a lot of face.

And Wang Chenhao also understands that Cixi is encircling him at this juncture, which undoubtedly makes Wang Chenhao stand on the side of the back party. And Guangxu's reform method lost a move before it started.

Wang Chenhao's promotion to the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang immediately made the governors of other provinces jealous. However, due to Wang Chenhao's power, they can only complain a few words. And with Cixi's approval of Guangxu's reform of the law, the attention of the governors of the provinces also quickly shifted from Wang Chenhao.

On January 24, 1898, Emperor Guangxu rarely summoned all the civil and military officials to the Qianqing Palace, promulgated an edict, and the Minister of Military Aircraft, the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Affairs and the King of the Kingdom met to discuss the reform matters as soon as possible.

The next day, the Military Aircraft Department and Prime Minister Yamen issued an edict announcing the edict of "Ming Dingguo Shi" at home and abroad.

"Over the past few years, Chinese and foreign ministers have paid attention to current affairs, and many masters have changed the law and become self-reliant. Several edicts, such as the opening of special departments, the reduction of redundant troops, the reform of the military science system, and the establishment of large and small schools, have all been repeatedly examined and approved, and they are ready to be implemented after discussion. If the country is uncertain, the order will not work, and it will be extremely corrupt, and it will lead to disputes at the door, fire and water with each other, and follow the accumulated habits of the Song and Ming dynasties, which will be of no benefit to the current politics. That is, in terms of the Chinese classics, the five emperors and three kings do not follow each other, such as winter Qiu Xia Ge, and they are not mutually exceeding. Nowadays, the transportation of various countries is a top priority. The governors of the provinces are said to be well-behaved, well-versed in current affairs, and untainted, regardless of the size of their official positions, and ensure that a number of people are handed over to the prime minister and the national affairs yamen to lead the introduction, so as to prepare for the imperial court to appoint envoys. ”

As soon as the edict of the Ming Dynasty was issued, it immediately alarmed the country and abroad, and the joy of the Qing Empire's victory in the war against Spain was also covered up by it. For the common people, the war against Spain was only the interest of the country, and it had nothing to do with them, and they attached more importance to the reform and reform of the law, because it was a matter of vital interests.

The governors of the provinces did not know exactly how to carry out the reform, so they were conservative about it. None of the books mentioned how to change the Fa.

After Guangxu promulgated the edict of the Ming Dingguo, no one paid attention to him for a week, and no one echoed him, and he was suddenly angry enough.

So, on the eighth day, Kang Youwei had to stand up and "be a nursery", and he wrote to the Qing court "Should Coordinate the Overall Situation" to take care of Guangxu's face.

Emperor Guangxu then promulgated several reform measures.

First of all, in the economic field, the establishment of the Bureau of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce and the General Administration of Roads and Mines advocated the establishment of modern industries, the construction of railways, the exploitation of mineral deposits, the organization of chambers of commerce, and the reform of finances. Among them, the financial reform has been completed by Wang Chenhao, and Guangxu boasts that it is his credit, and it is placed in the field of economic reform.

The second is politically, we should open up the way of speech, allow the people to write and talk about things, and have special personnel take charge of the affairs of the people, so that the people's weal and woe can reach the heavens. At the same time, at the request of Kang Youwei and others, Guangxu prepared a cabinet and held a parliament, preparing to follow the example of Britain, Yueben, and Germany to adopt a constitutional monarchy as a whole.

Then there is the military system, the system of eliminating the soldiers of the green battalion in an all-round way, and all provinces in the country will organize and train the new-style army in accordance with the Western-style classics, and use the Beiyang Army as a reference blueprint to supervise and train the new army in each province.

In terms of education, the eight-share system was abolished, and the imperial examination was comprehensively reformed, and engineering subjects such as physics and chemistry were added. Set up a Western-style school, hire foreigners to teach, and establish the Beijing Normal University Hall in Yanjing. At the same time, a translation bureau was set up to translate works from various countries as teaching materials for the Beijing Normal University. We send international students to developed countries and reward human resources in scientific works and inventions.

The purpose of these innovative decrees was to learn from Western culture, science and technology, and management systems, develop capitalism, establish a constitutional monarchy, and make the country rich and strong.

However, these measures only represented the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie and were not tolerated by the feudal stubborn forces. Obviously, some powerful eunuchs and conservative bureaucrats in the Qing government axe were obedient to the measures of the new policy, and the excuse of disobedience was certain. After all, the reform at this time could only represent the interests of the weak Qing bourgeoisie, but could not satisfy the interests of the huge feudal class, and was destined to produce a fierce collision.

Wang Chenhao knew that the two parties of the emperor and queen would have a showdown soon, and Guangxu was unarmed, counting on a group of reformists and Yushi Qingliu to be no match for Cixi in any case. Wang Chenhao knew that the reform failed in a few months, and then Cixi launched a coup d'état to abolish Guangxu, although he was interfered by the foreign powers and gave up abolishing Guangxu, but since then Guangxu has been imprisoned and has no rights.

Wang Chenhao sympathizes with Guangxu, but from his standpoint, no matter how the two parties of the emperor and queen eat each other, Wang Chenhao is happy to see it. As for the reform and reform, Wang Chenhao still gave some support, and many reforms were in line with Wang Chenhao's intentions, so they were implemented in Zhili Province. As for whether other provinces will implement law changes, Wang Chenhao has no mind to care.

Wang Chenhao was promoted to the governor of Zhili, and Guangxu could only complain in his heart that Cixi did not hesitate to let Wang Chenhao become bigger again in order to control power, but Guangxu also had to curry favor with Wang Chenhao like Cixi, in exchange for Wang Chenhao's support on the issue of reform and reform.

Wang Chenhao proposed the establishment of the Ministry of National Defense to manage the affairs of the navy and army in a unified manner, and transferred the War Department and the Navy Department to Tianjin, because Wang Chenhao still had to take care of the affairs of Zhili Province, and it was inconvenient to stay in Yanjing.

Guangxu then approved Wang Chenhao's request, set up a Ministry of National Defense in Tianjin, with the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of the Army, and appointed Wang Chenhao as the acting Minister of National Defense, and the Minister of the Navy and the Minister of War were directly appointed by Wang Chenhao.

Wang Chenhao then transferred all his power centers to the Zhili Governor's Mansion in Tianjin, which became the highest military command center of the Qing Empire.

Wang Chenhao was too lazy to watch the struggle between the two parties in the capital, and after returning to the base camp in Tianjin, he devoted himself to running Zhili Province.

Wang Chenhao then set up a general staff headquarters in the Ministry of National Defense, Wang Shizhen was appointed chief of the general staff, Yang Shixiang was appointed deputy chief of the general staff, and Li Guodong, minister of the army, was appointed director of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

In addition, in the name of respecting the emperor's reform and reform, Wang Chenhao reformed the management institutions at all levels of the Zhili Governor's Palace.

The Governor's Office of Zhili has a Ministry of Justice, and the Governor is Wu Tingfang; Zhang Feng, Minister General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Cai Yuanpei, Director General of the Ministry of Education; Zhou Fu, General Minister of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce; Ministry of the Interior, General Li Dehai; Ministry of Finance, General Song Hanzhang; Zhan Tianyou, Chief Minister of Communications; Secretary General of the Governor's Office Nguyen Trung Shu, Chief of Guard Li Bing.

It can be said that these departments set up by the Governor's Office were established in the form of a country's central organs. The terms of reference are also limited to the province of Zhili.

With a well-established organization, the Governor's Mansion became a small imperial court. With the help of these people, Wang Chenhao is no longer so busy every day, and he doesn't have to do everything himself, he only needs to issue strategic indicators to various departments, and the specific work can be completed by the officials of each ministry.

Wang Chenhao is not worried that his subordinates will have different intentions, and after Li Guodong of the Intelligence Bureau established an intelligence system directly under Wang Chenhao abroad, he also established an intelligence system at home, which is also directly under Wang Chenhao's command. Wang Chenhao can control the situation of his officials at any time through the Intelligence Bureau.

However, Wang Chenhao did not dare to be careless, the Minister of War and the Minister of the Navy are still Wang Chenhao's part-time positions, and the military power must be firmly controlled in his hands.

In addition to military power, it is financial power.

Although the Governor's Office of Zhili established a Ministry of Finance to control the operation of funds in Zhili Province, all funds were transferred through the Ministry of the Interior. And Li Dehai, the chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is Wang Chenhao's housekeeper and controls all the funds.

It can be said that Wang Chenhao relied on his prestige and strength to firmly control the sea and land armies.

No, it should be the three armed forces, because the Air Force is also in full swing to form.

When it comes to the Air Force, it is natural to think of airplanes.

However, Wang Chenhao's air force is not currently composed of aircraft. Because the aircraft designed and developed by Adel is not enough to carry out military missions.

Wang Chenhao's air force is not many at present, there is only one balloon squadron, three squads, and a total of eighteen reconnaissance balloons.

Balloon troops can also be called air forces?

There is no way, the early balloon units of various countries are indeed called the Air Force, but it is not the Air Force Department of Reading, but it is under the control of the War Department.

Balloon units are part of the armies of all countries. As early as 1794, the French pioneered the formation of a balloon unit in the army, which served as many important military observation and reconnaissance missions in the Franco-Austrian war, and contributed to the decisive victory of the French army at Fleurus.

At this time, the balloons used by the balloon troops were no longer hot air balloons, but balloons filled with hydrogen. At the end of 1793, physicists Charles and Robert ascended to an altitude of 300 meters in a hydrogen balloon for the first time and floated freely in the air for two hours. Their experiment is significant because the balloon is filled with gas with a specific gravity smaller than air, rather than the traditional heating method to make the air 'lighter'. Most of the various aircraft developed since then have adopted this principle of lift-off. So far, mankind has achieved preliminary results on the journey to achieve flight. As with other scientific and technological advances in human history, these achievements were almost immediately compulsorily used for military purposes.

Starting with the first balloon balloon team in France, army units in other countries have also begun to form balloon units.

Due to the obvious detection effect of the balloon unit, military experts began to upgrade the balloon. In 1884, French officers Lunard and Cribought built an airship "France", 51 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 8.4 meters at the front, powered by a battery-powered electric motor, and flying at a maximum speed of 24 kilometers per hour.

The French took the lead in the development of airships, and countries followed suit.

By the end of the 19th century, countries around the world were setting off a "airship craze" for design and manufacturing, which swept the world. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and other European and American countries have many professionals involved in the design and manufacture of airships.

Driven by this wave of pursuit of new technology and the development of airships, Xie Jintai, who is proficient in mathematics and works in machinery, also ambitiously squeezed into the ranks of the development of this airship.

Xie Zhangtai is a native of Guangdong, born in a wealthy merchant family, he designed a variety of airships, but he was not taken seriously by the Qing political axe until he took the initiative to find Wang Chenhao and recommended himself.

Wang Chenhao attaches great importance to the construction of air forces, but mainly on airplanes, and in his opinion, airships are not very useful. However, due to the immaturity of aircraft technology, in order to fill the gap before the aircraft was equipped with the Air Force, he decided to set up an airship research and development project.

Xie Jintai then became the person in charge of the research and development project of Beiyang Science and Technology, and under the guarantee of Beiyang Technology's abundant funds, the materials required for the airship designed by Xie Jintai were readily available. Soon, China's first self-developed and designed airship was born.

The "China" airship, which Xie Zhangtai gave the name.

The airship has been supported by the most advanced technology and equipment of Beiyang Technology, and many of the technologies are leading the international level.

The "China" airship is huge in shape, and it is in the form of a spindle-shaped rugby, which is extremely spectacular. State-of-the-art high-power diesel engines are installed, with two spare aircraft aero engines and a designed power output of 120 horsepower. Equipped with a rigid and thin aluminum alloy frame, the propeller technology on the aircraft and the fluid mechanics design of the fuselage are integrated into it. Driving a two-meter-long five-bladed propeller with a speed of 35 kilometers per hour, a light load of 1.2 tons, a normal load of 2.3 tons, a full load of 3.1 tons, and a capacity of 30 people.

On the day of the test flight, the weather was exceptionally sunny, the sun was shining, and the wind was blowing, and there was a sea of people watching.

Wang Chenhao did not keep the airship technology secret, he just wanted to make it public and set off an arms race of airships in various countries, so as to mislead them and make them attach importance to airships but not to airplanes.

Xie Zhangtai's airship test flight did not disgrace Wang Chenhao, and the test flight results reached the world's advanced level.

The airship flew swiftly and smoothly through the clouds, and the Chinese Yellow Dragon flag was unfurled in the wind, which greatly made the poor and weak Chinese people feel a sense of pride in raising their eyebrows and exhaling their breath. The crowd of people watching couldn't help but rejoice and raise their arms and shout.

Domestic media such as "News", "Declaration", "Yulinxi News", Hong Kong's "China Times" and "Circular Yue Bao", and foreign "New York Times" and "Times" have all made special reports, greatly increasing the aspirations of the Chinese.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao held a press conference and publicly announced that he would form an airship unit. He also threatened that the military power of airships is infinite, such as bombing important enemy targets with airships.

Wang Chenhao has been recognized by the world as the greatest military strategist of this century, so his words have a decisive effect, and various [***] experts were quickly influenced by Wang Chenhao's new views, and urged the political axes of various countries to invest heavily in the development of airships.

Wang Chenhao's plan to set up an airship unit greatly stimulated Russia and Japan, and the two countries immediately invested a lot of manpower, material, and financial resources in the research and development of airships. France, which is already at the forefront of the world, has also further invested in the research and development of advanced airships, and Germany is a latecomer, and the surname of Zeppelin can quickly surpass France. Not to be outdone, Britain and the United States quickly acquired Xie Jintai's airship technology with their strong financial and scientific research strength, as well as their paramilitary alliance with Wang Chenhao, and then vigorously developed airships in their respective countries.

The airship craze was set off all over the world, and it soon turned into an arms race among various countries.

(To be continued)