Chapter 39 Section thirty-ninth

On the day I went to sea, it was full moon, and I got on the boat at one o'clock in the middle of the night. The sub-tide had passed, and the sea was extremely calm. Li Hongzhang praised: "It's all thanks to the prince!" I was sitting on the largest Dingyuan ship, the largest cabin on the ship, that is, the Dingyuan ship's belt, the special cabin of "Lieutenant General Liu Buchan", who had been to Germany, was rearranged and replaced. It is the bedroom of Alcohol King.The second room was not used by Li Hongzhang, but reserved for Li Lianying.Zhou Fu, the Tianjin Customs official responsible for this trip, personally led Li Lianying into the cabin. He thought that there would be some good words to hear, but he didn't know otherwise!

"Lord Zhou," Li Lianying, who was dressed in gray cloth, asked, "This cabin is also very big, almost as big as the prince's. What's the matter? Could it be that the cabins on the ship are all so particular?" "Where?" Zhou Fu replied: "The rules on warships are that the best room is reserved for the captain of the ship, which is the one used by the prince, and the one used by the 'Guan Jia' is the best one." , especially reserved for Manager Li." "Where's Li Zhongtang?" "Li Zhongtang is the master, and the room he uses is smaller than this one."

"It's inappropriate." Li Lianying shook her head, "Although Li Zhongtang is the master, it's unusual for him to be conferred the title of Marquis and Prime Minister. It's related to the court system, so how can I go past his old man. Lord Zhou, I appreciate your kindness. Please do whatever you want." You change a place for me." Zhou Fu had a big accident. Thinking about it again, he was probably being polite, and he would be too stupid to believe it.So he said repeatedly: "Director Li, don't be overly modest. It was originally Li Zhongtang's explanation, and it was arranged like this!"

"Li Zhongtang saw that I was a person in front of the Empress Dowager, and I respected her master and her servants. I should know the importance and proportion, and if I really thought I deserved it, then I was very wrong! Master Zhou," Li Lianying said: " If there is really no place to change, it doesn't matter, I see that the suite in the prince's cabin is very refreshing, so I'll make a floor berth there!" How can that be?Zhou Fu thought to himself, that suite is a "foreign hut", and Li Lianying didn't know the "foreign toilet" for flushing water with white porcelain, so she wanted to lay the floor there and spread it to the ears of the foreign instructors on the ship.

Of course, it was inconvenient to say this clearly, so I had no choice but to agree to change, but it took a lot of trouble to change the room.It stands to reason that since he refused to surpass "Li Zhongtang", he would naturally swap the sleeping quarters with Li Hongzhang.But this time Li Hongzhang had to move, and he would feel inconvenient and unhappy, and his errand was ruined again. Think about it, as long as I ask for instructions, I ask Li Lianying to sit down for a while, and he rushes to Li Hongzhang's place to knock on the door.After opening the door and looking inside, Li Hongzhang was wearing Ning silk jacket and trousers, sitting barefoot on the copper bed, and on a small stool in front of the bed was Xiao Yang, the pedicure secretary who was specially found from a bath pond in Shanghai.Li Hongzhang was a soldier in his early years, and it was common for him to walk dozens of miles a day. As a result, his feet were covered with corns. He couldn't walk the next day without washing his feet with hot water and cleaning them carefully.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Fu didn't have to talk about the exchange anymore, "Mr. Li must not want to use that cabin, and wants to change places." Zhou Fu said: "I'll give him my cabin, and I'll find a place to squeeze in. I'm here to talk to Zhongtang." "Oh, what's going on?" After Zhou Fu learned what Li Lianying said to Li Hongzhang, he said solemnly: "You all remember. This person is no better than An Dehai. From this point of view Out!" "Yes!" Zhou Fu recited his words silently in his heart, and asked for another matter: "When the prince got on the boat, he said that he wanted to see the sunrise in the East China Sea. Do you want to make preparations then?"

"Preparation is preparation, there is no need to disturb him. Sunrise, that is, three or four o'clock, it is almost two o'clock now! Why bother to make people hungry and horses exhausted?"