I decided to start the construction of the Beijing-Iran Railway. Who will leave this matter to the decision? It is difficult to decide for a moment. Yi Xin suggested that the British be responsible, but I refused. Yi Xin hesitated and proposed that the China Railway Company and the British be jointly built. I had an idea and suddenly remembered Zhan Tianyou. So I asked.

Yi Xin jumped and thought, "I vaguely remember this person. I also studied in the United States. I used to fight with legal persons in Fujian Navy. Later, I went to China Railway Company as chief engineer and asked him to do it. I thought it was feasible."

"Since that's the case, then let's make arrangements." Seeing Yi Xin still hesitating, she smiled and said, "Sixth Master, you are an old foreign affairs, but I want to correct your attitude. In this negotiation with foreigners, you must straighten your back and don't think that you are asking foreigners in everything, but you don't know that foreigners also ask you. So, take this railway as an example, how threats it is to the Russians and how good it is to the British. In this section, you can't just think about it.

The benefit of the Qing Dynasty was that I thought in my mind that we were asking the British to help us. If you think so first, it would be wrong. This is also the British who beg us, and we have to make a request to him! That is, the British must recognize my sovereignty in Tibet and no longer disturbing Tibet. This is what I will write into the treaty in the future. In short, Sixth Master, when doing diplomacy, you must not be arrogant, and secondly, you must not belittle yourself. Do you know?"

Yi Xin bowed and said, "I respectfully receive the holy teachings. If there is no other order, I will take my leave."

I nodded and let him go. But I sighed in my heart, this is China's top diplomatic talent, but in the future, how could I be more intelligent than Yi Xin?

As soon as this matter was assigned, I was going to go to Weihai. Li Hongzhang built a palace there early. In the future, I would stay in Weihai. As for the period of time of reviewing the navy, I would leave it to Prince Gong, Old Man Weng and Shiduo. Before leaving, I gave Shanqi Liu Guang the first secret decree to strictly guard against a dangerous person in the capital.

Since Zaifeng visited the Longqi Army camp with Gongsang Nolbu, he was also very interested in his trip to Weihai. When I went to Prince Chun's Mansion to say goodbye to the two old concubines, Zaifeng was also making a fuss to go together. Seeing his enthusiasm over the past few days, he seemed to have forgotten the young orchid of the Ronglu family. Hey, he is really a young man's heart, like the spring in an ancient city on the Yangtze River, like willow catkins flying away from your eyes, and it passed in a blink of an eye, leaving only the stuffy and heat like a stove.

I couldn't resist the child's enthusiasm, so I agreed. He was the Iron Hat Prince, and he was the younger brother of the current emperor, and his position was respected. The news spread, so naturally there was a lot of busyness.

In 1890 AD, on the first day of September of the 16th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's imperial steward set out from Beijing under the escort of the Qianfeng Camp and the Knight Camp, and headed for the Weihaiwei, Shandong, the headquarters of the Royal Navy of the Qing Dynasty. Along the way, the troops and horses of Shandong provinces naturally worked harder, and the official roads were endless.

He headed east along the way, passed Tianjin, and set up ribbon cutting for the Royal Bank of the Qing Dynasty. He appointed Sheng Xuanhuai as the first president. He arrived in Weihai three days later and stationed in the Acropolis. The palace was located on the seashore and across the sea, you could see Liugong Island. Not far from the palace, there were two Yijiao schools, which were resting and stopped. When he asked, he found out that these two Yijiao schools were built by former Beiyang Admiral Ding Ruchang and Weihaiwei Army Commander Dai Zongqian. He was generous to the two.

Therefore, when I think of the revitalization of education, I have a long way to go.

Sheng Xuanhuai, the first president of the Royal Bank of the Qing Dynasty, naturally arrived in Weihai. I summoned Li Hongzhang and the current naval admiral Ding Ruchang, and handed over the symbolic large silver notes of 45 million taels to Sheng Xuanhuai in front of them: "The silver of the Royal Navy will be deposited in the Royal Bank. Li Zhongtang has worked hard to run the navy. In the past few years, the money was tight, and I didn't have a good idea. Now I am a little more abundant, so I will make up for the navy. Li Zhongtang is good at using it to run the navy for me."

The two of them thanked each other. I smiled and said, "I'm afraid this palace has spent a lot of money? I'm afraid I can buy one or two iron armored ships, right?", with a look of pity on his face. Li Hongzhang immediately understood and knelt down with Ding Ruchang and apologized: "Reply to the emperor, in order to prepare for the emperor's military parade, I specially asked Weng Zhongtang for two million taels of special funds, and I used them all in the palace. The emperor came in person, but I dare not ignore it, so I also asked the emperor to forgive me."

I sighed, shook my head and said, "I felt a pity in private when the Empress Dowager Lao Fu used money to build a garden. I often thought how good it would be if the money was used on the navy... But I didn't expect that Li Zhongtang, Li Zhongtang, if the navy was slightly delayed in the future, your loyalty today would be a rumor."

Li Hongzhang's face became more and more frightened. Ding Ruchang seemed to want to say something, but he didn't dare to speak.

I looked at him, let them get up, and said, "I am not going to punish you. You spend money on my residence, and I cannot help but remember your loyalty. Maybe you feel that I have brought another silver today, and it is nothing to spend some money to the emperor, haha, it is not wrong to think so. But two lords, my navy and coastal defense are all in the hands of you. You must always remember that every ounce of silver you spend is the wealth of the people of the people. I can't bear to squander it. You must be worthy of this silver."

Seeing their appearance, the situation was quite awkward, so he changed the topic and asked about the end of the military parade in the next few days. Li Hongzhang made arrangements and held a banquet in the palace tomorrow to entertain the supervisor and lead the above officials and foreign personnel to teach. He moved to Liugong Island the next day to watch the live military exercises at sea, and returned to Beijing the next day.

I nodded and said yes, but I was thinking about the arrangements of the personnel. Ding Ruchang could no longer let him be the naval commander. He could still do it on land, but the old methods on land cannot be used on land. Foreign staff teacher Lang Weili should be promoted to build a general staff department, so that he could be the chief of staff and the chief training chief. Later, based on the negotiation results between Yi Xin and the British, he would supplement the naval foreign staff teaching and enrich the staff and the personnel in the training command.

Historically, the supply and training of the Beiyang Navy's ammunition was often not guaranteed. In response to this, I specifically instructed Li Hongzhang to build an ammunition factory on his own, introduce production lines and provide guidance to foreigners, and this matter should also be submitted to Prince Gong and the British for discussion.

It was still early, so I walked to the slope platform near the sea with Li Hongzhang and others. Looking at the Liugong Island Military Port at the end of my vision, I could still see the dotted naval berths, which was refreshing. (Note: I have never been to the north, and I don’t know if I can see Liugong Island on the beach of Weihai? If you have any friends, please give me some advice so that I can modify it in time to avoid making a laugh.)

I pointed to Liu Gongdao and said, "The Navy is the focus of my efforts at present. Don't let my heart down, my dear friends down. The Navy is actually commanded by Ding Junmen?"

Li Hongzhang responded to the promise, and Ding Ruchang bowed and said, "I will definitely live up to the emperor's kindness, clear the sea border for the emperor, and protect our Qing Dynasty's sea portal." Kong Wu spoke with great strength and extraordinary momentum.

I nodded and looked at Ding Ruchang with a smile and said, "Ding Junmen will work harder, I will promote you in the near future, haha, be prepared."

Ding Ruchang thanked me and looked at me in surprise.
Chapter completed!