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

The seats at the banquet were equally interesting. On Planck's side were Li Yu, Peano, etc.; while Mach was on the other side with his followers Ostwald and others.

Although physics has advanced by leaps and bounds, after all, it is still the eve of the birth of the theory of relativity, and quantum mechanics has not shined, so doubts about physics are not uncommon.

Mach, a physics researcher with a strong philosophical color, has many supporters.

After serving a seafood soup, Li Yu whispered to Planck, "Professor, why didn't you resolutely oppose Mr. Maher?"

Planck sighed: "Before I came to Rome, I just went to an international physics conference, where a resolution was unanimously passed, hoping to quell the current widespread attacks on natural science."

Europe was always a version or two ahead, and now everyone else, including America, has a cult of natural science.

Li Yu asked: "Everything is not bestowed by natural science, so what is there to attack?"

Planck said: "They attacked natural science as a cause of spiritual and moral depravity, as an enemy of faith and family, and as a threat to good literature."

Li Yu suddenly understood why Poincaré said that he would receive so much criticism after he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts. It turned out that it was not just because of the title of "Master of Arts", but also because of his aura of a mathematical physicist.

Li Yu said, "Mr. Maher is also worried about this?"

Planck said: "It's possible, he didn't say, you can't completely let physics build the world. But in fact they should see that no physicist has such an idea."

Li Yu said with a smile: "It's really unfounded to worry about. The scope of worry is too wide. What is the difference between worrying about encountering vampires and worrying about encountering vampires."

Plank said helplessly: "But you can't influence other people's thoughts."

Li Yu came up with an idea and said: "It seems that the Holy See Academy of Sciences needs to recruit more people who study psychology. Psychology is also a science and knows how to deal with the spiritual world."

Planck said: "How did I forget this, thanks for reminding me!"

Li Yu said: "In fact, they don't need to worry at all. The power of science will only make people's lives better. As for art, literature, and aesthetics, they will also develop more prosperously because the economic base determines the superstructure. Broadly speaking, everyone Only when life is good can one be in a good mood to appreciate art.”

Planck said: "You should really write this point of view well. Many people don't even realize what you said. It happened that the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Holy See was created, and everyone had to write a paper on an unlimited topic."

Li Yu nodded: "I also want to talk about the dangers of chauvinism through 'truth, goodness and beauty'. Many countries always think that bullying the weak is a matter of course, and after robbing the cultural relics, they are their own. If we only talk about the law of the jungle, then humans and animals What's the difference."

Plank agreed: "I really like you more and more. I couldn't say such a level of words when I was your age. This kind of maturity doesn't seem to belong to your age."

Li Yu said with a smile: "The children of poor families have long been in charge of the family, and I wish I could be a carefree optimist."

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After the dinner, Li Yu hurriedly left the Vatican to see Lu Bicheng and Jinwei Zhaoxue.Hey, Li Yu now realizes that it is a good thing to bring a girl out, but it is super troublesome to bring two girls.

The two of them didn't understand Italian, and they didn't dare to go anywhere in the hotel, although there were some famous Roman attractions across the river, such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum.

Of course, Li Yu didn't understand Italian, so he brought Piano, who knew English, as a guide.

When Piano saw the two young and beautiful girls, he was shocked: "It really is a romantic boy, take two of them!"

Li Yu said with a smile, "Going together, that's all."

As the romantic Italian, Piano "pretended" to understand, and then took them around together.

At this time, the Pantheon and the Colosseum are quite different from the appearance of the special scenic spots in later generations after maintenance, and the cultural landscape needs to be explained, otherwise it is just watching the excitement.

Fortunately, Piano had taken many friends on a tour before, so he acted like a qualified tour guide.

Li Yu said gratefully, "If your Excellency goes to China in the future, I will definitely take you up the Great Wall myself!"

Before the tour guide led everyone to go shopping, when Lu Bicheng passed by a store, she was suddenly attracted by some exquisite handicrafts, and she stopped Li Yu: "Look, isn't this something that only exists in the palace? It seems to be called, um... ...By the way, it's called enamel!"

The three emperors Kang, Yong and Qian of the Qing Dynasty were extremely fond of enamel art, and there were quite a lot of exquisite enamelware in the court.

Konoe Zhaoxue picked it up and said, "They seem to be daily necessities."

Li Yu smiled and said, "That's right, they are originally toothbrush cups."

Lu Bicheng was shocked: "The Italians use such expensive things as tooth cups?"

Li Yu said, "To be precise, the thing in your hand is called enamel."

"Enamel?" Lu Bicheng heard of it for the first time.

Li Yu explained: "In popular understanding, what is attached to the surface of pottery or porcelain is called 'glaze'; what is attached to building tiles is called 'glass'; and what is attached to the metal surface is called 'enamel' or enamel'."

There is essentially no difference between enamel and enamel at all.

Later generations sold so-called enamelware on the Internet. Those who didn’t understand thought it was the legendary cloisonné, but it turned out that enamel had a different name.

It's all just a marketing gimmick. Just changing the name and calling it an enamel bowl will cost many times more than an enamel bowl.

Just like cherries and cherries.

If you insist on the difference between enamel and enamel, you can only say that enamel is divided into daily-use enamel and art enamel, and enamel is art enamel.

Enamel in the Qing Dynasty did have artistic components.But in the era of industrialization, changing the name to boast that it is also made by machines is to deceive consumers.

Lu Bicheng asked: "I have porcelain at home, but no enamel. It must be very expensive?"

Li Yu asked Piano to help him inquire about the price.

"It's 10 lire for the set," Piano said.

10 lire is about 2 US dollars, the price is neither high nor low. After all, this set of enamel tableware has a certain artistic design, otherwise Lu Bicheng and Konoe Zhaoxue would not be regarded as royal enamelware.

Lu Bicheng's eyes lit up immediately: "I want to buy one set, no, three sets!"

Li Yu didn't have Italian currency on him, so he had to ask Piano to help him pay, and then gave him pounds.

Li Yu thought a lot, and continued to ask: "I want to buy a set of enamel production equipment, does Mr. Piano have a channel?"

Piano didn't know much about industrial production, so he thought for a while and said, "Perhaps you can gain something by going to Austria. We import a lot of enamel products from there."

The production process of enamel is not complicated. If the industrial scale is formed, the price of enamel products will be much lower than that of porcelain, which is very suitable for domestic promotion.

Post-00s may not have much impression of enamel, but this thing has dominated the domestic daily market for quite a long time, with countless face plates, tooth jars, dinner plates, and water glasses.

Those who got married in the 80s must have an enamel face plate with a peony and red double happiness pattern.

The water cup with the head portrait of a great man has accompanied countless people in the green age.

Konoe Zhaoxue was even more surprised: "Buy production equipment?!"

Li Yu said: "The land in the outskirts of Beijing that the Ministry of Commerce gave me is too big, and I can open many factories. Adding an enamel workshop is easy."

"Can it be mass-produced?" Lu Bicheng was still curious.

Li Yu affirmed: "It must be possible, but it still needs to build some supporting upstream industries, such as glaze powder factories."

Although there have been enamel products in China in recent years, most of them are imported from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Due to the long transportation distance and relatively expensive prices, they are high-end daily necessities.

But once a local factory can be built, then weaken the artistry, reduce the pattern, and only highlight the advantages of enamel, which is completely unreasonable.

Besides, with the title of "enamel" at this time, it must be a good seller.

Of course, Li Yu's idea is to allow more ordinary people to use durable daily necessities.

And enamel not only has the advantage of being durable, it can rule for so long, but it is also inseparable from an important feature: antibacterial, so there are many enamel products in hospitals.

In short, the early promotion of enamel in China has many benefits and makes more money than soap and instant noodles.

Furthermore, Li Yu knew that during the period of the Republic of China, the domestic enamel market was monopolized by Little Japan. At that time, Little Japan’s economy was actually very fragile and completely dependent on the Chinese market. Cutting off one more source of income would make the country less miserable.

Until the end of World War I, it was the golden period for the development of national industry in China.Li Yu intends to become a demonstration enterprise in the future. At that time, all provinces will be encouraged to produce, and all the technologies, processes, and patents purchased will be disclosed in the country.

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When Planck heard that Li Yu was going to Austria, he told him, "Don't forget to write the manuscript on the train."

"Guaranteed to complete the task," Li Yu said, "Professor, how long are you planning to stay in Rome?"

Planck said: "I will go back to Berlin in a few days, and I cannot live there without me."

Planck was a busy man, wearing several hats.He smiled wryly and said: "It's not like you, young and rich, surrounded by beautiful girls. I still have endless meetings, exam reviews and reports!"

After all, Planck has not really become famous yet. At this time, his salary is mainly a university professor, a member of the Academy of Sciences, and writing various reports.

At present, the salary paid by the Berlin Academy of Sciences to academicians is the lowest among the major European academies, far inferior to that of France and the United Kingdom.It also has something to do with the low value of Mark. Germany pays too much attention to industry and is not as flexible as Britain and France in terms of finance.

(This seems to be one of the reasons why Germany dared to strike hard later.)
Anyway, the great god Planck and the patenter Einstein still look like ordinary people running around for their lives.