A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 138 The Ambition of the Empire

The few of them researched enthusiastically, but they didn't realize that Naniwa Kawashima had already noticed Li Yu from the moment he entered the door.

Kawashima Naniwa is a professional spy with a strong sensitivity to the dynamics of surrounding people.What's more, Japan's wolfish ambitions now know many times more about China than the Qing court itself.

All kinds of dignitaries and celebrities in the capital have done detailed investigations.If they want, they can track the life trajectories of important people, and even deduce from various details when they squatted in the latrine, when they ate, and even whether they had sex at night.

Japan's attention to the Qing Dynasty is almost like a couple in love.

—Of course this is not love.

Li Yu is very famous now, even in the West, so Naniwa Kawashima naturally noticed him long ago.

If Li Yu hadn't possessed a certain God's perspective as a time traveler, he would never have noticed Naniwa Kawashima, let alone realized Naniwa Kawashima's attention to him, and would have been completely kept in the dark.

After listening to the play, Kawashima Naniwa immediately came to a secret base.

He knocked the door rhythmically a few times, and the door opened after a while.

Naniwa Kawashima said: "Black Dragon Club, Naniwa Kawashima."

The person who opened the door bowed to him and stretched out his hand: "Mr. Kawashima, please come in."

This is the Aoki Mansion, the notorious spy agency established by Japan's first-generation spy chief and military attache Aoki Nobujun in the Qing Dynasty.

The well-known Kenji Doihara is the third-generation spy chief, and Nobuzumi Aoki can be regarded as his "grandfather".

Naniwa Kawashima entered a secret room and bowed to everyone one by one: "Minister Uchida, General Aoki."

Yasuya Uchida, Japanese Minister to the Qing Dynasty, said, "Why didn't Uchida Ryohei and Toyama Mitsuru come?"

Naniwa Kawashima said: "Chief Uchida and Adviser Toushan are busy with espionage work against Russia, and now they are in Vladivostok and cannot escape."

Nobuzumi Aoki nodded: "It's enough to have you representing the Black Dragon Association, let's sit down."

Uchida Yasuya asked: "What new information have you obtained recently?"

Naniwa Kawashima said: "I have done some in-depth investigations on Li Yu, who Mr. Minister is concerned about."

Nobusumi Aoki is a military officer, and he mainly focuses on the political and business circles. He doesn't know much about the academic circles, so he asked, "Li Yu?"

Minister Yasuya Uchida explained: "It is a genius who has suddenly appeared in the past year and is amazing in the way of science. Even Western newspapers have praised him."

"Science?" Nobujun Aoki asked again, "What kind of science?"

Uchida Yasuya said: "From the papers he published, it should be a type of basic mathematical science."

Nobujun Aoki said: "Mathematics and physics? I have learned some. Is it possible for him to make powerful machinery or weapons for the Qing Dynasty?"

"It should be impossible for the time being." Uchida Yasuya said.

"Should? It's still not sure." Aoki Xuanjun said.

Uchida Yasuya nodded: "It's a pity that no one in our intelligence department or legation can understand Li Yu's articles and papers. It is only speculated from the reaction of the Western scientific community that they should be very advanced. But there is really nothing about machinery and weapons in the papers. Theory and Design Content."

Aoki Xuanjun asked again: "In this case, is this person a big threat?"

Uchida Yasuya said: "It's hard to say. After all, mathematical science is the foundation of many other sciences. Maybe this person may burst out with great energy in the future."

"Oh?" Aoki Xuanjun felt a little familiar with this routine, "Isn't it similar to the rise of our Great Japanese Empire?"

Uchida Yasuya nodded and said: "If you take time, you can't say for sure. Mathematical sciences are the foundation of modern industry after all."

"It seems that our intelligence department really needs to pay attention to this person." Aoki Nobujun said.

"I think so too," said Uchida Yasuya, "Ms. Takeda Kanae, the wife of Mr. Said, the British ambassador to the Qing Dynasty, once mentioned Li Yu to me. the entire scientific community."

Uchida Yasuya said to Kawashima Naniwa again: "Tell me about Li Yu's situation."

Naniwa Kawashima took over the conversation and said: "I really don't understand what Li Yu wrote, and I can't evaluate his specific strength. However, I once secretly contacted Unoyoshi Hattori, a professor at the Imperial University. Hattori-kun once told me that Li Yu Yuyu's knowledge is horrifyingly terrifying, and I am afraid that even our professors at Tokyo Imperial University would be inferior to him."

Aoki Nobuzumi said in disbelief: "Is the top professor in the Great Japanese Empire not as good as him?"

"Yes! Hattori-kun told me so with certainty," Kawashima Naniwa said, "Not only that, he also said that this person's knowledge is still bottomless, and it is impossible to see through."

Aoki Nobuzumi stroked his chin and said, "It's so unusual."

Naniwa Kawashima added: "Fortunately, the Qing court doesn't seem to pay enough attention to him now, and he didn't hold an official position in the Qing court. I think we can find an opportunity to get close to him, and then try to test his attitude."

Uchida Yasuya agreed: "It can be done. It's just that I heard that he has been to St. Petersburg before. I don't know if he has any connection with Russia?"

Naniwa Kawashima said: "The Black Dragon Association has already investigated this matter, and found that Li Yu only went to St. Petersburg Royal University. Neither the Tsar nor the top Russian officials had contact with him."

Uchida Yasuya nodded and said: "This matter must be confirmed clearly. If he has contact with the Russian high-level in private, and then enters our interior, becomes a double agent, and leaks the top secrets of the Japanese Empire to the Russians, it will be a big deal. .”

"I understand," Kawashima Naniwa said, "I will try my best to win him over on the premise of ensuring his loyalty. It is best to let him die on our side and become a pro-Japanese faction, so that we can support him. If he stands On the opposite side, hmph, it will be up to you then!"

"I agree with Kawashima-kun's statement that for the great cause of the Great Japanese Empire, we must be cautious." Aoki Nobujun said.

Uchida Yasuya said: "In short, pay more attention to this person now, but we have more urgent things to do right now. I have been in contact with Gongsang Nuoerbu, the king of the Mongolian Harqin Right Banner, which is close to Manchuria, and have obtained A certain amount of trust. Kawashima-kun, is your work going well, too?"

Naniwa Kawashima said: "It went well. Now Prince Su has established a very good personal relationship with me. His sister is the concubine of King Gong."

Uchida Yasuya said: "Very good! If we can win them, it will be extremely beneficial to our future confrontation with Russia. I have already promised King Gong and arranged for him to participate in the Great Japanese Empire Exposition Exposition to be held soon. Our If the strong industrial strength can shock him, I believe King Gong will unswervingly become a pro-Japanese faction."

Nobujun Aoki said: "Minister Uchida thought carefully, step by step, interlocking with each other, and completed the infiltration mission subtly. He is really well versed in the essence of espionage, which I admire."

Uchida Yasuya said: "We are all fighting for the great cause of the empire. If we cooperate sincerely, we will surely achieve great things."

Then Uchida Yasuya looked at Naniwa Kawashima again, "Mr. Kawashima, our arrangements are already very careful, and you will instruct the Black Dragon Society to advance as soon as possible regarding the follow-up intelligence on Russia."

"Hi!" Naniwa Kawashima said, "I will inform Chief Uchida and Toushan's advisor as soon as possible, and I will fulfill my mission."

When the Japanese spies over there were studying him, Li Yu didn't know about it. In fact, he didn't care too much. At least he is safe now, or the more famous he is, the safer he is.

At this time, Li Yu had just given some popular science stories to Shi Liangcai, a reporter from Shenbao, and then he was conceiving a science fiction novel.

To be honest, Li Yu is not good at this, but fortunately, he understands the word "science fiction" very well.Especially for people at the beginning of the twentieth century, even the daily life of Li Yu in his previous life, 100 years after the rapid changes, is already very sci-fi.

So Li Yu wasn't too worried about the story, but felt that there were too many and couldn't find where to start.

As long as the story is well written, even if the writing is not good, it can be polished by people, even Lu Bicheng can do it.

In short, the key question is what kind of science fiction story should be written.

Although Li Yu has read many sci-fi works, it is impossible for him to retell them completely, and considering the current era background, it is not realistic to write things that are too advanced or far ahead of the current technological level. If you don't understand it, it's useless.

After thinking about it, Li Yu felt that he should start with sci-fi movies aimed at a wider audience, especially those with great influence.

When it comes to sci-fi movies, many immediately come to mind, Li Yu finally decided to start with "Star Wars".

Li Yu has watched the Star Wars series many times. Although the details cannot be exhaustive, the overall plot is well understood.

The Star Wars series was filmed in the 70s, and it did not involve too much in the computer field of the super-age, so it is still no problem for people today to understand.

And this series belongs to soft sci-fi, and there are even lightsabers, which are similar to cold weapon settings, and there are many humanistic plots in the story, which are relatively acceptable to the general public.

The story of the struggle between the Galactic Empire and the protagonists in the first part of the Star Wars series is also more consistent with the current situation, and it belongs to a kind of victory over the strong with the weak.

When writing the storyline, Li Yu slightly adjusted the background of the characters in it, and the names of the characters also blended the East and the West.

Li Yu didn't need to write in great detail, he only needed to write out a detailed outline, and then asked Lu Bicheng to polish it.

Lu Bicheng happened to know English too, so he was able to translate it along the way.

After all, it is more convenient for people to translate something with Yan Fu, the chief executive of the Translation Institute of Jingshi University Hall.

It's just that Li Yu found that even if he wrote a detailed outline, there were still a lot of words.Today's fountain pens are not very comfortable to hold, and ergonomics is not considered too much. The key point is that the weight is much heavier than that of later generations. It is really hard to write a lot.The middle finger is sore and sore. It would be nice to have a keyboard.

Li Yu knew that typewriters had already been born, but they would definitely not be able to buy them in the capital.

Fortunately, things seem to have ushered in a turning point.

Although the clan of the Qing court didn't even know that there was a spy organization under the imperial city, the Qingmu Mansion, and even the princes and spies didn't know it, so they were played and applauded if they were confused.

But there are still people who understand.

Tang Shaoyi is in Tianjin Customs Road, and the news is relatively well-informed.He vaguely sensed that something was wrong with the Japanese, but it was a pity that no one under his command was available to form an anti-spy network. Standing in the open, it was impossible to detect the specific movements of the Japanese in the dark corners.

Fortunately, the current people in Beiyang have slowly dispersed. Zhou Chunfang, a former graduate of the Beiyang Military Equipment Crash School, is now a military instructor in the Palace of Gongwang in the Mongolian Karaqin Right Banner.

He sent a message back to Beiyang from Gongwang's mansion. Now Gongwang has contact with the Japanese side and decided to cross the sea to participate in the Fifth Japanese Encouragement Expo.

The purpose of King Gong was actually very simple, that is, he wanted to find a foreigner to teach the children of the palace, so as not to fall behind.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese side saw the needles and got in touch with King Gong immediately after knowing the news, and then hoped to arrange their own people after demonstrating their strength.

Looking at the map, you can see that the area under the jurisdiction of King Gong is in today's Chifeng, close to the northeast, and it is a strategic place.

Although Tang Shaoyi knew about the Japanese's intentions, it was too difficult to find someone who understood Western learning. Tang Shaoyi had no choice but to find Li Yu again.

Li Yugang was called to the Office of the Minister of Education not long after he stayed in the Imperial University Hall.

"Meet you again, Brother Li." Tang Shaoyi said.

"Tang Daotai, why are you here again?" Li Yu asked in surprise.

Tang Shaoyi laughed and said, "Your word 'again' is a little strange."

Li Yu also smiled and said, "It's not that I'm out of sight, I'm just a little surprised."

"There was indeed a bit of an accident. I really need to trouble you with something." Tang Shaoyi said.

Li Yu had guessed it a long time ago, so he said, "Tang Daotai, please tell me."

Tang Shaoyi took a puff of the cigar, slowly exhaled it, and then told Li Yu about King Gong.

After listening, Li Yu said, "What Daotai means is that you want me to go to Japan and also participate in this Encouragement Fair?"

"Exactly," Tang Shaoyi said, "Now the court has changed its attitude. It didn't want to participate in the exposition at first, but after Zai Zhenbeizi wrote the letter, the court's attitude changed drastically, and the provinces were selected to send products to participate in the exposition. It was even decided that Zai Zhenbei and the internal affairs Minister Na Tong and others organized a delegation to go to Japan."

"There are quite a few people who say that." Li Yu said.

Tang Shaoyi said: "That's right, now we're going to go to 900 people, but at the beginning it didn't mention that the Mongolian county king would also go. I just don't know why, Prince Su's son charter suddenly pulled Gong Gong to go to Japan. Originally It is impossible for people of their level to go to Japan casually, but suddenly they were invited by Uchida Yasuya, the Japanese minister in the Qing Dynasty, and the imperial court had no choice but to agree."

Li Yu was surprised and said: "It's too coincidental, and the position of King Gong is so obvious, can't the court see it? Why did Zai Zhen Beizi and Na Tong agree?"

Tang Shaoyi smiled wryly: "They may not have noticed."

Tang Shaoyi was trying to save face for the Qing court, and didn't make bad words.

Li Yu understood in his heart, knowing that these Manchu clans could not be counted on at all, so he said: "Well, since Tang Daotai came in person, of course I have to agree."

"That's the best!" Tang Shaoyi said, "I'm afraid that the Japanese will fool the king with some industrial products. Now you are the only one who knows Western learning best, especially industrial products with technological components, so you can avoid being deceived."

Li Yu said, "I understand Daotai's painstaking efforts."

Unexpectedly, not long after returning to the capital, my buttocks are not hot, and I will go to a foreign country again.Fortunately, Japan is not far away, so there is no need to spend months on the sea like going to Europe.

Tang Shaoyi also said: "Now all localities are preparing to send students to participate in the exposition to increase their knowledge. Zhili, Hubei, and Shuntian prefectures have selected more than 150 students from the craft school and agricultural school to go to Japan, and each will give [-] taels of silver as travel expenses. The next time I came to the Capital University Hall, I explained this matter to the school, and the school has agreed."

Craft schools are generally affiliated to local manufacturing bureaus, and they mainly offer courses in foreign languages, mechanical technology and chemical technology.

Li Yu said: "Tang Daotai has already been arranged, so I can't do it if I don't go."

Tang Shaoyi smiled and said: "It's really not possible. You don't have to worry too much, I will tell you when to board the ship in advance, and the Imperial University should arrange a few people to go with you."

(End of this chapter)