Li Guolou glanced at him and said: "General Manager Xu, don't always say that the Mauser gun introduction project has started in Wuhan. The Prussians are still capable of doing more than the British. If our military industrial enterprises did not have Bismarck's help, I'm afraid you're still making flintlock guns if you rely solely on your own efforts. I'm warning you for the last time not to start inventing dangerous projects and to stay as far away from you as possible. Now I'm the deputy general office of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Administration. An individual's life is the country's wealth. Edison was made possible by teamwork. More than 100 patents are not based on personal heroism."
When Xu Jianyin went in with one ear and out with the other, he heard Li Guolou say perfunctorily: "I know that Li Xuezheng has arrived at the shooting range, so let's watch the shooting first."
Deng Shichang was eager to try and interjected: "Two adults, please watch me fire the first shot myself."
Li Guolou looked at Deng Shichang's appearance and said: "Captain Deng fired a cannon each time. I want to see a group of sharp gunners instead of one person showing off his skills."
"Don't worry, Mr. Li, just keep an eye on it." Deng Shichang stood in the fort, raised his telescope and loudly announced the coordinates of the target [
One gunner turned the pulley barrel with both hands to move the gun barrel to the left. Another gunner moved an eighty-pound training weapon into the gun chamber. Another gunner quickly closed the valve. The three gunners moved smoothly and in one go.
"Fire!" Deng Shichang roared at the top of his lungs
The cannon drew a wonderful arc and flew towards the target five hundred meters away. That arc carried the hope of the rise of the Great Qing Navy. Everyone on the mosquito boat clenched their fists in excitement and stared at the target floating on the sea.
A black flag was hoisted on a target floating on the sea. There was a loud boom and a roar. The raft was torn into pieces. The black flag collapsed. The navy officers and soldiers shouted in unison and ordered the flag officer to wave two small red and yellow flags to give the signal to fire.
One mosquito ship after another fired at the shooting range. White waves surged on the sea. Targets were destroyed. Black flags floated on the sea.
Twenty mosquito boats formed various formations and sailed in the sea. The raised colorful flags continuously issued instructions. Each mosquito boat hit the designated target.
Li Guolou came here in joy and returned home happily singing the song of the navy with the navy officers and soldiers.
"Gong Jin'ou is in the sky and the people are happy with the algae and the phoenix robe. The Qing Dynasty is lucky. The Zhenxi Empire is blue and the sky is high and the sea is roaring."
Deng Shichang's singing voice was loud and clear, and he took the lead in singing the song of Mawei Shipbuilding School.
"Xu Zai, what young naval men have learned is saving the country."
The future will break through the waves and we must always work hard.
The mainstay is determined and accomplished
The brilliant colors of the Jingyun flag exhibition building and ship
Taste the courage and lie down with the will to strengthen the mountains and rivers
Establishing a successful career and admonishing time for mistakes
May the honor of our sea school be higher than that of Beidou, and may my classmates be heroes of the world.”
Singing continued all the way along the voyage. Li Guolou was baptized in the singing. He was very happy that the Beiyang Navy had twenty mosquito ships. His ambition to serve the country also required financial resources to back him up. He was the strong backing of the Beiyang Navy. Li Guolou was proud and proud of his ambition. Accept the cheers of the crowd
"Wow"
Huang Xiaoman was vomiting while holding the washbasin. His face was green, as if he was about to die. Li Guolou said a few words of relief and did not show any affection for his children, but walked out of the conference room and came to the deck [
The mosquito boat was bumping violently as the waves rose and fell, black smoke billowing from the chimney. Li Guolou suddenly shuddered and suddenly changed his color and said: "Captain Deng, which coal company provided the coal?"
Deng Shichang said in a deep voice: "Li Xuezheng, our Navy uses the Kailuan Coal Mine and the five-tank coal provided by the Kaiping Mining Bureau."
Li Guolou squinted and said, "Deng Shichang, you are quite good at talking. You lie without drafting. Did you get this position by flattering others?"
Deng Shichang was so frightened that he turned over and knelt on the deck and said anxiously: "I dare not lie. Everything I said was recorded in text. I just read it out as written."
"Go to hell, Deng Shichang, don't shirk your responsibilities. Why don't you report it to your superiors and take me to see the boiler room?" Li Guolou was so angry that he wished he could kick Deng Shichang to death. He can say high-sounding words at such a young age.
Deng Shichang was so frightened that he rushed forward to lead the way. Li Guolou's temper was hard to figure out.
Below the front cabin is the boiler room. Li Guolou picked up a piece of coal, turned it over in his hand, and showed a ferocious smile on his face.
"How dare you lie to me?" Li Guolou wrapped the two pieces of coal in a handkerchief, put them in his pocket, and left the boiler room, never talking to Deng Shichang again.
Deng Shichang didn't dare to say anything for fear that the matter would get darker and darker, so he hurriedly reported the whole matter to Xu Jianyin because the eighth-grade military attache had no right to speak.
After hearing this, Xu Jianyin laughed and waved his hand and said: "Captain Deng, this matter has nothing to do with you. Li Xuezheng is famous for his poisonous tongue. It has become normal for him to reach out. It is the rule of the officialdom to fight. We will wait and see what happens. We will not punish your Deng Shichang."
Let me tell you the truth, how many tanks of coal did you use?"
Deng Shichang lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong and said: "Go back to General Xu's office and our mosquito boats use eight troughs of coal."
"Oh, it's almost no wonder that Li Xuezhenghui got angry. Now Zhang Yi is going to be in trouble." Xu Jianyin suppressed a smile and looked gloating.
Xu Jianyin has already experienced Li Guolou's ruthlessness. Li Guolou holds an official hat and money in his hand and is rewarded heavily if he does well. He climbs a high branch and has money in his pocket. He talks like Shen Baojing.
He was left out in the cold by Li Hongzhang until now because Li Guolou slandered Shen Baojing's ability to do things.
Deng Shichang heard too many legends and couldn't help but asked: "General Manager Xu heard that Li Xuezheng was a murderer and killed hundreds of people in one day. Will he use knives or guns for the five-tank coal incident?"
"Deng Shichang, do you believe that you are really naive? Have you seen Li Xuezheng's personal bodyguard? That horse cake has a whip stuck in his waist. This is Li Xuezheng's killing move. I understand." Xu Jianyin had seen Li Guolou's three-blade ax and was afraid of Li Xuezheng at first.
Tired of being scolded after Guolou, I still go my own way
"Oh, I understand." Deng Shichang nodded and seemed to understand, but in his heart he was even more afraid that if he offended Li Guolou, he would be whipped at any time. This would be more embarrassing than being slapped by a school officer.
Deng Shichang looked at Xu Jianyin's gloating expression and understood that Zhang Yi, the supervisor of the Kaiping Mining Bureau, had a good harvest. Li Guolou was the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If Zhang Yi was impeached, Zhang Yi would have to step down and pay the atonement money.
Zhang Yi is a third-grade official or a powerful man. He is the servant of Prince Chun Yi, but he is a bit comparable to Li Guolou. Li Guolou is a servant of Emperor Tongzhi and has the support of two empress dowagers. How can they be compared?
In the evening, Li Guolou, as the host, invited Xu Jianyin, Deng Shichang, Liu Buchan, Lin Yongsheng and other Beiyang Navy officers to have dinner. He showed displeasure, but was polite and considerate. He personally brought the wine glass to toast everyone. Li Guolou took a small sip and others drank the glass.
This is the benefit of having a high position. Others are even more honored.
Li Guolou was the richest official and businessman in the Qing Dynasty, and he was also the moneybag of Li Hongzhang. No one would go against the God of Wealth. Xu Jianyin frequently toasted to Li Guolou at the banquet to show their close relationship.
Xu Jianyin put their arms around each other and whispered: "Li Xuezheng, I have a few friends who really want to invest in the Beijing-Hankow Railway project. You have to give me a face."
"General Manager Xu doesn't talk secretly about Hu Xueyan's money. I don't want him to do his business. I do mine. You also know that I am a petty person. He satirized me in the newspaper. Big brother is secretly scolding me and that person." Do you understand that Mr. Fu Xiang will be very unhappy if you are associated with people of this kind?"
"Oh... I know I won't mention this person. You and the others are all right." Xu Jianyin is an official and businessman. A rich and powerful person will see the wind and steer the train industry. It is the future of the nation. A knowledgeable person will. Invest money in building the Beijing-Hankow Railway. As for the few friends Xu Jianyin mentioned, most of them are his own relatives.
Early in the morning, the Qing Dynasty was no longer a country with a rich and powerful country, but a poor and weak country. The country's wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few officials and businessmen. Only by relying on officials and businessmen could Li Guolou put the Qing Dynasty on the road to revival. The prerequisite was to make the officials and businessmen richer.
Li Guolou said like a spring breeze: "General Manager Xu, I also want to toast you. Let's forget the dirty things in the past and focus on serving the public good."
"That's enough buddy." Xu Jianyin raised his glass happily. I don't know how many glasses he had with Li Guolou.
Xu Jianyin had conflicts with Li Guolou. He once lost his temper with Li Guolou over Xiyanglou's big train project. The two argued in confusion. He believed that Xiyanglou's big train project was just a waste of national resources.
Then there was the project of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Administration to build eighteen mosquito ships. Xu Jianyin strongly opposed it, thinking that building eighteen mosquito ships would waste people and money, and what use would mosquito ships have in combating smuggling ships? There was no need for such advanced gunboats and eighteen mosquito ships. Maintenance costs are a huge expense. Xu Jianyin has the same idea as Li Hongzhang, believing that limited funds should be spent on purchasing cruisers to form a joint formation before the navy can march into the deep sea.
But Li Guolou had a stubborn temper and listened to Xu Jianyin's suggestion. In the name of cracking down on smugglers, Li Guolou privately funded the construction of 18 mosquito ships in Shanghai, bypassing the approval of the Ministry of War.
The big train project of Xiyanglou and the eighteen mosquito boats project are still being started at full speed. Now that the deal is done, Xu Jianyin can only use his talents on small projects and use his ingenuity in technological innovation. The eighteen mosquito boats built after that are two times better than before. The mosquito boat has made great innovations
Now that the Beijing-Hankow Railway project has been established by the state, the government has begun preparations for the construction of the Ministry of Railways. Xu Jianyin considers himself the biggest contributor and wants to get a share of the big project. This kind of collusion between government and businessmen to make money is obvious in the Qing Dynasty. The prerequisite for doing this is to find the right person.
Xu Jianyin drank too much and asked drunkenly: "Li Xuezheng, why are you inspecting the mosquito boat when others are on vacation?"
Li Guolou smiled and said: "General Manager Xu, this is a military secret kept secret from you."
Xu Jianyin was extremely dissatisfied and said angrily: "If you don't tell me, what's so great about it? The new weapons I'm testing are also kept secret from you."
Li Guolou sneered and said: "You still want to imitate weapons from Western countries without paying patent fees."
Xu Jianyin said loudly: "I am saving money for the country. Self-reliance is the way to develop. Otherwise, there are eighteen mosquito ships."
The twenty mosquito boats were like Xu Jianyin's children. Watching the twenty mosquito boats sailing in the wind and waves, Xu Jianyin was in high spirits and accepted the praise of everyone. He got drunk and was carried out before the drunken banquet was over.
Li Guolou was very sober. Although the sea drill was successful, he still had experience in whether the mosquito ship could sail into the deep sea for actual combat. He was so interested in coal because the mosquito ship needed several cargo ships to load coal and supplies to go out to sea together for a long voyage. Coordinated operations, this coal is the heart of the mosquito ship. If there is high-quality coal, if the coal in the boiler is not fully burned, the steam engine will have power, and the ship will not be able to run fast. There will be too much waste and it will easily cause damage to the steam engine. Therefore, Li Guolou is very concerned about Zhang Yi, the supervisor of the Kaiping Mining Bureau. He wanted to get rid of the hatred and almost decided to kill. Li Guolou was thinking about whether he should kill Zhang Yi, beat Zhang Yi severely or write a letter to impeach Zhang Yi.
Officials protect each other. How many officials will protect Zhang Yi for their own interests? Thinking of the rules in the officialdom, Li Guolou became angry and resentful. Zhang Yi is a third-grade civil servant. It is not easy to seize Zhang Yi's official title. It will also cause a court battle. But he has time.
If you spend too much time fighting a lawsuit, then use the Manchu rules to attack Zhang Yi. Li Guolou's eyes showed a fierce look and he drank it all in one gulp. In the morning, he dragged Zhang Yi out of bed and beat him up. Then let's talk about the rules of officialdom.
Li Guolou is different now from the past. The man who leads the troops has a murderous aura in him. Sitting there, Shen Ning said nothing, thinking about military training in his mind. Twenty captains dared to come forward to toast Xu Jianyin. As soon as Xu Jianyin left, Li Guolou looked so ugly.
The officers of the Beiyang Navy knew that Li Guolou liked to whip his subordinates with whips. I don’t know who would be unlucky. Deng Shichang was probably the first to be unlucky.