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

Arriving at Tanggu Port in Tianjin, Cen Chunxuan, the new Minister of Posts and Communications, was waiting anxiously. When he saw Sheng Xuanhuai getting off the ship, he hurried over and said, "Sheng Shanda, you are back!"

Cen Chunxuan had just taken over as Minister of the Postal and Communications Department and did not understand the specific work content. He seemed to be in trouble.

As the Minister of Posts and Communications, Sheng Xuanhuai was theoretically his subordinate.However, in the official system of the Qing Dynasty, although the minister was one level higher than the minister, he could not directly supervise the minister, or even restrict each other.Moreover, the minister had the right to write directly to the emperor, so the two were not strictly superiors and subordinates.

Sheng Xuanhuai said politely: "Master Cen, I'd like you to come to the port to greet me."

"I'm in a hurry!" Cen Chunxuan, who has always been carefree, continued, "As soon as I took office, I found that the railway was really difficult to manage. Not only the several lines in the south, but also the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway in front of me had a funding gap! This is the imperial court If the project we are closely monitoring fails, I will no longer be the minister."

Sheng Xuanhuai's head got bigger after hearing this. It seems that your trivial matter is not as troublesome as the Sichuan-Hankou Railway, right?

But after all, we are at the feet of the emperor, so we can only deal with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway first.

Sheng Xuanhuai asked: "How big is the gap?"

Cen Chunxuan took out Zhan Tianyou's report: "60 taels."

The initial budget of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is 500 million taels, and 100 million taels per year. However, once the railway project starts, it will inevitably exceed the budget, so an additional amount will be added every year.

The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was originally built at the request of Yuan Shikai, and he was responsible for the money for the first two years.

After the Imperial Court's Postal and Communications Department and Du Branch were established, they were specifically responsible for it.

In fact, the imperial court was trying to reduce Yuan Shikai's power.

But the imperial court was obviously not as good at making money as Yuan Shikai.

Cen Chunxuan and Yuan Shikai are very uncooperative, so they will definitely not take the initiative to ask him.

Fortunately, Sheng Xuanhuai and Yuan Shikai had a good relationship, so Cen Chunxuan could only let him find a way.

As a result, the Sichuan-Hankou Railway issue can only be temporarily suppressed, send others over, and solve the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway in front of us first.

Sheng Xuanhuai had been working as railway minister for so long, and he quickly came up with an idea. He said to Cen Chunxuan: "Russia will return Yingkou customs tax this year, at least 70 million taels. If Mr. Cen can use this money, he can solve the problem." "

Cen Chunxuan said happily: "Thank you, Mr. Shanda, for your guidance."

If there are other officials, at least half of them will be corrupted.And Cen Chunxuan is a relatively honest official, he will not take a penny more, and he will not even take the initiative to take action.

-

Sheng Xuanhuai and Cen Chunxuan wanted to return to the capital quickly, while Li Yu first went to Beiyang Women's School to find Lu Bicheng.

After seeing Qiu Jin, Lu Bicheng was very happy: "Sister, we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Qiu Jin said: "I miss you too, and I have to thank you for helping me submit the manuscript. Oh, no, I forgot to get your salary back."

Lu Bicheng smiled and said, "Sister, you don't need to see me outside."

Then Lu Bicheng took Qiu Jin to visit the Beiyang Women's School and even let her go on stage to give several speeches.

Qiu Jin does have organizational and leadership skills, and her speeches are sonorous and powerful. Many female students feel high-spirited after listening to her speeches.

After staying in Tianjin for a few days, it was summer vacation, so they returned to the capital.

Qiu Jin went directly to her home.

When Li Yu returned to Dongchang Hutong, he found that he had received many letters.

As long as Li Yu leaves Europe and the United States, he will become "pen pals" with great figures such as Planck, Einstein, and Boltzmann.

Li Yu first unfolded Einstein's letter:
"Mr. Li Yu, I am very happy that you can recommend a position to me.

But I think I am still a little far away from being a professor. Even though you and Mr. Planck have shown great interest in my theory of relativity and have given high evaluations, the professors in Switzerland do not seem to value my theory.They think it is too new and needs demonstration.

Of course, there was also a school that wanted to give me an experimental position, but they only offered me a salary of 3000 francs, which was not even as high as when I was a temporary patent clerk.

What's more, I'm not good at experiments, and I can't even make a charge amplifier, so I can only refuse.

I am still better at thought experiments and theoretical research.

Speaking of theory, I recently used Mr. Planck’s quantum theory to explain a wonderful field that you can’t even guess what it is.

Oh, let me tell you, it is the specific heat of a solid!

I found that only by introducing quantum theory can we explain this problem that bothers so many people.

I published the paper in a magazine, which will arrive in the mysterious East in a few days.

......"

Einstein wrote about many other things.

The letters of the great god Einstein are so simple and unpretentious.

As for Planck's letter, he still urged the Star Wars series first, but what's more interesting is that he mentioned Einstein's theory of relativity many times in his mind:

"Like you, Laue praised Einstein's talents to me many times after his return.

In fact, I have always believed that his theory of relativity has surpassed all achievements of speculative science so far, at least in terms of boldness.This principle brought about a revolution in our physical picture of the world, rivaled only by that of Copernicus.In comparison, non-Euclidean geometry is just child's play. "

Okay, that's really interesting.

In the letter, Einstein praised Planck's quantum theory, and Planck praised Einstein's theory of relativity.

As if they had agreed in advance, the two super business tycoons exchanged blows.

However, his final evaluation of non-Euclidean geometry may not be agreed by several mathematics leaders at the University of Göttingen.

But coming back to physics, the current situation, whether relativity or quantum mechanics, is not the mainstream in the scientific community. X-rays, radioactivity, electrons, and the element radium have attracted the attention of most eminent scientists.

Of course, these fields are equally important; and they are more closely related to experimental physics, making them easier for mainstream scientists to accept.

Planck is not in a hurry. After all, he is already middle-aged, and his conservative personality prevents him from being in the spotlight.

Even throughout his life, he never became a complete supporter of quantum theory.

Einstein, on the other hand, was more anxious and didn't want to attend this bad class for a whole day!However, the university failed to offer a higher salary, which made him very embarrassed after thinking about it.

You can’t really become the unpaid lecturer that Laue mentioned, right?

Einstein did try to prepare, often practicing his lectures in front of the mirror, but he always got stuck.

The professors hired by the university are okay, and students won't care.

Unpaid lecturers completely depend on whether students are willing to attend lectures, and obvious flaws will obviously not retain students.

Therefore, Einstein still had to continue to improve his reputation so that universities would be willing to let him become a professor.

It's a pity that the fields he is good at, relativity and quantum theory, are not currently mainstream. He has published more than a dozen papers, but he is still half-scientific.

Really depressed!
Li Yu came to the desk and opened the letter to reply. Being able to communicate with top physics giants made him very excited every time.

The key is to discuss quantum theory with Einstein and the theory of relativity with Planck, which is so dramatic.

Li Yuxian replied to Einstein:

"Quantum theory can explain a lot of things.

But the reason why it cannot attract the attention of the scientific community now is naturally because it is too bizarre.

Originally, the emergence of atomic theory has made many people suspect that the world is discontinuous. If energy is also discontinuous, it will be even more unbelievable.

However, the research on quantum theory requires a lot of time, so it is best to find a quiet research position as soon as possible.

......"

Einstein was the same age as Li Yu. From time to time, he would discuss mathematical and physics issues in his letters, and he had to write down several formulas, so he could only use letters.

It was much easier to reply to Planck, and he sent a telegram directly:

"Mr. Professor, you said that the theory of relativity is an unparalleled revolution, and your quantum theory is not.

In addition, I have prepared to send the manuscript to the publishing house. "

Telegrams went back and forth relatively quickly. Two days later, Li Yu received a reply from Planck:

"Just a few days ago, I encountered some students asking me about blackbody radiation in class. But I suddenly discovered that even if you have given the mathematical derivation of the formula, I still can't explain why energy appears in parts. . Maybe when this problem is solved, quantum theory will be a revolutionary achievement, - and that's just maybe."

Planck still had little hope for the future of quantum theory.

But he was right.

Before Li Yu traveled through time, quantum mechanics had been developed for hundreds of years, but it still could not explain why energy appeared discontinuously and in parts.

That is to say, in physics, if you want to use quantization to explain the black body radiation formula, you must first assume that energy is quantized, and you cannot hope to prove energy quantization through the black body radiation formula.This is the most unreasonable part of quantum theory.

Li Yu could only call back:

"I think there is no need to ask the question of why energy is discontinuous. Because the world is like this. We can only find the results of discontinuity, but we cannot know the cause of discontinuity. In other words, this is the origin of the objective world. No explanation needed.”

However, Planck still cannot accept this result for the time being.

Li Yu is not in a hurry. It will take at least another 30 to [-] years before quantum mechanics begins to take shape. At that time, Planck will have to accept it even if he doesn't accept it.

A few days later, Li Yu received another telegram.

I originally thought it was from Berlin, but when I opened it, it was Lord Calvin from Glasgow. The telegram read:
"I've been feeling very unwell recently, and my cold is still getting better. I should be approaching the end of my death. Although it's a pity that I can't see the two dark clouds dissipate, I know they won't stump a rising scientific star like you. . It’s just that before I die, I want to meet you, a young man who makes me feel many novelties in the remaining years of my life..."

Li Yu was shocked and his hands began to tremble.

Mr. Kelvin is really kind to me. If it weren't for his favor, maybe I wouldn't be so successful. He is definitely a noble man.

Li Yu decided that he must go to England to see him for the last time.