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

Chapter 596 Infatuation
Zaifeng's words must be in charge, and his status is quite high in the current Qing royal family.

Another Prince of Qing, Yikuang, who was also quite in charge of affairs, had little involvement in political affairs during the Qing Dynasty. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he went directly to spend his old age in peace.

Moreover, the old and the young, as well as Puyi, were extremely dissatisfied with Yikuang's "selling out" behavior.

Two years later, Yi Kuang died, and his family came to the Forbidden City to ask Pu Yi for a posthumous title. The Ministry of Internal Affairs drafted a few words in advance and presented them to Puyi. They were all words with better meanings, and Puyi would definitely be dissatisfied.

What's more, it happened that Puyi's master was not there that day, so he needed to make his own decision.

The 11-year-old Puyi threw away the characters for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and wrote a few others with worse meanings, such as the absurd "兰", the ugly "ugly", the "you" for King You, and the "李" for Li Wang, as evil posthumous titles. .

This frightened Zai Feng, and he quickly ran into the palace to find Pu Yi, stuttering and pleading: "The emperor still wants to give another one for the sake of the clan..."

Puyi was very angry with Yikuang and replied directly: "How can that be done! Yikuang accepted Yuan Shikai's money and persuaded the Queen Mother to surrender the country. The world of the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years has been ruined in Yikuang's hands. How can it be given to a beautiful woman? Posthumous title? It can only be ugly! Ridiculous!"

Zaifeng was quite smart. He took out a written note and showed it to Puyi: "How about using the word 'Xian'? This word has the word for dog next to it. This word is not good..."

Puyi heard that he was fooling him and started crying: "Not even the word dog! No, no, no... no more! No more words!"

Yamanaka Sejiro's face turned red with anger: "This is buying a painting, not painting!"

"Don't call me Pu Ru, my name is Pu Xinshe now," Pu Xinshe said, "Mr. Yamanaka just mentioned a painful incident. So many antiques were hastily sold during the Xinhai period. I'm afraid it will really be infamous for thousands of years."

After all, Zaifeng was old-fashioned and asked Hanlin who went to the study to finally draft the word "secret". Puyi thought it was not a good word, so he agreed. Later, I found out from Su Xun's "Posthumous Fa Kao" that "complementing the past secrets" is a good word. But it was too late.

Li Yu said: "Okay, call the Japanese."

Standing behind Sejiro Yamanaka was Denzaburo Fujita, the tycoon of the Kansai brewing industry. He gritted his teeth and said, "I will pay 10,200 yuan."

"It stinks so much!" Li Yu fanned in front of his nose.

In this matter, Puyi's loyal teachers all sided with Puyi and used the dispute between him and his father as good talk. When Liang Dingfen found out, he said happily: "Yi Kuang is guilty of a serious crime and the world hates him. It is said that the decree is like this. All loyal ministers and righteous men will cry and say: He is the true hero!"

Li Yu laughed loudly: "Yanzhong Jun, I add two thousand at a time, but you only add two hundred at a time? Well, I will add another 250 yuan to 10450 yuan."

"You..." Yamanaka Sadjiro pointed at Li Yu.

"Kansai? It's none of my business?" Li Yu snorted coldly.

Li Yu said angrily: "Mr. Shanzhong, do you have the nerve to talk openly about it while taking advantage of others' danger?"

"Of course..." Yamanaka Sadjiro said.

Then he stood up and walked away.

"Mr. Shibusawa, Mr. Masuda..." Yamanaka Teijiro's tone suddenly softened. They were all ruthless characters who couldn't be offended. After holding it in for a long time, he could only say, "It's bad luck for me!"

"Finally, I have something to say," Li Yu said casually, "Tell me, how much money can you offer?"

Yamanaka Sejiro was very angry: "Butler Zhang, you have agreed to sell it to me before, so you can't keep your word! And you know how good my reputation is. When Prince Gong's mansion sold antiques, I paid half of the price first."

It is enough to see how much the old, young, and Pu Yi hate Yi Kuang.

Li Yu deliberately belittled him.

But "the world hates him" is not necessarily the case...

Yamanaka Sejiro stopped at his feet and said the last words: "You guys can eat it yourself!"

"I'll offer you ten thousand," Li Yu immediately held out a finger, "Yanzhong Lord, can we be considered a fair bid?"

Li Yu was in a hurry to buy a painting and refused to be polite to him: "Where can I trade?"

"What does it mean to take advantage of someone else's danger?" Yamanaka Sadjiro asked displeasedly, "You pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other hand. Children and old men are not deceived."

"Not busy, not busy," Zhang Binfang waved his hand, "Your Majesty only instructed the villain to agree to help you, but as for the Japanese, hey, it's best for you to say it yourself, otherwise I can't do anything."

"Okay, okay, stop bragging!" Li Yu teased, "As far as your Japanese brush painting skills are concerned, don't embarrass yourself by saying it, okay? Everyone knows it! So, the Japanese don't appreciate ancient paintings at all. If you don’t have the ability, why don’t you join in such an elegant business as calligraphy and painting?”

Zhang Binfang said to Li Yu: "This is Mr. Pu Ru, the younger brother of Prince Gong Pu Wei."

Yamanaka Sadajiro looked at Li Gonglin's "Meeting on the Bridge" and Wang Mian's "Snow Plum Picture" in front of him. After thinking for a long time, he said: "Eight thousand yuan."

Zhang Binfang, the steward of Prince Chun's Mansion, quickly stopped him: "Mr. Yamanaka, I have already ordered the meal."

Yamanaka Sejiro had some sweat on his forehead, "Li Jun, are you deliberately trying to make things difficult for me?"

After leaving the mountain, there was a burst of applause from the box next to him, and a man wearing a hat walked in: "Mr. Li Yu's scolding was really good."

When Puyi cried, Zaifeng, as his biological father, had no choice but to nod his head: "Don't cry, don't cry, I'll go to the study."

Li Yu spread his hands: "Who told me to like these two paintings? It's hard to buy what you like when you have money. What's wrong with that?"

Zhang Binfang changed his attitude and said with an apologetic smile: "I am blind and can't see Mount Tai. I hope you will show your kindness."

That day, in a large private room of a tavern, Li Yu met Yamanaka Sejiro, a stinky cultural relic dealer.

Yamanaka Sejiro stood up and said: "Li Jun, please be more respectful. I also represent the nobles of Kansai, Japan."

Yamanaka Sejiro said angrily: "Li Jun, being rich is great? Do you know Mr. Denzaburo Fujita?"

Li Yu interrupted him and said, "I'm just curious. You little Japanese have studied China for so many years, but you haven't even learned how to draw? If you want it so much, why don't you draw it yourself? Isn't it because you can't do it?"

-

He directly confused Li Yuwen. How did he know about such a small role?
"Yamanaka-kun, when I went to Japan, I came into contact with Eiichi Shibusawa and Takashi Masuda, the big boss of Mitsui." Li Yu continued to shake his finger, "Forgive me, I have never heard of this Fujita-kun. Please tell me, Mr. Yamanaka, how powerful he is?"

At present, in China, wealthy people in Kansai love collecting antiques most.

With Zaifeng's words, Li Yu successfully connected with Zhang Binfang, the steward of Prince Chun's Mansion.

Pu Xinshe seems to be different from the little Gong Wang Puwei.

Among the Manchu nobles, Prince Qing was the richest, but he only loved money, not antiques, or collecting.

Pu Xinshe took out a piece of calligraphy and said: "I originally wanted to sell this painting of Yan Zhenqing's "Letter to the Self" to Mr. Shan Zhong. Since Mr. Li Yu can offer a better price, there is no burden on you."

Li Yu said: "It couldn't be better."

Although he did not understand calligraphy, Li Yu knew that "Zi Shu Gao Shen Tie" was Yan Zhenqing's only surviving authentic regular script on paper and was priceless.

It was the same as the paintings sold by Prince Chun's Mansion, and later ended up in Japan.

Li Yu has no hobby of collecting, and he has no artistic talent. He just wants to save some lost cultural relics as much as possible.

Pu Xinshe also has good things in hand: the first calligraphy work handed down in Chinese history, "Pingfu Tie", and Song Huizong's "Five Color Parrot Picture", etc. But he can't sell them all at once.

This authentic painting by Yan Zhenqing was worth a fortune, and Pu Xinshe asked for 3 yuan.

Li Yu immediately agreed, it was all small money! I don’t know how much more I will earn from the Japanese.

It's all spent on the blade!

After the deal was concluded, Zhang Binfang immediately asked the hotel to serve wine and food.

Li Yu said to them: "Whenever you have treasures to sell in the future, don't forget me."

The two raised their glasses and said, "Definitely."

-

The next day, Li Yu was called over by Zhang Jian, the director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce.

Zhang Jian took him to a room first and said mysteriously: "I'll show you something interesting."

After opening the door, Li Yu recognized it at a glance: "Chinese typewriter?"

Zhang Jian said: "The person who built this typewriter was a student studying in the United States named Qi Xuan. I heard that it took a lot of effort."

Li Yu took a closer look and saw that this typewriter was very large and took up most of the table.

It is not easy to operate it. The principle is to type out Chinese characters one by one simply and crudely. If a typist wants to type, he has to use a small pair of pliers to lift the type on the type plate. When he presses a key, the small pliers will lift the type and print it on the paper through the colored ribbon.

It still does not avoid the basic problem - there are thousands of commonly used Chinese characters alone, and the type plates have to be stacked on several levels. If a typist wants to type quickly, he must spend energy remembering the positions of thousands of Chinese characters, which is obviously impossible.

But the typewriter in front of me is ultimately the first Chinese typewriter in the strict sense. Even if it has little value, it must be encouraged.

Zhang Jian invited Li Yu here just to let him make an evaluation.

Li Yu said: "It is very creative and deserves an award."

With the words of an expert like Li Yu, Zhang Jian immediately said: "I don't understand mechanical matters. Since Shucai said so, I will give him a medal and a five-year patent."

Li Yu nodded and said: "This should be done. Encouraging technological innovation has no harm in doing anything."

Zhang Jian took Li Yu back to his office and asked, "Have you met the former King Qingchun before Shu?"

Li Yu said: "That's right."

"Did he also ask you for advice on astronomy?" Zhang Jian asked again.

"How do you know?" Li Yu asked in surprise.

Zhang Jian gave Li Yu a copy of the Shuntian Times: "He probably wants to know what's going on in the sky."

"Celestial phenomenon?" Li Yu was puzzled.

Zhang Jian said: "You will understand after reading the newspaper."

Li Yu picked up the newspaper, which recorded a very ridiculous thing: an astronomer in the capital submitted a document to Yuan Shikai, saying that he observed the sky at night and found a big star shining high, showing the appearance of an emperor. After survey and research, it was found that the place where the big star shines is Xiangcheng, Henan. Now the Emperor's Star is moving north, and will soon reach the sky above Beijing, illuminating President Yuan's imperial throne...

The writing is unsubstantiated and does not say what star it is, let alone why it moves north, just like he can control the movement of stars.

"That's nonsense!" Li Yu asserted.

Zhang Jian sighed: "This kind of news from unknown tabloids is basically fake, but it can be sent to the presidential palace."

Li Yu can roughly guess that it was the eldest son Yuan Keding who did it, which is a typical cheating behavior.

This "Shuntian Times" is a fake version that Yuan Keding secretly asked someone to engrave, and it was only shown to Yuan Shikai. Of course, in addition to these falsehoods, Yuan Keding also constantly revealed false news in newspapers that the Japanese were in favor of proclaiming emperor.

Li Yu said: "No wonder Chun Wang Zaifeng must learn the law of universal gravitation and asked me to teach him how to use calculus to deduce the existence of centripetal force. He wants to understand what scientific principles celestial bodies follow."

Zhang Jian pointed to the newspaper and said: "This is not the most bizarre thing. The servants of the Yuan family also joined in this activity to add luster to the imperial atmosphere. A tea boy in the Yuan Mansion once brought tea to the president, who was taking a nap at the time. The tea boy Inadvertently, he broke the fine jasper cup in his hand. This cup was given to the president by the king of North Korea. After the president woke up, the tea boy actually said that the person he saw sleeping on the bed just now was not a person, but a body with glitter all over his body. The big glowing golden dragon.”

Li Yu was stunned: "Do you still have any doubts? This is lying to avoid punishment."

Zhang Jian smiled helplessly, "I don't know whether the president believes it or not, but the tea boy must not have been punished."

Even if Yuan Shikai was still hesitant about proclaiming himself emperor, it would be hard not to be confused if he was constantly being deceived by the people around him.

Li Yu said: "These things are getting further and further away from science."

"Science... don't mention it!" Zhang Jian said, "The whole world now knows that we should take the road of science. But just after he was elected as the president, he found two Feng Shui masters to visit the ancestral tombs in Xiangcheng. Although the wealthy families could not help but invite Mr. Feng Shui, but as the president, he should restrain himself and set an example."

Li Yu asked: "What did Mr. Feng Shui say?"

Zhang Jian said:
"The Feng Shui master looked at the Yuan family's ancestral tomb in Xiangcheng and said that there was a 'Nine Five Symbol'.

"The president asked him, how old is the '95 Elephant'?
"The Feng Shui master was not sure, so he made a random number of 'eight and two'. I think it may have been compiled based on Bagua and Yin and Yang.

"The president asked him again if it was eight hundred and twenty years or eighty-two years.

"Mr. Feng Shui is trying to be mysterious, only emphasizing that the secret of heaven must not be leaked.

"The president then confidently said that even if it has been eighty-two years and three generations, he is still satisfied."

As a time traveler, Li Yu knew very well that he had only been emperor for 83 days.

Li Yu said: "Care leads to chaos. Psychologically, I have begun to anesthetize myself."

Zhang Jian said: "Frankly speaking, as the director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, I take the president's ability into consideration. The finances have grown significantly in the past two years, and education in various places has also made rapid progress."

Li Yu also admitted: "The president has indeed done a good job in governing the country. Brother Ji Zhi also contributed a lot."

"I'm just doing my job," Zhang Jian said, "but the biggest headache for the president is that each province is now acting independently and withholding taxes, so the president wants to centralize his rule."

Li Yu said: "Centralization of power is certainly possible, but the presidential system is not impossible."

"I can only hope that the situation develops smoothly," Zhang Jian sighed, "By the way, the presidential office is now contacting celebrities everywhere to persuade them to join. Shucai, as a person who is well-known among foreigners and a scientific banner, I think the president is very I’ll be looking for you soon.”

Li Yu smiled and said: "I can't tell the nonsense about 'the emperor's star moving northward'."

Zhang Jian smiled bitterly: "I can't tell either."

(End of this chapter)