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Text Chapter 428: When trouble comes, it¡¯s time to take action

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    Since the Opium War, the British, French and other great powers have relied on their maritime superiority to wreak havoc on the southeastern coast of China, which has greatly impacted and shaken the foundation of the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty.  Faced with the situation of having sea but no defense and being beaten everywhere, the Qing Dynasty changed the previous pattern of preparing most of its borders in the northwest, and instead focused on strengthening coastal defense construction.  During the reign of Tongzhi and Guangxu, the Empress Dowager Cixi actively advocated military training, weaponry, strengthening coastal defense, and self-improvement as "a major event" in the founding of the country, and encouraged Westernization officials to do their best without taking into account the accusations of die-hard conservatives.  This not only reflected the supreme ruler's trust and reliance on the Westernizationists to a certain extent, but more importantly reflected the shift in the focus of the Qing Dynasty's national defense.  It is under the guidance of this kind of thinking that China's coastal areas have successively begun shipbuilding, artillery building, fort construction, and training of new naval fleets.  During the First Opium War, Lin Zexu, who directly fought against the British invaders, deeply felt the power of the modern navy and proposed the idea of ??"learning from the barbarians to gain skills to control the barbarians". He was the first to propose the idea of ??establishing a modern navy.  However, the government and the public at that time were still ignorant of the general trend of the world. They also believed that China was the "Celestial Kingdom" located in the center of the world, and that foreign countries were still "barbarian countries" far inferior to China. "Learning from barbarians to build ships" was not in line with the dignity of the "Celestial Kingdom".  Therefore, they are not only content with the status quo, but also oppose buying and building ships.  Lin Zexu's idea and practice of purchasing and imitating modern warships met with fierce opposition from both the government and the public. Emperor Daoguang even criticized Lin Zexu's memorial for proposing shipbuilding as "a complete nonsense."  Lin Zexu's plan to establish a modern navy was rejected. The Green Camp Navy, which was in name only, backward and vulnerable, was still China's only navy at that time.  Although later in the campaign to suppress the Taiping Rebellion, the Hunan Army engaged in water battles with the Taiping Army many times in the south of the Yangtze River.  The navy had to be built, but it was still the old navy.  During the Second Opium War.  The British and French invaders attacked from the sea and finally entered the capital, which deeply shocked the government and the public. Some people began to realize the power of the modern navy.  In the early 1860s, the Qing government began to consider imitating or purchasing warships from the West. At this time, it had been exactly 20 years since Lin Zexu proposed the establishment of a modern navy!  In just these 20 years, Western navies have achieved rapid development, and steam warships have gradually replaced sailing ships as the main naval vessels.  Although the Qing government began to pay more attention to naval construction than before.  The start-up of the Navy began.  However, compared with China's long coastline and the dangerous international situation it faced, the Qing government obviously did not pay enough attention to the navy, so the development of the navy was far from ideal, and the development of the new navy was extremely slow.  More importantly, and what is more difficult to understand in the eyes of later generations, is that there was no unified naval command organization in the country at that time, and each navy was under the jurisdiction of the local governor.  It is difficult to coordinate operations, and the provincial governors regard the navy as their own private property, which is not only difficult to deploy, but also unwilling to change.  For example, the Yangtze River is under the jurisdiction of Nanyang, and the Nanyang Minister nominally has control over the Yangtze River Navy. However, when the new Governor of Liangjiang and Nanyang Minister Shen Baozhen requested that all Nanyang navies be unified and reorganized.  The old sailing ships were replaced by steam ships. In this regard, Peng Yulin, the Yangtze River patrol envoy in charge of the Yangtze River Navy, used various reasons to evade this.  The orders of the Governor of Liangjiang and the Minister of Nanyang are difficult to implement in the Yangtze River Navy under his jurisdiction. The overall situation of the navy in the country can be imagined.  in short.  The Qing court still used traditional naval management methods to manage the modern navy, and did not realize that the equipment and technology of the modern navy were quite complex.  It must be unified, and the system management level is far beyond that of the old navy.  What's more, many people in the government and the public believe that the establishment of the Naval Yamen, a new institution that does not exist in the traditional Chinese "Six Ministries" and is only available to the "Yidi", means "changing the barbarians into Xia"!  The Sino-Japanese Langqiao Battle in June 1874 was China's first foreign war since the establishment of its modern navy. Although it achieved a major victory, it also exposed the weakness of China's naval power and made the Qing government begin to pay attention to naval construction. In 1875  In February, the Qing government issued an edict admitting that although it had established shipyards and built a navy, "weak shipbuilding, unprepared equipment, poor selection of generals, and insufficient funding" were the main reasons that led to Japan's bold invasion.  .  It said that "when the matter is decided, we should avoid past mistakes and avoid future ones, and let the great water controller take the lead." The Navy Yamen was established under this background.  The establishment of the Naval Yamen can be said to have met the needs of the development of the Westernization Movement. At that time, China had initially met the conditions for establishing a navy.  Since the 1860s, the Qing Dynasty has extensively set up factories to manufacture machinery, guns, cannons, and ships, gradually changing the outdated and backward weapons and equipment of the Chinese Army.  This not only enabled the army to rapidly transform from the broadswords and spears that had been used for thousands of years to modern advanced new guns and artillery, but the conditions for creating a navy also became increasingly mature.  Before the establishment of the Naval Yamen, Chinese enterprises such as Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau had built more than 20 large and small ships, all equipped with new guns and cannons, and were distributed in the northern and southern oceans, creating conditions for the transformation of the old navy into the new navy.  At the same time, the rapid development of civilian industry, such as the discovery of coal and iron resources, and the successive establishment of transportation and telegraph communications, all adapted to this transformation.  In order to accelerate the formation of the navy, the Qing government began to raise huge sums of money to build custom-made ships from foreign countries, and actively sought cooperation with foreign countries, absorbed advanced foreign technology, and made its own warships.  At that time, many Western newspapers and periodicalsHe was keenly aware of this trend and predicted: "From this point of view, in a few years, China's land troops will give up the art of arrows and rely exclusively on the power of foreign guns, and the navy's ships will give up the wind."  Peng is so stupid, but he can only take the speed of the fire wheel."  Although the background is quite complicated, the establishment of the Naval Yamen is still a major event in China's modern history.  It marked that the Qing Dynasty finally made strengthening coastal defense and building a navy its top priority after being repeatedly attacked by foreign powers in the Opium War.  Although Prince Chun's talents were limited, for the future of Emperor Guangxu and the consolidation of the Qing Dynasty, he still regarded the establishment of the navy and strengthening of coastal defense as his lifelong mission to serve the country with loyalty.  After he was appointed, he dared to abandon outdated ideas, pay close attention to the international situation, humbly consult the Westernizationists, and use his special status to win the sympathy and support of Cixi, creating a favorable environment for promoting the modernization cause centered on naval construction.  With the strong cooperation and support of the far-sighted Prince Gong Yixin, the Naval Yamen became the center for guiding the Westernization Movement.  ¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù "Guo Songtao's Diary": "On the ninth day of the lunar month, Yinchu entered Donghua Gate and sat down in Jiuqing's court room. Su La Yang's surname  , went to the court room of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to greet the military aircraft. Gongdi, Bao and Shen Zhongtang and Li Lansun Shangshu returned to the court room of Jiuqing. After a while, they summoned the military aircraft and Song Tao, and the prince-in-law Liu Jingshou brought them to see him.  Entering the Yuehua Garden, I went to the inner court room and sat down. When I arrived at the military plane, I asked Prime Minister Pei Heng to give up his seat.  After asking about his family background, he asked where his younger brother Kuntao from Yicheng was now. He was recommended by Jingtou Western Affairs. As for the second time, he asked Liang Zhongtang: "This person is a pragmatic person."  In the west room, the six-headed concubine was brought to the Yangxin Hall and placed in the main hall. Afterwards, the waiter lifted the curtain in the east room and knelt down to the table to see the holy face and sit on the royal couch solemnly.  The two rooms were protected by a small case and covered with a green cloth. The six-headed concubine knelt beside the curtain and asked, "How many years have you been away?" The Queen Mother asked, "In Guangdong."  How many years? ' The Queen Mother asked: ' Did you encounter snow on the way? ' The Queen Mother asked: ' Is everything quiet?  ' The Queen Mother asked: 'What kind of mission are you doing in the capital? ' The answer was: 'Walking in the south study room. ' The Queen Mother asked: 'But you are going home because of illness?  The Queen Mother asked: "How old are you?" She replied: "Fifty-six years old."  On the 11th, I paid a visit to Wen Bo in the Chuan Zhongtang and extended the conversation to the inner room. He had been recovering from his illness for two hours, and he looked haggard and loyal. He sincerely respected him.  . When I saw Wen Zhongtang, I saw that this trip was undoubtedly recommended by Wen Zhongtang. I also asked about the reason why Guangdong was slandered and how Zuo Jun got along. It is difficult to give an answer.  That's all. Both Sengdi and Zuojun are famous, and they are very important to me, but they can't tolerate it, so they can't help themselves. Isn't this the so-called heaven? " "On the 15th, Lin Kunyu came and sent a secret?  In the letter, there are four words written on the box, "Send it when something happens". I don't know what it means. When I asked him, Kun Yu said that when he arrived in England, something big happened, so he should use it. It's useless to talk about it now, so I kept talking to him for a long time.  On the occasion of his mission, Kun Yu spoke in detail about his affairs in England. He also wrote a letter from the monks, instructing him to hand it over to Chen Tingxuan, the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in England, because Chen was from Kun Yuyun's wife's family.  The Chen family is well-known overseas and has donated funds to repay the favor. The Queen Mother rewarded her with a gold medal. #£¤%¡­¡­**¡ª%#  Ten ships, including Wei, Changsheng, Haidongyun, Fuxing, and Ji'an, sent orders to raise the blue flag with a triangle on the mizzen mast, ordering everyone to be firm and restrained in preparation for the drill; the next time they raised the yellow dragon flag with a triangle on the mizzen mast, and all the ships raised the flag one after another.  In response, I ordered you to start your journey.  At the beginning of the morning, we arrived at Baigantang Exercise Center.  A triangular yellow dragon flag was hoisted on the mizzen mast, and each ship raised its flag in response to order the sails to be raised.  The triangular yellow dragon flag and the rectangular white flag were raised. Each ship raised the flag in response and ordered the sails to be furled.  Raising the small square red flag and the rectangular red flag are also used to operate guns and artillery.  The triangular flag inlaid with red and blue and the rectangular five-color flag are raised to order the closing team to stop maneuvering for half an hour.
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