Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 262 War Serves Politics

Then, the Qing Dynasty also began to understand the telegraph.

In fact, Yi had wanted to do this before he ascended the throne, but he was still a prince at the time and his words could not be final in the court.

In addition, the main material of telegraph lines is copper, so the cost of setting up a telegraph network is quite high.

So it didn’t work out!

But now that Yi has ascended the throne and become emperor, he will naturally push this matter forward again.

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed and began to praise Yi's wisdom again.

Then Yi continued.

"By the way, send another team of officers who have fought against the Tang bandits to the foreign army to observe and learn how the foreigners fight against the Tang bandits."

"To prepare for the future when our Great Qing Dynasty will annihilate the Tang bandits!"

"..."

Well, this trick is called the Military Observation Group!
It will have some effect to some extent.

……

Lingnan, Guangzhou!
In just a few days, the New Year has passed in the blink of an eye.

On the third day after the New Year, Li Yi set out from the palace and prepared to inspect the shipyard outside Guangzhou.

Although Xie Siyuan, the person in charge of the shipyard, had come to Li Yi to report on his work once a year ago, Li Yi still wanted to go and see it in person.

You have to see it with your own eyes to know it for sure!
After getting up in the morning and having lunch, Li Yi got in his car and went out to the shipyard outside Guangzhou.

Ever since receiving the news that Emperor Xianfeng was assassinated, Li Yi has become more cautious.

When going out on weekdays, I almost never ride a horse, but always take a car.

Moreover, these carriages are specially customized, with one-centimeter-thick steel plates inserted in the interlayer of the carriage, and even the windows are made of bulletproof glass.

Well, the bulletproof glass was purchased by Li Yi from the mall panel, specifically to ensure his own safety.

A carriage like this could not be hit by guns, let alone some small-caliber artillery.

And each time there are several cars of the same model accompanying him.

Emphasize caution!
The convoy left the palace and rushed to the outskirts of Guangzhou city, and soon arrived at the shipyard outside Guangzhou city.

Li Yi led the team into the shipyard for inspection.

Xie Siyuan took the initiative to step forward and greet him.

"Your humble servant Xie Siyuan pays respect to His Majesty."

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!"

Hearing this, Li Yi took a few steps forward to help Xie Siyuan up, and then said.

"Thank you, Mr. Xie, for your courtesy."

"Take me for a tour of the shipyard."

Xie Siyuan nodded, then led the way for Li Yi.

The group visited and inspected the shipyard, with Xie Siyuan leading the way and introducing the place.

"With the financial support from the imperial court, the scale of the Guangzhou Shipyard has greatly increased compared to the past."

"Today, Guangzhou Shipyard has 12 docks and 2,100 shipbuilders, of which more than 600 are skilled shipbuilders, and the rest are ordinary carpenters and craftsmen."

"At present, the production capacity of Guangzhou Shipyard has reached the level of six ocean-going warships with a capacity of more than 1,500 tons per year, ten red single boats, rocket sampans, fast crab boats and other types of ships."

Hearing this, Li Yi nodded with satisfaction.

Overall, he is quite satisfied with the development speed of Guangzhou Shipyard.

You know, last year, the Guangzhou Shipyard did not have the ability to produce sailing battleships, and could only produce some red single ships, fast crab boats and other ships.

The development of sailing battleships is still in the exploratory stage.

Well, the main method was to conduct experiments on the sailing battleships captured by the Tang army during the Battle of Guangzhou.

While dismantling the ship, they reassembled it several times. After that, the craftsmen naturally understood the hull structure of the sailing battleship.

But by this year, the Guangzhou Shipyard has already acquired the ability to independently produce sailing battleships.

This rate of progress is definitely encouraging enough.

After nodding, Li Yi continued to ask.

"Not counting the ones currently under construction in the dock, how many ships did the shipyard build last year?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Siyuan began to report.

"In reply to your Majesty, in the past year, our Guangzhou Shipyard has achieved remarkable results."

"In total, three sailing battleships, fourteen red boats, crab boats, and several sampans were built."

"Among them, the three sailing battleships include one powered purely by sails, and one equipped with a propeller driven by a steam engine to assist navigation."

"The third is to add armor to the key parts of the ship, such as above and below the waterline and near the keel, to enhance the protection of the warship."

"..."

It is obvious that the Guangzhou Shipyard built these three warships not for shipbuilding but for technical verification.

The first sailing battleship was for training purposes.

After practicing, the second one was equipped with a propeller and a steam engine.

The third one is equipped with iron armor to enhance the protection based on the second one. Xie Siyuan continued to introduce.

"The fourth warship that is still under construction will use a new type of hull structure and will be built with steel as the main material..."

That is the ironclad ship in the real sense!

With the development and advancement of artillery technology, wooden sailing battleships began to become increasingly fragile.

Due to practical requirements, European powers such as Britain and France have actually begun to explore the construction technology of ironclad ships.

In a few years, the world's first ironclad ship, the Glorious, produced in France, will be put into service.

It is certainly impossible for the Tang Dynasty to do nothing and watch itself fall behind the European powers.

Therefore, Li Yi’s task for the shipyard was to explore technology while building ships.

So far, the results are pretty good.

At the very least, under the guidance of the drawings provided by Li Yi, the shipyard has begun to try to build ironclad ships.

And it is estimated that it will be completed soon.

Under the leadership of Xie Siyuan, Li Yi inspected the shipyard.

While inspecting the various docks, he also met with the skilled craftsmen in the shipyard and the shipbuilders who had made outstanding contributions.

The shipbuilders were consoled and encouraged, and given overtime bonuses.

It is only the third day of the Chinese New Year, but the shipyard is already in its second day of work this year, and almost all the shipbuilders are working overtime.

Li Yi naturally would not be stingy with wages and bonuses!
He is not a black-hearted capitalist. How can it be wrong not to pay overtime wages to workers?

After doing all this, Li Yi left the shipyard and returned to the palace.

In the following days, Li Yi did not rest. While meeting with officials and generals, he also visited various military bases and several important artillery positions along the coast. His schedule was quite busy.

As Li Yi's inspection work continued, news that the Tang Dynasty had ordered villages along the coast of Guangdong to organize militias in preparation for war gradually spread, and the atmosphere of war began to become more and more intense.

……

Luzon, Manila!

After the Eight-Nation Alliance organized by the British joined the Dutch army in Batavia, they set out from Batavia, headed north, and soon arrived in Manila.

The fleet stopped at the port of Manila to rest and replenish its troops and supplies.

Inside the Governor's Palace in Manila.

The expeditionary commander Earl Elgin, the deputy commander Gro, the fleet commander Seymour, and the Governor of Manila Pedro and others gathered together to discuss the matters of the northward journey.

"I think we will definitely win the final victory in this war!"

Elgin was wearing a tuxedo, a gentleman's hat, and his beard was neatly combed. He spoke confidently while holding a glass of red wine.

The Frenchman Gros at the side also spoke in agreement.

"Of course. Our coalition forces have 3.3 elite soldiers, a fleet of more than powerful warships, and God's blessing."

"Let's kick the butts of those arrogant yellow monkeys together and teach them what reverence is!"

"Hahaha!"

Seeing this, Elgin raised his glass to Gro with a smile on his face.

"I think after this war, we will completely open the door to this ancient Eastern country."

"Whether it is the Tang Kingdom in the south or the Qing Kingdom in the north, they will all surrender to God and open their markets to our merchants!"

Although the British organized a coalition and launched an expedition this time in order to avenge the murder of the British Minister to the United Kingdom, Sir John Smith, and to defend the dignity of the British Empire.

But to put it bluntly, this is just a lame excuse that politicians use to motivate the public.

War always serves politics!

And behind politics is interest!
A mature politician will never start a war with no benefits for the sake of so-called hatred and face.

Wenhan was only an envoy, not the queen's lover. His importance was not important enough for Britain to launch an expedition across half the globe to avenge him.

The most fundamental reason why Britain launched the expedition this time was actually for the sake of profit.

That means completely opening up the Chinese market!
If possible, it would be better to turn China into their colony.

The reason why British MPs (capitalists) chose to support the war was because after the Tang Dynasty occupied Guangzhou, it opened its market to all countries.

But only Britain was blocked from the market!

Even if smuggling is possible, how can the profits from smuggling be compared with those from honest trade?

So, the war began!
The reason why the other countries chose to get involved was because of the face of Britain, the empire on which the sun never sets.

France is the most typical representative of them.

If it were not for the need to please Britain, and if it were not for Britain's promise to France to divide China together after the war, Napoleon III would have had no motivation to launch a war in the Far East.

The same goes for other countries!
You know, the benefits that can be obtained from colonies are far from comparable to those that can be obtained from trading with a sovereign state.

You can squeeze the colonies to death, just like the British squeezed India.

But sovereign states will resist, and exploiting them is far less easy than exploiting colonies.

Naturally, the benefits gained are incomparable.

……

PS: I just got home yesterday, so I really don’t have the energy to update today. Let me adjust myself and then start paying off my debts.

(End of this chapter)