Because the Fujian Governor Li Jingfang accepted the Beiyang Fleet and ignored Yuan Shikai's note to hand over the Beiyang Fleet, Yuan Shikai issued an edict in the name of Emperor Guangxu, determined that Li Jingfang had accepted the defected fleet without authorization, and refused to obey the imperial court's orders, and listed Li Jingfang and the Beiyang Fleet as treason. (eng.com_)

When the Fujian Governor Li Jingfang heard this, he immediately assembled a patrol team in Fujian in the Jianghuai area of ​​Anhui (formerly Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, after defeating the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, Yuan Shikai trained the new army, and went south to guard Jiujiang, Anqing, and Wuhan, confronting Yuan Shikai's new army across the river.

After listening to Yan Fu's narrative, Tang Jian felt a storm in his heart. He did not expect that so many things happened to the Beiyang Fleet during the days when he was not in the Beiyang Fleet.

Tang Jian asked Yan Fu to sit down first, and looked at the sad and angry expression on the faces of the officers of the Beiyang Fleet below. Tang Jian also felt ache. The officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet fought bloody battles for their own country, but in the end they became rebels of this country.

After the Beiyang Fleet sacrificed its lives for the country in front of the front, it did not receive corresponding affirmation and praise, but it was ordered to refuse to follow the army and led its army to defect and was exiled by its own country. This is a great irony for every officer and soldier of the Beiyang Fleet!

Tang Jian took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, I, Tang Jian, swear here, that I will definitely seek justice for the Beiyang Fleet and for all the dead brothers. All the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet are iron-clad heroes, all good ministers who stand tall and loyally serve the country!"

At this moment, the officers of the Beiyang Fleet, who had never been timid under the enemy's artillery fire, shed two lines of tears. They were sorrowing for their dead brothers and heartbroken by their own country.

Ye Zugui choked and said, "We are willing to follow the commander forever!"

"We are willing to follow the commander forever!" Everyone shouted in anger.

Tang Jian knew that these people were expressing their position. Even if they were criticized by the rebels, they would follow them because they knew that they were not rebels!

Tang Jian looked sore and said, "Haha, I thought that with my own strength, I could avoid the fate of the entire Beiyang Navy being wiped out. Unexpectedly, under the Qing government of Cixi, the Beiyang Navy failed to attack Weihaiwei, and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 also became an eternal pain in the hearts of the Chinese people!"

Tang Jian paused and continued, "I thought that I would join forces with Yuan Shikai to overthrow Cixi, implement reforms, and rebuild the Beiyang Navy, and strive to lead the Chinese people to a path of strengthening the country and enriching the people with Yuan Shikai. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shikai played with power and had great ambitions, and actually colluded with Tsarist Russia, which caused the Beiyang fleet to be trapped and almost wiped out. Now he has also labeled the Beiyang Navy as a rebel!"

Yan Fu said in a deep voice: "Commander..."

Tang Jian waved his hand to stop Yan Fu and continued, "Mr. Li Hongzhang and Lord Li often said that he was a papermaker in the Qing Dynasty. He worked hard for the Qing Dynasty for decades, but he had to take the blame for the loss of power and humiliation of the Qing government again and again, and finally ended up in depression! Oh, I, Tang Jian, isn't I another papermaker, I have worked hard for several years to serve the country and the people, and finally got a charge of rebellion!"

"Are these my faults? Are these the faults of the Beiyang Navy officers and soldiers?" Tang Jian asked loudly,

"No, this is not our fault, it is because the Qing Dynasty is difficult to return. Even the Lord of the Central Hall and even me, it is impossible to change the essence of the Qing Dynasty. These princes, ministers, and the powerful ministers, they are not thinking about how to seek welfare for the people, but how to reach the peak of power and how to satisfy their own selfish desires! Such a court is not worthy of being the 400 million Chinese court. This court has now evolved into the court of Yuan Shikai alone!" Tang Jian said indignantly.

"Yes, it's not our court anymore. There is no need for us to be loyal to this court anymore!" Captain Qiu Baoren of Haiqi slapped the table and cursed.

"Yes, I can't be foolish and loyal anymore! I'm against this court!" Captain of Haichou Sa Zhenbing agreed.

"Yes, yes, rebelled, rebelled..." The crowd of people under the seat were excited and expressed their willingness to rebel. Since the court had charged them with treason, they would just rebel to the end and overthrow the Qing government!

Tang Jian signaled everyone to quiet and said, "We had no choice but to rebel, but the Beiyang Fleet alone cannot compete with Yuan Shikai's hundreds of thousands of Beiyang New Army. We must join forces with other local officials to fight against the Qing Dynasty!"

"Commander, we can do whatever you say!" Ye Zugui said.

"Ye Zugui, you immediately lead the Haiqi, Hairong, Haichen, and other warships with slightly smaller tonnages. Go north along the Yangtze River from Wusongkou and work with Governor Li Jingfang and Governor Li to defend Anqing, Wuhan, Jiujiang and other places!"

"Yes! Commander!" Ye Zugui received the order.

"Mr. Yan, you will hold the main battleships with large tonnages such as the Dragon Wei, the Dragon Xiao, and the Mikasa to defend Fuzhou!" said Tang Jian.

"Yes, Commander!" Yan Fu received the order.

"I will go north first, go to Fujian to visit Li Jingfang, and then go south, hoping to join forces with the Governor of Liangjiang Liu Kunyi, Governor of Huguang Zhang Zhidong, Railway Minister Sheng Xuanhuai and other local officials to preserve the stability of the Southeast provinces and fight against Yuan Shikai's southward!" Tang Jian continued.

The officers of the Beiyang Fleet under their seats expressed their agreement with Tang Jian's plan. After the meeting, the captains with their own missions began to prepare for related matters.

Tang Jian left Yan Fu and Ye Zugui to discuss in detail. Tang Jian asked, "Captain Ye, why didn't you see Lianjie Zhu?"

Ye Zugui said sadly: "On the same day, Chief of Staff Yan used the strategy of losing the car to protect the coach, and asked the Marines to build temporary forts on both sides of Lushun to attract the firepower of the Russian Pacific Fleet. The Marines exchanged blood for precious time for the Beiyang Fleet to break through. In the end, the Beiyang Fleet broke through, but the Marines were wiped out!"

"What? Is Zhu Lianjie dead?" Tang Jian asked in surprise.

"This is unknown yet!" Ye Zugui added, "The night before the Beiyang Fleet broke through, Zhu Lianjie privately brought a battalion of 400 troops and went to Wafangdian to rescue the commander without authorization. There is still no news, so it is probably a bad fortune." Ye Zugui said.

Tang Jian stood in a daze, with nearly 10,000 Cossack cavalry around Nava Hotel. Zhu Lianjie went deep alone with just 400 people?

Tang Jian glanced at Yan Fu, and Yan Fu immediately blamed himself: "Please punish the commander. Yan Fu is also worried about the commander's safety. Although I knew in advance that Lianjie wanted to rescue the commander, Yan Fu did not stop him. Instead, he instigated Colonel Zhu Lianjie to go deeper alone. Yan Fu had it!"

Tang Jian just shook his head and signaled Yan Fu not to blame himself. When Zhu Lianjie led a battalion to rescue Tang Jian without authorization, Yan Fu must have known this, but Yan Fu did not stop Zhu Lianjie because Yan Fu also wanted to rescue Tang Jian, but he did not dare to openly disobey Tang Jian's military order, so he turned a blind eye and acquiesced to Zhu Lianjie's behavior.

Tang Jian sighed and said, "Maybe Lianjie did not sacrifice!" Tang Jian comforted Yan Fu, but Tang Jian knew in his heart that this possibility was minimal. There were tens of thousands of Russian troops in the northeast, so how long could Zhu Lianjie's hundreds of people survive? Tang Jian said this and wanted to try to comfort himself.

"By the way, is there any news from Wang Jianchuan and the others?" Tang Jian asked Yan Fu, and Yan Fu shook his head again when he heard this.

Tang Jian was silent in his heart. It seemed that the Lone Wolf and the Marine Corps were all wiped out this time.

"Commander, there is still a few more news!" Yan Fu seemed a little hesitant.

Tang Jian knew it was definitely not good news. After being prepared, Tang Jian said, "Mr. Yan, tell me!"

"When the Beiyang Fleet attacked Lushun, Bafeite returned to Beijing under the order of Yuan Shikai. There has been no news yet, so it is probably a bad fortune." Yan Fu said.

"Yeah!" Tang Jian forced the grief in his heart and said, "If there is any news, let's tell them together!"

Yan Fu sighed and said, "The commander's family has no news after returning to his hometown in Hubei. All the lone wolf protecting the commander's family were killed. It is estimated that the commander's family has all fallen into the hands of Yuan Shikai!"

"Commander, Commander, what's wrong with you?" Ye Zugui stepped forward and hurriedly supported Tang Jian, who was shaking unsteadily.

Tang Jianqiang cheered up, held a corner of the table, and said, "Okay, I know everything!"

"In addition, Tian Aden was assassinated in Fuzhou. Although he was rescued, he is still unconscious. Only Lee Gates is still in Taiwan, so he is not threatened by Yuan Shikai. Lee Gates also sent back a message saying that Taiwan Governor Qiu Fengjia had decided to support the commander. Liu Yongfu's 5,000 Black Flag Army was on standby in Keelung and was ready to wait for the commander's dispatch at any time! Lee Gates is rushing back." Yan Fu added.

"Okay, I understand, you guys go out first! I want to be alone." Tang Jian said, then found a chair and sat down quietly.

Ye Zugui was about to say something that was stopped by Yan Fu, but Yan Fu gave a glance and pulled Ye Zugui out of the conference room.

Tang Jian sat down alone. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it tremblingly. Tang Jian took a sip of the cigarette, but unexpectedly a mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out.

...

In 1902, after mediating from multiple parties, Tang Jian, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, finally reached a "Southeast Mutual Protection" agreement with the inspectors of various provinces in the south and the United Kingdom and the United States on June 13 of the same year.

The content of Southeast Mutual Protection: The Shanghai Concession is jointly protected by all countries, and the Yangtze River and the mainland of Jiangsu and Hangzhou are all subject to supervision and inspection. The two-step interference is mainly to protect the Chinese and foreign business industries. The supervision and inspection of southern provinces, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places responded to the call of Li Jingfang and Tang Jianzhi, and unified the resistance along the Yangtze River to resist Yuan Shikai's troops and march southward.

In the same year, Tang Jian issued an edict to fight against Yuan, and the civil war broke out in full swing.
Chapter completed!