Zhang Peilun and Liu Buyun had been waiting outside Li Hongzhang's bedroom for more than an hour. Li Hongzhang has the habit of taking a nap, which has a history of more than 20 years, and Zhang Peilun and Liu Buyun know it. It is said that he should not be so uninteresting, so he had to disturb Li Zhongtang during his lunch break, but the matter was urgent, and after explaining the reason for the matter to Zhang Peilun, Zhang Peilun led him and waited directly outside Li Hongzhang's bedroom in the Governor's Mansion of Zhili. While the two were waiting, Li Hongzhang was also difficult inside. It is an eventful time, and Liu Buchan's visit in the near future has long been expected by him, as for why he came? Naturally, it couldn't be clearer. Since Xue Fucheng sent the materials compiled by Xu Jie on the Japanese Navy and Army and the domestic situation to Beiyang, the top officials of the Beiyang Fleet headed by Ding Ruchang, Lang Weili and Liu Buyun gathered all day long to deduce naval battles. And the result of the deduction is that if the information obtained by Lord Xue is indeed true, which Beiyang will have no chance of winning in the future naval battle!! And the results of this deduction will naturally be reported to Li Zhongtang, if you want to win, you have to buy a ship. It's a simple truth, but buying a boat costs money!! On the one hand, the Beiyang Fleet, which he painstakingly managed, and the possibility of being defeated by Japan in the future, on the other hand, the imperial court just did not give money. How does this make Lao Li sleep? However, Liu Buyun is blocked at the door of the house, and it is not a way to see it.

"Subordinates, see Lord Zhongtang." As soon as Liu Buyun saw Li Hongzhang walking out of the bedroom, he immediately greeted him. And Zhang Peilun glanced at his father-in-law first, and saw Li Hongzhang with tiredness written on his face. I immediately understood in my heart that Lao Li didn't sleep at all, and he really couldn't hide from it.

"Zixiang, why are you so flustered? Found all here? Although he knew Liu Buyun's intention, Li Hongzhang still asked.

"The Italian delegation has arrived in Shanghai and will arrive in Tianjin in the near future, I don't know what Zhongtang has planned." Liu Buyun asked in a low voice, the meaning of this is already very clear, people are here, let's talk about the ship.

"Is this ship really as good as the man said?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"This is natural, Europa countries have already purchased, if it is not good, if it is not good, Spain, Turkey may not buy. According to Lord Luang Weili, the Japanese also attached great importance to this ship and wanted to borrow it for purchase. However, he was politely rejected by the Italian Navy. Liu Buyun glanced at Zhang Peilun and said.

"If there is money to be made, why don't Italians sell ships to Japan?" Li Hongzhang asked curiously.

"It is said that the designer of this battleship is a Chinese, and before he cooperated with the Italian Vittorio Cuniberti, he had asked not to sell the ship to the Japanese side, and the Italian Minister of the Navy Bryn had a good relationship with the two, so it was considered a tacit agreement." Liu Buyun told Li Hongzhang what he had heard and what he thought was correct.

"This Chinese is really homesick." Li Hongzhang nodded slightly. "Youqiao, when the man arrives, you can visit him."

"How many new ships do you want to buy for me in Beiyang?" Seeing that Lao Li had led the topic elsewhere, Liu Buyun couldn't care so much. Get straight to the point. Speaking of this, a drop of cold sweat fell from Liu Buyun's round face, "It's the most critical moment." Liu Buyun said in his heart.

"This ship is good, but it's too expensive. The exact price is still negotiable. "Li Hongzhang is Li Hongzhang, he plays Tai Chi well, this is very clear, people have to negotiate when they come, and I will decide only when the conditions are negotiated. This dragged things down.

"This ship is really expensive, 280,000 pounds. Basically, it is more than twice as expensive as Zhiyuan (Zhiyuan is 845,000 taels of silver, 160,000 pounds, and the ratio of pounds to huàn at that time is about 1 to 5). But the firepower and tonnage are more than 1 times stronger. Liu Buyun's face changed and he said loudly, he understood very well that Lord Zhongtang couldn't make up his mind. The new ship was equipped with four 6-inch guns on the side chord, and one 8-inch gun at the bow and tail. The former has a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute. The latter has a rate of fire of 2 rounds per minute. However, our Beiyang Zhiyuan cruiser has only one 15-millimeter artillery on the side chord, and a total of three 21-millimeter artillery guns at the beginning and the end, the former has a rate of fire of one round per minute, and the latter requires one round in two to three minutes. Whether it is the bow of the ship to meet the enemy or the side chord to meet the enemy, our ship has fired its guns once, and the new ship has fired more than 10 times. That's more than 1 times worse! Liu Buyun said excitedly.

"Lord Liu, please be calm and don't be impatient, and wait for Lord Zhongtang to think about it in the long run." Zhang Peilun looked at the excited Liu Buyun and Li Hongzhang, whose face was becoming more and more gloomy, and hurriedly came out to interrupt. …,

"It's reckless." Liu Buyun, who realized the faux pas, took two steps back and said.

"Zixiang, it's not that I don't buy it, I also know the benefits of this boat. But this matter is very important, I Beiyang needs to think about it in the long run, you first talk to the Italian people, the silver problem, I want it from the imperial court. Li Hongzhang knew that if he didn't give an explanation, the Beiyang right-wing general in front of him would not give up. And the Beiyang Fleet also had to give him an explanation, so he could only make the problem clear, that is, I agreed to buy this ship, but the silver was a problem. Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness. The strong enemy is outside, but Beiyang still has to litigate with the bigwigs of the court for a little silver and say good things, which is really infuriating!

"I quit my job. This matter is related to the lives of more than 4,000 officers and men of our Beiyang Fleet, and it all depends on Lord Zhongtang. Liu Buyun saw that he had finished speaking, and it was useless to stay here any longer, so he got up and said goodbye.

"Youqiao, send Lord Liu on my behalf." Li Hongzhang said.

In the Governor's Mansion of Zhili, Zhang Peilun and Liu Buyun walked to a corner, Zhang Peilun stopped and said, "Why is Lord Liu so reckless today?" ”

"This matter is related to the national fortune of my Qing Dynasty, and Zixiang has to do this." Although he knew that he was reckless, Liu Buyun did not regret it at all. As a high-ranking member of the fleet, Liu Buyun had a clear understanding of the shape after studying Xu Jie's information. Therefore, whether it is public or private, he must make it clear to Li Hongzhang.

"Nakado-sama also has his own difficulties." Seeing that there was no one around, Zhang Peilun sighed.

"Could it be that there is a change in the court?" Liu Buyun asked.

"Now that Master Weng is in charge of the household department, he has always criticized my Beiyang funds, and the Queen Mother wants to repair his garden. It's hard to get the money. There are some things that Li Hongzhang can't say, but Zhang Peilun can say it, so he decided to give a bottom to the actual admiral of Beiyang in front of him. In order to prepare the top management of Beiyang.

"Then if something happens at sea, how will I deal with it in Beiyang?" Hearing this, Liu Buyun almost jumped up in a hurry.

"What else? At present, we can only stabilize the Italian people first, and then Beiyang will think of raising funds. Zhang Peilun had anticipated Liu Buyun's reaction and said with a wry smile.

"It's okay to stabilize the will, but this money has to make Lord Zhongtang think about it." Zhang Peilun is right, now he can only take one step at a time, after speaking, Liu Buyun arched his hand and turned to leave.

Chapter 55 Weng Son-in-law

"Someone sent away?" Looking at Zhang Peilun, who had a stern expression, Li Hongzhang asked.

"Yes, Lord Zhongtang, Lord Liu is gone." Zhang Peilun replied.

"Youqiao, why bother to see outside, just call your father-in-law. Sit down and talk. Li Hongzhang said with a smile.

"Naturally, you have to call Lord Zhongtang." Who knew that Zhang Peilun didn't appreciate it, and still stood and said. After waiting for a while, seeing that Li Hongzhang did not react, Zhang Peilun said urgently: "Now the heart of the Japanese people is the heart of Sima Zhao, and everyone knows it, but those moral gentlemen in the DPRK and China will reduce my Beiyang funds if they can." If it goes on like this, I'm afraid that the war hasn't started yet, and my Beiyang defeat has been decided. ”

"It's hard." Li Hongzhang sighed. Now the situation of Beiyang is not as good as before, I think that when Shen Baozhen led the minister of Nanyang, in order to make the small amount of funds can be effective, so he allocated 2 million taels of silver to Nanyang every year to Beiyang, which made Beiyang have the current eight great distances. And now? Nanyang has been replaced by Liu Yikun and Zhang Zhidong. People wish that the Beiyang Naval Division would collapse, so naturally they would not fight a lawsuit with him for the navy's military expenses. As for the center, the person who presides over the household is Master Weng, who has an enmity with him, and the queen mother wants to repair the garden. And King Gong, who supports him, is not in good health, Beiyang is really lonely!

"There's a sentence I don't know whether to say or not." Zhang Peilun said in a low voice.

"When you say it, it's all your own family. There is nothing that cannot be said. Li Hongzhang said calmly.

"This lawsuit, no matter how difficult it is, must be fought, otherwise it will ......." Zhang Peilun glanced at Li Hongzhang and closed his mouth.

"What else would have happened?" Li Hongzhang frowned, and said eagerly.

"Lord Zhongtang will become Zhang Youqiao's second." Zhang Peilun said nervously.

With a snap, the teacup in Li Hongzhang's hand fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces, which looked so dazzling under the afternoon sun.

"Once defeated, all the hard work of my more than 30 years in Beiyang will be in vain. As the pillar stone of the Qing Dynasty, the Beiyang Naval Division will also be wiped out. From a small point of view, where will Lord Zhongtang stand? In the big picture, once the tiger skin of Tongguang Zhongxing is gone. Will the Western countries still be able to sit still? "Now that he has said it, Zhang Peilun simply vomited." Zeng Wenzhenggong was ruined because of a Tianjin teaching case. And at that time, there was Zhongtang you to speak for him, and there was also the assistance of the old Hunan ministers. And a few years later, once Lord Zhongtang is defeated, this is a bigger thing than the Tianjin teaching case, Nanyang and my Beiyang are incompatible, and no one in the center is willing to help, Lord Zhongtang will only be worse than Zeng Wenzhenggong. At that time, who will remember your past exploits? Zhang Peilun, who couldn't care about Sven, gritted his teeth and finished the rest of the words. I'm afraid that this time Master Weng pushed and delayed, and he also had the meaning of the Queen Mother, right? I'm afraid that the Queen Mother also thinks that I am too powerful in Beiyang!! ”…,

"Presumptuous." Li Hongzhang's face turned pale all of a sudden, although Li Hongzhang had already considered all of this, but at this time, Zhang Peilun's mouth still shocked him. A cold sweat came out in a flash. Zeng Guofan's ending, Zhang Peilun's old things, he Li Hongzhang understood very fiercely. And he knows very well that if Beiyang is defeated, his end will only be worse than the two. Zeng Guofan was just a lesson plan, and although Zhang Peilun was defeated, the Sino-French war was a draw. And the Empress Dowager Cixi's treatment of Zeng Guofan, who had made great contributions, made Li Hongzhang even more depressed. After Zeng Guofan exterminated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he took the initiative to dismantle the Hunan army and tried his best to keep a low profile. Finally, after the Tianjin teaching case broke out, the Empress Dowager Cixi used Zeng Guofan as a scapegoat. And Zeng Guofan could not die well. Zeng Guofan is like this, can Li Hongzhang, who supports the army and respect himself, be spared?

"If Lord Zhongtang doesn't want to listen, Youqiao will leave Jinmen." Zhang Peilun said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Youqiao. Sit down and talk. Some things need to be considered in the long term. Looking at his son-in-law, Li Hongzhang squeezed out a smile and said.

"Then please make a quick decision. It's a big deal, I can't afford to wait, let alone lose. Zhang Peilun didn't sit down, just stood and talked, and didn't sit down.

"This matter must not be resigned, and the Beiyang Naval Division must not become the second Fujian Naval Division." After pondering for a moment, Li Hongzhang said categorically. "My huge family business in Beiyang can't let those Qingliu and those villains in the court be ruined like this!!" Li Hongzhang has never been a person who sits idly by, since Li Hongzhang has realized the strictness of things in advance because of Xu Jie's arrival, it is absolutely impossible for him to fail to do nothing on the issue of funding as he did in history.

"What does Lord Nakado want?" Zhang Peilun asked in a low voice.

"I'm afraid that the old way of walking around will not work." Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly and shook his head. As a local powerful faction with real power in his hands, especially the first governor of the world who is in charge of Zhili. Li Hongzhang did not have the power to blackmail the central authorities. It's just that I didn't push him to that point. (You don't see the invasion of the Eight-Nation Coalition in 1900, and the southeast mutual protection of the southern governors made the authority of the Qing court completely lost!!) Even Liu Yikun, Zhang Zhidong, Sheng Xuanhuai and others are ready to recommend Li Hongzhang as president and replace the Qing Dynasty!! But today, all kinds of information revealed in the imperial court have made Li Hongzhang feel extremely critical. So Li Hongzhang decided to directly confront the center when necessary!!

"Then what do you want your subordinates to do?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"This matter still needs to be prepared. You sent someone to contact Nanyang, and said that my Beiyang plans to purchase arms and equipment from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and doesn't that Zhang Zhidong want to build a steel plant? I Beiyang is willing to help co-organize, and will purchase steel in bulk after completion. Li Hongzhang said.

"Lord Zhongtang wants to win over Nanyang to make trouble together?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"How is one Nanyang enough? If you want to make trouble, you have to turn it upside down!! Not only do the feudal officials of the South and North Seas want to make trouble, but he also doesn't want to live in peace!! Li Hongzhang sneered.

"Lord Nakado is really generous. But what about the aftermath? Zhang Peilun asked with some concern, after all, it is the first time that Beiyang directly confronts the center in the Qing Dynasty, if the aftermath is not arranged, I am afraid that even if Beiyang wins this lawsuit, some things will not end well!

"The difficulty lies in the aftermath," Li Hongzhang shook his head helplessly and said, "So I'm just having a relationship with Nanyang now." Once we've figured out how to end it, we'll make a mess of it again! ”

"I'm afraid that Nanyang will not be on the fold with me Beiyang if he receives the order." Zhang Peilun frowned and said.

"What's the use of the upper fold? went up, and there was no news about the mud cow entering the sea. All I want now is a momentum! As long as this kind of posture of interconnection between the north and the south is formed, both the queen mother and those central ministers must weigh and weigh. Li Hongzhang sneered.

"Clever plan, in this way, the Queen Mother is no longer at ease with Zhang Zhidong and others, as long as he Zhang Zhidong receives our silver, he can't say clearly, and now it seems that Lord Zhang is busy planning to build a steel mill, and it is this silver that is missing." Zhang Peilun said happily.

"And the Queen Mother can't ask Zhang Zhidong why he accepted Beiyang's silver, right?" Li Hongzhang smiled. "By the way, when the Italian person comes, you go and meet Zixiang and them, there is a person named Xu Jie inside. Xue Fucheng said on the telegram that this person is quite knowledgeable, whether it is shipbuilding or maritime affairs, he is a good hand, and he has the heart to come to my Beiyang to serve, you go and see. At the end, Li Hongzhang added.

"Isn't it possible that the details of those widows can't be explained?" Zhang Peilun asked with some confusion.

At most, these books can only show that he is a meticulous and well-informed person. But whether you can do big things, whether you have vision or not, that's another matter. Li Hongzhang said.

"My subordinates are going to prepare." After Zhang Peilun finished speaking, he turned around and left.