Another morning, Ye Zhikui walked out of the cabin and walked to the deck of the "Dingyuan", stretched his waist, smelled the fishy smell of the sea breeze, and watched the fleet slowly sail forward, causing waves to roll, and groups of seagulls passed by the fleet from time to time. At this moment, Ye Zhikui felt so calm, thinking, it would be great if there was no war in this world.

"Congyun, why did you get up so early? Don't you have a rest for a while?" Deng Shichang walked over with a clean dress and walked over in high spirits.

Ye Zhikui turned around and smiled bitterly: "I am not as good as Brother Deng, I can sleep uncomfortable on this warship."

Deng Shichang laughed at himself: "That's right, Dingyuan is my second home."

Ye Zhikui's eyes turned, and suddenly changed the topic intentionally or unintentionally, and asked Deng Shichang: "Now the capital is making a big fuss about reform. Lord Lafayette, the emperor uses all means. I heard that Kang Youwei submitted a memorial to ask for the system bureau. The emperor was very happy and kept urging the ministers to agree. The emperor is trying to remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot and undermine Lord Lafayette. Brother Deng, who do you prefer?"

Deng Shichang was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting Ye Zhikui to suddenly ask such a serious question. He paused for a moment before smiling and replied: "It doesn't matter to us Beiyang Navy. Whoever can support us will support us!"

When Ye Zhikui heard this, he joked: "If this is the case, my money for selling opium will be enough to support the Beiyang Navy. Then, wouldn't Brother Deng support me instead?"

Deng Shichang said meaningfully: "No one can tell what happens in the future. If Congyun, you really have this heart, so what if I, Deng Shichang, support you."

Then Deng Shichang looked around and whispered: "The current imperial court has long been disappointing. Since Zhongtang retreated from the position of Beiyang minister, our navy's silver court can be delayed if it can be. He has become a person that grandma doesn't love and uncle doesn't love. If it weren't for some smuggling work from time to time, Brother Wei really doesn't know how to maintain it. Congyun, you are another great talent in Beiyang after Zhongtang. In the future, Brother Wei of Beiyang will still be optimistic about you and hope you can go further."

Ye Zhikui could not have imagined that the Beiyang Navy would be so difficult. He asked in disguise: "Our Beiyang Navy is also the strongest naval fleet in the Qing Dynasty. The court would not treat each other like this, would he destroy the Great Wall by itself?"

Deng Shichang's mouth twitched and said, "That's Congyun, you never understand the Qing Dynasty's officialdom. Although the imperial court has silver pulled out every year, after the princes and ministers in the capital, it is only enough to pay military salaries in his brother. The situation was fine before, but at least Li Zhongtang attached importance to our Beiyang and asked the court for money and food from time to time. Now after Ronglu came to power, he knew nothing about the Navy. He didn't know that the Navy had to keep spending silver to maintain his combat power. He would rather spend ten taels of silver on the Army than spend one tael more on the Navy."

Ye Zhikui felt a little embarrassed. This may be because he cried to Ronglu every day for money to ask for money, which made Ronglu neglect the navy.

Deng Shichang continued: "Last time I asked the court to buy a new warship for my brother, Lord Rong actually said that the Beiyang Navy was not as good as the top and was more than the bottom, and was enough to dominate East Asia. However, no matter how many warships were bought, it was impossible to be better than the Western countries, so it would be better not to buy them and spend the money on the army. The eldest brother was so angry at that time that he almost started arguing with Lord Rong."

Ye Zhikui's eyes rolled again and sighed: "Now the court is in internal and external troubles, the people are living in poverty, and they are losing their hearts. I am very worried as the admiral of Zhili. Brother, you say, if a Han person proposes to revive the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, Brother Deng, do you think that as a Han person, is a butcher knife in the hands of the court, or is it better to watch it on the wall?"

Deng Shichang smiled cunningly after hearing this and said, "This is to ask Congyun, your own heart. I believe Congyun will not choose either of these two paths, but there is another path."

Ye Zhikui laughed and said, "Brother, you are really good at joking, but I heard that most soldiers in the navy are dissatisfied with the court, and some even say such words as overthrowing the court. It seems that the headache should be you, brother, not the blessing general of the country who has always been loyal to the court."

Deng Shichang smiled in his heart and said: Congyun, you have tried me repeatedly. If Congyun is loyal, then the Qing Dynasty will not be able to find a second unfaithful person. However, the Qing Dynasty has been in the pass for many years, and now it seems that it is about to be exhausted. I, Deng Shichang, only hopes to keep the navy fleet in troubled times. I, Congyun, can do it well.

Deng Shichang and Ye Zhikui each had their own thoughts, and they were silent for a moment, and had nothing to say.

Just when Deng Shichang and Ye Zhikui were speechless, on the lookout platform of the "Dingyuan" was a navy officer and soldier looking around boredly in front of the telescope. Three black smoke suddenly appeared in the horizon in the distance. The lookout hand looked carefully and found that it was three warships, all with German flags flying. He didn't care about his thoughts, and the lookout hand quickly sounded the alarm bell.

After the alarm sounded, the officers and soldiers on the Dingyuan ship immediately became busy. The first lieutenant of the manager came to report to Deng Shichang for a while. Deng Shichang heard that a German fleet was coming, so he looked at Ye Zhikui and said, "Let's go back to the captain's room."

Ye Zhikui followed Deng Shichang into the captain's room. Seeing that it was already busy inside, the messenger ran around. After Deng Shichang entered the door, he ordered the Beiyang Fleet to enter an emergency combat readiness state.

Then the first lieutenant reported to him carefully and said, "The Admiral is three warships of the German Far East Fleet. Now he is approaching our Beiyang Navy without any rush. It seems that they have seen us too."

Deng Shichang had originally closed his eyes and listened to the report, but suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Send my order to prepare for battle to the ships, and send a signal to ask the German fleet to stop advancing."

The first mate hurriedly took the order and left. Soon, the entire fleet formed a V-shaped battle echelon and drove forward.

On the flagship of the German Far East Fleet, the captain Ultraman was standing on the bridge, holding a telescope and looking at more than ten warships of the Beiyang Navy. There was no trace of worry and fear on his face. However, the first mate next to him was a little worried and said, "General, the Beiyang Navy fleet in the Qing Dynasty is too strong. The other party sent a signal asking us to stop moving forward. Should we stop moving forward first?"

Ultraman touched his beard and shook his head and said, "There is no war between China and Germany. Now, the Imperial fleet can sail in this place, as long as we don't fire first. I believe that the Qing fleet would not dare to fire. I send my orders to all ships, ignore the signals from the Qing people, and continue to rush over and show the Imperial Navy's technology to those yellow-skinned monkeys."

"Yes, general." The first mate quickly saluted and responded. Not only did the three German ships not slowed down, but also accelerated their speed and rushed forward.

In the captain's room of the "Dingyuan" , Deng Shichang and Ye Zhikui were watching the three German fleets coming in a serious manner, neither firing nor stopping. Even Ye Zhikui, the idiot in the water battle, could be seen that if the normal speed was at this normal speed, both sides would be hit in more than ten minutes.

Whether to give up or not is a question. If not, who will be responsible for the end of the collision? If it is given up, just three German warships actually let more than ten Chinese warships give way to him. If it is spread, the Beiyang Navy will definitely become a joke in the navy.

The messenger was waiting for his order. Deng Shichang gritted his teeth, raised his hand, breathed out, and said, "Flagship Fires Warning!"

Ye Zhikui felt nervous, he wouldn't just fight like this.

With a "boom", the main gun of the Dingyuan ship spewed out a long flame, and the shell landed not far from the "Mini" and stirred up a long splash of water.

"General, the Dingyuan of the Qing Dynasty fired, what should we do? Do we have to fight back?" The first mate hurriedly ran to ask Ultraman.

Ultraman took off his glasses, wiped them gently, and said, "Don't be nervous, my young man, this is just an enemy's warning to us. We don't have to pay attention to it, and don't fire a gun and fight back, but keep moving forward."

"Yes!" The first mate admired the old general very much, but he was not worried at all.

On the Dingyuan, the messenger looked at Deng Shichang again. The German warship was already very close. If he didn't let go, time would be too late. Deng Shichang's face was unstable. In the end, he still defeated his emotions rationally and said with hatred: "Tele the messenger, let go of a channel!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Deng Shichang fell down as if he had used all his strength, looking at Ye Zhikui and said, "Congyun, am I enduring humiliation or am I afraid of the enemy and not daring to fight?"

Ye Zhikui hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up, comforting: "Brother Deng, your choice is right. The country is strong and weak, so you can only let the foreign fleet rush around our waters. Believe me, one day we will drive these robbers away."

Deng Shichang looked at Ye Zhikui's firm eyes and covered his hands tightly and said, "I believe in you, Congyun."

The "Mini" ship, "Antelope" and "William" shipped through the entire fleet with great might, under the evasion of more than a dozen Qing warships. If they stood on the deck, they could even see the arrogant gestures of the German sailors. When they heard the arrogant laughter of the German sailors, the navy officers and soldiers on the Beiyang warships were about to spit out fire, and everyone clenched their fists.

Ye Zhikui patted Deng Shichang's shoulder, looked calm and said, "Don't worry! Brother Deng, just watch how you avenge you."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Chapter completed!