The waves lapped against the hull of the King-class ironclad ship, the seagulls whispered around the battleship, and the figure of Dengzhou Port loomed in the early morning mist.

After three months of sailing, the fleet to England returned smoothly, but at this time there was no hint of joy on the battleship, and everyone was grim-faced.

Yue Yun stood on the deck, his eyes were deep, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"General, I still don't understand why you didn't give the order to attack the port of London when you were leaving, in order to spread the lives of those diplomats? That's not your style. Liu Chen asked with difficulty: "Now that we are back, such a great shame, how do the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty view us, and how do the people of the empire view us." “

Looking at the sea, Yue Yun said in a deep voice: This matter is my Yue Yun's order, and all the consequences caused by it will be borne by me, you don't have to worry about your career. ”

Liu Chen couldn't help but say angrily when he heard this: "For your own career? General, I have followed you to fight in the south and north all these years, how can I ever ask you for an official and a half position, but now you are saying such things, what do you think of me Liu Chen. ”

Yue Yun sighed deeply, and he said, "I have my own reasons for doing this, and when you become a supreme minister in the future, you will naturally understand." ”

And he said no more.

Liu Chen looked at the other generals behind him at this time, these were all admirals who followed Yue Yun from birth to death, and they were also promoted by Yue Yun.

In their hearts, Yue Yun's status in the navy is unparalleled, and they respect Yue Yun from the bottom of their hearts.

But the incident in the port of London made them feel a little chilled, because Yue Yun, who was once known for his iron will, repeatedly gave such weak orders.

Seeing Liu Chen's helpless expression, the other generals understood that this time they had made no gains, and they returned to their positions in a depressed mood, because he wanted to hide the incident in the port of London, but it was impossible from Yue Yun's attitude.

Dengzhou was getting closer, and after sailing for half an hour, the fleet entered the Dengzhou military port.

At this time, the admiral found that there were already imperial guards waiting for them on the dock of the military port, which made the admiral's heart sink to the bottom.

Obviously, Yue Yun did not hide this humiliating incident in Britain.

"Commander-in-Chief Yue Yun, this is the emperor's order, you have been dismissed from your post and are ready to be used, please go back to Qingzhou with us now to meet the emperor."

It was Li San who came to Dengzhou this time, and he was responsible for personally detaining Yue Yun back to Qingzhou.

When the battleship docked in Guangzhou, Yue Yun reported the matter in Britain, which immediately caused a storm in Qingzhou, and the impeachment of Yue Yun flew like snowflakes to the imperial study.

Under pressure, Xiao Ming and the cabinet discussed the dismissal of Yue Yun from his post and put him on standby.

"The emperor has the intention of killing me now." Yue Yun smiled bitterly.

Li San's face was pale, and he said: "When I learned the news, the emperor dropped the teacup for the first time, and the emperor asked you to deter the British, but you let the British put us together." “

Yue Yun smiled lightly, "It's not that I, Yue Yun, am afraid of death, it's that I don't want the warships and soldiers of the empire to die meaninglessly like this, forget it, no matter how much I say, it won't help, I accept any punishment from the imperial court." “

With that, he stretched out his hands, meaning to ask Li San to put shackles on him.

Li San sighed and asked the secret guards to take Yue Yun away.

Qingzhou.

Xiao Ming received a call as soon as Yue Yun was arrested.

His gaze swept over the body of the cabinet nine assistants one by one, and asked, "Yue Yun has been arrested, what are your opinions?" The negative impact of this incident on the empire was too great, and it was difficult for the court to calm the anger of the people without doing a little action. “

Fiji said: "Your Majesty, Yue Yun's ineffective leadership of the army has caused the empire to suffer this great humiliation, and not killing is not enough to make the people angry. ”

Zhan Xingchang said: "Your Majesty, Yue Yun is understandable to do this, no one thought that this group of Europeans would be so despicable and shameless, using such indiscriminate means, after all, we are visiting officially, no matter what the reason, we can't treat visitors so barbaric." ”

"The British are shameless, but they cannot bear such humiliation as the commander-in-chief of the navy even if they die in battle." Fiji said.

Pang Yukun pondered for a long time, and he said: "Your Majesty, it is obvious that the West is still too far from civilization, and this incident just proves that this group of Westerners is not worthy of being included in the civilized country, their brutal killing of natives, and the looting of the whole world have proved that they are just barbarians with advanced firearms, and the empire does not need to follow the rules of reciprocal diplomacy to treat such a country." “

"The minister seconded the proposal."

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

“……”

The cabinet ministers said one by one, agreeing with Pang Yukun's statement.

Xiao Ming's eyes flashed with a hint of color, and he said: "Since the war in India, there have been many voices in the empire that have stopped fighting and turned hostilities into jade silks, and they often talk about the saying that the empire has been fighting for many years, the people are tired of war, and the soldiers are tired of war, isn't it?" ”

Xiao Ming's words made the faces of the cabinet ministers suddenly a little hot, because they had also persuaded Xiao Ming in this way.

Noticing the expressions of the ministers, he said: "Judging from this incident, both you and I are wrong, if the jackals are not killed in time, they will bite us to death in the law, although the responsibility of this matter Yue Yun is great, but it also makes them see clearly the fact that the war machine of the empire must be restarted and launch a full-scale war against Britain." ”

This time, neither Fiji nor Pang Yukun raised a voice of opposition, and they did not dare, after all, this matter was enough to mobilize the public opinion of the empire, and they realized that the peace that had existed for more than two years was about to be broken again.

After a pause, Xiao Ming said: "Vidomia thinks that we are civilized people and will put up with her little tricks, she is wrong, I will use the cannon giant ship to tell civilized people that they never give in to jackals!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Everyone said in unison.

After saying this, Xiao Ming asked everyone to disperse, leaving only Pang Yukun, and then he asked Qian Dafu to go out too, and there were only two people left in the room.

Xiao Ming said at this time: "You and I both know Yue Yun's character, why do you think he gave such an order." “

Pang Yukun said: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that Yue Yun is doing this to keep the empire's property, and the second is purely self-defilement!" ”

"Self-defilement?" Xiao Ming frowned.

"In the past, Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, Xiao He was a very popular minister, but his disciple said to him: You are not far from the extinction of the clan, Xiao He took the initiative to ruin his reputation since then, and deliberately left a handle for Liu Bang, so that Liu Bang has been very relieved of him since then, and now the emperor splits the navy, just like splitting the army, Luo Quan and Niu Ben took the initiative to put down the military power to exchange the emperor, and Yue Yun is also a shrewd person, if he continues to sit in the position of commander-in-chief of the navy, sooner or later it will also be the fate of the prisoner, so it is better to defile himself."