Eight battleships of the Beiyang Navy were lined up outside the mouth of Dagu, with all the muzzles pointed at the Dagu Fort. Luo Rongguang was lying on a cannon in a cold sweat. This morning, for some reason, the Beiyang Navy suddenly came over.
Then the Dagu Port was sealed, and no ships were allowed to pass through. They claimed that it was a military exercise! But there was no such exercise.
In fact, he also knows the purpose of these people.
After the Sino-Japanese War, the imperial court used financial constraints as an excuse to cut naval funding, including military pay, which was reduced by 30%. In addition, it is said that several warships that are too old are ready to be directly abolished. Now the navy is dissatisfied and has come to demonstrate. As for
Needless to say, what happened behind the scenes was that Li Zhongtang was wrestling with Lafayette, otherwise he wouldn't be so nervous.
In fact, simply cutting military pay would definitely not cause this situation, because everyone in the navy received a large sum of rewards from Li Zhongtang, and everyone was very fat, including himself, who also received five thousand taels.
Do you care about the few taels of silver you lose in a month?
"Sir, what is going on?" Han Zhaoqi came over and asked. Middle- and lower-level officers like him would definitely not know about such high-level infighting.
"Don't ask if you shouldn't ask, just do our job well." Luo Rongguang shouted in a low voice. His situation is really embarrassing now. You must know that he is also from Beiyang. How should he deal with it if there is a quarrel?
A big problem.
The Beiyang Navy blocked the entrance to Dagu, which would have shocked the world. If Yang Feng blocked the entrance of Dagu, it would be logical and reasonable. Who calls him Dong Zhuo of the time? But now this is not the same nature at all. Is it ten
Li Zhongtang, who has been a pillar of the imperial court for several years, wants to be the current Cao Cao?
"We won't do it with Cao Cao, but we can't do that with Yue Wumu. What does the Queen Mother want to do? Isn't she just testing my bottom line? If we don't do something this time, then the court will make further progress. They want to starve
Kill us and let us disperse by reducing our pay. Then we can do whatever we want." In the Zhili Governor's Yamen in Tianjin, Li Hongzhang sneered and said to Liu Mingchuan and Sheng Xuanhuai.
"But how do we know about this matter? To be honest, Zhili is not a good place. After this incident, it is absolutely impossible for the court to allow us to stay beside our bed." Liu Mingchuan said.
"Then follow Yang Feng's example. Let's find a place to play by ourselves. As long as we have soldiers in hand and as long as we don't openly rebel, we will be invincible." Li Hongzhang said, this problem has never been solved since he was tricked by Yang Feng.
Since then, I have been thinking about it. The situation in the world is getting more and more wrong now. We must have a good grasp of the army, but the problem is that our status is different. Zhili defends the capital. It is absolutely impossible for the court to tolerate a disloyal army here.
If the army continues to stay, there will definitely be constant conflicts in the future. In this case, it will be equivalent to being used as a spearman for others.
To be honest, he really has no ambition to rebel. He just wants to maintain his own interests, or the interests of the entire group behind him. So there are only two options: completely surrender to the court, hope in the grace of the Queen Mother, and live with his tail between his legs for the rest of his life.
Be an honest man. As for the people under him, they have their own destiny. This is difficult for him to accept because of his arrogance, not to mention the possibility of being caught between the imperial court and Yang Feng as cannon fodder.
Then the best way is to leave this land of right and wrong and find a place far away from the imperial court to become a local emperor. Then watch the world quietly and wait for opportunities. He has already found this place. Go to his elder brother Li Hanzhang, Guangdong can almost say that now
The richest province in history, Li Hongzhang lost power after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, and his eldest brother was removed from his position as governor by the court for any reason, but now Cixi did not dare to do so in order not to irritate him.
Just relying on his own ability, why can't he manage a world? As for whether Cixi will be so cooperative, to be honest, the two old people can still be in tune with each other after being entangled for so many years. Besides, the court is eager for such a good thing now.
After all, he is still a traditional Chinese official. When encountering a problem, the first thing he thinks of is not to burn the boat, but to find a way out.
"What about the Navy?" Liu Mingchuan frowned and said, if this is the case, it will be difficult to handle the Beiyang Navy. If it goes south, if the court does not continue to allocate funds, Guangdong and Guangxi will probably not be able to support it, and the court will not be able to support it.
Agree, without the Beiyang Navy's defense, the door will be open to Beijing.
"Let's count how many ships we can take away by then! As for whether we can afford to keep them or not, there is no need to worry about this. Just look at what Yang Feng is doing in Fujian and Zhejiang, and you will know that he is planning to build a large factory there.
Yes, when the time comes, based on the friendship between the two parties, even a little light from him will be enough for us." Li Hongzhang said.
Cixi did not keep him waiting too long. Not long after the Beiyang Navy blocked the entrance to Dagu, he issued an order to let him enter Beijing. At this time, there was no railway connection between the two places, but he had a car donated by Yang Feng, which cost 50 kilometers.
The journey took more than an hour, and then we went straight into the palace.
"Li Qing's family, what's going on with this navy?" Although she wanted to have this old guy dragged out and beaten to death with sticks, Cixi still had to ask him in a friendly manner, otherwise Liu Mingchuan would beat him with more than 10,000 people in Tianjin.
Coming here is not fun. As for the two divisions of the New Army that have not yet been completed, it is estimated that they will have to chase away the ducks in front of the veterans who have been killed in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. She still knows this.
"The Queen Mother clearly understands that some sailors are just dissatisfied with the reduction of pay. There is nothing surprising in this kind of thing in the army. The old minister is preparing to go over and suppress it, which is just a matter of a few words." Li Hongzhang said hurriedly.
"I see. Alas, the imperial court is indeed very tight on expenses. Although we defeated the Japanese, it still cost a lot of money. The Ai family is still thinking of asking foreigners to borrow some! Nowadays, the new army is asking for money everywhere in coastal defense.
, it is the time when the monarch and his ministers work together to overcome the difficulties.
You have also seen the crazy behavior of the traitor in the south. The matter of the new army cannot be delayed. There are not many courtiers who can share the worries of the Ai family and the emperor, that is, you old ministers. The Ai family is thinking about this.
Yang Ni must have someone watching him from the south, otherwise he will continue to do evil and disturb the place.
Your brother is a scholar, so it's not appropriate for him to do something like this. The Ai family wants to move you over to suppress him, what do you think?" Cixi ignored his ostentatious threat, but sighed and pointed it out directly.
Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "Old minister, of course, I will listen to your wishes, the Queen Mother, but I may not be able to do anything by myself. It is best to bring over the new army compiled and trained by Liu Mingchuan and Ye Zhichao. In addition, Yang Feng's warships are very profitable, and the three ships of the Guangdong Navy are all in power."
The battle has been lost, so the navy also needs to add some ships that can fight."
"Then how much do you think is appropriate? The coastal defense of Tianjin cannot be ignored." Cixi said. She naturally knew that she was negotiating the price. To be honest, it was inevitable to give him a few warships, but it would be bad if there were too many.
.
"Yang Feng's command now has nine main warships. Although the tonnage is small, the strength is not weak. Even if the entire Beiyang Navy team is on board, there is no guarantee of victory. Otherwise, I will never allow them to be rampant. If they want to compete with Zhou Xun
Then at least four of the eight ships will go south. And the ships are all fast, so four of the fastest ships are needed. According to the old minister's wishes, the four ships of Jingjiang will be sent to Dingzhen, and the four ships of Laiping will be left to guard Jinmen.
Supplemented by torpedo boats and gunboats, they are enough to protect the coastal defense." Li Hongzhang said, he was not stupid enough to take away all four of the fastest ships.
"That's right, Ding Ruchang has been with you for a long time. Don't worry, let him go to Guangdong together!" Cixi said. The three armored cruisers she built in the UK will be available in a little more than a year at most. This paragraph
There was no pressure on coastal defense at that time. In addition, a cruiser was purchased from Chile through the British. It is said that the power is no worse than that of Yang Feng, and the distinguished group sent to the UK to study the navy has also arrived in London. It happened to be
She decided to put an end to Li Hongzhang, so that it would not be unclear later, but she still saw Li Hongzhang very clearly.
The news that Li Hongzhang was transferred to the south as governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and that Liu Mingchuan was transferred to the south as governor of Guangxi shocked Yang Feng. These days, he and Ye Zi have been busy opening a bank in Fuzhou and have no time to pay attention to external matters. Since he wants to encourage private industry
, then they must be given financial and technical support, and foreign banks cannot be allowed to infiltrate, right?
It’s easy to talk about projects, including bicycles, sewing machines, trains, clothing, leather shoes, toys, and buttons. The newly established business hall of the People’s Bank of China has a dedicated technical guidance office. If you want a loan, go and apply for your project first.
Then Yang Feng's summary will be reviewed by a special office to see if there is development potential. If so, it will be handed over to Yang Feng. Boss Yang will personally provide technical guidance. Other things that he is interested in can also be
List it and put it in the bank. Anyone who is interested can contact the bank.
Of course, what he is opening up to the private sector now is mainly light industry. As for heavy industry, he should let him do it himself first! This thing must be done step by step. At this time, most Chinese people still have a dark eye, and heavy industry is purely to deliver food to the foreign devils.
"This Li Zhongtang is still too honest. Traditional education kills people!" This guy said with emotion when he saw the telegram Li Hongzhang sent to him.
Xue Fucheng just smiled and didn't answer. In fact, in his opinion, this was Li Hongzhang's wisest choice.
"But this is not bad, come and come. It just so happens that if there is any job to make a fortune in the future, you can take him with you." Yang Feng went on to say that when he started to attack the Philippines, he happened to take Li Hongzhang with him.
Those people still have some use. Use this old thing as an example to let other forces see the benefits of foreign war, and also change the bad habits of these old antiques. (To be continued...)