What Chen Feng is thinking, Chen Shaokuan knows very well, after all, this world is all looking at the strong, the Manchu government and the entire Beiyang Navy Division still failed after all, and the defeat was a mess, if you only distinguish the countries in the world by strength and weakness, the Manchu government is undoubtedly weak, and has always learned from the strong, how can there be advice from the weak!

As a matter of fact, many influential ministers in the late Qing Dynasty advocated that in addition to purchasing ships and guns from foreign countries and hiring foreigners, they should pay more attention to the introduction of advanced science and technology from Western capitalism and train their own talents in shipbuilding, artillery and piloting. Zuo Dashuai once said: 'To defend against the sea, we must first build ships, and to build ships, we must first train talents.' Li Zhongtang also said: "The sailor is the urgent task of coastal defense, the talent is the foundation of the water problem, and the students are the self-emergence of talents, and the navy division of the ministers of the western countries is strong, all of which are based on the school, and at the beginning of the establishment of the Middle Earth, they had to be tempted in many ways, hoping to collect and allocate five out of ten......" Chen Shaokuan said.

Chen Feng knew that Chen Shaokuan said that Zuo Dashuai and Li Zhongtang were Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, among the main important ministers in the late Qing Dynasty, these two people were actually the main founders of China's modern navy, one formed the Beiyang Naval Division, and the other formed the Fujian Nanyang Naval Division.

Chen Shaokuan said that Chen Feng knew the truth, and it was because of this understanding that the Westernists stepped up the establishment of the Naval Academy while establishing the Sanyo Navy and actively cultivating naval talents. The earliest naval academy was founded by Zuo Zongtang in Fujian, which was an integral part of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, and was divided into the former school and the rear school.

The former school mainly studied shipbuilding technology, and the courses offered mainly included arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus physics, mechanics, engineering, drafting, etc. Junior high school education in hull construction, mechanical construction and operation is also introduced. The post-school has English, mathematics, nautical astronomy, nautical theory, geography, cartography, generator drawing, etc.

Chen Shaokuan continued: "After Zuo Dashuai established our first naval academy in China in Fujian. In 1880, Li Zhongtang also founded the Beiyang Naval Academy, which was the second naval school founded during the Westernization Movement, but unfortunately, the school was destroyed in 1900, and in the 20 years it opened, a total of 210 students were trained, and these students were the elite of China's modern navy. Under the influence of the Nanyang Naval Academy and the Beiyang Naval Academy, Western-style officials in other places also imitated each other, and successively founded the Guangdong Naval Academy, the Jiangnan Naval Academy, the Weihaiwei Naval Academy, the Tianjin Military Medical School, and some torpedo schools. By the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. These schools have trained more than 600 professionals in manufacturing, driving, tubular wheels, mines, torpedoes, etc. ”

"So we had to form our own naval school. Only in this way can we quickly train qualified and reliable naval personnel and compete with the navies of Japan, the United States, and other countries. ”

After listening to Chen Shaokuan's words, Chen Feng felt the same way, whether it was the army, navy or air force. This military school is indispensable. Take, for example, the Army of the Eighth Theater. In addition to Chen Feng's supply of a large number of weapons and equipment, what is more important is that Chen Feng established Saibei Military and Political University. At present, more than 3,000 officers graduate from the Northern Military and Political University every year, and these people are the real help for the rise of the Eighth Theater.

"Brother Houfu is reasonable, this naval academy must be formed as soon as possible, the little brother has already let them set it up, but it is just a grass platform team, and it can't be put on the stage, and the specific needs to be worried about by Brother Houfu!" Chen Feng said.

Chen Shaokuan said with a smile: "This is no problem, I am familiar with this, as long as there are instructors and students in a certain training ship." ”

Chen Feng said: "This student is ready-made, the instructor still needs to be re-founded, I planned to take out a part of the active officers of the Navy to serve as instructors, but I feel that they cannot serve as instructors for new ships, and I will personally train a group of instructors!" ”

"Oh, Brother Solemn often talks about this new warship, even I am a little itchy, I want to see what is different about this new warship, hehehe!!"

"There will be time in the future, and the most important thing for us now is to make a long-term long-term vision plan to guide the development of the navy! This talent training is indeed the top priority! Chen Feng said with a smile.

Chen Shaokuan also said: "Cultivating naval talents by themselves is only a measure of the Manchu government, and the Westernists not only set up schools to train naval talents, but also select outstanding talents to go abroad for further study. The first batch of students sent to Europe came from the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and its attached Shipping Master School. In 1877, under the active advocacy of Shen Baozhen, Li Hongzhang and other officials, 33 people selected from the Harbour Master Bureau and the Harbour Master's School embarked on a journey to study in Europe. In 1881, Li Hongzhang advocated and the Harbour Administration Bureau selected 10 people to study in Britain, France and Germany. In 1886, 10 students from the Beiyang Naval Division and other schools went to Europe again. The three groups of students sent to Europe during the Westernization Movement all returned to China after completing their studies, and played an important role in naval construction and shipping at that time, and made important contributions. ”

Chen Shaokuan then said: "The cultivation of naval talents by the Westernists is one of the self-improvement measures taken by China in the face of "changes unseen in thousands of years". They believe that setting up schools and cultivating talents "is really the foundation of China's self-improvement." It has not only provided a large number of useful personnel for China's military, scientific and technological fields, but also made great contributions to China's modernization construction. In addition, in the navy at that time, the foreign students studying abroad in the naval academy of the Western-style school played an important role in each fleet. ”

For example, in the Beiyang Fleet, Liu Buyun, a former student of the Shipmaster School and later returned to Europe, served as the commander-in-chief of the right wing, and was fully responsible for the fleet's business skills; Lin Tailei, a student of the Ship Master School and later returned to Europe after staying in Europe, served as the chief soldier of the left wing, Ye Zugui, a student of the Ship Master School, served as the vice admiral of the navy, and Sa Zhenbing served as the commander of the navy; Lin Yongsheng, Fang Boqian, and Huang Jianxun, who are international students of the Ship Master School, served as the pipe belts of the Jingyun, Jingyuan, Jiyuan, and Chaoyong respectively. Liu Shichang, Qiu Baoren, Li He, and Lin Luzhong, who graduated from the Ship Master School, served as the pipe band of Zhiyuan, Laiyuan, Pingyuan, and Yangwei respectively. Among the 12 Beiyang Naval Division ships in the Sino-Japanese Yellow Sea War, more than half of the students in the first Ship Master School were students. They have made a positive contribution to countering foreign aggression. ”

"With the expiration of the employment contract of the French engineering technicians, the technical guidance and ship design of each process have basically been contracted by the students who graduated from the Harbour Master School. This has largely contributed to the process of independent development of China's coastal defense and shipbuilding industry. ”

After listening to Chen Shaokuan's words, Chen Feng felt that he had indeed underestimated the late Qing government before, although the ruler of the Qing Dynasty did have his stupidity. But at a time when the community was in danger, they also made some efforts, and they were very productive, especially the navy. Although the Beiyang Naval Division was defeated in the end, they did a good job in some aspects, and the defeat in the Yellow Sea Naval Battle was not the crime of war, and the blame lay with the upper rulers.

Although the Westernization Movement did not achieve the goal of "self-improvement and prosperity," and although the Beiyang Navy Division was destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, the contribution of naval education and foreign students to the cause of modern coastal defense in the Westernization Movement, as well as the role played by the introduction of modern Western science and technology and the promotion of the spread of Western culture in China cannot be underestimated.

The naval schools founded by the Westernists, such as the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School, trained about 1,500 naval professionals by the fall of the Qing Dynasty. This provided many outstanding talents for the further development of China's naval strength in the future. For example, Cheng Biguang, Tang Luoming, Huang Zhongying, Liu Guanxiong, Jiang Zheng and others not only became the main force driving the Chinese revolution. And many of them were the initiators and founders of the Xinhai Revolution and played an active role in the later construction of the navy.

"In this way, the Manchu government does have its own uniqueness in the cultivation of naval talents, which is worthy of our reference, so in the opinion of Brother Houfu, what should we do?"

"Unlike the Manchu navy, their navy was formed without any foundation, but the solemn brother is different, your navy not only has 50,000 troops, but also a large number of warships, and you will have tens of thousands of officers and soldiers who have served in foreign navies, these are your advantages. The next thing we have to do is to form our own naval school and refine the essence!! ”

Chen Shaokuan continued: "As long as the quality of the officers and men of the Navy is improved, even if the number and quality of the Navy ships cannot compete with the Japanese Navy for the time being, the Navy will have the strength to fight a war. In my opinion, the situation in the Pacific Ocean will change greatly in the near future, and the Japanese may not only have our opponents on the Chinese side, and this is an opportunity for us and the navy! ”

Chen Feng didn't expect Chen Shaokuan's strategic vision to be so vicious, and he could see the ambitions of the Japanese, and this alone was enough to make many people embarrassed.

"Indeed, the ambitions of the Japanese are by no means limited to Chinese mainland, their ambitions also cover the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia, and a big dispute between the United States and Britain is bound to break out, and this is indeed an opportunity!" Chen Feng also responded.

"It's not enough to train talents, we must also let all fleets see blood, only actual combat is the fastest way to improve strength!"

"Well, the navy I want is not a flower in a greenhouse, it must be a ruthless sea wolf force that fights loudly, accurately, and accurately. So this actual combat is inevitable, Brother Houfu, the younger brother has limited energy now, and the navy is a highly professional branch of the military, so the navy still needs Brother Houfu to worry a lot in the future! Chen Feng said.

"Brother solemn, brother, I thank you for your trust, rest assured, as long as I Chen Shaokuan is here, I will never let the little devil be beautiful, and I will definitely bring you a tiger and wolf army!"

"Haha!!"

(To be continued......)