Chapter 292 The Qing Empire
Chapter 292 The Qing Empire
They used cannons and huge ships to knock on the country's door, wreaked havoc and looted, and then signed unequal treaties to force the other side to cede territory and pay compensation. With a huge fleet, the Qing Dynasty, led by Shao Quanzhong, a leader of a bearded background, naturally took the traditional path of the great powers.
The British had foreseen the current situation when they decided to sell the fleet to Shao Quanzhong. They have always done this, otherwise where did the British Empire get the world's largest land area?
Anyway, you, Shao Quanzhong, don’t dare to rob the British big brother, so what does robbing others have to do with me, right?
The Treaty of Edo was the first unequal treaty signed by the Qing Dynasty with a foreign country after it became powerful, but it would definitely not be the last.
The treaty signed by Shao Quanzhong and the Russians was called a "Friendly Treaty". At least on the surface, the Qing Empire paid several million taels of silver and apologized. The Edo Treaty was completely undisguised, and the Qing Empire showed its imperialist nature.
Shao Quanzhong gave the honor of signing this historic treaty to Zeng Jize, who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Shao Quanzhong's position as Prince Duo Luo was the same as that of the King of Japan, so he was not equal to Katsu Kaishu.
"Marshal, where should we go next? Our brothers' assassination skills have been greatly enhanced."
Yang Jianhou and his Wudang swordsmen were extremely excited that the chivalrous knight could contribute to the country with his martial arts.
Shao Quanzhong waved his hand. "Assassination is not the right way to fight for hegemony. It should not be done. This is the underlying consensus of the rulers of all countries in the world. Once someone crosses the bottom line, he will become the target of public criticism and be besieged by the world."
"But why can it be done in Japan?"
“Because they didn’t care.”
Yang Jianhou scratched his head. He was not very knowledgeable about history and had no idea which Qing official had been assassinated by the Japanese. He returned to the cabin with regret.
Shao Quanzhong waved his hand and said, "Let's stop here for the time being. Let's go!"
Shao Quanzhong's first stop on his visit was Ryukyu, and his second stop was Japan. The mission of his visit was successfully completed.
On the fourth day of the second month of the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign, the Nanyang Fleet anchored in Mawei, Fujian, for two days of repairs.
The Wen Group hired a large number of people at the Chamber of Commerce in Fuzhou to transport goods from the fleet continuously.
This "visit" to Japan yielded so much that the warships were fully loaded, greatly slowing down the sailing speed.
In addition to the gold and silver that did not take up space, even valuable items such as jewelry and handicrafts were transported to the warehouse of the Wen Group's trading company at Fuzhou Wharf.
The list of materials compiled by the logistics department will be sent to Hailing. Wenxiu will mobilize transportation capacity based on the needs of various places and slowly sell off the stolen goods, ahem, sell them for cash.
The husband goes out and leads people to rob, and Wenxiu's business group is responsible for selling the stolen goods. The couple cooperates happily.
"Ping'er, draft a memorial to recommend Liu Mingchuan as the assistant minister to Japan, and station the Shanghai Army in Hirado. After our former Asben Fleet completes the task of escorting Nie's troops in British Columbia, we will form a separate Beiyang Fleet and recommend Ding Ruchang as the admiral of the Beiyang Fleet, stationed at the Sasebo Naval Base."
Shao Quanzhong thought for a while and said, "Transfer the second-hand ironclad ship Santa Maria purchased from the United States to join the Beiyang Fleet as the flagship."
Shao Quanzhong saw the ironclad ship "Stonewall" in the hands of the Americans in Edo, which would eventually be handed over to the shogunate and renamed "East".
The Beiyang Fleet, which is suppressing Japan, should have a flagship that has a crushing advantage over the Stonewall.
The Santa Maria was a medium-sized ironclad ship of more than 4,000 tons, and could easily crush the 1,350-ton Stonewall. In history, it was sold to Denmark and renamed "Denmark".
In the Nanyang Navy, this second-hand ship is neither good nor bad. Compared with the four Wangfu-class ships of nearly 7,000 tons and the large number of Johnson-class ships of more than 3,000 tons, it is a bit old and has never played a big role.
Shao Quanzhong's memorial was sent to the Grand Council together with the Treaty of Edo, and the court was immediately excited.
This was the first time that the Qing Dynasty truly became an imperialist power. The Qing Dynasty was originally an empire, and it was a rule that all under heaven belonged to the king, and all the people were his subjects. Using imperialism to describe the Qing Dynasty was not a derogatory term.
The military chief, Qiao Taishi, was immediately convinced. Aren't you all secretly criticizing Shao Quanzhong for bringing a large fleet abroad to show off and waste the country's resources? Don't think that I don't know what you are saying in private.
What else can I say now? My godson made so much money on the second stop of his visit, and he also completely wiped out the Japanese pirates who had been causing trouble for hundreds of years. No, I have to give my godson a promotion.
Everyone tried to stop him, saying - he can't be promoted any further. Shao Quanzhong is already a prince. We don't have the power to promote him. We need the emperor's approval.
Shao Quanzhong has only been away for a few days, but he has already made such a great contribution. If he travels around the world and comes back, wouldn't he be the regent prince?
Everyone knew the relationship between Shao Quanzhong and Cixi, and they were just short of saying the three words "Dorgon".
But he was not a prince in vain, the Nanyang Navy was built with the money raised by the Huai Army itself. An ironclad warship of more than 4,000 tons would cost at least 1.8 million taels of silver? The original Asben Fleet cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and he gave it to the Beiyang Navy without blinking an eye.
Liu Mingchuan and Ding Ruchang, who were recommended by Shao Quanzhong, were both Li Hongzhang's men. The Shanghai Army, the Hunan Army and the Chu Army were old warlords. They drove Li Hongzhang's forces to Japan, which relieved the court of a worry.
Li Hongzhang became the emperor of Japan, which was a higher position than before, so he should be satisfied. Expanding outward and making the pie bigger was the best way to resolve internal conflicts. Everyone knows this, but the Qing Dynasty didn't have this ability before, right?
In fact, based on the degree of closeness, Shao Quanzhong should have recommended Liu Jintang of the Hunan Army to be stationed in Japan.
However, Liu Jintang is a rising star and his level has not yet been raised. This is secondary. He can be "promoted" when necessary.
The main reason is that Shao Quanzhong knows Liu Mingchuan. This madman is more capable of managing foreign vassal states. He is truly thinking about the country and the people.
Shao Quanzhong arrived in Mawei, and the victory report was not sent back to the capital. There was nothing that could be done. Undersea cables were very expensive, and Japan could not afford to build them.
Japan's national policy is now even more closed than that of the Qing Dynasty. It is bent on driving away foreigners and will not allow foreigners to build cables on their own.
The telegraph line could be extended to China because the British Empire was wealthy and powerful, with territory spread all over the world, so it was able to extend the telegraph line all the way to Hong Kong via India, Burma, and Singapore Island.
The telegraph line was able to be stretched from Hong Kong to Shanghai because Shanghai in the Qing Dynasty was rich and attractive. Japan was a poor place, but it was willing to open up, and no foreigners were willing to invest in telegraphs for a while.
China can afford to build a nationwide telegraph network because the GDP of the Qing Dynasty is high.
Contrary to most people’s impression of the old society, in the 19th century, our Qing Dynasty was a rich country, while most poor places in the world still had no telegraph.
Shao Quanzhong could not be promoted for the time being, and the court only sent back an edict of commendation.
Things like forming the Beiyang Fleet and transferring Shanghai troops to Japan were being planned in full swing.
"Report to the Marshal, Zuo Zongtang and Shen Baozhen request to see you."
"Please, please, please."
Zuo Zongtang, the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, was in Fuzhou himself, and this time he also brought Shen Baozhen, the former Governor of Jiangxi and current Minister of Fujian Shipbuilding.
Behind the two big guys was Li Chengmou, the admiral of the Fujian Shipbuilding Navy. An admiral was not worthy of being mentioned in front of the three big guys.
Zuo Zongtang bowed deeply to Shao Quanzhong when he saw him. "Marshal Yu's trip to Japan has greatly boosted the morale of our Chinese people. Transferring a 4,000-ton ironclad ship to the Beiyang Fleet is an act of public interest. I have had many misunderstandings about Marshal Yu before. I hope you will be magnanimous and not hold it against a rough man like me."
"It can't be done."
Shao Quanzhong hurried to help him up. General Zuo was a man he admired, and he felt very sorry for stealing the credit for the Western Expedition from him.
Shen Baozhen bowed to Shao Quanzhong and said, "Marshal Yu, I have a favor to ask. The Fujian Shipbuilding Navy is newly established, and now only has three small warships, the 'Wannianqing', the 'Meiyun', and the 'Fuxing', all of which are made of wood. We have already ordered 15 self-made ironclad ships from the Zhenjiang Shipyard, and they are all 500-ton class..."
Shao Quanzhong grinned, "Sir Shen, you are really rude. You think I am a fat sheep, and I gave you Beiyang Navy warships for free, but you still want them, right?"
Zhenjiang Shipyard cooperated with the British to build transport ships and auxiliary ships, and learned from the British. In just a few years, it can build small ironclad ships of 500 tons. This is already very impressive.
If you go to Britain, the United States, or France to buy the same warships, how much more would it cost? And you are still not satisfied.
Zuo Zongtang was even more blunt, "Marshal Yu is serving the country and the people, please help me with this matter."
Well, since Lao Zuo has spoken, we have to give him face.
"Ping'er, inform Liao Rong that the sister ship of the Stonewall purchased from the United States, the Cheops, should be assigned to the Fujian Shipbuilding Navy."
"Thank you for your care, Your Majesty."
Admiral Li Chengmou bowed on one leg. Needless to say, it was he who instigated the two big bosses, Zuo Zongtang and Shen Baozhen, to come and ask for the ship.
The Cheops was made in France, and its quality was not as good as the small ironclad warships made in Britain. It was a bit old, and Shao Quanzhong was a bit disappointed with it. Since the two big guys came to ask for his help, he didn't feel bad about giving it away.
This is purely because Shao Quanzhong is now wealthy and powerful, and the Cheops is a popular commodity worldwide.
The Japanese bought its sister ship Stonewall, but the South China Sea Fleet did not buy the Cheops, so it was bought by Prussia. It would become the founding core of Prussia's modern navy and was very famous in history under the name "Prince Albert".
After two days of repairs, the Nanyang Fleet, without two useless ironclad ships, set off with light equipment.
On February 18, the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Quanzhong arrived in Dongwanlu, the capital of the Lan Fang Republic.
(End of this chapter)