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

Qin Guoyong was more or less tempted by the Beiyang government's military department. Li Yu and Feng Ru kept their words and only talked about aircraft development, not mass production of aircraft, which was difficult to mass produce.

Qin Guoyong was not too disappointed in this. It was incredible to him to know that the Chinese could build aircraft. Anyway, he could not decide the decision of the military.

Even if Qin Guoyong later became the commander of the Air Force, he had little real power. Important decisions had to be made by the Ministry of War or the warlord leader.

Nowadays, everyone is not aware of the combat effectiveness of airplanes and their true horror. They only regard them as a means of transportation.

What the Beiyang government prefers is the navy. After all, the navy was what Beiyang was famous for back then.

However, the navy is actually more difficult to build.

Military fans have probably heard the saying: "Five years for the Army, ten years for the Air Force, and one hundred years for the Navy." That is to say, if you want to build an army, five years is enough; if you want to build an air force, it can take ten years to take shape; if you want to build a navy, it will take a long time.

Li Yu deeply felt that China's navy was the last to develop its capabilities. It was not until a few years before he time traveled that various new ships and aircraft carriers were launched into the water like dumplings.

As for the current aircraft manufacturing, the main thing is to accumulate talents, and then figure out how to improve Japan's technology tree in the future.

——Of course, there is also Li Yu’s small selfish desire to satisfy his own personal desire to fly the plane.

The skill trees that Li Yu most wanted to bring forward were in Japan's aviation field and the other in Japan's biochemical field.

Especially the latter, I really hate it.

A battle broke out not long after, and many biological and chemical weapons took turns to come on stage.

Even though various countries have since signed a convention prohibiting the use of biological and chemical weapons, how many of them have actually abided by it?

The most bastard is the little devil!

-

During the few days that Bell and his friends were playing, Li Yu took the time to give a mathematics class at Peking University at the appointment of He Jueshi and Feng Zuxun, the new presidents of Peking University.

Peking University has changed its presidents very frequently recently. It even tried to invite Ma Xiangbo, who founded Fudan University in Shanghai, to be the president, but failed and had to let He Jueshi take over.

When He Jueshi took over, he still had not completely gotten rid of the funding problem, so he borrowed another 70,000 taels from Huayosheng Bank, and then earnestly asked the Ministry of Education to release funds on time every month in the future.

The next step is to deal with the problem that Yan Fu failed to solve - school spirit.

The previous Peking University students were all recruited from the former Qing Dynasty. These children of the powerful have no school spirit at all. They usually indulge in sexual activities and neglect their studies. It has become a habit and trying to make them change is like quitting opium.

The only way is to strictly enforce admissions again.

After He Jueshi took office, Peking University recruited the first batch of new students after entering the Republic of China, and most of them were enrolled in preparatory courses.

The establishment of preparatory courses was something Peking University learned from Tsinghua University. Although this would increase the academic system and increase school funding, He Xuanshi knew that this was the only way to do it.

Anyway, it is not easy. It can be called "walking now and starting over".

Peking University's preparatory program almost copied Tsinghua's strict management model. It pressed hard on homework and examinations throughout the process, and all the outstanding teachers it recruited were put into the preparatory program.

As for the old undergraduate students, they basically have a laissez-faire attitude, so in recent years, the preparatory students at Peking University have looked down upon the undergraduate students, thinking that they are all old people and young people who are not willing to make progress.

Most of these undergraduate students are unfazed by the discrimination against preparatory students who are several years younger. It is really hopeless.

A few years later, when the preparatory students gradually entered the undergraduate program, the situation changed greatly. At that time, Cai Yuanpei came back to become the principal.

Therefore, although there is no doubt that Cai Yuanpei has made the greatest contribution to Peking University, the foundation laid by previous presidents cannot be completely ignored.

Feng Zuxun has just established a mathematics department (department) at Peking University, which is the first mathematics department of a public university in my country.

At this time, the School of Mathematics at Peking University was not yet the first of the "Four Lunatic Asylums" of Peking University, which was later to be feared, and its science and engineering disciplines had not improved.

Li Yu's mathematics is actually just like that. At most, he barely teaches it to early students. Fortunately, he can handle it now. The lecturers are mainly preparatory students of Peking University, that is, newly recruited students.

Before Li Yu's lecture, there was a history class taught by Chen Jieshi. The old man's lecture was very interesting. He almost said nothing during the whole class and wrote on the blackboard the whole time.

It's not that he doesn't want to say it, but students have expressed that they don't understand Wenzhou dialect, and even students from Zhejiang say they can't understand it...

So Chen Jieshi could only use his pen instead of speaking. He would hand out handouts before class, then get on the podium and directly pick up the chalk and write on the blackboard.

He writes very fast, and students sometimes cannot keep up and copy.

I don’t know how he manages the rhythm and content. The writing on the blackboard and the lecture notes complement each other and cannot be done without copying; and when the bell rang, I just finished writing the last paragraph, threw away the chalk, and walked away gracefully.

Even so, students still respect Chen Jieshi, because everyone can see that although he does not speak, he is sincerely teaching students.

When Chen Jieshi walked to the door, he met Li Yu and said, "Grand Scholar Li, you are here again."

He saw the title of the lecture notes in Li Yu's hand, "Some Explanations of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," and then asked, "Do you also study philosophy?"

Chen Jieshi also taught philosophy courses.

Li Yu smiled and said: "Actually, it's mathematics and physics."

Chen Jieshi was a serious scholar and asked: "Do you need to understand mathematics to study philosophy?"

Li Yu didn't know how to answer this question, so he had to say: "I feel that knowing a little mathematics can at least improve my logical ability and thinking ability. It seems to be helpful for philosophy."

Chen Jieshi asked: "Is what Grand Scholar Li said difficult?"

Li Yu pointed to the handouts in his hand and said, "These are mainly basic contents, not difficult."

"Can you give me a copy of the handout?" Chen Jieshi asked again.

"You want to learn?" Li Yu asked in surprise.

Chen Jieshi will pass away in four years. At his age, it is really too late to learn mathematics.

"Students and children are all learning. As an old master, I shouldn't be learning," Chen Jieshi said. He seemed to understand the meaning of Li Yu's words, and then added, "It is enough to hear the Tao in the morning and die in the evening."

Li Yu couldn't say anything else, so he took out a handout and handed it to him: "Strictly speaking, this is describing physics in mathematical language, which is natural philosophy. But this handout only covers some basic content, mainly discussing mathematics and physics. The relationship is not difficult to understand.”

Chen Jieshi took it solemnly: "I will study it carefully."

Li Yu felt that he might not be able to understand it, but he was still moved by his spirit of learning, so he said: "In addition, I have written introductory lectures, which will be helpful."

Chen Jieshi said seriously: "Thank you very much."

-

Li Yu was much more relaxed when giving lectures. In his opinion, these students were like middle school students.

But after all, it was the early Republic of China, and the academic ability of future middle school students was not weak at all. The age of the students varies, with the oldest in their twenties.

Li Yuxian casually introduced himself, and the students said they all knew him. "In this case, I will talk about the courses directly. Although I understand that you may not study science and engineering in the future, mathematics is a hard target. Any major must know a little mathematics," Li Yu said, and then asked, "Who is the monitor? Pass out the handouts."

An older student stood up and said, "Mr. Academician, I am the monitor, and my name is Gu Jiegang."

Li Yu handed him the handout: "I'm sorry."

Gu Jiegang will be a great historian in the future. He can see that Peking University's changes this year are very valuable and has already recruited outstanding students.

Gu Jiegang was already twenty years old at this time and had already gotten married in his hometown.

After handing out the lecture notes, Gu Jiegang said: "Mr. Academician, there are some people who came to listen and the lecture notes are not enough."

Whenever Li Yu lectures, many people will come to listen. He can only say: "There is no other way, let's talk first. If you need it after class, you can go to the printing department to get it."

The course content is not difficult, it just enhances students' interest.

Li Yu introduced the great god Newton, and also talked about some of his life and the difficulty of learning mathematical sciences, hoping that more people would enter science and engineering in the future.

——He is not worried at all about the talent pool of the liberal arts in the Republic of China.

The lecture process went very smoothly. Students like to listen to this popular science course the most. It is very interesting and understandable.

It is a pity that except for the Datong University built by Li Yu in Shanghai, which teaches courses on the history of science and technology, other universities do not pay attention to this extremely unpopular history at all.

Perhaps after some time, after the biographies of the scientific and technological figures Li Yu brought back from Europe are compiled and published, things will change.

-

After coming out of Peking University, Li Yu met Yan Fuqing and Dr. Hu Mei who were waiting here.

After saying hello, Li Yu asked casually: "How are you two doing at Yali Hospital in Changsha?"

Yan Fuqing said: "We went to Beijing just because of matters related to this."

Li Yu wondered: "You are running a hospital in Changsha, what are you doing in the capital?"

Yan Fuqing explained: "We are planning to jointly build a new medical university in Changsha with Dr. Hu Mei's Yali Society. We will temporarily name it 'Xiangya Medicine' using the abbreviation of Hunan's 'Xiang' and the Yali Society's 'Ya'." Vocational School', and also received the approval of Governor Tan Yankai of Hunan Province. Unfortunately, the resolution was sent to the Beijing government, but was rejected."

Li Yu was a little confused: "Did you use the imperial funds?"

Dr. Hu Mei shook his head: "We raise the funds ourselves."

"Then why does the Ministry of Education not agree?" Li Yu asked.

Yan Fuqing said: "The Ministry of Education did not say much, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disagreed."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the department with absolute real power. Li Yu wondered: "What's the reason?"

"They do not agree with local governments entering into contracts with foreign groups," Yan Fuqing said.

Li Yu said awkwardly: "If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not agree, will they pay for it?"

Yan Fuqing said helplessly: "It's impossible."

Li Yu clicked his tongue and said, "Then why do they disagree?"

Hu Mei spread her hands: "We don't understand either, so we can only come to Beijing and contact academic celebrities to convince the officials together."

Li Yu said: "Since Hunan Governor Tan Yankai has agreed, why do you care so much? Just do it yourself."

Yan Fuqing sighed: "Other places may be fine, but the authorities are very strict about the two lakes."

Only then did Li Yu realize that it might be involved in a political struggle again.

Yan Fuqing took out another handwritten letter from Tan Yankai: "Dudu Tan specifically mentioned you. He said that no matter how many people we unite with, we can't get things done quickly as long as we find you."

Li Yu said: "I think highly of you."

Hu Mei said: "Even President Yuan has betrayed your face, who else can I turn to if not you?"

Li Yu asked again: "I remember that Governor Tan didn't seem to pay much attention to Western medicine in the past. Why is he so enthusiastic all of a sudden?"

"Thanks to Dr. Yan's wonderful rejuvenation," Hu Mei said, "previously, Governor Tan's mother suffered from lobar pneumonia and was seriously ill. After Dr. Yan's diagnosis and treatment in the last few days of the disease, the fever suddenly subsided and she recovered, thus winning her trust in Western medicine. ."

After Li Yu understood it, he asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Yan Fuqing said: "Dr. Hu and I have asked many celebrities from Hunan to sign a joint letter. I hope that academicians can sign at the top and then submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Cabinet."

"I understand," Li Yu said. "I met with Director General Lu of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Petersburg before. I wonder if he can be accommodating."

Yan Fuqing said happily: "It turns out you have known each other for a long time, so that will be easy!"

After arriving at the former Qing Navy Ministry building where the cabinet was located, Li Yu, Yan Fuqing, and Hu Mei quickly met the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang.

He had briefly served as prime minister before, but he resigned shortly after and was replaced by Yuan Shikai's close confidant Zhao Bingjun.

"Director Lu," Li Yu said politely after the others entered the door.

Li Yu discovered that there was American Minister Rui Enshi in the room.

Lu Zhengxiang said: "I was dealing with official business with Minister Rui Enshi. After hearing your name announced by the guards, Minister Rui immediately said that he could put his affairs aside for a while."

Li Yu said: "Thank you, Mr. Minister."

Reinsch smiled: "Both Mr. Bell and Mr. Tesla would agree with my approach."

Lu Zhengxiang saw that Rui Enshi treated Li Yu with great respect, so he asked: "Academician Li, what can I do for you?"

"To make a long story short," Li Yu took out Tan Yankai's letter and the joint letter, "Changsha local government wants to raise its own funds to jointly build a medical school with the Yale-China Association. I asked the Ministry of Education and they said that as long as you agree, they will never I will oppose it. So I also ask Director-General Lu to sign it for approval."

After reading the letter, Lu Zhengxiang said: "It's not that it was not approved before, but the cabinet has regulations that all contracts with Western groups need to be reviewed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is not an obstruction, but to facilitate management and prevent the local government from being deceived."

Li Yu didn't know if he really thought so, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Beiyang Government, as a model of "weak country diplomacy", itself didn't have much face. If it was not welcomed at home, it might really be uncomfortable.

Yan Fuqing was quick-thinking and immediately said: "We did not think carefully at the beginning, but those who did not know are not guilty. If we knew that the cabinet had regulations, we would never sign a contract rashly. It's just that the cabinet recently..."

Lu Zhengxiang knew that during this period, the cabinet itself was in chaos. Ministers and prime ministers were replaced at will, and many functions could not be performed at all.

"It will not be an example next time," Lu Zhengxiang said, "but it will only be limited to cooperation in the field of education."

Yan Fuqing expressed his position: "It must be only about education!"

Lu Zhengxiang picked up the pen and signed his approval of the establishment of the school, and then said leisurely: "It seems to be an equal treaty after all."