Chapter 22 Section 22

Sure enough, the next day Empress Dowager Cixi summoned King Chun and ordered the railway to be closed.King Chun also subtly said, begging for kindness on his behalf to preserve the face of the veteran.The Empress Dowager Cixi intended to show favor to Li Hongzhang, so she was naturally willing to do so. Therefore, even though some people praised the empress dowager's sageness and ordered King Chun to suspend the railway, Li Hongzhang denied the statement because of the military plane, so he prepared the picture as usual and sent it to the military plane to submit to the imperial court.Then a court letter was sent, saying that Li Hongzhang suggested that "the railway from Acheng to Linqing should be used as the hub of the North-South Avenue, and two places in Linqing, Acheng, should be built in several warehouses to store rice and wait for transportation. For the sake of transporting grain, there is nothing to be exploited." Based on Sun Yuwen's opinion, whether the railway near the Yellow River will be washed away by floods must be planned in advance, and Song Jun, Chen Shijie, and Cheng Fu, the governor of the river, must be ordered. Send people to investigate in detail and repeat it according to the facts.Finally, a special warning: "The construction of warehouse health and transshipment should be done in accordance with the stated sections, carefully discussed, properly discussed, and reported quickly."

Li Hongzhang was quite satisfied with this edict.How the replay will naturally affect success or failure, and although Chen Shijie is not harmonious, he is interested in Songjun who has the key. Before he was transferred to Caodu, he was the governor of Zhili. Li Hongzhang is confident that Song Jun will definitely agree with his proposal and strongly praise his success. On the same day, there was another urgent decree, which was to set up a naval office. As planned in advance, the Prime Minister of Naval Affairs, King Chun, was appointed, "All coastal naval forces should be dispatched in moderation."

Under Prime Minister Jin Wang, there are two sessions and two assistants, half of which are Manchu and half Han.The coordinators are Yikuang and Li Hongzhang, and the assistants are Dutong Shanqing of the Zhengxing Banner Han Army, and Zeng Jize, the right servant of the Ministry of War who is still in London and has not yet handed over his post as envoy minister.In Yi's decree, he also specially declared: "There is a Beiyang refined navy, and Li Hongzhang is in charge of it." Please tell me that the first thing Li Hongzhang does is to present the thank-you note, and at the same time prepare for the summons.It is necessary to meet with King Chun first, to estimate what the Empress Dowager Cixi may ask, and discuss how to answer it.Unexpectedly, before he arrived at Shiyuan, King Jin sent a letter, saying that this morning, the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the military aircraft, and mentioned that someone from the embassy in Germany had a letter accusing Li Fengbao of the malpractice of booking the ship. Letters sent to the military aircraft for presentation.At the same time, he also asked Yi to summon Li Hongzhang the next day.

Upon receiving this information, Li Hongzhang was secretly startled.I don't want a private letter from the head of the small criminal department to be heard by Datian. If it causes a storm and capsizes in the gutter, it will be a shameful joke. Fortunately, Zhang Yinhuan has found a copy of Wang Yongni's original letter, and after finding out it for detailed reference, there are still things that can be justified, so he is more at ease.But in order to show that you have a clear conscience, you have to act calmly. Instead, it is inconvenient to go to King Chun's place, lest he suspect that he is trying to find out about this matter.Therefore, he only wrote a reply letter, mentioning the matter of Li Fengbao, saying that he was also very surprised. If there were any malpractices, Li Fengbao was Gu En's dereliction of duty and should be dealt with severely.

When I arrived at the palace, I realized that the Neizhuo Office had passed on Yi's decree: Li Hongzhang and King Chun summoned him together.The two met in a hurry, and within a few words, they had already "called". When entering the hall, first look at the face of Empress Dowager Cixi. Under the cover of the yellow gauze screen, it is not very clear. You can only hear Empress Dowager Cixi coughing slightly, with a hoarse and low voice. Li Hongzhang listened intently, not even daring to breathe. A sense of trepidation. "Running a navy is a big deal." The Empress Dowager Cixi started leisurely: "The 'building ship' mentioned in the history books, how can it be compared with the current iron-clad ships? .”

"Yes!" King Chun replied, "As soon as the ship arrives, I will go and see it with Li Hongzhang." "It doesn't have to be busy for a while, you have to practice proficiently before you can see it. Who will take care of these three ironclad ships? " Now it's time for Li Hongzhang to answer: "The former deputy general Liu Buchan and more than 20 people were sent to Germany to take care of the shipbuilding project and learn to drive and repair them at the same time. This time, he helped the German soldiers and drove them back to China. When they arrived at Dagukou , I want to investigate in detail, and then report to Prince Chun, and ask for a decree to appoint a supervisor."

"The German soldiers sailed to the ship, so they will naturally return home. Our own people, can we take over, or not?" "Of course I can't take it for a while. The minister and Prince Chun have already discussed to stay in the German soldiers for three or two years, learn their skills, and then send them back to the country." "Yes." The Empress Dowager Cixi picked up a letter from the imperial case, and raised it: "Some people say that the construction materials of Zhenyuan are not as good as Dingyuan, and the cost is actually more expensive. What do you mean?"

"The iron armor in Zhenyuan is thick and thin, and all the layouts are the same as those in Dingyuan. The difference is that under the waterline in Dingyuan, there are steel armors. Under the waterline in Zhenyuan, iron armor is used. This is because the price of foreign steel suddenly dropped. There was a big increase, so it had to be handled flexibly. There was a case at the time.” "Where's Jiyuan?" Empress Dowager Cixi moved the letter out, "This letter from Wang Yongni, please take a look!" So King Jin read it first, and after reading it without making a sound, he handed the letter to Li Hongzhang. He pretended to read it again, and respectfully submitted the original letter to the court, before he calmly argued.

"Wang Yongni witnessed it with her own eyes. I haven't seen Jiyuan yet, so I don't know what Wang Yongni said. Is it correct? However, he said that Jiyuan could not return to the country with Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. Zhenyuan came east together." "I also think his words are too much, but there are some reasons." "Yes!" Li Hongzhang replied: "Jiyuan is a fast boat. At that time, it was custom-made to imitate the new style of the United Kingdom. Because it was the first time, some places were not suitable. I have already written to Zeng Jize and asked him to follow the boat. Xu Jingcheng discussed and tried his best to modify the design of the two newly ordered ships. In short, the good parts must be kept, and the bad parts must be changed."

"It should be so. However, since there are so many problems now, I'm afraid it won't be able to be corrected by minor changes. Seventh Master, look, should I send them a telegram to slow down the two new ships first. Let’s talk about it after the matter is cleared up?” "Here," Chun Wang turned his face and asked in a low voice, "What do you think of Shaoquan?" Li Hongzhang wanted to say: "The two new ships have already signed a construction contract with them and paid Dingyang. If the construction is delayed, it is too uneconomical to compensate for their losses." , refused to export.

"The empress dowager is wise, and she should follow the order." "Then let's do it like this." King Chun replied, "I will generate electricity when I turn back." "Li Fengbao," Empress Dowager Cixi looked at Li Hongzhang and asked, "What is his background?" "He is a student from Chongming, Jiangsu..." Li Hongzhang reported Li Fengbao's resume: this person is good at calendar, calculation, surveying and mapping. He was appreciated by Ding Richang, the former governor of Jiangsu Province. He donated a priest for him and sent him to work in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.He once hosted the Wusong Fort, drew a complete map of the earth, and translated many books on sound, light, chemistry and electricity, and has made great achievements in Westernization. In the first year of Guangxu, Ding Richang was the governor of Fujian and concurrently the minister of shipping administration. He specially transferred Li Fengbao to be the chief examiner of the shipping administration bureau.In the future, the navy students will be sent to study abroad, and Li Fengbao will act as the supervisor and lead them abroad. In the fourth year of Guangxu, Liu Xihong succeeded Liu Xihong as the envoy to Germany, and has been up to now. "Li Fengbao is an expert in shipbuilding, and he has been abroad for many years, so he understands the nature of foreigners. However, I have no relationship with him. I only think that he is very capable and his integrity is trustworthy. Besides, he is an envoy of the imperial court stationed in Germany. Since I ordered an ironclad ship from Germany for a few years, I naturally entrusted him to manage it.” This is Li Hongzhang's excuse for himself.The Empress Dowager Cixi understood what he meant, nodded and said: "So it has nothing to do with you. When the ship arrives in the future, if there are any sexual abuses like what Wang Yongni said, of course you have to check it out. You don't have to defend him." That last sentence carries weight.Li Hongzhang replied with trepidation: "I dare not!" "Seven Lords!" The Empress Dowager Cixi immediately ordered: "You can send a message to the military plane to draft an order! You are one, and Li Hongzhang is one." She thought for a while and then said: "Send Yikuang again. It is the three of you who will investigate together. " So far, there is a solution to this serious case.Although it doesn't look very good-looking, it is still a blessing in misfortune, because both Chun Wang and Yi Kuang can make sense.If it is handed over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of War, or even the Ministry of Punishment for investigation, it will not be easy to make major incidents into minor ones. "Li Hongzhang!" Empress Dowager Cixi talked about a matter that was deeply in her heart. "The Catholic Church in Canchikou is so high! The movement of Xiyuan is in the eyes of foreigners. It's really not appropriate. In June, Shenji Camp I found an Englishman, and he filed a notice saying that there is a way for them to move out. No one else can do this, so you have to worry about it." Li Hongzhang had heard about this matter in Tianjin, and knew that he was bound to do so, and had thought about how to deal with it, so he naturally agreed without hesitation: "Empress Dowager, please don't worry! I will try my best to do it until it is done. " This answer was simple and pleasant, and the Empress Dowager Cixi was very satisfied, she turned to King Chun and said, "Just give that statement to Li Hongzhang!"