In 1861, after the death of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi succeeded to the throne, because of his young age, Cixi and Ci'an two empress dowagers listened to the government, assisted in political affairs, on August 23, 1885, the French Navy fought against China's Beiyang Fleet, only forty minutes, the fleet was sunk, and the court was indignant, and the ministers proposed to rebuild the navy and revive the prestige.
At this time, Li Hongzhang stood up and took this important task.
The Beiyang Navy was formally established in 1888, but in three years, Li Hongzhang established a modern navy team, with his efforts, the main size of the fleet is 25 ships, 50 auxiliary ships, 30 transport ships, and more than 4,000 officers and men. The strength of the fleet once ranked ninth in the world and first in Asia. A.
This navy is not only the most advanced, but also very good, not long after its establishment, there was a problem of full staff, or even overstaffing, many green battalion soldiers, and even the children of the Eight Banners, all asked to be a navy. In order to enter the navy, some people even smashed pots and sold iron, entertained and gave gifts, which was really a bloody investment.
So, the navy has always been a chore, why can it attract so many soldiers, including many rich children, is it difficult for them to be so patriotic? Wrong, it can make people sharpen their heads and go in, of course, the reason is the high salary, no way, Li Hongzhang gave it too high.
Li Hongzhang is very far-sighted, "one year of the army, ten years of the air force, a hundred years of the navy", soldiers take their lives to ensure the safety of the country and the people, in order to let them forge ahead bravely, it is necessary to let them have enough motivation, not to mention, when the navy will have higher requirements for people, not only need to know how to fight, but also need to know how to navigate.
If you want to enter the Beiyang Naval Division, you must first graduate from the 800 Naval Academy, not only to be able to read and write, but also to learn to master the knowledge of ships, but also to know how to combat skills, "high salary", in order to attract comprehensive talents.
Li Hongzhang strongly advocated raising troops with high salaries, and when he first founded the navy, he made it clear that the salary of the Beiyang Navy was higher than that of other branches of the military.
In view of this, the salary of the Beiyang Navy was significantly reformed, and the salary of officers was divided into two parts: one is"Annual", two are"Boatman", in fact, is the basic salary and year-end dividends. According to the records, the approximate standard of salary in the Beiyang Navy is:
The annual income of the Admiral of the Navy is about 8,400 taels**.
The total annual income of the navy is about 3960 taels**.
The vice admiral's annual income is about 3240 taels**.
The annual income of the admiral is about 2,640 taels**.
This salary is two or three times that of officers and men of the same rank in other services.
Not only that, the Beiyang Navy also has other extra money, for example, part of the maintenance cost of ** is also included in the salary of the Navy, called"Boat fare", such as coal loading and unloading, purchasing supplies, buying paint, replacing flags, all of which have oil and water to be fished. And, depending on the tonnage of the ship, the greater the tonnage, the more oil and water, of course, will be. Take the Northern Fleet"Dingyuan"、"Zhenyuan"For example, for a few capital ships, their sailing expenses are 850 taels per month, and other ships of small tonnage also have at least two or three hundred taels.
The above are all officers, and even the soldiers are well paid"Not bad money"Played to the extreme:
A first-class sailor is paid 10 taels per month.
The monthly salary of a first-class artillery soldier is 20 taels**.
The monthly salary of shore handymen is 3 taels**.
Torpedo maker's monthly salary is 20 four taels**.
The monthly salary of the electric light soldier is 30 taels**.
It can be seen from the above that whether it is a miscellaneous or technical soldier, even if it is an errand on the shore, the salary is quite good. Talking about the income of other people in the same period, you can compare, the annual income of the whole peasant family is about 40 taels**, and the annual income of the workers is about 50 taels**. This can be seen from the high salaries of officers and men of the Beiyang Navy.
Li Hongzhang's idea is very good, through high salaries to attract talents, to build a high-tech navy, they have very good equipment, sophisticated warship equipment, high salaries of officers and soldiers, but God did not fulfill people's wishes, 1894-1895 Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, almost did not sink a single Japanese warship, but they were completely annihilated.
Of course, a strong navy needs money to build, but only money can't buy an army with strong combat effectiveness, the general trend of history is mighty, and the Qing Dynasty at this time has already been rotten from top to bottom, no matter how powerful the navy, what is the use?
February** Dynamic Incentive Program