The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 622 Return to Tianjin
The Zhi army's airships were no secret to the Russians.

Teng Yuzhao, Liu Shijiu and Zuo Baotian came here by airship.

Moreover, now in Europe, not only the Germans have airships, the French and the British also have them. It’s just that they don’t take airships seriously, at least not as much as the Germans.

The Russians had the same attitude towards airships, but after hearing that the Zhili army used airships to transport personnel, both Alexeev and Kuropatkin quickly changed their attitudes.

You know, it's wartime now. Although the airship can't provide any support to the ground, it still has to fly very high.

After all, the range of light weapons at that time was very terrifying. Even the maximum range of a rifle could exceed two kilometers. As for the range of heavy machine guns such as the Maxim, there is no need to say more.

Therefore, the airship must fly at a minimum altitude of about three thousand meters at this time, and the absolute safe altitude of the airship must reach five thousand meters.

But even at such a height, it is possible to use telescopes to keep abreast of the battlefield situation, which is very important for commanders far away to understand the real dynamics of the battlefield.

You have to know that the Russians still have the dying Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur and tens of thousands of remnant soldiers who are tightly surrounded by the Japanese army in the fortress area!

However, after contacting the Zhi army through Wang Decheng, they learned that the Zhi army did not buy the airship, which made Alexeev and Kuropatkin very regretful!

They had no choice but to purchase an airship from France through St. Petersburg. The French were willing to sell it, but due to the long distance, weather conditions, and the production time of the airship they ordered, it would take at least three months for the airship to fly to the Far East.

Fortunately, Teng Yuzhao had promised them that although he would not sell their airship, he could provide them with relevant reconnaissance information and even aerial photos.

It’s just that the prices offered were a bit high. For example, Alexeev wanted aerial photographs of the Port of Lushun and the fortress area. He asked for 500 francs for each photo of the port and fortress area. If he wanted photos of the Japanese army besieging the fortress area and the naval port, the price would directly rise to 1,400 francs.

Moreover, if you need the photos urgently or want them at a specific time, you have to pay for the airship flight fee, which is as high as 72,000 francs, which is equivalent to more than 20,000 taels of silver.

However, although the prices of these aerial photographs were a bit too high, Alexeev, who was eager to learn about the remnants of the Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur and the defense of the fortress area, gritted his teeth and bought more than a dozen photos of various prices, paying a total of 100,000 francs for this.

Not selling the airship to the Russians was not Teng Yuzhao's special treatment to the Russians. He would not sell his airship to anyone for two reasons. One was that the alloy material of the airship truss had to be kept secret, and the other was that it was filled with helium instead of hydrogen.

At this time, the development of alloy materials is not complicated, and there is almost no theory to guide and follow. As long as you have money and time, and are willing to work hard and silently to experiment with different elements and different proportions, some alloys will be discovered.

Of course, the alloy aluminum truss material of the Zhijun airship was pointed out by the "prophet" Teng Yuzao, so it will certainly be easier to produce results.

However, Teng Yuzao would not allow the aluminum alloy, which could be produced with a simple combination of elements without the use of a catalyst, to flow out easily.

From the Wuqing airship base, they drove back to the Marshal's Mansion, which should now be called the Beiyang Minister's Residence. Before they got off the car, the convoy just entered the wide courtyard shaded by green trees, and saw a group of people waiting to greet them in front of the main entrance of the main building.

It was just that it was still early in the morning and it was dark, and according to requirements, the lights in the courtyard of the official residence were not allowed to be too bright at night, so as not to give people outside the courtyard a chance to peek or even take dangerous actions. Therefore, the lights in front of the main building were quite dim.

Under such lighting, coupled with the obstruction of the trees in the yard, it is almost impossible for people in the buildings across the street to see clearly who is getting off the car in front of the building. This has been verified in the field.

From a distance, Teng Yuzhao could vaguely see the people waiting for him under the dim lights in front of the building through their body shapes.

These people included Yang Shixiang, Yang Shiqi, Wei Jinghai, Liu Changfa, Li Yulin, Li Xianze, Liu Bingyi and other Beiyang clique confidants, all of whom were waiting for Teng Yuzhao anxiously.

As soon as Teng Yuzhao got off the car, Yang Shixiang, with a worried look on his face, couldn't wait to come up to him and said.

"Marshal, you're back!" Wherever Teng Yuzhao looked, not only Yang Shixiang had a worried look on his face, but everyone else's faces were also more or less filled with worry.

Teng Yuzhao smiled and waved to Yang Shixiang, then glanced at everyone and said with a calm smile.

"Lianfu, if it's just about the constitutional government and the reorganization of the new army by the Army Department, let's not talk about it for now. Let's take a shower and drink a bowl of hot soup before we talk about it."

Seeing that everyone was still somewhat unwilling, Teng Yuzao smiled faintly and said.

"Although there is an electric heating device in the airship, the airship also needs diesel to fly, and the generator used to generate electricity has a small power, so the electricity for heating is a bit tight."

"The temperature inside the airship cabin can only be maintained at a few degrees above zero at high altitudes, which is still very cold. It's still very fast. The airship doesn't have to keep diesel, which is a little better."

Wei Jinghai smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal, let's talk in the conference room in an hour."

Teng Yuzao shook his head and said, "No, you guys just go to my office and wait, we should hurry up."

Forty minutes later, Teng Yuzao, who had regained his spirits, strode into his office accompanied by Wei Jinghai, Liu Shijiu, Wu Peifu, and Zuo Baotian, who all had frowns on their faces.

Yang Shixiang, Yang Shiqi, Liu Changfa, Li Yulin, Li Xianze, Liu Bingyi and others had already been waiting in the office.

As soon as Teng Yuzhao, Wei Jinghai, Liu Shijiu, Wu Peifu, Zuo Baotian and others sat down, a tall and beautiful female captain, commanding two female officers with the rank of second lieutenant, served them boiling hot tea.

This beautiful female captain was one of Teng Yuzao's new secretaries. She was jointly recommended to Teng Yuzao by Yang Shixiang and Wei Jinghai, including the two female officers.

The reason was very simple. Teng Yuzao was over thirty years old, but not only did he not talk about marriage, he also rejected all the marriages introduced by many matchmakers. These matchmakers included not only Zai Yi and other dignitaries in the court, but also Yang Shixiang, Zhou Xuexi, Ning Xingpu and others. Some people even asked Zhang Zhidong to come forward, but Teng Yuzao also rejected them on the grounds that it was still wartime and marriage was not a consideration for the time being.

Even when Li Yulin tried to persuade Teng Yuzao privately, Teng Yuzao refused.

Teng Yuzao's refusal to get married scared all his confidants. This time, a new secretary was arranged for Teng Yuzao. On the surface, it was Yang Shixiang and Wei Jinghai who came forward, but in fact, the shadows of Liu Shijiu, Li Xianze, Wu Peifu and others were also involved.

This time, not only was a new secretary assigned to Teng Yuzhao, but there were also many female soldiers in the official residence doing various jobs.

Of course, these people are all young and beautiful female officers.

The medical school and telegraph school of the Zhi army had already begun to recruit female soldiers, and even in order to adapt to the advancement of the new Westernization Movement as quickly as possible, they also recruited some female students from Beiyang University.

In the past few years, Teng Yuzhao has been promoting Westernization in Zhishan Province. One notable change is that, under Teng Yuzhao's deliberate emphasis, the social status of women in the two places has been significantly improved. Not only are there many women working in factories, but there are also educated women in various institutions. Therefore, it is not difficult to arrange some women around Teng Yuzhao.

These people's idea is very clear, they just want Teng Yuzhao to be exposed to more feminine and less masculine elements.

Teng Yuzao looked at Wei Jinghai and said, "Tell me, how should the court implement constitutionalism?"

"The Army Department is reorganizing the new army. What are the rules? What restrictions will be imposed on the new armies in various places?"

(End of this chapter)