Chapter 54: Flag Withdrawal Incident
Previous Note: The flag withdrawal incident occurred in Hong Kong in history. This book canceled the Hong Kong patrol plan because the emperor inspected the navy. The incident occurred at the headquarters of the Royal Navy in Weihai.
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Early the next morning, Li Hongzhang and Ding Ruchang came happily and asked Ando when they saw me: "Your Majesty, Prince Gong is still negotiating with the British. I really didn't expect that the British learned about the navy. Today, I received the news that the Chinese fleet of the British Royal Navy requested to hold a joint exercise with me. I thought that the emperor was here, and this matter was not trivial and should not be easily agreed, but if we do not agree, it seems that we have no sincerity and it is not easy to deal with Prince Gong. What should we do? Please tell me."
This old slip-on guy looked willing to see how he looked, but he was afraid of taking on something, so he came to ask me for instructions. But I was so happy that I would not be embarrassed to say no?
But since the British are coming, let him come. The configuration of the Chinese fleet is far worse than the strength of Weihai, but the victory or defeat is really hard to say when it is exercised. It is best to lose, and let the navy soldiers see the difference in the quality of individual soldiers and commanders. So he nodded and said, "Since that's the case, Li Zhongtang, you can arrange it. Tell the British that I want the navy to conduct a confrontation exercise with them. Please don't care about my face and teach us well." As he said, he looked at Ding Ruchang, who had changed his face and said, "What's wrong with Ding Junmen? Don't be afraid or in a hurry. Fight well and shoot our prestige and find the gap. Our ship is better than them, and the guns have all been replaced with Krupp's fast cannons, it depends on how you take the military gate."
"Please rest assured, the emperor!" Ding Ruchang stepped forward and a sense of courage appeared on his face. He looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "Please rest assured, Li Zhongtang, I will definitely show the power of my Qing Dynasty Royal Navy, so that foreigners can see that we Chinese are not easy to mess with." Ding Ruchang was born in the army and naturally felt proud when he spoke.
I smiled and looked at him, and suddenly remembered something. Anyway, Ding Ruchang was about to transfer him to Yili to lead the army. Why not take this opportunity to train young talents? So he shook his hand and said, "Well, I know that Ding Junmen leads troops, but I want to see more young people this time. I have great uses for Ding Junmen. Tell me, if you are not here, it is better for anyone to command?"
Ding Ruchang was stunned and looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "If I were not here, I thought... General Lin Taizeng was of great use."
"Yeah." I nodded. Lin Taizeng was indeed okay, and then asked, "What if Lin wasn't there?"
"This..." Ding Ruchang was speechless for a moment and couldn't speak.
"Hmm?" I asked, "Is it Lin Taizeng alone? Where is Lang Weili? Where is Liu Buchan? Where is Deng Shichangsa Zhenbing?"
"Reply to the emperor... words." Seeing that I was anxious, Ding Ruchang stammered. My face suddenly sank. Li Hongzhang hurried over to smooth things over and said, "Your Majesty is asking you, speak well!"
"Yes!" Ding Ruchang responded and calmed down and said, "When he replied to the emperor, Lang Weili has no responsibility and is planning to return to the country. I dare not be good at it. Although Liu Buchan is very talented, he cherishes his personality is quite resolute and irritable. When he gets along with foreign officials, he always has difficulties. I think he can use his courage to be a general, but not a general. As for Deng Sa and other generals, they are not as good as Lin Taizeng."
My heart sank. A talent as powerful as Lang Willie can't just let go, so I asked, "Is Lang Willie still in Weihai? What's the matter?"
Li Hongzhang glared at Ding Ruchang, turned his head and said seriously: "Reply to the emperor, it is because of some trivial reasons for his position, and he missed his hometown, so..."
It may not be. Could it be that it was the flag withdrawal incident? I felt aroused, so I asked Li Hongzhang: "Did you become dirty with Liu Buchan?"
Li Hongzhang was speechless.
I asked again: "When did it happen? Liu Buchan looked down on him? He withdrew the Admiral's flag and raised the general's flag?"
"The emperor... know everything?" Li Hongzhang and Ding Ruchang knelt down at the same time and apologized in panic: "Please forgive me for deciding the crime of improperness."
"Hmph!" I snorted angrily: "You are so bold, you dare to deceive me! Ding Ruchang! Tell me the whole story to me. Li Hongzhang, go and keep Lang Willie in person! I will stay there for a while!"
The two of them responded in unison. I asked Kou Lian to call Zaifeng over and asked him to catch up with Li Hongzhang and say a few good things, so that he could know that he was powerful. There is no need to be too severe for the punishment.
So he listened to Ding Ruchang's report. It turned out that most Ding Ruchang was preparing to take over the past few days in Weihai. The right-wing general Liu Buchan was the commander of the Liugong Island military port. He ordered the lowering of the admiral's flag and hang the general's flag. Lang Weili was furious and asked Liu Buchan, "I am here to go, why should I raise the town flag?" Liu Buchan was that kind of character again. In addition, some foreign personnel provoked him, and the matter became more and more serious. Lang Weili was furious and stabbed Lou Zi to Li Hongzhang. However, Li Hongzhang protected his shortcomings and replied to Lang Weili, "The Beiyang Navy officer system only has one admiral, two admiral, the admiral goes, and he should take the general's lead." Lang Weili was appointed as the naval admiral in the 12th year of Guangxu. After hearing Li Hongzhang's words, he was furious and he was about to resign and go home.
[In October of the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), Langweili was hired as the chief instructor of the Beiyang Navy, responsible for fleet training. He was "very diligent and respected by the naval officers, and called it by both and foreign countries." He practiced day and night in the army, "and "did not be afraid of the Ding army, but afraid of Deputy General Lang" in the toilet." Because of his strict military management, the Beiyang Navy said that "we are not afraid of Ding Junmen, but are afraid of Deputy General Lang." Under Langweili's strict requirements and training, the Beiyang Navy's army was suddenly punished, which made all countries look at each other with admiration.
In the 12th year (1886), Langweili was awarded the title of naval admiral. In June and July, the Beiyang Navy toured the Korean Ocean and headed to Nagasaki, Japan. The Chinese navy clashed with the Japanese, causing five officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Navy to be killed and six seriously injured. At that time, Langweili asked to start a war against Japan and dissuaded Ding Ruchang.
In the autumn of the 16th year (1890), the Beiyang Fleet patrolled Hong Kong, and the Admiral Ding Ruchang temporarily left the ship due to the incident. The right-wing general Liu Buchan ordered the lowering of the admiral flag and raised the general flag. Lang Weili said, "I am still here to go, why should I raise the town flag?" Therefore, he had a dispute with Liu Buchan, which was the famous flag withdrawal incident. After the incident, Li Hongzhang believed that "the Beiyang Navy officer system only had one admiral, two admiral, and the admiral went away, and he was led by the general." Lang Weili was angrily resigned.]
Well, this is the famous flag removal incident in Beiyang history. After listening to Ding Ruchang's report, I stood up and sighed, "Okay, take me to see Lang Weiley."
Ding Ruchang stood up and said while walking, "Your Majesty, it's no wonder that Li Zhongtang and Liu Buchan are doing this. I thought it was a little trivial matter, but I never expected that Lang Weili was so serious and made such a big noise, which alarmed the emperor. I thought there was no need for the emperor to go in person. It should not increase the arrogance of foreigners."
I just smiled and walked forward, calling Kou Lian to prepare for the car. Seeing Ding Ruchang's disapproval, I smiled and said, "Is this Lang Weili very arrogant on weekdays?"
Ding Ruchang followed two steps and thought for a while, "That's not the case, it's just too old-fashioned. There was a saying in Beiyang that you are not afraid of Ding Junmen, but you are afraid of Deputy General Lang. You have very strict requirements on the training of officers and soldiers, but based on your conscience, I think this is the case for training soldiers. This time, I think this is the case for generals. I think this person is regretful. Lang Weili is a little strict, but he is proficient in his business and dedicated..." As he said that, he stopped talking and said, "I am leading the way in front of you."
I laughed and scolded, "Stop making trouble, come up and go with me!"
Ding Ruchang got into the car and thanked En. He continued, "What is most respectable is that although this person is a foreigner, he always thinks about the Qing Dynasty and protects his country's body. He often fights for us when he was on a mission to Japan in the 12th year of Guangxu. Lang was even more angry than us. He asked me to fire two ships in Dingzhen to the port of Nagasaki and declare war on Japan...", and sighed, "When I think back, I really can't bear to leave this foreign old man."
This is the first time I heard that Lang Willie had such a performance in the conflict between the Qing army in Nagasaki and the Japanese police, and I became more and more fond of him.
While speaking, under the guidance of Ding Ruchang, he had already arrived at the foreign staff residential area where he was on the beach. He saw Li Hongzhang's car parked in front of a small building.
I ordered the parking, got out of the car with Ding, and knocked on the door together.
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Chapter completed!