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

Chapter 500 The Father of Aerospace
On the eve of boarding the train, Li Yu suddenly saw an article in Ta Kung Pao, written by Yan Shenggong Kong Lingyi:

"Yesterday I read a book from the Shanghai Commercial Press called "Star Wars: New Hope." We, the readers, were speechless after reading it. Its low level, poor writing style, and absurd content are unheard of!

I think Li Yu must not know how to write poems and poems, nor does he understand the meaning of scriptures, let alone write eight-part sage articles.

His book falsely claims that humans can visit the stars in the sky, which is really fantastic!

What a boring person!

I thought that Li Yu had always studied Western science and was making up deceptive stories without even thinking about it.

Please be noble and don't let readers across the country, especially young people who are new to school, waste their precious time on such absurd fantasies.

I also hope that Li Yu will return from space as soon as possible and put his efforts into useful places. "

Li Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry after seeing it. He almost forgot about this Duke Yan.

The Star Wars series has begun to be published in China, but it is basically only sold in concessions and other places, and its circulation is not widespread.I don’t know why Mr. Kong Lingyi suddenly read it and wrote an article to ridicule himself.

Newspapers in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China were not only media tools, but also places where masters quarreled.After all, there is no Internet software now, and all the quarrels happen in newspapers.

Seeing that Li Yu was too lazy to argue with him, he just explained what science fiction works were, and then wrote: "Why can't we visit space? The goal of mankind is the stars and the sea!"

Finally, he was given a physics question about calculating the motion of a slider in classical mechanics, and wrote: "Yan Shenggong, when will you be able to solve this question, will you understand the meaning of science fiction."

Kong Lingyi looked at the force diagram drawn by Li Yu and was confused. He had not even read Li Yu's introductory science lectures at that time and had no idea what it meant.

Li Yu was secretly happy in his heart. Even though the question was very simple, for those who didn't want to learn, it was as difficult as climbing the sky.

I don't want to be stuck in a scolding battle all the time.

-

The train passed through Siberia and finally arrived in St. Petersburg.

Li Yu was welcomed by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and Markov invited him again to give a lecture.

Fortunately, Li Yu had already thought that something like this would happen on the train, so he prepared the plan in advance and dealt with it easily.

The next day, he went to see Sayintu, the Qing minister in Russia.

This one is not well-known, but the counselor under him is very powerful: Lu Zhengxiang.

At the time of the Paris Peace Conference, Lu Zhengxiang was the Minister-General of Foreign Affairs and the chief representative of China.

Lu Zhengxiang is much better in diplomacy than Sayintu, who was born in Mongolia's Xianghuang Banner.

Moreover, Lu Zhengxiang’s wife is also a foreigner and is quite familiar with foreign habits.

Li Yu had dinner with them at the legation.

Sayintu asked: "I heard that a cabinet has been formed in the country. Does the emperor know the details?"

Li Yu asked: "You haven't seen the list yet?"

Sayintu said: "I only read about this in the telegram, but the telegram was short and only said that the Prime Minister of the Cabinet is Prince Qing."

Li Yu told Sayintu the list.

After Sayintu discovered that there were so many royal families and Manchus, his eyes shone brightly: "It's really a gratifying and congratulatory event, and there is hope for revitalization!"

He could see that the regent liked to use "his own people" and could not hide his desire to return to his country.

Lu Zhengxiang saw through it without saying anything, and said casually: "The establishment of a constitution has finally begun."

Sayintu said: "Counsellor Lu, the post of Russian Minister will soon fall on your shoulders. I hope you will live up to expectations."

Lu Zhengxiang said: "I am bound to fulfill my duties as an official."

Sayintu raised his wine glass happily: "Master Imperial has really sent great news to us who are thousands of miles away!"

Sayintu soon sent a message to the court asking to return to the country. Regent Zaifeng was worried that no one would be useful, so he agreed. After all, he was someone who had seen the world in foreign countries.

The next day, Li Yu went to the bookstore to buy a book to read on the ship to Belgium.

There are not many bookstores in St. Petersburg. After Li Yu walked into a relatively large bookstore, he asked: "Are there any latest scientific magazines?"

The bookstore owner spoke German and replied: "The latest "Scientific Report" is there."

Li Yu walked to a shelf and took it down, but was stunned for a moment because the articles were all written in Russian.

Li Yu smiled helplessly and flipped through it quickly. Several formulas in an article suddenly attracted his attention.

I can’t understand the content of the article, but the formulas are consistent.

"Is this Tsiolkovsky's formula?!" Li Yu said in surprise.

After hearing this, the bookstore owner put down his glasses and said to a middle-aged man in his 50s sitting in the corner: "It's rare that someone will know your name."

"Ahem!" Tsiolkovsky was taking a sip of coffee and almost choked. He stood up and asked: "Does anyone read my article? I said that St. Petersburg will not be like Kaluga. There must be people who are good at academics. people."

The bookstore owner pointed at Li Yu: "The tall man who couldn't tell whether he was from Japan or China read out your name."

"Japan? China?"

Tsiolkovsky walked up to Li Yu and asked: "Your Excellency, are you reading my article?"

Li Yu couldn't understand Russian and replied in German: "If I guess correctly, this article is "Using Jet Tools to Study Space"?"

Tsiolkovsky did not go to school much, but his ability to teach himself was amazing.Nowadays, science is very strong in German, English, and French circles, and he can also speak these languages.

It is said that he was deaf for a long time when he was a boy, so it is surprising that he can learn so many languages.

Tsiolkovsky replied: "Oh my god! Do you also agree with this article?" Li Yu was also a little surprised: "Is your Majesty Tsiolkovsky himself?"

"Exactly!" Tsiolkovsky said, somewhat recognizing Li Yu, "You... are you the scientific giant Li Yu?"

Li Yu shook hands with him: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Tsiolkovsky was honored as the father of aerospace by later generations.

Tsiolkovsky invited Li Yu to sit down: "I am extremely happy to meet you here! I have read the Star Wars series. In my opinion, your science fiction series is of great significance, not only in It can attract people's attention to the study of interstellar flight, and it not only popularizes scientific knowledge in an interesting way. In my opinion, it raises many major issues after humans enter a gravity-free world. In the near future, scientists are preparing to I’m sure to learn something extremely valuable from your stories as I fly among the stars.”

Tsiolkovsky himself has written many scientific works, and he is the only one who can think of this crazy idea of ​​turning science fiction into reality.

Li Yu said with a smile: "I have always believed that humans can explore space."

Tsiolkovsky said excitedly: "Mr. Academician really has a broad vision and profound thinking."

"Sir, you are overly complimentary," Li Yu said, "but it is a bit difficult to get off the surface. Rocket propulsion involves too many aspects."

At this time, Tsiolkovsky was unknown and just an ordinary teacher. However, he was passionate about aerospace and produced many novel designs and papers.

"Oh! I love rockets!" Tsiolkovsky heard Li Yu mention "rockets" and added, "For a long time in the past, like others, I thought rockets were just a rare It is difficult for me to recall exactly how I began to calculate problems related to rockets. For me, the first seeds of ideas about space flight were sown in the fantasy novels of Jules Verne. A definite direction formed in my mind. I began to regard it as a serious activity. Then, I read your article and became more determined to study rockets."

Li Yu said: "It seems that there has been good progress."

Tsiolkovsky said: "This paper is the second half of the paper seven years ago, and I made some additions. You must find it incredible after such a long time, but there are few in Russia who are willing to publish the paper. Magazine. I finally published the first article in a magazine, but that magazine suddenly closed down, and the next article was nowhere to be found. It happened to be that year that my eldest son committed suicide in St. Petersburg, which was a huge blow to me. I have not seen it again in these years. It’s too much effort.”

Li Yu said: "I'm sorry, it brought back bad memories for you."

Tsiolkovsky said: "Mr. Academician, there is no need to apologize. If I hadn't seen your science fiction novels, which once again aroused my fighting spirit, I think I would have continued to sink for a long time."

Li Yu opened the magazine and said: "I don't understand Russian, but I can guess from the formulas that you have used mathematical formulas to scientifically calculate the principles of rocket flight and determine the parameters that must be used by the rocket to overcome atmospheric resistance and the gravity of the earth. Speed, and the general principles of rocket flight through the atmosphere and into gravity-free space.”

Tsiolkovsky was surprised: "Mr. Academician, has so much in-depth research on aviation?"

His formula is very avant-garde for now, but Li Yu is a time traveler after all, he is very familiar with these things, and even knows more in-depth knowledge.

Li Yu said with a smile: "In order to write science fiction well, you have to do the necessary preparations."

Tsiolkovsky was also happy: "You are the first person I have seen who believes so deeply in my theory and has confidence in space flight."

Li Yu said: "Not only do I believe it, I also made many assumptions, such as the weightless state in space and the physical laws of aircraft operating in Earth orbit."

"Please wait a moment," Tsiolkovsky rummaged through his package and took out a stack of manuscript paper. "I have done research in this area before. You see, this is about the spacecraft from launch to orbit. The whole process calculation and simulation; this is how the spacecraft uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as energy, and how much it should carry; this is what kind of spectacular scene the spacecraft will have when it takes off, the impact of overgravity and weightlessness on astronauts, and the effects of objects in weightlessness Strange performance, as well as the fascinating landscape of the earth and the sky from different heights..."

Tsiolkovsky showed many demonstrations to Li Yu, and he was dazzled. This first-generation leader in the aerospace field had long been obsessed with them.

Tsiolkovsky said: "It's a pity that I didn't know in advance that I would meet you here, so I only took part of it with me."

"It's already a lot." Li Yu said.

Tsiolkovsky asked again: "Now that I have met Mr. Academician, can you please review this paper? You may not know that Russian scientific magazines do not have the same serious review capabilities as Germany."

Li Yu said: "It's out of the question for review. After all, I don't understand Russian. But just looking at the equations and formulas in it is enough to show that there is no problem."

Tsiolkovsky said: "It's just that no one believes it now, and they all think it is a fantasy story."

Li Yu said indifferently: "The plane has successfully tested, will the rocket still be far away?"

Tsiolkovsky said: "The academicians have said so, even if I am asked to pay for it myself, I will publish the subsequent papers!"

Li Yu thought for a while and asked: "Have you read the theory of relativity, sir?"

Tsiolkovsky shook his head: "What is the theory of relativity?"

Li Yu said: "The latest set of theories, under this theory, there is an upper limit of speed, which is the speed of light. When the speed is very large, close to the speed of light, you need to use the theory of relativity for transformation, including your formula, otherwise there will be A lot of mistakes.”

"Is there such a theory?" Tsiolkovsky asked in surprise.

Li Yu nodded: "It's not that your formula is wrong, it's just that it would be more rigorous."

"I don't understand the theory of relativity you mentioned." Tsiolkovsky sighed.

Li Yu thought for a while and said, "If I have time in the future, I will extend your formula."

What Li Yu mentioned is the generalized Tsiolkovsky formula. For interstellar navigation close to the speed of light, the relativistic effect cannot be ignored.

Tsiolkovsky was worried that no one would support him. As a well-known person in the scientific community, Li Yu would definitely be happy if he received support, so he said: "Thank you, Mr. Academician."

Li Yu suddenly thought: "By the way, sir is obsessed with aerospace. He should also be doing research on airships and the like, right?"

Tsiolkovsky said: "To be honest, I did in-depth research many years ago and had complete calculations and design drafts. But unfortunately, when I came to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences eight years ago, they refused to accept my ideas as a rural teacher. He was unwilling to provide even four hundred rubles for the plan, and instead found an Austrian airship designer. The designer spent [-] rubles but failed. After applying for another [-] rubles, he took the money with him. No trace."

Li Yu said: "I know a good buyer who will be interested in your airship design."

The airship was Tsiolkovsky's effort in the first half of his life, and some even suspected that Zeppelin adopted his plan.

Seeing a glimmer of hope at this point, Tsiolkovsky asked: "Where is the buyer?"

Li Yu gave him a tip: "You can send the design drawings to Japan. They are now keen on airships and suffer from the lack of complete plans and calculations. After seeing your design, they are likely to offer a large sum of money to purchase it."

Tsiolkovsky said happily: "Thank you again, Mr. Academician, for your suggestion!"

Li Yu said easily: "You're welcome."

Li Yu hasn't forgotten to make Japan's technology tree a little more crooked.

Tsiolkovsky felt that today's meeting with Li Yu was very fruitful. When he returned home and was asked about what he had seen during his trip to St. Petersburg, he said humorously:
"I visited another world, the future world of mankind!"

(End of this chapter)