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

Chapter 3 The Librarian

Li Yu walked towards Dongtiaozi Hutong following the path pointed by Guapi Mao.

The Jingshi Tongwenguan and the famous Prime Minister’s National Affairs Yamen are located in this alley. It can be said that this alley has witnessed the ebb and flow of the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty.

Now after the signing of the "Xin Chou Treaty", according to the terms, the prime minister's office of national affairs has been renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its status is above the six ministries. Together with the cabinet and the military aircraft department, it is the lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty.

The Jingshi Tongwenguan, as the earliest modern school, is affiliated to the Zongli Yamen.

From the "Tianjin Treaty" signed in the Second Opium War, it was stipulated that the content should be mainly in English.Therefore, Prince Gong Yishangzuo applied to open such a school directly under the imperial court. At first, it mainly cultivated talents who knew foreign languages, and later added western "new studies" such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and geography.

It is a pity that during the Gengzi National Disaster when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, this school was also hit and closed for more than a year.But the school has nothing valuable after all, so relatively speaking, the impact on Tongwen Hall has been very small.

Li Yu knew about these things, but when he walked in today's Beijing city, it really felt like a lifetime away!
The Zongli Yamen was very close to the later Dongdan and Xiehe Hospital, but Li Yu had never been to this alley before, and he turned in after asking for directions for a long time.

Not far away, he saw the gate of Tongwen Hall, well-behaved, not impressive.Standing at the door was an official in patched uniform, probably a rank-six or seven-rank official, directing a few servants to pack up.

Li Yu walked to the side and took a look inside. It was indeed a bit messy.

Seeing Li Yu, the official thought it was someone else, and scolded, "What are you doing? Do you know where this is?"

Li Yu didn't have time to mingle with him, so he went straight to the point: "I'll find some work."

The official looked at Li Yu suspiciously, and asked, "Looking for a job? What will you do?"

Li Yu guessed that he was also a member of the Zongli Yamen, so he said: "I came from the Tianjin Concession, and I know a little English, and I also know mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and other Western studies."

"Oh?"

The official was surprised and tried a bit: "Do you understand English?"

Li Yu immediately introduced himself: "Yes! My name is LiYu! What could I do for You?"

"Oh~" (Here is a raised voice representing surprise~)
The official was really surprised this time, "Have you ever attended a new school?"

Li Yu quickly said yes.

The official said: "Then you came at a good time. I am the head of the Ministry of Rites, He Fangxu. I am worried that I can't find anyone. You know Western learning the best. The Prime Minister's Office can't find any manpower right now. I'm here to help you temporarily. You can call first." Let's do it, wait for their people to find time, and then give you specific arrangements."

Li Yu said, "That would be the best."

The official thought for a while and said: "Now I don't have anyone who understands Western things, and the library is not in charge. You go to sort out the books first, and I think you should be able to figure it out. As for wages, according to the standard of day laborers, first give You pay 50 Wen per day."

Li Yu almost spit out a mouthful of old blood. It only costs 50 Wen a day, and 1500 Wen a month. Now that the price of copper is low, it is only one tael in silver.

But think about it, this is already a daily portrayal of ordinary migrant workers in the late Qing Dynasty!What's more, the Ministry of Rites is the famous Qingshui Yamen, a head of the Ministry of Rites who is a sixth-rank official, and his salary is calculated to be 5 taels of silver a month.

Thinking about the bannerman I met just now, there are only one or two in a month, so I can only accept this reality.

After all, Li Yu doesn't have any other options now, this is the first thing a traveler faces: try his best to survive!
Seeing Li Yu's expression flickering, the official said, "There is a house in the backyard, you can stay here for now, and eat twice a day in the kitchen in the backyard."

——Take care of food and shelter, that's more or less the same!
After registering with the officials and receiving the key, Li Yu entered the Tongwen Hall.Because of the national calamity of Gengzi, the current household registration management is quite chaotic, otherwise it would be very difficult for Li Yu, a person without status, to find a job.

The courtyard of the Tongwen Museum is very large. Sure enough, he found a few rooms for accommodation in the backyard. He knew that they had been idle for a long time, and there were no people there, so he randomly found a relatively clean room.

Having nothing to do, Li Yu immediately came to his place of work: Tongwen Library Library.

Yes, this is his first job after time travel: to be a librarian!
The library is a big house with five bays, which is basically the earliest modern school library in the Qing Dynasty!
The books inside hadn't been sorted for a long time, and they seemed a bit scattered, but Li Yu took a cursory look and found that there were still quite a few books, and the three long rows of bookshelves were almost filled.It has been 1862 years since the opening of the Tongwen Museum in 40, and the accumulation of materials is indeed quite a lot.

Li Yu browsed one by one first, and the most were original books from various countries, including English, Japanese, Russian, German, and French, and a considerable part of them were textbooks from countries such as Britain, France, Japan, and Germany.

Li Yu suddenly thought that when he was still doing scientific research, it was extremely difficult to publish a paper in the world's top scientific research journals such as "Science".If you can post even one article, you will definitely be a top leader in the industry, and you can be a university professor casually!
And now... in 1902, my God, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics are still in their infancy, why can't I write a column in "Science"!

Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm going to float!Li Yu hurriedly wiped his saliva, desperately trying to get back from his fantasy.

——Let’s be a good librarian first!

On the three large bookshelves on the west side, there are Chinese books translated by Tongwen Library over the years.On the side of the bookshelf are written the names of the categories: politics and law, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.

This Gewuxue is actually the meaning of physics, which is taken from Gewu Zhizhi.

Li Yu is going to start from this corner first, just to see what the mathematics and science textbooks of the Qing Dynasty look like, just as the dentist said, and then he can take the opportunity to talk to the princes and nobles——he doesn’t want to be a book forever Admin, how can this fulfill my dream of being a columnist!
Ah bah, why did you think of this again!

Speaking of the current Qing Dynasty, although the Westernization Movement has gone bankrupt, a series of military failures have made everyone now know that they must learn from the West.For the Chinese at that time, the most direct thing about the West was the strength of ships and guns, and it was the science and technology of the West that ensured their strength.

As the saying goes, science and technology is the primary productive force. This sentence in the late Qing Dynasty is not just as simple as productivity——first of all, it can ensure that people will not be beaten.

Li Yu picked up a mathematics textbook from the ground, saw that the title of the book was about calculus, and thought to himself, this is not so simple as hell!Although I am not a mathematics major, it is well known that physics cannot be separated from mathematics, and my mathematics literacy is also top-notch!
But when he opened it full of confidence, he was stunned!

this!This fucker is simply a book from heaven!
(End of this chapter)