King of Beiyang

Tianjin, the office of the Beiyang Minister.

Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang of the Qing Empire, summoned Ding Ruchang, the Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet.

Ding Ruchang joined the Taiping Army in his early years, later defected to the Xiang Army, and then joined the Huai Army. Over the years, he has become one of Li Hongzhang's confidants.

Although Ding Ruchang was from the army, he was not proficient in naval warfare. In the First Sino-Japanese War, his command made mistakes.

For example, the formation was poorly chosen, and no agent or acting flagship was clearly designated, which led to chaos in the fleet command after he was injured, and each ship had to fight on its own.

But Ding Ruchang's ability to refuse the Japanese's surrender offer at the last moment and commit suicide by poison can be considered a fight to the death.

Although Li Hongzhang had already smoothed things over and secured the position of Vice Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet for Li Jingyuan.

However, if Ding Ruchang, as the admiral of the Beiyang Fleet, did not cooperate, it would cause considerable trouble. Therefore, he still needed to inform Ding Ruchang about this matter.

"Yu Yan (Ding Ruchang's courtesy name)! Jingyuan is about to return to China. He has learned some skills in the German Empire these past few years. I plan to have him serve in the Beiyang Fleet," Li Hongzhang said.

"Your Excellency, I warmly welcome the Third Young Master to the Beiyang Fleet. You may choose any ship under the Beiyang Fleet," Ding Ruchang replied immediately.

In Ding Ruchang's view, Li Jingyuan's appointment as captain of a warship after returning to China was already considered an exceptional promotion.

Li Hongzhang shook his head: "I have already petitioned the court to appoint Jingyuan as the Vice Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet."

"Huh?" Ding Ruchang was stunned.

The Beiyang Fleet did not have the position of Vice Admiral. Even the foreign instructors in the past only held the title of Admiral, or it was just an honorary title.

Ding Ruchang remembers that Li Jingyuan is only twenty-two years old this year. Isn't it too much of a promotion to appoint him as the vice admiral of the navy at such an age?

"Does Lord Zhongtang dislike me and therefore want the Third Young Master to replace me?"

This forced Ding Ruchang to consider this possibility.

"Yu Yan, don't overthink things. I believe in you. You practically built the Beiyang Fleet from scratch; I've seen your contributions and hard work."

However, you are ultimately from the army and are not proficient in naval warfare.

There are more and more admirals in the navy who are familiar with naval warfare. You won't have to do everything yourself anymore.

We can even start thinking about which direction to develop in the future.

You're only fifty-six years old, you still have time. You can't be a naval admiral forever, can you?

Li Hongzhang continued.

Ding Ruchang's thoughts were constantly shifting at this moment.

Although the Admiral of the Navy is a high-ranking official of the first rank, don't forget that in the Qing Empire, the status of military officers was much lower than that of civil officials.

  

Even Ding Ruchang, a first-rank naval admiral, couldn't hold his head high in front of second-rank or even lower-ranking civil officials.

If I could transfer from a naval admiral position to a civil official position, that would be ideal.

With these thoughts in mind, Ding Ruchang was no longer so opposed to Li Jingyuan's appointment as the Vice Admiral of the Navy.

"In addition, Jingyuan secretly purchased six warships from the Germans. These warships have now been delivered. The students who were sent from the Beiyang Naval Academy to study in the German Empire, the officers who were later sent to study at the German Naval Academy, the sailors sent there last year and this year, and the naval officers and sailors recruited from the German Empire have all received those warships."

Those warships were all large ships of nearly 7,000 tons, comparable to the Dingzhen and Zhen ships.

However, for the sake of secrecy, he will not return to his home country for the time being, but will continue to remain in the German Empire.

The fleet will return home when the time is right in the future.

These warships were all purchased from the German Empire with private funds from Jingyuan.

Six large warships, each nearly 7,000 tons in size, joined the Beiyang Fleet. It was entirely reasonable for Jingyuan to be appointed as the Fleet's Vice Admiral.

Li Hongzhang said.

Li Hongzhang knew very well that suddenly appointing Li Jingyuan as the deputy admiral of the navy would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among many officers in the navy.

Ding Ruchang's eyes widened in disbelief.

While the Qing Empire was closing itself off from the world, most people were unaware that Li Jingyuan had established a vast empire in the German Empire.

That's why Ding Ruchang was so shocked at this moment.

Li Jingyuan actually used his own money to buy six large warships of 7,000 tons each, which will soon be added to the Beiyang Fleet. This will undoubtedly further strengthen the Beiyang Fleet's power!

Ding Ruchang's initial dissatisfaction had vanished at this moment.

In his view, Li Jingyuan was willing to spend so much money on the Beiyang Fleet, and he would gladly step down and give way to Li Jingyuan even if Li Jingyuan were to directly become the Admiral of the Navy.

"Your Excellency, I have absolutely no objection to the Third Young Master's appointment as Vice Admiral of the Navy. I assure you that no one in the entire Navy will have any objection either!" Ding Ruchang replied resolutely.

He had made up his mind that when he got back, he would give those generals and officers a good talking-to and make them behave themselves and cooperate.

Li Hongzhang nodded, quite satisfied with Ding Ruchang's statement.

"This matter is still kept secret. Even within the Beiyang Fleet, it cannot be leaked except to a limited number of people."

Jingyuan has consistently claimed that the Japanese are keeping a close eye on the Beiyang Fleet.

They are frantically buying warships abroad, intending to use them against us.

Perhaps, it won't be long before war breaks out.

At that time, the warships purchased from the German Empire can serve as a surprise attack, delivering a fatal blow to the Japanese!

A ruthless glint flashed in Li Hongzhang's eyes.

The Japanese attempted to assassinate Li Jingyuan, though unsuccessfully. However, Li Hongzhang already harbored deep hatred for the Japanese.

If war were to break out as Li Jingyuan predicted, Li Hongzhang would like to teach the Japanese a lesson and make them pay a heavy price.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I understand," Ding Ruchang replied.

There were quite a few frictions between the Beiyang Fleet and the Japanese.

The Japanese are vigorously developing their navy to catch up with the Beiyang Fleet.

Ding Ruchang was also aware of this.

The fact that the Beiyang Fleet had suspended the purchase of ships from foreign countries in recent years had caused Ding Ruchang and other generals and officers of the Beiyang Fleet great concern.

But now, after learning that Li Jingyuan had actually purchased six giant ships of nearly 7,000 tons each from the German Empire, his worries had disappeared.

They even hoped that the Japanese would launch an attack on the Beiyang Fleet.

At that time, we can take this opportunity to defeat the Japanese in one fell swoop and eliminate their threat.

"War may indeed be imminent. I have only one request: that the Beiyang Fleet must defeat the Japanese in the future war." Li Hongzhang said with a serious expression.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, the Beiyang Fleet will certainly live up to your expectations. If the Japanese dare to provoke a war, I and the entire Beiyang Fleet will make sure they never return!" Ding Ruchang replied firmly.