Chapter 67 Astonishment

  After Tang Baojun explained this idea to Tan Yankai, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. However, it's not uncommon for people to make different or even opposite decisions under the same circumstances. In the past, the Beiyang Navy had a strong sense of crisis about Japan's crazy expansion, especially the application of quick-firing guns. But the encounter between the Jiyuan ship and the Japanese fleet made some of them have a different view from before - the armor of the Japanese fleet was too weak.

  There are almost no secrets between the Chinese and Japanese navies now, with both sides having data on each other's main warships, including speed, armor, and gun caliber. However, there has never been a battle between steam ironclad ships before, so there is no clear concept of the killing power of shells - can our shells effectively penetrate the enemy's armor? This question finally got an answer in the Battle of Jiyuan - 210mm can definitely deal with Japanese warship armor, and 150mm can also cause effective damage to the main armor of Japanese warships like Yoshino. Except for the Sanjing ship's turret armor being too thick to penetrate, the thickness of the armor on various parts of Japanese ships is generally around three inches, rarely four inches, even the 150mm rear main gun can penetrate it. In contrast, the armor on the Jiyuan ship is generally over four inches, with only the waterline armor being three inches.

  The greatest luck of the Chiyoda was that so many shells hit its deck armor instead of its waterline armor, causing huge damage to its appearance and some personnel losses. However, it was still far from sinking - judging from the shell holes, the 20+ 120mm guns on Yoshino and Shikishima were unable to penetrate the 4-inch armor, only the 150mm guns on Yoshino would have had any effect, but unfortunately, during the battle, only two of Yoshino's main guns had the opportunity to fire at Chiyoda, and considering the hit rate, even fewer shells actually hit it.

  "The quick-firing gun has many advantages, but if it can't penetrate the opponent's armor and sink the enemy ship, it's still useless. Rather than reducing the firepower of the cannon to a small-caliber quick-firing gun, it's better to use the previous naval guns, especially the 210mm main gun which cannot be replaced... This is some discussion among the Beiyang Navy leaders, but for calibers like 210 and 150 mm, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau can't even produce them, let alone in time..." Tang Bowen said with a bitter smile.

  Tan Yanqing was also speechless after hearing this, who would have thought that such a situation would arise. The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau had finally produced large-caliber quick-firing guns with great difficulty, but Li Hongzhang didn't think much of them at first and didn't support them, which caused the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to slow down its pace in researching and manufacturing quick-firing guns. These artillery pieces were only useful for the navy, and the Beiyang Fleet wouldn't purchase them if they weren't profitable for the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. When Li Hongzhang was in a hurry, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau couldn't produce the large-caliber quick-firing guns that the Beiyang Navy needed, so they had to make do with their existing stock.

  "It's unclear who is right or wrong in this matter, and there are even more confusing things in the world. For now, we can only take it one step at a time. Regardless of what kind of naval gun is used, we need to restore the combat effectiveness of the Jiyuan first. Anyway, we have taken the initiative for now. In two days, I and Bohang will request an audience with the Russian envoy, Kashin, and present our terms to see how the Russians react. The thing is, both Bohang and I are hesitant about whether it's better to meet with the Russian envoy and the British envoy at the same time or separately..." Tan Yankai said with a bitter smile.

  Tan Yanqing also had his own headaches, he had to help Li Jingfang deal with diplomatic affairs. In Li Hongzhang's strategic intentions, how much of the Beiyang's vitality could be preserved in this war depended on diplomacy. If diplomatic efforts failed, it would only end the war quickly before October 10th, otherwise, they would have to wait for their own doom! In fact, leaving time for Li Hongzhang himself was much shorter than that. Once the old lady's birthday was threatened, it would undoubtedly be a similar outcome of not losing but losing like the Sino-French War ten years ago, and even worse than that.

  Under such circumstances, Li Hongzhang never expected to solve the problem through war. Small skirmishes could be tolerated, but a full-scale battle with both sides going all out was something he had not anticipated. He only made some preparations for this aspect due to Tan Yanqing's step-by-step pressure. Under Li Hongzhang's strategic thinking, diplomatic tasks were extremely important and heavy. In the past few days, he and Li Jingfang devoted their entire spirit to analyzing the opponent's experience and character, with the most important being the interests of various countries in Korea.

  "It's better for you to be more relaxed, this is easy to handle. Since it's about tempting with benefits, why not just put out your own price tag like in a Western auction and see who can get the job done between the Russians and the British... If they're not willing, then we can continue to raise the stakes. I actually think Comrade An's idea is good, the Russians and the British have conflicting interests in this war, the British are too arrogant and will absolutely not tolerate Russian influence expanding southward. If we utilize their contradictions well, then maybe this battle won't even need to be fought..." Tang Bowei said with a smile.

  Tan Yankai shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "It's best if we don't have to fight, but looking at the Japanese attitude, it's unlikely that we can avoid fighting even if we want to! The best way is to drag the Russians down into the water and tie them up with us, only then can we intimidate Japan..."

  Tang Bowen and Tan Yanqing hadn't seen each other for many days. After a few days, once the procurement matters were settled, he had to hurry back to the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, where his scheduling was indispensable, and only he could calm down those old slippery characters. That night, Tan Yanqing invited Tang Bowen to his home as a guest, and the two exchanged opinions on the current situation from a brotherly perspective, offering some suggestions. After all, the Beiyang waters were too deep, with internal factions crisscrossing, and Tan Yanqing's closeness to Li Jingfang was not a good choice in Tang Bowen's eyes - Li Jingfang had some skills in diplomacy, but he was arrogant and difficult to get along with, as seen from his relationship with Zhang Peilun. People like him were always unpopular wherever they went, and getting close to Li Jingfang might not be a good thing.

  In Tan's view, working with Li Jingfang was just a necessary means, and he wouldn't be affected by any unpleasantness between Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun, at least on the surface Zhang Peilun was one of Li Hongzhang's "key cultivation" objects. The Beiyang circle had many talents and great interests, and it would also produce many internal disputes due to unfair distribution. Such a complex circle would only make Tan feel somewhat intimidated, if not for the First Sino-Japanese War, being a staff member in Beiyang was not a good choice - especially since Tan's identity was that of a provincial governor's son, it wasn't worth debasing himself for this.

  "Perhaps Yuan Datou was able to quickly control the Beiyang because this battle almost completely destroyed the elite of the Beiyang, leaving no strong figures to compete with him..." Tan Yankai also had thoughts of taking advantage of this opportunity to enter the Beiyang and gradually bring it under his own control. However, after witnessing the complex internal factional struggles within the Beiyang, he wisely chose to retreat.

  At Tan Yanqing's dinner party, what made Tang Bowen rave was Fang Congqin's excellent cooking skills, which was also the first time Tan Yanqing had eaten his wife's cooking. It has to be said that Fang Congqin's culinary skills were really impressive, and several exquisite dishes were almost swept away by these two people. The two people who originally used mealtime to bond with each other were unusually focused on eating, their spirits all concentrated on the chopsticks, until they had eaten and drunk enough before opening up conversation.

  In the evening, Fang Keqing still had to study English and other Western social etiquette with Mrs. Catherine, who had followed her. Tan Yanqian was not very interested in these things, and there were many things that he had not yet dealt with, so he returned alone to the General Office to work. During this period, perhaps because of his deeper understanding of Beiyang, he handled official documents more smoothly, and Yu Shimeng and Zhang Peilun were also willing to entrust him with more staff affairs. To Li Hongzhang's staff, he was simply a high-speed office machine. It would be an exaggeration to say that he had become the core figure of Beiyang's staff, but his familiarity with staff work in such a short period of time was enough to make people around him admire him greatly. Tan Yanqian's talent had conquered a group of General Office staff who used to look down on him.

  In the Zhili Governor's Office, the most important thing for Tan Yankai was the various materials stored here. Li Hongzhang had been in charge of China's foreign affairs for decades, and the treaty texts from this period were all here. Although these treaties would have a great negative impact on people's psychology, they also allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between China and the world at that time. Not only were there various Sino-foreign treaties, but also materials related to the internal and external connections of the Beiyang government, which were extremely valuable. Moreover, due to the historical event of the Boxer Rebellion, Tianjin and Beijing would face the baptism of war, and it was uncertain whether these precious materials could be preserved at that time. The more he understood now, the more useful it would be in the future.

  When Tan Yanjin returned to his residence late at night, Fang Rongying was still in the house brewing tea, obviously waiting for him to come back. For this "above the hall, below the kitchen" wife, Tan Yanjin was naturally very satisfied, but unfortunately, there was always a little obstacle in his heart. Entering the house and seeing Fang Rongying fiddling with the tea set, he simply sat down opposite her and said softly: "Why aren't you sleeping yet? Did learning from Mrs. Catherine go on until so late?"

  Fang Congqiang saw a faint smile and said, "No, it's just that I'm not used to sleeping so early. You come back and I still want to discuss something with you. I want to buy a piano to learn how to play. The piano is a Western musical instrument..."

  Tan Yanqin smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Piano I understand, this is nothing, want to buy you can do it yourself. Learning to play the piano is also good, in those Western classics, piano is a compulsory course for those noble ladies..."

  Fang Qiong excitedly said: "How do you know so much? Until now, I still don't know what a piano looks like. Can you play?"

  Tan Yanqing smiled and said: "When I was an editor of the Journal of Strong Learning, I often translated Western texts. Literary classics were not what we valued most, but when I first learned a foreign language, I also read a few books. The piano is a Western instrument, very rare in China, only found among foreigners or some open-minded comprador families. In the West, the piano has a status similar to that of the guqin and yangqin in China, and the violin is almost as elegant as the piano, learning it is quite good..."

  He Fang and Lang Qiong chatted about the piano, which gave Tan Yanqun a dazed feeling. In his previous life, he wouldn't play the piano, but he was very good at playing the violin, especially "The Butterfly Lovers", which he was extremely familiar with and proficient in. This was also one of his hobbies. However, after coming to this era, he hadn't touched these things again, nor did he have the leisurely mood for them.

  "After I learn a foreign language, I will come to translate those foreign classics. At that time, I also want to translate China's classics into a foreign language, so that foreigners can read our Chinese classics..."

  "This is a good idea, foreigners have a very bad impression of China, men with pigtails and women with bound feet, a whole barbaric nation. Little do they know that when our ancestors were wearing clothes and eating cooked food, they in Europe were still at the level of wearing animal hides and drinking blood, and later on there was even something like '*** rights' or whatever absurd decree, saying we are barbarians, humph, without even looking in the mirror..."

  Fang Zhongqing remained silent for a moment before saying: "Don't you care whether women bind their feet or not?"

  "Of course! If you're willing, you can unbind your feet, I support you. As for the old man, I'll go talk to him. The practice of footbinding in women originated from the perverted psychology of those famous scholars in the Song Dynasty. I don't see any benefits in binding women's feet, on the contrary, it causes great harm to their bodies..."

  Fang Rongqin's tense expression relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief, saying: "When I was young, I was afraid of the pain of foot binding, so my father pitied me and didn't make me do it. It wasn't until this year when I was getting married that I finally bound my feet, and it really hurt!"

  Tan Yanqin got up and walked to the back of Fang Rong's side, gently stroking her head and said: "Let's just let our feet go, it's better for people to live comfortably, why bother being so self-sacrificing? I don't object to you letting your feet go, if I had enough power, I would make all Chinese women not have to bind their feet, men wouldn't have to wear queues...". After finishing speaking, he also self-mockingly swung his own queue and said: "But for now, I still don't have the power, this queue can be cut off, but after cutting it off, my future will also be buried together with it, let's just keep it for a few more years!"

  "Are you very wronged being with me..." Fang Qiu said softly.

  Tan Yanqin listened and smiled slightly, saying: "Being able to marry a smart and capable wife like you is my good fortune... Have you read 'Dream of the Red Chamber' too? When you learn foreign languages, you can also read famous foreign works. Actually, you'll find that men and women from China and abroad are all the same, they all yearn for free love and hope to be with the one they like..."

  "So you don't like me anymore..."

  Tan Yanqin smiled and rubbed her little nose, saying: "You should listen to me finish speaking! The mutual affection between men and women is a process. There's love at first sight, childhood sweethearts, and of course, there are those who only attract each other after spending a long time together... I thought we had known each other for a long time, but over the years, there was no news from you until we got married just a few months ago without even meeting in person. To be honest, before the wedding ceremony, I didn't even know what you looked like!"

  "I'm afraid you didn't know what I looked like until the second day after we got married?!" Fang Qiuqin said with great dissatisfaction.

  Tan Yanqin's face turned slightly red, and he said somewhat awkwardly: "Actually that day I was a bit drunk, but when I got to the bridal chamber I still saw what you looked like... You look pretty good..."

  "Then in the future, will we also be like those in 'Dream of the Red Chamber' or 'The Western Wing', slowly getting to know each other over a period of time?"

  Tan Yanqin let out a slight sigh of relief and said, "That's for the best. You and I will take our time to get to know each other for a while. For now, we'll just pretend to be husband and wife. If you're very satisfied with me in the future, then we can become real husband and wife later on. During this period of time, I'll let you thoroughly understand what kind of person I am, whether or not I'm someone you can entrust your life to..."

  "What's the big deal?! I'm already married to you..."

  This night was a double-edged sword for Tan Yanqin. After telling Fang Qiong many stories adapted from Western love stories, he finally coaxed his wife to sleep with him on two chairs in the room. In fact, he really wanted to go to bed and sleep, but unfortunately, facing such a beautiful wife, he doubted his self-control for the first time.

  "I really don't know how I spent the night of my wedding!" Tan Yanqin's mind was preoccupied with this "major" question, but she couldn't figure it out at all before finally falling into a dream.

  Anyway, Tang Yankei has to make a living, and others also have to make a living. However, for Weng Tonghe who just entered the Military Machine Office, his recent days are more difficult than others. Now the old comrade Weng is like an old mouse entering a wind box, completely without the complacent and triumphant feeling of having everything under control that he had a few days ago.