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

Chapter 171 The Astronomical Society
Liang Cheng once studied in the United States for six years as the fourth group of children studying in the United States, but he was recalled back to China just after graduating from a middle school.So Liang Cheng's education is actually only high school at most, but he still learned a lot of modern knowledge in the United States.

Moreover, Liang Cheng is very flexible in mind and speaks English well, otherwise he wouldn't be able to be a diplomat.

San Francisco is now the city with the largest number of Chinese. The earliest Chinese workers who came to the United States were basically attracted by the gold rush in the first half of the 19th century.

Li told them to board a train bound for the east coast and head for Washington along the Union Pacific Railway.

Li Yu had never been on a train in the United States, and he said with emotion: "So this is the big railway that gathered the lives of many Chinese workers."

For the United States, it was also a test for them when they first started to build this railway connecting the East and West Oceans 40 years ago. Such a large-scale project is rare in the world.

At first, the railway company did not want to recruit Chinese workers, but too few whites were recruited, and the progress of the project was extremely slow.

Then began to introduce Chinese laborers. These Chinese laborers were already in the United States, such as those who came to pan for gold, or escaped because of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.

However, the labor shortage was too large, and the local area could only recruit a few thousand Chinese workers, so the intermediary company recruited tens of thousands of Chinese workers from China.

A total of almost 1000 Chinese laborers invested in the construction of this large American railway, and the Chinese laborers undertook more than [-] kilometers of the most difficult project.

160 years ago, there were no construction machinery such as excavators, rock drills, and drilling machines, and all of them relied on manpower. For this, the Chinese workers paid the price of more than 1300 fresh lives.

Therefore, this railway is also known as "under every sleeper there is a Chinese worker's bone".

When the railway was completed, the major newspapers rushed to report and publicized the technology and civilization of the United States, but the pictures were all white men without exception.

According to the regulations at the time, Chinese were not allowed to appear in front of the camera, nor were they allowed to participate in the completion ceremony, which made everyone think that this huge project was completely a masterpiece of white people, and no one ever remembered the dead Chinese workers.

Moreover, due to the influx of a large number of Chinese workers, it also largely contributed to the introduction of the "Chinese Exclusion Act" in the United States.After all, this discriminatory bill is largely aimed at directly restricting Chinese workers from immigrating to the United States to participate in railway construction.

Liang Cheng also knew the situation of Huagong, but he said: "Sacrifice is inevitable. I hope when we can see so many railways in our country."

In this era, basically after the Chinese left, the Qing government ignored them, and even treated them as people from other countries, so there was basically no protection.

But even though they knew they would pay with their lives, many Chinese workers were still willing to come.Because the Qing government is really incompetent, staying in the country will be tortured to death by the unreasonable land taxes set by the county magistrates.

At least once when you come out, you can fight once, and during the big construction period, although the treatment given by the railway company to Chinese workers is far worse than that of white people, it is basically one dollar a day. Excluding four days of rest, it is 26 dollars a month, which is equivalent to more than 10 taels of silver. This is too attractive for poor Chinese laborers.

Li Yu still has respect for these Chinese workers, even the sweat shed in other countries.

After all, what can they do? If the Qing government can have this kind of treatment, who would want to go abroad.

I have to say that at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were really too many American railways.

Now the total mileage of railways in the United States has exceeded the sum of Europe, accounting for half of the world, which is very scary.

The construction of the railway has indeed directly led to the rise of a large number of industries, and the most direct beneficiaries are steel companies. Now the steel production in the United States is also ranked first in the world.

It can indeed be called the first generation of the infrastructure madman.

After arriving in Washington, the group first stayed at the hotel, and Liang Cheng had to do some handover work before he could formally submit his application to meet US President Theodore Roosevelt.

During this period of time, Li Yu was free. Fortunately, he also had something to do when he came to the United States.

The current observatories in the United States are quite advanced, and they are all here. It would be best if you can use them.

The first thing Li Yu thought of was the American Astronomical Society (originally called the Astrophysical Society), which had just been established in 1899. It happened that this institution was located in Washington.

To be precise, the American Physical Society was also established in 1899, and the Astronomical Society is one of its branches.

Anyway, they were very close, so Li Yu came here uninvited.

Li Yu's English is not bad, so it was easy to find out the place. The area of ​​Washington DC is not big now. The main reason is that the association is not far from the White House, so it is easy to find.

Follow the guide and come to a small building, which is likely to be here.Li Yu happened to see a young man in his thirties about to go in, so he went up to stop the man and asked in English, "Sir, is this the Astronomical Society?"

The young man sized up Li Yu, "Chinese?"

Li Yu nodded.

The young man said, "This is the Astronomical Society, what are you doing here?"

Li Yu introduced himself: "I, Li Yu, want to seek help from the Astronomical Society..."

Before Li Yu finished speaking, the young man interrupted directly: "Carp?! Yu Li?! Are you the Chinese who discovered Pluto?"

The discovery of Pluto is a major event in the entire astronomical community at present. They know that Li Yu is nothing but normal. Li Yu said: "It's me, but in Chinese it should be pronounced as 'Li Yu', not 'carp'."

"I'm so surprised!" The young man said excitedly, "I didn't expect Mr. Carp to come!"

Well, it seems that it won't be corrected for a while, so it's better to let him call himself Yu Lide.

The young man also introduced himself and said, "I am a member of the Astronomical Society, and my name is Haier. Mr. Carp, come in quickly. The president will be very happy to know that you are here."

This name is easy to remember, Brother Haier.

Haier has also made many contributions to astronomy, and he discovered solar flares.

As soon as Li Yu entered the gate with Haier, he shouted loudly: "Chairman Newcomb! Take a look, there is an incredible person here!"

The door of an office at the end of the corridor was pushed open, and an old man about 70 years old came out: "I said to keep the office quiet, why didn't I listen!"

Haier ignored his accusation, pointed at Li Yu and said, "Look quickly, it's a carp!"

Newcomb opened his eyes wide: "The Li Yu who discovered Pluto and wrote "Fractal and Chaos"?"

Newcomb was the first president of the American Astronomical Society. He was also the president of the American Mathematical Society before. He has conducted in-depth research on astronomy and mathematics.

Haier said, "That's him!"

Niu Kang also really did not expect to meet Li Yu, and now his name is very famous in the scientific circle, "I am so surprised, why did you suddenly appear here across the ocean!"

Li Yu said with a smile: "It's not very sudden, this trip took more than 20 days."

"Come into my office and sit!" Newcomb said. "Since the establishment of the Astronomical Society, it is rare to see such a distinguished guest as you!"

It can only be said that Pluto was too high in the early twentieth century.

Finding planets that don't emit light has always been difficult, and in the solar system, it's really quite a feat.

In later generations, telescopes have been sent into space, and it is still extremely difficult to find extraterrestrial planets.

Newcomb said: "Your Excellency's arrival is really sudden, and we have not made any preparations. Otherwise, we should really organize a seminar for the whole society."

Li Yu said: "President, you are welcome. I will not leave the United States for a short time. There are plenty of opportunities."

"That's great," Newcomb said. "Why didn't the papers see it. The big guys didn't know you were coming."

Li Yu came with Liang Cheng's mission this time, and he was indeed relatively low-key. He smiled and said, "You will know now. I also just arrived in Washington."

Newcomb talked with Li Yu about how to discover Pluto and orbit calculation.Like physics, astronomy has long been inseparable from mathematics.

After chatting for a while, Li Yu had the opportunity to express his intention for this visit: "Chairman Newcomb, I want to borrow an observatory. I wonder if I can help?"

"Observatory?" Newcomb thought for a while, "Most of the observatories in the east are located in a few universities. I can ask you about it."

Li Yu said: "Thank you, President!"

After that, several people chatted about the development of astronomy for about half an hour. Although the time was not long, Haier and Newcomb were amazed at Li Yu's profound knowledge and insight.

After Li Yu left, Newcomb still murmured, "I can't think of a Chinese who can do this. He is still so young. I really don't know what terrible things will happen next."

(End of this chapter)