"This Tang Ziran!"

A reprimand came from the big signing room of the Beiyang Yamen.

"It's too domineering, no wonder so many officials are starting to stare at him now, this kid, there is no time for people to worry!"

Listening to the smile in that voice, anyone could hear the reprimand in the mouth of the Beiyang minister, not so much a reprimand, but a laughing reprimand, which could not be taken seriously.

"It's not a time to worry, but this Tang Ziran's luck is also good, not only did he get a warship, although it was only a small gunboat, but the long-trained naval officers and sailors were real goods!"

The thin old man in casual clothes who was sitting on the right side of the signing hall couldn't help but envy Tang Haoran's "luck" when he spoke.

"Oh, Yuting, what, could it be that you also fell in love with those Japanese naval officers."

Putting down the official letter in his hand, Li Hongzhang looked at Ding Ruchang with a smile, the admiral of the Beiyang Navy of the Great Qing Dynasty, and also his confidant Li Hongzhang, and he himself relied on the land and water division of Beiyang to hold the position of the minister of Beiyang.

"Quan Shuai, it is not that he has fallen in love with those Japanese naval officers, but with these officers, he founded the Korean Navy Division in the Tang Dynasty, but he is not tied up in Fujian Province, and the benefits of Quan Shuai are naturally known!"

Ding Ruchang's words only made Li Hongzhang, who was originally smiling, sink his mind.

Fujian Province!

Perhaps in the name of Beiyang, the Beiyang Navy can use each other in the same vein of the Fujian system on each ship, even if it is himself, the minister of Beiyang, he has to be polite, especially recently, since the imperial court agreed to Beiyang to purchase warships again. And they moved around. It has the intention of taking over and controlling the Beiyang ships again.

But Li Hongzhang, who knew that the navy was still inseparable from those people, was silent for a moment. looked at Ding Ruchang and asked.

"Yuting, Tang Haoran went to the fold a while ago, and he sent twenty-four people to the United States to learn the navy in the name of North Korea, what do you think?"

Li Hongzhang is a layman to the navy, but out of his understanding of Tang Haoran, he knows that sending someone to the United States to study the navy is by no means as simple as he said, just because the United States invited Yu Xian to send him to the United States to study the navy. In order to improve the stalemate in diplomatic relations with the United States since the unification of the DPRK.

"My lord, the duration of the Annapolis Naval Academy in the United States is four years, while the Royal Naval Institute in Greenwich is seven years.

Although Ding Ruchang, who was born in the Huai Army Army Army Division, is not a naval professional, and his naval knowledge is not as good as that of a general who stayed abroad, he realized his shortcomings very early. In the past ten years, he has been working hard to learn about the navy, and he has long been familiar with the navy. Naturally, the difference between British and American naval education is also well understood.

"In addition, the "Theory of Sea Power" that is widely circulated among the navies of various countries and valued by all countries is the president of the US Naval Academy, and the students sent by him can learn naval knowledge from him!"

Ding Ruchang's analysis made Li Hongzhang nod thoughtfully, and after pondering for a while, he looked at Ding Ruchang and changed the topic:

"Yuting, where do you tend to purchase ships this time?"

Now that Britain, Germany, France, and the United States have provided China with their latest improved models of warships and cruisers, Li Hongzhang, who is a layman in the Navy, naturally wanted to consult Ding Ruchang's opinion. The reason why Beiyang was able to obtain tens of millions of taels to strengthen the navy this time was entirely due to the reaction of the imperial court to the sudden increase in pressure on the DPRK after the Russian army increased in the Far East after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.

Different from borrowing sterling money in the past, this loan is based on Tang Haoran's construction, first borrowing silver and then converting silver to pounds, as for those Xu Hui losses, all fell into the hands of the Bank of North Korea. Tang Haoran could take the opportunity to seek personal gain, but he, Li Hongzhang, had to think about more things -- he had to buy the warship immediately, otherwise he would have to dream a lot at night, not to mention that there were people in the DPRK and China who wrote that they should quickly repair the railways inside and outside the Guanxi to avoid trouble.

If this money is not spent, maybe he Weng Changshu will use the excuse of the railway to move his brain to this special fund for the navy, although the silver still has not left the Beiyang Yamen, but Li Hongzhang does not know? The railway is important, but the navy is even more important to him Li Hongzhang.

"My lord, the German Volken proposed an improved version of its latest Brandenburg-class combat ship, which canceled the No. 2 turret in the middle of the hull, and changed the bow and stern turret to a 30.5 centimeter cannon, although its displacement is only 10,000 tons, but the armor thickness is more than 40 centimeters, which is not inferior to the British Sovereign-class combat ships."

As the admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, Ding Ruchang was naturally concerned about the purchase of ships, and also analyzed the warships of various countries one by one.

"What Britain proposes is based on the reality of our country, and it is a miniature version of the monarchy......"

The reality in Ding Ruchang's mouth refers to the actual conditions of Port Arthur. When the Lushun base was established, it was during the period when it vigorously established the Westernization Movement to develop the navy, and although the dock built in Port Arthur at that time was large enough to allow the once "extremely huge and magnificent" "Dingyuan-class" combat ships to be docked for maintenance, it quickly became a little cramped and outdated in that era when the technology of warships was changing with each passing day. Especially with its dock as the most, its dock can only accommodate ships with an excess of no more than 118 meters and a displacement of no more than 14,000 tons for docking maintenance, so the main warship designed for the Beiyang Fleet must also consider this "actual situation".

"The British Armstrong shipyard proposed a 11,000-ton combat ship, although the armor at the waterline is only 10 to 14 inches, but compared with the German ship, its power is more powerful than 13,000 horses, its speed is not inferior to the fleet's current cruisers, and there are 10 6-inch latest all-steel breech guns, therefore, although there are two ships purchased from Germany, I personally prefer to order two combat ships from the British factory!"

British factory, Li Hongzhang, who was silent, did not speak, but just held the teacup and thought silently, the design given by the British factory is indeed extremely attractive, and the difference between the total price of the two is only more than 100,000 pounds.

"In comparison, although the German price was tens of thousands of pounds lower, although the secondary guns used were as many as 14, it was a 10.5 centimeter all-steel breech gun, and its powerful range was far inferior to Armstrong's 6-inch all-steel breech gun, and it was far inferior to the 4.7-inch gun......"

Seeing that the adult seemed to be thinking, Ding Ruchang continued to put forward his advice:

"Quan Shuai, it is important to purchase new ships now, and then it is also an important task to transform the old ships, such as the ships belonging to the current fleet, although the two ships such as Dingzhen have large tonnage and thick armor, they have weaknesses such as old ship types and lack of fast guns. Although the power of the main gun is strong, it is the slow rate of fire of the old gun, coupled with the small number of artillery, the overall firepower is limited, and the navies of all countries are now equipped with all-steel fast guns, so I hope to purchase Arab-style 6-inch and 4.7-inch all-steel fast guns, and replace the old guns of the naval division with new ones......"

Two years ago, after learning that the British Armstrong Gun Factory had launched an "all-steel fast gun" with 10 rounds, Ding Ruchang wrote several times in the hope of buying new guns to replace the old ones, but the imperial court finally refused with various excuses.

"In this way, it will also be possible to eliminate the Anglo-German miscellaneous artillery currently used by the fleet, and unify the caliber to facilitate logistics; in addition, the North Korean side has made several folds and asked the shore guns from the inventory of the Beiyang Armory to strengthen the batteries in the Korean ports and avoid being peeped at by the foreign countries, and the old guns that have been replaced can naturally be allocated to the DPRK for land ......use."

On the one hand, Tang Haoran is not a subordinate of Beiyang, and on the other hand, if the imperial court agrees to strengthen the North Korean battery, then the artillery of the battery will naturally come out of the Beiyang and dismantle the old guns on the ship to North Korea, which will not only satisfy Tang Haoran's request, but also block the idea of the imperial court enterprises taking weapons from the Beiyang warehouse.

"Hmmm......"

After a moment of silence, Li Hongzhang nodded and said in response.

"Since it is needed on the ship, then the gun and the ship will be made together, and as for the household department, I will not be able to say anything at that time."

In the past few years, the reason why Beiyang has been unable to purchase ordnance is because of the stumbling of the household department, but now that he has the special loan from the bank, Li Hongzhang no longer needs to worry about the entanglement of the household department, and even if the official makes irresponsible remarks at that time, he is powerless to change the fait accompli.

In the Qing Dynasty, sometimes you have to cut it first and then play it, just like the new military uniform of the Beiyang Navy, the navy did not have a fold, first imitated the Western style to make a military uniform, and then said that it was an example of imitating the police of the North Korean Unified Supervision Office, although the official was impeached, but after all, North Korea was not held accountable at the beginning, and it was naturally not easy to ask questions when it came to Beiyang.

Even when the British commander of the Chinese fleet came to Tianjin a few days ago, he praised the Beiyang Navy to his face, saying that its momentum was not inferior to that of the Royal Navy.

After the two discussed cruisers, lightning strikers and other matters for nearly an hour, after Ding Ruchang said goodbye, Li Hongzhang's brows furrowed again, and he picked up Tang Haoran's film again.

He Tang Haoran is also going to run a navy!

The imperial court didn't give him any money, but the last time he returned to North Korea, in addition to allowing him to train in North Korea, he also promised him full power to run the new Korean policy...... I am afraid that this will take over the North Korean fort, but it is only the first step for him to operate a new policy in North Korea, first relieve his military power and then slowly try to do it, this Tang Ziran must not cause any more trouble in North Korea.

"Tang Ziran, the old man wiped your ass again this time, don't you want to stab any Lou Zi......"

Thinking about the fact that the Japanese warship had fled into the Korean port in the past few days, and had several negotiations with the Russian minister, Li Hongzhang had a headache, but in addition to the headache, he remembered Tang Ziran's way of acting for more than a year, and Li Hongzhang suddenly burst out laughing.

"If he Tang Ziran doesn't stab Lou Zi, is he still Tang Ziran?" (To be continued......)