Zhang Peilun can probably understand how bad the old man's mood is.

Since the outbreak of the Japanese espionage case, the Qing Dynasty has found a lot of suspicious people up and down, and the results have surprised everyone! Almost the entire country's major provinces, important cities, have Japanese merchants. And what these people are doing, you can imagine.

Li Hongzhang is an important minister of the imperial court, the first. In the years after Zeng Guofan's death, he took on heavy responsibilities, and naturally, the basin was first deducted on his head. As for those clear streams who just talk and don't do people's business, people stand on the shore and watch the excitement!

Since the Goryeo Incident, Li Hongzhang has tried his best to try to quell the dispute by trying to get through his own political tricks. Now it seems that his abacus can't be hit. At the critical moment, a person like Yang Hao came out of nowhere, and what he did was really hard to guess!

Zhang Peilun has read Yang Hao's letter, not to mention the words in it, there is a smell of staying out of the matter everywhere. It is conclusive, it can solve the current troubles faced by Beiyang, and it is really difficult for people to not want to eat and can't put it down!

Li Hongzhang sneered a little self-deprecatingly: "The old man has worked hard for decades, but the result is a mess." The outsider came as soon as he said it, and the inside story was clearer than Lao Tzu. Hehe, there are still secrets in the world? ”

This is a curse. Zhang Peilun hurriedly explained: "Fu Xiang, the other party is deliberate, I don't know how long it takes to prepare, and occasionally there are some omissions, and it is not irretrievable. ”

Li Hongzhang shook his head: "You underestimate Yang Hao too much. What do they do that doesn't require a lot of human and financial resources to do? Let's just say that this ordnance and ammunition, except for foreigners, who dares to blatantly find the old man's head! also openly borrowed money to fight this battle, and clearly did not take Weng Tongyi and those people in his eyes. Can't you see that what they are trying to do is not small? ”

How could Zhang Peilun not think of it? He didn't dare to say it!

What happened in Goryeo was ostensibly a Sino-Japanese conflict, but in fact it was a game between China and Japan and the great powers. On a deeper level, there is also the infighting between Li Hongzhang and the Qingliu Emperor.

Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao, while clamoring for Li Hongzhang to start a war with Japan, stuck the household department and refused to give money, and watched him lively. The Empress Dowager of the West is also about to consume the power of Beiyang, and she is happy to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, so she does not openly support Li Hongzhang.

It can be said that Li Zhongtang opened his eyes, the sky was full of enemies, he supported Beiyang alone, and carried the Qing Dynasty, not only tired, but also helpless! Of course, he loves power and refuses to let go, which is also one thing. But in any case, in the current situation, he is extremely dangerous! Whoever jumps out to help may become the target of siege by Qingliu, the Imperial Party, the Hou Party, Britain, Japan and other countries!

But Yang Hao, when the horses were all together, came out coldly and shot out, still so fierce!

Li Hongzhang didn't know whether to thank him or hate him. If he can really achieve the various help Yang Hao said, his pressure will be much less!

The more this is the case, the more Li Hongzhang can't see this person's intentions, where are you standing?

Zhang Peilun knew the old man's fault. If he doesn't think people through, he has a thorn in his heart, and he never dares to use it with confidence. I've been so entangled, but I've been delayed for everything!

He dared to persuade: "Fu Xiang." The top priority at the moment is to solve the problem of Beiyang's combat strength. Looking at Japan's various actions, it seems that it has made up its mind to occupy Goryeo, which is intolerable to the imperial court. A war between us and the enemy is bound to take place. The backbone of the Beiyang Navy Division is heavy, and it is always good to have an extra arm to help. ”

It's not so easy to be a follower to Li Hongzhang, you have to know everything.

Zhang Peilun followed the inspection of Beiyang and inspected various coastal defenses, and he felt that it was cool and cool! In the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, it was found that the manufactured shells were of inferior quality, and the 2.8 times 305mm shells, which had shrunk by half, were actually all over the trachoma, and the size was not right! It's going to be a war, and you're going to have to file it now.

When I went to Lushun, I found that he was also a close confidant of Li Zhongtang, who openly embezzled public funds with falsehood. As a result, Li Hongzhang ordered someone to cut off his head on the spot. But the basket that has been made is not something that can be made up in three or two days.

When it was time to officially inspect the Beiyang Naval Division, it was found that the morale was good, and Ding Ruchang also vowed that he would be able to pull out the battle immediately. But the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan two ships, which Li Hongzhang attaches the most importance to, actually lack the key 305mm main gun 5 times long grenades, and only some iron pimple armor-piercing shells made by the Jiangnan Bureau and the Tianjin Bureau! In addition, there are several main ships, with medicine and no ammunition, or with and without ammunition!

There is another one, the Beiyang Naval Division has been built for many years, and the artillery technology used by the ships is backward and insufficient. It just so happened that last year, the Jiangnan Machine successfully copied the 120mm Armstrong gun, and the rate of fire was four or five times that of the existing rack gun. Li Hongzhang wanted to install the two cruisers "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan", but he couldn't.

In fact, when it was manufactured, Li Hongzhang proposed to install a tail gun, and Volk Qiang replied that because the bottom plate had been cast, it was impossible to add a tail gun.

Is that really the case? Of course it is impossible, the "Guang B and Guang C" with a displacement of only 1000 tons can be replaced, and it makes no sense that the 2900-ton cruiser cannot be installed. Yang Haocai didn't believe it, the shipyard couldn't make a hole in the bottom plate and install a 120mm gun with a total of less than 5 tons!

But the Qing Dynasty has been engaged in foreign affairs for decades, and he just can't do this job himself! If people don't give you the whole thing, you don't have a temper at all!

In May, when the inspection found problems, Li Hongzhang ordered Sheng Xuan Huaitong Guò to order 305mm grenades, but the Germans said that they were out of stock. The arrival time is not at all! The reason for this is that the great powers are all playing games in Asia, and no one wants to see the scene of the Qing court dominating the family.

This is the same as Zhang Zhidong's Hanyang Iron Works. The place he found cannot be said to be bad, and the iron ore he found was not the wrong furnace with too high phosphorus content as propagated by later generations. In fact, there was a Martin furnace at that time, but the mine mined in 1894 was not good, and by 1895 a new iron mine was opened nearby, and the problem was solved.

The real problem was that Jang chose to import coke from the British. The British supply, as if constipated, deliberately stuck with a meal without a meal. As a result, the Hanyang Iron Works started and stopped working for a while, and it has been losing money. It wasn't until Sheng Xuanhuai took over and opened the Pingxiang Coal Mine that the problem was really solved. But that was a few years later.

Li Hongzhang knew the inside story, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't solve it.

Now, Yang Hao jumped out of the crack in the stone, and Li Hongzhang spent two months to investigate, but he didn't dig out the roots at all. Yang Hao wants to meddle in the supply of ordnance, which gives him an extremely dangerous signal!

After Zhang Peilun finished speaking, he didn't dare to look at the old man's face. But unexpectedly, Li Hongzhang just smiled to himself: "Forget it!" I've been busy for so many years, and when I'm old, I want to keep this old face. Everyone else is looking forward to me defeating the battle, but someone comes out to help, and I can't help it! Don't pursue it later, if he really can get cannonballs and change the artillery of the second ship, it doesn't hurt for the old man to let him go! ”

Li Hongzhang has never been an old-fashioned and dogmatic person, and of course he will not refrain from doing things that are good for him.

Zhang Peilun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone was happy with this result. In order to get this list, Sheng Xuanhuai must have taken other people's money. He also has a large benefit fee here.

Li Hongzhang knows everything, he just doesn't say it. In addition, he really has no choice, seeing that he is going to fight, and he has no money in his hand. Yang Hao's condition is that he can pay on credit, which is equivalent to using his Li Zhongtang's credit as a guarantee. This is a business involving more than 3 million taels of silver! People are so bold and young, of course he refuses to admit defeat!

Zhang Peilun saw that the old man's tone was loose, so he didn't ask Yuan Shikai about it. But Li Hongzhang intentionally or unintentionally gave him a sentence: "Those people, it's not simple!" Hehe, he did business with the old man with his left hand, dragged the Americans to the concession with his right hand, and launched a Yan Youling newspaper. This is to serve the foundation of the Great Qing Kingdom in one pot! ”

This comment scared Zhang Peilun out of a cold sweat on the spot!

This stubble is not good, and it cannot be connected. The old man didn't say anything, and Zhang Peilun decisively shut up. After the instructions were completed, he sent a message to Sheng Xuanhuai. As for what can be done, let them be.

Yang Hao was on the march, when he received a telegram about the progress of Tianjin, and when he saw that Li Hongzhang actually let go, he couldn't help but laugh: "Sure enough, he is scheming and knows when to let go." Lord Li, don't say we won't help you. That's all we can do to help you, and we're up to the end of what we can do later! ”

Since he came to 1894, he could not watch Beiyang lose the war. This series of actions is all trying to help Li Hongzhang get rid of his illusions, make up his mind, make good preparations for battle, and enhance his combat strength. It can be said that the Yang family has tried their best tricks, and there is really no other way to do it.

Five days later, Yang Hao arrived at the upper reaches of the Datong River with all his men and horses, took the three boats that came to meet him, and returned to the Rizhao base.

It was also at this time that a batch of 100 rounds of 305mm grenades shipped from Rizhao arrived in Weihai by steam sailing boat.

This Yang family is looking for "props" customized by small factories in the south in the world in the 21st century. The project, which began to be prepared two months ago, was filled with modern high-explosive charges, mainly T.N.T.

From the finished projectile body in this world to the B-plane loaded with high explosives.

Admiral Ding Ruchang was suspicious and sent someone to test-fire a shot, which resulted in a new warhead loaded with 10 kilograms of mixed high-explosive charge, which smashed the target ship with one shot, and the power was five or six times that of black medicine!

This result made Beiyang extremely excited! With such a sharp weapon, why worry about the battle?

Because of this effect, the team of technicians from Rizhao has not been discriminated against. These people, with the newly-familiar electric welding machine and acetylene cutting, plus a diesel generator, and all kinds of equipment, under close surveillance, boarded the battleship and began the work of disassembling the original 75mm sampan gun and replacing it with a 120mm rapid-fire gun for the two big guys.

On June 22, when Yang Hao came by boat from Rizhao, the "Laiyuan Ship" had just completed the installation of the first gun. Admiral Ding Ruchang and the right-wing commander Liu Buyun personally boarded the ship and went to sea together to verify the effectiveness of the new artillery.

ps: Thank you book friend "Passerby in the novel" for rewarding! By the way, continue to ask for tickets!