Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 63: It’s all because of the memorial
"Did something happen?" Sun Gang felt a little uneasy for some reason. After submitting the memorial, he had been busy with the modification of the warships. He also contacted Gong Zhaoyuan, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, and Xu Jingcheng, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, and asked them to help negotiate the purchase of battleships. He learned from them that the destroyers "Feiting" and "Flying Eagle" that were seized by Britain and Germany, which were declared neutral at the beginning of the war, had already been purchased and would arrive soon. This made him happy for a long time.
"Who are you asking?" Lin Taizeng teased him. Influenced by Sun Gang's unpretentious style, they became very familiar with each other in private.
"If I remember correctly, since you submitted the memorial, there seems to be fewer people biting our tongues." Ding Ruchang said, "But Wei Rugui died in vain and was cursed."
After hearing his words, Sun Gang felt sad.
A soldier who was quite brave and good at fighting did not fall in the enemy's hail of bullets, but died inexplicably at the hands of his own people! For him, a person of later generations, this is the cruelest thing!
"Seeing what you have done, I really feel old." Ding Ruchang sighed, "The Fujian Factory took the initiative to ask for submarine blueprints, and the Kaiping Mining Bureau delivered high-quality coal to your door. I was almost pissed off by the coal at the time."
"The main responsibility lies not with you, nor with the Mining Bureau, but with the court," said Sun Gang.
After he officially took office as the Minister of Shipbuilding, he began to pay attention to and solve the logistics support problems . On the "Dingyuan", he saw that the coal burned by the warships was all broken coal, which made him grin for many days. Later, after inquiring from many sources, he learned that the high-quality coal used by the navy was supplied by the Kaiping Mining Bureau at a fair price. Because the navy was short of funds, it often owed the Mining Bureau. As a result, the Mining Bureau gradually lost interest in supplying coal to the navy, and sold the high-quality lump coal to merchants at high prices for profit, and gave the navy only coal. Ding Ruchang negotiated for a long time, but always ended up with a cold shoulder. It was not until Sun Gang invited "Brother Kong Fang" to solve this problem.
The imperial court said that the funding for the Beiyang Navy would be 4 million taels of silver every year, but in fact, Sun Gang checked and found that from the 12th year of the Guangxu period (1886) to the present, except for a few years when the imperial court issued an order to stop purchasing, the actual funding for the Beiyang Navy has been basically stable at around 1.3 million taels per year. According to Sun Gang's calculations, the Beiyang Navy's expenditures mainly included the cost of purchasing ships and guns, regular salaries and food, shipping expenses, military ports and defense construction, etc., plus some other miscellaneous expenses (some of which he could not find out clearly, probably because someone had added five to one), totaling about 2 million taels per year. If the money was spent like this and there was no income, his "Brother Kong Fang" would have to give up soon.
Even if the Japanese indemnity arrived, the imperial court has always had a keen interest in overdue payments. In addition, with Master Weng in power, he didn't dare to imagine how much he would actually get.
It is hard to say whether Li Hongzhang, who has already served in the Military Affairs Council, can change this situation.
The money he was spending now mainly came from the 180,000 taels of military pay salvaged from the sea, the 120,000 taels of surplus money for ships and cannons left to him by Li Hongzhang, and the approximately 100,000 taels of money obtained from the sale of supplies captured by the Chilean fleet off the coast of Japan. All together, it was only about 400,000 taels. He had not dared to touch the "cursed gold" yet. His beloved wife was right, but once the two ambassadors succeeded in their negotiations, the money he would spend would be far more than that.
Thinking about this, his head started to hurt again.
Being in the Navy is actually not easy...
A few days later, there was still no movement from the court. Emperor Guangxu did not approve his memorial that "made the emperor sleepless" (in jargon, it was "drown"). He only saw from the official newspaper that the court approved Li Hongzhang's plan to build railways and open mines. In addition, telecommunications in Korea were finally established (built for Korea in 1886, but cut off by the Japanese army when the war broke out). The Japanese army had completely withdrawn from Korea to defend their homeland, which made him feel relieved.
The telegram sent by Yuan Shikai said, "...The Korean king and his ministers have now returned to Seoul. The speed of the Japanese army's withdrawal is rare. According to Koreans, in addition to military ships, the Japanese people spontaneously sailed across the sea from their homeland to support them. Large and small sails were coming and going like a weave. Sometimes, they were hit by mines and exploded, but they didn't care. When the Japanese found an area with dense mines, some brave men sailed their boats to hit them. Wherever they passed, it was like hundreds of lightning and thousands of dragons roaring, and people and ships were all smashed into pieces. The rest of the people were allowed to pass after praying. The morale of the people is so high..."
It seemed that the Japanese had actually carried out an "Eastern Dunkirk Retreat", which made Sun Gang sigh, but Yuan Shikai's mention of these Japanese who drove ships and swept mines somehow made him feel a little cold in his heart.
Could this be the origin of the so-called "divine wind" and "Kikusui" special attacks in later generations?
He now finds it difficult to understand the Japanese.
What kind of harm will such a nation bring to the world if it falls into a state of madness?
Thinking of this and the two unfinished Japanese battleships, he became restless again.
But the subsequent imperial edict and Li Hongzhang's telegram made him feel somewhat confused.
First, the emperor praised him, saying that his "words were sincere and to the point, and hit the nail on the head." From now on, "all foreign affairs that concern the country's interests should be reported to me as soon as possible." There was nothing else.
In addition, even if it is good news, the court officially appointed Ding Ruchang as the governor-general of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, replacing Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang was the minister of military affairs, and Prince Gong Yixin was re-appointed to replace the deceased Prince Chun Yixin (the biological father of Emperor Guangxu) as the minister of the navy. In this way, the Westernization faction should have the upper hand in the court, and Li Hongzhang should have less resistance to what he wants to do in the future.
Perhaps, as a result, China's pace of modernization will be accelerated!
This can be seen from the emperor’s request to build the railway as soon as possible !
To get rich, build roads first. This is a valuable experience summed up by countless people in later generations.
Perhaps out of guilt for the mistaken execution of Wei Rugui, the court re-evaluated the army officers and soldiers, "Nie Shicheng led the charge in every battle, Zuo Baogui wrapped his wound and fired cannons, Ma Yukun rode his horse into the enemy camp, and Xu Bangdao bravely took the lead. Although the battle was not going well, his actions were enough to bring honor to neighboring countries," and they were all commended.
Because Sun Gang expressed his concern in the memorial that Russia might extend its influence to Korea, Japan and the border of China, the court arranged heavy troops to defend Lushun. Song Qing led troops to garrison outside Lushun, Zhang Wenxuan was responsible for the defense of Lushun, Xu Bangdao was responsible for the defense of Dalian Bay, Zuo Baogui was stationed in Shengjing, Nie Shicheng and Ma Yukun were stationed in Korea with Yuan Shikai. At the invitation of the King of Korea, the Beiyang Fleet could use the Korean ports as coal storage stations and temporary anchorages at any time. In this way, the Chinese navy had a barrier on the periphery, and the maritime defense line was greatly extended outward. This was also unexpected for Sun Gang, a naval general who was a bank clerk.
This time, Su Xin finally has the chance to meet Mingcheng.
Li Hongzhang's entry into the central government and Ding Ruchang's promotion to Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang would be of great help to his future work.
The butterfly effects he created are gradually showing unimaginable effects.
A few days later, Ding Ruchang, who had come to Beijing to express his gratitude, sent him a telegram. Only then did he realize what a big disturbance his memorial had caused.
After reading it, Emperor Guangxu sighed for a long time, but he was still undecided, so he handed his memorial to the court for discussion. Those upright officials were furious when they saw that their scars were exposed. Weng Tonghe believed that Sun Gang wrote this at the instigation of Sun Yuwen, so he immediately pointed his spearhead at Sun Yuwen and ordered many of his censors to impeach Sun Yuwen. Sun Yuwen was scolded and almost became Qin Hui. Sun Yuwen was very angry. While defending himself, he went to the Empress Dowager Cixi to cry. The Empress Dowager Cixi was furious and accused those scholars of "talking nonsense". "If we don't discipline these people, we won't be able to enforce discipline." Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to report to Cixi, avenging Sun Yuwen and pointing out that these conservative and stubborn elements knew nothing about the world situation, only knew how to cling to the old ways, had no opinions on the country's major policies, and made unwarranted comments. He also listed the serious consequences of Japan's invasion of Taiwan under the pretext of the killing of Ryukyu fishermen and the performance of these people in the Sino-Japanese War, which almost brought the country into an irreparable situation. "If Tianjin is ravaged in the future and the foreign powers are approaching, can these people use a few generous words to repel the enemy?"
These few words were quite teasing, but they also contained murderous intent, which made the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had personally experienced the invasion of the Anglo-French Allied Forces, shudder. She immediately forced Emperor Guangxu to issue an edict to drive a large number of diehards back home to eat rice. Even Wen Tingshi and Zhirui (Zhen Fei's second brother), who had impeached Sun Yuwen before, were implicated. Master Weng was so scared that he dared not say a word, so he used such polite words when asking Sun Gang for money. It is very likely that he was afraid that Sun Gang would write something more "horrible" to show the emperor.
Later, Li Hongzhang also sent him a telegram, saying, "Without your letter, nothing could have been accomplished. I am very pleased. Please encourage me."
After reading the telegram, Sun Gang was a little amused and felt like he was being used as a gun by the old fox.
Ginger is still more experienced! Sun Gang secretly sighed and broke out in a cold sweat. In fact, if Li Hongzhang and Sun Yuwen had not helped him from behind, he would have fallen down.
Afterwards, Emperor Guangxu issued an order that censors could submit reports based on hearsay, but if it involved specific matters, they had to have solid evidence and not just empty talk, otherwise they would not be allowed to report.
However, because of this memorial, the mining and railway projects that Li Hongzhang had been worried about could finally be , which made Sun Gang happy for a long time.
Railway transportation is the blood vessel of a country. It can strengthen the connection between different regions and plays an irreplaceable role in the development of a country. It not only brings huge income and convenience to the country and the people, but also has great military significance.
If Russia did not have the Trans-Siberian Railway, how could it effectively control its eastern territories?
Even in later generations, the construction of China's Qinghai-Tibet Railway played an immeasurable role in consolidating national defense and strengthening the ties between the Tibetan people and the mainland. Its significance is by no means just economic.
These should also be considered part of the butterfly effect, right?
My beloved wife is always right! When Sun Gang thought of her, he felt a sweet feeling in his heart.
There is no need to worry about the "inside" for the time being. So, what should this little butterfly do about the "outside"?
