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

Li Yuxian sent a simple telegram back to Einstein:

“I basically have the same views as you regarding the war.

Some wars are very stupid. Unfortunately, human reason often falls apart at this time, and history can only give humans a few more blows with heavy whips, and then let humans remember, even if it is only for a short time.

I hope you are well in Berlin, the most irrational city in Europe! "

Although Einstein had never participated in politics, he bravely expressed many views during World War I and joined some pacifist organizations to promote peace.

It's just of no use.

Fortunately, World War I was different from World War II. There were always many people who opposed the war. After all, World War II was a war of aggression and anti-aggression and must be fought.

The First World War was a bit unreasonable and more like a fight between politicians, so quite a few people were firmly anti-war throughout the First World War.

Some prominent people also predicted the outbreak of World War I early and gave quite forward-looking predictions. Engels said in 1887: "In addition to world war, there can no longer be any other war in Europe. By then There would be 800 to 1000 million people killing each other and eating up all of Europe at the same time. The old state and its inherited statecraft would collapse together, and the crowns would roll into the streets by the dozen and no one would pick them up. "

That's so true.

When World War I first broke out, British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray said in despair: "The lights in Europe have gone out, and I will never see them light up again in my lifetime."

That's true, because the whole of Europe ended here, watching the United States on the other side of the ocean reap the benefits.

There are too many anti-war people in the cultural world to count, and it is impossible for any country to impose drastic restrictions on these people.

When France and Germany were fighting fiercely on the front line, Romain Rolland, one of France's most famous pacifists and a great writer, specifically asked Einstein to meet on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Although Einstein's French was very average, he still said to him in a joking tone: "At the conference in Berlin, every professor would be indignant about 'Why are we Germans hated in the world?' The truth is carefully avoided in the discussion.”

Romain Rolland asked him: "Who do you think will win?"

Einstein replied directly: "Germany is hopeless and I hope the Allies win."

In order to study why such a stupid war broke out, Einstein even studied biology for a period of time to see if there was some kind of "biologically determined male characteristics" that led to the war.

However, his biological level is obviously far behind Schrödinger's, and he has not researched the reason.

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Not long after, Tesla also sent a telegram from the United States. All the telegraph equipment that had been produced in advance was sold at a high price, making a huge profit.

Communication is definitely a technical thing.

Before the Battle of the Marne, Germany fought once on its own soil, the Battle of Tannenberg, in which it defeated the Russian army with a small victory and a large defeat. This battle made Hindenburg and Ludendorff famous.

However, the German army did not expect that the Russian army would gather so quickly. The plan predicted before the war to defeat the French army first and then turn around to attack Tsarist Russia was even more impossible to realize.

But the Russian army pulled the crotch unexpectedly.

The Russian army's radio operator actually leaked key combat information because of the use of clear codes!

Compared with Britain, France and Germany, Russia places less emphasis on communications. Perhaps because telegraph equipment is very expensive, it is reluctant to spend money. As a result, it ends up picking sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

Russia's defeat made the armies of various countries more aware of the importance of telegraphs and began purchasing them one after another.

Even the Beiyang government, which was sitting on the mountain watching the fight between tigers, sent Duan Qirui to Li Yu to order another 200,000 yuan in communication equipment, which was a huge expenditure.

The Beiyang government has received a large loan for the aftermath, and a lot of the money will be used for military expenses. It is normal for them to buy some communication equipment.

Li Yu's prices to the country have always been quite low. Although he knows that many of the equipment are used in the military and he has nothing to do, it is enough for the time being to make more and more people in the country understand the importance of communication.

After Li Yu wrote several more telegrams, Lu Xun came to visit.

This old man has still not evolved into a democratic fighter. He is still a civil servant in the Ministry of Education of the Beiyang Government, and he is a senior civil servant - the Minister of Education and the Chief of the First Section. There are only 30 people with higher titles than him in the entire Ministry of Education. ; Two years later, Cai Yuanpei took office and streamlined the staff. There were only less than 20 people with higher titles than him.

Lu Xun took out a few tickets and said happily to Li Yu: "The Forbidden City is open!"

Not to mention his previous life, Li Yu had been to the Forbidden City several times in this life, but he still asked: "As a museum?"

"Absolutely," Lu Xun said. "Over the past year or so, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has sent people to move a large number of cultural relics from the Rehe Palace (i.e., the Chengde Summer Resort) to the Wuying Hall, and after sorting them out, they will be displayed as an antiquities exhibition. This is not to be missed. , I received a few tickets, and I specially gave two to you and my wife."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern."

According to the preferential treatment treaty of the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City was divided into two parts, limited to the Baohe Hall in the middle. The inner court in the north belonged to Puyi's small court; the three main halls of Baohe Hall, Zhonghe Hall, and Taihe Hall in the south, as well as the cultural The outer court parts such as Hua Hall and Wuying Hall were owned by the Republic of China.

That's why Yuan Shikai was able to hold the inauguration ceremony in the three main halls before.

It is a pity that a large number of treasures collected by the royal families of the Ming and Qing dynasties are in the inner court and still belong to the small court of Puyi.

But it can't be said to be a big regret, because if the treasures were in the outer court, the Eight-Nation Allied Forces might take them away when they invade the Forbidden City - these people are real bandits.

After the founding of the Republic of China, the government knew that many people wanted to visit the Forbidden City, so it has been preparing to turn the outer court into a museum.

Just to the north, Chengde has been experiencing theft of cultural relics from the Jehol Palace since entering the Republic of China, which shocked the entire antique world.

Under pressure from public opinion, the Republic of China decided to transport everything to the Forbidden City for safekeeping.

Although it is just a palace, the Summer Resort has a lot of good things collected. It took a year and seven times to collect 1949 boxes and 1877 pieces, totaling more than 119500 pieces of furniture, furnishings, bronzes, jades, calligraphy and paintings, clocks, books, carpets, etc. The blankets and other sundries (including 43 live deer) were transported to Beijing. Fortunately, they were all safe.

The government of the Republic of China also asked an antique dealer to estimate the price, which was about 350 million yuan. Before the price was paid, these antiquities were temporarily loaned to the royal family for the Republic of China.

Things were ready. Under the auspices of Minister of the Interior Zhu Qiqian, and with the support of Zhang Jian and others, plus 20 yuan allocated by the Boxer Refund from the United States, the antiquities exhibition hall in the Forbidden City was finally built, and the mysterious Forbidden City was opened to the public. Heavy door.

This is the first museum of national significance in China. It is said that with the reputation of the Forbidden City, its mere opening would be enough to become the number one most searched item. However, the first opening of the Forbidden City does not seem to be very famous.

Maybe it was because the Qing Dynasty had just disappeared for only three years, and the Beiyang government was relatively low-key on this matter. It was unwilling to engage in graveyard disco operations. It only gave the tickets to government agencies and did not publicize it to avoid irritating the inner court and harem. Inhabited by the Xunqing royal family.

(More than a dozen years later, the establishment of the Palace Museum was directly announced first and then announced. It was widely publicized in order to force the Beiyang government and the Qing Dynasty survivors to admit the fait accompli.)

As a senior official of the Ministry of Education, Lu Xun could get the tickets as soon as possible.

Li Yu happened to accompany him for a walk, and called Lu Bicheng by the way. She had always wanted to enter the Forbidden City to see what the rumored "Golden Palace" was.

On the way, Li Yu asked casually: "Brother Zhou, have you done any writing or anything recently?"

"No," Lu Xun said, "I am currently reading Buddhist scriptures and studying the "Yogi Earth Treatise".

"That set of scriptures that Xuanzang brought back from his journey to the west?" Li Yu asked.

"Yes," Lu Xun said, "After more than a year of research, I found that Sakyamuni is indeed a philosopher. I usually have many difficult problems in life, but he has already understood most of the enlightenment. , What a great philosopher!"

Li Yu said: "It seems that Buddhist scriptures are far from enough to study classical philosophy."

"I understand," Lu Xun said, "Buddhism, like Confucianism, has died and will never be resurrected." Li Yu said, "Now Mr. Kang Nanhai is still planning Confucianism."

Lu Xun sneered: "It's just a show. To me, Buddhist scriptures are just historical materials for the development of human thought, so as to study their outlook on life."

Li Yu said with a smile: "Others tend to be negative when reading Buddhist scriptures, but you can stay aloof."

Lu Xun said: "Of course, after all, what I believe in is science, not religion."

After arriving at the Forbidden City, Li Yu saw that there were not many people. There won’t be many people in the future, because the ticket price for the Antiquities Exhibition Hall is very high. After all three halls are opened, if you want to buy a combined ticket that can visit all three halls, it will cost more than two yuan.

Foreigners need more than 3 US dollars.

This price far exceeds the ticket price of the Summer Palace and is simply unaffordable for ordinary people.

After entering the Forbidden City, Li Yu met Zhu Qiqian and German designer Roqueger.

It was this German construction company that designed the renovation project of Wuying Hall, converted Wuying Hall and Jingsi Hall into exhibition rooms, and built a corridor to connect the two halls into an I-shape. (After that, the renovation of Wenhua Palace was carried out by two domestic companies.)

Luo Kege handed over a business card: "Dear Mr. Li Yu, if you need architectural design in the future, you can contact me at any time. I am especially good at the design model of combining Chinese and Western styles."

Before Liang Sicheng, there were very few famous architects in China, mostly foreign designers, and not many thought about integrating Chinese elements like Luo Kege.

Therefore, Luo Kege was highly recognized by the upper class. He was also good at communication and had close business contacts with Queen Mother Longyu, Regent Zaifeng, Yuan Shikai, Cao Rulin, Zhang Zuolin and others.

Empress Dowager Longyu once approached him to undertake the design and improvement project of Chuxiu Palace.

Of course, he is most famous for the Zhengyangmen renovation project. After all, Beijing’s train station is right outside Zhengyangmen.

Li Yu put away the business card: "If I have any related interior design needs, I will definitely come to you."

Roqueger said happily: "It is an honor for me to serve an academician who has won two Nobel Prizes. It is a pity that I may be recruited to Qingdao in the future."

Li Yu asked: "Qingdao?"

Roqueger said: "Yes, the Japanese have declared war on Germany, and newspapers are talking about the safety of Qingdao."

A month ago, newspapers such as Shenbao were aware that China would be involved in the war and published editorials admonishing the Republic of China government not to ignore the impact of the world war.

The Germans also expected that Japan would attack them. Although Germany deployed strict defensive firepower like Tsarist Russia operated Lushun, the main forces were eventually transferred away. There were less than 4,000 German troops in Qingdao, and more than 1,000 of them were in reserve. Unable to resist.

Therefore, Germany wanted to negotiate directly with Yuan Shikai from the beginning, return Jiaozhou Bay, and send a favor, and maybe get China on its side.

However, the news was accidentally leaked - why did Japan have so many spies in China? As a result, Japan exerted frantic pressure to force the Beiyang government to remain neutral on the Qingdao issue, while it began to mobilize its troops.

After the death of "Love Soldiers Like Sons" Nogi Nogi Nogi, the Japanese army no longer only attacked with "pig burst" as they did when they attacked Lushun. They first covered the area with firepower and then slowly advanced.

In the Battle of Qingdao, the German army was originally small and lacked supplies. They only barely resisted, but were outnumbered and defeated.

Designer Roqueger was captured after the war and was released several years later.

But after World War I, Japan actually did not occupy Qingdao for too long.

The occupation of Qingdao was the direct cause of the "May 4th Movement". Needless to say, the impact of this incident on China.

After diplomatic efforts, three years later in 1922, Japan returned Qingdao under pressure.

To be honest, the Beiyang government's many efforts in territorial sovereignty are remarkable.

Zhu Qiqian then took Li Yu, Lu Xun and others into the Wuying Hall for a visit.

The Antiquities Exhibition Center initially only opened Wuying Hall; Wenhua Hall and the three main halls of Taihe Hall, Baohe Hall, and Zhonghe Hall were not opened at the same time, so there were not enough hot spots.

The items on display are basically antiques from the Chengde Summer Resort and have little to do with the Forbidden City itself.

Lu Xun only walked around once and felt it was boring: "It's just like an antique shop."

Zhu Qiqian said: "When the three main halls of the previous dynasty and the Wenhua Hall are all renovated, the appearance will definitely be greatly improved."

There is really nothing to see in the Wuying Hall alone. Lu Bicheng also whispered with a little disappointment: "I came in just to see the three main halls, but I only saw the side hall."

Zhu Qiqian said: "If I choose the Wenhua Palace, my wife may be even more disappointed."

Lu Bicheng asked: "Wenhuawuying, one left and one right, one civilized and one military, aren't they the same?"

Zhu Qiqian said: "In terms of architectural design alone, the level of Wuying Palace is a little higher. When it is opened in the future, you will be able to tell the difference at a glance."

Lu Bicheng immediately asked: "When will it open?"

Zhu Qiqian had no choice but to say: "We have to wait until the next step of funding is available."

Li Yu smiled and said: "Don't worry, it won't be long before you can see the entire Forbidden City."

Zhu Qiqian was surprised and said: "Forbidden City? This word is a good choice."

Li Yu said that he let it slip, and it was not until the establishment of the Palace Museum in 1925 that the name was officially adopted.

Fortunately, Zhu Qiqian didn't care.

Lu Bicheng asked: "Can you see Cixi and all the palaces where previous emperors lived?"

Li Yu said: "It's not a big problem, I can just take a look around the Imperial Garden."

Lu Bicheng said seriously: "Minister Zhu, you have to move faster."

Zhu Qiqian said awkwardly: "Try your best, try your best!"

He didn't know when Emperor Xuantong would move out.

According to the preferential treatment regulations of the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City was only the transitional residence of Emperor Xuantong and would be moved to the Summer Palace in the future.

However, there were too many good things in the Forbidden City, and the Qing Dynasty was reluctant to move them, so they used the excuse that the walls of the Summer Palace were too low and unsafe.

Yuan Shikai didn't get used to it and directly sent people to raise the wall.

When the Qing Dynasty saw that you were serious, they had no choice but to agree to give up the three main halls of the previous dynasty.