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

Chapter 6 "Old Nine Gates" in the Late Qing Dynasty

Li Yu has been to Donglaishun Restaurant a few times. The mutton boiled in the classic copper pot is endless, and his level of sauce is also excellent. Whether it is the sesame sauce and chives in the north or the dried sesame oil in the south, it is delicious. Can produce a very good taste.

When eating with classmates, he is the "perfumer" himself, which can be said to be very effective in alleviating the conflict between the North and the South!

Unfortunately, in the field of sweet tofu and salty tofu, he was still unable to make effective checks and balances.

After everyone else sat down in front of the booth, Li Yu went over and asked, "Boss Ding, why don't you see the mutton?"

Ding Deshan wiped his sweat with a towel: "Master, you are really joking, look how can my small stall have the conditions to do that!"

"You can do it!" Li Yu said, but said in his heart, "Because I'm still waiting."

Ding Deshan was full of question marks when he said: "How about... eat a bowl of noodles first?"

"Ding Ding!"

Li Yu threw down 8 copper coins, "I'll try Boss Ding's cooking for a bowl of mutton noodles."

Ding Deshan was full of confidence: "Don't worry, you won't be able to eat such good mutton noodles in the east half of the city!"

Ding Deshan's craftsmanship is not to mention, and the quantity is also very large.After eating a bowl of noodles, Li Yu felt his stomach was full.

While it was still early, Li Yu walked around the street again. The stalls on the street sold inexpensive items, ranging from a few pennies to a dozen pennies, but the variety was not that great.

Ordinary people who eat and buy things are also very simple. For example, a bowl of noodles in Ding Deshan costs four yuan. Many people still have to shop around, and often hesitate for a long time between four yuan noodles and three yuan buns.After all, for them, a full stomach is enough!

The vast majority of people in the late Qing Dynasty lived above and below the food and clothing line, and their daily expenses basically did not exceed 20 yuan. In today's case, it is about four or five yuan.

But those powerful people are different, and it is no problem to spend a lot of money.Therefore, the society in the late Qing Dynasty is definitely rich in wine and meat!

Just as he was about to go back, Li Yu saw a foreigner walking out of a door.This foreigner is not young, about 70 to [-] years old, but he is in good spirits.

The person inside bowed to him, and the foreigner also bowed back, then put on his hat and walked away indifferently.

It was quite rare to see a foreigner at this time, and Li Yu followed behind him.

The foreigner walked a few steps and stopped beside an old beggar in ragged clothes. He squatted down and said, "Old man, why are you begging in the capital?"

This foreigner speaks Chinese very well.

The old beggar didn't expect that the foreigner would take the initiative to talk to him, so he was stunned for a long time before replying: "Master Foreigner, you must not understand our business. We can only get enough dry food in the city!"

The foreigner nodded, feeling that this question was indeed a bit redundant, he took out a silver dollar from his pocket and threw it to him.

When the old beggar heard the crisp sound in the bowl, his eyes were stunned, and he couldn't help but be grateful for the silver dollar: "Thank you, Mr. Yang, I wish you a long life! No, it's long live, long live, long live!"

The foreigner said: "You are wrong, your 'long live' is for the emperor and queen mother."

The old beggar didn't seem to care about that, and asked directly: "Why don't you foreigners destroy the Qing Dynasty?"

The foreigner didn't answer, but asked instead: "Do you think we can destroy it?"

"Of course!" The old beggar pointed to a wire in the distance, "Whoever invents that wire will overthrow the Qing Dynasty!"

The foreigner smiled wryly, stood up and walked away noncommittal.

A beggar can say such things, it seems that the people of the Qing Dynasty are almost out of control!
Li Yu remembered Fan Xiren's invitation yesterday, and immediately returned to the library of Tongwen Museum, only to find that he had read yesterday's math textbook again.

"Brother Fan came very early!" Li Yu said.

Fan Xiren put away the book and said, "Brother Li!"

Li Yu said, "How's the research going?"

Fan Xiren smiled wryly and said: "It's really unfathomable, there are too many things to understand!"

Calculus is really difficult to understand in a short time, so Li Yu had no choice but to resort to the method of the math teacher back then: "Let me draw some more pictures for you, maybe it can help you."

"That couldn't be better. I happened to bring a special good ink today." Fan Xiren had seen many mathematical figures in books, but he still didn't know much about them. He had already learned the rectangular coordinate system, but he was only limited to elementary algebra.

Fan Xiren took out a small box from his bosom, on which was written "Yipin Huimo".

Li Yu practiced soft-brush calligraphy when he was young, and his handwriting is passable, but compared with this kind of Qing Dynasty juren, the difference is more than a star and a half, so don't spoil other people's good things!He said: "There should be classrooms here, why don't we find a blackboard?"

Fan Xiren suddenly said: "Wonderful! This is the feeling of teaching."

Fan Xiren was also very familiar with the interior of Tongwen Hall, and the two walked to the teaching area in the front yard together.

Li Yu asked: "By the way, Brother Fan, I heard that there will be an exam in the Tongwen Hall in the near future. I wonder what the exam is about?"

Fan Xiren said: "It's not the exam in Tongwenguan, but the Jingshi University Hall will resume school again, and there will be an admissions exam in a few months."

Imperial Academy!
Li Yu's heart was shocked, alma mater!
As early as 1898, during the Reform Movement of [-], the Capital University Hall was established, but only two years after it was opened, it encountered the Eight-Power Allied Forces, and then it was closed for two years.

The Reform Movement of [-] was definitely a pain in Lafayette Cixi's heart, because in her opinion, it was Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others who bewitched Emperor Guangxu and caused their mother and son to be at odds.

Most of the measures in the reform were also abolished, but the University Hall survived.

Fan Xiren went on to say: "The enrollment will be stricter this time, and the students will have the opportunity to be sent to study abroad in the West. Everyone wants to learn from the Westerners, and also wants to go to the West to see how good they are!"

"So, you have to take advantage of the gap of these few months to study a lot and prepare for the exam." Li Yu thought to himself, this seems to be no different from his previous exams.

Fan Xiren nodded and said, "That's right, the content of the exam is very complicated, including English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, zoology, botany, history and other subjects in Western learning."

Good guy, it turns out that the "Old Nine Gates" began to torture candidates more than 100 years ago!
Li Yu said, "Then you really need to prepare well."

"Of course! I must be admitted to the Imperial University! Then I will go to Western countries. It would be best if I can continue to study with them for a few years. In the future, when I return from my studies, I will definitely make the Qing Dynasty stronger. Lose the battle!"

The more Fan Xiren spoke, the more excited he became, and there was an inexplicable determination in his eyes.

There is no shortage of passionate young people like this in any era!
He was in stark contrast to the old beggars he met today. This was a very normal situation in the late Qing Dynasty. The building was about to fall, and thousands of people from all over the country had too many different opinions.

The reformers, constitutionalists, revolutionaries, and royalists all had good intentions, but the darkness before dawn was so dark that everyone at that time could not see the direction.

While talking, the two walked outside the classroom. Inside, there were two foreigners doing calculations on the blackboard. When they walked in, one of them was the very old foreigner Li Yu saw.

Fan Xiren, who was standing next to him, said in surprise, "This...is Mr. Ding Weiliang, the former head teacher!"

(End of this chapter)