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

Prince Qing vomited out 10 taels in one breath, which made him feel uncomfortable. He was afraid that the court would ask him for donations again, so he quickly took out all the 25 taels of silver he had in the Qing Bank and transferred them to foreign banks.

This wave of operations really exploded, which directly caused the Qing Dynasty Bank to have difficulties with its liquidity, and the price of silver in the city began to rise.

Yuan Shikai asked his son Yuan Keding to drive leisurely in a car to the gate of Prince Qing's Mansion, and said with a smile: "My lord, you don't look very good."

Yi Kuang said: "It's all because of the patriotic public debt. It's just nonsense! If you want food and salary, you can deduct it from land taxes and customs duties. What kind of public debt are you doing? You too, why do you let the Queen Mother insist on implementing it?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Your Majesty, the situation is urgent now. There is no way out if we don't think of a solution. You know that the tariffs have to go through the foreigners' procedures. They are now sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight, and they don't help each other, so don't think about it; as for the land tax, Now fifteen of the eighteen provinces within the Guan Dynasty have refused to hand over their duties, what do you think we should do?"

Yikuang was now deeply bound to Yuan Shikai's interests, and said sadly: "Then we can't steal the family wealth of veterans like us!"

Yuan Shikai laughed: "Prince Qing, I have a little something that can make you feel better."

Yuan Shikai took out a thick stack of banknotes from his arms: "This is 300 million taels."

Yikuang's eyes almost popped out: "Three, three million taels?!"

"Hush! Keep your voice down," Yuan Shikai said, "Please accept it."

Yikuang was not a fool and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Yuan Shikai said: "People in the Ming Dynasty do not speak secret words. Your Majesty, I have received a secret message. The South is determined not to agree to the establishment of a constitution and only seeks republic. Therefore, the royal family will..."

Yikuang trembled in fright: "Guillotine?"

Yuan Shikai quickly comforted him: "My lord, please don't worry too much. The secret message also said that they will at least treat the royal family well."

Yi Kuang doesn't believe this. In every dynasty, all the previous royal families were killed. Isn't that why they entered the Pass to kill Lao Zhu's family?

"Isn't it possible for Xujun and the Republic to work together?" Yikuang asked again.

The Republic of the Virtual King is almost like the British system. The king has no real power, but only a false name, responsible for some ceremonial work.

Yuan Shikai shook his head: "No."

Yikuang said helplessly: "I understand."

Yuan Shikai said: "Now, I hope that the prince will join hands with me to save the lives of the emperor, the queen mother and all of you royal family."

Invisibly, Yuan Shikai took what he wanted to do to a higher level in front of the royal family.

Anyway, Yi Kuang has always been just a money-grubbing little expert. His political wisdom is one dimension behind Yuan Shikai, so he can only listen to him.

Yikuang asked: "What to do first?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Negotiate peace."

"I'm afraid the regent...Prince Chun will not agree." Yikuang said.

Yuan Shikai raised the banknote and said, "Then it depends on the prince."

Yikuang sighed: "It seems that these 300 million taels are for me to sell the capital of the country."

Yuan Shikai said: "Your Majesty, you just exist in another form. Thinking about it this way, you are my benefactor of the Qing Dynasty!"

Yikuang stroked his beard and smiled: "It makes sense! It's all for the Qing Dynasty!"

Yi Kuang was truly the nemesis of the Qing Dynasty, and he teamed up with Yuan Shikai to build coffin boards for the Qing Dynasty.

Otherwise, Li Yu would have entered Prince Qing's Mansion to teach Western learning from the beginning, because he also felt that Yi Kuang should be credited with credit for overthrowing the Qing Dynasty...

-

"Dududu! Dududu!"

The phone rang in the back room of Li Yu's residence. Uncle Wang picked it up and asked, "Who is it?"

"After all these bells and whistles, the phone is used as a doorbell? Tell Li Yu that I am Prince Chun." Zaifeng said.

Uncle Wang had no time to transfer the call and quickly opened the door: "Prince Regent, I will tell the master right now."

Zaifeng was in a bad mood, "I can just go in by myself."

When Li Yu rushed to the living room, Uncle Wang had already made tea for him.

"Prince Regent, why are you here?" Li Yu asked.

Zaifeng said: "I happened to be passing by nearby and suddenly heard that the South was going to negotiate peace."

Li Yu asked doubtfully: "It seems like we should ask the cabinet about this matter?"

Zaifeng said: "No! I want to send a telegram in the name of the imperial court to tell the whole country that the imperial court will immediately hold the constitution."

It can be seen that Zaifeng is really a little anxious.

Li Yu said: "Electrify the whole country?"

Zaifeng said: "Yes, all radio stations must receive it. Only you can do this."

Li Yu said: "It's possible, but the cost of electricity is very high now. Every word sent to every telegraph office, newspaper or news agency costs a dime. There are now more than 200 telegraph offices and more than 30 telegraph offices in the country. If newspapers and news agencies all convey it, it will be a big deal. Constitutional establishment is a big event, and it often takes hundreds of words to explain the whole story. Calculating, it costs about 1 yuan to electrify the whole country."

Electricity during the Republic of China was at a similar level, so every time you saw a certain big shot on TV trying to electrify the whole country, you had to spend a lot of money.

Of course, what they "connect" with is basically the people's wealth and their anointing.

Li Yu's radio has already typed down several percent of each word, otherwise one word would cost at least [-] cents.

However, radio is now widely used, and there will be more telegraph offices in the future, so the overall price is still not low.

Zaifeng said: "I will pay for it! We cannot let the hope of establishing a constitution be completely shattered."

Li Yu shrugged: "Please give me the message as soon as possible."

Zaifeng acted quickly and sent someone to deliver it after an hour.

The Qing royal family kept its stance very low during this power transfer, and only wanted to follow the British constitutional system.I don’t want to learn from Japan, because the Japanese emperor has a lot of power.

Li Yu brought the message to Tang Shaoyi, Minister of Postal and Communications, "Brother Tang, prepare a case."

Tang Shaoyi looked at the content of Zaifeng's power supply and said, "It's too late. It's a complete waste of resources."

That being said, the electricity still needs to be passed out.

But now the southern provinces have long since disowned Aisin Gioro and are organizing peace talks.

After the message was sent, Tang Shaoyi said: "We are sparing talents. It just so happens that Mr. Yuan invites us to have a meal together at his house."

Li Yu said: "Master Yuan, shouldn't he be very busy?"

Tang Shaoyi said: "The radio technology in your hands is crucial. The key now is not fighting, but the transmission of information. Moreover, today is just a casual family dinner."

Li Yu asked no more questions: "I'll drive."

At this time, the North and the South were about to start peace talks that would last for about a month. The location of the peace talks was in the Shanghai Concession. Yuan Shikai would definitely not go, but Tang Shaoyi would be appointed as the plenipotentiary representative.

Tang Shaoyi said he was the northern representative, but in fact he was Yuan Shikai. The Qing court was already an empty shell. An important issue in the peace negotiations was how to deal with the Qing royal family.As the remote control commander, Yuan Shikai had to ask Tang Shaoyi to report at least twice a day.

Tang Shaoyi sat on the passenger seat and said, "Mr. Yuan has moved to Xila Hutong, I'll show you the way."

In the late Qing Dynasty, Xira Hutong, like Jinyu Hutong, was a place where princes and ministers liked to gather.Cixi lived in Xila Hutong before entering the palace.

After arriving at Yuan Shikai's home, his concubines had already prepared meals.

Yuan Shikai said to the brothers Yuan Keding and Yuan Kewen: "Quickly say hello to the master."

When the two came over, they bowed deeply to Li Yu: "Hello, master."

Yuan Shikai then laughed and said: "Short the talents, sit down quickly, sit down quickly!"

At first glance, the dishes on the table looked like the dishes at the restaurant before Li Yu's time travel. In the middle was a dish of steamed eight-treasure duck, next to which were stir-fried pork with chives, braised pork and some other relatively conventional dishes.

Li Yu remembered reading a story when he was a child. Someone went to visit Yuan Shikai and saw him eating. There was only a bowl of millet porridge and a fish on the table. Then he took out a small bottle and sprinkled things on it while eating.After returning home, he told others that Yuan Shikai was simple.

Later, an insider revealed that every grain of his bowl of millet porridge was carefully selected from northwest China, and each grain was plump.

The fish was Yangtze crucian carp, sealed with lard, and was the same as fresh when it was delivered to Beijing; the seasoning was also powdered from precious medicinal materials such as velvet antler, ginseng, and rhinoceros horn.

Just like the old general eating cabbage, leaving only a little heart on each cabbage.

But the story should be fictional, because Yuan Shikai had a big appetite, and this little rice was not enough for him.He is a person who eats six or seven boiled eggs and a bowl of noodles for breakfast.

After all, Yuan Shikai was born as a soldier and was relatively thick, unlike those in the Ming and Qing dynasties who had the habit of eating bird's wings, abalone, and belly.

But it is true that Yuan Shikai loves to take supplements. He also likes to eat leeks because they are known as nourishing. After all, he has a nine-bedroom concubine.

Yuan Shikai said: "In the past few days, I have carefully read the book you brought on the French Revolution, and I have benefited a lot."

Li Yu avoided the truth and said: "There is a golden house in the book. Reading more will naturally be beneficial."

Yuan Shikai said: "Now I like Napoleon more and more. I find that he attaches great importance to scientists. Even when he marches to fight, he will bring a few mathematicians with him."

Li Yu said: "Many mathematicians did emerge in France at that time. Lagrange, Laplace, Monge, Fourier, Cauchy, etc. are all famous people in the history of mathematics. And they may have At least some of them had served Napoleon, and some had established good relationships."

"Sure enough, being a general can't just be a rough guy, I should also learn from it," Yuan Shikai said, "By the way, these ones you mentioned are called pulls, are they very powerful?"

Li Yu said: "In the world of mathematics, their status is like the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties in the world of literature."

"I understand this," Yuan Shikai said, "The book mentioned that Napoleon called that Lage..."

Li Yu said: "Lagrange."

"Yes, Lagrange," Yuan Shikai said, "Napoleon called Lagrange 'the towering pyramid in mathematics'. Although I have never seen a pyramid, you, Li Yu, can also be called this name."

Li Yu smiled and said, "That's too much praise."

Napoleon did have great respect for mathematicians. He made Lagrange a French Senator, Count of the Empire, and awarded him the Legion of Honor, Second Class;

Confessed Laplace as earl, earl;
Treat Monge as a close friend and take him with him to march into North Africa.

Yuan Shikai asked the Yuan brothers again: "To what extent have you learned mathematics now?"

Yuan Keding said: "Back to my father, I have learned Veda's theorem in Master Li's mathematics lecture notes. Veda seems to be French as well."

Yuan Shikai asked: "Veda's theorem?"

Yuan Kewen said: "It is used to solve quadratic equations of one variable."

"Yeah! Very good," Yuan Shikai said, "Napoleon started out as an artilleryman when he was young. Artillerymen need to learn mathematics and physics. Keep up your hard work!"

Brother Yuan said: "My child has remembered it."

Yuan Keding added another sentence: "Weida also deciphered enemy army codes in the army."

"I almost forgot," Yuan Shikai said to Li Yu, "We have suffered the loss of passwords, and we hope that Shucai will help us with this matter in the future. In a war, if the enemy knows what we want to do first, we will be done with it. .”

Li Yu said: "I don't have much research on cryptography, but I will set up mathematics-related majors in schools to cultivate cryptography talents."

"Shucai is indeed a giant in science," Yuan Shikai picked up his wine glass and said, "Thank you."

Li Yu said: "It's a matter of duty."

The twentieth century is an era of great development in cryptography, and Li Yu will definitely pay more attention to it.

Especially when dealing with the invasion of Xiaoli in the future, password warfare is very critical.

Because in any case, the Japanese army is indeed much stronger, and obtaining intelligence becomes even more critical.If the trends of the small days can be known in advance, the domestic anti-war forces will greatly reduce casualties.

-

With only two months left in the countdown to the death of the Qing Dynasty, Tang Shaoyi was preparing to go to Shanghai to negotiate peace with the southern representatives.

Li Yu happened to go to Shanghai for something, so they got on the train together.

The northern representative also included Yan Fansun. After seeing Li Yu, he wondered: "Shu Cai is also our representative?"

Li Yu said: "I'm going to find the Commercial Press to publish some books."

"Did you write it?" Yan Fansun asked.

Li Yu said: "Yes."

Yan Fansun asked: "What is the content?"

Li Yu said: "During my previous journey, I wrote a brief history of Western technology."

Yan Fansun said: "The history of science and technology in the West? Brother Shucai is really a great talent, he can compile history books!"

"It's just a piece of advice," Li Yu said with a smile. "I just started from the Renaissance and wrote roughly how Europe completed scientific and technological progress step by step, and then the Industrial Revolution occurred. There are only 10,000+ words. I hope that historians will pay attention to the history of science and technology in the future. After this small category, write a truly masterpiece."

Yan Fansun said: "There are always many literati in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there is no shortage of history compilers. I think there should be the person you are looking for. However, compilation of history is a major matter and must be done with caution. The Ming history cases from that year are still vivid in our minds."

The Ming History case mentioned by Yan Fansun was the largest literary inquisition in the Qing Dynasty. In the early years of Kangxi, Zhuang Tingqin from Zhejiang Province revised the "History of the Ming Dynasty". As a result, he was reported by villains and more than 200 people were killed. 18 of them were Ling Chi, which was widely implicated. , the influence was more far-reaching, and there were many literary prisons in the Qing Dynasty thereafter.

Li Yu knew that Yan Fansun was reminding him with good intentions, so he said easily: "It's just a short history about science and technology, and even if it is relevant, times will change now, so it will be fine."

Tang Shaoyi said: "Yes, just print and distribute the book, don't worry. Now everyone wants to know why foreigners have such powerful technology and how we can make progress. After this book was released, I was the first to buy it. "

Li Yu said: "I still want to find a few people to polish it, otherwise my writing style will not be good."

Yan Fansun said: "It's a pity that I don't have time recently, otherwise I would definitely do it for you."

Li Yu said: "You don't need to worry about such a small matter, I have already thought of the candidate."

Yan Fansun asked: "Which great sage from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is he?"

Li Yu said: "Currently, I cannot be called a great sage. He is just an ordinary teacher. His surname is Zhou and his given name is Shuren."

Given Li Yu's level, what Li Yu wrote was naturally in vernacular.I just don’t know if I can let Brother Xun start writing vernacular works in advance.