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

Chapter 25 Interview
Pu Lande brought Li Yu to an office. Although it was not big, it was very good to have his own room in the embassy.

It is also thanks to the fact that he used to work in the General Taxation Department of the Customs and had a good relationship with Hurd. Now he is also the Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry in the British Concession, so his status is not low.

Pu Lande spread out his notebook, took out a rather aristocratic Baili gold fountain pen made in Hannover, Germany, and said to Li Yu: "Please tell me, sir. Many people in the intellectual circles in Europe want to know about your deeds. Such a high degree of learning, and ... and in such a scientifically undeveloped country."

Naturally, Li Yu couldn't tell him the truth, so he began to make up nonsense: "Actually, there is nothing to talk about. I studied Western learning in a school opened by a foreigner in Zhili since I was a child. After several years of enlightenment education, I spent nearly ten years reading it all. Science books from all over the world..."

Anyway, now that the Gengzi national calamity has destroyed the entire Tianjin area, he has no choice but to prove it.

"So you're basically self-taught, it's unbelievable! I don't know what kind of diploma you have now?" Pu Lande asked.

"Diploma? It should only be counted as middle school or elementary school." Li Yu said.

"With such talent and understanding, all I can think of after searching my mind is the deceased Mr. Faraday. I really didn't expect such a talent to exist in the Qing Dynasty."

"Mr. Reporter, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the land of China, I am just the most ordinary one."

Pu Lande smiled faintly, noncommittal: "Are you interested in going to Europe in the future? The academic atmosphere there is much stronger."

"Of course, I will definitely go if I have the chance."

Li Yu's purpose in wanting to take the exam at the Imperial University is actually to hope that he can go to Europe and the United States in the future, and now there are many masters there.

However, when he was in college, the cost of studying abroad was not low, and it was even ridiculously high 100 years ago, and the only way to study abroad was to obtain public funding.

Speaking of which, at that time, there were also study abroad at self-funded and public-funded study.

Ji Xianlin, who once studied in Germany, said: "If you want to study abroad, only the children of wealthy businessmen, great businessmen, high-ranking officials, and prominent eunuchs can do it."

Ji Xianlin was born in a poor family, and he was a student studying abroad at public expense.

A typical example of self-funded study abroad is Xu Zhimo. His father Xu Shenru is a wealthy businessman in Haining, Zhejiang Province. He even set up a bank by himself, which is very rich.Being able to open a bank at home is just like what later generations say "there is a mine at home", the money is so much that it can only be regarded as a number!This is also the reason why Xu Zhimo still spends money lavishly when he marries Lu Xiaoman—it's really a habit.

If you study abroad with government fees, the main reason is that the threshold is very high. After all, there is a huge difference between sending such a limited number of dozens of people every year, compared with the current hundreds of thousands every year.

However, if the government-funded study abroad can be admitted, the treatment will be very good!

For example, Qian Zhongshu is studying in the UK at public expense, and the treatment standard given to him is "20 pounds for clothing, 80 pounds for transportation, 24 pounds for monthly tuition and living allowances"!
At that time, Britain was on the gold standard, and the British pound issued was quite valuable, directly linked to gold, and each pound directly corresponded to 7.3 grams of gold.

Calculated in this way, Qian Zhongshu's monthly tuition and living allowances are more than 60 taels of silver!

In contrast, the county magistrates in the Qing Dynasty only had a monthly salary of 4 taels!Of course, the county magistrates of Daqing certainly don't only have such a small amount of money, and they still commit corruption every year.

But more than 60 taels of silver a month, which is equivalent to more than 2 yuan today, can also lead a petty bourgeois life in Europe, not to mention the lack of living materials 100 years ago.

The reason why the Qing Dynasty gave so much money was also because they felt that they represented the face of the country when they went out, and they should not be too shabby, after all, face cannot be lost!

Due to too many subsidies, many international students even go abroad with their families, which is also more than enough.

In addition to public funding and self-financing, there are also part-time work-study programs. The most typical one is Cai Yuanpei, the No. 1 part-time work-study program for Chinese international students.

Because he couldn't afford the cost of studying abroad, Cai Yuanpei worked part-time for the legation in Germany, and also translated and wrote articles for the Commercial Press.Fortunately, Cai Yuanpei was already well-known at that time, so the manuscript fee was very high, which was not worse than the public payment. The four years in Germany were quite good.

Pu Lande naturally understood Li Yu's meaning very well, and asked, "Do you know anything about European universities?"

"Is it a European university? I know a thing or two."

"Then you should have heard that the schools of our British Empire are second to none in the whole of Europe, no, it should be said in the whole world. If possible, I hope you will come to our Cambridge University and Oxford University for further study."

Pu Lande is quite confident about this, and indeed has the capital to be proud.

Li Yu said: "If this is the case, it will be a great honor."

The two chatted for a while, and Pu Lande found that Li Yu was indeed knowledgeable, whether it was mathematics, physics, or astronomy, he knew everything.

"Genius!" Pu Lande couldn't help saying, "Tomorrow I will write a special report for you. In addition, I need your cooperation to take a photo."

"Of course." Li Yu said.

There is a special photography studio in the embassy. The photographer asked Li Yu to sit on the sofa, and then said to him: "Sir, don't be afraid, it will be finished soon! It's just pure photography, although the portrait will be left on the film, But it’s not breathtaking.”

The photographer thought he was another ignorant person from the Qing Dynasty, so he gave an extra explanation.

Li Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I know how to play SLR, okay?

"You just shoot, I know all of this!"

The photographer put his head into the black cloth behind the camera obscura and said to Li Yu, "Cheese!"

"Crack"!
The shutter was pressed, and the photographer said: "Very good, let's do a few more poses."

For the convenience of selection, the photographer took a few extra shots.

After taking the photos, Pu Lande walked into the studio and said to the photographer, "Develop it as soon as possible, and I will use it tomorrow." Then he said to Li Yu, "Thank you for your cooperation."

"You're welcome, and don't forget to contact me to record a gramophone record."

"No problem, I'm going back to sort out the manuscript today, and you can come to the newspaper to find me tomorrow."

"It's work!"

The news of the Qing Dynasty was still a beat or two behind the world. At this time, Li Yu's papers and the reports of the Times had already been translated into multiple languages ​​and published in newspapers in various European countries.

Planck, an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and a professor at the University of Berlin, also read this article. His eyesight was very keen, and he immediately noticed the word "light quantum" mentioned in a very inconspicuous place in the article.

"This person is not simple! He is so rare that he has read my report? Otherwise, why does the word 'quantum' appear in the text?"

Planck studied it carefully again, and was convinced that he actually used the concept of quantum in a very subtle way, but it was only used in some conceptual explanations at the beginning, and the electromagnetic wave prediction and crystal diffraction experiments that caused the academic community to vibrate later were not mentioned again. .

Planck flipped through the newspaper and found that the author of the paper turned out to be a Chinese, living in the distant Qing Dynasty.

"It's a pity, otherwise I really want to discuss it with him!"

(End of this chapter)