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

When I came to his office with Lu Xun, a man was watering the trees in the yard.

Lu Xun said: "Thank you very much for taking care of me."

Xia Chuzun was a famous educator in the Republic of China. He said: "If I take a few flowers and plants from you to make a potted plant, don't be stingy."

"How can I be a stingy person? If you use it to decorate a fish tank, I won't say anything." Lu Xun turned to Li Yu and said, "Supervisor Shen Junru said that a ten-year plan is better than growing trees; a lifelong plan is better than cultivating people. . But when I advocated planting trees before, others laughed at me as stupid; because it takes ten years for a tree to grow, those people advocated that I should "ring a clock every day as a monk." As long as I am a monk for a day, I will always hit the clock, and Hit hard, hit seriously.”

Li Yu said: "This sentence is so Lu Xun-style."

"Lu Xun? What is Lu Xun?" Lu Xun asked in confusion.

Li Yu smiled and said: "It's nothing, I suddenly thought of an old friend."

Lu Xun said: "Old friend? Mr. Academician, you should be a person who is good at science, but you still have this Jiangnan literati atmosphere."

After hearing this, Xia Chuzun put down the kettle in his hand: "Academician? Are you Mr. Li Yu?"

"I almost forgot to introduce you," Lu Xun said, "Your Majesty, this is a big shot, a top scholar in the scientific community, Mr. Li Yu."

Xia Chuzun said: "It's unbelievable! How could you come to a small place like ours?"

Li Yu said: "Hangzhou, the paradise on earth, has become a small place."

Xia Chuzun said: "I mean in a small school like ours, if you read the newspaper, you are the supervisor of the school studying in the United States."

"Isn't this the purpose of discovering talents?" Li Yu said.

"No wonder! I just wondered why a great god like you would suddenly come to visit," Xia Zun said, "but I firmly believe that there must be outstanding talents in the future in the school in Hangzhou."

Li Yu said: "Talent discovery is not limited to students, but also teachers. Maybe we can all work together in the future."

In the early years of the Republic of China, Lu Xun's mentality was very stable and calm. After hearing this sentence, he said: "It's interesting."

There were several handouts on Lu Xun's desk, including not only the science course handouts compiled by Li Yu published by the Commercial Press, but also "Chemistry Lecture Notes" and "Physiology Lecture Notes" handwritten by Lu Xun himself.

Li Yu was very curious, and after Lu Xun agreed, he flipped through it. The content was quite informative and very Japanese school style.

Brother Xun is quite talented in being a teacher.

Lu Xun said: "Not long ago, I bought a periodic table compiled by an academician from a trustee in Shanghai, and copied several copies by hand. I have never seen this kind of summary of the essence of chemistry abroad."

Xia Chuzun said: "It's a pity that such a good thing is not promoted enough here."

Li Yu said: "Don't be anxious. It will have no impact if you take up chemistry later. It makes more sense to lay the foundation for mathematics and physics early."

After staying in the office for a while, Xia Chuzun said: "Mr. Academician, you are new to Hangzhou. Have you ever visited the West Lake?"

Li Yu had naturally visited the West Lake before crossing over, but time had changed and he still said: "Not really."

Xia Zunzun said: "We just want to go and have a look together."

The school is very close to West Lake, only a few blocks away.

When Li Yu and the two of them arrived, the scenery in front of them was beautiful, but they always felt that something was missing, but they couldn't put it in words.

Xia Chuzun said: "The ancients said that Yunbaochu Pagoda is like a beautiful woman, and Leifeng Pagoda is like a drunkard. Every time I come here, it makes me linger."

After Lu Xun looked at it for a few times, he said: "It's just mediocre."

Xia Zunzun said: "Teacher Zhou, the autumn moon on Pinghu Lake has thousands of hectares of smoke, and the beautiful scenery in the three pools reflecting the moon is so colorful!"

Lu Xun still looked calm and said: "It's just mediocre."

Li Yu noticed a house in the distance and wondered: "Who can build a garden in the West Lake?"

Lu Xun said: "It seems to be a wealthy foreigner in Shanghai named Hartong."

Xia Chuzun said: "It is said that Hartong owns half of Nanjing Road and is as rich as Shanghai Beach."

Unexpectedly, it was him again. Li Yu said: "No matter how rich you are, you should not forcibly destroy the scenery of the West Lake. A foreigner will not really like our good things. He just wants to rob a piece of land and then wait for the price." sell."

Lu Xun shrugged his eyebrows and said, "Mr. Academician has a clear understanding of the situation. I think so too. We must not allow foreigners to do whatever they want."

Li Yu said: "Let's publish some articles in newspapers and gather the people of Hangzhou. I don't believe that Hartong really dares to occupy the land and become king."

Li Yu was too familiar with the practices of some foreigners. Taking advantage of the imperfect legal provisions in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, they wanted to forcibly enclose the land. After a long time, it would naturally become his own.

This is not what the Western "geographical discoveries" did.

(Li Yu has always disliked the term "geographical discovery" anyway. It is too subjective and based entirely on Western perceptions. America has always been there. It is enough to call it the "Age of Discovery".)
Hartung really wanted to buy the West Lake land by force, but he would not have expected that he would encounter great opposition from Hangzhou citizens and fail.His method of developing real estate in Shanghai would not work outside the concession area.

When it was time for dinner, Shen Junru, Jing Hengyi, Lu Xun, Xia Zunzun and Li Yu all had a meal of authentic Hangzhou cuisine.

If he had come half a year later, Li Yu would still have met Li Shutong, who teaches at this school.

Therefore, this school cannot be taken lightly. The teaching staff is very strong.

The next day, Li Yu took a passenger ship back to Shanghai.

The most eye-catching news in Shanghai at present is the arrival of Mr. Zhongshan, the spiritual leader of the revolutionary faction. It is indeed much slower for him to travel by sea.

The rumors were correct, newspapers had been reporting that he would bring back a large amount of money and several warships.

But Sun told all the reporters: "I didn't bring a penny. All I brought was the revolutionary spirit."

The spirit is enough.

Mr. Sun's return greatly accelerated the process of peace negotiations between the North and the South.

He first organized the southern provinces to establish a provisional government, which was a cruel blow.

As expected, it immediately aroused Yuan Shikai's great anger: Why did you set up your own government during the peace negotiations?

Sun Wen had his own considerations. On the one hand, he could unite the southern provinces, and on the other hand, he could increase his bargaining chips.

Seeing that there was a deadlock in the negotiations, Zhang Jian immediately sent a secret message to Yuan Shikai: "On day A, everyone will retreat, on day B, they will support the prince. All parties in the southeast will pass." That is to say, the day after the Qing emperor abdicated, the south would support Yuan Shikai. It won't change.

Immediately afterwards, Sun asked Wu Tingfang, the southern peace representative, to formally call Yuan Shikai and clearly reiterate that as long as the Qing emperor abdicated and declared a republic, the provisional government would never break its promise; he could personally announce his dismissal and give way to Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai finally took reassurance and immediately found Prince Qing Yikuang to inform him of the attitude of the south.

Yikuang asked helplessly: "Is it still possible to use troops against the south?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Even if it is not said that there is no chance of winning, half of the country will be lost, and even worse situations will occur."

Yikuang said: "In this case, there is no choice but to abdicate."

As a political veteran, Yi Kuang did not even participate in the Clan Socialist Party organized by the Aisin Gioro royal family in the early years of the Republic of China, let alone "dedicate himself to death" for the Qing Dynasty.Coupled with Yuan Shikai's 300 million taels of "Gold and Yuan Offensive", he fell long ago and acquiesced to the outcome of the Qing emperor's abdication.

With Prince Qing's attitude, Yuan Shikai knew what was going on, and the young members of the royal family had nothing to worry about.

The next day, Yuan Shikai led all his cabinet members to petition for abdication at the imperial meeting.

"That winter, in the middle of winter, the cold wind kept driving into the cracks of human bones, it was snowing heavily, and there was a desolate smell in the air." Yuan Shikai slowly told Empress Dowager Longyu in front of the throne, "Guillotine" , standing in the middle of the square, with the guillotine hanging on it, seven or eight meters high, and you can still see the frozen blood shining horribly."

Behind Yuan Shikai, all the cabinet cronies lowered their heads, while several royal young men pricked up their ears nervously.

"There were people watching all around. Have you ever seen the king beheaded? People all over the city came out. King Louis XVI and Queen Mary were tied up and walked out. Looking at their faces, they were usually very fair. Half a point left. When he was pressed on the guillotine, Louis XVI was still struggling, but was firmly held down by the executioner."

Not to mention the blood loss on Louis XVI's face, Queen Mother Longyu on the throne was also so frightened that her face turned pale. Fortunately, she applied heavy makeup so that others could not see it.

"Keep talking, Yuan Shikai." Longyu said.

Yuan Shikai paused and then said: "The time has come, but the executioner did not order the guillotine to be put down. Instead, he asked the people watching to take a good look at the king's face. I heard that waiting for death is the most terrifying thing, maybe Louis XVI Everyone wanted the guillotine to come down quickly. It didn’t take long for the knife to come down, and with a click, a big head fell to the ground.”

Queen Mother Longyu's face turned even paler, "Really, was he really beheaded in public?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Empress Dowager, I have no lies. You can ask the French Minister."

Prince Su Shanqi on the side said angrily: "Bold! Yuan Shikai, you are intimidating the Queen Mother! You are bullying the emperor and disrespecting the emperor! Do you still have a saint in your eyes?"

Yuan Shikai smiled in his heart, if I still had the emperor and the Qing Dynasty in my heart, would I tell you this kind of story?

"Prince Su," Yuan Shikai said, "I asked Li Yu, who is proficient in science, whether a person is still conscious after his head is cut off? Will he feel pain? What do you think he answered?"

Shanqi didn't answer, so Zaifeng's younger brother Zaixun asked, "Doesn't it mean that even if your head falls off, you won't die immediately?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Li Yu told me that during the French Revolution, they also beheaded a scientist who was engaged in chemistry. The man was discussed with the supervisor, and after his head fell off, he would blink at him. The supervisor The official counted and blinked eleven times in total. Prince, do you think he will die immediately?"

Saying this sentence has a great shocking effect.

The old society was very cruel in the execution of punishments. For example, someone was cut in half and had the word "miserable" written on it seven and a half times in blood.In fact, there are things that are even more terrifying than this, but many of them are no longer simply cruel, but terrifying and frightening, and cannot be described at all.

Everyone present must have understood it, but it was unexpected that the person would blink after his head fell to the ground.

Longyu raised his hand and touched his neck and said: "Don't the revolutionary parties in the south all advertise democracy? How could they be so bloody?"

Yuan Shikai was speechless after hearing this. Is this something undemocratic?
Zai Xun had been appointed as the Minister of the Navy by his brother, the Regent Zai Feng, and shouted angrily: "Just fight them again! These Southern Barbarians are afraid of them! We still have the blood of Aisin Gioro's ancestors in our bodies. How did we fight back then?" Yes, let’s fight again!”

Yuan Shikai patiently explained: "Prince, do you know what rifling is, do you know what point of impact is, do you know what infantry-artillery coordination is?"

Zai Xun asked a question and said, "I..."

Yuan Shikai said: "How can you fight if you don't know this? You can't defeat the revolutionary party by relying on words."

Zai Xun said: "What do your Beiyang troops do for food?"

Do we have to rely on our Beiyang Army to co-author it?Yuan Shikai was not angry with him at all, and said: "Prince, we discussed this matter a month ago. I said that as long as the court provides sufficient military pay, I can quell the rebels. But after such a long time, where is the military pay? You can’t let the frontline soldiers go to the battlefield hungry, right?”

All the Manchu nobles in the court were a little embarrassed.

Yuan Shikai continued: "Moreover, I received a secret message. Since Sun Wen came back, the south has become more arrogant. If they don't abdicate quickly, they will choose the Northern Expedition. At that time..."

Empress Dowager Longyu said: "Is there no room for relaxation? The Republic of Xujun..."

Yuan Shikai interrupted her: "Queen Mother, it has been impossible for a long time."

Longyu sighed dejectedly: "I want to think about it again."

Yuan Shikai said: "You have to hurry up."

After leaving the palace, when Yuan Shikai was riding home, he just passed by Dongxinglou Restaurant when a bomb suddenly exploded next to him.

The frightened horse ran wildly, and when it reached Sirahui, it fell to the ground and died.

Yuan Shikai was also frightened so much that several soldiers chased him until they were out of breath.Yuan Shikai fluttered his clothes and found that there was only a little skin injury.

Duan Qirui was the first to arrive: "Commander, it's the young men of the royal family who are responsible for this."

"Don't talk nonsense." Yuan Shikai said.

"It will never go wrong!" Duan Qirui said resolutely, "These people are acting like children in front of us. My people discovered that Liangbi was tampering nearby."

As a young member of the Aisin Gioro royal family, Liangbi was one of the few who were somewhat ambitious. He had gone to the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School and was also a leader of the Royal Clan Socialist Party.

Yuan Shikai said: "Treat others in their own way."

Duan Qirui said: "I understand."

After so many years in the court, Yuan Shikai was very accurate about the Aisin Gioro Shao Zhuang sect. He said: "They are actually very afraid in their hearts. They only have to deal with Liangbi."

Beiyang soon sent a young man named Peng Jiazhen to carry out the explosion mission. He accurately bombed Liangbi, but unfortunately he also died in the explosion.

Liangbi died of his injuries two days later. Before he died, he said: "The one who bombed me is a hero. If I die, the Qing Dynasty will die!"

A prophecy.But in fact, regardless of whether he dies or not, the Qing Dynasty must die.

To be honest, the biggest effect of Liangbi's death was that no one from the royal family who clamored against the peace negotiation dared to speak out.