Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

Li Hongzhang bowed three times in the direction of the Forbidden City with difficulty, and suddenly his body tilted and fell to the ground. Lin Yuan quickly stepped forward to help him, and then shouted to the outside of the house: "Master Li is dying, come in quickly."

Hearing this, Li Jingfang immediately brought Imperial Physician Li and other family members in. Imperial Physician Li stepped forward, felt Li Hongzhang's pulse, and said helplessly, "Master Zhongtang has gone."

Li Jingfang and all his family members burst into tears. Lin Yuan comforted them, and then he came out of the house and walked on the street. Suddenly he saw a few Confucian scholars rushing forward on the road. What's the matter? Did they encounter any danger?"

Lin Yuan thought about it for a while: "No, they look very happy, as if there is something to make them happy." Lin Yuan quickly stepped forward, grabbed a Confucian scholar and asked, "Why are you running so fast? What's going on?"

The Confucian scholar said: "Master Xu Jingcheng and Sir Weng Tonghe are going to have a public debate in the Qinxue Pavilion of the Imperial Academy today. Those who came to the capital to catch the exam all want to hear it."

Lin Yuan knew about Xu Jingcheng. He used to be the Qing government's envoy to Germany and one of the main figures in the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. He contributed a lot to the Qing government's purchase of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships from Germany. Lin Yuan Hearing this person's name, and thinking of what Li Hongzhang had said to himself, he guessed without further questioning that this debate must be related to the construction of the navy.

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "Li Hongzhang told me that Weng Tonghe opposed the construction of the navy. Why don't I go and listen and see what his reasons are for opposing it." The Imperial College left.

Guozijian was the highest school in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Originally, the outside of the Guozijian was heavily guarded, but today Xu Jingcheng and Weng Tonghe were going to have a public debate, so no one stopped Lin Yuan from entering. Lin Yuan deliberately hid his identity and stood among Juren.

Seeing Xu Jingcheng and Weng Tonghe sitting opposite each other on the high platform, and everyone standing in the audience, Lin Yuan thought to himself: "These two people represent two views on naval construction, and they are debating here because they want their views to be recognized. Get people's approval."

At this moment, Xu Jingcheng stood up first, turned around and called a follower, who held out something like a canvas, and Lin Yuan saw that it was an enlarged photo, but due to the photography technology of this era It is not very advanced, so the photo is not clear. Lin Yuan can only vaguely see that it seems to be a monster statue, and he can't see the material.

All the people were also discussing, guessing what it was, at this moment Xu Jingcheng said: "I took this photo in the Berlin Museum in Germany, does anyone know what it is?"

A Juren said: "I know, this is Suan Ni. According to legend, the dragon gave birth to nine sons, and one of them is Suan Ni."

Xu Jingcheng smiled and said: "Okay, you are knowledgeable, this is exactly Suanni, and it is made of pure gold. The carving is exquisite, which is rare in the world. Only Chinese people can complete such an exquisite craftsmanship. Do you know why this 狻猊 is in the Berlin Museum?"

Everyone didn't answer, Xu Jingcheng continued: "This statue was originally in the Old Summer Palace, but in the tenth year of Xianfeng, England and France invaded Beijing and burned the garden. Since then, my ancestors' belongings have been exiled overseas."

Everyone sighed when they heard this, and Xu Jingcheng asked his attendants to take out a stack of photos. This time the photos were smaller than last time, but they were much clearer. Even so, the things on them were messy and difficult to recognize, and everyone discussed One after another, can't see what it is.

Xu Jingcheng called a young Juren casually, and said, "Come and see what's on it?"

The young man walked up to the photo and bent over to look at it. After looking at it for a while, he opened his mouth in surprise and sighed, "Could it be..."

Xu Jingcheng nodded, and the young man actually took two steps back, his face full of horror, Xu Jingcheng replied: "The above are all corpses, and these corpses are all our compatriots. They were all killed by the British!"

Everyone couldn't help but exclaimed when they heard this, and Xu Jingcheng said helplessly: "This is the situation when the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing to burn, kill and loot in the tenth year of Xianfeng. There is one more thing that everyone will definitely feel uncomfortable if I say it, but I still want to say it. At this point Xu Jingcheng deliberately paused, and waited until everyone had gathered their spirits before saying: "The people above are all women, and they were all humiliated during their lifetime, and they were nude all over their bodies when they died."

As soon as Xu Jingcheng finished speaking, there was a voice of yelling and cursing foreigners on the field, and Xu Jingcheng didn't stop him. When the voice subsided, he continued: "Have you ever thought about where the roots of these tragedies come from? They all come from At sea, I have a coastline of [-] miles, but now there is no defense in the sea, if we don’t have a navy, sooner or later, these tragedies will repeat themselves intensified!”

Xu Jingcheng's words caused everyone to discuss: "Yes, we should build a navy." "We also want to build warships, and then go to England and France to take revenge." "Yes, take back all our things. "

After Xu Jingcheng finished speaking, Weng Tonghe stood up and said, "Master Xu's words are very true. The barbarians in Taixi are not sons of man. Our Qing Dynasty can only fight against it by self-strengthening. However, Mr. Weng has something to ask Mr. Xu." , everyone knows that the navy needs warships, but where do we get the warships of the Qing Dynasty?"

Xu Jingcheng said: "The German ships are strong and powerful, and the prestige of the two Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships has been seen by all. Therefore, buying a German warship is the best choice."

Weng Tonghe said: "Then how much money do you need to buy a warship?"

Hearing this, Xu Jingcheng couldn't help being embarrassed for a while. He silently stopped talking, and Weng Tonghe said: "Master Xu also participated in the purchase of the Dingyuan Ship and the Zhenyuan Ship. How much money was spent will not be forgotten so quickly, right? Remember, I can do the math for you."

"The Dingyuan ship cost as much as 110 taels of silver, and the Zhenyuan ship cost as much as 98 million taels of silver. These are just the money for the hull, the steam engine on it, a dozen artillery pieces, including ammunition. It’s all calculated separately, and this item alone is as much as 110 taels of silver, and these warships have to sail back from Germany, and it is impossible to use Chinese crews in this process, because the Chinese crews are not familiar with this ship.”

"So this ship must be driven by foreigners when it returns to the country. The wages and coal along the way are as much as 56 taels. Do the math, the sum of these moneys is as much as 300 million taels of silver. After buying it back, we need to buy coal, replace ammunition, and train every year. Just for coal burning, there are as much as 10 taels of silver a year. Tell me, where do we come from?"

Xu Jingcheng said: "Master Weng is the Minister of the Household Department, and he is in charge of the world's money and food. Isn't there any money in the treasury?"

Weng Tonghe said with a smile: "Where is there any money in the national treasury! A few days ago, when Lin Yuan regained the lost land in the Northeast, the money was only used up. Now we have to borrow money from other countries. A few days ago we You just borrowed 3000 million taels of silver from the United States for emergency, and you know it."