1890 King of Southeast Asia

After two days of sailing, thanks to their vision and opinions, Liu Yiming, Charles, and Deng Shichang have become good friends who can talk about anything. Charles and Deng Shichang are not satisfied with the current national conditions of their own countries. Liu Yiming stands on the shoulders of giants and can break free from the shackles and put forward refreshing ideas.

"Deng, Singapore is ahead. Do you want to continue eastward and attack Java Island?" Charles teased when they were about to arrive in Singapore.

"To be honest, before departure, the admiral told me that if things change, I can act according to my convenience. Moreover, I have to use the telegram from Singapore to report the news brought by Yiming to the admiral and the middle hall." Deng Shichang was a little sweaty. The two sides were still in opposition in theory, but now they were talking and laughing, which made him a little uncomfortable.

"I can't understand the political phenomenon in your country. In England, this is almost impossible, but I understand. This is politics. In the future, I may become the Minister of the Navy, but I will never become the commander of the fleet, because it is better for soldiers not to understand politics." Charles said a little disappointedly. Politics made him promoted quickly, but his idol is Nelson, and he can never be that kind of person.

"No! I don't think so. Politics is a bloodless war, and war is a bloody politics. A good general must understand politics, but it is best for soldiers not to interfere in politics." Liu Yiming interrupted.

"What a good politics is a bloodless war, and war is a bloody politics! It's very insightful!" Deng Shichang understood the meaning of this sentence better after this experience. He was unwilling to touch the court and thought that the navy was a pure land. He also experienced a political game this time.

"Okay, enter the port, but, Lord Deng, let the soldiers stop training, don't take off the gun cover, don't let the British Empire misunderstand." Wherever Charles exists, Liu Yiming calls the British Empire, making people think that he is a hardcore pro-British faction, and the effect is also good.

"Order, stop training, enter the port!" Deng Shichang ordered.

Along the way, Deng Shichang has been training, mainly because there is not much training in normal times, especially there is news that the purchase of guns and ammunition will be stopped this year. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Nanhua, this would also be normal history.

After entering the port and anchoring, the three people disembarked. Of course, except for pistols, they could not carry any weapons.

"Charles, go to the telegraph office. I need to borrow it to report to my family that I am safe." When saying this, Liu Yiming glanced at Deng Shichang, who returned a grateful look.

The telegraph office can be used normally, just pay the money, but first you have to queue up, and second the confidentiality is not high. Liu Yiming is not really going to report that he is safe, but mainly to let Deng Shichang get in touch with Li Hongzhang.

The Qing Dynasty has always used clear codes to send telegrams, and the higher the confidentiality of contacting Li Hongzhang, the better. Liu Yiming plans to send it directly from Singapore to the British Embassy. In this matter, Britain still has the fantasy of letting the Qing Dynasty resist the north, and does not want its energy to be attracted to the sea. So after Charles brought people over, Singapore provided convenience.

…………

"Sir, this is sent from the British side, and Deng Shichang, the captain of the Zhiyuan ship, sent it from Singapore." A man wearing the uniform of a fifth-rank civil servant in the Zhili Governor's Office handed Li Hongzhang a telegram.

Li Hongzhang heard that it was not planned, Deng Shichang sent it from Singapore, and he was full of doubts and a little fear, and he took the telegram and read it. The telegram was a bit long. The front was sent by Deng Shichang, with details, and the back was an introduction to Liu Yiming, as well as Liu Yiming's speculation on the incident and the source of the intelligence.

"Huh~ Has anyone else seen this telegram?" Li Hongzhang stared at the person in front of him, expressionless.

"My Lord, I got this telegram from the British and sent it to you immediately, and no one knew about it."

"Yanshan, you did a good job on this matter, go down." Li Hongzhang nodded with satisfaction.

"Thank you, Lord Zhongtang." The person named Yanshan thanked excitedly.

"Youqiao!" Li Hongzhang shouted to the back.

"Hello, father-in-law, I wonder what Lord Deng said?" Zhang Peilun had been staying in the back, and when he heard Li Hongzhang shouting, he hurried forward.

"Take a look! Take a look at the wolfish ambitions of the Japanese!" Li Hongzhang handed the telegraph board to Zhang Peilun, and Zhang Peilun also read it carefully.

After a long time, Zhang Peilun took a deep breath and contributed to global warming.

"Hiss~ Father-in-law, this is not good!" Zhang Peilun said.

"Oh? Tell me what you think." Li Hongzhang regained his calm look when facing a sudden disaster.

"Sixty percent of the income is used for armaments, and there are three large ships targeting Dingzhen. At present, Beiyang has a slight chance of winning. If we wait a few more years, I am afraid that the attack and defense will change! By then, the court will still put my Beiyang in the front. If we win, that's what we should do. If we lose, this Beiyang..." Zhang Peilun said.

"Besides, Lord Zhongtang has been doing foreign affairs all his life, which frightened the powers. Once he loses to the Japanese, I am afraid that another catastrophe will come!" Zhang Youqiao knew that the court was already preparing for the birthday banquet and wanted to stop Beiyang from purchasing armaments from abroad, whether it was warships or ammunition. As for the ammunition manufactured by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Beiyang Machinery Bureau? It can only be used for training, and even training is not worth using.

"Well, you are indeed a young man, you have a very comprehensive view. This matter is really tricky. The imperial teacher clearly used an open plot. At that time, even if Beiyang won, it would be seriously injured, and he could start to reduce the vassal. But he didn't think about what would happen if Beiyang, which was tied up, lost?" Li Hongzhang slapped the table. It was not that he was so patriotic, nor could he say that he didn't love it, but his personal interests were greater to a certain extent. After all, if he lost, he would suffer a loss and sign. At that time, he would be cursed for all eternity. His teacher was like this!

"Then...what is my father-in-law going to do?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"What do you think?" Li Hongzhang did not answer directly, and was testing Zhang Peilun again. This is the normal state of the two.

"I think what Liu Yiming said is not bad. Cooperating with Nanhua can not only solve the problem of insufficient military expenditure for Beiyang, but also provide a source of ammunition. Although no one mentioned it at the moment, after this war, Shangshu Weng will definitely bring up the old matter again and restrict the import of ammunition for Beiyang." Zhang Peilun said.

"It's feasible, but you are too cautious. It's good to be cautious in words and deeds, but it's not good to be timid. Youqiao, the Sino-French war was not a war crime, don't blame yourself too much..." Li Hongzhang said.

"Send a telegram to invite Liu Yiming to the north, but we have to discuss it. Let Zhi Jingjing come and take a look. He didn't even fire the guns. What's the point? Let Deng Shichang bring four ships with Zhi Jingjing, use up all the shells, choose the target at random, and then burn a few big holes on the ship to discredit it. It can be regarded as an explanation." Li Hongzhang said.

"Father-in-law! Isn't this..." Zhang Youqiao felt that it was a bit too much. After all, they were in the enemy camp, and they let people enter their own base camp before the battle. Let the court know what to do?

"Youqiao! When the Xiaodaohui attacked Shanghai, the Xiaodaohui's envoys had already entered my Daotai Yamen before the battle started. Don't worry!" Li Hongzhang took a look and knew what he was worried about.

"Yes!" Zhang Youqiao was about to go down to send a telegram.

"Wait, you go find that Sun Yanshan, go to the British Legation with him, and send it through the British Legation's channels." Li Hongzhang thought of something and said to Zhang Peilun who walked to the door.

…………

The radio waves were transmitted along the submarine cable to Singapore, and finally translated into text and sent to Deng Shichang.

"Yiming! The Lord Zhongtang agreed, and invited you to go north to Zhili to discuss cooperation matters." Deng Shichang said after reading the telegram.

"I will, is it convenient for me to see the telegram?" Liu Yiming hesitated a little, but he would not show it.

Deng Shichang handed the telegram directly to Liu Yiming. This was also Zhang Peilun's request. Zhang Peilun thought further. Once Beiyang was not allowed to purchase military equipment, it would be useless to have money, so an external channel would be very important.

"I'll prepare a little. What do you think about the telegram asking you to use up all the shells?" Liu Yiming asked.

"This is simple, it can be used for training." Having said that, Deng Shichang still had to find an uninhabited deserted island and lied that it was Nanhua land, after all, there were Manchu officers on the ship. And Deng Shichang felt bad, these are all imported shells, all money!

"I have an idea." Liu Yiming asked for a map with the Indonesian islands marked on it.

"How about we have a joint exercise? Just treat it as the beginning of our cooperation." Liu Yiming said.

"How to cooperate?" Deng Shichang asked curiously. He also knew in the past two days that Nanhua only had three gunboats for naval training.

"Joint sea and land operations, from Java to the east, eight islands, some Dutch are stationed on them, but the number is not large, mainly natives, but there are a few gunboats, I can't stand it, so use these for a real combat exercise." Liu Yiming said.

"This..." Deng Shichang was shocked, "I can't make the decision." But it's not easy to refuse directly, using the excuse of not being able to make the decision.

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver, plus all your consumption, including shells, if there is any damage, Nanhua will double the compensation, and at the same time, Nanhua can sell a batch of three-inch guns to Beiyang." Liu Yiming said, the three-inch guns were made by the Sishui Arsenal, the rigid gun mount, the hydraulic spring recoil mechanism has been improved, and the rigid gun mount cannon Liu Yiming is ready to eliminate, it is not bad to sell it cheap.

"In addition, Nanhua can produce large-caliber and high-powered shells, which can be sold to Beiyang. Go and ask Lord Li what he says!" Liu Yiming said again.

Li Hongzhang did not think too much, because Liu Yiming suggested that the flag of the die Qing Dynasty could be changed, and the cables of the eight islands could be cut off at the same time to ensure that it would not be spread out. And Liu Yiming's offer was not low.

"Hahaha! Brother Deng, let's go, follow me to Sishui." Liu Yiming has been out for seven or eight days. He just got married and missed Zhang You a little. He can't wait to go home.

The four warships of Zhijing slowly lowered the dragon flag, loaded with high-quality anthracite, and sailed towards Sishui.