Episode 149 Ah, warship! (6)

Erdet Ninghai, commander of the Lushun Fleet of the Qing Dynasty Navy, has been unable to sleep or eat these days and has been in a trivial situation.

The secret envoy of the Nanming came first to find him and advised him to lead the fleet to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Then the secret envoy of the Japanese secret envoy also came to him and asked him to stay in the port and not move, and surrender directly to the imperial army. Now, Emperor Guangwu has also issued an imperial edict. The emperor sank all the fleet in the port, and he must sink all the cruisers at the entrance of Lushun Bay, completely blocking Lushun Port, and then lead the fleet personnel to return to the pass by train.

Just as Ninghai received the imperial edict and was hesitating, the imperial envoy from Beijing also arrived. The imperial envoy took a battalion of 300 imperial guards, got off the train and headed straight to the Lushun Fleet Command, surrounded the headquarters, and sent a company of imperial guards to watch the whole family of Ninghai in Lushun City.

"Oh... it's so difficult..." Ning Hai held the balcony railing of the headquarters, looked at the warships in the bay in the distance, and shook his head, "I don't want to lead the fleet out of this harbor now. At that time, no matter which side you go to, it will be better than staying in this stagnant pool. But now there is a dilemma... First, the court has sent an imperial envoy to look at the commander's wife, children, and children. If this commander is wrong, my family will be unable to save their lives! Second, even if this commander really surrenders to your country, what future will he have in the future? I think, besides getting a reward from your country, I'm afraid he can only be an apartment!"

A Qing navy captain behind him smiled slightly and bowed and said:

"Your Excellency General is really worried. What kind of imperial envoy is sent by the emperor of your country to surround the general's residence with hundreds of people. Do you really take them seriously?...The general's fleet officers and soldiers are tens of thousands, enough to control the entire Lushun Peninsula. Although the imperial envoy of the imperial envoy led hundreds of people to surround the general's residence, aren't they also in the siege? Are their own lives in the hands of the general?

"...Haha, the soldiers of the imperial envoy of the court seemed to have watched the general's mansion since yesterday? For more than a day, although the general received the order, he did not do the order, but just dragged it on. Didn't the imperial envoy of the court not do anything about the general's family? He didn't even dare to force the general. If what was expected was right, the general and the imperial envoy of the court must have had a tacit understanding with each other, right? The imperial envoy only watched the general's mansion. He did not disobey the emperor's order, nor did he anger the general, and also provided an excuse for the general so that the general could have enough reason to delay in front of the two families of Japan and Ming, so that they could wait for the price?"

Ning Hai did not turn his head, but still held the railing, coughed twice, and sneered:

"Mr. Ikeda, it depends on what you said. No matter how bad the imperial envoy is, I am a foreign general, so why do I have a tacit understanding with the imperial envoy? Besides, the imperial envoy's family is still in Beijing."

Mr. Ikeda, wearing the Qing navy captain's uniform, smiled and said:

"So he was the general's leader before he arrived in Lushun! That's why he pretended to lead troops around the general's mansion and showed it to the Beijing court. Although the family of the imperial envoy was in Beijing, he himself was in Lushun. What a person cares most was his own life after all, right? The general should have seen it clearly. The Qing Dynasty was in a desperate situation, and even an imperial envoy didn't want to accompany it to be buried with it. Could it be... the general still wanted to guard it and bury it for it?"

Ning Hai sighed and said:

"Oh...even if we don't talk about this first difficulty, then what about the second difficulty? If I surrender to Nanming, because it is the same language and the same race, Nanming may re-appoint me and give me a position in the navy... But if I surrender to your country, I have only the ability, but I can't even speak or write words. At this age, I will never learn a language from scratch. Wouldn't that mean I have to do nothing and live my life?"

Mr. Ikeda smiled and said:

"General, think about it, even if you surrender to Nanming, can Nanming really give you a position in the navy? The general looked at the Qing generals who surrendered to Nanming before. Didn't Nanming give a sum of money and a passport from the Ming Dynasty, and there was no further information? Which one was arranged to be reused in the Ming army? Besides, you are a Manchu. Nanming is a Han court, and they have a deep hatred with the Manchus. Although the Manchus who are waiting to surrender now are very good and seem to treat them equally with the Han people, there is an old Chinese saying, "Rabbits die and dogs cook, and birds hide their bows." Isn't this the case?

"Now, they are fighting against the Qing Dynasty and need to unite all forces that can be united. But once the Qing Dynasty is eliminated and the world is peaceful, the Southern Ming Dynasty will surely set off a wave of liquidating the blood debts of the Manchus... The general can see today's Germany. Haha, at that time, will the Manchus be in a better situation in the Ming Dynasty than the Jews in Germany today? The Jews just plundered a few more money and were persecuted like that. And what will happen if the Manchus kill so many Han people?

"But on the other hand, my great Japan has been a friendly country with the Qing Dynasty for three hundred years, and there is no grudge between the Yamato and the Manchus. The general's family lives in Japan and lives in the Yamato nation. Isn't it better to make the general feel at ease than the whole family lives in the Ming Dynasty and among the Han people?"

Ning Hai held the railing and pondered. After a while, he turned around and smiled:

"I will certainly consider what Mr. Ikeda said. However, thank you Mr. Ikeda for worrying about my safety. Since no matter which side I surrender, all I get is money, even if I surrender to the Ming Dynasty, I don't have to live in the Ming Dynasty after taking the money. I can find a place nearby...such as Nanyang Singapore, etc.... Settling down and checking the domestic situation. If it is really as unbearable as Mr. speculated, then I won't go back. With money, where to be an apartment is not an apartment? Hahaha... I won't worry about this.

"It's just... I'm going to say that the price offered by Nanming now is far higher than that of your country. If your country can offer... there is no need to pay more, and I will not see the people from Nanming again. I will be waiting for the Imperial Army in this Lushun Port."

Mr. Ikeda glanced at him with a little contempt, and after pondering for a moment, he still smiled patiently:

"I wonder what is Nanming's latest bid?"

Ning Hai's face turned slightly red and she said:

"Nan Ming promised to give me 650,000 US dollars at one time, and then Viscount is enthroned, and there will be 50,000 amyoung's annuity every year. Mr. Ikeda, if your country can pay 1 million US dollars, I will give me the same title and annuity..."

He raised his hand and pointed to the tall and short warships in the harbor in the distance, saying:

"Then, these warships in the port are all from Japan."

Mr. Ikeda sneered and said lightly:

"Do you know why Nanming is willing to play such a high?"

Ning Hai glanced at him:

"Why?"

"Because you can't drive the warships into the port of Nanming. My Japanese Navy has completely controlled the Yellow Sea. General. If you really want to earn the 650,000 yuan from Nanming, you have to lead the fleet out of Lushun Bay and fight the Japanese fleet to a desperate battle at sea... How about... General, do you have this awareness?"

Ning Hai stared at him coldly, without saying a word, and snorted.

Mr. Ikeda continued to sneer:

"If you don't have this kind of awareness, then I would like to advise the general to accept the 200,000 US dollars from the Imperial Army to make peace."

Ning Hai held his breath and said lightly:

"Mr. Ikeda, before I surrender to your country, I already feel the arrogant arrogance of your country! If I really arrived at your country, I am afraid that someone would not be ridden on my head!"

Mr. Ikeda took a deep breath, changed his smile, bowed deeply to Ning Hai, and said with a smile:

"Haha... General, don't be angry. Just now, I was just joking with the general, and there was no other meaning. Alas... I just wanted to persuade the general. Although the Ming Dynasty bid was high, it was a mirror and a silly mist. The general wanted to get it but had to risk his life, and the success rate was minimal... Although my bid for Japan was far lower than that of the Ming Dynasty, it was real. The general didn't even need to make a small effort. Just sit here and wait, you can get it. General, is it still a problem to choose?"

Ning Hai also took a deep breath and waved his hand and sighed:

"Okay, sir, go and rest first. Let me think about it."

Mr. Ikeda didn't force him, and bowed again and said with a smile:

"Okay, let's wait first. But... Now my Japanese Imperial Army is directed directly to Liaonan, and soon I will go south to Lushun. There is not much time left for the general to consider...."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

...

Ning Hai looked at the fleet in the port, pondered for a while, turned to shout to his confidant adjutant:

"Sanbao, please come, Mr. Li and Xu."

"Yeah!"

After a while, two Qing army captains came out of the fleet guesthouse, followed by two Qing soldiers.

The two Qing army captains were Li Zhien from the East Factory, and the other was Xu Xiangde, who had just joined at noon. Under the surveillance of the two Qing soldiers, they walked towards a car and were about to get on the car to the headquarters, but Li Zhien suddenly turned his head and whispered to Xu Xiangde:

"Brother Xu, look over there, the one who came out of that small car was the Japanese envoy."

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Hmph, that guy is called Shigeru Ikeda. He used to be a spy in Nanjing and was on the blacklist of the East Factory. Later, we didn't touch him. Japan probably knew that he was exposed, so he transferred him back. In the past few days, we have been at the headquarters for at least three or four times, and we pretended not to know each other. In fact, we know each other well."

A Qing soldier opened the car door:

"Please get in the car, two sirs."

"Oh!" Xu Xiangde shouted and slapped his head, "It's broken, I have to go back first."

Li Zhien said in a daze:

"What did Brother Xu forget?"

Xu Xiangde shook his head and sighed:

"I didn't take the photo. I have to go back and get it quickly. This is to give Lord Ning the purpose."

Li Zhien frowned and said:

"photo?"

But when he saw Xu Xiangde's eyes quietly wink at him, he changed his smile and said with a smile:

"Oh, yes, then you can go and get it. Do you want to wait for you?"

Xu Xiangde shook his head and said:

"No need, Commander is waiting, you can go first. I have a lot of things there, so I'm afraid I'll have to search for it for a while. This is not far from the headquarters, and I'll walk over later."

"Oh," Li Zhien smiled, "Then two brothers, let me see the commander first."

The two Qing soldiers looked at each other, and it was very embarrassing. The above explained that these two people must keep a close eye on them, and that they should not leave people around them. A Qing soldiers said:

"Let me do this, I'll accompany Chief Xu to get the photos. I'll find another car for Chief Xu later."

Xu Xiangde glanced at him, nodded and smiled:

"Then, let's work hard, brother."

As he said that, a Qing soldier drove Li Zhien to the headquarters, and the other Qing soldier followed Xu Xiangde back to the guesthouse.

...

Xu Xiangde entered the room, closed the door, and then punched the Qing soldier behind him in the neck, knocking him unconscious on the spot. Then Xu Xiangde lifted the curtain and looked down, and saw that the Japanese secret envoy was also accompanied by a Qing soldier and walked into another small building in the guesthouse.

Xu Xiangde pulled out the pistol of the Qing soldiers on the ground and inserted it into his waist. Then he ran downstairs, walked through the yard, and entered another small building.

As soon as he arrived at the second floor, he saw a Qing soldier sitting in the corridor. Xu Xiangde knew that, like his Ming envoy, the Japanese envoy also had a Qing soldier following him at every moment. So, the Japanese envoy Shigeru Ikeda was on the second floor.

Seeing Xu Xiangde, the Qing soldier stood up, first stood at attention, and then asked:

"Sir... This sir, you..."

Xu Xiangde took out the officer's airs, took off his hat and slapped it, and looked around, asking arrogantly:

"Where is Mr. Ikeda? The commander wants to see Mr. Ikeda."

The Qing soldier heard his accent a little strange and said suspiciously:

"Sir...Which Mr. Ikeda?"

"Damn it, what's the one, the captain who just came back from the Commander. The Commander remembered another thing and asked me to pick him up and say."

"Sir...that chief has just come from Beijing and his surname is Liu."

Xu Xiangde understood that Commander Ning Hai was also careful enough and hid the identity of the Japanese envoy so well, for fear of leaking the news. Does he still want to leave a way out for himself in the court?

He smiled and said:

"Yes, it's that Chief Liu. Let me tell you the truth. He is not a Chief from Beijing. He was a secret envoy from Japan who advised us to surrender. Hurry up, where is he living in?"

"Ah!" The Qing soldier was shocked, then pointed to the room beside him and said, "Zhang... Zhang Guan, this is this room."
To be continued...