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

Chapter 516 Datong
During the Republic of China, in the textile and food industries, the Rong brothers had to be mentioned.

That is, the two brothers Rong Desheng and Rong Zongjing, who later claimed to "own half of China in terms of food and clothing", and the Rong family was also very powerful in later generations.

The Rong family also had great national integrity during the Anti-Japanese War. They would rather burn down the factory and bear huge losses than leave things to the Japanese.

At present, the Rong family has firmly established itself as the flour king. Historically, they did not start large-scale development of the textile industry until the First World War.

At Shanghai Fuxin Flour Mill, Li Yu met Rong Desheng, who was less than 40 years old.

"You must be President Li of the Industrial Association. If there is a meeting, we can go there ourselves." Rong Desheng said politely.

Li Yu said: "I just happened to have a look at your factory."

When talking about his own industry, Rong Desheng immediately said with pride: "We have many factories in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Even the domestic wheat is not enough for us and we need to import it."

Li Yu turned to ask: "I read the information. You had the idea of ​​expanding your business in textiles many years ago. Why haven't you built a factory?"

Rong Desheng said: "Minister Zhang Jian's Dasheng Cotton Mill has always been very prosperous."

Li Yu said with a smile: "With such a large domestic scale, 10 more yarn mills are not enough, not to mention the huge market for external sales."

"For external sales?" Rong Desheng did not have such a bold idea.

Li Yu said: "Japanese products can be exported, why can't we?"

Rong Desheng said: "It is not difficult to run the yarn mill business, but it is not easy to do it well. There have always been many weavers in wealthy families in Jiangnan, but many of them were ruined by weaving."

Hu Xueyan collapsed that year because of huge losses in the operation of the cotton mill.

Li Yu said: "Now times have changed. The new era has a new atmosphere, and people need to have a new image. Everyone's demand for clothes will inevitably last for a long time."

Rong Desheng just had his hair cut not long ago, and it makes sense after thinking about it, "I will discuss this matter with my brother, and the most important thing is to solve the problem of raising funds first."

Li Yu said: "Don't worry too much about funds. I can use German loans to help you fill the vacancies."

Rong Desheng was a little alarmed: "Germany borrowing money? Don't let them control our factory."

Li Yu said: "Don't worry, no Germans will get involved in the operation. It's just a loan, and the equity belongs to you."

Rong Desheng was in awe: "Sir, you are worthy of being the president of the Industrial Association. He understands what we lack most. In this case, I will build a textile factory as soon as possible."

Li Yu urged: "The sooner, the better."

Later, Li Yu contacted many big businessmen in the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce. Everyone with money contributed money and others to expand operations as much as possible in various industries.

During the Xinhai period, many businessmen could not see the situation clearly and kept their hands and feet. Later, they relaxed when they found that the war did not start.

The nearly ten years from this year to the end of World War I were an excellent time for national enterprises to expand.

When the First World War broke out, the European powers' control over overseas countries was weakened to varying degrees. At the same time, production throughout Europe came to a standstill, and a large number of orders floated overseas, which was a rare opportunity.

Li Yu did not forget his important industries such as radios and engines.

Anyway, now he has a large amount of money borrowed from Germany, not to mention how beautiful it is to spend it. With a wave of his hand, Li Yu built a radio and auto parts factory in Shanghai.

The pharmaceutical factory of the German company Bayer has also begun construction in full swing in Shanghai. Bayer attaches great importance to it and hopes to use this as a basis to radiate the entire East Asian market, so it has invested heavily.

In less than half a year, the pharmaceutical factory can be put into production. By then, Shanghai will have the ability to produce Western medicines.

Bayer's current capabilities in the pharmaceutical field are quite strong, much stronger than they will be in 100 years. After all, there are not so many giant pharmaceutical companies coming out at this time.

During the Republic of China, the domestic production of Western medicine was very backward, which resulted in a large number of unprovoked casualties during the Anti-Japanese War.Some infectious diseases that are raging in the country, such as malaria, can be greatly alleviated if more pharmaceutical companies increase their prices and reduce drug prices.

The key is that once war is declared on Germany, this pharmaceutical factory will be forcibly confiscated just like Bayer's pharmaceutical factory in the United States.

Li Yu will then be able to easily obtain full controlling interest in the pharmaceutical factory.

Although it is a little "despicable", for the great powers, this trick should be more familiar to them.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Industrial progress is rapid, and this university in Shanghai can finally start recruiting students after years of talent reserve.

The person who co-founded the university was Hu Dunfu, who was originally sent to the United States to study, and was the brother of the physicist Hu Gangfu.

Hu Dunfu returned to China last year and worked as a teacher at Tsinghua University for half a year.

Not only Hu Dunfu, but also Li Yu transferred more than ten teachers from Tsinghua University, as well as nearly ten professors from Harvard and MIT.

In terms of teaching staff, it is absolutely very strong.

When Hu Dunfu and others saw the beautiful school buildings next to Jing'an Temple, they were all amazed: "It's almost as good as Tsinghua University! Even worse!"

Li Yu said: "I spent many years of hard work to build it."

Hu Dunfu asked: "What kind of school name are you planning to name, Mr. Academician?"

Li Yu said: "Datong University."

"What a good name!" Hu Dunfu said, "In the course of the great road, the world is for the common good. Select the talented and capable, be trustworthy and cultivate harmony. The old friends will not only kiss their relatives, nor will they only give birth to their children, so that the old will have a good life, the strong will be useful, and the young will be useful. Having something good is called great harmony."

Li Yu said: "As for the school motto, let's use the beginning of the ancient book "The Great Learning". The way of a great university is to be clear about virtue, to be close to the people, and to stop at perfection. How about it?"

Hu Dunfu praised: "It's so good!"

Li Yu thought to himself, in fact, these are all your words.

Li Yu knew very little about the Four Books except "The Analects of Confucius". This sentence, "The way of a university lies in clear virtue, in being close to the people, and in the pursuit of perfection." When he was a child, he watched a movie called "Smart Little Understanding" by Zhang Weijian. Learn from time to time.

In the TV series, Xiao Banshuan works as a teacher for a group of students played by Li Bingbing at Guan Zizai Academy. They often read this sentence over and over again (it seems like this is the only sentence), and Li Yu just memorizes it after watching it.

But historically, this university was really called Datong University.

The founder is indeed Hu Dunfu, and he participated in the formulation of the school motto and name.

It's just that now Li Yu has moved the pace a little ahead, so that the university will come out sooner.It is estimated that many people have never heard of the name of Datong University, because the school was later completely split.But during the Republic of China, Datong University was quite powerful, and it was known for its "science and engineering".

As the earliest private university established in China after the Revolution of 40, Datong University has been the leader in private universities in the country for more than [-] years. It is known as "Nankai in the north and Datong in the south."

The difficulty of doing science and engineering research during the Republic of China has been mentioned several times. It is really not easy.

Persimmon specializes in picking out the hard ones, and Li Yu is ready to strengthen it so that science and engineering talents will emerge in large numbers.

The first few years of Datong University were difficult. After all, private universities have always had big problems with funding. But now with Li Yu's support, money is no longer a problem.

In the spacious office, Li Yu held the first school meeting with a group of professors.

Participants include Ping Hailan, Wu Zaiyuan and other former teachers from Tsinghua University.

As an advocate, Li Yu first said: "It's an honor to meet you all in this newly established university hall. We all have the common goal of building an excellent polytechnic university. We are like-minded."

Everyone will smile when they hear it.

Li Yu continued: "As you can see, I also invited professors from Harvard and MIT in the United States to help me, in order to build this school into a world-class one! Although this goal sounds very far away, I I am very confident, because the Chinese are the smartest people in the world! Never mind the Jews, Germans, and Anglo-Saxons, everyone keeps saying that they are the best nation. In my opinion, it is all nonsense!"

Hu Dunfu laughed: "Well said! We must have this spirit of self-confidence. In the past half century or so, we have been too inferior and always felt that we were lagging behind others. But I studied abroad for a few years and discovered that mathematics and physics We can also learn what foreigners are best at!"

Li Yu said: "I agree with what Professor Hu said. Over the years, our Chinese people have lost the spirit of self-confidence and have forgotten what it means to be the descendants of the Yanhuang and the descendants of the dragon. From now on, every major in our school must study the history of Western science and technology. By the way, Let’s learn about Western history so that everyone can understand what is going on in the West and understand that there is a reason for being strong. And knowing this reason, can we continue to be willing to be subordinate to others?”

Wu Zaiyuan said: "My name means a dragon lurking in the abyss. Now that I think about it, it fits the current situation very well. We are indeed at a low point, but a nation with a proud history will not always be at a low point."

Wu Zaiyuan was an early mathematics educator in China. What is commendable is that he is self-taught (fortunately, he is self-taught in mathematics).

He has been a professor of mathematics at Datong University for a long time, advocating that "Chinese academics require independence". At the same time, he wrote dozens of university mathematics lecture notes and translated a large number of foreign mathematics works.

Seeing that everyone was so confident, Li Yu added: "In addition, I also suggest that the school should recruit girls at the same time and treat them equally."

After Li Yu finished speaking, some people fell silent for a moment.

It was Hu Dunfu who was the first to say: "I agree! When I was in the United States, I saw coeducational universities."

After others heard this, they no longer objected.

Li Yu said: "I know everyone is worried about ethical issues, but our school has sufficient campus buildings and can arrange separate dormitories for men and women. Since we are the first private university, we should be determined to be the first in the world. Even if some people criticize us, So what?"

Ping Hailan said: "Ashamed, as teachers in a university, we are not open enough in our thinking."

Ping Hailan was an early English educator in the history of education in my country. He later had many contacts with Lin Yutang and others, and was the English editor of the Commercial Press.

Hu Dunfu said: "Your wife is a well-known talented woman in the country. She once served as the supervisor of Beiyang Women's Public School. If you have the opportunity, can you come to our Datong University to teach?"

"She will definitely come, and her sister is also a famous intellectual woman. I will invite her to give lectures," Li Yu said. "In addition, according to the "University Order" issued by Minister Cai Yuanpei, the 'supervision' of the university hall will be in the future. The name must also be changed to principal, so the word supervision should no longer be used in the future.”

Wu Zaiyuan said: "From now on, you will be our principal."

Li Yu shook his head: "I can become a school director, but the position of principal should be left to Hu Dunfu."

Hu Dunfu immediately said: "No! You are the investor, and the place belongs to you. If you don't become the principal, who will?"

Li Yu said: "I don't mean to shirk it, but I am really busy with my affairs and cannot stay in school all the time."

Of course Hu Dunfu and others knew that Li Yu was a very busy man, so they discussed it and said, "Mr. Academician should at least be the honorary principal. You must never refuse again!"

Li Yu said: "That's fine, I will do my best to make the school at the forefront of the world in all aspects."

After the school’s admission notice was posted, the response was very good.

Li Yu had students from middle schools all over the country come to apply for the exam, including Mao Yisheng and Wu Yifang.

There are two students worth mentioning: Sun Guofeng and Xie Yuming.

Sun Guofeng was one of the earliest radio researchers in my country and later became the president of Northeastern University.

Xie Yuming is a physicist who began to study atomic physics and spectroscopy, which are very promising in physics, in my country's early days.

At the opening ceremony, Li Yu read to them some of the current situation of European, American and Japanese universities, as well as the latest scientific progress in Europe, the United States and Japan.

Li Yu drew two lines, one high and one low, on the blackboard:

"Now, here we are, we are still far away from the foreigners, and this journey will be full of ups and downs. If we want to catch up with them, we can only make breakthroughs in some small aspects, such as you. In the future, you will be Elites in different categories, if you work hard enough, can touch the ceiling of industry theory. At that time, you will be the world's top scholars in this field.

“Once you reach this level, you will be able to see all the mountains and small mountains at a glance, and then return to China to drive underachieving students and form a greater breakthrough point.

"So everything is difficult at the beginning, and your task is the most difficult!"

Those who can go to college now are truly the proud ones, and they are really not convinced by foreigners.

Only 15-year-old Mao Yisheng is a top student. He finished middle school courses early and entered the university hall, and he is very outstanding. He said: "I have read several native wood textbooks compiled by Americans. Things I thought were difficult before, It turns out that it is not as unattainable as I thought. It only took me more than a year to learn three or four years of university textbooks. As for the railways that foreigners are proud of, they are nothing compared to building bridges and tunnels."

Li Yu was ashamed. If Zhan Tianyou, who had a degree in civil engineering from Yale University, heard these words, he would be very embarrassed...

Li Yu said: "Railway is infrastructure. The difficulty is not technology, but funding and organization."

Mao Yisheng said: "Didn't you say that problems that can be solved with money are not problems."

"You make a very good point, but this issue goes beyond academic scope."

These people were all elite people from the Republic of China period, and their brains were extremely fast. Li Yu almost couldn't get back to his feet. He must be cautious in his words and actions in front of them in the future.

In fact, in Li Yu's vision, he hopes that more people will go to engineering instead of science, because engineering has greater practical significance.

Science, which is what Li Yu has been doing, is more purely academic. In the short term, it can only establish academic prestige.

Moreover, as a time traveler, I have too many advantages in science, so I can set myself up as a model and let others make breakthroughs in engineering.

But then I thought about it, if we can also cultivate talents in science, it seems to take much less time and energy than engineering. If time permits, we should focus on science and engineering together.

(End of this chapter)