Yu Wentao explained: "It is one of the three training cruisers purchased by the former Qing Dynasty, and because it owes the final payment, the political axe said that if the Admiralty can't raise it by itself, it plans to resell it!" ”

Hearing this, Chen Jingyun also thought about it, knowing that the former Qing Dynasty had carried out a large-scale arms purchase case in order to reorganize the navy, of course, he did not know the details, but he only knew that there was such a thing, and he did not know much about the original situation.

At this time, Sa Zhenbing also spoke: "It's the seven-year plan that I started a few years ago when I was preparing for the navy with Zhi Xun, and the first batch of plans is that there are three training cruisers, two of which are built on the British side, and most of the money has been paid, so it's not a big problem." But only 30,000 pounds had been paid for the one ordered in the United States, and 170,000 pounds remained unpaid, and the political axe said that the arrears were too large, and they were ready to abandon the ship. ”

Next, Yu Wentao, Sa Zhenbing and Lin Yingqi took turns to explain, which allowed Chen Jingyun to figure out the front and end of this matter. To put it simply, Yuan Shikai has no money, so the Feihong that still needs more than two million yuan to get back is not wanted, and the Admiralty must be unwilling, at this time, he just found that he had just given 800,000 yuan to build a ship, so he came to the door, and the meaning of Sa Zhenbing's words was that he took out the money, and then bought the ship back and handed it over to the Admiralty.

Thinking of this, Chen Jingyun couldn't help but be a little angry, this is not to treat me as a wronged leader! Now everyone knows that Liu Guanxiong on the side of the Admiralty was personally supported by Yuan Shikai, and the navy is now on Yuan Shikai's side, and he still wants me to use my own money to help you buy warships.

Chen Jingyun has never done this kind of thing that harms himself and others since he asked about the Fuzhou incident, and he doesn't plan to do it now or in the future! As for what Sa Zhenbing said, he also agreed with the fate of the Huaxia Navy and its future development, but it had to be built on his own naval system, and before he had enough strength, these big navies and other things had nothing to do with him.

It's just that these words in his heart can't be said, Chen Jingyun can only continue to smile: "I also know and understand the suffering of the Admiralty. It's just this money, alas, it's also difficult for our people's army, some time ago Zhu Rui rebelled, and our people's army was invited to quell the rebellion for the benefit of the people of Zhejiang. And the economic situation of Fujian, both of you are from Fuzhou, it must be clear, there is such a small amount of money all year round, in order to prevent the army below from mutiny, I am already sad and gray-haired! ”

"At the beginning, Yu Wentao said that I didn't plan to give it if I wanted to build a warship, but seeing that the Fuzhou fleet was really miserable, I moved around and made up the 800,000 yuan, I'm not afraid of your jokes, the first 300,000 yuan here is still embezzled by me from the funds of my governor's mansion, and hundreds of mouths up and down the Mawei shipyard have no food, and there are thousands of people who depend on the Mawei shipyard for their livelihoods.

Listening to Chen Jingyun's constant complaints, Sa Zhenbing is not very easy to talk to, he is a Fujian and probably knows the economic situation of Fujian, and knows that it is a poor province with little money. But what he also didn't understand was where Chen Jingyun got so much money to support an army of seventy or eighty thousand, and he heard that this army was not even inferior to the Beiyang Army in terms of equipment.

After Chen Jingyun's words of complaint were finished, the scene was a little deserted! Sa Zhenbing wants money, Yu Wentao can't be the master, and Chen Jingyun has not used his own money to buy warships for potential enemies!

Seeing that the scene was about to stalemate, Lin Yingqi on the side said: "What if the Fuzhou fleet comes forward to buy ships?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Sa Zhenbing and Chen Jingyun didn't quite understand, and immediately cast inquiring eyes, Lin Yingqi said: "Ming people don't say secret words, everyone knows what the Admiralty is thinking, and Zihua, I can probably guess what you're worried about." So what I mean is to let the Fuzhou fleet continue to fulfill the ship purchase contract, and after the ship is purchased, it will be considered the Fuzhou fleet! ”

After Lin Yingqi understood this, Yu Wentao's eyes lit up, Yu Wentao knew the differences between Chen Jingyun and Sa Zhenbing, and he understood that his own commander would not give money to the Admiralty in vain, but if it was bought by Fujian itself, then the biggest beneficiary would be the Fuzhou fleet, that is, Yu Wentao.

Yu Wentao thought to himself, if he could get that Feihong to the Fuzhou fleet, the gunboat he planned to build would be a fart!

Immediately, he threw a look at Chen Jingyun: "Commander, what do you think?" ”

"I'll buy it here?" Chen Jingyun is also a little contradictory.

Sa Zhenbing said before that Chen Jingyun would naturally refuse to give the money to the Admiralty, but if he bought it himself, then he would have to think about it.

Chen Jingyun also has expectations for the navy, otherwise he would not have spent 800,000 yuan just to build a gunboat, isn't it just to develop the navy in the future, to a certain extent, Chen Jingyun regards this as an early investment. And if you buy the Feihong, it will undoubtedly greatly increase the sea power under your control, and it will be easier to develop your own navy in the future.

Just for the sake of future development, now I have invested nearly two million funds at once, is this business worth it?

Chen Jingyun's money is also limited, and the most important thing now is to continue to expand the army and hoard ammunition, which requires a lot of money. Is it cost-effective to rush out two million of the limited military spending to buy a training cruiser?

Chen Jingyun thought about the gains and losses between the two, and the fingers of his left hand were also habitually tapped lightly on the armrest of the chair.

Sa Zhenbing saw Chen Jingyun fall into deep thought at this time, obviously overjoyed after careful consideration. Sa Zhenbing is not a person like Yu Wentao, he focuses on the entire Chinese Navy, for him, the First Fleet and the Second Fleet controlled by the Admiralty or the Fuzhou Fleet or the Guangdong Fleet are all equal, after all, although China is now divided, but it will eventually be unified, whether it is Chen Jingyun unifying China or Yuan Shikai unifying China, then these bought warships belong to the Chinese Navy, and it is this concept that makes him not care which fleet the Feihong he bought back belongs to.

For him, as long as he gets the warship back to China, then it will be a big victory!

And now, he seems to see the hope of victory!

Chen Jingyun's contemplation Yu Wentao obviously found out, and then he turned to look at Sa Zhenbing and Lin Yingqi, and saw that both of them were obviously happy, and they obviously agreed with this solution.

Chen Jingyun didn't care about the thoughts of these people, what he cared about was whether a training cruiser he had exchanged for nearly two million would be cost-effective, and what kind of benefits he could bring to himself militarily.

You must know that two million is not a small amount, and Chen Jingyun can almost make up a mixed brigade or raise a division for more than half a year. And now that the situation is so tense, what Chen Jingyun wants is a large number of land forces, and at least spending a lot of money to get a navy is obviously not what Chen Jingyun wants.

Chen Jingyun was entangled in his heart, and he couldn't make a decision for a while, so he stood up after a while and said, "I still have to think about this matter."

Seeing Chen Jingyun say this, Sa Zhenbing was not unhappy but happy: "Naturally, although the arrears over there are a little urgent, they can still afford it for a few days!" ”

Sa Zhenbing didn't have much hope when he came, and he didn't expect that Chen Jingyun would be able to take out two million yuan after a meeting, but now looking at Chen Jingyun's attitude, it seems that he is already thinking carefully, with Chen Jingyun's attitude, he didn't come in vain today.

Chen Jingyun said that he had to think about it, Sa Zhenbing and Lin Yingqi didn't want to continue to be cheeky and wait to get up and retreat, and the rest of Yu Wentao said: "Commander, this kind of opportunity is very rare, with such a ship, my Fuzhou fleet will be enough to cover the army's operations in northern Zhejiang and even the Yangtze River region!" ”

Chen Jingyun waved his hand and said: "Let's not talk about these first, and besides, I said so much just now, you have to talk about what the situation of this Feihong is!" ”

As a naval general, Yu Wentao was naturally clear about the military procurement case of the former Qing Dynasty, and immediately said: "This Feihong is the same batch as the two ships built in Britain, built in the New York shipyard, with a displacement of about 2,500 tons, a maximum speed of 20.5 knots, a crew of 230 people, and the main armaments are two six-inch guns, two three-inch guns, and several small-caliber rapid-fire guns, as well as two eighteen-inch torpedo tube launchers. The total cost of the order is 200,000 pounds! ”

"Since it is a training cruiser, it is at a distance from a third-class cruiser, and its armament and ship speed are slightly lower. However, for our navy, in addition to meeting the seafarer training of large warships, this ship can also be used as a regular cruiser in wartime, and play a greater role with the capital ship! Yu Wentao was already a little excited when he said it, if this ship could really be bought, he didn't plan to be the chief of the Navy Department, and he would go directly to be the captain of this ship.

Listening to Yu Wentao's explanation, Chen Jingyun roughly understood something, and then said: You go back first, I still have to think about this matter, after all, two million is not a small amount! ”

Don't mention these two people, but talk about Sa Zhenbing and Lin Yingqi, as soon as these two people left the Governor's Mansion, Sa Zhenbing said: "We don't count what we said, we have to let the Admiralty make a decision, I will go to the telegraph room now and send a telegram to the Admiralty." ”

Lin Yingqi said: "I will also go with you, this matter is a major matter of the navy, and I, Lin, also sent a telegram to a few people in the capital, and there are more people, and the weight of the words is greater!" ”

However, when the telegram of these two men reached the Admiralty, it caused an uproar!