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

Eight alleys.

Li Yu is here again. If there wasn't a reason, it would be hard to explain...

Cai E's visit to the brothel was an act to paralyze Yuan Shikai, showing that he had no ambition.

After Li Yu and Cai E arrived, Yun Jiban's housekeeper, or madam, came over and said, "Two gentlemen, the girl has a rest today."

Cai E said: "I came here just to rest."

The madam apologized and said with a smile: "From what you said, can't you wait until tomorrow?"

Cai E took out the flyer: "I want to meet this girl, I have no other ideas."

The old bustard looked over, narrowed his eyes, and understood what was going on.

Yunjiban is a small Qingyin class. It belongs to an elegant upper-class brothel. It receives rich and educated people. For them, this is a risky move and there is a risk of offending the Beiyang government. But once it is done, it will be done. The value doubled.

It seems to work really well.

The madam's smile became even brighter, and the fish-eye lines were about to squeeze out the makeup on his face. He said to Cai E: "I look like a man in the army, a general who leads an army."

Cai E smiled casually: "The housekeeper was joking."

Cai E had a high position under Yuan Shikai and worked in the Generalissimo's Command Office of the Army and Navy. This organization was Yuan Shikai's Military Aircraft Department and had considerable power. As Cai E, who was not born in Beiyang, it shows that Yuan Shikai valued him.

Of course, it's just that he can't directly control the army. He can be regarded as a staff officer at most.

The madam turned around and opened the door and said to the two of them, "Please come in."

Zhao Qian said: "Sir, I'm keeping watch outside."

As soon as they entered the gate, they smelled a strong fragrance. The old bustard asked Li Yu and Cai E to sit in a side room, and then said, "I'll call Xiao Fengxian."

After a while, a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old came in. She had an oval face, was very fair, and had small tiger teeth when she smiled.

"Two distinguished guests, Xiao Fengxian is very polite."

"Please sit down," Cai E said after looking at her for a moment, "I didn't expect the girl to be so enlightened at such a young age."

Xiao Fengxian poured tea for Cai E and said, "How can a little girl have any enlightenment? She just experienced some vicissitudes in the world."

Li Yu said: "Such words do not seem to come from the mouth of a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old."

Xiao Fengxian said: "Sir, you must rarely come to the brothel. If you don't have some sense of sight here, it will be difficult to survive."

"Sorry." Li Yu replied.

Come to think of it, brothels are probably one of the most difficult places to survive.

Cai E asked again: "This girl is well-educated and sensible. Could it be that she comes from a privileged family?"

"My father was also a military officer." Xiao Fengxian said.

"No wonder I feel a special and familiar memory from you." Cai E said.

Xiao Fengxian pursed her lips and said, "My father is just an ordinary military officer, how can he be compared with you."

Cai E coughed twice and suddenly felt sad: "We are both fallen people from the end of the world."

Xiao Fengxian was surprised: "Tuberculosis?"

Cai E smiled bitterly: "It's an incurable disease."

At this time, the madam came in with snacks: "You two, there is no program today, just have some snacks."

Li Yu said: "Thank you very much."

The old bustard said to Li Yu: "I seem to have seen this man before."

"Um, is there any?" Li Yu asked.

The madam thought for a moment: "Oh! You were the one who took away the child I had with Mr. Yuan's second son, Miss Xue, right?"

"The butler has good eyesight," Li Yu said.

"That's right. How can anyone in our profession have bad eyesight?" the old bustard said, "Today is really rare. General Cai is here, as well as Mr. Academician, a dignified scholar."

"Mr. Academician? By the way," Xiao Fengxian said to the Madam, "Mom, why not add a new 'Academician Title' to the oiran draft tomorrow?"

"What?" Li Yu asked doubtfully, "Oiran, academician?"

Xiao Fengxian said: "Since a few years ago, the flower industry in Beijing has held regular oiran auditions to assess talent, love, sex, and art. Four doctors were selected respectively, namely Dr. Cai, Dr. Love, Dr. Sex, and Dr. Art. "Below the doctorate, there are twenty or thirty bachelors. They are all leaders in the flower world in the capital."

Li Yu suddenly realized: "So this is how you came to be a doctor. Now, instead of being called the number one, you are called a doctor or a bachelor."

Xiao Fengxian said: "But now everyone suddenly knows that there is also the title of academician above the doctorate. Only academicians can be called the highest courtesans."

Li Yu smiled and said: "There can be a master's degree between a doctorate and a bachelor's degree, and there can be a postdoc after the doctorate..."

Xiao Fengxian said: "If it's too detailed, we won't understand."

"And the reputation of academicians is also great. Who in the country doesn't know Mr. Li Yu's word 'academician'?" The madam is very good at marketing. "Just choose one academician on top of the four PhDs in erotic arts." "

Cai E said happily: "It's interesting that the flower world is learning from the Western education system."

Xiao Fengxian said: "As the whole country learns from the West, we naturally have to keep up."

As senior service personnel, Qingyin Xiaoban must keep learning at all times!

Cai E asked again: "What are the criteria for selecting academicians, doctors, and bachelors?"

Xiao Fengxian said: "It's very simple. A letter of recommendation costs one yuan. It depends on which girl gets the most letters of recommendation."

"What's the recommended book?" Cai E asked.

"It's just voting." Xiao Fengxian explained.

Quite elegant.

The madam said: "This time we have a lot of momentum. We will publish the photos, names and merits of all the girls in the newspaper and compete openly."

Cai E said: "It will cost a lot of money?"

The old bustard said: "Some of them are paid by merchants. If bachelors and doctors are selected, the clothes they wear will sell quickly and become a trend in the entire capital."

Cai E sighed: "Others say that the flower world in Beijing is world-famous and has a wide variety of flowers. It is indeed well-deserved."

The old bustard said with a smile: "If the general likes the little fairy, he will buy more recommendation books tomorrow."

Xiao Fengxian said: "Mom, don't make things difficult for the general."

Cai E thought for a few seconds and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely make sure that Xiao Fengxian becomes a doctor!"

The madam said: "Now there are more academicians."

"Then academician!" Cai E said to Xiao Fengxian, "You will be academician Xiao Fengxian in the future!"

Xiao Fengxian looked into Cai E's eyes. After a second, she lowered her head and saluted, saying, "My dear, thank you, General."

The brothel women will not interfere with this kind of behavior, and the brothels are just making money from this.

-

After the two went out, Cai E said: "There are many children from rich families in the capital. I am going to give out all my belongings, which should be three thousand yuan." Li Yu quickly said: "This is not good! Others are destroying families to help them, but you Is this to ruin the family and give it to an oiran? Will Madam agree if she finds out?"

Cai E said: "Just to make her disagree!"

Li Yu immediately understood that Cai E wanted to completely fall out with his wife through this incident and force her to leave Beijing due to family matters. After that, it would be easier for him to escape.

But it is impossible to guess whether Cai E has feelings for Xiao Fengxian.

The next day, the news about the oiran draft was indeed published in the newspaper, and all the rich young men in the capital were dispatched one after another.

The three thousand yuan that Cai E took out was already a lot, but it was still not enough. He had to borrow another two thousand yuan from Li Yu, and then he reluctantly allowed Xiao Fengxian to win the title of "academician".

When she came to Yunjiban again, Xiao Fengxian had become the most popular oiran in the entire Bada Hutong - at least until the next oiran election.

Cai E didn't think it was a big deal and asked Li Yu to take a photo of himself and Xiao Fengxian with his Leica prototype and publish it in the newspaper.

At the same time, reporters with a keen sense of smell also learned that Cai E spent all his wealth to support a brothel girl and had a falling out with his wife. This kind of tidbits should not be too attractive.

After a few days of fermentation, the story of Cai E and Xiao Fengxian became known to the whole city, and everyone thought that he was a prodigal son.

Cai E's goal was achieved, and he invited Li Yu to dinner afterwards to thank him, "Brother Shucai, I'm really sorry, but the two thousand yuan I lent you can't be paid yet. I often ask Xiao Fengxian for help now."

"No need to pay it back," Li Yu didn't take it seriously at all, and then joked, "Now you often go to Bada Hutong."

Cai E smiled and said: "My wife is gone, I might as well live in Yunjiban."

Li Yu smiled strangely: "The general is really carefree."

Cai E said: "This is not my ambition, Xiaoyao? I can't say Xiaoyao."

Although Xiao Fengxian's consciousness is not low, a sixteen-year-old brothel girl cannot be very capable. She has no ability to help him escape, let alone help Cai E's great cause of protecting the country. At most, it serves as a smoke bomb for his escape.

Although the planning is complicated, it is very meaningful.

Don't underestimate Yuan Shikai's ability. At this time, it is not an exaggeration to say that he can cover the sky with one hand.

Li Yuanhong also thought about escaping from Beijing, and contacted the counselor of the Japanese Embassy for help, so that he could leave Beijing by getting himself on a US military vehicle in Dongjiaominxiang.

But even such a careful plan failed.

——Director Wu Bingxiang of the Capital Police Department is really a powerful character.

After dinner, Cai E returned to Yunjiban again, while Li Yu took the bus home.

When I arrived at the door of my house, I saw Li Yuanhong smiling.

"Vice President." Li Yu greeted.

Li Yuanhong said: "We will be neighbors from now on."

"You also moved to Dongchang Hutong?"

"What, not welcome?" Li Yuanhong asked.

Li Yu smiled and said: "Welcome, of course."

Li Yuanhong said: "I bought two houses next to the mansion where you live and combined them into one."

Li Yu is very familiar with Dongchang Hutong: "In this way, our two families occupy almost half of Dongchang Hutong."

Li Yuanhong said: "One south and one north are very suitable."

There are hundreds of Li Yuanhong's mansions, which he purchased for 20,000 silver dollars in the name of "Dade Hall".

Li Yu never imagined that Dongchang Hutong, which he accidentally selected back then, would become the focus of the country a year later.

——After Yuan Shikai failed to proclaim himself emperor, Li Yuanhong was elected as the new president. He took office at his residence in Dongchang Hutong.

Because Yuan Shikai had just died at that time, and the Yuan family was attending funerals at the Presidential Palace.

At that time, the five-color flag will suddenly be raised in this ordinary small alley, and many government officials will gather here.

Li Yuanhong pondered again and said: "It's just that the name of 'Dongchang Hutong' is not good-sounding. In recent years, under the leadership of Mayor Zhu, we have renovated the names of more than 3,000 alleys in the capital. Those with the same name or confusing ones have to be changed. I wonder if Dongchang Hutong will change.”

This matter has been promoted since the early years of the Republic of China. The main purpose is to change the name of the Hu from "vulgar" to more elegant. For example, "stinky water pit" became "Cuihua Bay"; "dog tail" became "Gao Yibo"; "pig tail" became "Zhi Yibo"; "pot cavity" became "Guo Yibo". "Strong"; "Tofu" became "Duofu"; "Donkey City" became "Lishi" and so on.

What's more interesting is that Duan Qirui later came to power and lived in Jizhao Hutong. He thought the name was not nice, so he changed it to Ji Zhao Hutong.

But it didn't seem to bring much good omen, and it wasn't long before the Duan Qirui government caused the March 18th tragedy.

Lu Xun once sarcastically wrote in an article: "Once you become successful, have your family tree compiled, and have an elegant name, you will of course not be willing to live in an indecent place and speak in an indecent manner."

Li Yu said: "There is nothing unpleasant about Dongchang, just use it as a warning."

Li Yuanhong nodded: "The idea of ​​sparing talents makes sense. Although Dongchang's behavior is abominable, the supervision system cannot be neglected."

Two days later, Li Yuanhong's new home was fully arranged and he invited Li Yu to be a guest.

Also coming was Beijing Mayor Zhu Qiqian.

Strictly speaking, during the Beiyang Government, the mayor of Beijing should be called the director of the Kyoto Municipal Office.

Due to its special status, Beijing had three management agencies before the Republic of China:

The capital area within the city walls;
Daxing and Wanping are two capital counties;
There are also two Shuntian Prefectures above Jing County.

The most important area is naturally the capital area within the city wall. During the Qing Dynasty, the south city and the north city were managed separately, and each was divided into five districts. They were governed by five censors who patrolled the city, and there were also infantry command yamen (nine gate admirals).

It’s pretty messy anyway.

After the Republic of China, it was simply changed to the Kyoto Municipal Office + the Kyoto Police Department for management.

Everyone got to know each other. After sitting down, Li Yuanhong said: "I was chatting with General Manager Zhu yesterday and mentioned the tram business that was to be launched two years ago. At that time, a loan contract was signed with the French Industrial Bank to build trams in the capital, but there was no Thinking of the Europeans starting a fight among themselves, the matter can only be shelved."

Historically, Beijing trams were delayed from 1913 to 1921 before the tram company was established. The first line was opened three years later.

Zhu Qiqian said: "Shanghai and Tianjin have trams, but there are none in Beijing, which is really out of date. Last year, Shanghai industrialist Yu Qiaqing wanted to establish the Beijing Huashang Tram Company, but failed. After research, I thought that my personal strength was not enough to undertake such a major project. So I want to implement it in a way where the government comes forward and provides half of the money, and then the private sector raises half of the money.”

Li Yu said: "Mayor Zhu's plan is very feasible."

Zhu Qiqian continued: "The start-up capital is 400 million yuan, and private financing is 200 million yuan. Now there is only one private bank in the whole north, the Salt Bank, and we need to use the Salt Bank to issue stocks."

Li Yu said: "Trams are a super fat piece of meat. It should not be difficult to raise funds. It is a good time to take this opportunity to establish a tram company that is completely independent of foreign operations. I agree."

Zhu Qiqian emphasized: "In addition, when the shares are issued, you must inform me in advance."

"All right."

Li Yu was a little reluctant.

This is typical top-level inside information. There must be big businessmen, entrepreneurs, and officials preparing funds in advance to buy it. Ordinary merchants or residents basically have no chance.

At that time, these stocks were required to be sold publicly within half a month. However, the sale was suddenly suspended on the day because it had been purchased in advance by those rich and powerful people through various channels.

After several transactions, most of it fell into the hands of Salt Bank and Jincheng Bank, and the two banks became the largest shareholders of the tram company.

The Beijing General Chamber of Commerce was very angry about this, because according to company regulations, the tram company must fully consider the opinions of Beijing citizens in the decision-making process, and Beijing citizens should hold half of the shares, but in fact it is almost zero.

They fought several times, but to no avail.

It was difficult for Li Yu to change the corruption problem, so he could only let it go and start the tram company as soon as possible.