On May 18, Min Yongjun, a powerful minister of the foreign relatives of the Korean royal family, secretly visited Yuan Shikai, the business minister sent by the Qing government to Seoul. He also obeyed the Chinese official who represented the Celestial Empire in North Korea at a young age. He was the King of Joseon Lee Hee, who was also obeyed the rules of Yuan Shikai who had been in the 12 years in the court.

Min Yongjun first agreed to the request of the Qing government to the North Korean royal family and sent the bodies of North Korean assassin Hong Jong-woo and the killed Jin Yu-jun back to North Korea. Of course, this was just an excuse for the visit of this powerful minister from North Korea. After a few polite words, he immediately mentioned another news.

The 12,000-man army led by North Korean General Lee Yongnian fought against the Dongxue Party rebels near Jeolla Dok, but the situation was very unfavorable. The official army could not get supplies at all in the local area and had to retreat temporarily... Therefore, the Korean royal family hopes that China will send troops to assist North Korea in quelling the rebellion as soon as possible!

In response to this, Yuan Shikai, who had been involved in the training of the North Korean New Army, immediately expressed his willingness to make relevant suggestions to the country to help North Korea restore stability as soon as possible... However, later that day, when Yuan Shikai was drafting a memorial to Li Hongzhang, he unexpectedly received another news that made him frown.

The Min faction of Queen Min was still jealous of Kim Yu-jun's early rebellion and expel Queen Min, although it had been nearly ten years since he rushed over. After the Beiyang Navy transferred Kim Yu-jun's body to North Korea, the Koreans immediately opened the coffin and killed the corpse with great fanfare. Just a day ago, Jun Sugimura, the Japanese acting minister in North Korea, issued a warning to the Korean royal family, demanding that Kim Yu-jun's body be properly handled.

After receiving this news, Yuan Shikai was quite crazy. In addition to rushing to the Korean Palace and getting furious, the crisis that made him feel even more urgent was that the damn Koreans created a timely and appropriate excuse for Japan's intervention!

When the telegram was sent to the desk of the Zhili Governor's Office in Tianjin, Li Hongzhang was meeting Xue Fucheng who had just arrived in Tianjin due to illness. Xue Fucheng has always been one of his most important advisers in diplomatic affairs. Moreover, Xue Fucheng has served as the minister to Europe for many years and is one of the top diplomatic talents in the entire court. Therefore, at this critical moment, this time came, which was also a great relief for him.

After carefully inquiring about Xue Fucheng's condition, he was also quite surprised. Lu Hong... He had met him when he met with the imperial envoy Wang Renkan. In his opinion, the young man had overseas experience comparable to Xue Fucheng. The one who seemed a little immature was just official experience. In private, he also asked Zhang Peilun to pay attention to the opportunity to win over it.

After that, he was busy negotiating with the Japanese about North Korea affairs, and at the same time, he strictly ordered Yuan Shikai to grasp the situation in North Korea, and the first thing was to avoid the Japanese intervening in North Korea... But now, the situation in North Korea can be said to have changed three times a day. Not only did the Japanese disrupt the situation, but the Russians tried to use North Korea as a springboard, and even the Korean royal family had never stopped.

"Shuyun (Xue Fucheng's name), Yuan Shikai urgently called, saying that the rebellion of the Dongxue Party in North Korea was getting stronger and stronger. Minister Min Yongjun asked our court to send troops to suppress the country on behalf of the royal family..." Speaking of this, he looked at Xue Fucheng, whose face was slightly pale, "It was not impossible to do this. In the early years, our court always did this. But yesterday, the consul of the small village of the Japanese Consulate in Tianjin suddenly sent someone to inquire about the sending of troops to the court. This matter is probably unusual!"

Xue Fucheng passed by Tianjin this time. After resigning as minister of the four countries and returning to China, he was still eager to go to Beijing to report his duties to the young emperor. According to convention, other actual positions should be appointed. However, Lu Hong was worried that the lord of the central hall would not have the will to prepare for the war, so he naturally understood that this worry was definitely not unreasonable.

So, he immediately stood up and said seriously: "Zhongtang, for many years, you have always been alert to the wolves of the Japanese. The Japanese ambitions had long been exposed during the Renwu Incident in Korea 12 years ago. It is reported that in the past few years, the Japanese have purchased a large amount of military equipment, and the purpose in this East Asia is even more obvious... So, I think that at present, we should ask the court to prepare for war with all our might and draw elite troops. If we can defeat the Japanese army in Korea, we should maintain the current situation. If we cannot, we must also guard the Korean pass and take the Korean royal family into our hands!"

After hearing Xue Fucheng's words, Li Hongzhang naturally understood that this was indeed the best solution. Although the Sino-Japanese War could not be concluded that it would break out, the British Minister Eugena, who visited the day before yesterday, still made a very conclusive statement that Japan had no intention of confronting China on the North Korean issue, and the Customs Taxation Division, who was close to him, also conveyed similar news to him, and said that the British Empire had no intention of breaking the current peace situation in the Far East!

These news made him feel a little relieved. He worked hard for the Qing Dynasty as a matte worker all day long. After all, he was all over 70... After thinking for a while, he got up and took out a flat wooden box from the cabinet behind him, "Shuyun, these are a few pieces of long white ginseng. You must be careful with your body. I must ask you to take a closer look here... I have asked Yuan Weiting to deal with the matter in North Korea. Young man, it is useless to let him practice more and try more!"

"Zhongtang, I think I will be elected as a strong general in this matter of sending troops?" Xue Fucheng saw that the old Zhongtang was tired, but this matter was of great importance, so he added.

"Shuyun, don't worry about this. Zhengding general Ye Zhichao trained his army in Xincheng. He just pacified the rebellious bandit Rehe Jindan Sect two years ago. The march was moderate. I have already ordered him to draw elite troops and also entrust Nie Shicheng to train Tianjin to support him. During Renwu, only a few battalions of troops can deal with it. This time, the Japanese must not dare to make a big fuss. These troops are enough to deal with it!"

Xue Fucheng obviously couldn't say much about Li Hongzhang's predictions, and he also mentioned that the Beiyang Navy should prepare for war carefully and considering the transfer of warships from the Nanyang Navy and Guangdong Navy. Li Hongzhang naturally nodded and agreed. Before breaking up, Li Hongzhang told Xue Fucheng again, "Shuyun, you are going to the capital, and I have already handled the errands for you. You have been a Shandong Censor for many years, and you should be able to supervise the governor this time!"

This news naturally surprised and happy. He has been a second-rank official this morning, but it is really not easy to get a step forward when he reaches this position. The old man is obviously already planning this time. He should be able to go up to the half-level and governor!

The two of them bid farewell at the door, and Li Hongzhang naturally repeatedly reminded Xue Fucheng of his health. Now his Huai elderly man has a waning talent. The fourth scholar of Zeng's school, only Xue Shuyun, was still working, so he naturally had to cultivate it well.

Lu Hong was also very busy at this time. He had been to Port Lushun for a few days. As a result, no senior officer of the Beiyang Navy was seen. It was just Tang Wenjin, the Pingyuan roster, asked about it. It was said that he had gone out to sea, which made his only connections completely lose his service. Fortunately, Yan Fu was still here...

This guy's previous actions suddenly offended many classmates, and Luo Fenglu is now an important figure in the Beiyang Naval Camp. Lu Hong naturally thought that it would be Yan Fu's investigation of the Beibullet Depot's matter related to Luo Zhengshu. However, Yan Fu had no clues about this!

However, today's situation finally turned around. Yan Fu found out that early in the morning, the two of them arrived at the Fulong torpedo boat that had just returned from North Korea. Cai Tinggan, the Fulong manager who had been dating before, was obviously surprised by Lu Hong's appearance. Lu Hong also noticed a detail. Although Yan Fu calculated that he had a lot of connection with Cai Tinggan, one was the general manager of Tianjin Naval Academy, and the other was a senior officer from the school. They both studied in Europe and the United States, but the two just politely spoke a few words and did not have any in-depth conversations.

Lu Hong naturally understood that his identity is quite special now. After all, he came to supervise military discipline. Even if Cai Tinggan knew him, it would be unlikely that he would take the initiative to participate in this issue. So he took the initiative to propose to visit the Fulong torpedo boat!

Cai Tinggan naturally agreed to this request. He met Lu Hong through Tang Wenjin earlier because Lu Hong mentioned the Howell torpedo. The fact that he met Lu Yunjue, who had been abroad, obviously made him feel very eye-opener. Lu Hong also praised Cai Tinggan's talent in naval business, so the two of them felt that they had met too late before.

When boarding the Fulong torpedo boat more than 40 meters long and with certain characteristics of later ships, Lu Hong immediately realized that although this was a torpedo boat produced by the fine craftsmanship of the German Xixiao Shipyard, it already had some prototypes of later destroyers. In particular, in order to improve seaworthiness and navigation resistance, the bow of the boat is no longer a straight-shot type, but a slightly forward-protruding shape.

When Cai Tinggan stood in the torpedo compartment and introduced the ugly black-headed torpedo to Lu Hong, Lu Hong also had a somewhat awkward expression when he touched his chin with a straight range of less than 100 meters and a maximum range of only 400 meters.

Yan Fu, who had not spoken, interjected very well and asked: "Lu Dushi, torpedo is a naval killer weapon. Judging from your expression, is there any problem?"

When Cai Tinggan heard Yan Fu's words, he was stunned. This person was still a month earlier. He didn't expect to be promoted so soon... Lu Hong had not answered yet, but he immediately spoke: "Brother Youling, when he was in Tianjin a while ago, Lord Lu had already mentioned this reason. Under normal combat, even if the torpedo boats are forbidden to advance, it is almost impossible to reach a launch distance within a hundred meters!"
Chapter completed!