The Qing Dynasty, Tianjin City, Zhili Governor Tianjin Pavilion, Study Room.

Li Hongzhang threw the letter in his hand on the table with an angry face, pointed at the letter and said to Zhou Fu, "It is really outrageous that the General Affairs Office blamed He Ruzhang for the annexation of Japan's Ryukyu!"

Zhou Fu picked up the letter on the desk, looked carefully, and said, "Jiangfu, Zi'e's character will never be so unbearable. Let me give you one thing: After the 13th year of Tongzhi, the Japanese government discriminated against the Chinese people of the Qing Dynasty in Japan and wanted to abolish the consular judging rights of Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki. If Zia had not been arguing with the Japanese for reasons after taking office, he would have saved the consular and judging rights of these three places. Otherwise, my face of the Qing Dynasty would have been lost. In my opinion, this impeachment was purely a creation of nothing."

"You don't believe Yushan, I don't believe me either," Li Hongzhang took out another letter from the wooden box on the desk and handed it to Zhou Fu, "This is a private message from Zi'e to me, Yushan, please take a look."

Zhou Fu only looked at it for a while and couldn't help but recite the content in his heart, "If you want to stop things, and tolerate and to stop tribute from the tribute, you will destroy Ryukyu on the day; if Ryukyu is destroyed, then Korea will come to Korea. Otherwise, if you are unable to do what I do, you will ask for it every day. How can you be a country? If you reject it, you will let Ryukyu and the border will be investigated."

"At that time, Japan was strong, and it was used to disturb my border with ships and cannons. It was a plan for Taiwan. Today's struggle was still relieved, and today's abandonment was even deeper. There was no end to it. However, no matter what the outcome was, he was still good at it because he was tolerant of it today."

Zhou Fu slapped the table lightly, sighed, pointed to the content of He Ruzhang's letter and said to Li Hongzhang, "Jianfu, this sentence is Zi'e's heartfelt words! He has such a vision for Japan, how could he be a person who is in a position of corpse!"

"But the people from the Zongli Yamen don't believe it!" Li Hongzhang cleared his throat and spit thick phlegm at the spittoon under his feet. "We have heard from the capital that someone is making a big fuss about what Zi'e can eat!"

"It is known to everyone in our Huai Army that Zi'e can eat. Isn't this because he has a hidden disease of fainting on an empty stomach and faint wind?" Zhou Fu said slowly, "Some people plot against Zi'e. Don't they know that Zi'e is from my Huai Army, and someone dances swords in Xiangzhuang?"

"It's not aimed at me, me." Li Hongzhang waved his hand, "Someone has taken a fancy to Zi'e's position as the official envoy to Japan."

"Jianfu, this Zi'e is to be protected." Zhou Fu said in a deep voice, "Now, our Qing Dynasty has three strategies for Japan, middle and lower, but if these three strategies are not available, there is no way to talk about them."

"Oh, Yushan, tell me!" Li Hongzhang was a little interested and stood up and looked at Zhou Fu.

"The best strategy is to send troops to Japan while allowing Zi'e to protest in Japan, which is to show his authority to Japan. The middle strategy is to ask Zi'e to confront the Japanese government in front of the ministers of various countries, requesting the ministers of various countries to judge and seeking international public law. This is to make a reason for Japan. The worst strategy is to be deaf. But even if you find a way to drag it, someone will eventually come out to face the court." Zhou Fu glanced at Li Hongzhang and stopped talking.

"Although the best strategy is good, you know Yushan. I didn't just say it a few days ago. There are no warships in Beiyang to send." Li Hongzhang said expressionlessly.

"Since my Qing Dynasty has no military ships to go to Japan to establish its authority, then talented people need to show their attention to the Qing Dynasty in Japan. Now only Zi E can use his talents. If Zi E was dismissed from office because of her hidden illness, it is undoubtedly the Qing Dynasty who was cutting off his arms." Zhou Fu paused a moment, and then said, "I have no military ships to send to Japan. Beiyang understands the reason, but the court may not understand. If you want the court to understand what the reason, you also need to let the Qingliu in the capital understand what the reason!"

"What does Yushan mean?"

"You Qiaoqiao is available, why don't Jianfu send a letter to tell us about the current predicament of Beiyang and the arrogance of the Japanese?"

"Yes." Li Hongzhang nodded slowly, "Zhongce, which minister is suitable to ask for?"

"Today's world powers are nothing more than Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Ogilvy and the United States. We can send people to ask. In addition, you have been admiring each other for a long time. Why not take advantage of the time when he comes to Tianjin next month and ask him to deal with the Qing Dynasty and Japan?"

"Well, this strategy is feasible, and the great powers will ask wherever they go. Yushan, you should write a memorial. First, you should strive to protect Zi E's position, and second, you should strive to demonstrate the benefits of Zhongce to our Qing Dynasty. As for the best strategy, you should mention it, but it should also explain the sufferings of Beiyang."

As for the worst, the two of them tacitly ignored it.

"Yushan, wait until the memorial is written before handing it over." Li Hongzhang knocked on the desk rhythmically with his hands. "We handed it over a few days ago. I have not seen any news about the Zongli Yamen. If you handed it over again, I am afraid that the fire will burn the matter of the ironclad ship. You know in the court that everything must be done with three points, and you must..."

"Cook slowly in a low heat." Zhou Fu added with a smile.

In Nanjing City, Governor Street, Liangjiang Governor's Office Study Room

At this moment, Shen Baozhen, the Governor of Liangjiang and Minister of Trade in Nanyang, was writing quickly at his desk.

After receiving a letter from Li Hongzhang from Beiyang, Shen Baozhen immediately wrote to the court, actively rushing to buy ironclad ships for Li Hongzhang, but on the other hand, he deeply hated Li Hongzhang's words of knowing nothing about sea defense in his letter.

To be more precise, Shen Baozhen did not hate Li Hongzhang himself, but hated Li Hongzhang's reuse of British Hurd. In Shen Baozhen's view, Hurd not only controlled the Qing Dynasty's customs and postal finances, but also influenced the coastal defense of the Qing Dynasty's purchase of iron-clad ships, which made Shen Baozhen, a person who always insisted on the belief of "self-improvement and sovereignty in me" in life cannot tolerate it.

Shen Baozhen had sent letters to Li Hongzhang many times, bluntly saying that the Qing Dynasty needed to be able to fight in the ocean, defend in the outer sea, and block the large iron-armored warships of the enemy's military ports. During the Jiaxu crisis in the 13th year of Tongzhi, Shen Baozhen admitted to Li Hongzhang that there were only three strategies for Japan, the best strategy: send warships to block important Japanese military ports; the middle strategy: fight with Japan above the ocean; the worst strategy: the only way to lock in the Qing Dynasty and keep a close eye on it.

Every time Shen Baozhen suggested that Li Hongzhang throw the silver from buying a ship on the ironclad ship, Hurd always sang the opposite tune with Shen Baozhen. Every time when Li Hongzhang wanted to buy a ship, Hurd often told Li Hongzhang, "The size of the ship is not the key. The key to the warship is that the gun barrel is thick. As long as the tube is thick, the shells can penetrate the ironclad. It is enough to buy a small boat and carry a cannon in the Qing Dynasty. Spending a lot of money to buy an ironclad ship is completely worth the loss." Shen Baozhen hated Hurt's argument and behavior.

"Jianfutaijian, iron-clad ships are not unbreakable cannons, but compared to wooden iron-clad ships, the difficulty and ease are very different. Moreover, there are partitions in the iron-clad ships, and even if they are injured, they will not sink immediately. They can still fight against the enemy. Moreover, the Armstrong and Krupp cannons used on our ships can hit me, and I can also attack the enemy. If you rely solely on the fortress, mines, mosquito ships and other objects, these things cannot defend the Qing Dynasty's sea defense. If the enemy attacks bypass the fortress and attacks the unprepared land of the Qing Dynasty, although the fortress and fortress are good, what's the use?"

"After years, you and I spent a lot of silver to make a fortress, wouldn't it be wasted? So the Qing Dynasty wanted to guard the coastal defense, and in addition to the fort, they still needed iron armored ships!"

"It is not that there are iron armored ships and all ships can be abandoned, but only iron armor can be used. Iron armored ships are not something that can be defeated by military wheels, but iron armored ships must be."

"I'm happy to hear that Jianfu is interested in the iron-clad ship. My brother has military funds in Nanyang over the years, with a total of 60,000 taels of official silver. I am willing to donate all of them to Beiyang. I only hope that Jianfu can strengthen my great reputation in the future."

Shen Baozhen finished the reply in one go, and finished writing the reply. When he was about to stop writing, his eyes fell on the end of Li Hongzhang's letter.

In addition to expressing that he wanted to buy an iron-clad ship and wanted to seek his support, Li Hongzhang also said one thing at the end of the letter, which was that he hoped that Shen Baozhen could demolish the Wusong Railway in the third year of Guangxu, and the remaining railway items such as railroad tracks and locomotives were given to Beiyang. Li Hongzhang planned to use this batch of equipment to build the Tangxu Railway in Beiyang.

After seeing this, Shen Baozhen couldn't help but feel angry and cursed, "What do you, Li Jianfu, want to do? Don't you know that the court explicitly prohibits the construction of railways in various places, whether it is foreigners or officials in various places! I really don't know what the railway is good, and you, Li Jianfu, are fascinated by phlegm. No, I have to write a letter to stop you from doing such stupid things!"

"What Jianfu said is that the Wusong Railway is similar to the Yokohama Railway in Japan, which is a big mistake! All the work and road construction affairs of various countries were originally under the jurisdiction of the courts of various countries. Even if Japan built railways, it only borrowed debts from other countries, and eventually it was still independent. If the Qing Dynasty actually allowed other countries to build roads, it would inevitably be ridiculed by the countries on the earth. The Qing Dynasty is a country above the Celestial Empire, but now it is not as good as Japan. How can I have my face? How can I live my face? How can I live my face?"

"Britaining roads in front of the UK is hard to ensure that other countries will not come back. When the British built railways in Shanghai, our Qing court and the people had never heard of it. When the train moved, the momentum was extremely shocking, and it was even alarming with the people of Shanghai. This matter is unstable for the country and changes the people."

"The Westerners are many cunning people. When the British consul stationed in Shanghai sent a letter, the British said that they just wanted to build ordinary roads, and called steel wheels, railway tracks and other objects as iron tools for road construction, saying that they were just for road construction. But in the end, it was not what they said. It was a fraud against the Qing Dynasty from beginning to end. I once checked the laws of the Public Laws of all countries and the rules of the Qing Dynasty. My Emperor of the Qing Dynasty did not have the imperial edict to build railways. I had to know clearly that if there was no superior edict, ordinary roads would not be allowed to be opened, let alone railways? The Tangxu Railway must not be built!"

Shen Baozhen stopped writing and looked at the letter. After a while, he felt that his tone was too intense for Li Zhongtang, and then he added, "This time, foreigners used steamer trucks to build railways. It was because I had never had one in the Qing Dynasty. Foreigners simply wanted to promote this item in the Qing Dynasty. However, Western weapons such as ships, guns and cannons can be imitated one by one, let alone railways and trains? These things are not difficult for me to build by myself in the Qing Dynasty, and there is no need for foreigners to start."

"No matter how much harm or little benefit or it is difficult to do, even if you want to follow Western law, you will be in power and independent!" Shen Baozhen wrote a letter.
Chapter completed!