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

The next day, Lu Bicheng showed Li Yu the letter left by Lu Fengyi. It basically said that no one in their family was an official anymore. A few months ago, the imperial court decreed to abolish the imperial examinations. , Now there is nothing, so the family's finances have encountered some difficulties, I hope Li Yu can help Yunyun.

Lu Bicheng said categorically: "I have nothing to do with them anymore, they can do whatever they want."

Li Yu spread his hands and could only pretend not to know.

According to the rules at this time, the wedding banquet will be held for two or three days, and all comers are welcome, and most of them are neighbors on the second day, but Gu Hongming also came today.

Gu Hongming's reason is very reasonable: "Yesterday, either a high official or a child of the royal family, you may not even be able to drink soup."

Li Yu smiled and said, "How could I treat you badly?"

After all, Gu Hongming was one of the big watering cans in the Republic of China, so don't easily offend him too much.

Gu Hongming also brought another person, and said to Li Yu, "Let me introduce, this is Zhu Yuxun, Marquis of Yan En."

"Marquis Yanen?" Li Yu was confused and hadn't heard of it, but since he was a Marquis, he shouldn't be a small person, but the Marquis Yanen in front of him was dressed in ordinary clothes, not like a Marquis.

Gu Hongming said: "Marquis Yanen is a descendant of the Zhu family who was favored by the court, and he specially set up a hereditary title."

Well, it turned out to be from Old Zhu's family.

But in fact, when the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it massacred the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. Not only the direct descendants, but even the princes of other kings surnamed Zhu all over the country, almost no one escaped the catastrophe.

However, the sentiment of Siming among the people has always been very heavy, and the literati and bureaucrats in the south of the Yangtze River are nothing but fools. Once someone can win a few battles, or Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Jing sweep the world, these people will most likely fall back to the Ming Dynasty.

During the Kangxi period, there were endless "Third Prince Zhu", true and false, and their appeal was not weak.

In addition, Zhungeer approached Beijing again during the Kangxi period, and the Ulan Bu united war almost ruined the Qing Dynasty, almost repeating the feat of Altan Khan back then.

It is said that when many people watch "Kangxi Dynasty", they only remember the field battle between Kangxi and Baori Longmei, and they don't pay much attention to what is going on in this war. It seems to be a sure win.

In fact, the Qing Dynasty had already fought its last battle. When Emperor Kangxi personally marched, he brought all the Eight Banners and the coated slaves with him. If he lost the battle, he didn't have to go back to Beijing, but just went back to his hometown in the Northeast.

During that time, the third Zhu princes in the south were also very active.

Later, Yongzheng figured it out. Instead of letting the people fight against the Qing Dynasty with various slogans, it is better to support an obedient descendant of the Zhu family.

This move is really vicious.

Yongzheng found a man named Zhu Zhilian in the army, who was said to be a descendant of Zhu Gui, the 13th son of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Zhilian's ancestor was captured by Huang Taiji when he was fighting the Qing army, he surrendered to the Qing court, and was incorporated into the Han army Xiangbai Banner.

However, according to the textual research of Qing history experts in later generations, it is found that his life experience is doubtful, and it is not certain whether he is a real descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang.

But it doesn't matter!
The Qing court said he was.

Yongzheng bestowed on him the first-class title of Marquis of Yanen, and raised the flag of his family to enter the Zhengbai Banner among the Shangsan Banners.

Anyway, what the Qing court wanted was an obedient descendant of the Ming Dynasty.

Marquis Yanen of all dynasties only need to pay respects to the tombs of the Ming Dynasty on time every year to enjoy the salary of the Qing court, which is no different from that of a dog.

It's a pity that Chongzhen would rather hang Meishan to death than surrender, and later such an unworthy descendant came out.

——Ah, maybe it's a descendant or not, and it's not unworthy.

At this time, the No.12 Marquis of Yan En, Zhu Yuxun, was said to have been destitute and had no money.It's easy to understand when you think about it: Aixinjueluo are all too busy to take care of themselves, so they don't care about Yan Enhou.

The point is that even the revolutionaries didn't take a fancy to Yan Enhou, didn't think of him at all, didn't even have the idea of ​​being a gunman, and had no use value at all, which is really sad.

Zhu Yuxun clasped his fists and said, "My lord, please be polite."

Although the other party is just a powerless Lord Marquis, but at least he is "the orthodox master", Li Yu said, "Please come in, Lord Marquis."

Zhu Yuxun took out a scroll: "I don't have anything, just a piece of ancestor's handwriting as a congratulatory gift."

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, most of the royal family kept their names incognito, and there was indeed a very good calligrapher and painter——Bada Shanren Zhu Da.

Li Yu preconceived, thinking that it was his character.Even though Zhu Da is famous for his paintings, his handwriting is not bad, not to mention that Zhu Da himself is famous enough to look at the world with a cold eye, which is Li Yu's preferred style.

Li Yu took it, gently opened the scroll, and was dumbfounded.

I saw three huge characters "Si Wuxie" written on it. The calligraphy is good, but the inscription is Yongshetige, written by Chongzhen.

I am dizzy, it turned out to be the calligraphy written by Emperor Chongzhen himself in the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638).

Li Yu thought about it carefully, and calculated that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting just defeated Li Zicheng this year, but Huang Taiji had already entered the customs again. I don't know how he felt when he wrote these three characters.

However, the artistic level of these three characters is still acceptable.

If you only talk about the calligraphy level of the emperors, Chongzhen can be ranked among the top ten emperors. His big characters can be called soul-stirring comments, but there is a huge contrast between his characters and the image he left for future generations.

There is no doubt that there must be Qianlong's seal on this picture.

Qianlong and later Yongzheng liked this calligraphy very much. Chongzhen's calligraphy level was not as good as Yongzheng's, but it was definitely much better than Qianlong's.

Li Yu said, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate to give such a valuable thing to me?"

Zhu Yuxun rubbed his hands together and said, "It's indeed a bit more expensive, if you can..."

Li Yu immediately understood, and before he finished speaking, he replied, "I understand, I will give you 2000 taels later."

Zhu Yuxun said happily: "It is said that the emperor is the most intelligent person in the world, and he is better than foreigners. It is true!"

It can be seen that Zhu Yuxun is really desperate, the court's salary has become less and less, even intermittent.

When a company has been in arrears of wages for many years, it means that there is really a big problem.

As for Zhu Yuxun, who has a title, he can't do other things such as business, and if he wants to do it, he will be stared at by others.

Gu Hongming looked at the scroll, and liked it a lot: "The style of the calligraphy is like a generation of Mingjun who opened up the frontier and expanded the territory, and his attainments are very high."

Gu Hongming spoke too straightforwardly. Although he was praising calligraphy, it was imperial calligraphy after all. The words of the subjugated king were described as the prosperous emperor who opened up the territory. Zhu Yuxun who was next to him felt a little uncomfortable hearing it.

Zhu Yuxun smiled awkwardly: "We only evaluate the artistic level, don't we, Master Emperor?"

Li Yu doesn't know much about calligraphy. Although he has practiced desperately in the past few years, he can't compare with the old-age literati who wrote calligraphy from a young age. He has practiced Dong Qichang's calligraphy for so long without even scratching the surface.

Li Yu could only reply casually: "Yes, if you only look at the artistic level, it is indeed high, as high as three or four floors!"

Gu Hongming said with a smile: "It's the first time I've heard the words of praise from Brother Shucai. They use three or four floors to describe the level of art."

Li Yu said: "What I want is the feeling of image."

Gu Hongming gave a thumbs up: "It makes sense."

Li Yu carefully put away this calligraphy. Although it is Chongzhen's calligraphy, fortunately there are two or three seals of Qianlong on it, so it is not a big deal to keep it.

Today they can sit in the upper seats. Since there are many fewer officials, the atmosphere of today's banquet is relatively free.

Yang Xiaolou also brought the Tongqing class to sing for free for two days.

He earned a lot of popularity in Europe this time, and Cixi summoned him several times in person after his return.

After singing a few plays, Yang Xiaolou came down to have a drink with Li Yu.

Gu Hongming said: "Now you are a popular person in front of the Queen Mother. I heard that Natong, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, would queue up to hear you sing, but he came to perform for Li Yu for three days. You know, this Li Yu is far inferior. Natong understands Beijing opera."

Yang Xiaolou said: "Brother Shucai is a good brother of mine, and he is kind to me. Back then, I promised to sing for him. This time I finally got the chance. As for whether he understands opera, I don't care at all. Brother Shucai, congratulations!"

Li Yu smiled and said, "Thank you."

The performance of the Tongqing class attracted many people to eat and drink, and even a large group of beggars came. The leader was holding a yellow pole, and there was another one holding a blue pole, leading a large group at the door. The beggars sang begging ditties together.

Uncle Wang had told Li Yu about these rules long ago.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the people were poor and there were many beggars. There were more than 2 beggars in Beijing alone. They gathered near Di'anmen for many years and almost became professional beggars.

Whenever there is a wedding or funeral, they will also evaluate the family situation to determine how much money to charge.

Uncle Wang said to Li Yu: "Look, sir, the one with the yellow stick is the leader, and the one with the blue stick next to it is two. It is said that they originated from Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. 'Begging according to order'."

Li Yu laughed and said, "They still beg for orders, do they have a beggar gang leader named Su Qier?"

Uncle Wang was stunned: "I've never heard of such a character."

"It seems that the North and South Beggar Gangs have nothing to do with each other," Li Yu said casually, "It's just that I didn't expect that even beggars in Beijing have so many rules."

Uncle Wang said: "That's right, the one holding the yellow pole is a banner man, if not he could be the leader of a beggar."

Li Yu glanced at the man holding the yellow pole. His figure was not thin at all, his complexion was even quite rosy, and his living conditions were definitely not bad.

Li Yu asked, "How much will you give them?"

Uncle Wang took out a large sack: "I've already exchanged copper coins, and here are [-] coins. After a while, you will sprinkle the first wave as a show, and then I will sprinkle the rest. If they don't leave, the back room will There are ten thousand more."

Twenty thousand copper coins are thirteen forty taels of silver, which is not much.

Li Yu understood the rules, reached out and grabbed a handful of copper coins, walked to the door and said, "Thank you brothers from the beggar gang for coming to congratulate me on your marriage. Here is a little copper coin. Take it back and eat a few mouthfuls! It's not respect, everyone Laughing."

As Li Yu spoke, he threw it out forcefully, and the group of beggars behind immediately lowered their heads to pick it up.

Immediately, Uncle Wang began to throw out money one by one, and the beggars cheered happily, taking great pleasure in picking up money.But the leading yellow pole and blue pole just squatted down symbolically, and did not loot together with the group of beggars, but they must have won the most points in the end.

The blue pole kept his eyes on Uncle Wang's bag and his movements. After the big bag was scattered, he whispered a few words to the yellow pole.

After Huang Ganzi heard it, he continued to lead the group of beggars to knock on bowls and sing, and did not leave.

Uncle Wang had no choice but to move another bag of copper coins.

It seems that this blue pole is still a figure like a teacher. From the size of the bag and the action of Wang Bo throwing money, it can be estimated how much copper money there is - begging is a skill.

Sure enough, after throwing out the two bags of money, they were satisfied with a few drawers of steamed buns, some fat chicken, and shochu.

The yellow pole showed a mouthful of yellow teeth and said: "May the master be blessed like the East China Sea, live longer than Nanshan, enjoy the flowers and the full moon, and sing in harmony with the zither."

After sending them away, Li Yu went back to continue eating and drinking with everyone.

Gu Hongming smiled and said, "Don't tell me, the ditties they hum are not bad to listen to."

Li Yu said, "If you go under the overpass, you might still hear storytellers."

While the few people were drinking, a group of unexpected people came.

Tou Shanman and Japanese Minister Yasuya Uchida walked into Li Yu's mansion, "Mr. Emperor, congratulations."

Li Yu didn't expect them to come, but he stood up to greet them: "Mr. Minister, Mr. Toushan."

Now that the Russo-Japanese War has been fought, the expressions of the two of them are not particularly happy, just a little relaxed.

A few months ago, under the mediation of the United States, Japan and Russia signed the "Portsmouth Treaty", under which Russia would not pay a penny or cut off a piece of land, and only transferred the rights and interests in the Northeast.

Japan obtained Russia's jurisdiction over the railway and along the Liaodong Peninsula.

But this is far from what Japan expected.

Their original idea was the same as that group of beggars who came to beg. According to Russia's national strength, they asked for 30 billion yen.

Because Russia is stronger than the Qing Dynasty, Japan feels that this price is reasonable.

But Russia's military power at this time is still very strong, and it is not convinced at all.

It's just that something went wrong in Russia's rear, and a wave of revolution broke out in the country.

Japan is not much better. More than 20 people died in battle, nearly [-] were injured, and they didn’t get a penny. The domestic angry youth felt that it was a great shame. All were burned.

Both sides are in dire straits, and have no time to take care of the Northeast. Therefore, the Qing court benefited and essentially took back the three eastern provinces, and planned to send officials to govern them.

Uchida Yasuya said: "Master Teishi, I heard that you have won the Nobel Prize and officially become the world's top scientist. We would like to invite you to give another round of lectures at universities in Japan."

Li Yu also intends to go to a Japanese university to "train" several Japanese technology leaders, and use his influence to influence their technology trees, so he agreed: "I am a talented person with little knowledge, and I hope that I can live up to my good intentions."

Uchida Yasuya said: "If Mr. Li Yu, who has won the Swedish Award twice and is an academician of many national academies, says that he is not talented enough, I am afraid I will doubt whether I really understand addition, subtraction, multiplication and division."

Li Yu said: "The sea of ​​learning is boundless. In front of the ocean of knowledge, I am still just a boat."

Tou Shanman said: "I just like the emperor's modesty, which is unfathomable and unfathomable."

Tou Shanman's "unfathomable" sentence seemed to have ulterior motives. Li Yu became a little more on guard, and replied, "It's not as deep as the Mariana Trench. Please go inside."

Li Yu and the others pretended to be false.

But Tou Shanman has quietly issued an order to Konoe Zhaoxue: find a way to get Li Yu in Japan.

It's a pity that they didn't know that Li Yu already knew the details of Konoe Zhaoxue, and Konoe Zhaoxue didn't even know that her most important hope of entering the head of the Konoe clan-Konoe Toshimo had died.