Chapter Nineteenth: Man's Fate is in His Own Hands

  When Feng Chengqian saw Chen Jitian, he had a very intimate feeling, because this was the first face similar to himself that he had seen since coming to this era.

  However, Feng Chengqian did not understand Chen Jitong.

  He only knew that Chen Jitong was a very famous diplomat, fluent in English, French, German and Latin, and was Li Hongzhang's right-hand man. However, this person was born to be unruly, married a French woman, had an extramarital affair, and was entangled in lawsuits due to debt problems.

  Later standards of measurement, Chen Jitong may not be considered an excellent diplomat, and perhaps even barely qualified.

  Although Bismarck was present, Chen Jitong spoke in Chinese after meeting him.

  "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Lord Earl; hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them."

  "The minister was very polite, and it's not worth mentioning a humble name like mine."

  Chen Jitong smiled and switched to German: "The Earl is from the Great Qing, or..."

  "Minister, you are mistaken. I have nothing to do with the Qing dynasty." Feng Chengqian also smiled, his words were directed at Bismarck beside him. "Although I've long wanted to visit the Qing dynasty, I never had the chance. Minister, is your visit this time related to purchasing warships?"

  "Chen Canzhan came for this matter."

  "So, does the Grand Secretary Li of the Qing dynasty have a great interest in this?"

  "Mr. Li's meaning is that if the price is fair, Qing will still purchase several warships, but related matters can only be decided after negotiation and consultation."

  Bismarck and Feng Chengqian sang a duet, making Chen Jitong somewhat embarrassed.

  Feng Chengqian smiled and said to Chen Jitong, "The price is easy to say, I'm not talented, I'm only responsible for the construction of the Imperial Navy, some things can still be helped."

  "Mr. Li means that if there's an opportunity, he'd like to invite the Earl to meet in person."

  "An interview?" Feng Chengqian's eyebrows jumped a few times, he didn't expect Li Hongzhang to invite him to visit the Qing Dynasty.

  "This is also the reason I asked you to come forward." Bismarck took over the topic and said, "The Earl is in charge of the construction of the Imperial Navy, so it's natural to spend some effort on selling warships. If possible, go to Qing Dynasty for a trip. If this matter can be promoted, it will be very beneficial to the Empire."

  Feng Chengqian didn't say a word, he hadn't even reacted yet.

  "Of course, all expenses will be borne by us, and the Earl need not worry."

  "Consul is too polite, it's just this matter..."

  "I will report it to Your Majesty, and I believe Your Majesty will not object."

  Feng Chengqian glanced at Bismarck and felt that visiting the Great Qing was a bit inappropriate. In order to gain Frederick III's trust, Feng Chengqian had been trying his best to distance himself from the Great Qing.

  "Earl, you mean..."

  "If Your Majesty agrees, I'd also like to go on a trip." Feng Chengqian didn't think much of it and smiled, saying "Of course, other things will still require Zan's attention."

  The next day, Bismarck proposed to the German Emperor that von Ketteler visit China as Imperial War Minister.

  Frederick III did not object, only mentioning that von Ketteler should take the opportunity to persuade Li Hongzhang to let the Qing Empire purchase more military equipment from Germany.

  This matter has been decided, and Feng Chengqian didn't think much more about it, starting to make preparations.

  According to the German Emperor's intention, Feng Chengqian went to the Qing Dynasty to sell not only warships built by the Empire but also other military equipment, with the aim of making the Qing Dynasty spend money to purchase military equipment from the Empire.

  For this, Feng Chengqian had to make other preparations.

  A few days later, Feng Chongyan sent Schmitz to the UK, where he bought a machine gun from Maxim for a large sum of money and ordered one million rounds of ammunition.

  At the behest of Feng Chengqian, Schmidt also invited Mauser to Berlin to demonstrate his great invention.

  Although some people had already recognized the great power of the Maxim gun, such as the Duke of Cambridge in England who was extremely shocked after watching the shooting demonstration of the Maxim gun and encouraged Maxim to continue improving it, no one knew like Feng Chongqi that Maxim's invention would thoroughly change the face of war, sending cavalry that dominated the battlefield for more than a decade into the grave, making war a slaughterhouse for soldiers.

  Such an important invention could not be allowed to be monopolized by Britain alone.

  Of course, there were many other important inventions that caught Feng Congchao's attention.

  For example, several months ago, Feng Chengqian arranged for personnel to go to France to find a chemist named Vielle and try to obtain smokeless powder. However, this matter is more difficult to handle, after all, the accumulated grievances between Germany and France have been long-standing, and Vielle will not willingly hand over such an important invention to an enemy country.

  Before his trip, Feng Chengqian made a special trip to Potsdam Palace and did something extremely important.

  After watching the demonstration of the Maxim gun, Frederick III was amazed for half a day without closing his mouth. This machine gun, which only requires two people to operate, fired nearly six hundred rounds in one minute, while even the best-trained soldiers could fire at most ten rounds per minute with the best rifle. Even the Gatling gun, which had already been purchased by the Imperial Army, could only fire three hundred rounds per minute and required six people.

  "Your Majesty, how do you feel?"

  "Where did you get this thing?"

  "When I was visiting England, I mentioned an American named Mark Twain to Your Majesty."

  "Is this the machine gun he invented?"

  Feng Chengqian nodded and said, "A few days ago, I specially sent Schmit to Britain to buy this machine gun made by Maxim at a high price."

  "How much money did you spend?"

  "Twenty thousand pounds."

  Frederick III was taken aback and then laughed: "This money is well spent, if it can be mass-produced, the Imperial Army will be invincible."

  "With something this good, the enemy will surely have it too."

  "This..."

  "Your Majesty, I arranged this demonstration not to show you how formidable the machine gun is, but to make Your Majesty understand a principle."

  "What's the logic?"

  "The ever-changing science and technology will inevitably trigger a revolution. If we can seize this opportunity, surpassing the old empire is just around the corner."

  Frederick III nodded thoughtfully, as if he felt that Feng Chengqian's words were very reasonable.

  "Your Majesty, if possible, I wish to establish a special agency."

  "What organization?"

  "Responsible for the empire's scientific and technological work, providing national support for important scientific and technological research and inventions, and striving to acquire advanced technologies from other countries."

  "Is it necessary?"

  "It's extremely necessary, and it would be best if it could be established as soon as possible."

  Frederick III thought for a moment and said, "You're right, we must pay attention to science and technology. But setting up a separate department alone will definitely be opposed, after all, not everyone has the same understanding as you and me. To reduce trouble, it's best to use your own power."

  "What does Your Majesty mean..."

  "Establish a specialized agency for science and technology under the Ministry of War, nominally focusing on military technology, but you can decide the specifics yourself." Frederick III smiled and said, "If you think this agency is very important, you can start setting it up immediately."

  "When there is more news, I will report back to Your Majesty."

  Two days later, Feng Chengqian set up a special institution called "Military Science and Technology Research Office" under the Imperial War Department. Because there was no suitable candidate for the time being, Feng Chengqian directly managed the institution. Afterwards, Feng Chengqian reported the relevant situation to Frederick III.

  After finishing all these things, the day of visiting the Great Qing is also approaching.

  On January 10, 1889, Feng Zhiqiang boarded a steamer bound for the Qing Empire, accompanied by Chen Jitong, and made an official visit to the Qing Empire as the Minister of War of the German Second Empire.

  According to his arrangement, Admiral Tirpitz was also on the list of visitors.

  All along the way, Feng Chengqian and Tirpitz had a lot of feelings.

  Every port of call along the way, almost all British Royal Navy warships can be seen, and the shadow of the British Royal Navy is everywhere. Entering the Indian Ocean and approaching India, this phenomenon is even more pronounced. Even on international routes, it is often possible to encounter Royal Navy warships.

  In this era, the Royal Navy is the only globally present and deployed navy in the world.

  In terms of global influence, no other country can match it.

  During his long voyage, Feng also talked a lot with Tirpitz about naval matters, especially the role of the navy in national strategy.

  Although Tirpitz was still young and not the naval commander that von Caprivi knew, he already had a deep understanding of many aspects that even von Caprivi looked at with new eyes. For example, in Tirpitz's view, the empire spent huge sums of money to build a fleet, but the key was not how big an impact the fleet had, but whether it could play a role in war. To put it simply, the value of the fleet can only be reflected in its use in combat.

  Taking this opportunity, Feng Chengqian also learned some information about the Qing dynasty from Chen Jitong.

  Like Feng Zicai's familiar history, Li Hongzhang has been the chief assistant of the Qing Dynasty and actively promoted the Westernization Movement. He proposed the strategy of "using the barbarians to control the barbarians", sent students abroad to study in the West, and purchased arms from the West to strengthen the military power of the Qing Dynasty.

  Can the Westernization Movement succeed?

  Chen Jitong held great hopes, and Feng Chengqian did not pour cold water on him.

  History has proven that only learning the surface of Western affairs will not end well, Li Hongzhang was powerful, but he only managed to let the Qing dynasty barely survive for a few decades.

  What interested Feng Chongyi was not Li Hongzhang, but a more famous person.

  He is only 22 years old now. Due to his Christian tendencies, he was expelled from home and is still a student at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Women.

  As for whether this person can achieve great things in the future, Feng Chengqian couldn't say for sure.

  The reason is simple. Historically, the Qing Dynasty only purchased the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" from Germany, but under Feng Chongyi's influence, it is highly likely that more warships would be purchased, so the outcome of the First Sino-Japanese War six years later might have been different, and history would have changed as a result.

  Feng Chongyi was also very conflicted on whether or not to build more warships for the Qing.

  The root of the Qing's illness lies in its rotten political system, not in a lack of warships. Perhaps the outcome of the Sino-Japanese War would have been different, or maybe there wouldn't have even been a Sino-Japanese War, but the historical fact that the Qing was doomed to perish would not have changed. As for what impact altering the course of history would have had, no one can predict that.

  Fortunately, it's up to us.

  ;