Chapter 20 Section 20

Li Hongzhang knew about such an incident early in the morning of the next day. Not only did Yan Jingming write to tell him: "Chong Gong has deep prejudices about this matter, and it is not easy to resolve it. Let's discuss it for a while, let's stop discussing it for the time being." The "spotters" he sent in the capital heard detailed information, only to find out that Chongqi did not hesitate to fight with each other, it was really unexpected. "This matter, I see it hard!" Zhang Yinhuan, who happened to be visiting, said, "Chongwenshan and Xu Yinxuan flaunt each other and claim to be Neo-Confucianism. , Literary talent, not as good as Qingliu, but more aggressive. According to my opinion, there will be some excerpts fighting soon. Zhongtang should be careful!"

Li Hongzhang also hated and feared the speech officer, but the completion of this matter was a panacea for financial management, and of course he refused to give up easily.So he asked Zhang Yinhuan for advice. "Chongwenshan is against foreigners, and he is against foreigners because he is afraid that the money will flow out. If there is a guarantee that the money will not flow out, there is no reason to object. Zhongtang, please think about it, what guarantee is there?" "Unless foreigners are not used." "It can be done without foreigners, can't it be done?"

"There's nothing we can't do." Li Hongzhang said, "But I can't rest assured that no foreigners are needed." "how?" "Kemiron talked with me in detail. When issuing banknotes, there must be cash reserves. According to Western rules, the reserve does not have to be full, but there must be a certain amount. We recommend fair gentry supervision and regular inspections to show our confidence. Now please Miron is in charge of the matter, of course it will be handled according to his regulations, if it is sent by the Ministry of Households, it will definitely not be able to do this. Maybe there is a decree to take a certain amount of money, can you resist the decree and not obey it?"

"According to this, the establishment of an official bank account is to open up a way for the officials to collect money and open a door of convenience. Once money is issued indiscriminately, it will do the same thing as Xianfeng's hair for a hundred dollars, and the harm will be unspeakable." Zhang Yinhuan frankly persuaded Said: "Zhongtang has no responsibility for financial management, why bother to bear the infamy? Besides, Xunye is like a Japanese middle school, and there are many important things to do, so there is no need to do this thankless thing." Li Hongzhang thought for a while and decided to accept his advice, "Your words are very practical, I don't have to be so stupid!" He said, "Let it be! Anyway, if you want to run an official bank, you have to use foreigners, otherwise it's better not to do it."

At this time, Zhang Yinhuan began to talk about his reason for coming.He also had very important news that he had to tell Li Hongzhang. Before talking about it, he asked someone first: "Xu Zhuyuan's entourage, Wang Zishang, have you met Zhongtang?" "No." Li Hongzhang asked, "I heard that he is Weng Shuping's disciple." "Yes." Zhang Yinhuan said the person's resume.Wang Zishang's name is Yong Ni, from Zhejiang, he was a famous scholar in his early years, and he was very good at parallel prose.He was originally in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, but last year Xu Jingcheng was ordered to replace Li Fengbao as the imperial envoy to Germany, and Zou Tiao was an attache.

"Oh," Li Hongzhang asked, "how is he?" "He recently came with a letter. Who is this letter for? Please don't ask Zhongtang. I managed to record a copy here for Zhongtang's consideration." Don't ask why?Li Hongzhang felt his love and care at first, gave him a deep look, and then took the copy to read.There is no title in the letter, which was omitted on purpose, but from the greetings, it can be seen that the recipient has a considerable friendship with Wang Yongni, and they are friends who often discuss Westernization together. This letter is dedicated to the gains and losses of the newly purchased Zhenyuan and Jiyuan warships.He said: Western warships have recently used iron armor, and iron armor can be divided into two types: fast boats and battleships.Warships, first of all, have two broadsides of guns, small guns and thin armor, which are not enough to attack and repel. After changing again and again, there are turrets that can be rotated on the ship, and the giant guns are thicker, so they become a powerful weapon at sea.

However, the rotating turret still has shortcomings and cannot be perfected, so it was changed to "the system of rotating cannons on the terrace".Dingyuan and Zhenyuan are the latest warships with the same structure.But Zhenyuan's work materials were not as good as Dingyuan's. For example, the planar armor was replaced by clinker, but the cost at that time increased by 100,000 silver.Why?Puzzling. Now let's talk about the Clippers.Wang Yongni said: Clippers are designed to patrol the sea, and they can also go deep into enemy ports to assist warships.Due to the lack of firepower of the Clippers, thick armor was necessary for self-protection.There are two methods, one is to thicken the steel armor below the water line; the other is to install a flat steel armor at the bottom to defend against falling shells.However, the structure of the Jiyuan ship is extremely unreasonable. There is no steel armor protection below the waterline, and it is dangerous when encountering small shells. The draft is not deep and it is easy to sway.The biggest mistake is that the deck is top-heavy with the turret, which is not only difficult to drive, but also extremely dangerous.Wang Yongni asserted that there was no such regulation on Western warships, and that the Jiyuan ship was modeled on two small German ships of less than 1,000 tons, and these two small ships had no forts at all.

Li Hongzhang's face changed when he saw the words "Jiyuan was built in the Fuerkeng factory. It was the first trial, and it was not perfect. The people in the factory can't deny it." Look, this letter from Wang, just relying on his ears, is exaggerated." Hearing what he said, Zhang Yinhuan knew that he hadn't finished reading it, "It may not be all rumors." Zhang Yinhuan said: "Zhongtang, please read the letter first!" So Li Hongzhang focused on looking down, and at the same time read in a low voice: "It's as narrow as the cabin, there is no gap, and you are walking sideways, and you may accidentally touch it.

The summer moon is scorching hot, and the battle is in a hurry, and it is difficult to perform skills; the water pipe is broken, as far as the steam boiler, and it has been damaged and repaired successively, which is very inconvenient. The coal tank in the lower cabin can only hold 100 tons, and the cover is limited to water entry, which is full of disadvantages.However, the mouth of Dagu is shallow and cannot be approached any longer. Yantai and Lushun can be deepened without hindrance. If the depth is increased by one foot, 40 tons of coal can be added. How can you see anything other than this?However, the medicine in the gun room is stuffy, so the layout of the platform is not tight, and the disadvantages are still small.

At present, the Tingjia intends to imitate Taiwan and Penghu, but Jiehou and Fu Xiang have different opinions. Jiehou, please return to China for inspection. He is naturally cautious. Hefei said that there is no need to wait for a long time.How can it be said that the success period is two years, and it is stipulated that it cannot be delayed by two months?This is what Yudi did not describe. " This refers to the two newly ordered warships.When Li Hongzhang saw this, he was very angry, "Nonsense. You don't have to wait long, and you can buy it quickly by telegram. That's what I mean. In June, the General Administration sent me a letter saying that Taiwan and Penghu are isolated overseas, and you should buy it quickly." Ships, just in case. Because the cost of warships is too high, I replied to the letter, saying that I will temporarily order a few ships according to Jiyuan. On June 24, I received a telegram. I still remember the full text: "According to Jiyuan or fast ships, Order four for use in Taiwan and Penghu. That is to say, the Minister of Envoy Yingde will handle it properly. The Ministry of Ship Price and Households can allocate funds. 'You comment, is it my fault?

"The Zhongtang is good. It's an emergency plan, so naturally we can't wait for a long time. Moreover, the Ministry of Accounting has a 'money', which means that at this time, it has been delayed for a long time. The 'money' may have built the imperial boat of Sanhai. Wouldn't it be in vain? " "Here! You know the meaning of joys and sorrows." Li Hongzhang said again: "As for my letter to Jiehou, you can ask him in the future. I just say: the gun should not be smaller than eight or nine calibers; the armor should not be thinner than twelve Inches, such as with an iron surface, should not be thinner than ten inches; the speed of the ship should not be lower than fifteen miles; the draft should not be deeper than eighteen feet. It's disheartening to have outsiders criticizing you for anything other than infidelity." "All those who know how to seek the country in the middle hall will succumb to it. However, even though the rumors on the road of speech are groundless, there are still other opinions in the end." "What do you say?" Li Hongzhang asked with his eyes wide open. "If there is no 'hole', how can there be 'wind'?" Li Hongzhang was taken aback for a moment, and then changed his calm expression, "This statement is interesting!" He said, "What rumor did you hear?" "I heard that there was another letter from the embassy in Germany. Sheng Boxi received one, and he was going to move his son to participate in Li Danya." Zhang Yinhuan said, "Sheng Boxi's pen is known to Zhongtang. Leave room for people." "Oh!" Li Hongzhang asked, "What else?" "There are still people who want to take advantage of this. It is said that there is a public opinion at present, 'Dingyuan ships are of good quality but cheap; Zhenyuan ships are of inferior quality but their prices are slightly higher; They say a boat is worth a boat!" "Where do you hear these words?" "Shanghai's "Shenbao" has it." "The nonsense of outsiders may not be credible." Li Hongzhang said disdainfully, "Fortunately, Li Danya has already surrendered and returned to the country, and was ordered to be sent to Beiyang. The three ships Ding, Zhen and Ji are about to arrive at Dagukou. Whether it is right or wrong, There will always be a day when the truth will come to light.” "Yes!" Zhang Yinhuan's original intention was to report the news, since the original intention was fulfilled, there was no need for words, so he stood up and left. Li Hongzhang was unwilling to let him go.Of course, Li Hongzhang was not completely ignorant of Li Fengbao's problems, so although he spoke frankly, he couldn't help but mutter in his heart, hoping that Zhang Yinhuan could think of a solution for him.It's just that in his words, he defended Li Fengbao first, so he couldn't change his words for a while, so he could only keep Zhang Yinhuan first, and then make a fuss about it. "If there is nothing else, please sit down for a while... I still have something to talk to you. Or," he pondered for a moment, "I ask you to inquire again. Is there anyone else writing from Germany?" "Yes! I'll talk to Zhongtang again at night."