September 14, 1894, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar in the 20th year of the Guangxu period, Tianjin Yamen

"The Lord Zhongtang is here!" With the voice of the newspaperman, Li Hongzhang stepped into the Tianjin Yamen.

"Sir! Mr. Zhang Peilun and Mr. Zhang, as well as copywriter Ling Huanling and the military officer Wang Dajing Wang have been waiting in the study of the Houya for a long time, saying that there was something important to discuss. The servant Sun Er stepped forward to report.

"Oh!" Hearing the words of the servant, Li Hongzhang hurried to the study room. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Ling Huan and Wang Dajing, and Zhang Peilun was discussing something there.

"Youqiao is so anxious to call me back, I don't know what's going on!" Li Hongzhang said. At this time, Zhang Peilun had just been impeached and dismissed from office, so he stayed in Li Hongzhang's mansion as an aide.

"Sir, I wonder how I've been talking to the Intellectual Minister?" Zhang Peilun did not answer Li Hongzhang.

"Chile has launched five warships this time, one is the ironclad ship Captain Brad, and the remaining four are the armored cruisers Bailanggu, Nkarada, Esmeralda, and the protective cruiser Eracolith President Peaceful President. What do you think of this information?" After saying that, Li Hongzhang handed the information of the warship negotiations to Zhang Peilun and the others.

After Zhang Peilun took the information and read it, he handed it to Wang Dajing and Ling Huan for viewing.

The Capitan Prat battleship LaSeyne shipyard was built and launched on December 20, 1890. The ship was 99.97 meters long, 18.49 meters wide, 6.96 meters draft, 6901 tons of water displacement. 12,000 horsepower, 18.3 knots, 400 tons of coal normally loaded, and 1100 tons of coal loaded. The staffing was 480 people. Main weapons: 4 9.4-inch/35-diameter main guns, 8 4 4.7-inch/45-diameter rapid-fire guns, 6 6 pound machine guns, 4 3-pound machine guns, 10 1 pound machine guns, and 4 18-inch torpedo tubes.

The Armored Cruisers of the Blanco Encalada Armored Cruisers were built in the United Kingdom. It was launched on September 3, 1893. The ship was 112.78 meters in length, 14.17 meters in width, 5.* meters in draft, and 4568 tons of water displacement. The power system uses two 3 expansion steam engines with a power of 14,600 horsepower and a speed slightly lower than that of the Yoshino. It is 22.8 knots, the standard capacity of the coal cabin is 350 tons, and the maximum load of coal is 866 tons. The dome protection style used in the warship hull.

The entire ship is equipped with a dome deck, which is 4-3 inches thick on both sides, 13/4 inches thick in the flat center, the cannon cover is 6-2 inches thick, and the armored commander tower is 6-2 inches thick. The armored commander tower has a thickness of 6 inches. Armature configuration: The main gun uses two Armstrong 8-inch 40-caliber rapid-fire guns, which are arranged at the beginning and end of the warship. There are 10 ear tables on both sides of the main deck, equipped with 10 6-inch 40-caliber Armstrong rapid-fire guns, and there are 12 small 47mm and 25mm Hakikas, as well as 5 18-caliber torpedo tubes.

Esmeralda protective cruisers. The British Armstrong Shipyard was built and launched on June 6, 1883. The ship was 82.3 meters long, 12.8 meters wide, 5.* meters draft, and 2,950 tons of water displacement. It is equipped with 4 boilers, 2 reciprocating steam engines, a power of 6,803 horsepower, a speed of 18.3 knots, a normal coal load of 400 tons, and a maximum coal load of 600 tons. The staffing is 296 people. Main weapons: 2 10-inch/30-diameter Armstrong guns (each gun weighs 25 tons), 6 6-inch/26-diameter Armstrong rapid-fire guns, 2 6-pound machine guns, and 3 14-inch torpedo tubes.

The Presidential Peaceful Presidential Pinto (Presidente Errazuriz, Presidente Pinto) classprotected cruisers (classically supras). LaSeyne shipyard was built. The "Erazuriz" was launched on June 21, 1890, and the "Pingdu" was launched on September 4 of the same year. The second ship was the same level as the captain 81

.79 meters, draft 4.39 meters, displacement 2047 tons. The power is 4 boilers, dual-axis propulsion, power of 5,400 horsepower, speed of 18.35 knots, normal coal loading 200 tons, maximum coal loading 400 tons. The staffing is 170 people. Main weapons: 4 5.9-inch/36-diameter Jana rapid-fire guns, 2 4 4.7-inch/36-diameter Jana rapid-fire guns, 4 6-pound machine guns, and 3 18-inch torpedo tubes.

"The ironclad ship Captain Brad, the armored cruiser Shirakun Karada and the cruiser Eracos President Peaceful President are both newer warships. We had agreed to install weapons ourselves, but now the Chileans have already installed weapons themselves, and the price is outrageously high, with a total price of 900,000 pounds. Because the Shirakun Karada and they took over the last half month, I just took advantage of this warship because it surpassed Yoshino. There is a saying in Europe that whoever wins the Sino-Japanese War will win. And that Esmeralda is not as old as the Zhiyuan. It is actually priced at 100,000 pounds. And it is just a ship's money, and the ammunition has to be added 50,000 pounds. It is simply a robbery!" Li Hongzhang was angry when he remembered the situation of Chile's ignoring his attitude during the negotiations just now, and he actually coughed.

Several people hurriedly stepped forward and comforted, "Sir, don't worry, they just wanted to make a fortune while we had a war accident. It is said that the Chilean Navy has always liked to sell old ships at high prices, and then used the money sold to buy new ships, making a lot of money from it. Westerners are profit-oriented, and it's not obvious."

"Hi! I also know my intentions, so it wouldn't be so troublesome. It was our telegrapher who used a clear message when inquiring, which made the whole world know that our Qing Dynasty was going to buy warships. The hateful Japanese people interfered and deliberately raised the price." Li Hongzhang said angrily.

"That means buying or…" Zhang Peilun asked.

"Buy, of course you have to buy it! The Japanese warships are faster than our navy, and the rapid-fire cannons are several times more than me. Although my navy has two ships in Dingzhen, the other ships are old and have different speeds. When practicing, they can only arrange an overall 8 knots, but the Japanese ships have an average speed of more than 15 knots. Although our Beiyang navy soldiers have their lives, the water is not on the road, and the advantages and disadvantages of the warships are compared rather than personal courage. Although Chile is asking for a price, I have to accept the slaughter! Fortunately, in order to plead for Zhang Yunfei, the imperial court allocated 2 million taels of ship purchase for the first time. It would be enough for me to make up some more." After saying that, Li Hongzhang sighed long.

"Sir! I'm afraid we don't have the money to buy a ship, so you have to decide for yourself!" As he said that, Zhang Peilun signaled the quarantine officer Wang Dajing to tell Li Hongzhang.

"That's right, sir!" So Wang Dajing explained the reason. It turned out that the day King Dajing went to Lushun with the Beiyang Navy and was preparing to transport 4,000 Huai Army soldiers from Tianjin to Dandong Yalu River to deploy defenses. Due to the tight transportation ships, the Beiyang Navy only carried a small amount of ammunition and was preparing to supply ammunition at the Lushun Fortress. Unexpectedly, when he arrived in Lushun, when he opened the combat ammunition ammunition depot in Lushun, he found that only a layer of ammunition on the surface was real, and all the inside were fake and empty boxes filled with stones. Wang Dajing, who was shocked, immediately checked all the ammunition depots in Lushun. As a result, he found that except for the ammunition depots in the training ground, the other ammunition depots were filled with fake ammunition. So Wang Dajing urgently ordered the Tianjin Machinery Bureau to transport the ammunition to Lushun, and immediately rushed back to Tianjin to meet Li Hongzhang.

"Bastard! Did you find out who did it?" Li Hongzhang immediately furious when he heard that the ammunition depot of the Lushun Fortress was actually fake.

When Wang Dajing saw Li Hongzhang getting angry, he immediately said:

"Stop it! I think it may be because Zhao Laosan, the former Lushun Military Chief General Officer, was fake, because after the Qing Dynasty's combat preparation materials were manufactured, they would be sealed immediately when transported to the border. Since the Qing Dynasty and France, there has been no war, so no one has used it, and no one has checked it. Judging from the situation in the ammunition depot, the recent one is the box of the Mauser rifle made by the Tianjin Machinery Bureau three years ago, and it has never been opened after sealing it. So Beizhi believes that these materials have not actually been to Lushun at all, but are fake when they left the factory?"

"Oh, are you talking about the Tianjin Machinery Bureau's move? Three years ago? Tianjin Machinery Bureau, Zhang Yunfei! Damn it, it must be Zhang Yunfei's work!" Li Hongzhang immediately thought of what happened to Zhang Yunfei some time ago.

"Yes, I also think that Zhang Yunfei did it. Apart from him, no one in the Qing Dynasty dared, especially in the central hall. Please pray to the clerk immediately to impeach Zhang Yunfei!" Wang Dajing said affirmatively.

"Hi! I just promised the Queen Mother that I will not investigate Zhang Yunfei's affairs. Now this is a matter of fact! Let me tell you what to do, sir! I will mislead me!" Li Hongzhang slapped the table helplessly.

"Sir, what should we do? Let's make up for it now! Now people have arrived by the Yalu River!" Wang Dajing asked the most.

"What else can I do? I have to use the money to buy a warship and produce ammunition for the Machinery Bureau first. It is important to fasten the defense of Lushun!" Li Hongzhang said helplessly.

"Sir, no! The navy's purchase of ships is related to the defense of the Beijing-Tianjin gateway! You cannot remove the east wall and repair the west wall! You have already been defeated on the road, and the navy cannot be defeated again! Sir, think twice!" Zhang Peilun said hurriedly.

"I know, but I am helpless now! I will find a way to buy a ship in the future!" Li Hongzhang said helplessly.

"Sir, what should Zhang Yunfei do? Could it be that he just let him go? It's too cheap!" Ling Huan suddenly asked.

"I won't let him have a good life when Zhang Yunfei is dealt with in the future! Humph!" When Zhang Yunfei and Li Hongzhang mentioned it, he wanted to bite people.

"My dear, have you ever thought about it? Who is Zhang Yunfei? He will definitely revenge. Since he already knows that he hates him to the core, how can he wait for death? Now the news has been heard from the court that in order not to transfer the Nanyang Navy to the north, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, recommended Zhang Yunfei as the admiral of the Nanyang Navy. Now the imperial edict has been given, and Zhang Yunfei is officially appointed as the Nanyang Navy. With his personality, he will not take the adult seriously. On the contrary, it may be possible to drag my Beiyang back!"

Why did Ling Huan say that Zhang Yunfei is not? It turned out that this was also a victim of Zhang Yunfei. Ling Huan was originally admitted to the Jinshi by his ability, but when Zhang Yunfei colluded with Li Lianying to sell official positions, he was directly out by Zhang Yunfei because he had no money, which made him lose his hard work for twenty years. Later, he went to Beiyang to become Li Hongzhang's copywriter. Now, how could he miss such a good opportunity to retaliate against Zhang Yunfei?
Chapter completed!