"The foreign devil is gone." From a distance, Heizi, who was crouching in the corner of a warehouse, whispered to Zhu Xueyan. Zhu Xueyan held up a small telescopic telescope with a brass jacket and looked out through the gap in the wall. In the lens, Lin Yizhe had already boarded the carriage. "That car is quite small. He should be sitting on the edge of the fender." Heizi said while staring closely at Lin Yizhe's carriage, "The board shouldn't be very thick." "The board is not thick, but the arrow can penetrate it. He doesn't have much strength left, so he can't hurt him, but it will easily scare him away." Zhu Xueyan said softly, "Unless I use a firecracker and a foreign gun" "I brought a foreign gun, do you want to use it, senior sister?" Then he took out an old-style single-shot pistol from his backpack with his backhand. "No, it's broad daylight. There's too much movement. Even if we could kill him, you and I can't run away." Zhu Xueyan said, her eyes still not leaving the telescope. "I'm familiar with the terrain here. I just walked through a few alleys and got out." Heizi said. "This is the boundary of the government. When the officers and soldiers heard the gunfire, several crossings were blocked and they couldn't leave." Zhu Xueyan saw Lin Yizhe's carriage in the telescope driving forward, and several red-coated soldiers on horseback protected the carriage. When he was in the middle, he couldn't help but frown. She didn¡¯t expect that even in the capital, the most beautiful place under the emperor¡¯s feet, Lin Yizhe¡¯s awareness of precautions would still be so strong! "Let's go! Find another chance!" Zhu Xueyan put away the telescope, stood up and said. Lin Yizhe sat in the carriage and looked out the window leisurely. This carriage was originally one of the daily vehicles given to Prince Gong by a Russian minister. Later, Prince Gong gave it to Lin Yizhe for his use when he was in Beijing. When Lin Yizhe left Beijing. This carriage was stored in the Beijing branch of Chen Jiaxiang's Tuan Shop. This time he came to the capital again, and the Beijing branch had prepared the carriage and horses for his use early. Lin Yizhe was not used to riding horses. This time he came to see Wetoma off. In order to be in a hurry, he used this carriage. The carriage entered the street, and Lin Yizhe took a leisurely look at the street scene of Beijing. Pedestrians on the street were very surprised when they saw the Western-style carriage and the red-clad shipping officers and sailors who were escorting them, and they all stopped to watch. Lin Yizhe couldn't stand people's gazes. He was about to lie down on the back of the car seat and close his eyes to rest for a while, but suddenly he felt something strange in the starry eyes of a woman in the crowd who was staring at him. Lin Yizhe straightened up suddenly and looked into the crowd. He wanted to see those eyes clearly, but the owner of the eyes turned away and disappeared into the crowd. Although her body was completely covered by a black cloak, Lin Yizhe still saw it. When she dodged, the fluttering cloak rose up. The beautiful figure revealed. This fleeting glance in the vast sea of ??people was fleeting. Lin Yizhe didn't know that at that moment, he had already passed death. "Sister, just now" Heizi was puzzled that Zhu Xueyan gave up the attack at the last moment again. After the two met deep in the alley, he asked hesitantly. "It's too far away." Zhu Xueyan whispered. "Even if you hit it, it won't be fatal." "Oh." Heizi nodded, "Actually, I wanted to use a musket just now. This is a busy city. The crowd was frightened after the gunshot. We can just take advantage of the chaos to escape." "That one of yours." The gun is too old and can only fire one shot. If it misses, their gun will come to greet you. Did you notice that the dog officer's photo is very bright and his fingers are slender and strong, like a foreign gun. "Excellent use." Zhu Xueyan said, "Don't miss him and ask him to be beaten instead." "That's right." Heizi nodded repeatedly as he recalled the feeling when he first saw Lin Yizhe. "To deal with him, we still need a foreign gun, preferably a Plum Blossom pistol that can shoot continuously." Zhu Xueyan said, remembering the revolver used by the foreign missionary when he rescued the nocturnal merchants on the way to the capital. I have to get two of them, as well as guns." Hearing that Zhu Xueyan was determined to use a Western pistol against Lin Yizhe, Heizi looked a little excited, "I'll take care of this. I'll get two of these guns." "Here's the gun. Plum-blossom pistols are usually carried by foreigners or fake foreign devils. They are probably not available in ordinary people's hands. They are not easy to get. "Zhu Xueyan looked at Heizi and said, "What, do you have a way?" "Over there at the pawn shop. I have an acquaintance." Heizi smiled and said. "Pawn shop?" Zhu Xueyan couldn't help but be stunned after hearing Heizi's answer. "Sister, I don't know. As long as the Eight Banners Green Camp in the Beijing Camp does not go out for drills, many people's guns will be pawned in pawn shops to make some money." Heizi said with a smile."There are all kinds of guns there. We can pick two, borrow them and use them before returning them. They will be unnoticed and very safe." After hearing Heizi's words, Zhu Xueyan suddenly realized, A smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of his mouth. "Okay, let's do it like this." At this time, neither Lin Yizhe nor Zhu Xueyan knows what kind of story will happen between them in the future. As soon as Lin Yizhe returned to his residence in Xianliang Temple, a servant sent a telegram. Lin Yizhe noticed that the telegram was from Li Hongzhang and quickly opened it and read it. "As you expected, the Rongdeng Navy mutinied, but Dongfu was unable to stop it. Now the Beiyang Navy is at Weihai Bay, and plans to send troops to suppress it in one or two rounds" Lin Yizhe finished reading this short telegram, A sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Ding Baozhen, you are stupid, stubborn and old, you can go!" Shandong, Jinan, governor's office. "Over in Guangdong, is there any news about the ship we booked?" Ding Baozhen asked his master. "Sir, I've written to you several times, but I haven't received a reply yet." The master sensed the dissatisfaction in Ding Baozhen's tone and quickly replied. "I really don't know what they are bothering with over there! Is it more troublesome to build a few wooden boats than to build a ship?" Ding Baozhen said with some annoyance, "Then send a letter to remind you!" "Yes, yes. Master." The master listened to Ding Baozhen. The order was followed in succession. "Isn't there a telegraph line now? If not, send a telegraph from Tianjin!" Ding Baozhen ordered again. "Yes! Yes! Master!" The master agreed. He looked at Ding Baozhen's face and couldn't help but remind him, "Sir, the imperial court's decree is that no more wooden ships are allowed to be built for the navy, and they are all converted into steamships. "Ah" "What do you know! The imperial court's will is not static!" Ding Baozhen became angry when he heard this. "It is difficult and expensive to build steamships. The navy's existing wooden ships can be used after some repairs." What kind of steamship do you want? Aren¡¯t most of the steamships built by the shipyard made of wood? I want this wooden boat to prove to the court that the wooden boat is still usable! Let the court change its course! Ding Baozhen scolded him. I didn't dare to say anything more, I just said yes. Anyone who is familiar with Ding Baozhen knows that Ding Baozhen has his own "insights" on important coastal defense tasks. By now, Ding Baozhen has been serving as governor of Shandong for nearly ten years. He is actively building water conservancy projects. Develop agriculture, pay attention to people's livelihood, and also pay a lot of attention to Westernization and coastal defense construction (also limited to "concern"). After he took office, he carried out "dramatic" rectifications against corruption in the Shandong Navy. Establish a naval commander to unified command the navy. The Rongcheng Naval Battalion and the Dengzhou Naval Battalion were established. This time, people were sent to Guangzhou to order 14 sailing boats to equip these two naval battalions. Although he also believed that we should learn from the West, because he insisted on "the great defense of Yi and Xia", his understanding of Westernization always only stayed on the "tool" side. Regarding strengthening coastal defense, unlike Lin Yizhe and Ding Richang who advocated the establishment of an "overseas navy", that is, a navy, Ding Baozhen insisted that to strengthen coastal defense, building forts should be the first priority and the navy second. Ding Baozhen has his own ideas and plans for Shandong's coastal defense. As early as three years ago, he began to consider building forts along the coast of Dengzhou. Because the original 13 forts in Dengzhou were in disrepair and most of them collapsed. In addition, most of them were built with masonry and were too brittle, so they needed to be rebuilt. Select a site to build a new fort. Ding Baozhen put forward some specific ideas for the construction of the new fort, especially emphasizing that the new fort should be constructed entirely of Sanhe soil and without bricks or stones, so as not to increase the lethality of enemy artillery. His insights are not wrong, because explosive bombs were not widely used at that time and their power was limited. Most artillery shells were still special round or pointed solid bullets, which were extremely destructive to masonry structures and fortresses. The masonry is strong but brittle. Once hit by a cannonball, the flying fragments will kill and injure the officers and soldiers guarding the platform. Ding Baozhen took several boats to inspect the situation along the coast of Dengzhou and surveyed the specific location for the construction of the fort, but it was never finalized, so the construction of the fort was put on hold until the imperial court issued an edict to determine the construction of coastal defenses. After becoming an "urgent matter", Ding Baozhen picked up the matter again with great enthusiasm. In December 1874, Ding Baozhen first petitioned the court to transfer his old subordinate Zhang Yinhuan, an alternate from Hubei, to Shandong to be specifically responsible for the construction of the fort. Zhang Yinhuan was from Guangdong and was familiar with Westernization, especially in the construction of forts. He "often talked with Westerners and learned a lot" and had relatively rich knowledge and experience. After Zhang Yinhuan took office, Ding Baozhen immediately sent him to Yantai, together with Gong Yitu of Denglai Qingdao and Li Zongdai of the commander-in-chief Shichuan Houbu Dao, to conduct inspections along the coast.Conduct on-site inspections and propose specific plans for fort construction. Zhang Yinhuan and others suggested that Shandong should focus on fortifying Yantai, Weihai and Dengzhou, and give priority to strengthening the defense of Dengzhou. As for the coastal defense of Yantai, "a large defensive camp was set up at Tongshen Gang, with 3,000 troops stationed to secure the back road"; a "floating iron fort" was set up at the foot of Yantai Mountain, at the Bachang Temple, and on the sea west of Zhifu Island; Build a "sand curved fort" at the east end of Zhifu. Ding Baozhen basically agreed with Zhang Yinhuan's plan, but he had different opinions on the part about Yantai. He believed that the view of giving priority to strengthening Dengzhou's defense was too "narrow". "At this time, defense should focus on Beiyang and take into account Eastern Province." If From the overall perspective of Beiyang, Yantai defense should be prioritized rather than Dengzhou. He advocated that in Tongshen Gang in Yantai, "first build a polder, place cannons along the wall, and station the army division in the center. Set up a watchtower in the polder and place wheeled cannons." The "wei" Ding Baozhen refers to is actually a castle where troops can be stationed. Since the "floating iron fort" was still a new type of weapon at the time, China was unable to manufacture it and had to purchase it from abroad. However, foreign countries were also in short supply and it was difficult to guarantee timely purchase. Therefore, Ding Baozhen did not adopt Zhang Yinhuan's suggestion of building a "floating iron fort", but planned to "build a round fort" in the Bashi Temple. "Build a zigzag fort" in Dongzhuang, Zhifu Mountain, to support each other with the Tongshen Gang fort. At that time. Shandong falls under the jurisdiction of Beiyang, and all coastal defense construction is supervised by Li Hongzhang, the governor-general of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. Ding Baozhen once sent Zhang Yinhuan to Tianjin to inform Li Hongzhang of the relevant plans and ask for support. After that, Ding and Li exchanged letters and discussed the specific details of building the fort. Ding Baozhen¡¯s opinion of giving priority to strengthening Yantai¡¯s defense was affirmed by Li Hongzhang. He said in a letter to Ding Baozhen: "Yantai, Weihai, and Dengzhou chose locations to build forts in sequence, with Yantai being the most important." Ding Baozhen asked Li Hongzhang about the construction methods of forts, and Li Hongzhang wrote back saying that not only were they built everywhere in China, The forts are of different styles. The forts built by various Western countries are also different, but they "mostly use sand to build the foundation, and the outside and top are thickly built with triple soil." In this way, the fort can be durable. He promised to give Ding Baozhen the drawings of the Western-style three-joint earth fort just built in Tianjin New City and the newly collected Prussian fort model for reference. In order to ensure the success of the fort construction, Li Hongzhang once suggested hiring foreign technicians to preside over the construction of the Yantai fort. Ding Baozhen disagreed. He still insisted that the Chinese be responsible for the construction. At the beginning of 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), according to Ding Baozhen's overall plan and under the specific leadership of Zhang Yinhuan, the Tongshangang project was started. Ding Baozhen then went to Yantai to review the navy and inspected the newly constructed Tongshen Gang Fort. Ding Baozhen in his memorial to the court. The overall situation of Tongshin Gang Fort was introduced in detail. Ding Baozhen said in the memorial that the Weizi was built along the mountain, one foot and two feet high, one foot and six feet wide, and the bottom was two feet and one foot thick. The circumference is 295 feet, and protective walls and gun walls were built on it. Used for shielding. A camp gate is set up on the south side of the Weizi, and a layer of outer Wei is added outside the gate. Three small protective platforms were built to the east of Weizi to prepare for contact. There are 6 forts built in the middle of the polder: a double-layer circular fort in the northeast and southeast; an open-air fort in the southwest and northwest; and two small forts with protective walls in the west. Among them, the double-layered circular fort in the northeast is mainly responsible for defending Haikou, the two forts in the southeast and southwest are mainly responsible for defending the back road, and the fort in the northwest is mainly responsible for defending the sand embankment and Zhifu Land Road. "The layout can be described as rigorous." The two circular forts in the northeast and southeast can be said to be the main forts of Tongshin Gang Fort. It is divided into two floors, the upper floor is open-air and is used to install cannons. The lower level houses artillery shooting, ammunition warehouses, soldiers' residences, etc. The upper level is a cover called the "peace cover", which is protected by iron plates. Ding Baozhen believed that the construction methods of these two forts were "no different from Western methods." As for other projects, they were all "new and relevant", which made him very satisfied. During the construction process of Tongshangang Fort, "all projects were constructed with Sanhe soil." Only when building a watchtower in the northeast corner for observation, bricks and stones were "used simultaneously" (the so-called Sanhetu is a common name and has no precise definition. Some say it is sand mixed with a certain proportion of lime. It was rammed from one foot to two inches; some people said that lime, glutinous rice juice, clam ash, cow hair, etc. were mixed with soil, and then rammed from four inches to eight inches. People at that time said that this kind of triple soil was hard. It is stronger than iron and stone. Even if you use an ax to cut it hard, it is difficult to cut it off in one piece. Therefore, most of the imitation Western-style forts built in this period were made of Sanhe soil.) After Ding Baozhen inspected Tongshen Gang, he felt that the overall fort still needed further improvement. He believed that another fort should be built on the hillside of Duoshan, two miles north of Weizi, so as to form an angle with Weizi; at the same time, another small fort in the form of a bunker should be built at the bend of the earth ridge east of Weizi. . After conducting on-site surveys, Ding Baozhen asked Zhang Yinhuan and others to seize the time to purchase land and build these two forts. As for Ding Baozhen¡¯s preoccupation with repairing the fort,Although Hongzhang expressed his support, he reminded him many times that he should also focus on the construction of the navy. In order to strengthen the defense of the Beijing-Tianjin gateway area, Li Hongzhang once suggested to Ding Baozhen to unify the powers and "combine the Shandong Navy and the Beiyang Navy into one place" and set up a commander to unify drills and commands so that they can "join forces" when encountering a foreign enemy invasion. Defend the enemy", but was firmly opposed by Ding Baozhen. The reason why Ding Baozhen opposed the merger of Shandong Navy and Beiyang Navy was simple. He did not intend to lose control of Rongdeng Navy and the corresponding right to allocate coastal defense funds. Since Shandong is a province with only a governor and not a governor, although Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, is nominally one level higher than the governor of Shandong, in fact the governor of Shandong is at the same level as the governor of Zhili. Regarding the issue of coastal defense construction, the two sides can only discuss Therefore, under Ding Baozhen's firm opposition, Li Hongzhang could only give up the idea of ??merging the navy. This time, Ding Baozhen ignored the small steamer from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Administration and went all the way to Guangdong to order a shuttle boat, just to avoid Li Hongzhang. As for Lin Yizhe, the newly appointed minister of naval affairs, Ding Baozhen didn't pay attention at all. Ding Baozhen was thinking about whether to write a letter to Zhang Zhaodong himself to urge him to catch the boat, but he saw a master walking in quickly, leading a dirty general. "What's going on?" When Ding Baozhen saw them, his eyes widened in surprise and he asked immediately. "Excuse me Mr. Futai! It's not good! The Rongcheng Naval Camp and and the Dengzhou Naval Camp have mutinied!" When the general saw Ding Baozhen, he immediately knelt down. "Earth," he said out of breath. PS: Please collect it! 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