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

After returning to the capital, they can live together in a fair manner.

Lu Bicheng was still worried about Li Yu's health: "Brother Yu, is your health okay?"

Li Yu said with a smile: "It's been a long time ago, didn't I say it in the letter, especially in my heart, it was surprisingly cold, and the two quilts seemed a little struggling to face the provocation of this cold winter. Only the care of the girl I like can make me feel better." feel warm."

Lu Bicheng scolded with a smile: "You don't come here, are you alright?"

Li Yu picked her up and said, "You'll know if it's all right after a while!"

"you……"

After Yunyu Wushan passed, the soft jade was warm and fragrant in his arms, and Li Yu chatted with her about his future plans: "After marriage, we should have a honeymoon, and this time we will have a big one."

Lu Bicheng raised his lazy hand and stroked his messy hair: "How big can it be? We have gone to Europe and the United States."

Li Yu said: "This trip may suffer a little bit, to go to a place full of yellow sand."

Lu Bicheng hugged Li Yu's waist tightly: "I'll go wherever you go! When it comes to yellow sand all over the sky, I think of the story of Journey to the West that you told earlier."

Li Yu said, "It's farther than that place."

"Farther?" Lu Bicheng asked, "Have you left Yumen Pass?"

Li Yu nodded: "Dunhuang."

"Dunhuang?"

For many people at this time, this is a very distant and unfamiliar name, and it is about to disappear in the depths of memory.

Li Yu said, "Do you still remember the paintings and calligraphy we brought back from the United States and Europe?"

Lu Bicheng said: "Remember, it was snatched by foreigners."

Li Yu said: "Now foreigners still want to take away more precious things from us. Do you think I should take care of this matter?"

Lu Bicheng immediately said: "It should be taken care of! We must never let our good things go away."

Lu Bicheng is a person with a strong sense of family and country. She not only strongly advocated women's rights throughout her life, but also wanted to make the country rich and the people strong. Later, after Article 21, she hated the Japanese even more.

Each of the four talented women in the Republic of China has its own merits, but Lu Bicheng is definitely the one with the most heart.

Li Yu said, "It would be nice to have you by my side, otherwise the long journey would be really difficult."

Lu Bicheng asked, "How do you know that foreigners have ideas about Dunhuang?"

Li Yu said, "I'm just guessing, because they had already smuggled Loulan's treasure away four years ago."

Lu Bicheng said, "I know about this."

In 1900, Sven Hedin discovered the ruins of Loulan by accident, which caused a sensation in the world, and many foreign expeditions came here to snatch the treasures.

This matter has been irreparable for Li Yu, and with the current situation, after thinking about it, Li Yu can only ignore Loulan, or let it attract some attention, and then make Westerners completely unaware of the existence of Mogao Grottoes.

After all, Loulan became a dead city as early as 300 AD because of the lack of water in the Kongque River, and there are far less cultural relics than Dunhuang.

And Loulan's expedition is extremely difficult, it is located on the edge of Lop Nur.As we all know, Lop Nur is one of the four no-man's lands. Without very professional ability, you can't get out if you go in.

And at this time, Loulan's reputation is actually quite big. Wang Changling's poem "The yellow sand wears a golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned if it is not broken" is known to everyone. On the contrary, the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang seem to be a little transparent.

Very well, Li Yu's goal is to keep it transparent for 100 years.

Li Yu said angrily: "I really can't understand foreigners plundering things in our territory, even in the name of adventure, and they will be regarded as heroes after returning to China, it really shatters the three views."

Lu Bicheng also said emotionally: "Brother Yu, I support you, we will go west out of Yumen Pass!"

Li Yu said: "You must be mentally prepared. This trip has no trains or ships. You can only ride horses or camels. It is very hard."

Lu Bicheng laughed and said, "Then why don't you beg my sister to teach you how to ride a horse."

Li Yu smirked: "I ride a horse very well!"

Lu Bicheng said in shock: "Wait, what are you going to do? Why do you have to come again, Brother Yu, take care of your body, ah~~~"

-

Early the next morning, Feng Ling came and knocked on their door: "Sir, Ma'am, um... it's time to get up. There is an item sent from abroad, and it is quite large. The post office said that you should go and claim it."

Li Yu opened the door and asked, "What big thing?"

Feng Ling glanced in, and saw that Lu Bicheng, who was full of peach blossoms, was combing her hair in front of the dressing table.

Feng Ling smiled secretly, and then said: "It seems to be sent from a place called Austria."

Li Yu immediately thought of the piano and the violin. "I'll get dressed and go."

Lu Bicheng said, "Wait a minute, I'm coming too."

Feng Ling smiled and said: "Sir and Madam are inseparable now."

Lu Bicheng also smiled and said, "I just sent a letter to my family by the way."

The piano is still very expensive. Li Yu and the two came to the post office, and their staff was dispatching people to carry it.

Li Yu asked Zhao Qian to find several coachmen, and each of them gave a silver dollar: "Don't get any damage."

Zhao Qian rubbed his hands and said, "Don't worry, sir, we all know how to work."

What Zhao Qian said was right, Li Yu didn't need to direct at all, they could do a good job.

So Li Yu signed his name, completed the handover procedures at the post office, and took Lu Bicheng to prepare to go home.

When the two passed by a pawn shop, they suddenly heard a woman's very miserable cry coming from inside.

Another man said: "Okay, okay, don't cry, follow me for three years, and I won't make you suffer."

The woman cried: "It can't be like this!"

The man said: "Then what? Who told him not to pay back the money."

Lu Bicheng grabbed Li Yu's arm: "Let's take a look."

Li Yu looked up and saw the words "Dingshengdang" on the plaque.

The two got closer and saw a young woman crying on the ground inside, and a dejected man sitting opposite.

It was another well-dressed man beside him who spoke just now.

The decent man said: "Sign it, then follow me."

Lu Bicheng asked Li Yu in a low voice, "You're not going to sell your daughter, are you?"

Li Yu shook his head: "No, the man sitting next to him doesn't look too old."

Seeing the woman crying miserably, Lu Bicheng felt a little soft-hearted, and suddenly thought: "Could it be..."

Li Yu asked, "What is it?"

Lu Bicheng said, "Dian Wife."

"Dian Wife?" Li Yu heard of it for the first time, "What is this?"

Lu Bicheng said: "It means pawning my wife to someone else."

Li Yu felt unbelievable: "There is still such an operation? Impossible! How can a man bear the two major shames, the hatred of killing his father and the hatred of taking his wife?"

Lu Bicheng was just newly married, so he couldn't see this kind of thing even more: "Let's see if we can help."

Li Yu walked into the pawn shop with her.

The owner of the pawnshop saw the two and asked, "You two guests, do you want to pawn something?"

Li Yu said, "I'm just passing by."

The pawnshop owner suddenly recognized him: "You are Li Yu, the emperor's teacher? Now you are all in the newspapers."

"It's easy to talk about," Li Yu said, and then asked, "What's going on here?"

The pawnshop owner said: "Oh, you say them, pawn wife."

Li Yu was surprised and said, "There really are."

The pawnshop owner took out a pawn deed, and said, "I'd still say it's a marriage."

Li Yu glanced at it. The beginning of the rightmost part of the paper was red, with three large characters of "Dian Wife Deed" written on it, and then the text read:
"Deed

Wang Chengjian owed Li Yufa one hundred and five taels of silver for a long time, and was unable to repay it. He was willing to marry his wife, the Chen family, to Li Yufa.

Dian Wife: Wang Chengjian

Undertaker: Li Yufa

Partner: Wang Zhiqing"

After reading it, Li Yu couldn't help blurting out: "What a crime!"

Feminist pioneers like Lu Bicheng couldn't stand it any longer: "Wang Chengjian, right? You're worthless, pawning off your own wife? Is it a commodity?"

Sitting on the stool, Wang Chengjian said helplessly, "I really can't help it. I was forced too hard."

Li Yu asked, "Is this legal?"

Wang Zhiqing, the owner of the pawn shop, said: "Is this... legal or not? With the pawn contract, I should... have nothing to say."

Li Yufa knew that Li Yu was the emperor's master, so he also came to greet him with a smile: "It's not surprising that Li Yu is the emperor's master. If you give me a child, you can send it back."

Li Yu felt sick all over when he heard this, but he was even more disgusted with Wang Chengjian, who pawned his wife, and the ugly feudal dross.But such things as pawning wives are really not particularly rare at this time.

Lu Bicheng was so angry that he almost beat this worthless man with his hands.

Li Yu stopped her, then squatted down beside Chen Shi.She is indeed pretty, with relatively fair fingers. She presumably has studied and received some education, at least she hasn't done much farm work.

Li Yu asked, "Do you still want to spend time with him?"

Chen covered her eyes: "I don't want to live anymore."

"Then do you want to redeem yourself?" Li Yu asked.

"Myself? Redeem myself?" Chen asked doubtfully.

Li Yu said: "My factory also recruits female workers. In the most ordinary year, they can earn 30 taels of silver. If they do well, they can even earn a hundred taels of silver."

Lu Bicheng said: "After a few years, I have redeemed myself, what do you want this kind of man for?"

Chen Shi was surprised: "Is it really possible to do this?"

Li Yu stood up: "The choice is yours. Whether you want to break through the shackles is up to you."

"Me? I can also decide my own fate?" Mrs. Chen understood, but still couldn't believe it.

She took another look at her wimpy husband, Wang Chengjian, and at Li Yufa, who had a wretched face, biting her lips but daring not to speak.

Li Yufa was in a hurry: "Master Emperor, you can't do bad things like this!"

"A good thing?" Li Yu suddenly remembered, yes, he is still an official, so he said, "I am now a member of the Ministry of Rites who is a member of the fifth rank, and I have a seal of the second rank on my waist. What does the Ministry of Rituals do? It is to manage these customs and etiquette." , Moral regulations, look at what you have done, which thing is right?"

Li Yu put out the seal with a "snap".

I have to say that although I don't want to be an official, this thing is really easy to use, and it has immediate results.

Wang Zhiqing, the owner of the pawn shop, knew the goods naturally. When he saw it, he quickly said, "Oh, what a gentleman!"