October 2, 1895. At the Lushun Naval Base, with the long sound of a whistle, the Beiyang 3 ship gradually left the berth amid salutes and cheers. Looking at the Beiyang officers and soldiers and their families who were seeing off on the shore, Xu Jie couldn't help but feel excited, and finally set sail. In Xu Jie's view, the significance of this voyage is no less than any naval battle during the First Sino-Japanese War. This fleet diplomacy will win a more favorable environment for the development of Beiyang. And get all kinds of help that Beiyang urgently needs. It plays a decisive role in the future development of Beiyang. So Xu Jie must work hard to deal with it.

In order to show his friendship with Britain, Germany, and Italy, Xu Jie deliberately allowed the personnel of the navies of the three countries to return to China by the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet. Needless to say, as a student of Xu Jie and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy, Tycho was the first to board the Tianjin. And Jericho, as an observer on the part of the British Navy, did not leave after the end of the war. As for Reinhardscher, he boarded the battleship with a special permit from Li Hongzhang from the German minister.

When he saw Jericho and Sher appear on the Tianjin at the same time, Xu Jie was quite excited. It is important to know that the two old enemies are 20 years later commanding the two most powerful fleets in the world to fight in the North Sea. The end of Jutland was admired by countless battleship parties in later generations. The romance of the giant ship cannon has made countless people moved. But what Xu Jie didn't expect was that because he had traveled to this world, a person who was unknown in history also shined in the Great War 20 years later. Of course, this is a later story, so I won't mention it for the time being.

There was very little entertainment on board, and even less on a warship, and during a long voyage, it was natural that using the afternoon tea time to chat was the best option for bored passengers, after all, they did not need to work like naval officers and sailors. So a small naval salon was finally formed, and at first it was just idle Beiyang officers and three foreigners. And then Zhang Peilun suddenly became interested for some reason, maybe the failure of the Battle of Majiang left him too much shadow.

"Mr. Zhang, who is this beautiful young lady? Can you tell us about it? Tycho exclaimed. On a boring afternoon, Zhang Peilun came to the corner of the officer's dining room again, and this time in addition to himself, Li Jingpu also came to this salon at the help of his sister. Zhang Peilun and his wife naturally know the Tao, but Li Jingpu knows almost no people.

"Boy. This is Li Zhongtang's second daughter. Yang Yonglin on the side gently touched Tycho.

"Uh, you may be seated." Tycho said with some embarrassment. "Let's go ahead, everybody. I just came over for tea. Li Jingpu's face was a little red, and he said with a smile.

"Okay, let's go on, where did you just say?" Tycho asked.

"It seems to be a matter of naval development and national strategy." Jericho said with a smile.

"The question is very simple, isn't the navy just to defend the country's territorial waters?" Zhang Peilun just sat down and opened his mouth to say.

"No, it's not. The role of the Navy is more than just a role to defend territorial waters. He is a long sword to safeguard national interests, and you must know that in this world, the ocean occupies seventy percent of the earth's area, and if a country cannot project its influence to various places through the navy, then it will always be just a second-rate or even third-rate country. I think you can ask Master Xu about this, his understanding of the Navy is no less than that of Mr. Mahan. Jericho said.

"In fact, as a traditional continental country, my Chinese dynasty has not carefully studied the ocean, and has always considered itself a great power of the Celestial Empire. And he has never stepped out of his own one-third of an acre to open his eyes to the world. This leads to the current backwardness. Yang Yonglin's words were full of sadness. …,

"In fact, what is more critical is that hundreds of years of ideological imprisonment have led to the final backwardness of our country, and the rest is just a superficial phenomenon." At this moment, Xu Jie's voice came from outside.

"If these words are to fall into the ears of some moral gentlemen in China, Jishi, you will be ruined." Zhang Peilun said half-jokingly.

"Those are just dry bones in the grave, and sooner or later they will be abandoned by the times." Xu Jie said unashamedly.

"Okay, everyone, I invite you to drink authentic Chinese baijiu." Yang Yonglin saw that the situation was a little wrong. Directly pulled away the others. Zhang Peilun and others were left.

"Jishi, you're finally telling the truth. When I knew you, I felt that you were out of place with the doctors. "After the others are gone. Zhang Peilun said.

"Youqiao, do you know what the biggest role of Cheng Zhu Lixue is?" Xu Jie smiled mysteriously. "They are not at all upholding so-called morality, as they appear to be. They are just sacralizing their own class and defending their own interests, and the monarch needs to cooperate with these moral gentlemen in order to maintain his rule, it's as simple as that. ”

"Brother Zhang, you are a person who has come over, and you are also an idealist, I don't need to say all kinds of filthiness in the court, you have experienced it lightly, just be simple, after hundreds of years, why don't I return to the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties?" Xu Jie asked. In fact, Xu Jie is now talking to Zhang Peilun for a purpose. If Xiang wanted his actions within Beiyang to be as little disturbed by the old school as possible, he would have to convince Li Hongzhang's No. 1 thinker. And if Xu Jie wants to set off a storm of ideological emancipation across the country, then someone must be able to pick this head, and Zhang Peilun is also a very good choice.

"Lord Xu, in your opinion, there is no merit in Confucianism, which has been inherited for thousands of years?" Li Jingpu, who had not spoken, asked.

"There is still some merit in morality, but the vast majority are no longer suitable for this era, at least the so-called classics after Cheng Zhu Lixue are no longer suitable, and it is not a joke to want to govern a country well by relying on the Four Books and Five Classics alone? People only know that they are blindly obedient and ideologically insensitive, and the monarch regards a country as his own private property, and such a country will sooner or later be divided by others. There is no eternal law in the world, and natural selection of the fittest survives. If you don't change, then wait to be abandoned by the times. Xu Jie said unceremoniously.

"Then what era does Lord Xu think this is?" Li Jingpu's face was a little pale, which was incompatible with the education she received. She hadn't heard anything like that before.

"This is an era of the jungle, an era of strength, an era of emphasizing the awakening of the people's minds and science and technology, but it is not an era in which reading a few ancient books is like relying on a few words of a saint to let all dynasties come to congratulate. The Great Qing Dynasty has been defeated so many times, doesn't it still explain the problem? Xu Jie said with a slight smile.

"Don't mention the words of a saint. That is just a pretext for those in power to gain a veneer of legitimacy for their own seizure of power. In the final analysis, the dynastic changes of all dynasties are still paved with blood and fire. One by one, the monarchs use the sword to destroy the rebels, and the reason is used to bind the remaining people, so that they can serve themselves honestly, they can be arrogant and lascivious, and they can sell everything in the country without any restrictions. But hundreds of millions of people are not allowed a shred of freedom. They are not concerned about the fate of the country, but about whether they can always enjoy this privilege! Such a society should not exist. A dynasty that bases its rule on the suffering of all nations should have perished long ago. Xu Jie continued. …,

"So how do you guarantee that the new regime can protect the interests of the majority? Regardless of any regime. The right to rule is in the hands of a few. Li Jingpu asked.

"Checks and balances, when the power of the ruling class derives from ordinary people. At the same time, when the exercise of their rights is monitored, their behavior must be restrained, and when the oversized people realize that their lives are closely related to the state, they will pay attention to the country, and not just bow their heads and pay taxes regardless of what the tax collectors do. When the people realize that only when the country is strong can they live better, then the rise of the nation will be unstoppable. At this time, Xu Jie was already a little excited, and these words had been in his stomach for more than 6 years. When I say it, I feel the pain all over my body.

"Jishi, it seems that you don't just want to change a Beiyang." Zhang Peilun said quietly.

"Don't dare to be, I can't even change Brother Zhang." Xu Jie said with a smile. "The Taixi countries are strong, naturally there are reasons for him to be strong, not only the so-called machinery and weapons, but also the strength of a kind of national quality and thought, you can think about it, when I Beiyang is desperately fighting for the country and people, what are those Qingliu and the imperial court doing? In the eyes of Westerners now. I'm afraid that the Qing Dynasty was a backward barbarian. Xu Jie's words were full of sarcasm.

"Isn't Lord Xu himself also eager for power, and isn't he also excluding dissidents? For example, the Wen Tingshi of the imperial court and Yuan Shikai of the Lu Division. Li Jingpu said a little unconvinced.

Needless to say, Yuan Shikai is a complete politician, a political hooligan who does not hesitate to sell everything for his own interests. If you don't believe me, we can watch. I am still very confident in my eyes, Fang Boqian is already an example, Yuan Shikai will be better than him! Xu Jie sneered.

"I need rights, but I don't need rights for my own enjoyment. If I had stayed in Italy, I would have lived a much easier and happier life than I have now. Maybe now I even have a wife and children. Speaking of this, Xu Jie couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

"Do you know the way? During the war. I haven't left the battleship for more than eighty percent of the time, and if you count the previous time, when I built 3 ships from Beiyang to the Yuanyuan class, except for going out to work, I never left the shipyard half a step, listening to the noise from the construction site every day, living a prison-like life, doing the work of several people, what do you think of this life? Xu Jie asked, for some reason, Xu Jie talks a lot today, probably because too many people don't understand him, if in which plane of the original, Xu Jie wants to live a better life through power, then at the end of the 19th century, in the era of unprecedented crisis in the country and nation, Xu Jie didn't have the heart to care about the so-called enjoyment. The rise of the country and the nation is the greatest reward for his work!

"The little girl was taught." Half-ringing, Li Jingpu said in a low voice, and then left his seat.

Thanks to the book friends Kong Chen, Shan Qingying for their rewards, and the book friends Long Guiren and the son of the book for their monthly ticket support. There are not many economic requirements for newcomers to write books, at least everyone can help them spiritually. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )