"Your Majesty, my Qing Dynasty now has a vast territory and a strong national strength. Among the surrounding countries, even the most powerful Russia and the most difficult Dzungar are now difficult to pose a threat to the imperial court, which is certainly a demonstration of the emperor's great martial arts, but in order to maintain this vast territory, the imperial court has to support huge military expenditures. Although the income of the imperial court has been rising every year over the years, this has also put a huge burden on the imperial court,...... The minions didn't dare to say that they would let the army withdraw to the same place, and if anyone dared to say so, the minions would also join him in his rebellion, but the minions thought that since the national strength of our dynasty was already as strong as this, and the force was also the power of the world, why spend a huge amount of money to build any ironclad ships? The servant admitted that the ironclad ship that Master Fei made was indeed a miracle of seizing heaven and earth, but if he didn't make these things, wouldn't the surrounding people dare to disrespect my Qing Dynasty and not admire my majesty? ……”

Kangxi finally failed to make up his mind to hold all the officials in Tianjin accountable, but in addition to deposing Wu Huaxing and deposing him, he still demoted the Tianjin land army Lihanne and the local prefect by two levels, and in addition, he also ordered other officials to be reprimanded, and recorded a major demerit, which can be regarded as revealing the matter of taking over. And after dealing with the things committed by the Tianjin officials, the topic finally turned to the ironclad ship built by Old Man Fei. Kangxi first opened his mouth and greatly praised Old Man Fei's ability to "seize heaven and earth", and then asked the officials present about their views on the ironclad ship, and as a result, Tong Guowei was not angry with the old man Fei this time to drive the ship and caused the incident, and once again made a start, bluntly opposing the Qing court's construction of ironclad ships.

"Your Majesty, the servants also think that what Prime Minister Tong said is very reasonable." After Tong Guowei retreated, Ma Qi immediately stood up again. When he first saw the ironclad ship just docking, he was also very shocked. Such a large lump of steel can not only float on the sea, but also sail from Dalian to Tianjin. This kind of thing is simply unheard of. Originally, he thought that Old Man Fei might just cover the outside of a wooden ship with an iron plate, but after following Kangxi on the boat for a visit, he had to be really convinced that the ironclad ship was really made of almost all steel! …… However, after the initial shock. He quickly calmed down. Compared with Tong Guowei, a big reason why he can be favored by Kangxi is that he knows very well what to do as a courtier under a wise emperor like Kangxi in order to truly conform to the holy will. Therefore, from Dagukou to the Yamen, the chief soldier of the Naval Division, he has been thinking about what benefits this ironclad ship will have for the Qing Dynasty, but after considering this not a short period of time, he came to a conclusion similar to Tong Guowei. The Qing Dynasty is already powerful enough, and no matter how powerful the weapon is, it can only be regarded as the icing on the cake. And. The "flowers" added to this do not do much. Therefore, the construction of ironclad ships is for the Qing Dynasty. It can only be regarded as "waste".

"Your Majesty, in the eyes of the minions, the ironclad ship is just a sturdy hull, and although the speed is not slow, it is not as fast as the wooden warship of my naval division.

In addition, the hull of this type of ship is not very large, and even if it does not carry goods, it is not as fast as that of a sailing ship. The minions, in particular, had heard that the ship did not seem to be ready for long-distance voyages...... Therefore, the slave thought that although this ironclad ship was unprecedented. The creation of heaven and earth can only be regarded as 'chicken ribs!' ”

Ma Qi made a "closing statement" in two words, and then hugged his fist towards Kangxi and retreated respectfully.

"Chicken ribs, chicken ribs, eat without meat, discard taste! …… Fei Aiqing, Ma Qi said that the boat you built is chicken ribs. What do you have to say? Kangxi pretended to smash Ma Qi's words, and asked Old Man Fei without any expression.

"Your Majesty, the slave knows that this ironclad ship does have many shortcomings at present, but the slave thinks that this kind of ship is the future overlord of the sea. Not only was the hull sturdy, but whoever had owned it first would no longer be afraid of the recoil of the large guns breaking the hull. In this way, there are both strong shields and fierce spears, and in naval battles, it is equivalent to having a weapon of hegemony! Moreover, the ironclad ship has a strong hull, a deep draft, can be suppressed, and its resistance to storms is also stronger than that of a wooden sailing ship of the same class, so the slave thinks that this kind of ship will inevitably replace the wooden ship in the future and become a thing that all the countries in the world compete for! …… Moreover, Your Majesty, although my Qing Dynasty is strong and invincible, it does not absolutely suppress the power at sea, so the slaves think that there must be a hundred benefits in manufacturing ironclad warships! ”

Old man Fei seemed to be a little anxious, and after hearing Kangxi's question, he jumped out in one step, and his fists were painful.

"1 There will be a hundred benefits? Lord Fei, is it necessary to make the treasury lose a large amount of money for the sake of a so-called absolute suppression? If the people of the world knew that the imperial court had spent such a large sum of gold and silver on a warship that might not even be able to go to the battlefield, what would they think? Moreover, iron is bound to rust when it encounters water...... Hmph, I guess you know what rust is, right? That thing, a touch is a layer, I don't know how thick the board of your ironclad ship is? And how many 'days' can you resist, the temptation? How much gold and silver does the imperial court spend every year to maintain or build new ships? ”

Tong Guowei squinted his eyes, thinking that he had found another weakness of the ironclad ship, and couldn't help but mock Old Man Fei again.

"If there are deficiencies, they should be improved! Tong Xiang, I think you can't be born to be the minister of the study, right? If that's the case, then there's nothing to say here! Old man Fei sneered and retorted unceremoniously.

"Master Fei, what do you mean by this? Jun prelude is right, if you have something to say, you can say it clearly, don't mess around! Tong Guowei feigned anger and said. Old man Fei used to look extremely calm at any time, but now he was actually a little out of shape in a few words, which really made him feel very happy.

"Say I'm messing around? Hehe, Tong Xiang, you can really beat a rake! From the five major sailors to the various artillery and muskets made by the Fengtian Artillery Factory, may I ask, when did you increase the burden on the imperial court? Don't you know this? Why are you in a hurry to link the construction of ironclad ships with the treasury? Do you think that my old man is too old to make meritorious contributions to the imperial court? Old man Fei sneered.

"You ......" Old man Fei's words were a little heartbreaking, Tong Guowei was really a little angry this time.

"Two adults, if you have something to say, why be angry? Beware of the loss of honor in front of the king! Ma Qi frowned at Old Man Fei's attitude, this old guy has always been "everything under control", not so sharp, why did he suddenly see Tong Guowei today?

"Slaves are guilty!"

If the monarch loses his manners, there are big and small sins. Even the big ones may have unstable heads. The little one may not even be reprimanded twice, but in any case, after being put forward with such a crime, he must be honest. Therefore, after Ma Qidi finished speaking, Tong Guowei and Old Man Fei pleaded with Kangxi in unison.

"That's it!" Kangxi waved his hand and motioned for the two to step back.

Of course, he couldn't blame two important ministers for such a crime. After all, compared with Tong Guo's identity as the old man Fei, the crime of "dereliction of honor in front of the king" is inevitably a little too small to be put on the table. However, a first assistant and a former minister suddenly had a battle of will, but he also felt a little surprised, especially the graceful and generous appearance shown by Old Man Fei as usual, which surprised him the most.

"Could it be that this old guy and Tong Guowei secretly have some great contradictions, and they have to do it against each other?"

Among the current courtiers, there is no one who wants to be self-respecting, and even wants to kill the king and set up another one.

So. Kangxi did not suspect that these courtiers had any bad intentions. Although he was aware of some forces in the land of the five old men Fei, no matter before. Or now, what Old Man Fei, Ma De, and Yu Zhongren have shown is that they are thinking about the Jiangshan Society of the Qing Dynasty, or rather, they are thinking about their love for the rule of the Xinjue Luo clan. Although occasionally these people may be a little arbitrary and seem a little domineering, but he knows very well that these subordinates are not arrogant! The reason why he is hanging Old Man Fei like this today is why. It was he who was worried that the influence of Old Man Fei and others on the Qing Dynasty was somewhat beyond what he could tolerate, especially since this kind of influence was not the "right path", but from the sideways, such as industry and commerce, which was an area where even he, the emperor, had to think twice. In his opinion, Yu Zhong and Ma De's temper is a little intense, it should be because of the suppression of the old man Fei, a scheming guy, that he did not do anything too out of line, and in the past, when Yu Zhong and Ma De did things. Most of them were made by Old Man Fei to explain to him or "notify" him in advance. He admitted that Old Man Fei did have a lotus tongue, and every time he said it was very reasonable. However, how can a person who can often "sex" persuade the emperor and convince him Kangxi on something incomprehensible, how can his skills be reassuring? He always thought that Old Man Fei was the leader of Yu Zhong's group, and what Yu Zhong and Ma De did, and even such a large business that Mo Jing did, could have been secretly "" by this old guy. This is also the reason why he gave Yu Zhonghe Ma De the important task of releasing the feudal officials, but he has been hanging the old man Fei in the capital, giving him a high position, but not giving him real power. …… And today, the reason why he hung Old Man Fei again so obviously, in addition to having some thoughts of his own in his heart, was also because he wanted to give Old Man Fei a setback - these guys have always been too smooth. He has not yet selected a candidate for the prince, and he doesn't know when he will be elected, and he has to vigorously rectify the rule of officials, at this time, he doesn't want this group of dishonest guys to make trouble for himself and cause trouble, and he must also crack down on the "arrogance" of these guys, so that these people will have less trouble! However, he didn't expect that when he was trying to think of a reason to deal with the large number of persuasive words that Old Man Fei was very likely to throw, Old Man Fei actually changed his usual approach and "bitten" each other with Tong Guowei. What is this called? The old guy's trick is simply confusing and can't figure it out!

"Huang Ama, how many words do you have for your sons, I don't know if you should say it or not?"

Kangxi was suspicious, Ma Qi was puzzled, and after Tong Guowei came back to his senses, he also felt that something was wrong, but they cared about Old Man Fei's thoughts, but it didn't mean that others were in the same mood. The thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang, who had not spoken since the beginning of the discussion on how to deal with Wu Huaxing, stood up at this time.

"Yinxiang, what do you have to say, just say it!"

Kangxi smiled and looked at his most favored son now, and his gentle tone made Eighth Elder Brother Yinxi secretly blame him for being biased.

"Huang Ama, Erchen thought, what Tong Xiang, Ma Xiang and Master Fei said just now are all a reason, and they are all very reasonable. However, Erchen was thinking again, although this ironclad ship also had some shortcomings, or it could be said to be weaknesses. However, compared with ordinary ships, it also has too many advantages, if there can be a group of sailors, it will definitely be able to protect Changping in the Qing Sea forever. Therefore, it would be a pity to give up all the advantages of this ironclad ship because of some shortcomings. Mr. Fei researched this kind of warship for the sake of my eternal prosperity in the Qing Dynasty, and it took a lot of effort. The court should also be sympathetic to their hard work. …… Therefore, Erchen thinks that it is possible to hand over this ironclad ship to Mr. Fei to continue to develop, and then make up for the shortcomings of this kind of warship, and then make it on a large scale? Yinxiang bowed and said.

"Make up for the deficiencies first, and then make a big ......" Kangxi nodded, although Yinxiang has always been favored by him, and his abilities are also quite outstanding, but unfortunately he is always a little impulsive, and he is not very protective of others. It's a bit lacking. Unexpectedly. I led the soldiers to Gubeikou for a while, but I was able to cover everything. Of course, Yinxiang's method is not a particularly clever move. The key is to be able to maintain a calm mind when several important ministers are arguing because of this, and act and speak impartially, which is a rare and commendable point. Although Yinxiang's words did sound like he was expressing support for Old Man Fei.

"Daxing Manufacturing...... Huang Ama and Erchen also knew that Master Fei had spent a lot of effort for this ironclad ship, but Erchen did not approve of making this thing. Even if Master Fei has already made up for the deficiencies of this item. Yinxi suddenly 'interjected' and said.

"Oh? Why? Kangxi asked rhetorically.

"Huang Ama, Erchen just thinks that the key to whether or not to build this ironclad ship is: I don't need this thing in the Qing Dynasty!

Yin Yu replied with a fist.

"What King Lian Jun said is reasonable, Your Majesty, I have Temasek in the Qing Dynasty. Prince Zhi is arming North America, two sides are blocked, the world is huge, who else can invade my Daqing Sea again? Who dares to touch my big tiger beard? Therefore, although ironclad ships are good, they are not necessary. It's not worth spending gold and silver for this! Tong Guowei heard Yinxi's words, and hurriedly said again.

"If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. Be prepared for danger in times of peace. Be prepared! Old man Fei closed his eyes and spoke sonorously.

"What Master Fei said is very good! However, Yinxi wants to ask you, am I not good for the soldiers? I'm not well armoured? Whether it is the Northwest Desert or the conquest of South Seas India, our army is invincible everywhere it goes! Since there are such elite soldiers and strong generals to rely on as a dry city, how can it be said that it is 'unprepared?' Yinxi arched his hand towards Old Man Fei and asked with a smile.

"Yinxi's words are reasonable. This ironclad ship is good, but it is not necessary for my Qing Dynasty. Fei Aiqing, you are so old but you have been bothered by this, and I can't bear it, so don't get it again. Kangxi said.

"Your Majesty ......" Old man Fei hurriedly hugged his fist at Kangxi, and just wanted to speak, but was stopped by the other party waving his hand.

"I know that you can't bear to scrap your blood, but, Fei Aiqing, you can't make it difficult for the court.

Although the five great sailors did not spend a penny of the imperial court, they spent Manchurian money. Now that I have set up Fengtianxing Province in Manchuria, I am afraid that I will have to set up a few more provinces in the future, so that Manchuria will not be able to pay taxes to the imperial court! I'm afraid that this ironclad ship will cost a lot of money, and you can't bear to spend a lot of gold and silver on the imperial court to make a batch of things that are not useful, right? Although the world is peaceful now, the garrisons in various places need money, the operation of the imperial court requires money, and disasters in various places also need money...... It's also difficult for the imperial court! As an important minister of the court, shouldn't you also share your worries about this? Kangxi asked.

"The servants also know these things that the emperor said. In this case, the servants did not dare to force the emperor to build an ironclad ship, but the servants hoped that the emperor would allow the slaves to continue to study the ironclad ship according to what Yi Belle said just now, in order to make up for its shortcomings, so as to be used as a backup in the future. Old man Fei clenched his fists and said.

"Master Fei, I don't know how much silver you need every year for this research?" Tong Guowei asked again.

"Hundreds of thousands of taels!" Old man Fei replied.

"Hundreds of thousands of taels? Lord Fei, you are really a mountain of gold and silver to spend abroad! Hundreds of thousands of taels a year, do you know how many things can be done if these hundreds of thousands of taels are put in the imperial court? Do you know how much money a poor province can hand over to the imperial court in a year? Tong Guowei sneered, and asked Old Man Fei again.

"That's what you, Lord Tong, should care about!" Old man Fei said indifferently.

"That's it!" Kangxi "rubbed" and "rubbed" his forehead, Tong Guowei and Old Man Fei were both older than him, but he felt that he was the oldest.

"At the beginning, the northwest of Junggar was 'chaotic', first there was Geldan, and then there was arrogance against Alabutan, and then it colluded with Russia. In order to prevent the Russians from having powerful firearms, I allowed Fei Aiqing to set up a Fengtian Artillery Factory to specialize in firearms. Nowadays, the world is peaceful, and the power of the Qing Dynasty has far surpassed that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, but there are always some rats who are dissatisfied with my love for Xinjue Luo's orthodoxy in China, and this generation has always been good at "confusing" people's hearts. If people in this generation get a large number of firearms, it is really disadvantageous! Ladies and gentlemen, the Taiwan Heaven and Earth Association conspired against "chaos" is an example! Although those armies equipped with a large number of firearms are now under the control of our Manchurians, these armies still have to guard the northwest and southern Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet and India, if the Central Plains are "chaotic", I am afraid that they will still be beyond the reach of the whip, and the stronger the army, the more it cannot be placed in the Central Plains, otherwise it will inevitably be corroded and confused, and its combat power will inevitably decline a lot...... With less to control more, to weak to control strong, I Manchurian after all only win in Wuyong, now Manchuria is prosperous, people's hearts are attached, Manchu people take turns to 'train, the rules have also been established, there is this fundamental, and there is Yinchu in North America to expand the territory, I eight banners will not fall.

Fei Aiqing, Yu Zhong led the Manchurian Navy Division to pacify Taiwan, you must also be very clear about the first battle, right? Cai Yin, one of the rebels, actually burned almost the entire Fujian Navy, and also captured a lot of warships. I ask you, if the Fujian sailors had this ironclad ship, would the imperial court still be able to control those traitors? Can Yu Zhong capture Cai Yin before he attacks Tianjin? ”

"The emperor's ......" didn't expect Kangxi to still think of the article "Manchurian is just winning in martial arts", and Old Man Fei's heart began to cool slightly. Is the inertia of history really so strong? It seems that if it weren't for the fact that the tentacles of the Qing court have been connected with Western countries, I am afraid that Kangxi would have laid off a lot of armies armed with firearms!

"I say these things today because you are all people who believe in me, and you will not say this, and you should not let me down! …… Alright, that's all for today. Fei Aiqing, you are old, and the climate in Fengtian is cold, which is not suitable for you to live in, so stay in the capital this time. As for those things in Mukden, you don't have to worry about them. …… Hehe, don't be upset. You have worked so hard for the imperial court, I will not treat you badly, how about I promote you to wait? Kangxi said a few words to Old Man Fei with a concerned look, and called out again, "Yinxi! ”

"Erchen is here!" Listening to this tone, does Huang Ama want to leave Ferdinand idle? Yinxi was glad that he had chosen the right object to support, and when he heard Kangxi calling himself, he hurriedly clenched his fists and responded.

"The Fengtian Cannon Factory has made a lot of contributions to the imperial court over the years, and Fei Aiqing has also done his best there, so I will hand it over to you to manage. Would you like to? Kangxi asked.

"The retainers will live up to the expectations of the emperor!" Mukden Cannon Factory? Yinxi secretly let out a sigh.

That's really the place where Old Man Fei has put all his heart and soul into it. At least half of the firearms needed by the Qing army were produced from there. However, in the same way, the important "sex" of the Fengtian Cannon Factory also made Kangxi attach great importance to it, and Zhang Yuxiang, the general of Shengjing, was not good to look at there. Now Kangxi has asked him to preside over such the largest firearms supply factory in the Qing Dynasty, and the meaning contained in this is really intriguing. After all, although the Fengtian Cannon Factory was important, he was driven out of the capital again.

"It's all gone! Return to Beijing tomorrow! Kangxi waved his hand again and said.