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

Chapter 605: Scolding
"Boom boom boom!"

There was a knock on the door.

"Please come in." Yuan Shikai said.

Cao Rulin walked in and said, "President, the British Minister Mr. Zhu Erdian is here."

Yuan Shikai said: "Let him come in."

In order to appear more energetic in front of the British minister, Yuan Shikai got up and washed his face.

He is not very mobile, but it is not because of the "foot disease" that the Qing government gave him when he was laid off, but because of a more terrifying disease: bladder stones.

For the 21st century, bladder stones are not a serious disease, and there are many ways to remove them. But it was very troublesome at the beginning of the twentieth century, such as secondary diseases: uremia.

Yuan Shikai eventually died of uremia.

"Dear President," Julius greeted politely, and then said, "In view of our many years of personal relations, I would like to tell you again in an informal way that it is best not to choose to proclaim emperor. Japanese Foreign Minister Ishii Kikujiro told him not long ago British Minister to Japan, in the south of your country, the propaganda against the president is constantly expanding. You should know how terrible the intelligence and spy network Japan has, and their information is very accurate. Japan has judged that if it tries to restore the monarchy, it will surely An uprising breaks out. We have invested heavily in China and will inevitably suffer huge losses. And for the president himself, the damage will be even greater. Therefore, Foreign Minister Ishii Kikujiro hopes to advise you to abandon the imperial system."

Yuan Shikai and Zhu Erdian had a good personal relationship and had cooperated for many years. When Yuan Shikai was demoted to his hometown in Henan and returned to his original position, Zhu Erdian stood on the same front as Yuan Shikai and helped a lot.

But at this time, Yuan Shikai seemed to really want to go all the way to the dark side, and it was useless for anyone to say anything. He took out a document submitted by Xin Ci, the German minister to China, and said to Zhu Erdian: "The German minister clearly expressed his support for the restoration of the imperial system."

"Oh my God! Germany!" Zhu Erdian looked at Yuan Shikai in disbelief, "President, have you forgotten that our British Empire, Japan, the French Republic, and the Russian Empire have all declared war on Germany?"

His words are clear, you can either remain neutral or take our side.

Germany has completely ruined its overseas colonies. It can do whatever it wants. There is absolutely no reason to listen to Germany.

Yuan Shikai asked: "If I choose to join the Allied camp, will you provide me with support?"

Zhu Erdian said: "It depends on your plan. The European battlefield has developed in a direction that is beneficial to us. If you side with Germany, you can imagine the situation after they fail."

Yuan Shikai asked: "Minister Zhu Erdian, are you so sure?"

Zhu Erdian said: "Germany has been blocked by the Allied Powers, and we are also seeking the United States to join the war. At least one thing is certain, the United States will not choose to help Germany."

Yuan Shikai must understand the truth behind it. The United States and the Allied Powers have long been deeply bound. If the Allied Powers lose, what will happen to the tens of billions of debts issued by Wall Street? Who will repay it?
However, in order to strive for favorable diplomatic conditions, Yuan Shikai deliberately said: "But the German military is strong, and the two-front battle is not at a disadvantage now."

Zhu Erdian said: "Fighting on two fronts is a wrong move. They will eventually be unable to hold on after several years of continuous fighting."

Li Yuting hoped that the Beiyang government would declare war on Germany as soon as possible, so that he could take over the German factories in advance...

So he added some fuel to the fire: "According to information from suppliers, it is vaguely speculated that Britain at least has secret weapons that can make the army's combat effectiveness more powerful."

Before Yuan Shikai could ask, Zhu Erdian was very curious: "The military's information is very tightly sealed. Even I don't know many things. How can Mr. Academician guess it through clues?"

Li Yu laughed and said: "It's all speculation based on existing public information. I even added some fantasy."

Zhu Erdian said: "I would like to hear the details."

Li Yu said: "I have a patent for full car body coverage in the United States. Not long ago, an executive from an American company sent me a telegram saying that someone from the British Admiralty came to inquire about some details of this patent. Then I suddenly thought, what if Build an armored vehicle covered with iron sheets, use excavation equipment for its tracks, drill a few shooting holes, and install rapid-fire cannons and Maxim machine guns. It will definitely be able to penetrate the most troublesome barbed wire fences and trenches on the European battlefield."

Zhu Erdian opened his mouth wide: "What a genius idea! After returning to the embassy today, I will contact the country and submit this idea."

Li Yu shrugged: "Maybe the Navy has been studying it for a long time. I just made a science fantasy."

This kind of military secret can only be said as a guess. Until the tank takes to the battlefield, a large number of senior frontline generals do not know the existence of this thing.

The majestic King of Land War tank is currently being studied by the British Admiralty.

Colonel Ernest Swinton, the father of the tank, had conducted in-depth research on the Russo-Japanese War very early on and had a thorough understanding of the power of machine guns. Later, he happened to be very familiar with the crawler agricultural tractor invented by the American Holt. I was interested, and naturally came up with an idea: using a crawler tractor as the chassis, mounting a small rapid-fire gun, and then using steel plates to protect the driver and shooter, destroying the enemy's machine gun positions at close range.

However, after his plan was sent to the British Military Department, neither the Prime Minister nor the War Department was interested. Somehow, Lord Admiralty Churchill found out. Churchill personally went to the Minister of War and the Prime Minister, but they still rejected it. There was no other way, so Churchill began to study this land warfare weapon in his Admiralty.

In order to prevent the War Department from saying that he was meddling in other people's business, Churchill named the project "Land and Ship Commission" (still classifying the tank as a "ship"). However, because he could not get the cooperation of the Army, he could not get actual combat results. The research was not going well with the required data.

Zhu Erdian said: "President, Mr. Li Yu has received the highest academician title in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan. With his knowledge, his judgment must be very accurate."

He took the opportunity to continue to persuade Yuan Shikai to side with them.

The entire European battlefield in 1915 was actually very stalemate, and everyone was accumulating strength to prepare for the decisive battle next year.

Britain can't control that much, it just hopes that as many countries as possible will join the Allied camp and fight a war on the winner's doorstep.

Yuan Shikai discussed with Cao Rulin for a while and said to Zhu Erdian: "I can join the Allied camp, but there are three conditions."

——If we don’t discuss conditions now, it will be difficult later.

Sure enough, Zhu Erdian replied: "If it is not particularly excessive, I will fully agree to it on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Yuan Shikai said: "First, the Allied camp must ensure that our country will not be retaliated by Germany in the future; second, ensure that we occupy the German and Austrian concessions in Tianjin and Hankou; third, arrange the extradition of political prisoners from Shanghai."

Yuan Shikai's timing was good. After hearing these three reasonable conditions, Zhu Erdian immediately said: "No problem! I will submit these conditions to the Japanese minister, and both of you will join the Allied camp."

Zhu Erdian obviously still wanted to give Japan a favor. Although the United Kingdom was now a little annoyed that Japan was relying on the Anglo-Japanese alliance to expand its power wantonly in the Far East, they had no way to stop it for the time being. Japan has emphasized more than once that it wants to be China's "protectorate". All issues in China, including negotiations with other countries, must obtain Japan's consent. Otherwise, it will forcefully interfere. In other words, China's domestic and foreign affairs have no independent power.

Of course, the top officials of the Beiyang government are all aware of Japan's true thoughts, and it is impossible for Japan to be allowed to act as a so-called "protectorate."

It's just that Germany's statement a little annoyed Britain, France and other countries. Britain and France were more at the mercy of the Japanese and relied on the Japanese to put pressure on the Beiyang government to declare war on Germany.

-

When Li Yu walked out of the presidential palace, the informal diplomatic meeting he encountered inadvertently made him feel firsthand the diplomatic decline of the Beiyang government.

I really feel a sense of powerlessness for diplomats such as Gu Weijun. Without hard power, it is really difficult to fight for anything at the negotiation table.

The next day, Li Yu came to Peking University to give a lecture as usual. He talked about some basic physics, mostly high school electromagnetic content.

After finishing speaking, Li Yu bumped into Gu Hongming in the faculty and staff office building.

"Academician Li, I heard that you went to the Presidential Palace?" Gu Hongming stopped Li Yu and asked.

"Mr. Gu is very well-informed," Li Yu said.

Gu Hongming said angrily: "Is he really bold enough to want restoration?"

Li Yu asked back: "What did you say?"

Gu Hongming knocked on his cane: "He must have such evil intentions! I have long seen that he is a traitor!"

Since many years ago, Gu Hongming has been very at odds with Yuan Shikai. He made up a short story to scold Yuan Shikai:

Once, a Westerner said to Gu Hongming: "All Westerners who come to China, although they have lived in China for a long time, their physique has not changed much, and their shape and appearance are still the same as before. Such people are of a noble species. If Westerners... After arriving in China, I didn’t live long before my physique suddenly changed. I had a big belly, fat head and big ears. This kind of person is a bastard.”

Gu Hongming asked: "Why is this happening?"

The Westerners replied: "In China, the prices of various foods are several times lower than those in the West. Those poor people in the West saw that your food was so cheap, so they ate as much as they wanted. So they Not long after arriving in China, his body shape changed, his belly was as big as a tomb, and he could never return to his previous appearance."

Gu Hongming said: "Our country's Yuan Shikai was a poor scoundrel in the countryside before the Sino-Japanese War. Soon he made a fortune and became a nouveau riche, and his official position became bigger and bigger until he became the Minister of Beiyang. Later he threw away his black gauze hat and returned to his hometown. . But he had money, built houses, bought fields, and lived a life of luxury and lust. How is Yuan Shikai different from the Western bitch you call him? Others say Yuan Shikai is a hero, but I think Yuan Shikai is a bitch. kind."

The scolding was quite explicit.

What's even more troublesome is that Gu Hongming's English is very good. He translated all the words he scolded Yuan Shikai into English and exposed Yuan Shikai to the international press.

Gu Hongming once wrote in an English newspaper: "The supreme ruler of a country must have outstanding moral power in order to win the respect of the people. However, Yuan Shikai is not such a person at all. He first submitted to the revolutionary party, and then used conspiracy and tricks to use the army to The power forced the emperor to abdicate, and finally became the president of the republic. This treacherous behavior shows that he does not even have general moral character, general integrity and sense of responsibility, and he is worse than a thief and a gambler."

As a well-known person in the foreign circle, Yuan Shikai could not easily touch him, but he was very troubled by his remarks.

Yuan Shikai also thought about wooing Gu Hongming. Two years ago, when he had no idea of ​​proclaiming himself emperor, he entrusted Zhang Jian and Tang Shaoyi to recruit Gu Hongming to join them.

They held a banquet in honor of Gu Hongming. During the dinner, the two of them quoted Mencius' words to persuade Gu Hongming: "If a ruler treats his ministers like dogs and horses, then his ministers will regard him as a fellow countryman; if his ministers regard his ministers as dirt, then his ministers will regard him as a bandit."

Gu Hongming immediately retorted: "My life is not like that of others, so I should abandon it at the sight of it. But between the two of you, one is the Minister of Tuji, and the other is the champion of dogs and horses!"

Well, even Zhang Jian and Tang Shaoyi were scolded. After saying that, he threw away his chopsticks and walked away.

Later, Yuan Shikai persevered and asked someone to invite Gu Hongming to be his tutor. He offered a high salary of 500 yuan per month, which was already higher than his salary in college.

The insults against him in the past can be put aside and Gu Hongming is asked to soften his words.

Unexpectedly, Gu Hongming still disdained to surrender to Yuan Shikai and refused this request.

In short, this old man is not only a troublesome person for Yuan Shikai in terms of speech, but openly fights with him in Chinese and English, showing no mercy; but in real life, Gu Hongming also refuses to serve Yuan Shikai.

The hatred between the two is really deep.

The reason is actually easy to understand: because Gu Hongming supported restoration more.

It's just that he was loyal to the Manchu royal family and the young emperor Xuantong Puyi in the Forbidden City.

Therefore, Gu Hongming's rebellion against Yuan was not against the imperial system, but because he wanted to maintain the imperial system. When the time was pushed to 1917, Gu Hongming was naturally involved in a farce of restoration.

Gu Hongming willingly participated in Zhang Xun's restoration. As soon as the "Braid Army" entered Beijing and the restoration was completed, Gu Hongming stubbornly insisted on becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs, but Zhang Xun refused because he felt that Gu Hongming seemed a bit "too new". Later, he was finally made Minister of Foreign Affairs.

But he didn't expect that Zhang Xun's restoration would be faster than Yuan Shikai's, and it would end in just ten days.

A year later, Yuan Shikai, who was suffering from uremia and incurable disease, died in depression amidst the condemnation of the whole country.

Although he was a bit reversing the course of history, the power was in the hands of his old subordinate Duan Qirui. Even though Duan Qirui had a falling out with Yuan Shikai, it was somewhat of a blessing to have the feelings of so many years lingering there.

Therefore, the Beiyang government ordered the whole country to stop all entertainment and mourn for three days.

However, Gu Hongming openly ignored the ban and held a banquet for guests at home to celebrate, which shows his deep hatred for Yuan Shikai.

Perhaps this is not really due to any personal grudge between him and Yuan Shikai, but is still caused by the civilized ideal in Gu Hongming's heart.

Lin Yutang's evaluation of him is appropriate: "Gu wrote foreign texts and preached Confucianism and Taoism, which shocked the whole world. Gu Yiyi is an eccentric person. He enjoys his broad-mindedness and looks down on China and foreign countries, and his sincerity is close to madness."