In the first-class luxury box of the special express train from Pukou to Lianyungang, there were passengers: one was Lieutenant Colonel Lucas. Sitting opposite him was an old gentleman with a bald head. He was the British Consulate in Shanghai.

Consul General Sir Francis Farais; the other one is the new Chief Tax Officer Mellor who will go to Beijing to take up a post. At this time, he is sitting there very humbly.//www.//

As we all know, he was able to serve as the General Taxation Department on the one hand because the Beijing government used a tough attitude to dismiss his predecessor Anglian. Later, unknown to the British, he was appointed as the General Taxation Department. His appointment was first made by Beijing.

The appointment was made by the State Council, and it was made when China said it would no longer consider others. In fact, although London was not very satisfied with Merlot's appointment, it could only accept it in the end. The Chinese still abide by the treaty-bound "

Tradition".

Along the way, Lieutenant Colonel Lucas, the naval attaché, still kept complaining to Sir Farais, always expressing his extreme dissatisfaction with his sudden trip to Lianyungang at this time. You know, he had just met Lady Alice.

, hooked up with an extremely wealthy widow, and they were having a heated fight. He didn't want Mrs. Alice to fall into the arms of someone else when he left.

"Tell me, why should we go to Lianyungang?"

Lieutenant Colonel Lucas complained to the Consul General,

"Is it because of the invitation from the Chinese? If he wants to see us, he should go to Shanghai to see us instead of asking us to leave Shanghai and come to Lianyungang! What do you think? Mr. General Taxation Department!"

Seeing that Lucas mentioned himself, Merle He just said humbly.

"I think you have your own opinion, Lieutenant Colonel."

Apparently Merlot understood the meaning of his words very clearly. He and Lucas contradicted each other because the Beijing government's toughness in dismissing Anglian made him realize that as an "employee of the Chinese government", the Chinese

It still controls its future and destiny. If the Chinese government takes a tough stance, then London will eventually have no choice but to accept it, no matter how unwilling it is.

In the confrontation with the Chinese government, Anglian ultimately failed. The reason for his failure was very simple. He thought that the minister and London would be on his side, but what he did not expect was that neither the minister nor London

In the end, "China" needs to be taken into consideration. In the end, Anglian was not even able to secure a decent retirement. Instead, he was dismissed "due to lack of ability" in an extremely humiliating manner. There was even news that if it had not been for Minister Zhu Erdian's many

He begged for mercy, fearing that the Chinese government would come up with more embarrassing reasons to fire him.

On the day he was dismissed, under the "lobbying" of the embassy, ​​Anglian left the capital and sailed directly from Tianjin to leave China. China cannot tolerate "foreign employees who serve the interests of other countries." Anglian's experience

This undoubtedly sounded a wake-up call for Merle, and he had already made up his mind to keep his profile as low as possible when he arrived in Beijing. He would wait and see before making a decision. When Lucas complained about the State Council, he naturally would not

Interjection, who knows if there is an informant from the State Council on this train.

"Lieutenant Colonel Lucas!"

Sir Farais, who was originally reading the outdated "The Times" brought by the cruise ship, suddenly put down the newspaper and stared at Lucas. He was sitting opposite the lieutenant colonel. Originally, he seemed to be confused about everything.

I wasn't interested at all, and I only read the "The Times" which was lagging behind by at least a month after being transported by the cruise ship.

"Sometimes, we have to understand our place!"

"Location? Mr. Consul General"

Lieutenant Colonel Lucas obviously did not understand the meaning behind the Consul General's words, so he continued.

"In the past, didn't we always wait for the Chinese to visit us? Why are we so obedient to their arrangements now? Even"

"Lieutenant Colonel, I don't know,"

After unpacking the newspaper in his hand and placing it on the table, Sir Fales replied gently.

"How did you graduate from the Royal Naval College, but I do know that your behavior at this time means that you are unlikely to become a successful naval officer. I think that in due course I will convey this to the Admiralty.

My rating!”

The Consul General's words only surprised the Lieutenant Colonel at first, and then he gritted his teeth and sighed. He knew that this was by no means Sir Fales threatening him. If he decided to do this, then he would definitely do it.

Just when Lucas became extremely embarrassed, Merlehe suddenly said to Sir Falais:

"Sir, I think Lieutenant Colonel Lucas is right about one thing?"

Fa Leisi glanced at Mei Lehe curiously. Mei Lehe said to him again:

"At least, we still don't know why Mr. Li Zicheng suddenly came to Lianyungang without any news before, and why he invited us to Lianyungang."

Of course, I'm just dropping by, but you two... looking at Falei Si, Merle and Yu, who were rescuing Lieutenant Colonel Lucas, thought in their hearts, going to Lianyun, he was just stopping by to have a chat with the Prime Minister before arriving in the capital.

A meeting, but Fareisi and Lucas were different. They only went to Lianyungang after receiving the invitation.

"And designated Lieutenant Colonel Lucas!"

But surprisingly, Consul General Fareisi not only said nothing, but turned to look at Lieutenant Colonel Lucas and asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel, where did you go to military academy?"

Obviously this is another question without any meaning.

"At the Royal Naval Academy."

"Have you ever attended an officer's school, but you don't know under what circumstances the Congress would invite a naval officer from another country to go to this area? Lieutenant Colonel, an excellent naval officer is not just an officer, he must also be an officer.

You are an extremely outstanding diplomat, but unfortunately, I really can’t see that you have any qualities in you!”

After sighing, Fareis turned to look at Merle and said, ignoring Lieutenant Colonel Lucas' chest color which became extremely embarrassing.

"Mr. Chief Taxation Department, can't you see how Mr. Li Zicheng calculated his plans?"

Falles had a playful smile on his face, as if he was laughing at Merlot for not being "honest" enough.

"Your Excellency, you mean that he wants to put pressure on us?"

"At least, this possibility is very high!"

Picking up the teacup on the small table, Fareis said in an uncertain tone.

"After the Japanese naval fleet suffered a devastating blow, the Chinese salvaged the sunken warships. They used the main guns of the warships to build a new fortress in Lianyungang, and at the same time strengthened the Qingdao Fortress. It can be said that now China, the most

The solid fortresses are Lianyungang and Qingdao controlled by Li Zicheng. If we calculate the time, if the prediction is correct, they want to show us their fortresses to remind us that they have certain strength."

"Your Excellency, the Chinese have also salvaged Japanese warships and have transported them to the dock for repairs——"

Lieutenant Colonel Lucas said with great disapproval.

"Oh, they salvaged it, of course, but how long will it take them to repair those warships? Obviously, you think too highly of the Chinese. Warships are not different from cargo ships. They can make those simple warships like cans.

cargo ship, but it is impossible to repair those two battleships in a short period of time, Lieutenant Commander Lucas."

He glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Lucas with contempt. He had no good impression of Lieutenant Colonel Fales. In his eyes, Lucas was simply a stupid pig who only knew how to get under women's skirts.

"Although building a warship is dozens of times more complicated than building a cargo ship, in fact, if they can quickly build a merchant ship, then they can also quickly repair any damaged warship! Sir."

Next, Lieutenant Colonel Lucas started talking about some common sense that a naval officer needs to have, some common sense about repairing warships. Perhaps he realized that Sir Farais was contemptuous of him, so he used his professional common sense to fight against him.

Protect your own dignity, your dignity as an officer.

Finally, Lieutenant Colonel Lucas made a gesture.

"Now, since they can build those merchant ships quickly, they can repair those warships in a matter of seconds. That's all I'm going to say."

While Lieutenant Colonel Lucas was speaking, Sir Farais had already picked up the newspaper and looked at it intently, completely ignoring his explanation. Seeing the Consul General’s indifferent attitude, Lieutenant Colonel Lucas turned as white as

He snorted inwardly as he opened the paper, and a strong look of dissatisfaction suddenly appeared on his face.

In this regard, Mei Lehe could only smile, and Fareis was still the same as in the past. He didn't even bother to deal with people he didn't like.

Lieutenant Colonel Lucas glanced at Sir Farais who was reading the newspaper again, and then he left the carriage. He went to the aisle and smoked a cigarette. After a while, a very kind face appeared.

The face appeared in front of him.

"Hello, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel——"

"Um……"

Snorting angrily, Lucas saw that the Chinese could actually speak English, so he complained to him:

"Do you believe it? There are always some idiots in this world!"

"Yes, there are idiots all the time, so we have to learn to get used to it."

As soon as he saw how this man agreed with him, Lucas immediately started chatting with this Chinese man who could speak English. After the conversation, the two seemed to have something in common quickly, and Lucas's original bad mood also disappeared.

Much soothing.

"Friend, I have a question for you."

Nodding, the man just smiled.

"Looking at this matter, who do you think is more correct?"

Before that, Lucas had already told the argument between himself and Fareisi, and he looked at the other party with some expectation.

"I think that in this case, the gentleman should take the advice of professionals, because they understand the nature of the matter better, what do you think? Mr. Lucas!"

Half an hour later, Lucas, who was in a good mood, lit his cigarette again. After saying goodbye to the Chinese named Song Mingchuan, he then walked into the luxury box again. At this time, he was looking forward to arriving in Lianyungang as soon as possible.

Looking forward to proving my guess there.

The No. 1 dock of Yingyumen Shipyard is an open-air dock. At this time, there is a newly painted warship parked in the dock. The battleship's painting is German-style iron gray. In the dock, hundreds of people Workers are using cranes to remove wood such as roof timbers. On this brand-new warship, hundreds of sailors are making final preparations for launching.

Standing at the edge of the dock, Shen Honglie, who was wearing a blue-gray "Army and Navy" uniform, had a look of pride on his face at this time. He had been ostracized in the Navy Department and had no chance of boarding the ship. Otherwise, he would not have served in the Ministry of War. But now, he has not only boarded the ship, but also became the captain of China's first combat ship "Dinghai".

Although this battleship is an old salvaged ship, it is enough. After Beiyang, China has no navy. The current total tonnage of the navy is not even as much as the "Pinghai", let alone the "Dinghai" in the same pole. Number.

"·I think their naval guns seem to be unified!"

Looking at the battleship, Shen Honglie asked Xiao Baoheng next to him. He always had some gratitude in his heart for this junior student. The reason was very simple. He gave up the position of commander of the "Jiangsu Army Marine Corps" to Xiao Baoheng. As the "nominal leader of the naval students studying in Japan", he willingly served as the captain of the Pinghai.

"Sir, you don't know. Although the Kawachi-class is Japan's first most fearless class battleship. Although the Kawachi-class is equipped with a unified 12-inch naval gun, it actually has two different barrel lengths, 45 times and 50 times the diameter. Originally Japan thinks that it is just to save some money. The price of each i main gun is 2.37 million yen, which is 50,000 yen more than the price. A twin turret costs 850,000 yen more, which is equivalent to the price of one gun. , Therefore, the Hanoi class adopts an arrangement of 45 times the left and right side guns and 50 times the front and rear centerline. During the repair at the shipyard, the Vickers 50 times and the Japanese 45 times 12-inch guns were used. The naval guns were directly dismantled and replaced with unified 50-caliber 4-year-old 30-centimeter naval guns!"
To be continued...