China in the late Qing Dynasty was bullied by Western powers. In order to save itself, the Qing court, after learning from the changes, launched a vigorous Westernization Movement.
One of the most important measures is to build the three navy divisions of Beiyang, Nanyang and Fujian.
Due to weak finances, the strengths of the three naval divisions are not the same. Among them, the Beiyang naval division has invested the most funds and has the strongest strength.
According to the rankings in the "United States Naval Yearbook" at that time, the comprehensive strength of the Beiyang Navy once ranked first in Asia and ninth in the world.
But it didn't take long for the Beiyang Navy to catch up and even surpass the Japanese Navy. What was the reason?
is both a country in East Asia. The fate of modern China and Japan are somewhat similar. Both of them were knocked open by Western powers by force. However, in the face of such a shocking change, the speed of the change of Japanese thinking was much faster than the traditional scholar-officials of the Qing Dynasty.
Since Emperor Meiji ascended the throne, Japan has established the strategic policy of "The Kingdom of Armed Forces". In order to quickly become one of the world's powers, Japan embarked on a radical development path of foreign aggression and expansion.
In order to achieve this goal, the first task is to build the navy. Although Japan is the smallest country, it can concentrate the nation's power into naval construction.
On the side of the Qing court, although reluctantly started the Westernization Movement, and built the modern navy under the banner of "self-improvement", its essence is just to seek self-protection. Although he invested a one-time amount of money to build the spectacular Beiyang Navy, he has been immersed in the dream of being No. 1 in Asia since then.
In 1886, the Qing government sent six warships headed by the "Dingyuan" class ironclad ships to visit Japan. The intention to show off their power could no longer be obvious, which caused a great shock to the Japanese.
However, the giant iron-clad ships of the Qing Dynasty did not scare Japan, but instead became the driving force that stimulated the Japanese to build ships madly. From the Emperor Meiji to the common people, they all participated in the vigorous campaign of raising funds to build warships.
The emperor pays 300,000 yen from his private property every year, and government personnel also donate one-tenth of his salary. Ordinary national donations do not exceed one yen. Tens of thousands. At that time, the major newspapers in Japan continued to report on donations of less than one yen, which enabled the financially difficult Meiji government to implement ambitious ship purchase and shipbuilding plans.
The "Eastern Cruise Diary" written by the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet during their visit to Japan wrote: "Its manufacturing skills strive for perfection, and it will continue to grow with each passing day. From this point of view, the prosperity of the Japanese navy will not be difficult to compare with the Europeans in the future. The country is moving together.”
also shocked the Beiyang Fleet officers and soldiers about its naval base construction: “Wu Port has been opened for three years, its foundation is advanced, and its pace is faster than that of Europe. It’s shoulder-to-shoulder, awe-inspiring and awe-inspiring heart at first sight. It’s limitless.”
Regarding the development of the world shipbuilding trend, the insightful people of the Qing government did not ignore it. They were limited to bans and could not buy new-style warships. Even the necessary parts for the maintenance and repair of the battleship cannot be purchased. The rulers of the Qing court were busy repairing the royal gardens, and some officials in the court also embezzled funds for coastal defense.
In the seventeenth year of Guangxu, the Hubei decided to raise a discount, suggesting that the North and the South should suspend the purchase of foreign guns, ships, and weapons for two years.
No new warship has been added to the Beiyang Fleet for many years. The seemingly powerful Beiyang Fleet has gradually lost its former style after years of erosion.
After the Sino-French War, the largest shipyard in the Qing government was also destroyed, and new warships could no longer be built in a short period of time. Japanese warship construction technology is booming. It also surpasses the warships built by the Qing government in performance. What makes people even more desperate is that the Beiyang Navy not only cannot supplement the new warships, but even the maintenance of the existing warships has become a major problem.
Many warships’ boilersMany years of operations have been on the verge of being scrapped, and it is difficult to reach the highest speed when it is launched; the battleship itself needs to be repaired in many places, but many necessary parts cannot be copied at all in China, but the Qing government prohibits purchasing from abroad.
Under this situation, the strength of the Japanese navy can surpass the Beiyang Navy in a short period of time. It is not difficult to understand.
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