If he didn't know history, Wu Dong would not dare to think this way.
Not long after, a Prussian ship in the South China Sea was attacked by an armed merchant ship flying the British flag. No one on board the ship survived.
It was not until half a month later that the Prussian companies that owned sea-going ships reacted.
But during this period, another ship was attacked by pirates and disappeared.
For a time, the Prussian ships plying the Far East waters were panicked, and some of them simply did not come to the Far East to do business.
The Prussian senior officials did not expect such a thing to happen, and were caught off guard for a moment, not knowing what exactly happened.
It was even suspected that this was a warning from the English, warning them not to stretch their hands too far.
At the same time, the Beiyang Navy's Lushun Base and Weihaiwei Base jointly dispatched warships to conduct rare military exercises in nearby waters.
This matter was naturally notified to the imperial court and was recognized by the imperial court.
After all, the news reported by the navy was quite alarming. The ships of the great powers were sneaky and suspected of having evil intentions. If they were not deterred, problems would probably arise.
At this time in the court, Emperor Guangxu's reputation was very high, and he was young and vigorous. Seeing that the Beiyang navy rarely showed strength, he was naturally very willing.
As for the old witch Cixi, as long as she doesn't ask for money, it's easy to say anything.
By the way, the Beiyang Navy held a rare military exercise this time, but the imperial court only allocated tens of thousands of taels of silver in a symbolic way.
How can this little money be enough for naval warship exercises?
The gap in the money was naturally provided by Senior Brother Wu, so it was regarded as a good deed.
As a result, the news spread, and envoys from the major powers became interested, especially the Prussian envoys who were the most active.
The English envoy was unhappy at first sight. The Prussians were dancing so happily. Did they have any bad intentions?
In order to deter some countries from their "unrealistic" ideas, or to be privately "persuaded" by senior generals of the Beiyang Navy, the British envoy planned to send the Far East Navy to watch the entire process.
Naturally, this idea came from Wu Dong, and the purpose was clear and clear, which was to use barbarians to control barbarians.
As long as the Prussians know that the English have guessed their wild ambitions, they will be less likely to act recklessly in Jiao'ao.
After the warships of the Beiyang Navy performed well in their own waters and received unanimous praise from the envoys from the great powers, the Prussian envoy's face did not look good.
No one knew whether this series of methods had any effect, but Wu Dong had no intention of continuing to toss.
If the Prussians really remain ambitious, let's have a good fight.
Even with the numerical advantage and many elite sharpshooters, I don't believe that they can't defeat the Prussian Overseas Legion at this time.
Wu Dong suddenly realized that if the Prussians failed to enter Jiao'ao and lacked such a bright forward base, they might not be able to join the coalition forces in attacking the capital.
These ideas, which may or may not exist, can still be quite useful if you occasionally think about them.
I don’t know if it’s because the Beiyang Navy rarely showed strength and envoys from the great powers gathered in the sea area connecting Weihaiwei and Lushun, attracting too much attention.
Even the noisy foreign churches in Lu Di were temporarily quiet for a while.
They are just a bunch of people who bully the weak and fear the strong. Do you think they can bypass the envoys of the great powers and do their own thing?
This time, Wu Dong achieved several goals through the Beiyang Navy military exercise.
Is it effective? After the military exercise, the number of Prussian ships in Jiao'ao waters suddenly became scarce, and the frequency was even pitifully low.
Again, as long as the Beiyang Navy strives for its own success, even the envoys of the great powers will have to give enough face. I really think the guns of those warships are made of paper.
At least, the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Navy did not dare to slack off until the shadow of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898 had passed.
Otherwise, if there is another sneak attack at Dadonggou, how can the navy stand it?
Of course, the Beiyang Navy had quite convenient trade channels. Wu Dong gave them some conveniences and even sent people to help run some industries, which could barely make up for the shortage of naval funds and allow the Beiyang Navy to practice normally.
But that's it. As for outsourcing warships, we can only think about it in our dreams.
Wu Dong, on the other hand, was not polite at all and asked Navy Admiral Ding to help him purchase a batch of the latest gunboats and torpedo boats in the name of the Navy.
This time, we are not looking for those naval powers, but the second- and third-rate small countries in Europe to order.
As for gunboats and torpedo boats, these small European countries can provide them without any messy additional conditions.
Even if the money is enough, it would be no problem to relocate their entire ship production base.
Admiral Ding was very puzzled and felt that only large and medium-sized warships had combat effectiveness.
"I just want to form a defensive offshore navy. What's the use of those expensive large and medium-sized warships?"
Wu Dong was so funny that he said angrily: "See the reality clearly, don't always think about unrealistic things!"
Without Li Zhongtang's help in raising money, the Beiyang Navy could barely survive.
Unless Emperor Guangxu can really ascend to power smoothly and allocate a sufficient amount of money in one go, the Beiyang Navy will be like this.
When all the medium-sized warships currently owned become old or obsolete, the Beiyang Navy will be almost doomed.
Those words made Admiral Ding blush with embarrassment.
"Is it possible that Brother Wu's foundation in Khmer does not need the help of naval talents to build a naval fleet?"
After getting acquainted with Wu Dong, Admiral Ding also knew his character and spoke very directly without beating around the bush.
If he didn't know until now that Wu Dong had a foundation in Khmer, he might have found a piece of tofu and killed himself.
Naturally, I didn’t take it seriously at first, thinking that Wu Dong was out of his mind and actually established a business in a place like Khmer where birds don’t shit.
Later, when I realized what I was thinking, I understood what Wu Dong was thinking. After all, he was the boss of the Beiyang Navy, and he knew how difficult it was to establish a foundation in foreign lands.
Later, after many inquiries, I also learned about some basic conditions of the Khmer base. I was amazed and amazed.
It is not easy to develop a Khmer base like that without any foundation.
Just describing the fantasy can make him feel agitated and unable to calm down.
It was also from then on that Admiral Ding learned about Wu Dong's true confidence.
With the Khmer base as a foundation, it doesn't matter if the old base of Jiao'ao is gone. The worst case scenario is that we can just go to Khmer and continue to be the boss.
In this regard, Admiral Ding, as a senior general of our Qing Dynasty, is far inferior.
Because of this, he was very concerned about the situation at the Khmer base, and would go to the Jiaoao Dharma Altar's home base from time to time to inquire about it.
In other words, Wu Dong had specifically ordered not to hide his thoughts, otherwise Admiral Ding's life would have been in danger if he had been a suspicious and seriously ill hero.
After inquiring and thinking on his own, Admiral Ding basically figured out the development ideas of the Khmer base and felt that the Beiyang Navy could still play some role.
Fortunately, the senior navy generals are all core members of the Beiyang system. No matter who is the boss of the Beiyang system, they cannot be treated badly.
It's just that the middle-level officers and lower-level officers below will have a difficult time. If the first-class warships are eliminated or even decommissioned, they will have little future.
At this time, it is also a good choice to defect to Senior Brother Wu and go to Khmer to continue to join the offshore navy.
Wu Dong has no idea about this for the time being.
The Beiyang Navy is currently not in such a difficult situation as it was in history.
Let's wait and see...
At this moment, Da Dao Wang Wu suddenly came to visit, accompanied by a young scholar full of bookishness.
"Brother Wang, why are you so anxious to find me?"
Wu Dong received the two of them at a boxer farm. When they met, he asked out of curiosity: "I heard that Yuanshun Escort Agency's business has been getting bigger and bigger recently. I'm very happy to congratulate you!"
"Those are the favors of friends in the world. The business of the escort agency is booming because of your help, Senior Brother Wu. Otherwise, it would not be easy to support so many escort masters!"
Wang Wu said politely, then turned around and pointed at the young scholar beside him, and introduced: "This is Tan Sitong, a good friend I met recently!"
Tan Sitong raised his hands in a gesture of salute, but when he looked at Wu Dong, his eyes were full of scrutiny and exploration.
Obviously, he did not have much trust in Wu Dong, a local martial brother, or he had some doubts about Wu Dong's strength.
This guy shows his thoughts clearly on his face, and he is not afraid of offending anyone.
Wu Dong didn't pay attention. He had naturally heard of this guy's name, the Six Gentlemen of Wuxu.
Born into a wealthy family, Grandma Tan, a great warlord in Hunan Province during the Republic of China, was his cousin.
If this guy hadn't died too early, it wouldn't have been so easy for Grandma Tan to rise to the top.
"Nice to meet you!"
This guy showed his distrust, so naturally Wu Dong wouldn't be too polite, he just nodded and said hello, that's all.
Turning around, he joked to Wang Wu: "I wonder why Brother Wang, a decent martial artist, got mixed up with a scholar?"
"As long as you can contribute to the country, it doesn't matter whether you are a warrior or a scholar!"
Before Wang Wu could speak, Tan Sitong said first, "I don't think that in the eyes of Senior Brother Wu, the difference between civil and military forces is so serious!"
“Aren’t these things created by literati who have the right to speak in the mainstream?”
Wu Dong said with a smile: "What a noble and military person, what he says is better than what he sings!"
"The result is that if something happens to you, just leave everything to the martial artist. If you have the ability, just do it yourself!"
"Senior Brother Wu, what's going on? You won't be angry with Brother Tan!"
Seeing that the smell of gunpowder was getting stronger, Da Dao Wang Wu hurriedly interjected: "If there is any offense, Wang will apologize on behalf of Brother Tan!"
"nothing!"
Wu Dong waved his hand and said with a smile: "You are a brave warrior, don't imitate the behavior of scholars, otherwise you and I will not be used to not talking, and you will easily have no friends..."