Beiyang Dream

Chapter 26 Li Hongzhang: Zhenbang, you must help the Beiyang Fleet acquire these ironclad warships!

August 19th, 1986 (the 15th year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign), around 4 PM. Tianjin, Zhili Governor-General's Office, Signatory Office.

The sun was beginning to slant westward, and light streamed in through the window lattice, casting a long shadow on the blue brick floor. Li Hongzhang sat behind the large rosewood desk, a document from the Ministry of Works in his hand, his brow furrowed as deep and dark as the cracks in the old city wall of Tianjin, clearly indicating that he was in a bad mood.

Sheng Xuanhuai stood in front of the table, holding a blue ledger in his hands, speaking with remarkable fluency:

"Your Excellency, the students have visited all the forts in Weihai and Lushun." He opened the ledger, pointed to a line with his finger, and said, "I've recalculated according to your advice to 'strengthen the rear and reduce the front.'"

"The original budget was around two million taels. With this change, we can save one million and eighty thousand taels. The frontal defenses of the various forts are a bit weak, but the rear defenses are much stronger."

Li Hongzhang grunted an "Mmm," without even lifting his eyelids: "Where's the money?"

"It's all here." Sheng Xuanhuai pulled out another booklet from his pocket. "Including the coastal defense donations from various places, it totals 3.68 million taels. It's been deposited into the Beiyang government's accounts."

Three million six hundred and eighty thousand taels.

The number rolled around in the room, making everyone's hearts itch with anticipation.

Zhang Peilun, who was sitting to Yu Shimei's left, had a sudden flash of interest. He leaned forward, about to speak, when Yu Shimei spoke first.

"Xingsun," Yu Shimei said slowly, as if chewing a piece of old taffy, "that 2.6 million taels of coastal defense donation was... used by the Seventh Prince to repair his garden."

He emphasized the words "Seventh Prince" very heavily.

The Seventh Prince was Prince Chun, the biological father of Emperor Guangxu. This imperial father was extremely filial to his sister-in-law, Empress Dowager Cixi. As the Minister of Naval Affairs, he had not added a single new ship to the navy in all these years, and instead diverted more than seven million taels of naval funds to build a garden for the Empress Dowager.

The 2.6 million taels of coastal defense donation was raised by this "filial piety seventh prince" through selling official positions under the guise of coastal defense, and was specifically used to honor the Empress Dowager.

The signing room fell silent.

A few seconds later, Zhang Peilun chuckled.

"Prince Chun wants to build a garden, let's give him 1.2 to 1.3 million." He tapped his fingers on his knees, as if calculating, "That leaves 2.3 million, just enough to buy a Beiyang warship even bigger than the Dingyuan or Zhenyuan!"

Li Hongzhang raised his head and glanced at his son-in-law.

The "Beiyang" that the son-in-law mentioned is not the official position of Beiyang Minister of Commerce—it refers to the Beiyang Fleet and Huai Army, which were under the control of Li Hongzhang!

The Huai Army's land forces numbered over 50,000, fully equipped with modern rifles and cannons, guarding the ports along the Beiyang coast, just a short distance from the capital. Their combat strength? Far superior to the Eight Banners troops. Their generals? All of them were Li Keqiang's trusted confidants.

To put it bluntly, these are Old Li's private troops.

With just this private army, they took half of the more than two million taels of coastal defense funds from the Beiyang Army to buy warships, so naturally no one dared to say a word.

The problem is... once this money is touched, Li Hongzhang will no longer be the Empress Dowager's "loyal subject".

Li Hongzhang looked at his son-in-law, intending to say a few words of reprimand. But the words caught in his throat.

Zhang Peilun was a man who had suffered defeats. He knew all too well how the French ironclad warships had decimated the Fujian Navy in the Battle of Mawei. From then on, Zhang Peilun developed a habit of always feeling that he didn't have enough ships or cannons, and that he needed to have extra of everything.

Such a upright and virtuous official, now he's always talking about buying ships and cannons, it's not easy for him.

Li Hongzhang sighed, and was about to say something when footsteps sounded in the corridor outside.

"Grand Master! Grand Master!"

Zhou Fu lifted the curtain and came in, holding three telegrams in her hand, with a look on her face that said, "Guess what?"

"Lanxi," Li Hongzhang called to him, "what is it?"

"Berlin. Hong Zhuangyuan, Chang Desheng, and Guo Shigui, three people, three telegrams." Zhou Fu placed the telegrams on the table, first picking up the top one. "This is from Chang Zhenbang. Send it to me to forward to the Grand Secretary."

Li Hongzhang put on his reading glasses, took the telegram, and unfolded it to read it.

About thirty characters.

"The Kaiser has agreed to sell ships and send personnel, at a price of over two million, and also intends to provoke war. Judging from his intentions, he wants to profit from the chaos. I, Desheng, request your instructions."

Li Hongzhang read it three times.

Gently place the telegram on the table.

"Young Woodcutter," he said, "take a look at this first."

Zhang Peilun took the telegram and his eyes lit up immediately: "This is great news! If we can buy this big ship, the Beiyang Fleet can enjoy a few more years of peace!"

Li Hongzhang didn't respond, but instead looked at the other two telegrams in Zhou Fu's hand.

Zhou Fu handed Hong Jun's telegram over.

Li Hongzhang unfolded it and was stunned.

"King Wilhelm II of Germany... first granted me an audience beyond the usual protocol... The King praised my Empress Dowager for her benevolent influence and majestic virtue, comparing her to Queen Victoria of England; and also lauded His Majesty for his youthful wisdom and promising new vision..."

He put down the telegram, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"The German Emperor... Empress Dowager Kwasi?" Li Hongzhang looked incredulous. "How come this is different from what Chang Zhenbang said? Is Hong Wenqing making this up? Or is Chang Zhenbang fabricating something?"

Zhou Fu then handed over the third telegram: "Your Excellency, this is Guo Shigui's secret telegram. Please take a look."

Li Hongzhang took it and quickly scanned it.

Guo Shigui's telegram was very detailed. It first stated that Chang Desheng had been admitted to the War Academy and even achieved the top score. Then it described how the German Emperor met with Chang Desheng and spoke for more than half an hour, noting that Chang Desheng's responses were appropriate and that the Germans greatly admired him. Finally, it specifically mentioned that Hong Jun's report was based on Chang Desheng's account, its veracity uncertain, but highly beneficial to the Beiyang government.

After reading it, Li Hongzhang let out a soft sigh.

"This Chang Sheng," he handed the telegram to Sheng Xuanhuai beside him, "is not simple."

Sheng Xuanhuai read it and passed it to Yu Shimei. Yu Shimei read it and passed it to Zhang Peilun.

The room was quiet for a while.

After everyone had finished reading, Li Hongzhang finally spoke: "Let's all speak."

Zhou Fu was the first to speak: "Your Excellency, this Chang Desheng... is a rare talent. He entered the highest military academy in Germany and came in first place. He talked with the German Emperor for so long, and that's the real deal. No matter how Hong Wenqing writes his report, these facts cannot be faked. Once Hong Wenqing's telegram reaches the Empress Dowager, Chang Sheng will at least get a fifth-rank official hat. The Beiyang Army must seize such a person."

Li Hongzhang nodded and smiled, "He's capable and knows how to scheme."

Sheng Xuanhuai interjected, "Your Excellency, why not give him the position of an army division inspection commissioner? With a monthly allowance of one or two hundred taels, let him thoroughly investigate the Prussian army system at the Prussian War Academy. Most importantly, he should copy and translate all those textbooks and manuals back to us. Our military academy is still using the Hannagan system; we're far behind them."

Yu Shimei stroked his beard and said slowly, "Xingsun is right. The fact that Chang Desheng could be summoned by the German Emperor for such a long time is itself a stepping stone. In the future, when dealing with Krupp, buying arms, or hiring advisors, we can use him. Since he is a member of the Beiyang Army, these things are only natural."

Zhang Peilun read Guo Shigui's telegram again, his brows furrowing slightly, before finally speaking:

"Your Excellency, this matter... is quite interesting." He gently placed the telegram on the table, pointing to the line at the top: "Scholar Hong's report was written based on Chang Sheng's report." "This Chang Zhenbang, not only can he fool the foreign emperor, but it seems... he's also quite good at fooling our Scholar Hong and that Empress Dowager in the Forbidden City?"

Upon hearing this, the people inside the room all looked up.

Zhang Peilun leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice: "Since this kid is so good at making the old lady happy..." He paused, "...why not let him do it a little more?"

Li Hongzhang raised an eyebrow: "Who are you trying to fool?"

"Who else could we possibly be fooling?" Zhang Peilun laughed, "The Empress Dowager, the one in the Forbidden City who loves flattery the most!"

There was a moment of silence in the signing room after these words were spoken.

Zhou Fuxian realized what was happening, his eyes lighting up: "Youqiao means... to have Chang Zhenbang help us... get money from the Empress Dowager to buy warships?"

"Exactly!" Zhang Peilun slapped his knee. "Hong Wenqing's telegram, saying that the German Emperor praised the Empress Dowager as superior to Victoria and lauded the Emperor's youthful wisdom... it was clearly something Chang Zhenbang made up to appease the old lady. But ironically, the Empress Dowager liked to hear it, and the Emperor also appreciated it."

He looked at Li Hongzhang, his tone becoming serious:

"Your Excellency, think about it. We're only a little over a million short of acquiring this ironclad warship... The Beiyang Fleet's naval donations alone amount to two million six hundred thousand... Half of that would be enough to build a garden for Prince Chun. If we could find a reason that would please the Old Madam and make it difficult for the Emperor and Prince Chun to refuse, wouldn't that allow us to use the money?"

Sheng Xuanhuai chimed in, "Youqiao, are you saying that Chang Desheng should continue to use the Emperor's name to fool people?"

"How could it be a lie?" Zhang Peilun shook his head repeatedly. "The foreign emperor praised our Holy Mother Empress Dowager, how could that be a lie? Anyone who dared to say such a thing to the Empress Dowager would not only lose their official position, but would also be sent to the execution ground!"

Yu Shimei stroked her beard and slowly said, "This idea... isn't bad. But, does Chang Zhenbang have that much ability?"

"Why not give it a try?" Zhang Peilun looked at Li Hongzhang. "Your Excellency, why don't you give Chang Zhenbang this question?"

Li Hongzhang frowned: "Isn't this making things difficult for us?"

"Not difficult at all," Zhang Peilun laughed. "This kid managed to get first place in the War Academy, was summoned privately by the German Emperor, and even managed to charm Hong Wenqing—this kind of shrewdness and resourcefulness is beyond the reach of ordinary students. Besides, a generous reward will surely attract brave men. Your Excellency, you just need to offer him a sufficiently grand promise..."

He paused, then said, word by word:

"If he can get this done for us, what's wrong with guaranteeing him a fourth-rank official position when he returns from his studies in Germany?"

Sheng Xuanhuai frowned and said, "Youqiao, isn't this reward... a bit too high?"

"High?" Zhang Peilun shook his head. "Xingsun, think about it. If he can really accomplish this, it's equivalent to getting two million taels of silver for the Beiyang Fleet to buy a 10,000-ton ironclad warship! Isn't that a merit worth a Daotai? What's more, this man is not only talented but also knowledgeable about foreign affairs and can navigate among foreigners—such a talent will be of great use sooner or later. If we do him a favor now, he will become a trusted confidant in the future."

Zhou Fu nodded in agreement: "Your Excellency, what Youqiao said makes sense. If Chang Zhenbang can really accomplish this, he will have made a great contribution. A fourth-rank candidate for the position will not only be a reward for his merit, but also a way to keep him loyal."

Li Hongzhang's gaze swept across the faces of the men, finally settling on Zhang Peilun's face.

His son-in-law's personality has changed somewhat since Ma Jiang's defeat, but his vision and decisiveness have become even more ruthless than before.

"Okay." Li Hongzhang finally nodded emphatically.

He looked at Zhou Fu: "Lanxi, write this in your reply to Chang Zhenbang..."

"First, I'll secure him a fifth-rank official hat, plus the position of Inspector General of the Beiyang Army, with a monthly allowance of one hundred taels of silver. He'll be considered a subordinate of my Beiyang Army."

"Then tell him that the Kaiser has promised to sell ships, and the Beiyang Fleet does indeed intend to acquire more. However, there are many in the court who oppose the Beiyang Fleet's purchase of ships... Ask him if he has any good strategies to help the Beiyang Fleet accomplish this great undertaking?"

"If he succeeds, once he returns to the country after completing his studies, I will recommend him for a fourth-rank official position. I will not break my promise."

Zhou Fu quickly jotted it down, then asked, "Your Excellency, what about Hong Wenqing's telegram...?"

Li Hongzhang waved his hand: "Send it over exactly as it is, don't change a single word."

"Yes."

Zhou Fu went out to draft the telegram.

The signing room fell silent again.

Li Hongzhang leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He started digging up old grievances in his mind.

Chang Zhenbang... a fourth-rank candidate for the Daoist position... an ironclad warship...

This deal was worth it!