Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

Of course Xiao Ran was stalling for time, with the rescue skills of the special forces, as long as he can survive now, he should have a chance.But he sneered and said, "Believe it or not. I just don't want to watch the Chinese kill each other in front of foreign devils!"

"What did you say?" Lai Dingzhong was stunned again.

"I think what I said should be very clear." Xiao Ran looked directly at Lai Dingzhong, his gaze was like a torch, and he spoke in a deep voice.

Lai Laosan, Xu Shichang and I are on your boat today, hoping to recruit you, not for anything else, but because you have beaten foreign devils in the past!China is known as a magnificent dynasty. From ancient times to the present, there are many heroes and heroes. However, in the face of foreign invasion and the two Opium Wars, they were completely defeated.A mere tens of thousands of foreign devils can sweep away millions of soldiers in China. Why?Just because we are out of sync!Officers, long-haired, twisted bandits, locks, pirates... including you, Lai Laosan, everyone is fighting on their own, you are fighting for each other, they are all brothers and sisters, but they want to fight each other, fight to the death, No matter how many soldiers and horses there are, how can they be undefeated? "

"I..." Lai Dingzhong was tongue-tied, and couldn't help but took two steps back.

After a pause, Xiao Ran said again: "Now, the pirates are on the island in front of us. The foreign bandits have not been conquered, but my own family is fighting with each other. It's ironic! Say I want to save you, say It doesn't matter if I'm delaying time, I, Xiao Ran, don't have the kind of heart to let you kill me and not let my subordinates take revenge. But even if I want to fight or kill, it shouldn't be here, under the noses of those Japanese thieves! I can't lose Xiao Ran Speaking of that person, I can't even lose the face of my ancestors! That's all I said, whether you want to beheaded or not, it's up to you, the third child!"

Lai Dingzhong's face turned red and white, he held back for a long time, then suddenly he let out a loud roar, like a thunderbolt for a long time, shaking everyone's eardrums to ring.I saw him take a step forward, snatched the plank knife with his hands, and chopped it down with a single blow.Xiao Ran closed his eyes, and thought to himself: It's over, if I knew this guy would not resist, why not use the second plan...

laugh!With a soft sound, the rope on Xiao Ran's body broke into several pieces.Lai Dingzhong threw the plank knife, helped Xiao Ran up, and then fell to his knees with a thump, with a thud, the shaking deck seemed to tremble.The surrounding pirates were taken aback for a moment, and then fell to their knees with a plop.

Xiao Ran quickly went to help Lai Dingzhong, and said, "What is the meaning of the third master?"

Lai Dingzhong refused to get up, kowtowed his head three times before clasping his fists and said: "Don't say anything! I have lived 43 years in vain, and today I realize that I have lived in vain. I am so ashamed! The third son just now It is an unforgivable crime to offend the adults with blind eyes! But I hope that the adults will spare the life of the third child, so that I can follow you to fight the foreign devils! I swear by the third child: From tonight, the two thousand brothers of the Feiyu Gang, To accept the recruitment, only the adults will follow suit, but with one sentence, you will go up the mountain of swords and down the pan of oil, and you will be smashed to pieces, and you will do whatever you want!"

Without waiting for Xiao Ran to speak, he turned over, jumped up, and shouted at the people on the boat: "Did you hear that? From now on, my lord will be the leader of our Flying Fish Gang. Anyone who dares to disobey orders, I will chop him up now!"

All the minions said in unison: "Listen to your lord's orders!"

Xiao Ran finally put his heart back into his stomach, couldn't help but secretly wiped off his cold sweat, and called out luck.

Everyone was happy, Lai Dingzhong ordered people to rearrange the banquet, and also found the leaders of other ships to accompany the wine.Xu Shichang was released at this time, and when he saw Lai Dingzhong, he punched him down.Xiao Ran hurriedly persuaded him, but Lai Dingzhong laughed and said, "You should be beaten, you should be beaten! Who told you that the third child's eyeballs grew to his ass!" Everyone laughed, and the misunderstanding disappeared immediately.

Xiao Ran ordered people to find Sheng Zuo and Duan Xingnian, gathered together, and had a drink.This meal of wine lasted until the third watch, and then they went back to the boat. They made an appointment to have a good time at Dagong Island the next day.After a hasty sleep, on the second day, Xiao Ran's fleet was in the east and the Flying Fish Gang was in the west. With the sound of a cannon, both sides launched a fierce attack on the Japanese pirates on Grand Duke Island.

Since this group of pirates was killed by Xu Shichang, most of the elite were killed, and the remaining soldiers and ships were insignificant. How could they withstand the joint attack of two well-equipped fleets?After a violent shelling, the forts on the shore completely misfired.The pirates unfurled a white flag, Xiao Ran took the opportunity to order the troops to land, and after disarming, all the prisoners were killed.You must know that these Japanese thieves never leave their mouths alive when they capture captives, and it is only natural that they treat them in their own way.

Because this is a group of large pirates who have plundered for many years, there are really not many treasures on the island.Food, weapons and various supplies are not counted, the real gold and silver alone is more than [-] taels.In addition, there are countless antique treasures.

The team joined forces on the island, and simply took a three-day holiday to drink and have fun.There are many women who have been robbed here on the island. The Chinese are going to ship them back to their country. Fend for itself.

Three days later, the materials and silver were loaded onto the ship, and the two fleets merged into one and headed for Lushun Port.So far, the fleet has expanded to four heavy battleships, fifteen cruisers, more than ten three-masted clippers, and two steamships.The strength of this fleet is unprecedentedly strong for the Qing Dynasty.Looking at the blue sea and blue sky from the side of the boat, Xiao Ran's blood boiled in his chest.

♂ Volume 8 in the harem ♀

→Chapter 154 - The Sword←

The team came back triumphantly, but an embarrassing incident happened. When they entered Lushun Port, officials of all sizes in the port, including soldiers, thought it was foreign devils who came to them. They hurriedly packed up the gold and silver, and ran away. Slip, [-]% of the Lushun navy with more than [-] people has run away. Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, there is only one airport left in the whole.Lai Dingzhong said angrily: "My lord, look, they say I can't trust these sons of bitches, and we even specially hung up the dragon flag, don't they even have the guts to stand up and see clearly? Such cowards , is also worthy of being called a soldier?"

Instead of being angry, Xiao Ran laughed out loud, patted Xu Shichang on the shoulder and said, "I was thinking about how to kick Lushun's saliva master admiral here, but this guy is quite winking. Seeing Brother Xu come back triumphantly, let him go first." The seat is here!"

Everyone laughed and moored the boat ashore.Those equipments and Japanese craftsmen were all brought ashore, and they happened to be settled in the original navy camp, and Lai Dingzhong's Flying Fish Gang took care of them.Considering the importance of these craftsmen's equipment, and the lack of land combat capabilities and firearms equipment of the Flying Fish Gang brothers, Xiao Ran ordered Duan Xingnian and Cheng Tong to lead a squadron to stay and take on the role of security.Ji Habu and Oroqen's brothers also stayed here, so that the safety of Lushun Port is absolutely safe.

Sheng Zuo was very strange about Xiao Ran's decision, he didn't understand why he was so nervous, he was making a fuss out of a molehill.In fact, Cheng Tong and others also thought so, but after Xiao Ran made another decision, everyone suddenly realized.

Xiao Ran asked Rolto to stay, and ordered his people to return to Beijing immediately to collect all the experimental equipment.Blacksmith Li San and the original team of the Daxingshan Factory also moved here, and at the same time wrote a letter to the Ministry of Industry. The foreigner, Dai Tong, arranged for the production of new firearms at hand, and then brought his research and development team here.

This series of actions is enough to show that Xiao Ran is planning to set up a secret military base in Lushun that integrates production, research and development, and experiments!The original new firearm research and development technology, coupled with these Japanese craftsmen and equipment, this kind of technical strength can be said to be the top in the world.Everyone felt elated.But there are still some things I don't understand.As an important military base.Why not set it inland, but put it in a coastal port?

Xu Shichang's heart moved, and he asked Xiao Ran, "My lord, do you have any good ideas for naval battles?"

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Xiao Ran smiled slightly and said, "That's right, I have a good idea." He took out a piece of paper from his sleeve.Spreading it on the table, he said, "I've been thinking about this thing for the past few days, and I simply drew a picture. Let's see, if we use this thing for naval battles, will it be effective?"

Everyone looked up and saw that the ground on the paper was a long cylindrical object with a semicircular head.Nothing special.It's just that a fin-like tail is added at the end.After looking up and down for a long time, I felt confused.Xu Shichang said: "There is a rudder plate at the back, which should be used in the water. But it looks very strange. Why is it round? Is it a new type of warship? No, there are no shooting holes, and there is no mast!"

Cheng Tong was proficient in all kinds of firearms, and he was the first to see the way. He said, "My lord, my subordinates are guessing: Is this the Underwater Dragon King Cannon?"

The underwater Dragon King Cannon he mentioned refers to the ancient mines.Xiao Ran gave a thumbs up in approval, and said: "As expected of our firearms expert! This thing is similar to a mine, but the difference is that it can quickly navigate in the water by itself and use it to attack the opponent's ships. I named this thing , called a torpedo, what?"

"Torpedo?" Everyone thought it was new, even Xu Shichang, who was familiar with naval warfare, was very surprised, scratched his head, and said: "I know torpedoes, the Dutch red-haired and Russians used them earlier, and the Qing army also had them, but they are powerful." It’s not big. However, as the adults said, this kind of torpedo that can sail quickly in the water by itself, I have never heard of it. Without sails and paddles, how to sail?”

No wonder he didn't know that as an important weapon in naval warfare, the torpedo was first launched by the Austro-Hungarian Empire two years later, in 1864 AD. =.

The predecessor of this torpedo was the "pole mine" born in the early nineteenth century. As the name suggests, a long wooden pole was fixed to the bow of the boat, and explosives were tied to the front end.When fighting, drive a small boat to rush towards the enemy ship and trigger the explosives to achieve the attack effect. In 1864, a captain of the Austro-Hungarian Empire installed a piston engine with compressed air on the pole mine to drive the propeller to propel the mine body into the water to attack enemy ships. This was the earliest torpedo prototype in history.

However, due to the inefficiency of the air compression engine, this torpedo has low speed, short range, and poor controllability. Therefore, this invention did not attract military attention.

their attention.It was not until 1866 that the British engineer Robert Huai invented and improved the horizontal rudder plate at the tail of the torpedo with a hydraulic valve to control the depth of the torpedo. This attack weapon was officially named torpedo (because it looks like fish's sake).

In 1887, a Russian warship sent two # to a Turkish ship.It was sunk, the first time in the history of naval warfare that a ship was sunk by a torpedo.Subsequently, countries began to follow suit, and by the First World War, torpedoes had evolved into one of the most threatening attack weapons for the navy.The torpedo has a high hit rate, a large charge, and amazing destructive power. A single torpedo hit is enough to sink a warship of thousands of tons, which can be called a sharp sword at sea.And what Xiao Ran has to do now is to unsheath this sharp sword half a century ahead of schedule on the Chinese sea!

The reason why he chose the torpedo was not because of Xiao Ran's whim.You must know that the construction of a heavy warship is definitely not a one-year or two-year effort, but it will take at least three to five years if you have top-level technical force, and that doesn't include naval drills.For such a long time, even if Xiao Ran has the patience to wait, it is impossible for Britain, France and other big powers to sit back and watch China grow stronger step by step.Instead of being beaten passively, it is better to strike first!

As far as the current naval power is concerned, China has a total of four battleships and fifteen cruise ships, most of which are from the Japanese.It is a little tight to deal with the British fleet alone, not to mention the major powers such as France and the United States. In order to protect their interests in the Far East, no country will stand by and intervene in the event of a war.At that time, the Chinese fleet will face a powerful enemy that is several times larger than itself!

If the number of warships is insufficient, it has to make up for it from weapons.Xiao Ran's intention is very clear: while researching and developing torpedoes, he organizes craftsmen to refit the existing ships of the Daqingshui Division, and strives to arm the Daqingshui Division to the teeth before the war comes.

With his thinking, the research and development of mines is not difficult. It should be relatively easy for Cheng Tong, Dai Tong, and Li San to design mines.The biggest problem is the power system of the torpedo. China currently does not have an air compression engine, let alone a heat engine.The only feasible way is to use the more common electric torpedoes in later generations, that is, to use batteries to drive electric motors and drive propellers as power.This requires Rolto to improve the copper primary battery and develop high-speed electric motors.

Later generations of electric torpedoes used lead-acid batteries or silver batteries, with a speed of more than 40, and because there was no gas discharge like thermal torpedoes, there would be no navigation trajectory during the attack process, and the concealment was excellent.However, with the current technical strength, it is still impossible to manufacture such an advanced battery. Using copper batteries will undoubtedly reduce the power slightly.But in theory, two sets of large copper batteries can break through at least 20 knots.This was enough to form a fatal blow for a warship powered by sails at the time!

In addition to torpedoes, the research and development of naval mines is also necessary.This thing was first invented by the Chinese hundreds of years ago. It has the characteristics of good concealment and low cost. It is an excellent weapon for blocking waterways.In addition, the improvement of shipboard artillery was also put on the agenda. This is because the requirements for artillery in naval warfare are different from those in land warfare. Long-range shooting generally has extremely low accuracy, and the projectiles are smaller in size and less powerful.In order to make up for this defect, the common practice, including British ships, is to change the long guns to short guns, increase the specifications of the shells, and increase the power at the expense of the range. Generally, the distance of naval battles is close combat within [-] yards.

For China, which possesses high explosives, one can imagine how amazing the power of artillery will be.

As a military base, barracks alone are obviously not enough.This issue was handed over to Duan Xingnian to organize manpower to build the factory.Japanese craftsmen were separated from equipment, and those related to shipbuilding and military affairs stayed in Lushun, transported back to Beijing for him, and handed over to Zhang Zhidong for the preparation of new factories.

The admiral of the navy who escaped was called Liao Zhongyi, he had a good name, but this person couldn't be compared with Zhongyi at all.Xiao Ran told Duan Xingnian how many people, and it is estimated that Liao Zhongyi and others will return when they see that the foreign devils have not come, and then they will be arrested by imperial envoys and sent to the capital to discuss their crimes.As for those Qing troops who fled, as long as they came back, they would all serve as coolies, which just made up for the lack of manpower in the base construction.

At this point, a new naval base will break ground in Lushun Port.After the arrangement was completed, Xiao Ran brought Sheng Zuo, Xu Shichang, and Lai Dingzhong, as well as the second and third squadrons and Japanese craftsmen back to Beijing in triumph.

♂ Volume 8 in the harem ♀

→Chapter 155 - The Frontier Official←

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Beijing experienced the biggest snowfall since winter.Goose feathers are flying all over the sky, covered with silver.The empty Forbidden City and the majestic Golden Palace are hidden in the vastness.

Outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, two rows of guards with swords stood solemnly.There is thick snow on the head and shoulders, which looks like two rows of snowmen.

Suddenly an eunuch came flying from a distance, holding a yellow silk box in his hand, and ran to the bottom of the steps, before shaking off the snow on his body, he knelt down and said: "The Emperor and the Empress Dowager, there are reports in the inner report: Jiangnan University Camp Zeng Guofan for six hundred miles and hurry up!"

The same voice sounded one after another, all the way to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.After a while, a voice came from inside: "Come in!" Then an eunuch came out in a hurry, but it was An Dehai who took the yellow box and went back into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.Go to Dongnuang Pavilion, kneel down and offer the yellow box.

In Dongnuange, there are five ministers standing at this moment, namely, Prince Su Huafeng, University Scholars Woren, Jia, Zhou Zupei, and Military Aircraft Minister Wen Xiang.There was another person sitting on the brocade stool, but it was the old Prince Hui Mianyu, because he was the uncle of the Emperor Daxing, with a special status, he had the privilege of being free from kneeling.

Sitting obliquely on the dragon chair at the front is a child, dressed in a yellow robe, it is the little emperor Zai Chun, nodding his head and dozing off.Behind the dragon chair is a bright yellow veil, in which there is a woman in a flag dress sitting upright, needless to say, it is the sister of the Empress Dowager Ci'an who is listening to the government behind the curtain.

Zhang Wenliang, who is familiar with it, stepped forward to take the yellow box, and after passing it to the veil, Baolu took it over and put it on the sandalwood imperial case on the brocade couch.Then Mei opened the yellow box, took out the memorial, glanced at it, and threw it on the ground.He said angrily: "This is another set of rhetoric! Long-haired bandits and remnants are rampant. How come Jiangning (the Qing Dynasty's name for Nanjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom called Tianjing) has been defeated, and the remaining few remnants and defeated generals can't be wiped out? Luo Bingzhang, Zuo Zongtang, what are they doing? And Zeng Guofan, when he was ordered to supervise the military affairs of the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, he repeatedly shirked the blame. Now he is ordered to return to Beijing to receive the meritorious service. It is pushing three times and four times! Scholars' reward. Isn't that enough?"

The sound was very sudden, and the frightened little emperor sat up in a jerk, and looked down. Except for Prince Hui, everyone else straightened up quickly, but lowered their heads.Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull for a while, Woren hurriedly said: "Back to the Queen Mother. There are indeed several remnants of bandits in the area around the two lakes, including the broken soldiers with long hairs. If they are not cleared up, they may resurface. Zeng Guofan is now going back to the west of the river from Huangshi, preparing Reinforce the two lakes, forming a double-teaming trend against the bandits. As for the imperial court's relocation, it is estimated that the war is tight and there is no time to report..."

"Nonsense!" There was another slap, probably Mei also threw the yellow box to the ground.Just listening to his eyebrows: "The three memorials have the same words. They are clearly discussed to deceive Tian Ting. Hmph. Bandits and bandits are suppressed every day. When will this battle be fought? For a lifetime?"

Meidi was indeed suffocated.Three months ago, Zeng Guofan had already led the Hunan Army to conquer Jiangning.Moreover, due to the continuous delivery of new firearms to the front line, the combat effectiveness of the Qing army improved by leaps and bounds. The governors all entered the memorial one after another, as if they had discussed it, either to say that the bandits were still alive, or that new troubles had arisen. In the old department of Li Xiucheng in Huangshi, Hubei, there were less than [-] people rebelling. The army rushed over.Said it was to suppress the bandits, but it was clearly intended to avoid the imperial court and not want to return to Beijing!