The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 662: Airships can also be very useful

Teng Yuzao said somewhat proudly, "I can tell you that we not only have airplanes in the sky, but also airships."

They heard about airplanes for the first time yesterday, and also saw them for the first time, but they had already known about airships. Tang Shaoyi went to XZ to negotiate with the British by airship.

Airships can be ridden, and in addition to Duan Qirui, others also knew that they could be used militarily to detect enemy movements. Teng Yuzhao also used airships to observe the battle between the Pacific Fleet and the Combined Fleet.

But these functions can't play any role on the battlefield!

Seeing what everyone was thinking, Teng Yuzao said with a smile.

"Although it is hard to say whether our planes will be useful next year, our airships are already being modified. They can also drop bombs, and they can carry not only more bombs, but also bigger bombs."

"Also, although our airship dare not fly too low, we have to drop bombs at an altitude of about 3,000 meters. It is difficult to control the accuracy of dropping bombs at such a high altitude."

"It's still difficult to bomb the enemy's position on the battlefield, but it's no problem to drop bombs within an area the size of a town."

When they heard that the airship could not help in the battle, the little bit of interest that had just been ignited in the crowd disappeared without a trace in an instant.

This is especially true for Ye Zugui, as the foreign warships are much smaller than a town.

Seeing everyone's disappointed expressions, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but smile triumphantly again.

"Tong Hou, although it is difficult to drop bombs on a moving warship, it is not impossible to bomb a warship in the harbor, especially if there are more than a dozen airships in the air at once, dropping dozens of bombs. There will always be a bomb that happens to fall on a warship, don't you think?"

Teng Yuzhao's words immediately made Ye Zugui excited.

"Marshal, if you want to drop dozens of bombs on a stationary warship, it is possible to hit the enemy ship. If there are more docked warships, the possibility of hitting will be even higher."

"Not just enemy ships anchored in the harbor. If we go to war with the Japanese, we can still bomb them even if their warships are anchored in the anchorage. If we can sink a few of the Japanese's large ships, with the current strength of our navy, it is possible for the entire fleet to attack and defeat the Japanese's combined fleet."

Ye Zugui rubbed his hands and said excitedly, "Marshal, you must give our navy a few of these airships!"

Teng Yuzao smiled and nodded to Ye Zugui, then continued.

"Let me talk about our army's weapons. As you can see, we not only have a large number of mortars, but also light machine guns and submachine guns. These are things that none of the other powers have. We have a firepower density that far exceeds that of the Russians and the Japanese."

The two new weapons, the light machine gun and the submachine gun, are still in the confidential stage, especially the submachine gun, which has not even been allocated to the troops.

As for the submachine gun, except for Duan Qirui who had seen it at the Baoding Military Academy, the people present were still not familiar with it. Teng Yuzhao did not want to explain it in detail and just stopped at the briefest possible point.

"I have full confidence that even if we have to deal with hundreds of thousands of Russians and Japanese outside the Great Wall at the same time, we can still defeat them."

Even if the Japanese and Russian troops outside the Great Wall joined forces, Teng Yuzhao was not afraid, because he had even more powerful things to say.

He was just waiting for a better opportunity. He wanted to beat them thoroughly in one battle, or even break off one of their arms and legs.

Having said that, Teng Yuzao changed the subject in due time.

“Everyone should be clear about the organizational structure of the Civil Human Rights Front, so I won’t elaborate on it.”

Teng Yuzao looked at Xu Shichang and said with a smile, "Brother Juren, you should set up an office under the chairmanship of the Alliance for Democracy and Justice."

Teng Yuzhao was originally going to say office, or general office, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was inappropriate. Such a name might be difficult for people today to understand.

"There is a government affairs department and a security department. These two departments are not only responsible for helping you contact the people you want to contact, arranging your itinerary, protecting your safety, but also helping you purchase gifts for people, etc."

"I will give you 300,000 notes a month as funding, in silver dollars, pounds, or dollars, for your communication with knowledgeable people in various provinces, local officials, and court officials. If the funds are insufficient, you can always ask me for more."

Teng Yuzao said to Xu Shichang earnestly, "Brother Juren, whether our Alliance can gain support from both the government and the opposition as soon as possible depends entirely on you."

"In addition, other committees will also provide you with sufficient support."

Although Teng Yuzao did not directly tell Xu Shichang how he should be the chairman of the "China Democratic League", Xu Shichang was very clear about the meaning of what he just said. This was indirectly assigning him a task.

Teng Yuzao even implicitly expressed that he only needed to do a good job in recruiting influential and enlightened scholars among the opposition, as well as local officials and court officials. He could ask for money if he needed it, but he only needed to do these things well.

As for other matters of the Civil Human Rights Front, Teng Yuzao also expressed it very clearly. The sentence "the various committees will provide him with support" has made it very clear that there is no need for him to preside over it.

Xu Shichang was not unhappy about this, not only because of his personality that prevented him from fighting for power, but also because he was very self-aware. Even if he was given the power, he would still not be able to command anyone as long as Teng Yuzhao did not nod.

Xu Shichang nodded readily, "Don't worry, Marshal. Three hundred thousand silver is a bit too much. If it's just for communication, it doesn't require so much."

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Juren, you are wrong. When you interact with these people, you must not let them look down on you. You should always spend more money when you should. For example, when you visit some important people and officials, you should not go empty-handed."

After explaining everything to Xu Shichang, Teng Yuzhao looked at everyone again.

"I will be the Chairman of the Military Commission. Is that okay with you?"

Although everyone already understood that the Chairman of the Military Commission was the de facto supreme leader of the FDC, no one would have any objection to Teng Yuzao serving as the Chairman, and only Teng Yuzao could hold this position.

Once the selection of the chairman of the China Democratic National Front and the chairman of the Military Commission is settled, the rest of the matters will be much easier.

In addition to Teng Yuzao, the chairman of the Military Commission, there were six other members, namely Yang Shixiang, Wei Jinghai, Ye Zugui, Duan Qirui, Liu Changfa and Li Yulin, who were in charge of all military affairs of the domestic army and navy.

Yang Shixiang was included in the list in the name of a senior counselor of the Military Commission. After meeting Duan Qirui this time, Teng Yuzao, because of his understanding of Duan Qirui's character, never directly talked to Duan Qirui about recruiting him, although both sides knew it tacitly.

It was only at this point that Teng Yuzao had to face this problem.

Although he was still worried that Duan Qirui would not accept his kindness, he had no choice but to ask Duan Qirui.

There was no way. Duan Qirui, a top student of the first class of the Beiyang Military Academy who was deeply loved by Li Hongzhang, was not only very appealing among the first, second and third graduates, but his influence in Yuan Shikai's Henan Army was also not to be underestimated.

You should know that there are many graduates from the first three classes of the Military Academy in the Henan Army. These people are now serving as middle and senior officers in the Henan Army. They are the backbone of the Henan Army.

Teng Yuzhao wanted to establish the image of being a person who treated students of Beiyang Military Academy well. Such an image was very important to him.

Because Teng Yuzhao always believed that Yuan Shikai's Henan Army would become the biggest obstacle for him to gain supreme power.

Duan Qirui's attitude is very important. If Duan Qirui can be brought to his side, those Henan Army generals who graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy will feel a certain degree of closeness to him.

In addition, Duan Qirui was once a close confidant of Yuan Shikai. This will not only be the best interpretation of his image, but will also make the Henan Army generals recognize his magnanimity and tolerance of letting bygones be bygones and recruiting talents.

Duan Qirui's attitude somewhat surprised Teng Yuzhao. As soon as he opened his mouth, Duan Qirui readily agreed to stay in the Zhi army, but Duan Qirui had one condition, which was that he would not lead troops and command battles.

Teng Yuzhao understood Duan Qirui's condition after a little thought.

Teng Yuzhao believed that Duan Qirui simply did not want to engage in battle with his former benefactor Yuan Shikai and his old comrades.

Teng Yuzhao also believed that Duan Qirui might have another idea, that is, he was worried that if Duan Qirui, who had no experience in fighting against the coalition forces of foreign powers, was suddenly promoted to a high position, it would bring unnecessary trouble to Teng Yuzhao.

Teng Yuzhao naturally agreed to Duan Qirui's condition.

Duan Qirui readily agreed to stay in the Zhi Army. Teng Yuzhao thought that this was because Duan Qirui had shown him the top secrets of the Zhi Army without any hesitation, and completely treated him as an outsider as his own. This made Duan Qirui even more convinced of his old classmate's sincere desire to stay, which made it almost impossible for him to refuse.

Of course, it is also possible that Duan Qirui was tempted by the high position he offered.

No matter what the situation was, Teng Yuzao didn't care.

Making Duan Qirui choose to join him in the end was a great victory for Teng Yuzhao. After all, Duan Qirui was also a well-known figure in history. Teng Yuzhao would never believe that such a person had no talent.

What's more, Duan Qirui was a banner for him to recruit Henan Army generals in the future. The power of example is infinite.

Yang Shiqi was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Civil Human Rights Front and Chairman of the Organization and Propaganda Committee, and was also responsible for assisting Xu Shichang in contacting officials.

Tang Shaoyi served as Teng Yuzao's political assistant and chairman of the Planning Committee. In addition to his duties as a planning committee member, he was also responsible for assisting Teng Yuzao in handling diplomatic and financial affairs.

Huang Kaijia was appointed as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the candidate for the vice chairman was beyond everyone's expectations. It was Lu Zhengxiang, the translator of the Chinese Embassy in Tsarist Russia.

Others may not know, but Teng Yuzao knows it very well. In history, Lu Zhengxiang had served as Prime Minister twice and Minister of Foreign Affairs nine times. He was an absolute veteran figure in the diplomatic community during the Republic of China period.

Teng Yuzhao certainly could not say all this. The reason he gave to everyone was that Lu Zhengxiang was not only extremely capable, but also dissatisfied with the Qing court because Cixi executed his teacher, Xu Jingcheng, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Teng Yuzao also cited an example for everyone. Just this year, Lu Zhengxiang was extremely dissatisfied with the court's neutral attitude towards the war between Japan and Russia outside the Great Wall. He cut off his braid in anger despite the opposition of the embassy.

For such people, you can use it with confidence.

The chairman of the Finance and Taxation Committee is naturally Xi Ligong.

Li Yaoting was appointed chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee, which was in charge of the patrol police and the courts.

Although there is no separate court in the country, Zhishan Province already has one.

Yang Shixiang's position could not be as simple as just a member of the Military Commission. Teng Yuzhao proposed that Yang Shixiang serve as the chairman of the Civil Affairs Committee, with Zhou Xuexi as the vice chairman.

The Civil Affairs Committee covers a lot of government affairs and is almost a replica of the Governor, except that its power far exceeds that of a provincial governor. In Yang Shixiang's view, the chairman of the Nationalities Committee is almost a smaller prime minister.

In Teng Yuzao's arrangement, Yang Shixiang's Civil Affairs Committee was at a very high level. In addition to civil affairs-related affairs, he was also in charge of science and technology education, industry and commerce, transportation, construction, agriculture, water conservancy, electricity and other committees. In fact, he was equivalent to the prime minister of the cabinet, and his status was second only to Teng Yuzao.

It was rather inappropriate to let Yang Shixiang, who knew nothing about military affairs, concurrently serve as a member of the Military Commission. The main reason was that Teng Yuzhao was considering that in the future, there would be many political issues involved in quelling the domestic war, and this would require someone like Yang Shixiang who was familiar with the court affairs to assist him.

In addition, Teng Yuzao also nominated the chairpersons of other committees one by one, and proposed that the names of officials of various institutions under each committee should be changed accordingly. Specifically, they should be named more modernly. For example, the general manager of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company should be changed to general manager.

In Teng Yuzao's nomination:

Chairman of the Science and Technology Education Committee: Cai Shaoji;
Chairman of the Industry and Commerce Committee: Zhou Xuexi continued to serve concurrently, and Zhou Shoushen was appointed as Vice Chairman and continued to serve concurrently as General Manager of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company;
Transport Committee Chairman: Liang Ruhao, Vice Chairman: Zhong Wenyao;

Chairman of the Construction Committee: Huang Chujiu;
Chairman of the Medical Committee: Lin Lianhui, Vice Chairman He Tingliang;
The Chairman of the Electricity and Communications Committee: Lin Liansheng and Niu Shangzhou serve as Vice Chairmen.

As there are no suitable candidates for the Agriculture and Water Conservancy Committees at the moment, the Civil Affairs Committee will temporarily set up corresponding agencies to manage them, and no relevant members will be appointed for the time being.

Having said this, Teng Yuzao said again.

"The setup of the various departments of the Civil Human Rights Front is roughly like this for now. If there is anything wrong, we will make improvements in the future."

"In addition, I suggest that Hu Daqiu's military police be expanded and a military police corps be established. All provincial patrol corps will be under the jurisdiction of the military police corps. In the future, the military police corps will not only be responsible for military discipline inspection and arresting officials who violate laws and discipline and corrupt officials, but also assist local governments in maintaining public order. Do you think this is possible?"

Then Teng Yuzao sought the opinions of Yang Shixiang, Wei Jinghai, Ye Zugui, Duan Qirui and other members of the Military Committee. Although they were not quite sure what Teng Yuzao was thinking, they could guess the general meaning.
(End of this chapter)