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

Chapter 616 Foundation Laying
Li Yu originally wanted to stay in Shanghai for a while, but the arrival of two Americans forced him to leave for the capital with them.

One of them is Gu Lin, the former U.S. Consul General in Hankou, who currently serves as the director of the Rockefeller Foundation Medical Society in China and is the top person in charge of the Rockefeller Foundation in China.

The other is Harry Hussey, chief architect of Union Medical College.

Li Yu picked up the two of them and headed north to the capital together.

"So, you have finally decided on the overall design plan?" Li Yu asked on the road.

"Yes," Hussey said, "Coolidge's plan was rejected before, and I resubmitted a new plan with a budget reduced by two-thirds."

Li Yu asked: "What is the budget of the original plan?"

"The documents Coolidge submitted to the foundation showed that a minimum of $300 million was needed," Hussey said. "You know, not even the top hospitals in the United States can reach this kind of cost."

Li Yu said: "It's normal for ocean shipping to have to consider shipping costs."

This Coolidge is not the president of the United States, he just has the same name.

Coolidge is one of the top architects in the United States and has extensive experience in designing medical schools. He designed the Harvard Medical School and the Rockefeller Medical School Research Institute buildings in New York.

It’s just that Coolidge was too honest and the budget he gave scared the foundation’s senior management.

——In fact, the final total construction cost has far exceeded US$300 million, reaching US$750 million. It was almost the most expensive medical school investment project in the world at this time, and it was only the construction part.

After the foundation re-selected Hussey, he cleverly submitted a new proposal requiring "only" US$100 million and was selected by the foundation.

At first glance, this old man seems to be quite tactful: don’t scare the owner away when you come up, attract him first, and then slowly increase the budget during the construction process. By then, he has already spent so much money, so naturally he is willing to spend more. .

It's very similar to the engineering visa in civil construction in later generations. (When a construction company accepts a job, it follows the bidding and loses 100% to death. Making money depends on the visa. The visa is sporadic projects outside the contract, but in the end it must be included in the project Settlement in progress.)
Gu Lin has been a diplomat for many years and understands the truth. "Let's start the project. We have trouble communicating with New York, and all the time is wasted. I wrote a letter to the headquarters. According to the normal process, I have to wait for two days. It takes months to get a reply.”

"Where can I send the telegram?" Li Yu asked.

Gu Lin said: "There are too many things in the project and they are too detailed. Even if we only talk about big things, the telegram is so short that we often can't explain them clearly."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Then just ask for money."

"That's the only way," Gu Lin said, "We bought the Peking Union Medical College a few years ago, and we just bought the Prince Yu's Mansion. The two pieces of land are almost 150 acres. The project must start."

Prince Yu is a branch of Duduo and one of the iron hat kings. The current Prince Yu Duanzhen is very young, only six or seven years old.

Prince Yu was the first member of the royal family to sell his palace, selling it to the Rockefeller Foundation for US$12.5.

Other descendants of King Yu's branch did not agree with the deal, but it was a done deal. Duan Zhen, the last generation of King Yu, had moved to Dongsi Hutong and started living and drinking with huge sums of money.

When Duan Zhen grew up, he sold a gold seal kept by Prince Yu's Mansion. The bank cut the gold seal on the spot, and the inside was full of pure gold.

Anyway, most members of the royal family are like this. The wealth of their ancestors was basically squandered during the Republic of China.

Li Yu said: "The level of Prince Yu's Mansion is not low. It is best to make good use of the original layout and build it in a style that combines Chinese and Western styles."

Hussey said: "That's what the previous designer Coolidge said, but such a plan will definitely cost money. Fortunately, after seeing the photos sent back, Mr. Rockefeller liked the Chinese style very much and agreed with the plan of combining Chinese and Western styles."

Gu Lin said: "Mr. Li Yu, Mr. Rockefeller wants me to discuss one more thing with you, which is the name of the new medical school. Previously, Harvard President Eliot strongly suggested that the name must be chosen with reference to Chinese intellectuals like you. Elite.”

Li Yu asked casually: "What are your plans?"

Gu Lin said: "According to our American habits, the new school must be named after the founder or investor, and it must be called Rockefeller Medical School."

Li Yu shook his head: "This kind of name is too unlocal, and many Chinese people don't know Rockefeller. They only know that there is an oil king in the United States and the kerosene they use. If this name is used, it is estimated that quite a few Chinese people will know it." Think of it as a school for kerosene lamps."

"Kerosene?" Gu Lin said awkwardly, "Such an idea is too low-grade. We are a prestigious medical school."

"So, let's just use the original name Xiehe," Li Yu said. "Chinese people like naming with ancient style and connotation; and Chinese culture is relatively restrained and moderate, and it is rare to use names to name something."

"I accept your suggestion, and I believe the foundation will listen to it," Gu Lin said.

After arriving in the capital, Gu Lin immediately organized a foundation laying meeting for the Concord Building Complex and invited the mayor Zhu Qiqian.

Zhu Qiqian distributed a shovel to each person, "Everyone, the first shovel of soil means safety. Let's do it together."

Gu Lin shoveled it decently, and then said: "Mayor Zhu, have you recruited all the workers?"

Zhu Qiqian said: "I just printed a notice in the newspaper that the Oil King's Mansion was recruiting workers in the morning, and in the afternoon the door was crowded with people."

"Prince You's Mansion?" Gu Lin wondered.

Zhu Qiqian smiled and explained: "This is a private name among ordinary people. It comes from Mr. Rockefeller's Mobil Oil Company and their kerosene lamps."

Architect Hussey then unfolded his drawings: "Mr. Mayor, this is the general plan. There are about 50 buildings. When completed, it will be the best medical school in the Far East."

"50 buildings, so many?" Zhu Qiqian, who also knows a lot about architecture, continued, "I hope we won't build a small foreign city. We should at least learn the roof style of Chinese architecture, which is the essence of Chinese architecture."

Hu Sai has obviously studied some classical Chinese architectural styles: "Dougong? To be honest, I don't know much about this shape."

Li Yu immediately gave him advice: "There are aristocratic families who specialize in royal buildings living in the capital. It's better to invite them here."

Hussey welcomed this proposal: "Mr. Rockefeller said in a recent telegram that he hopes to form an architectural style like the Chinese palace. It would be better to invite a royal designer."

Zhu Qiqian said: "Mr. Hu Sai, let me state in advance that the cost of royal buildings will be very high. This is not an ordinary Chinese style."

Gu Lin took out the telegram: "It says above that no expense will be spared."

Zhu Qiqian asked in surprise: "With such a general and simple sentence, you can make a decision?" Gu Lin spread his hands and said: "We can't invite Mr. Rockefeller to come and see it on the spot. As long as the results are satisfactory, it is enough."

Zhu Qiuqun said nothing more, after all, they were the ones who paid for it.

The Lowe Foundation is incredibly crazy. Not only is the main building willing to spend money, but the internal facilities also strive to reach the most advanced standards. From the wards, classrooms to laboratories, they are all equipped with the most sophisticated Western-style equipment. Even water pipes, door locks, and flush toilets are all shipped from the United States.

Zhu Qiqian said: "Fortunately, you chose Prince Yu's Mansion. The brick walls here are of excellent quality and in sufficient quantity. If you want to build a traditional Chinese palace style, you can use these bricks directly. At least they will be enough for the outer wall."

Hussey asked: "Why can't new bricks be fired?"

"It seems that you still don't understand how expensive royal buildings are," Zhu Qiqian said. "Every brick inside uses special craftsmanship. It may be difficult to find craftsmen who can bake bricks for royal use."

Hu Sai marveled: "The Chinese royal family is really the most enjoyable thing for me to see."

The walls of Prince Yu's Mansion are very high. The fourth generation King of Yu during the Qianlong period once played chess with the emperor. Once they were tied, Qianlong said to King Yu: "I will not reward you, nor will I pick out your doornails. So be it, I will allow the wall of your house to be raised three feet." !”

The height of the courtyard wall in traditional architecture is one of the symbols of rank. Allowing the height of the palace wall is actually a reward for glory.

From this, the proverb "The room of Prince Yu's Mansion is the wall of Prince Yu's Mansion" has been left in the city of Beijing.

Zhu Qiqian said: "We can't find workers who make wall and floor tiles, but we can hire craftsmen who have worked in the palace before, reopen the official kiln to make glazed tiles, and use green glazed tiles."

Hussey heard that this question was crucial. The color of the exterior wall was originally an important reflection of the architectural style: "Green roof? I rarely see it."

Zhu Qiqian said: "Green glazed tiles are second only to yellow, which can only be used by emperors. Only princes or top officials can use them."

At this time, people did not have the concept of cuckoldry, and green hair was considered a very noble thing.

Hussey wrote down these important messages in his notebook: "I hope to continue to communicate the specific details after meeting the royal designer you mentioned."

Zhu Qiqian said: "In addition, if you want to emphasize the Chinese style inside, I can also hire a master who has painted gallery paintings in the Qing Palace and the Summer Palace, but the price will be higher, and the painting will cost at least 5 silver coins per foot."

Gu Lin waved his hand: "It's not expensive! You must use it!"

At this time, the United States had begun to gradually experience the wartime prosperity of the First World War. Britain and France had become increasingly struggling since the Battle of Verdun in February this year.

Verdun was not originally a strategic focus, but within a few months it was almost a decisive battle.

Because France was under great pressure and could no longer lose any more territory, the French army invested more than 60% of its total strength in Verdun. The newly appointed commander was a staunch attacker, and the battle suffered heavy casualties from the beginning.

The British were preparing for the upcoming Battle of the Somme. From the beginning, the British and French coalition envisioned launching an offensive on the Somme.

Verdun was an "accident", instigated by the Germans.

Anyway, Britain and France both emptied their national treasuries and could only sell government bonds like crazy on Wall Street. Americans are making a lot of money, and the most important thing they don't need is money.

The war also had a considerable impact on the construction of Concorde, mainly due to soaring prices, inflation and exchange rates. The exchange rate alone resulted in a loss of more than 170 million US dollars. And freight prices were higher during the war than at any other time.

Peking Union Medical College's eventual excessive expenditure forced the Rockefeller Foundation to abandon its original plan to build a medical school in Shanghai, even though the land for the Shanghai campus had been purchased.

They really couldn't afford that much money. In the next thirty years, a total of US$4500 million was spent on the establishment and operation of Union Medical College, which was the largest sum among the Rockefeller Foundation's individual projects.

——Don’t be too grateful to the United States. Like the Gengzi refund, there are profound political considerations behind it. The United States is so willing to spend money as an investment. It hopes that China will become as pro-American as possible so that the United States can gain greater benefits in the future.

In fact, they should actually do it.

Including the aid to Europe after World War II, they are all successful long-term political strategies that are rare in the United States.

Regarding the medical school, not to mention that the building alone cost more than 700 million US dollars, which was definitely a sky-high price at the beginning of the 25th century. However, the design scale of Union Medical College was very small: it was designed to enroll 50 students per year. meet the need to recruit people in the future.

The school strictly implements the policies of Johns Hopkins Medical School, and its student assessment is almost the most stringent in the world.

第一批考入预科的有21人，8年后毕业时只有10人，其中仅有4名是原来21名中的成员，其他6名则为插班生和上级班降下来的。

The training standards for students are naturally the highest, and the supporting Union Hospital has more than 200 teaching beds. Judging from the number of beds and students, the building scale and teaching conditions are extremely superior, which can ensure the quality of clinical teaching.

As a "blank piece of paper" built from scratch, Union Medical College is in many ways closer to the ideals of early Rockefeller Foundation experts than Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Li Yu looked at the dozens of camels used as transportation vehicles on the construction site, hoping that it would be built soon.

-

A few days after returning from the Xiehe construction site, Comrade Lao Yuan died of uremia and excessive depression caused by bladder stones.

Yuan Shikai was very face-conscious, and he was very taboo about the parts of his disease. He could not face the doctor. He avoided medical treatment for some diseases, which delayed his condition to some extent.

Not long ago, he had just learned the custom of formulating preferential treatment for abdication for the Qing Dynasty, and asked Duan Qirui to draw up a preferential treatment for abdication. The content was very simple, that is, he hoped that his past would no longer be investigated and he would not care about good things. Bad things; then assets will not be confiscated, freedom and due respect will be given, and an annual fee of 100,000 yuan will be given.

The terms were easy to accept, but he died before Congress could approve them.

This actually gave Duan Qirui and others the best situation to handle.

By the way, it is worth mentioning that after Yuan Shikai's death, Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, and Zhang Zhenfang immediately opened the Golden Chamber and Stone House.

——This is the stipulation in the "Presidential Election Law" promulgated by Yuan Shikai when he controlled the presidential election at that time: The current president shall recommend three presidential successors, and their names shall be written in advance on Jiahe gold slips and hidden in the gold cabinet and stone room.

The four of them saw the nomination of successors left by Yuan Shikai on the gold slips, and they saw that it was written in his own handwriting: Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui, Xu Shichang.

Yuan Shikai had previously told Feng Guozhang that neither of his sons was suitable to be emperor, but he might not have really lied to him.

There is also poor Mr. Yuan, who wants to be the crown prince, but even his father doesn’t agree.