On September 18, early in the morning, the Beiyang Navy's battle report and the Guowen Daily were sent to Li Hongzhang's study together.

The Lord Zhongtang picked up a thin telegram and glanced at it, snorted coldly with his eyelids and threw it aside, and simply focused on reading the front page headlines of the newspaper.

He now understands that the official way of news from the Qing Dynasty is not as reliable as a newspaper. It is simply ridiculous, but it is also helpless. So much so that he often feels that he has fallen behind recently.

The headline of "Guowenbao" continues its usual calm attitude in recent months, using the title "An unfinished war--the Beiyang Navy's tragic victory showed fatigue, and the Japanese Navy was sluggishly hit", explaining the entire process of the Battle of the Yellow Sea from beginning to end with pictures and texts.

Needless to mention the author's name, it is naturally the famous "Huasheng"---- Yang Hao.

In an unusually calm tone, the article unreservedly describes the problems existing in the navy of China and Japan, various mistakes in the battle, and the reasons for victory or failure.

Li Hongzhang noticed that he pointed out very frankly that the overall strength of the Japanese army was not damaged, and most warships will be restored within months of their local area. In contrast, while the Beiyang Navy has bought warships and built factories for decades, it has not kept up with the relevant technologies and equipment for maintenance at the same time. The Dingzhen Second Ship, which suffered heavy losses, will be almost impossible to properly repair.

Therefore, the victory of the Beiyang Navy is not worthy of praise. When the Japanese army makes a comeback, they will only be passively beaten.

In addition, the article also pointed out that this naval battle is only one corner of the Sino-Japanese War, and it is still the army war that determines the final success or failure of both sides. In this regard, the Qing army's preparations were much worse than those of the navy. With the retreat of the Pyongyang defenders, the mobilization of the rear was slow and chaotic, and the possibility of being forcibly advanced to Liaodong by the Japanese army and even fighting to Zhili was extremely high.

Speaking of this, Yang Hao, who received the news yesterday, was actually even more depressed.

He thought that helping the Qing army defend Pyongyang would turn the situation around, but he didn't expect that Zuo Baogui had a sudden high fever on September 16 because of gunshot wounds and heavy rain all night, coupled with the fatigue of the country.

On the 17th, when the battle situation in the Yellow Sea was in full swing, his life was in danger. Ma Yukun was unable to roar. Under the encouragement of Wei Rugui, who was advocating the retreat, Jiang Zikang and others also believed that they had no ammunition and food and should not be defended for a long time. So, the defenders began to retreat that day.

Ye Zhichao, who arrived at the rear a day earlier, also died one step ahead of time.

This time, the army sent to Goryeo to lead the army, and the order was in chaos. Although Li Hongzhang urgently mobilized Song Qing as the commander to lead the troops to reinforce, it was too late.

Seeing the conclusions later, Li Hongzhang felt no joy at all. Especially in the photo, the two ships in Dingzhen and the "Laiyuan" were almost flattened and burned all the superstructures. There were countless bullet marks and holes all around the warship. His beard was trembling with heartache.

Even if the three Japanese main battleships were sunk and the military director Shiki Karayama was killed? His own strength was greatly damaged, and he could not do it by relying on the navy to guard the house and protect the hospital.

As an admiral, Ding Ruchang was seriously injured by shelling, but he was rescued, but he couldn't take care of it for the time being. Letting who is responsible for this mess is another headache.

Putting down the newspaper, Li Hongzhang sighed rarely, and a trace of fatigue appeared in his muddy eyes.

Li Jingfang, who came in with tea, happened to see it and was shocked and asked quickly: "Is my father worried about what the newspaper said?"

Li Hongzhang shook his head gently, took the tea bowl, took the lid and slowly cut it open. Suddenly, he looked at Li Jingfang and said, "Are you still complaining that I didn't let you go to Goryeo to lead troops that day?"

Li Jingfang lowered his head: "I dare not! Since my father has a clear conclusion, he must have seen it clearly than his son."

Li Hongzhang put down the tea bowl and sighed: "You still have resentment! Don't think that Zhang Youqiao's dissuasion is blocking your way forward. He is also considering the reputation of you and me. Look at the situation in the newspaper. If you go, would it be better to run it?"

Li Jingfang glanced at the Guowenbao on the table, hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "No. Decades of trauma are hard to recover, and it cannot be saved by one day's efforts. My son also thought that training a new army would make up for the gaps."

Before the Battle of Pyongyang, Li Jingfang repeatedly asked for orders to lead troops in front of the country, especially after Ye Zhichao's stupidity and timidity were exposed, he was even more eager to fight. However, Zhang Peilun reminded Li Hongzhang to resist and failed to make a move, and Li Jingfang was very dissatisfied.

However, the subsequent newspaper special issue revealed the current bad appearance of the Qing army without any shame. The various bad performances in the battle fully demonstrated how serious the backwardness was. With so many sharp weapons and equipment, they could not even be able to unify basic equipment, not to mention the extremely high requirements of modern logistics, training and tactical literacy, etc., it was even more like a cloud.

It can be said that the Qing Dynasty had a population of 430 million, but it could not even provide 10,000 qualified soldiers. Those who went up were just to make up the numbers. Once the war started, they had to fight with their lives.

Fortunately, the Japanese army nowadays have all raw melon seeds and there is not enough weapons and ammunition. After the opponent trains, the Qing army can only be a group of soft-legged crabs driven around the mountains.

It was not that Li Jingfang hadn't read the newspaper, but he finally understood how big the gap was. However, the literati habit in his bones could not be changed for a while.

This is also a common problem for scholars in China since the Song Dynasty. It seems that after reading the books of sages, you can immediately lead troops to fight and win a thousand miles away. Don’t look at how many truly qualified Confucian generals have been there in a thousand years since then?

He was rejected at home and could not go out, so Li Jingfang simply wandered in front of Li Hongzhang every day as if he was angry. In addition, he was worried that the old man would be angry with the unfavorable news in front of him and could be taken care of.

Although I don’t know my own life, Li Hongzhang never treats him as an outsider. He sighed and said, “I thought that a movement is worse than a quiet person, but the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop! I must know the necessity of training a new army now. However, I have to take the blame for the defeat.”

Li Jingfang said angrily: "If they hadn't been repeatedly hindering behind their backs, how could they have reached the point of today? Father, I'd have to fight them in this lawsuit."

The Qingliu in the court was simply a group of disasters.

They were the ones who instigated the Queen Mother to get money to build gardens, with the purpose of letting the emperor take charge of the government. Later, they were the ones who cut off the navy's allocation and stopped building ships, with the purpose of preventing Li Hongzhang from further enhancing his strength. Now that they are fighting, they have become masters of military tactics and are making plans. If you have any skills, go up and try it?

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and smiled, "Where can you call clearly? Forget it, don't mention them. Tell me about the situation you have recently investigated. It is true that Yang's family all came from Rizhao, Yizhou?"

Li Jingfang was slightly excited and nodded affirmatively: "As the secret report said, the so-called foreign goods sold in various parts of the country are mostly transported from Rizhao. Yang also operates a huge factory in the mountains outside the county, and has opened a port and a shipyard by the sea. The scale is so large that it is no less than that of the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau."

"Okay! It seems that this kid is really a little trick." Li Hongzhang slapped the table lightly, his eyes flashing. "When I was patrolling the coastal defense three years ago, Rizhao County was just a despicable fishing port, with more sailboats, but useless. Unexpectedly, after such a little time, he made such a sound. Well, in this way, the soldiers he used were also recruited by the local area?"

Li Jingfang replied: "It should be. As Yizhou Prefecture said, Yang Hao was the chief of training in the local regiment. At first, he thought he was just a few people to guard the house, but unexpectedly he really became an elite soldier, and even the Japanese army could not defeat him."

The excitement and appreciation in his words made Li Hongzhang very dissatisfied. He glared at him fiercely and shouted: "Have you ever seen a guard guard whose guns and cannons are several times sharper than the imperial army? Humph, he has a gunboat and has a strong talent and outstanding reputation. This is a rebellion!"

"Ah?!" Li Jingfang was startled by this comment and frowned, "It's not that right? Most of Yang Hao's foundation is now in Tianjin. Aren't he afraid that you will search his house and destroy his family in anger?"

Li Hongzhang sneered: "Just look at him, he never wants to leave his braids, and he has no respect for the court at all. You can tell what he wants. In addition, you also know his word "天天天天"! Humph, "天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天�

Yang Hao's name is called "Dingtian", but it only came to this world. Because of the tripod, it was called "Dingtian". It originally planned to be called "Dingtian", which means to transform the world. However, the name "Yang Dingtian" is really not very nice, so it was called "Dingshi".

Li Jingfang really calmed the old man's unconcealed murderous aura. Could it be that his father really had a murderous intention towards Yang Hao?

However, he was not happy to see such a bad result. Over the past few days, Li Jingfang has read almost a single article signed by "Huasheng". His understanding of various ideas and insights into the world and his careful analysis and argumentation of current affairs in the world have been incisive and amazing.

Although he hadn't officially met Yang Hao, in his heart, he had already regarded this young man in his twenties as a friend of his age. He was an actor who could truly open his eyes and see the real world with him and intend to devote himself to creating change.

Although Yang Hao is gradually showing great strength, Li Jingfang has not yet realized it. His intention to overthrow the Qing Dynasty's cholera world. More often, he feels that Yang Hao is like a person who wants to practice to promote national reform, rather than a reckless man like Hong Yang who only knows how to destroy but not build.

But he knew better that Li Hongzhang was a standard old literati, and he paid attention to the whole beginning and the end, and loyal ministers did not serve the two masters. Therefore, he had to work hard to stick to the Qing Dynasty, and he would not change his color until the day he died. At that time, the final conclusion was made. Li Hefei could not be able to get a posthumous title with the word "wen", which would be a perfect merit.

In this way, he will never allow anyone to destroy the good situation. Fighting between the court is another matter. Rebellion? But we must first see if the knife in Lord Li’s hand is sharp enough! (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, novels are better, updated and faster!

ps: Thank you for your book friend Chen Peng’s monthly ticket for 2011!
Chapter completed!