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

Chapter 42

The rickshaw pulled Li Yu to HSBC Bank. Li Yu told the driver to wait a little longer, then swaggered into HSBC Bank, slapped the passbook on the counter, "Withdraw money!"

——I have charged myself so much handling fee, I have to drag it a bit!Besides, the other party is HSBC Bank, so I know all the nasty things I have done in the past and the future.

The teller picked up the passbook and checked it carefully. After confirming that it was correct, he said, "Are you going to take it out?"

"That's right!"

The teller said with a smile on his face: "If there is a bank, we will have [-]% interest. Moreover, our HSBC bank has a good reputation and will never embezzle customers' assets."

"No, take it all out!" Li Yucai didn't follow his tricks, and it would be too troublesome to run to the bank for such a small amount of money.

Seeing Li Yu's resolute attitude, the teller had no choice but to say, "Do you want to exchange it into silver taels or silver dollars?"

At this time, the bank had already started an integrated remittance business. Li Yu thought for a while and decided that silver dollars were more convenient, so he said, "Change them all into silver dollars, pack them up and bring them up together."

The teller put away the passbook, and it didn't take long to bring over a bag of silver dollars with the portrait of the Queen of England printed on it.The circulation of foreign money is very good now, and major banks and ticket offices also prefer to accept foreign money, because the regulations are unified, and the conversion is much more convenient than the loose silver of various components that needs to be weighed and converted.

The teller said: "You have a total of 71 pounds in your account, converted into silver dollars, the total is 253 yuan, please check."

Li Yu picked up the small bag and estimated it weighed thirteen or four catties, but since it was money, he didn't feel it was heavy, and he could carry another ten catties.

Li Yu didn't talk nonsense, just ordered the money and left.

Then I continued to take a rickshaw to the Daqing Post Office to send a letter, and immediately spent 10 silver dollars.Actually, if it could be expedited, Li Yu really wanted to add another 10 silver dollars, but unfortunately there is no airmail at this time, so he can only wait.

After returning to the house, Li Yuduo gave the coachman a tip of 100 Wen. After all, it was not easy to run with him for a long time.Thank you so much for the driver, I wish I could be a full-time driver for Li Yu.

Xiyuan, the sun sets.

Immediately Cixi couldn't wait to sit in front of the table set by Li Yu, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Saturn surrounded by a halo.

"Yo! It's amazing. Little Lizi, come and see!"

Li Lianying didn't dare to sit down directly, bent over to take a look, and said, "Unexpectedly, this is the original appearance of Zhen Xing, surrounded by a circle, just like the charm of Lafayette."

Cixi said: "What does it have to do with Ai's family?"

"Isn't Zhen Xing guarding Tiangong just like the Queen Mother guarding our Qing Dynasty?" Li Lianying's level of flattery is really high.

"See what you said!"

Cixi thought it was very interesting, so she pulled Sigege and Queen Longyu to watch it.

Longyu is now almost a widow. Although he is the official queen of Emperor Guangxu, the two of them never see each other.Of course, even if he saw her, Guangxu didn't want to see her, and always regarded her as a puppet sent by Cixi to monitor him.

Several people had a great time playing around a telescope, and they never thought that this thing could see the stars so clearly.

Si Gege wanted to make some adjustments, but Cixi quickly stopped him: "Don't move, if you don't see it, you will be in trouble."

It's just that they just find it interesting, and after reading it, they use it as a conversation piece with other people.

The next day, Li Yu approached Pu Lande, intending to ask him to help find some disinfectant and surgical instruments.

As soon as he entered his office, he saw several customs forms on the table.

Li Yu immediately thought of the chandelier in Yikuang's house, and he might have secretly raised the price. After all, he is a member of the Chief Taxation Department Hurd, and it is too simple to do something.

"Mr. Li Yu, what do you want me to do today?" Pu Lande said.

Li Yu cut to the chase: "Mr. Reporter, I'm going to buy some disinfectant and surgical instruments for a surgeon in a hospital. I wonder if you have access to the hospital."

"Surgery... doctor? The name you chose is really interesting," Pu Lande immediately understood, and smiled, "Of course there is no problem. Although Tongren Hospital is run by Americans, our embassy has a very good relationship with them."

"Then there will be Mr. Lao, and there will be no hospital missing on the bank."

While the two were talking, two staff members from the embassy knocked on the door and came in. They carried two binoculars and put them on Pu Lande's desk.

Li Yu said, "I'm afraid I can't see many celestial bodies during the day."

Pu Lande explained: "I don't use it myself. Yesterday Prince Qing entrusted Minister Sa Daoyi to help us get a pair of telescopes. Today I actually found two telescopes from the warehouse and asked me to send them to the palace."

"How can I send two of them?" Li Yu looked at the telescope. It was a newer type of reflecting telescope. Judging from the caliber, the multiple should be higher than that of the Queen Mother.It's just a bit bulky, not as exquisite and beautiful as Xiyuan's.

Pu Lande touched the two telescopes and said: "I don't know why the prince is so interested in astronomy all of a sudden, and he gave the envoy 200 taels of silver right away, which is enough to buy several telescopes! The envoy is still thinking about looking for other telescopes." .”

Li Yu smiled awkwardly. For Western things, Yikuang really didn't know the depth of the market.

It was obviously too early to go to Prince Qing's Mansion during the day. Li Yu and Pu Lande went to Tongren Hospital first. Pu Lande dragged his way to get two boxes, "Inside are sodium hypochlorite and iodine, and four sets of surgical equipment, which are enough for him."

Now iodophor has not yet appeared, so the danger and irritation of iodine directly are slightly higher, but it was considered a good medicine at that time.

Just as Li Yu thanked him, Pu Lande went on to say, "A total of 20 taels of silver."

Good guy, it's so blunt!

And it was too dark, even if the shipping fee was included, the equivalent of such a small item would definitely not exceed seven or eight taels of silver.

But the reason why people like Pu Lande came to the Qing Dynasty from a long distance, the top priority in their minds must be to earn more money.

Li Yu had no choice but to give him the silver first.A rickshaw with two big boxes would definitely not work, so I called a carriage.

He also just found out that horse-drawn carriages can also be used, which is simply the Qing version of Huo Lala.

Li Yu drove a cheap saddle cart with the wheels in the middle of the compartment, and the doors didn't open on both sides, but got on the cart from the front.This kind of car runs faster and is cheaper. Of course, it must be much more expensive than a rickshaw. Li Yu spent 280 Wen for this trip.

If it is a large car with wheels at the back and doors opening on both sides, it will be more expensive.

But the car was fast, and it was really bumpy. At this time, Da Qing didn't have pneumatic tires, and the carriage didn't have any suspension and shock absorbers. It was just like riding an old-fashioned unicycle in the countryside.

When Li Yu got out of the car when he arrived at Fangzhuchang Alley, he saw Xiaodao Liu politely chatting with a grand-in-law father-in-law. The father-in-law was wearing a third-rank crown on his head, and his status was extraordinary.

The carriage disturbed the two of them, Xiaodao Liu hadn't spoken yet, but the father-in-law next to him said first: "Isn't this Li Jiaoxi!"

Xiaodao Liu was taken aback: "Eunuch knows Li Yu?"

The father-in-law said: "That's not it!"

Li Yu was also confused, and asked Xiao Dao Liu, "Who is this father-in-law?"

Xiaodao Liu hurriedly said: "The one in front of you is Eunuch De, who is in charge of the case in the Imperial Dining Room and in front of the Empress."

It turned out to be Xiao Dezhang!

(End of this chapter)