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

Chapter 493 Go to Harbin again

Li Yu arrived in Changsha first. As soon as he and Yan Fuqing got off the ship, a middle-aged American wearing glasses came over and said to them: "We are finally here!"

Yan Fuqing said: "Sir, is this Dr. Hu Mei, the director of Yali Hospital?"

"It's me," Hu Mei said. "I'm short of manpower right now. If you come later, you'll be worried to death."

Hu Mei’s foreign name is Edward Hume. She is an American and graduated from a prestigious school. She studied at Yale University for her undergraduate degree and her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University.

He is one of the founders of the Xiangya Department. He has stayed in Changsha for more than ten years and speaks Chinese well.

Yan Fuqing said: "My clinical experience is not comprehensive enough, and I still need more guidance from Dr. Hu Mei."

"As for clinical matters, just take your time," Hu Mei said, then looked at Li Yu, "Who is your Excellency?"

Yan Fuqing said: "He is Li Yu, known as the scientific giant."

"Ah! I know you, the amazing Chinese Li! The one who discovered a new planet in the solar system and got several academicianships from the Academy of Sciences!" Hu Mei said.

Li Yu smiled and said, "Hello, Dr. Hu."

Several people immediately walked to Yali Hospital.

This hospital is located in Xipailou, Changsha. It rented several old houses and repainted them.

The hospital is relatively small overall. It is located on the commercial street of Changsha, with rice shops on the left and paper shops on the right.

On the road, many people glanced at the three of them, who were wearing Western clothes.

Li Yu asked: "Are there many people seeing doctors now?"

Hu Mei said: "Not many, basically British, French and Belgian people, and occasionally Chinese people come."

It is similar to the Western Hospital in the Shanghai Concession.

Yan Fuqing said: "It is expected, but we can supplement traditional doctors."

Hu Mei said: "Yan, have you ever been to Changsha?"

Yan Fuqing shook his head: "No, I grew up in Shanghai."

Hu Mei said: "Then you must not know that there is a place called Tianxin Pavilion not far away. On the city wall is an old cannon that was abandoned when the Changsha soldiers and civilians fought against the Taiping Army. The cannon body is covered with red paper, and incense and candles are burning around it. Hanging are banners with words of gratitude for patients. The people in Changsha respectfully call Lao Pao the 'Red-haired General'. When they get sick, the first thing they think of is not to seek medical treatment, but to ask for the 'Red-haired General''s blessing and protection."

Li Yu asked: "Where is the doctor?"

Hu Mei said: "There are not enough doctors, there are more fortune tellers on the streets, you see."

Hu Mei reached out and pointed, and Li Yu saw a fortune teller holding a flag in one hand and a black lacquered bamboo tube filled with bamboo sticks in the other.

This situation is not likely to change in a short time.

Several people came to the hospital. There was a Western-style iron fence at the door. There was a large signboard above the door with four Chinese characters in gold on a black background: "Yali Hospital".

Li Yu smiled and said: "The place looks good."

The hospital's equipment is no different from those in the United States. It is very complete. After all, Yale-China really paid a lot of money.

Hu Mei said to Yan Fuqing: "From today on, you will be in charge of the Department of Internal Medicine, so that people in your country can get in touch with Western medicine. Internal medicine is an easier place to start. You happen to be Chinese and have enough affinity."

Yan Fuqing said: "I will definitely try my best."

Hu Mei said happily: "I am in charge of the surgery; Nina is in charge of the nursing. In the words of you Chinese, a sparrow has all the internal organs even though it is small."

Yali Hospital set a high tone, and its subsequent development in Changsha was quite good, especially after entering the Republic of China.

The next day, Li Yu went to Changsha Middle School founded by the Education Foundation. Its progress was equally good.

After all, since Zeng Guofan, Hunan as a whole has attached great importance to education, and Tan Yankai, chairman of the Hunan Provincial Advisory Bureau, even came to inspect it in person.

When Tan Yankai saw Li Yu, he stepped forward to say hello: "Master Imperial Master!"

Li Yu said: "I seem to have seen you somewhere?"

Tan Yankai said: "Of course I have seen it! You have forgotten that when I was a Jinshi of Jiachen Enke in high school, when I took pictures with everyone in the Imperial College, you took the photo with a small camera."

"I remembered!" said Li Yu, who was a Jinshi in the last imperial examination.

Tan Yankai said: "This year, you have to let one more of our Hunan students go to the United States to study in the United States."

Li Yu said: "Studying in the United States is a public examination, as long as you pass it."

Tan Yankai said: "I want to broaden the scope of talent selection somewhat. Recently I met an extremely intelligent student. He is very good in English and French. He is also good in various Western subjects, especially good at the history of various countries."

Li Yu said: "We mainly focus on science and engineering, but we also retain a certain proportion of liberal arts."

"That's good," Tan Yankai said, "for so many years, although we in Hunan have attached great importance to education, we have never produced any number one scholar. Now that the imperial examination is gone, we can only produce foreign number one scholars."

Tan Yankai took Li Yu to see the smart student he said, and said to Li Yu: "This student is called Jiang Tingfu. Although he is young, he has only studied Western learning for four years, and his grades are already better than many senior students." Be nice.”

Jiang Tingfu is a master figure in the study of modern Chinese history.

Li Yu said: "This year he can register for the exam to study in the United States. We have increased the number of places and hope to pass."

Tan Yankai said confidently: "I think there is no problem!"

Tan Yankai then invited Li Yu to have a meal of Changsha dishes. Li Yu saw that the dishes on the table were all filled with red peppers, and he smiled and said, "Will it make you spit fire if you eat it?"

Tan Yankai said: "I was not used to it at first, but after more than a year, I have become more and more happy."

Tan Yankai took out a small chili pepper and continued: "I have taken great care of the emperor. I usually eat raw chili peppers."

Li Yu said: "I can accept eating raw garlic. If I eat raw chili pepper, I won't have to go to the toilet tomorrow."

Tan Yankai said: "I don't believe that anyone can eat raw garlic."

Li Yu peeled a piece of fresh garlic, chewed it for a few times and swallowed it.

Tan Yankai opened his eyes wide: "The Imperial Master is the one who can eat spicy food!"

Li Yu really didn't dare to eat more at this meal. When he went to Chengdu that year, he found that there were too many delicious foods. As a result, when he got on the plane, his gastrointestinal tract didn't work. Fortunately, the airport hospital gave him some antidiarrheal medicine, otherwise it would have been really bad. end.

The next day, Tan Yankai bid farewell to Li Yu at the dock.

After arriving in Wuchang, Li Yu personally visited the kindergarten in Wuchang, called "Hubei Kindergarten". It was founded in 1904 when Duan Fang replaced Zhang Zhidong as the governor of Huguang for a short period of time.

Hubei kindergartens are relatively modern. Since there are no kindergarten teachers at this time, they are professionals invited from Japan.

The courses offered are also etiquette, labor classes, languages, singing, games and so on.In short, it is to emphasize nurturing rather than learning in order to cultivate children's natural intelligence, which is very close to the concept of modern kindergartens.

The director is a Japanese woman named Tono Michie, who graduated from Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School.

Li Yu invited her to establish one or two more kindergartens in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Tono Michie agreed, but she had to wait until she was ready before rushing to the capital.

Li Yu was not in a hurry. After inspecting Wuchang Middle School, he took the Beijing-Hankow Railway back to the capital.When he returned to his residence, people from Siemens Beijing Branch were coming to debug his generator.

Li Yu recognized the representative of Siemens: "Is it Manager John Rabe?"

John Rabe said: "Academician Li Yu, you actually recognize me."

Li Yu said: "Of course I recognize you."

John Rabe can definitely be called a good friend of the Chinese people. During the Nanjing Massacre, he used his identity as a German Nazi to protect 25 Chinese people in the Nanjing Safety Zone from massacre.

He is different from those devilish sodium brittles in Germany (Schindler is also a sodium brittle member).

John Rabe's "Rabe's Diary" is powerful evidence exposing the crimes of the Japanese.

However, the little devil still refuses to admit his heinous crimes back then, which is why Li Yu is so fed up with the little devil. Not only is he bad, but he is also small-minded and dare not admit it.

John Rabe said: "Then you should promote our products well. I chose a generator with the best performance and installed the pads and sound insulation cotton myself to ensure that you will be satisfied during use. Even if something goes wrong, we will We will also come to your door for repairs as soon as possible.”

Li Yu said: "The effect is good. I will definitely purchase more. The power system of the factory in the suburbs of Beijing will be improved. I can do part of this work for you."

Back in the house, Li Yu took out a lot of supplements he bought from various places and gave them to Lu Bicheng, and said softly: "You have to take good care of them."

Lu Bicheng smiled and said: "If you eat all these things, you will gain at least thirty pounds."

"You're not eating alone," Li Yu said with a smile, and then said, "Madam, I may go out again during this time."

Lu Bicheng was used to it and just asked: "Where are you going again?"

Li Yu said: "Harbin."

Lu Bicheng was surprised: "Why is it Harbin again? You can't take the train every day just because the railway is convenient."

Li Yu sighed: "Something big is going to happen there, and more people will die than in a war."

"What's scarier than war?" Lu Bicheng thought, "Could it be a plague?"

Li Yu nodded: "You have read a lot of books and have been to Europe. You must know about the Black Death."

Lu Bicheng stood up in fright: "It's too dangerous!"

Li Yu helped her sit down again: "Don't worry, I'm aware of it. I know what the epidemic is. I won't catch it. I'm just going to help."

Lu Bicheng sighed: "I know I can't persuade you, but..."

Li Yu promised: "I will come back unscathed."

Li Yu's estimate was very accurate. A few days later, the imperial court received a report that a plague had occurred in Harbin, but the first people to report it were the British and American ministers.

Because Harbin is so special now.

Japan and Russia are still fighting, and both regard Harbin as their sphere of influence. They have expressed their willingness to take charge of the prevention and control of the plague in order to expand their influence in Harbin.

Of course, Britain, the United States and other countries understood what they were thinking, so they quickly asked the Qing court to send people there too, and they could not let them occupy the Northeast so easily.

Minister of Military and Aircraft Xu Shichang used to be the governor of Northeast China. He knew the situation in Northeast China very well and strongly agreed to send people there.

The Qing court was actually quite afraid of the plague, because they knew how the Ming Dynasty was lost and how they gained power, so they paid great attention to it.

For those who now understand cutting-edge science, the first thing Xu Shichang thinks of is Li Yu and Wu Liande of the Army Medical School.

After hearing this, Wu Liande immediately agreed without any hesitation.

This plague has actually lasted for half a century and is the third and last plague pandemic in human history (in a sense, this plague has not completely ended yet).

The first great plague occurred in Constantinople around the sixth century AD.At that time, the famous King Justinian was determined to expand the power of the Western Roman Empire. Unexpectedly, he was suddenly blocked by the plague, and [-]% to [-]% of the residents of Constantinople died.

During the entire epidemic, hundreds of millions of people died worldwide.

The plague also made people begin to believe in religion, and Christianity grew rapidly in Europe.

The second time was the famous Black Death in medieval Europe, which lasted from the 14th century to the 17th century before it completely ended.

The most serious wave of shocks occurred from 1346 to 1353. In just seven years, 2500 million people died in Europe, sweeping away one-third of the population.

It has been happening intermittently since then. When Newton was studying in Cambridge, he went to the countryside to escape the plague one year. What he was hiding from was the plague.Then he was hit by an apple under a tree in the countryside and discovered the law of universal gravitation...

This time the Black Death caused too many people to die in Europe, people began to become precious, and humanism was valued; when there were fewer people, everyone also sought mechanization to improve efficiency, which in turn promoted mechanics.

Also, people no longer believe in Christianity that much.Because at first the clergy said this was the so-called "scourge of God", a divine punishment, and you are all guilty!
But everyone found that despite our piety, so many people died, and you clergy, as the so-called spokesmen of God, also died and escaped.

Thus, the Renaissance began.

By the way, the great plague in the late Ming Dynasty was also the second plague pandemic.

This time, hundreds of millions of people died around the world.

You see, every time an epidemic kills people, the scale is "[-] million", otherwise the plague is known as the number one infectious disease in the world.

In our country, there are two Category A infectious diseases. Plague is the first one and is called the No. [-] disease.

Plague is so lethal that the plague that occurred in Europe during the Middle Ages was called septicemic plague. After death, the body would turn purple-black, so it was called the Black Death;

There is also a type of plague called pneumonic plague, in which Yersinia pestis invades the lungs and causes pneumonia, which is then spread through droplets.

If left untreated, the mortality rate of these two plagues is 100%!

Cholera, the other of the two Category A infectious diseases, has a mortality rate of 5%.

The mortality rate of smallpox, the third disease that has been eliminated, is 30%.

A little comparison shows how terrible the plague is.

Therefore, this infectious disease must be killed in the cradle as soon as it is discovered.

Li Yu found Wu Liande and said, "Doctor Wu, I have prepared a lot of supplies, including millions of masks, as well as instant noodles and soap produced in advance, and shipped them to Harbin together."

Wu Liande said gratefully: "The emperor's master prepared for a rainy day and guarded against the slightest, which made Wu deeply admire him."

Li Yu said: "It's easy to talk about supplies, but the key is to be under the command of Doctor Wu, otherwise it will be of no use."

The situation was urgent, and Xu Shichang told them again at the train station: "Emperor Master, Dean Wu, you are the hope of China. I can't think of anyone else at the moment. The mission is dangerous, and I dare not say anything more, but as long as you are in need, I will definitely support it.”

Wu Liande was still wearing Beiyang's military uniform and said to Xu Shichang: "This official will definitely fulfill his mission."

Originally, Li Yu could have made an excuse not to go, but after all, he had experienced the epidemic for three years and was very familiar with how this works...

Moreover, the plague in Northeast China killed more than 6 people in history. Li Yu knew that if the prevention and control measures could be carried out more compactly, at least [-] people could be saved.

(End of this chapter)