Hearing the loss of so many officers and men, Wu Ge's face also sank, the battleship does not matter, as long as it does not fall into the hands of the enemy, it is a big deal to rebuild, these more than 1,000 officers and men are really the meat of the heart, the navy has just been built, these officers and men who have experience in long-distance voyages and have gone through actual combat are all treasures, and it is really regrettable that they have lost so much at one time.

He immediately asked in a deep voice, "Fought with the Spaniards?" ”

Yande shook his head slightly, and said, "Spain does not have a fleet in that ocean, and it doesn't cost a single shot to capture the port of Acapulco, and all the losses are caused during the voyage. There was a storm on the way back, but the Spaniards said it was not a storm at all, and they didn't lose a single ship, while we lost three, two on the way and one on the way back. ”

Speaking of this, he sighed lightly before continuing: "Summing up afterwards, it is still insufficient training, lack of experience, underestimation of the bad situation in the foreign ocean, and the time for the return trip is a little tighter. ”

Hearing this, Wu Ge didn't know how to comfort for a while, such a heavy loss on a long voyage will not only make the officers and men of the navy afraid of the voyage, but also will inevitably affect the future expansion of the navy.

After a long silence, Wu Gecai asked: "Is the news of the loss of warships and casualties strictly blocked?" ”

Yande nodded and said, "A gag order has been issued, but there are still many merchant ships accompanying me, and there are many people and mixed mouths, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to block." ”

Hearing him mention the merchant ship, Wu Ge hurriedly asked, "Is there any loss of the merchant ship?" ”

"Yes, they lost five, but the casualties were not as good as the navy." Yande said in a muffled voice.

Slightly groaned. Wu Ge said: "Don't be discouraged, the loss of this voyage will spread soon, don't delay here, hurry up and return to Beijing overnight to report to the emperor." At the military port, I took people to comfort me. ”

Hearing this, Yande couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and said in surprise: "Entering Beijing overnight? How can I return to Beijing without an order? ”

"The consequences of this matter may be beyond your and mine's expectations. You don't have to be sure. Wu Ge said in a deep voice: "Immediately change into civilian clothes and enter Beijing, and report to the emperor truthfully." ”

Hearing this, Yande couldn't help but groan slightly, leaving his post and returning to Beijing without permission, the crime is not small, the DPRK and China have changed a lot in the past year, and he has been in Nanyang and America. I don't know anything about the situation in the court, but he has a very close relationship with Wu Ge, and they are both children of the clan, so Wu Ge has no reason to be so obvious about cheating him. After a little hesitation, he stood up and said, "Okay, I'll hurry into Beijing." ”

Wu Ge nodded and said, "The Ninth Master and the Sixteenth Master should stay in Tongzhou today, and you rushed to meet them overnight." If you miss it, you will rush to the Fengtai camp, which is now the thirteenth master. ”

Yande nodded heavily. His brother is Prince Xian Yanhuang, the leader of the guard, and it is not a problem to enter Beijing to meet him, the reason why Wu Ge told him so is to worry about leaking the news in advance, and Yan Huang saw that he suddenly returned to Beijing. I must ask why.

The news of the heavy losses of the American voyage did not spread in Tianjin, and the navy was strictly disciplined. They are stationed in the military port, so naturally they will not leak the news, and the sailors and boatmen of the merchant ships anchored at the three-way wharf have no one to talk much, and the captains of the ships have repeatedly told them that it is strictly forbidden to leak the news, and the wages of the sailors and boatmen who sail to the Americas are good, and none of the sailors and boatmen want to lose this beauty, not to mention that most of them come from Jiangnan, Fujian, and Guangzhou, and it is inconvenient to communicate with the people of Tianjin, and no one wants to have nothing to do.

However, the princes and nobles did not dare to hide this matter, and besides, they could not hide it, and after arranging all the matters on the ship, they also rode into Beijing one after another to report the situation to their respective masters. …,

Qianqing Palace, East Warm Pavilion.

Early the next morning, Zhenwu returned to the Qianqing Palace, and just after spreading out the folds, Bao Fuquan stepped forward and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the sixteenth master Yinlu is handing over the sign to ask to see." ”

Old Sixteen? Zhenwu couldn't help but feel strange when he heard this, he and Lao Jiu arrived in Tongzhou yesterday, and it was not strange to see them today, but it was not so early, and then there was, how could he be alone, Lao Jiu? Could it be that the two of them had a falling out? He hurriedly commanded, "Announce him in." ”

Yinlu came quickly, and when he came in, he kowtowed and said, "Minister Yinlu respectfully invites the emperor to be sainte." ”

When he got up, Zhenwu said kindly: "Excuse me and give me a seat." After Qi Qi Xie sat down, he then asked, "What about Yinyu?" Why don't you come together? ”

"Back to the emperor." Yinlu bowed and said: "Yande has returned to Beijing, and the ninth brother and him are a few steps behind the minister." ”

Yande has returned to Beijing? Zhenwu couldn't help but pause, and immediately realized that something had happened to the Beiyang Fleet, and immediately restrained the smile on his face, and said in a deep voice: "Bao Fuquan, Xuan Yinyu and the others are here." Bao Fuquan hurriedly bowed in to receive the order, and when he withdrew, Zhenwu looked at Yinlu and said, "Do you know why Yande returned to Beijing?" ”

"The minister doesn't know, Yande only said that there is an urgent matter to go back to Beijing to meet the emperor." Yinlu hurriedly bowed and said.

Zhenwu nodded slightly, Yande did not pass it on through his brother Prince Xian Yanhuang, but asked the old nine and sixteen to pass it on, it seems that it was to prevent leakage, needless to say, it must be the Beiyang Fleet that suffered an accident on the route to the Americas, and suffered heavy losses, and there will be losses when opening up the route to the United States, Zhenwu had already expected it, after all, the Royal Navy was not created for a long time, insufficient training, and lack of experience, this is an inevitable hard injury, but I don't know how big the loss is?

After a little hesitation, Zhenwu temporarily put aside the worries in his heart, looked at Yinlu, and asked, "Has the construction of the Naval Firearms Research Institute started?" ”

Seeing that Zhenwu showed no signs of anger, Yinlu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and hurriedly bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the address has been surveyed, not far from the military port, the design drawings have not yet come out, and it will take some time to start construction." ”

Zhenwu nodded slightly: "As soon as researchers can look for them first, there is no need to follow the steps, the Qing Navy has now gone to Europe and the Americas, and European countries will inevitably catch up, and the upgrading of firearms is very urgent, and the Naval Firearms Research Institute must come up with results as soon as possible." ”

"Minister, I respectfully honor the oracle." Yinlu hurriedly bowed and said.

After a little hesitation, Zhenwu admonished again: "Firearms and gunpowder are complementary to each other, both are indispensable, and the improvement of gunpowder must also be grasped. ”

"Oh, Weichen Honor." Yinlu hurriedly bowed down, but he firmly remembered these two names in his heart, and Zhenwu could call the name, and he should not be sent there.

Yande followed Yinyu into the Dongnuan Pavilion in a nervous mood, quickly glanced at the situation in the house, and saw that Zhenwu's expression was as usual, he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and quickly followed Yinyu to kneel down and respectfully ask Sheng'an, and then listened to Zhenwu's gentle words: "Brother Jiu doesn't need to be polite, give a seat." ”

Yin Yu was busy and grateful, and then carefully sat down diagonally, but Yande consciously knelt down in front of Zhenwu, took off the crown on his head and put it aside, and then kowtowed: "The slave is incompetent, the trip to the Americas, the loss is heavy, and there is a great trust from the emperor." I implore the emperor to punish him severely and correct military discipline. ”

Zhenwu glanced at him, groaned for a moment, and then asked in a deep voice, "How big is the loss?" How is it lost? ”

"Back to the emperor." Yande kowtowed: "Three auxiliary ships were lost, 1,123 officers and men of the navy, and 5 merchant ships with 620 personnel. All the losses were caused by storms on the way, shipwrecks and deaths. ”

Although Yinyu and Yinlu vaguely guessed that the losses of the navy might be a bit large, they heard that nearly 2,000 people died and eight ships were destroyed, and the two couldn't help but secretly say that the price was too great. …,

Storm? Zhenwu couldn't help but be speechless for a while, the route from Manila to Puerto Acapulco The Spaniards have been running for hundreds of years, and the first time they ran, they actually encountered a storm? However, if it was a storm, why did it lose only eight ships? He couldn't help but stare at Yande, and asked in a deep voice, "Is there any loss of the Spaniards' merchant ships?" ”

Yande's heart tightened, and he hurriedly replied: "Back to the emperor, the Spanish ships have no loss. Several Spanish captains said that a storm of that magnitude was not a storm at all, and that the reason for this accident was that our sailors were too inexperienced. ”

Lack of experience! Zhenwu felt a tingling in his heart, this is the evil result of the rapid expansion of the navy, due to the long-term seclusion and confinement of the sea, the sailors of the Qing Dynasty are accustomed to circling in the South Seas, lack of experience in ocean navigation, have not seen the winds and waves of the ocean, although they have hired a lot of Western sailors, but the time for learning and training is too short, crossing the Pacific Ocean, it is indeed extraordinary, although he has long been mentally prepared, knowing that the rapid growth of the navy has to pay a certain price, but nearly 2,000 people died at a time, this price is a little too heavy.

However, no matter how big the cost is, the navy must also rise to the challenge, compared with Europe, the navy of the Qing Dynasty started too late, if it is gradual, it will not be able to catch up with the opportunity to carve up the Americas! I just hope that the price will be smaller and smaller.

After a long silence, Zhen Wu asked again: "All the losses came from the voyage, could it be that the capture of the port of Acapulco did not suffer losses?" ”

Seeing that Zhenwu had revealed this matter, Yande couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and hurriedly replied respectfully: "Back to the emperor, there are only more than 200 Spanish soldiers stationed in the port of Acapulco, and the Spanish governor of Luzon, Mai Ruoting, and the lieutenant commander of the navy, Monterey, accompanied the merchant ships into the port to persuade them, and they took the initiative to evacuate the port of Acapulco. ”

Hearing this, Yinyu's eyes couldn't help but light up, and he leaned over and said, "Your Majesty, can you count the losses in the battle to capture the port of Acapulco?" ”

Grafting? Zhenwu couldn't help but glance at him, Lao Jiu was worried that after the princes and nobles learned the truth, they would be afraid of the Americas? This worry is not groundless, such a big price, they really can't afford it, not to mention them, they are also unbearable.

Hearing Yinyu's words, Yande didn't dare to hide it, and hurriedly bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, there are still more than 40 merchant ships that have returned to Tianjin with them, and this matter is difficult to hide. ”