Chapter 115 Wei Han is here

The conversation between Hu Chuyuan and Rong Hong this time was not pleasant, and both sides were a little dissatisfied.

Hu Chuyuan is very clear.

He knew that from the beginning, it was a mistake for Rong Hong to be in charge of the deputy of the Bureau of Study Abroad. Idealists often do something wrong. People usually do not blame them, but only blame the people on the other side.

From another perspective, if Rong Hong treated this matter very carefully and pragmatically, how could things have developed to what it is today?

In fact, the conflict between the international students and Wu Jiashan has reached a limit. In fact, Wu Jiashan has reported the "evil deeds" of these students more than once to the Prime Minister's national affairs, and even Chen Lanbin is full of disappointment to the students.

The country spent so much money to cultivate a group of new foreigners who had cut off their braids and were completely westernized and not disciplined. This was completely unbearable for Qing court officials.

The criticism of these students since the Declaration can generally represent the thoughts of the vast majority of Chinese people in this era.

In the following days, with the help of the Wu family, Hu Chuyuan secretly and successfully passed the immigration application in the state court of Massachusetts. He also became a Chinese-American, and set up his second private equity fund, Guorui Fund, in Hanhua Bank, and kept 42% of the shares of Wanqi Yanghang in the country. Under the name of Swiss Fund.

This time, he will not make a big move in the United States, just to lay a foundation for investing in the United States in the future and know some people.

While handling these things, he is also trying his best to collect information from international students.

Close to the facts and put himself in the shoes to consider the problem, Hu Chuyuan began to place his hopes on two aspects. First, he tried his best to find a way to control the students and not to let them continue to be so "radical", and the other was to prepare for the back road. If he couldn't do it, he would rely on his funds.

It's easy to just replace Wu Jiashan, but what's the use?

Bribery is still a little useful.

Hu Chuyuan soon went to Washington to meet with Chen Lanbin, the minister of the Qing court in the United States, and Wu Jiashan, the supervisor of the Bureau of Studying Abroad. They each gave some gifts, contacted them, and mediated with international students and Rong Hong.

For international students, he set up a Hu Guangong Student Aid Fund to provide each student with an additional 20 dollars per month.

He spent a lot of words and thought of a lot of ways. He finally established the self-love association and asked the students to try his best to choose some engineering majors. If it is difficult to get into those engineering colleges because of science and engineering grades are congenitally insufficient, then study in other universities first and gradually transfer to the Virginia they are preparing. Asian University of San Francisco.

This matter is much more troublesome than he thought, but after all, it is within his ability.

After staying in the United States for nearly a month, he has been working hard to coordinate the two sides, especially through private "private friendship", and reached an agreement with Chen Lanbin and Wu Jiashan, at least let the 15-year study abroad plan be implemented first, so that these international students can finish college.

Some more radical students can be disqualified from the official school, send them back to Fuzhou Ship and Politics School in advance, and continue to complete their studies in the school - this proposal is a good buffer for both sides.

Hu Chuyuan is very clear that Chen Lanbin and Wu Jiashan's biggest worry is still afraid of the court's blame. In case these students are not what the court expects after returning to China, they do not have effective control. If they tell them truthfully, the final responsibility will be on them.

With the support of Hu Chuyuan and Fuzhou Ship and Politics School, the situation is much better. It's really too harsh. They can also be immediately sent back to China and handed over to Hu Chuyuan for disposal.

Time passed quickly, and it was New Year's Day in 1880.

After busy dealing with the crisis of studying abroad for the time being, Hu Chuyuan had to face another thing that was fundamentally beyond his ability - the Chinese exorcry.

In this matter, he maintained a high degree of consistency with Rong Hong and Chen Lanbin, that is, to try his best to fight.

However, Hu Chuyuan's method is relatively unique. His idea is to save the country in a curve. It is useless to rely on the protests of the Qing court alone. It doesn't make much sense. He has to find a way to donate to the Baptist Church and the Presbyterian Church through the National Chinese Association, and find a way to get closer contact with some of the media through the Russell family.

Take your time and figure it out.

The real winner or loser is that the National Chinese Association will sue the United Pacific United Railroad Company on behalf of all Chinese workers. The whole matter should be handled secretly. Even if it can't be sued, it will make the Republican Party afraid.

Of course, for those bigwigs within the Republican Party, they should also be contacted through former President Grant and the method of political contributions.

If the Chinese Exclusiment Act is bound to pass, then reduce the threat as much as possible.

It was not until mid-January 1880 that Hu Chuyuan left the United States and returned to Britain.

This time, he chose to go directly to London.

London, the world-famous fog capital, is beyond doubt, especially in the second half of the 19th century.

Because the fog was too heavy and filled the whole city and the port, the Taichang had to stay outside the port for two hours before slowly entering the port at noon.

While in the United States, Hu Chuyuan has been contacting RS Butterfield, Ye Fu and Wu Dezhang through telegram.

Three days before his arrival in London, everyone arrived in London one after another.

This time, Hu Chuyuan did not rent a house in the suburbs, but bought a noble mansion called Belize House at the junction of Trafalgar Square and Rosenberg Avenue on Bank Street in London, which was the residence of a count in the mid-18th century.

After a large number of British nobles moved from Riverside Street to Xicheng District, the mansion was sold to merchants and converted into a hotel. Due to the merchant's failed investment, the property was auctioned again. After several turns, Hu Chuyuan got it at a high price of 210,000 pounds.

Even in London, 210,000 pounds is an amazing amount of money.

This is a Goethe revival building designed by Sir Christopher Rennes, the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral. Its overall characteristics are close to Fort Tom of Oxford University. It was completed in 1732 and has more than 100 rooms. The dome dome in the center is 35.6 meters high, which can see most of the wind in London. Scene - If the fog in London is not very heavy.

Ye Fu and others had already lived in before Hu Chuyuan arrived in London.

In fact, Hu Chuyuan wants to show off his wealth, which is just the beginning.

Entering Belize House in his own carriage, Hu Chuyuan saw some strange faces when he got off the car. Except for a foreigner in his forties, the rest were young people under the age of 30, wearing robes and coats.

Ye Fu and Zheng Xitai were responsible for picking up people at the port. Deng Shichang, Wu Dezhang and others stayed in the mansion to wait. As soon as they saw Hu Chuyuan, everyone greeted them with a smile.

"Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency, have a good journey!!"

Everyone arched their hands and said hello, and Ye Fu introduced the foreigner in his forties to Hu Chuyuan more carefully. It turned out that this person was the former general supervisor of the Fuzhou Ship Administration Office and the former chief instructor of the school.

This is a Frenchman who began to lose his head too early. He is thin, has a thick beard, and has an experienced and friendly light in his green eyes. After returning to France, he continued to work for the ship administration, responsible for the study of ship administration students in France.

Because he has a very good reputation and influence in the ship's government government, Hu Chuyuan respected him very much. He nodded slightly and shook hands with him, "Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Yige!"

He said that Yige was very particular and said, "It's my honor. Speaking of which, your father and I can also be regarded as friends."

This...!

Hu Chuyuan did not answer, just smiled.

Ye Fu also introduced his other young people to Hu Chuyuan, who Hu Chuyuan felt strange to them. They were Wei Han, Chen Zhao'ao, Zheng Qinglian, Lin Yiyou and Yang Lianchen, who have been studying in France for many years.

As soon as he heard that it was these people, Hu Chuyuan paid special attention to them and looked at them one by one.

Wei Han is very tall, 30 years old and looks steady. Chen Zhao'ao and Zheng Qinglan are only 26 or 7 years old, and they still look a little nervous in front of Hu Chuyuan.

These people are the future pillars of the ship's government office. Hu Chuyuan was also very happy to see them and invited everyone to enter the mansion together.

Among these five people, Wei Han and Chen Zhao were the first to study at the National Naval Engineering Institute of France for four years. The former also studied law and obtained a doctorate in law, while the latter specialized in boilers and steam engines, as well as related power systems, and had a doctorate in engineering.

Zheng Qinglian, Lin Yiyou and Yang Lianchen only came two years ago. After their study period, they want to come to the UK to continue their promotion.

Sitting down in the big living room, Hu Chuyuan first held a tea party, tasting tea with everyone relaxedly, and talking about recent things.

But as soon as he sat down, Yige said to Hu Chuyuan eagerly: "Your Excellency, I am extremely happy to hear that the ship's government wants to buy the most advanced warships in Europe. In fact, I often lobbied Lord Shen for this, but due to the funding and the decision-making of your court, it has not been successful."

Feeling that he had more to say, Hu Chuyuan asked with a smile, "What kind of advice do you have for this matter?"

Yi Ge carefully lighten his throat and said, "Same as my students, I also recommend purchasing separately between Britain and France. In order to effectively transfer and absorb new technologies in Europe, it is better to focus on France. Before I came here, officials of China's naval department had talked to me, hoping that the Fujian Marine Division would continue to cooperate with France. Whether in terms of equipment transfer and technical guidance, we will increase our efforts.

He did make a lot of efforts for China's Fuzhou Ship Administration. He is very conscientious, but he will always be a Frenchman.

Hu Chuyuan can understand Yige's position. Without the shadow of the imminent outbreak of the Sino-French war, he may also agree.

He just nodded slightly and continued to talk to Yige, without consent or veto.

After lunch, Hu Chuyuan invited Wei Han and Chen Zhaohao into their study alone and asked them for their opinions. As a result, Hu Chuyuan was not only a little surprised and satisfied. Although he had a good personal relationship with Yige, Wei Han and Chen Zhaohao still felt that they wanted to buy better ironclad ships from Britain, especially in the plan. An ironclad ship with a displacement of 5,000 tons.

The key is the construction characteristics of the Central Ironclad Fort. Although France, Italy and Germany have preemptively completed the manufacture of the new warships of the Central Ironclad Fort after the British put forward the concept, they all have each other's defects. Only the United Kingdom can truly integrate and make up for the shortcomings of each family.

If the British hadn't pursued too much for the advanced, I'm afraid they would have owned their own central ironclad ironclad as early as five years ago.

The second is the British mixed steel armor technology. Their 10-inch mixed steel armor is equivalent to a 12-inch cooked iron armor in defense effect. Before the appearance of nickel steel armor, it was the best ship protection armor technology in the world.

The Italian Spezia naval steel mill first appeared in reform and proposed the latest armor defense. The steel armor is too hard, and although the defense effect is strong, once it is hit by a heavy artillery that exceeds the defense level, the steel armor will break, resulting in a large-scale crack.

In order to make up for this defect, Britain and France began to test the mixed steel armor at the same time, that is, the outer layer is steel plate, which is slowly cooled by oil cold immersion, so that the hardness of the steel armor is raised to the limit, and then the cooked iron plate is used in the inner layer.

This is a technology that has only appeared in the past two years. Only Britain and France can master it. France adopts the Wey's method, that is, directly casting hot cooked iron in the inner layer of the oil-cooled steel plate, and the United Kingdom adopts the Bos's method, that is, blowing BessmerSteel steel between the steel plate and the iron plate to form a plywood-type mixed steel armor.

According to the respective experimental effects of the two countries, it is obvious that the latter has more advantages, but its process is too complicated.

Finally, the artillery system and the power system. In these two aspects, the British also have many advantages. Although the rest of the countries have certain advantages in one aspect, only the British are comprehensive.

Capital ships must choose British warships, and the overall shipbuilding technology continues to learn from France. After all, France still has many advantages and perfect systems for Fuzhou shipping administration to learn, and it is easier to learn - this is the answer of Wei Han and Chen Zhaohao!

Hu Chuyuan is very satisfied.

This idea is consistent with him. Compared with Ye Fu and Wu Dezhang, Wei Han and Chen Zhao'ao are more proficient in modern shipbuilding technology. Hu Chuyuan asked them to continue to return to France and be responsible for negotiating with the French with Wu Dezhang and Lv Han.

After arranging this matter, Wei Han suddenly said to Hu Chuyuan, "Among the instructors of the French National Naval Academy of Engineering, there are several well-known ship designers, among which Mr. Bai Laoyi is the most special. He has studied in the UK for many years and led the design of many warships in France. I think we can hire him to China to replace Mr. Yige, continue to serve as the general supervisor of the shipping administration, and be responsible for leading a French team in the shipping administration to guide us to improve the level of shipbuilding.

"Is that so?"

Hu Chuyuan couldn't help but hesitate. At present, it is less than five years away from the Sino-French War and the Battle of Mawei. In case the French know some of his preparations, it's not very good!

Seeing his hesitation, Chen Zhaoao also persuaded him: "Your Excellency, although Yige is a very respectful gentleman and general supervisor, he is also a half-hearted monk, and many courses in the former school seem to be lagging behind. It's not that Wei Han and I are timid and inferior. We have also studied hard in France. There is no problem in teaching in the school, but we don't have practical overall design experience. Since we need to transfer technology through procurement contracts, absorb technology, and directly hire first-class legal persons to guide the ship's government, the effect is naturally better. In a short period of three years and a long period of five years, the shipbuilding level of the ship's government government must be able to reach a big step, which is enough to compete with Italy and the West.

It is estimated that there is still time to deal with the time, and their persuasion is also reasonable. Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly and said, "Well, I will send an invitation to the French navy in the name of the ship's government. You convey it on your behalf and tell Mr. Bai Laoyi that due to the funds of the government, the government can only provide twice as much as much as France. Salary, and I will personally provide an extra subsidy, which will definitely satisfy him.

Chen Zhao said with a smile, "Your Excellency is indeed the richest man in the world. He is concerned about the great cause of coastal defense. He does not hesitate to make personal contributions, and his subordinates admire him."

Hu Chuyuan did not hide it, so he told them about the private deduction problems in the government, and took the opportunity to tell them again - as long as they worked in the Fuzhou Ship Administration, he would contribute to make up for the income gap between them and normal officials. For technical officials, he also paid special attention to them, and administrative officials repeatedly laid off. The number of technical officials will increase again and again, and the welfare benefits will never be worse than the same level abroad.

After listening to Hu Chuyuan's words and receiving a year's salary subsidy from him, Wei Han and Chen Zhao'ao were both overjoyed.

There is no doubt that as long as there is a great god of wealth like Hu Chuyuan sitting in Fuzhou Ship Administration, what can't be obtained and can't be done?

As long as you follow him and take yourself as a party, are you still worried about the future?

When dealing with Hu Chuyuan for the first time, the two of them were very happy and left Hu Chuyuan's study happily.

(to be continued)