After the court meeting was over, Empress Dowager Cixi once again ordered Li Hongzhang to go to Cining Palace for an audience.
Li Hongzhang didn't know what happened to the old queen mother, so he could only stop leaving the palace and followed the eunuch to Cining Palace.
When they arrived here, Empress Dowager Cixi once again told Li Hongzhang: This time she went south to convey the order. If there were no follow-up measures, it might not be enough to deter Liu Hai, so she ordered Li Hongzhang to let the Beiyang Navy go south together.
Li Hongzhang knew that this was also the case, so he did not shirk it, and assured the Empress Dowager Cixi that he would personally take charge of the Beiyang Navy and see how Liu Hai acted.
In this way, Li Hongzhang took the eunuch who delivered the order and got on the train to Tianjin. On the way, the eunuch was frightened. Only Li Hongzhang sat there, talking and laughing with his subordinates, as if nothing was wrong.
When they arrived in Tianjin, they did not have any chance to rest, and went directly to the Tianjin Port pier, where the Beiyang Navy was already ready to go, just waiting for Li Hongzhang to arrive.
When Li Hongzhang arrived at the dock, the naval officers under his command were already waiting there.
Ding Ruchang came forward first to pay homage to Li Hongzhang.
When they arrived here, they were all on their own, so Li Hongzhang stopped pretending. He waved his hands, said nothing with a gloomy face, and walked towards the Dingyuan ship first.
The other officers were silent when they saw this scene. They knew that going south this time was not a good thing. If things went wrong, the two major navies of the north and the south would engage in a large-scale naval battle off the coast of Shanghai.
Li Hongzhang and others boarded the warship, and then the Dingyuan ship sounded its whistle, then raised the commander's flag, and finally slowly sailed out of the military port.
Other warships also slowly sailed out of Tianjin with the Dingyuan ship. They met to form a formation at sea, and then headed south again.
At this time, Liu Hai took over the city defense of Shanghai, but did not take the next step. Although Liu Hai was confident that he could compete with the Qing Dynasty, he would definitely be benefited by the great powers.
Therefore, Liu Hai still thought about temporary peace in his heart. After that war and the prestige of the Qing court was completely lost, he could regain China and restore the Central Plains in one fell swoop.
But Liu Hai also knew that the Qing court would not give up, so he sent all patrol ships to patrol the waters off Shanghai.
As he expected, these patrol ships soon discovered the traces of the Beiyang Navy.
After Liu Hai received the news that the Beiyang Navy was descending, he did not dare to be careless. After all, the current Beiyang Navy was very powerful. If Liu Hai had no follow-up move, the final result would probably be a lose-lose situation. So Liu Hai ordered the Nanyang Navy to
The division assembled offshore in Shanghai.
As the wartime admiral of the Nanyang Navy, Liu Yu immediately gathered the naval warships on the Yangtze River and slowly sailed out of the Yangtze Estuary after receiving Liu Hai's order.
At this time, the squadron in Taiwan also received Liu Hai's order and returned to Shanghai. So the two fleets met off the coast of Shanghai.
And Liu Hai also took a transport boat and returned to the Jiangxi Hou Ironclad? This meeting with the Beiyang Navy was no small matter. If it didn't go well, it would be a big war, so Liu Hai was prepared to take charge personally.
After Liu Hai arrived on the ironclad Jiangxi, he immediately ordered the fleet to form a formation and headed north to find the Beiyang Navy.
Since this was outside the Qing Dynasty, both sides had spies nearby, so their whereabouts were not kept secret.
200 nautical miles northeast of Shanghai, the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy finally met.
At this time, Li Hongzhang, who was in the Beiyang Navy, was holding a telescope to spy on the main force of the Nanyang Navy in the distance.
The more Li Hongzhang looked at it, the more he frowned. Who would have thought that in just a few years, Liu Hai would develop the Nanyang Navy to this point with the donations from the Jiangnan gentry and his own private property.
Looking at the two giant ships leading the Nanyang Navy, they were already larger than the Dingyuan ship he was sitting on, and were surrounded by more than a dozen cruisers, which were also more than the number of cruisers of the Beiyang Navy under his command.
Originally, when Li Hongzhang went south, he still thought about using the Beiyang Navy to subdue Liu Hai. Now that he saw the scale of the Nanyang Navy, he completely lost his ambition.
Li Hongzhang thought that he could not continue like this. When this matter was over, he must report it to the court after returning and raise money to buy a giant ship.
Liu Hai looked at the slowly approaching Beiyang Navy on the iron-clad ship Jiangxi. He didn't know whether the enemy came to fight with him or to intimidate him.
But at this point, in order to avoid unexpected bangs, we can only prepare for the worst.
So Liu Hai ordered Liu Yu, who commanded the Nanyang Navy, to establish a state of war and seize the prefix T.
Following Liu Yu's order, the Nanyang Navy immediately turned on its full power and began to gallop on the sea.
They first formed a battle formation on the sea, and then began to seize the "T", turning all their flanks towards the Dingyuan ship in charge of the Beiyang Navy.
At this time, Ding Ruchang of the Beiyang Navy saw that the opponent had already made an attack stance, and immediately went over to remind Li Hongzhang.
"Zhongtang, the other side has already made an attack stance. We must be ready, otherwise once the war starts, we may be at a disadvantage."
After hearing this, Li Hongzhang did not agree with Ding Ruchang's words, but said: "The two major navies in the South and the North are the backbone of our Qing Dynasty's maritime borders. If there is a war off the coast of Shanghai, the country will be the loser. Then the enemy will be defeated."
Once attacked, the imperial court will be helpless."
After Li Hongzhang explained to his men, he immediately ordered: "All the cannons of the Beiyang Navy must be coated."
The generals who followed Li Hongzhang's orders were a little dissatisfied, but they did not dare to disobey. Soon all the cannons of the warships of the Beiyang Navy were equipped with gun jackets.
At this time, Liu Hai, who was in the distance, also saw the movements of the Beiyang Navy in his telescope. All their cannons were leveled and put on cannon jackets.
When Liu Hai saw the attitude of the other party, he knew that the other party was probably not here to fight with him. The Beiyang Navy came just as a precaution.
Since the other party expressed friendship, Liu Hai also ordered all warships to regroup at sea and abandon the prefix "T". However, Liu Hai did not order the warships to put on gun jackets.
However, this action of Liu Hai was enough to express goodwill to the Beiyang Navy.
Li Hongzhang, who was on the opposite side, also understood Liu Hai's meaning under Ding Ruchang's explanation, so the two naval forces approached slowly and stopped each other at 1,000 meters.
After the two sides approached this distance, Li Hongzhang immediately sent a signal to the other party: the court had a new imperial edict, and at the same time Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, wanted to cross the ship to meet with Liu Hai, the admiral of the Nanyang Navy.
Liu Hai received the opponent's semaphore on the Jiangxi ironclad, and he was shocked. He did not expect that it was Li Hongzhang commanding the Beiyang Navy, and he did not expect that Li Hongzhang dared to ride alone and come to his ship.
superior.
Liu Hai now somewhat admires this Li Zhongtang. He is indeed the last pillar of the Qing Dynasty and a man of the hour at the end of the 19th century.
Since the other party dared to come, Liu Hai had no reason not to see him, so he sent a semaphore to the other party, agreeing that Li Hongzhang and the eunuch who delivered the message came to the ironclad Jiangxi.
Following Li Liuhai's semaphore, Li Hongzhang also received the news.
Li Hongzhang tidied his clothes before leaving the command cabin of the Dingyuan ship.
But before he could go out, he was stopped by Ding Ruchang, "Zhongtang, why don't you let the eunuch go over to deliver the order first and see Liu Hai's attitude? It won't be too late for you to cross the ship again."
As soon as Ding Ruchang finished speaking, Liu Buchan and others also responded one after another.
Liu Buchan, in particular, still had some grudge against the Nanyang Navy. "Lao Zhongtang, Liu Hai of the Nanyang Navy is unruly. You were too dangerous in the past. Why don't you let Liu Hai come to our Dingyuan Ship?"
Li Hongzhang looked at these men, shook his head, and then said firmly: "It is not easy for the country to train two naval forces. A war must not happen because of a moment of negligence. I will go to the Nanyang Navy. For the sake of the older generation, I will go to the Nanyang Navy."
Come on, what will you do to me?"
Li Hongzhang paused for a moment when he said this, then looked at Liu Buchan and said with a smile: "You asked Liu Hai to come to Dingyuan Ship, didn't you let him fall into a trap? If we dare to propose this condition, he will immediately join our Beiyang Navy
Fight to the death."
After listening to Li Hongzhang's words, Ding Ruchang and Liu Buchan understood what they meant. They could only follow Li Hongzhang to the ship deck and watch the traffic boat arrive.
After that, Li Hongzhang got off the Dingyuan ship along the ship's edge and came to the traffic boat. Although the eunuch was much younger than Li Hongzhang, his confidence was much worse. Now he got off the Dingyuan ship cautiously and followed Li Hongzhang.
Looking at him, he said: "Sir, is there any danger in our past?"
Li Hongzhang looked at the eunuch, then said with a smile: "Grandpa, don't worry, I'm here, I think everything will be fine."
While they were talking, the transportation ship had already started moving, and soon arrived beside Liu Hai's ship, the Jiangxi, and then the cable dropped from the ironclad.
After Li Hongzhang and the eunuch who delivered the order boarded the Jiangxi, they saw Liu Hai and officers of all levels on the Jiangxi already waiting there.
When Liu Hai saw that the first person to come up was an old man in his sixties wearing a python robe, he knew that this man was the mainstay of the Qing Dynasty today, Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Zhili.
So Liu Hai hurriedly took a few steps forward, bowed and saluted, "The younger generation, Liu Hai, was born late and has met Mr. Li Zhongtang."
Li Hongzhang saw Liu Hai salute and quickly stepped forward to help him up.
"A good nephew doesn't need to be polite."
Liu Hai then stood up and said: "This time the boy made some noise and even came all the way to work with Li Laozhongtang. It is really a sin."
After hearing what he said, Li Hongzhang seemed to have nothing on the surface, but he was thinking in his heart: You kid still knows that you are causing trouble. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have to travel so hard.
However, Li Hongzhang still smiled and said: "It is understandable that young people are impulsive. As long as they change their ways, the court will not blame them."
Seeing that both parties had finished their polite greetings, Liu Hai quickly invited Li Hongzhang into the conference room of the ironclad Jiangxi.
This time in the conference room, Liu Hai personally supported Li Hongzhang and asked him to sit at the top, while he was accompanied by the Prime Minister at the bottom.
As for the eunuch who delivered the order, no one paid attention to him now, so he had no choice but to follow Li Hongzhang and act as his servant.