The warship, "rebuilding the navy", is like a beautiful dream, getting farther and farther away from him

In the "Jiaoao Conflict", the reason why Liu Guanxiong ordered the naval cruiser to "do his best" was very simple. All of those warships were the warships purchased when the Qing Dynasty rebuilt the naval army. Those warships were more than fifteen years old. Although they were the "cruising fleet" that Ye Zugui worked hard to build throughout his life, they were already old and even older than the Beiyang Navy back then. Therefore, in his opinion, instead of letting them grow old and the port, it would be better to die vigorously in a naval battle...

More importantly, when the fleet was silent, everything for the Chinese Navy would start from zero. At that time, Yuan Shikai had to give the navy an explanation and give him a decent fleet no matter what. However, the battle situation was unexpected. The navy's cruiser only fought a "fishing" shelling off the sea to attack the Japanese injured ships. The merchant ships and the navy won an unprecedented victory. Overnight, the navy recovered its once lost soul.

But despite this, the government still had no money to buy new ships for the Navy. Until a week ago, because two Japanese combat ships salvaged by the Jiangsu Army were launched into service, Yuan Shikai finally agreed to his request to buy a combat ship. When he proposed to buy a combat ship, he had the intention of "binding". With two combat ships, he naturally needed cruisers and destroyers. In this way, he could win a fleet for the Navy. Faced with the threat from Jiangsu, Yuan Shikai agreed, but in the end, Yuan Shikai asked him to ask the Ministry of Finance for money, which was almost impossible.

The Navy is not Li Zicheng's direct descendant. Could it be that Li Zicheng spent the money he had earned so hard on the Navy? Now Liu Guanxiong has begun to despair, because Li Zicheng found his navy. Perhaps he would use the name of "sea defense subsidies" and other things to invest huge military expenditures from the central government to the Jiangsu Army Navy Navy. As for the Navy, as for the old ships of the Chinese Navy will slowly rust into the port.

"But, neither the Chinese Navy nor Jiangsu have a good military port!"

The Prime Minister's question brought Liu Guanxiong's thoughts back to reality, and he replied in a low voice:

"Lushun is in the hands of the Japanese Liugong Island. In the British, Yantai Port is only suitable for cruisers with a total of less than tonnes. Lianyungang and Qingdao Port are not excellent military ports. Military ports must be semi-enclosed bays. Offshore fleets cannot threaten warships within the inner bay. This is a necessary prerequisite for military ports."

Then Liu Guanxiong thought for a while and added:

"Of course, if there is no, Lianyungang can also consider it. Setting up a military port on Liandao can block artillery attacks from the outside seas. However, because its harbor is open, it is necessary to be careful of torpedo boats attacking in the harsh climate. The Japanese Navy is very good at this. Whether it is the Qing-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese Navy has used to infiltrate the port at night to carry out torpedo attacks. If possible, it can strengthen the defense of Lianyungang's bay entrance. Of course, I am just a suggestion."

Liu Guanxiong's suggestion finally raised Li Zicheng's head, and his eyes were filled with relief. Although the Fujian faction has always been known for being "xenophobic", at this moment, Liu Guanxiong still put forward a suitable suggestion from the standpoint of the country. Looking at him, Li Zicheng thought about why he named the first warship of the Jiangsu Army Navy Corps "Tongxin".

Li Zicheng has always had an inexplicable yearning for the ocean. Although he has almost truly understood the ocean in the future and has only made three or four ships, this still cannot stop his yearning for the ocean. If many people in this era have a "continental dream", then as a Chinese in the 21st century, they naturally have an extremely complex and even somewhat angry "ocean dream".

This may be related to the powerlessness of China on land in later generations. In later generations, tens of millions of tons of oil were exploited by small countries in the South China Sea every year. China was silent or verbally protested. The Diaoyu Islands were occupied by the Japanese, and it was still protesting. Although there was a period of time when the Diaoyu Islands were in chaos, what was the end?

There is even a joke in later generations: "As a neighbor of China, if you don't occupy a small island in China, you will be embarrassed to be neighbors with China, and if you don't detain Chinese fishing boats, and you will be embarrassed to say that you know Chinese people."

It is precisely because of this that for the ocean, the blue and vast ocean, like many Chinese people, Li Zicheng is full of desire and yearning, and his desire for sea control is even greater than that for others. When a continental nation longs for the ocean, perhaps he will take detours, perhaps he is unsure, but nothing in the world can stop his yearning and his desire!

On the contrary, no one can stop Li Zicheng from his desire for the ocean now.

"But this is just an emergency measure. We, or China, need a real military port, a large and comprehensive military port! This problem must be solved!"

After saying that, Li Zicheng pressed the bell on the table, and a waiter served two cups of tea. After taking a sip of tea, he looked at the sea and the island chain on the side of the map. Li Zicheng carried his hands and talked endlessly about the stories and history of the ocean. This was the first time he told the story of the ocean to outsiders. In the eyes of others, it might be his past experience, but in fact, those stories of the ocean are just the history of the ocean he learned into the so-called "personal experience", but it looks very real, just like his past experience.

"······ It can be said that almost a quarter of my life is spent on the sea. I long for the ocean, and I yearn for the ocean, but..."

Turning around and facing Liu Guanxiong and Li Zicheng's expression was slightly gloomy.

"In all oceans, in one port after another, I have seen warships from all over the world and Japanese warships, but I have never seen Chinese warships. I think China has never been a simple continental country. In fact, our ocean history has been earlier than any other country in Europe. We also have a brilliant marine history. However, now we do not have a powerful navy, a navy that is enough to scare the world. When our navy was at its peak, it was in the morning.

At the end, the entire East Ocean sea is all from us China. The Dutch also admitted that it would not be able to defeat our fleet assembled from all over Europe. But now? We are silent. There seems to be no shadow of the Chinese navy on the sea. Is this reasonable? No, of course it is unreasonable. In fact, our ancestors have already injected us with the blood of the ocean. Our sweat is salty and our blood is salty, but we cannot taste the salty and astringent sea water. This is absolutely unreasonable."

Listening to Li Zicheng's story, Liu Guanxiong felt a burst of blood boiling. For the first time, he heard the ocean from a decision-maker, and did nothing. Unlike the words of others, "China's troubles lies in the ocean." In the eyes of those people, they set up navals to establish coastal defense, while Li Zicheng looked farther and stood higher. What he expected was to share the world's maritime interests, to master the ocean, and to own the ocean. All of this requires a navy that is strong enough to compete with Britain. Is this a luxury?

"China should have its own fleet. Our interests also need the ocean."

After saying affirmation, Li Liaocheng raised his head slightly. Then, he turned around, looked at Liu Guanxiong with a surprised face, pointed to the map and said:

"Look, here is located in central China. We have conducted an investigation here. This is a large natural harbor that should be China's first good harbor. Its harbor area can accommodate hundreds of large warships, with deep water reaching nearly twenty meters. This is not only a huge base leading to an open ocean, but also a pistol aimed at Japan. From here, we can march into Japan in the north and control the South China Sea in the south."

He tapped the map with his knuckles:

"We're going to build a large naval base here."

"Prime Minister……"

Just as he was about to speak, Liu Guanxiong's words were interrupted by Li Zicheng.

"Jiangsu Army is just Jiangsu Army. China must have a strong navy. Now the new contract negotiations with tariffs as the core have begun. If successful, tariffs can be implemented independently, thereby increasing tariffs. In addition, the planned salt tax rectification and the financial reform of "abolition of the two changes to the new era" will show results from the beginning of next year, and the Central Ministry of Finance will surely improve greatly by then!"

When he spoke, Li Zicheng had a little solemn look on his face. If he followed the perspective of later generations, he might have gone a little too fast. In the same Republic of China, the Nanjing government took five years to complete the things that the Nanjing government had to complete in half a year. This is undoubtedly a bit of a boost, but he had to complete these things, otherwise...

"And next year, the Expeditionary Force will send at least about 300,000 troops to maintain the Allies. In this way, this alone can save 50 million yuan in funds, and consider the increase in fiscal revenue, well..."

Looking at Liu Guanxiong, who was somewhat expectant but uncertain, a smile appeared on Li Zicheng's face.

"The Navy can first formulate a corresponding naval expansion plan!"

Navy military expansion plan!

His eyes suddenly opened, and Liu Guanxiong almost didn't believe his ears. How could he... Originally, he had no confidence when he came, but now the Prime Minister took the initiative to expand the navy!

"Well, it can take five years. In these five years, the Navy will build several combat ships, cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats and other auxiliary ships. Of course, it is more important to consider how many officers the Navy should train to meet the needs of expansion. This must be considered seriously. If the personnel quality cannot keep up, it will be meaningless no matter how new the warship is! Do you understand?"

“Yes…yes…”

Faced with the Prime Minister's advice, Liu Guanxiong, who was in a dream, just responded squeakingly. At this moment, he was completely stunned by the sudden surprise. He even deliberately tucked his palm with his nails to make sure that he was not in a dream.

"As for the funding, large-scale naval expansion and construction will inevitably arouse suspicion from the great powers of our country. For diplomatic considerations, the naval construction fee can be divided into the budget expenditure in the next two or three years. Well, the total amount is limited to 30,000 yuan!"

With a "boom", the thunderous words puzzled Liu Guanxiong's entire body. He looked at the Prime Minister and couldn't speak for a long time, but at this time he heard the Prime Minister seem to be talking to himself.

"Okay, the Navy's affairs are almost the same. The current negotiations are more important! Now that I have made a promise, I have to find a way to solve the problem of money if I want to fulfill my promise, it is not!"


Chapter completed!