In the Fujian ponytail, the cool sea breeze blows slowly along the mountains, blowing the green trees and weeds all over the mountains. The clamor is like an unparalleled grand symphony between heaven and earth.

The Min River at the foot of Tianma Mountain flows quietly, and the entrance to the Min River is less than a hundred miles away. A brief maritime artillery battle broke out here.

To this day, the people of Fuzhou are still amazed at the sound of cannons that day when the sky collapses and the heart-wrenching shouts of war by the new imperial army!

Ma Ming, the Forbidden City guard with a knife, who was nicknamed Ma Sanye in Sijiu City, is wearing a military uniform that imitates the Chinese army. He sat quietly on the hillside, looking at the Minjiang River in the distance and the Mawei Shipyard in full swing.

Engineers from the United States, Britain, and Prussia, as well as technical workers hired by high salaries from various countries, are carrying thousands of Qing craftsmen to build their own warships, and they have used their efforts to build their own warships.

It is said that Zuo Zongtang is a land defense faction and Li Hongzhang is a coast defense faction, but that is all nonsense. Zuo Zongtang is the first important official in the Qing Dynasty to engage in coastal defense, and he had to build his own ship as soon as he got up.

Although Li Hongzhang looked down on the scale and technology of the Mawei Shipyard, even in his mind, the Chinese would never be able to build a steel warship as powerful as the Westerners.

However, Zuo Zongtang's unique ambition in his bones, a spirit that I am willing to work hard and try even from scratch, is very encouraging.

Just at the beginning of this year, Mawei Shipyard produced the first 100-ton steam paddle steamer, and two small-caliber naval guns were also set up on it.

Such warships, including steam engines, crankshafts, transmission devices and other parts, are all imported... but the bare hull can be produced by itself, and this initial warship has already caused a sensation in Fuzhou City.

On the day of his departure, Ma Sanye also went to see it. In fact, there was nothing good to watch. He had seen bigger and stronger warships in Ryukyu, but this 100-ton gunboat made him burst into tears.

The good news was passed through the telegram to the Forbidden City, and into the palace without an emperor. The rare empress dowagers of the two palaces sent back condolences, and the words of encouragement made the then governor Ding Baozhen drunk the moment.

The Qing Dynasty, a broken house with air leakage on all sides, really needed good news to stimulate it. It was just a small 100-ton gunboat that had already made the government and the public very excited.

When Ma Sanye contacted Sijiucheng's family, he also faintly felt this despair and dejected despair!

In fact, in recent years, the Qing Dynasty has a bit of a sense of Tongzhi Revival. The national economy has begun to recover from the Changmao and the Nian Army Rebellion, and it has recovered quite well.

Xiao Letian once lamented that due to his intervention, the Qing Dynasty lacked the direct oppression of many European powers, and the Chinese took on the high pressure of a large part of the European powers instead of the Qing Dynasty.

This gave the Qing Dynasty a rare breath. The Tongzhi Revival in this world was actually much better than Xiao Letian's previous life.

The Manchu flag pay has been gradually recovered to a 70% discount in recent years. This is not easy. You should know that the Qing government has not completely stopped the war, and the new army of the Japanese Sixth Army also needs continuous blood transfusions.

The price of the flag has increased, but the prices on the market have steadily dropped, especially the food issue that the people are most concerned about. Although there are industries of princes and ministers in the capital to collectively sautify rice, the prices have been very stable because the Chinese have developed a lot of overseas grain input.

Of course, the Qing government was arrogant and counted this contribution on its own. Anyway, the people couldn't understand the twists and turns in it.

Xiao Letian doesn't care about these false names himself. He is a pragmatic man who wants to be rude and doesn't even bother to curse Confucian scholars. He is not angry about staring at the name of hungry ghosts in the lust given by Confucian scholars of the Qing Dynasty, and he doesn't care about this little reputation for food import.

However, the Qing Dynasty stole this credit and used this false reputation that Xiao Letian wanted to deceive a group of people. At present, the people's hearts in the Qing Dynasty, especially in the Central Plains, have become much more stable.

The annual income of the imperial court has improved, and the people's lives have improved. Now the imperial court has gained a little bit of money, at least the Mawei Shipyard can build ships.

Not to mention the Shanghai Special Zone and Guangzhou Special Zone controlled by the imperial court, if you don’t have any other skills, at least a few spinning mills have built, which can be considered as making some money.

Everything was fine, but Mr. Ma still felt despair, and the despair came out of his bones!

During the training, Ma Ming likes to sit on Tianma Mountain outside the military camp and think about things calmly... But often after thinking about it, he can't help but return to that island with involuntary thoughts.

It was an island full of curses, an island that people would never forget in their lifetime!

He reached into his arms and a jade token had been warmed by his body temperature. He didn't have to take it out and look at it. He could touch the handwriting on the jade token by touching it with his fingers.

The touch on his fingers triggered the memory in his heart, and the flames began to burn from the bottom of his heart!

The jade plaque is not big, but it uses very good materials. The top-quality mutton fat white jade is cut into the style of Ping An Wuwei. On one side, it is the white Wuwei plaque that comes into the mirror, while on the other side, the word "Blade" is carved with the word "Blade".

"Ma Ming received the flag... The fifth company was established... The name is given to the Blade!"

A thunderous sound rang in his ears, and the big guard was always awakened in his dreams. This scene tortured his heart again and again.

Ryukyu! Naha! New recruits!

He was taken to the pit by Emperor Tongzhi. The four guards followed the emperor into the recruit camp and began to conduct Westernized military training step by step from the standing military posture.

Put a tofu quilt, sing a military song and queue up for dinner, gathered urgently at twelve o'clock in the evening, and a team of brothers on the training ground worked together to carry giant trees...

The scenes of good men tempering into steel are right in front of us. The head of state's military training skills are like a heavy hammer hitting hot iron, and they tempered the odor of the Eight Banners playboys on his body.

It was not until the training was over and all the exams were passed that this group of trainees became a qualified soldier. He was actually in the formation and served as the flag bearer of the fifth company of the new army. The company was given the name... Blade!

Damn, the man cried so hard that he was so angry that Xiao Letian trained a group of people like animals, but none of them were cruel to the head of state!

On the contrary, these men, who are like steel, admire the guiding light from the heart!

"What's wrong with me? I'm obviously a guard of the Qing Dynasty, and I'm the emperor's personal army... Why can't I hate Xiao Letian when I think of it?"

"Is this still the one Ma San in Sijiu City who beats the current affairs and is so eloquent? When did I not want to be full of people so much?"

At this moment, a thought suddenly emerged from the bottom of my heart. Could it be that the despair that the people in the whole country are caused by the head of state?
Chapter completed!