Chapter 29 The whole story of Admiral Yang's incident

In 1863, the Qing government purchased a fleet from the United Kingdom. In 1882, Li Hongzhang hired British naval officer Lang Weili as the chief inspector of the Beiyang Navy Fleet, responsible for training. Lang William M is a key figure in modern naval history and Sino-British diplomatic history.He graduated from the Royal Naval School and was originally a junior officer in the British Navy.In the early years of Guangxu, Li Hongzhang was ordered to establish the Beiyang Navy. Most of the warships were purchased from foreign countries, and there was a shortage of naval personnel, so they had to borrow talents from other places.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Beiyang Navy, Li Hongzhang had a hard time finding an ideal commander.In 1878, China had more than 20 new ships, but foreigners still believed that China did not have a navy.The important reason is that the organization and training of the navy is completely out of order and unbearable.Li Hongzhang wrote to Guo Songtao, the minister in Britain, asking him to help find the Beiyang commander in England.Guo Songtao wrote back and said that there was an Englishman named Lang Weili who met Li Hongzhang's requirements and was very proficient in professional skills.In June of that year, Lang Weili was hired to escort the purchased gunboat for China.When Li Hongzhang learned about it, he ordered Shipping Minister Ding Richang to secretly observe Langweili.Ding Richang reported that Lang Weili was a rare handsome talent.Li Hongzhang had a good impression of Langweili in his heart.Lang Weili escorted the ship to China, and returned to England after the mission was completed, but did not meet Li Hongzhang.Although Lang Weili meets the requirements, he is far away in England, and the organization and training of the navy is urgent.Li Hongzhang hoped that his old friend Hurd could recommend suitable foreigners to serve as naval instructors.The shrewd Hurd saw that the post of naval instructor had neither money nor power, so he ignored Li Hongzhang's request at all.In 1879, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to entrust the matter to the minister in Britain again. At this time, the minister was no longer Guo Songtao, but Zeng Jize.Soon, Zeng Jize wrote back, and the sponsor was still Lang Weili.In September of this year, Admiral Goode of the British Navy visited Tianjin. Li Hongzhang asked if there was any suitable candidate he could recommend to come to China as the chief instructor of the navy. Goode still recommended Langweili.It just so happened that Li Hongzhang got the exact news that a batch of gunboats would arrive in Tianjin soon, and it was Lang Weili who was in charge of escorting them!Although Li Hongzhang and Lang Weili had never met in person, they were already familiar with his name, and decided to meet Lang Weili, who was praised by everyone, in person.

In November 1879, Lang Weili was hired to lead the Qing government to order four ships (namely, Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, and Zhenbei) from England for the second time to China, and they arrived in Dalian on the 6th day of October. sell mouth.The four gunboats at that time were all obsolete weapons of the British army, and their technical requirements were very low.Lang Weili practiced in Wanli Botao, which made Li Hongzhang very happy.After the drill, Li Hongzhang immediately hired Lang Weili as the chief instructor of the Chinese Navy.Li Hongzhang was keeping filial piety for his mother at that time, but he was still non-stop handling matters for the Lang family to teach in China.That kind of earnest mood seems to have grasped a life-saving straw for the Chinese navy with Lang Weili.

Seeing that Li Hongzhang was so eager, Lang Weili began to put forward various conditions, such as the chief instructor of the navy has the right to dispatch soldiers; his service in China cannot affect his seniority and promotion in the British army; Otherwise, he would refuse to be hired; in the end, Lang Weili offered a sky-high annual salary almost like extortion.Li Hongzhang tried his best to satisfy Lang Weili's various unreasonable demands.However, the British government did not agree.Firstly, the British Admiralty is unwilling to serve officers in China to teach, so as to prevent the disclosure of military secrets of the country; secondly, the British government believes that since Langweili has served in China, his seniority in the UK should be automatically terminated; thirdly, Langweili’s service years in China Not in compliance with UK law.The Qing government was waiting for a vacant position, but the British government was unwilling to let him go. The two sides were at a stalemate on this matter.During this period, two people tried their best for this matter, eager to facilitate this matter.They are Wade, the British Minister to China, and Hurd, the Chief Revenue Secretary.Two people have persuaded the British government.Wade sent secret telegrams to the British government several times to clarify his interests.He said that if China cannot hire British military officers, it will look for suitable candidates from France, the United States, and Germany, which will greatly damage Britain's interests in the Far East.Lang Weili only held a teaching position, and he could be recalled at any time if the two countries went to war.We are unwilling to do this, and France, Germany and the United States are rushing to do it!They had already prepared candidates, and they were waiting for Li Hongzhang to ask for someone.As long as the Chinese government allows Lang Weili to serve the Qing Empire, sooner or later the control of the navy will fall into our hands!Hede was even more anxious than Wade, and said in a letter to his friend that the Langwei issue should not be resolved through diplomatic channels, but should be arranged by private individuals, because Chinese people do not like to deal with officials.He was very worried that the sudden death of Li Hongzhang's mother would adversely affect Langweili's visit to China.He said that he didn't know whether this great man would observe mourning for his mother for 100 days (short mourning) or 27 months.If it is 100 days, there is still hope for this matter, if it is 27 months, this matter may be ruined.Fortunately, the Qing government finally only granted Li Hongzhang a three-month vacation.Under the mediation efforts of the two, the British Admiralty finally expressed ambiguously that Long Weili's teaching in China would neither hinder nor promote it.Li Hongzhang signed a formal contract with Lang Weili, and hired him as the deputy admiral of the Beiyang Navy.In the autumn of 1882, Lang Weili officially came to China to take up a post.His task is to be responsible for the exercises, training and education of the Beiyang Navy, and he is directly responsible to the Beiyang Minister.Lang Weili's annual salary is set at six hundred taels of silver, but there is no fixed number of years of employment.Li Hongzhang originally planned to hire Lang for a long time, but because of this loophole, Lang Weili casually resigned and ran away after one year in office.

In 1884, the Sino-French War broke out. According to the regulations of the British government, subjects of the British Empire were not allowed to fight for a third country. The British government remained neutral. Lang Weili resigned to avoid suspicion, and the German Shi Bailing was appointed as the head teacher.After the Sino-French War, the Qing government accepted the lessons of the defeat in the naval battle, learned from the painful experience, and decided to expand the navy. On the fifth day of September 1885, the Naval Yamen, a central naval organization, was established, and all naval divisions were controlled and dispatched by it.For a while, the governments of various countries sent their own military officers to apply for the job, hoping to take over Langweili's post.The British government also realized the importance of Lang Weili, promoted him to the rank of colonel and captain, and asked him to return to China to continue his post.Li Hongzhang sent a telegram asking Lang Weili to return to China and resume his post. Hurd and others also tried their best to persuade him, and asked the British Foreign Office to urge him on his behalf.Lang Weili demanded that the British system be adopted in the training, that Englishmen should be hired, and that he should be granted full training authority. After Li Hongzhang agreed, Lang Weili returned to the Beiyang Navy in the spring of 1886, and was warmly welcomed by Li Hongzhang, Ding Ruchang, and the Beiyang officers and soldiers. .At that time, it was the time for employing people. Beiyang commander Ding Ruchang was from the army and had no experience in commanding the navy. Many naval officers and soldiers even couldn't tell the difference between theodolite and compass.After Lang Weili returned to his post, within three months, he made the disorganized navy into a tidy and impressive one, and was awarded the second-class Baoxing Medal by the Qing government.In April of the same year, Prince Chun inspected the navy, and rewarded Langweili with the rank of admiral for the effective construction of the navy.Li Hongzhang also often used the title of admiral Lang Weili or Ding and Lang two admirals in his telegrams.In the official documents of the Beiyang Navy, Lang Weili's titles are all admirals.But after the flag withdrawal incident, Lang Weili found that this title was empty, and he had no real power.

In March 1890, the Beiyang Fleet conducted a routine patrol in the South China Sea.Admiral Ding Ruchang led Zhenyuan and other four ships to patrol Hainan Island, while Chief Instructor Xi Langweili stayed in Hong Kong.Hong Kong is a gathering place for British people. Lang Weili hurriedly disembarked to show off his official position and achievements with his fellow countrymen, and did not return to the ship until dark.According to naval practice, the admiral's flag was lowered from the ship and the general flag was raised instead. Liu Buchan, an alumnus of Langweili who studied abroad in the navy, ordered the general flag to be raised.Lang Weili was very displeased when he saw the admiral's flag being withdrawn, because in his mind, he and Ding Ruchang were on equal footing, and the admiral's flag was owned by both of them.He also often told his subordinates: The Beiyang Navy has two admirals!So he ran to ask Liu Buchan, Ding Ruchang is gone, I am still here, and I am also the admiral, how can the admiral's flag be removed?Liu Buchan graduated from a famous British naval school. He usually looks down on this foreign admiral. In addition, most of the navy is from Fujian. Lang Weili once wrote a letter to Li Hongzhang, proposing that the management of warships should not be dedicated to Fujianese. Everyone has long agreed He resents.So Liu Buchan ignored Lang's questioning, and Lang Weili had no choice but to call Li Hongzhang. This was the famous flag withdrawal incident.

Li Hongzhang didn't pay much attention to this matter and ignored it.Lang Weili felt insulted and went to Tianjin to threaten Li Hongzhang. If Liu Buchan was not severely punished, he would resign immediately!Li Hongzhang just didn't believe in evil, and left a sentence: If you want to go, if you want to stay, it's up to you.In a fit of rage, Lang Weili resigned again. After Lang Weili resigned, foreign newspapers in China complained about Lang's family and condemned Li Hongzhang's treachery. "China Times" reported that Lang Weili was simply deceived.Because the employment contract was clearly written, Lang Weili must have real power.The flag-raising incident was by no means accidental, but a despicable conspiracy by Li Hongzhang and Beiyang officers. The "Beihua Herald" described it even more tragically: foreigners exchanged hard work and loyalty for their personality, but they were ungrateful and demolished bridges.Unless foreign military officers are in league with the Chinese and are lazy and depraved, they will be jealous and excluded.The incident continued to escalate, gradually surpassing the personal conflict between Li Hongzhang and Lang Weili, and rising to a diplomatic conflict between China and Britain.The British government took a tough stance, prohibiting British officers from serving in the Chinese army and expelling Chinese students from the British Naval Academy.Sino-British relations have reached a stalemate due to the resignation of Long Weili.