From the first time Lin Yuan saw Su Mao, Lin Yuan felt that he was a sleek and delicate person, and this time he was asked to offend so many people, Lin Yuan felt that this would definitely make Su Mao embarrassed.

So Lin Yuan smiled and asked, "Chief Engineer Su, isn't it a little difficult for you to do these things?" ”

Unexpectedly, Su Mao smiled calmly: "Lord Lin, don't hide it, these stubborn villains can't stand it for a long time, it's just that the villains are humble and have no way, and now I have Lord Lin as my backer, and I have to clean up these stubborn diseases!" ”

When Lin Yuan heard this, he suddenly remembered the situation when Su Mao angrily scolded the officer, when Luo Chaoying wanted to talk about new techniques, but was interrupted by the officer's interjection, Su Mao desperately asked the officer to shut up, from this little thing, this Su Mao still wants to do a good job in the machine bureau, and these things are indeed very appropriate for him to do.

Lin Yuan wanted to call Luo Chaoying over to discuss the matter of making weapons, so he asked Su Mao: "Is Old Luo here?" Go and bring him in. ”

Su Mao hurriedly said, "I'll call someone to invite you." Su Mao sent someone to invite Luo Chaoying, and Lin Yuan was waiting in the house, but his mind was spinning rapidly, and he thought: "After we break through the city defense on the periphery of Shenyang, the Japanese will definitely not willingly give us Shenyang, they will definitely hold on to Shenyang and fight with us in the streets, in that case, with our current strength, it is far from enough." ”

"Moreover, the Japanese army still has a lot of troops in Liaoyang, Haicheng, and the second infantry brigade of the first infantry division in Changtu, I don't know what kind of conspiracy the Japanese and Russians have, in case the Japanese army in these places reinforces Shenyang, then we are very likely to be surrounded under the city of Shenyang, so we need troops to defend our flanks! But where are the soldiers? The total number of troops in the Qing court is quite large, but the only ones who can really fight are the defenders of Shanhaiguan and the capital, but they will definitely not help them wholeheartedly! ”

"Transfer our troops trained in the Ryukyus!" As soon as this thought came out, Lin Yuan suppressed it, and he thought: "Now is not the time to mobilize them, keep them and use them as a strategic force to change the situation of the battle!" It's a good idea to recruit new soldiers from the people, but how can there be weapons for them, there are guns in the Shenji Battalion, but you can think of not giving them weapons, but if you snatch the weapons they already have, it's impossible! Alas, where are the soldiers? ”

Lin Yuan couldn't think of the result after thinking about it, and at this moment, the person who reported the incident came back to report: "Luo Lao is not here, and the people around him say that he went out to drink tea." ”

Su Mao frowned and said: "This Luo Lao is too unreasonable, now that the front line is tight, he is needed to help, he is still in the mood to drink tea!" ”

Lin Yuan said with a smile: "Chief Engineer Su, for such an old expert, no matter what he does, you don't have an opinion, when you look at a person, don't look at what he is doing, look at what he is thinking, don't look at Luo Lao drinking tea, but in his mind he is thinking about how to design new artillery and how to improve the existing equipment." ”

Su Mao asked, "Can he really do this?" ”

Lin Yuan smiled: "Your knowledge may not be enough, when you have his knowledge, you will be able to do that, don't rush to find him first, the matter I said today will be enough for you to work for a while." ”

Su Mao said, "Lord Lin, do you want me to arrange a room for you to stay?" ”

Lin Yuan smiled: "No need, I have to go back." ”

Su Mao hurriedly said: "My lord, I think you should stay tonight, I will write out the matters of streamlining the machinery bureau tonight, you have to hand it over to Lord Zhongtang, if Lord Zhongtang does not nod and agree, it is impossible to streamline successfully." ”

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "That's right, now the nominal top leader of the Tianjin Machinery Bureau is Li Hongzhang, and the big moves of the Machinery Bureau must go through him." ”

However, Lin Yuan also had doubts, after all, how could he come up with a plan in one night for such a big thing as streamlining the organization?

Early the next morning, Su Mao handed over a document to Lin Yuan and said: "Lord Lin, I gave you a plan in such a short time, not that I wrote it hastily, but that I have been thinking about this plan for many years, and I have not dared to take it out, once I take it out, I will offend many people, I will cut off people's wealth, people will cut off my way of life, I still have my father and mother who are half buried in the loess, as well as the frail and sick wife, and the ignorant and playful children, I want to do such a thing, but I dare not do it!" After speaking, Su Mao, a man in his forties, actually bent his knees, knelt down in front of Lin Yuan, his forehead against Lin Yuan's feet, and wept bitterly.

Lin Yuan hurriedly helped him up and comforted: "Don't worry, our country will become strong, and when the time comes, all the countries in the world will come to us to buy weapons." ”

Su Mao cried so much that he couldn't speak, Lin Yuan comforted him for a while, and walked towards Li Hongzhang's residence in Tianjin, the sky was getting gloomy, and after a while, snowflakes floated in the sky, and the universities that were raising one after another wrapped the heavens and the earth into a piece of plain silver.

On the road, an old man in a single coat pushed a big cart, the car was covered with cloth, the car must have been extremely heavy, because the old man was pushing it very hard, the sweat soaked in the outside of the clothes had formed a layer of ice crystals on the clothes, the old man pushed up a few steps, then stopped, wiped a handful of sweat on his forehead, opened his throat, and shouted: "Good charcoal!" Cheap! Warm! ”

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "It is said that it is cold before the frost and cold after the snow, and as soon as the snow stops for a while, I don't know how many frozen corpses will appear on the streets of Ludao." Looking at that, he really wanted to make China strong all at once, but how could it be? Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, how can the old feudal system, which has evolved for more than 2,000 years, be completely changed overnight!

After a while, he came to Li Hongzhang's residence, and after the ceremony, a servant took Lin Yuan to a small building in the garden, the small building looks like it is made of blue bamboo, the whole small building is like a drop of jade in the snow-white ocean, and the name of the building is written on the plaque at the entrance of the building: Listen to Zhuxuan.

Lin Yuan went upstairs and saw Li Hongzhang sitting at the table by the window, he turned his head to look at Lin Yuan and beckoned, "Xiao Lin is here, come and sit." ”

As soon as Lin Yuan sat opposite Li Hongzhang, he smelled a refreshing aroma of tea, which turned out to be Li Hongzhang pouring out a cup of tea from the teapot and putting it in front of Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan hurriedly took it over and said with a smile: "Taste tea on a snow day, Lord Li is so Yaxing!" ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "It's hard to steal a floating life for half a day, no, there are still so many official things to do at hand." As he spoke, Li Hongzhang opened the top one, opened it and handed it to Lin Yuan, and said with a smile: "Look at the Zhubi imperial approval on this, the holy sentence is to be decided by the middle hall, and the old man will be tired and tired." After speaking, he laughed happily, as if he was very proud of the emperor's exhaustion.

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, he glanced at the recital, the content on it shocked his mind like thunder, he thought: "I racked my brains to find a strong team, aren't they on this paper!" ”