Chen Hao has a habit of doing things, that is, the small amount of money that should be spent must be spent, and there is a gift to get. After attacking the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, he promised to give five warships to protect the Empress Dowager Cixi, which would not only show his loyalty, but also explain why he would lead the fleet in Shanghai, of course, what he hoped most was that the Empress Dowager Cixi would be merciful and grant him the position of Admiral of the Nanyang Navy.

Chen Hao can't look down on the broken ships of the Nanyang Naval Division, but if the name is not right, it is not good, and after serving as the Admiral of the Nanyang Naval Division, there will be Xu Du NPC Navy under his jurisdiction. These experienced naval officers and men in Cam Ranh Bay are never too few, and after the merger of the Nanyang Naval Division, the problem of being too young and inexperienced in the naval officers and men of Cam Ranh Bay can be corrected.

Chen Hao actually wanted to get the official position of the Admiral of the Guangdong Navy Division, after all, Guangdong was closer to Cam Ranh Bay, and there were still some warships left in the Navy Division, and there were more talents. But from 1905 onwards, Sa Zhenbing, the prime minister of the South and North Oceans and the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, wanted to annex the Guangdong Navy. Even if the Empress Dowager Cixi was willing to divide the official position of Admiral of the Nanyang Naval Division of Sa Zhenbing, Chen Hao would only get a name for the time being, and the Nanyang Naval Division would not have any warships at all.

For the sake of the five ships, Sa Zhenbing probably won't have a problem with Chen Hao's appointment as the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, but not the Guangdong Naval Division. It's not bad to have the name of the commander of the Nanyang Navy, no matter how you say it, it is also a member of the imperial court from a first-class official, and it is much more convenient to recruit talents.

Although Chen Hao was ready to send warships as gifts in exchange for benefits, he was also reluctant to send the main battleship, and he was ready to give the cruiser "Qi Jiguang" purchased from Russia to Cixi as a gift. The other four destroyers were all old ships captured in the Battle of Tsushima, and such ships were no longer eye-catching to him, so it was appropriate to give them to Cixi.

The value of four destroyers is far inferior to that of a first-class defense cruiser, but the Empress Dowager Cixi is a layman to the navy, and it is necessary to make up the number of destroyers. It is much better to write five warships than to write two warships, and Beiyang spent a lot of money in order to buy Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. Chen Hao sent five warships to defend Lafayette in one go, does this loyalty still need to be said?

Chen Hao's reluctance is also manifested in spending money to bribe NPCs, although he has been wanted by the imperial court, but he has not cut off Li Lianying's money every year. And he didn't do anything with Li Lianying after spending money, which made Li Lianying, who has always pursued taking money to do things, a little ashamed. Seeing that the Empress Dowager Cixi first questioned Chen Baxian after reading Ma Sanbao's recital, Li Lianying hurriedly helped: "Lafayette! Although Chen Baxian didn't know why he appeared in Shanghai. However, his loyalty to the revolutionary party and bandits was commendable. Lafayette, you have always been worried that Chen Baxian is involved in the revolutionary party, isn't this the best proof? ”

Empress Dowager Cixi snorted coldly and said: "It is proof that he did not collude with the revolutionary party, but he led the fleet back to China, and he did not say hello to the military department in advance, maybe he wanted to rebel and become the emperor." ”

Li Lianying was a little relieved, the Empress Dowager Cixi was angry on the surface, but saying that Chen Ba rebelled first or something proved that she had dispelled the mustard. If Chen Baxian did not collude with the revolutionary party, it would be too impossible for him to rebel himself. The Queen Mother was just dissatisfied with Chen Hao's lack of regard for the imperial court. After having a score in her heart, Li Lianying smiled and said: "Lafayette, Chen Baxian has always been measured in his work, I think he will definitely explain it clearly." ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi sneered: "Ma Sanbao, a fifth-grade petty official, knows that eight hundred miles are in a hurry, and he Chen Ba is a third-grade member of the imperial court, and he is not as good as a fifth-grade official who understands the rules!" ”

Li Lianying smiled and said: "Chen Baxian has always been wanted by the imperial court before, and the Queen Mother has rewarded him with the title of Minister of Commerce and Trade of Vietnam, but it has not been made public, and it will definitely be a little cumbersome for him to go to the fold......

Empress Dowager Cixi seems to think this explanation is reasonable. She said lightly: "Then the mourning family will wait!" Let's see if Chen Baxian really doesn't take the court seriously. ”

As soon as the Empress Dowager Cixi's voice fell, a little eunuch soon came to pay her respects. said that Yuan Zhongtang asked to see him. The Empress Dowager Cixi was stunned for a moment, and said coldly: "Yuan Shikai hasn't entered the palace for a long time, Xiao Lizi, you are really right, he came this time to help Chen Ba send the excerpt first." Yuan Shikai can't see through the mourning family, and one day the mourning family is gone, and the court doesn't know what it has become. Even Chen Baxian took refuge in Yuan Shikai in advance. ”

Li Lianying said in a low voice: "Queen Mother, Chen Baxian has nothing to do with Lord Yuan, and this is what the slave knows." Lord Yuan has always wanted to win over Chen Baxian, and last time he asked the Queen Mother to appoint Chen Baxian as the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, but the Queen Mother did not agree. It is estimated that it is because of this Chen Baxian that he got closer to Lord Yuan. ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi sighed and said: "The mourning family was afraid that Chen Baxian would be implicated in the revolutionary party, so they did not appoint him with the title of commander of the Nanyang Naval Division. ”

In the eyes of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Chen Hao was more important than Sa Zhenbing, so she didn't think that Sa Zhenbing was also the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division. Li Lianying thought of it, but he would not disagree on this point. After a while, Yuan Shikai walked into Cining Palace, and said with a red face: "Lafayette is auspicious, Weichen received a report from Chen Baxian, he exterminated the bandits in Shanghai......"

Empress Dowager Cixi lazily interrupted Yuan Shikai's words and said: "The mourning family knows about the affairs of Shanghai, you can present the fold to the mourning family to take a look!" ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi is already old, and she hasn't watched the song for a long time, but this time she didn't let Li Lianying read it, but read it word by word. Chen Hao's recital perfectly explained why he appeared in Shanghai, and also said that he would personally send five warships to Beiyang after clearing out the remnants of the bandits in Shanghai, which made the Empress Dowager Cixi quite moved for a while.

"Good! The mourning family once ordered Chen Baxian to be wanted, he was at ease in Nanyang, and the mourning family couldn't help him. But this little rabbit cub still has a little conscience, after robbing the Japanese warship, he can still remember that my old bones were not protected, and I sent the warship all the way over, and the mourning family didn't know what to say. ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi did not suspect that Chen Hao had another purpose, because the NPCs had their own judgments, and in their eyes, Chen Hao was equivalent to being the emperor of the soil at sea, and there was no need to run around to send benefits. Now that he has generously sent five ironclad ships, there is really no other reason than to be loyal to Lafayette.

Li Lianying accepted Chen Hao's benefits, Yuan Shikai has always wanted to win over Chen Hao, and neither of them will dismantle Chen Hao's platform. As soon as Empress Dowager Cixi's voice fell, Li Lianying immediately said: "Lafayette, among these ministers in the imperial court, I have always felt that Lord Chen is the most filial to Lafayette. ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi laughed twice and said, "You are a person with eyes, Chen Baxian is indeed good." ”

Yuan Shikai arched his hand and said: "Queen Mother, Chen Ba first exterminated 30,000 revolutionary party bandits in Shanghai, and donated five ironclad ships to the imperial court, so much merit deserves a heavy reward." ”

The smile on the Empress Dowager Cixi's face disappeared, and she said lightly: "How to reward the mourning family, Yuan Qing's family should go down!" ”

Yuan Shikai was stunned for a moment, but he still saluted respectfully: "Weichen retires." ”

"Xiao Lizi, you personally went to Shanghai to give a decree to the mourning family, appointing Chen Baxian as the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, and the Guangdong Naval Division was also changed to Nanyang Moderation. You go to Sa Zhenbing, you go and ask him to send an ironclad ship to send you to Shanghai, and reward him with a yellow coat and a brave uncle! ”

"The minions obey."

Li Lianying is not reluctant to go to Shanghai, there is no danger in going to Shanghai, and most of the time she can get a lot of benefits. Chen Ba made a generous move first, this time he won the title of Admiral of the Nanyang Naval Division, and he also got the Guangdong Naval Division in his hands, he must be grateful to repay it!

When Li Lianying was drafting the decree, the Empress Dowager Cixi added: "You remember to pass on the message of the mourning family, as long as he is loyal to the imperial court, the mourning family will not treat him badly, and the mourning family rewards him for his official position because of his filial piety, and has nothing to do with those court officials." ”

Li Lianying understood in her heart that Lafayette was beating Chen Baxian and asking him not to get too close to Yuan Shikai. After the proposed seal, Li Lianying went out of the capital, found Sa Zhenbing, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, in Tianjin, and read out the edict of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Sa Zhenbing had an unhappy look on his face, although Cixi rewarded him with a yellow coat and named Yongyi Bo in order to make up for him, but deprived him of half of his power. Since 1905, Sa Zhenbing's position has been to control the North and South Oceans and concurrently serve as the Admiral of the Guangdong Naval Division, which is equivalent to the naval commander of the Great Qing Dynasty.

Li Lianying saw Sa Zhenbing's unhappiness, he smiled slightly and said: "Why bother Lord Admiral, a few days ago I heard that the imperial court is preparing to set up a naval yamen to manage all the sailors in a unified manner. It is impossible for Chen Baxian to hold the position of Minister of the Navy, because the ships he has in Cam Ranh Bay are his own, not the ...... of the imperial court."

Sa Zhenbing suddenly realized, he arched his hand and said, "Thank you father-in-law for mentioning it." ”

Li Lianying reminded Hou Sa Zhenbing that he quickly turned a corner, and it didn't make much sense for him to control Nanyang and concurrently serve as the commander of the Guangdong Navy, after all, the navy had no combat effectiveness at all. If the imperial court established the naval yamen, and he served as the prime minister of the naval yamen, wouldn't he still nominally control Nanyang and Guangdong?

Chen Ba first served as the commander of the Guangdong Naval Division, if the Guangdong Naval Division fought, would his Cam Ranh Bay fleet be able to watch from the sidelines? After Sa Zhenbing became the Minister of the Navy, he could command him at least nominally, right? Moreover, the actual interests of Sa Zhenbing did not lose anything, and the ships of the Guangdong Navy Division were gone, but there was one more first-class protection cruiser and four Japanese destroyers, which also gave Beiyang a little appearance.

Sa Zhenbing quickly arranged for a warship to send Li Lianying to Shanghai, and Chen Hao, who received the telegram in advance, personally went to the dock to greet him. After welcoming Li Lianying back to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Li Lianying said with a smile: "Lord Chen, I came to pass the decree on the order of Lafayette, and you are ready to accept the decree!" (To be continued......)