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

Chapter 624 Fluorescent Lamp

After the Beiyang government declared war on Germany, Li Yu took over the entire pharmaceutical industry, with Tang Shaoyi and Liang Qichao helping a lot.

Tang Shaoyi doesn't have any official position at the moment, so she is simply light-hearted.

Liang Qichao discovered that he was taking over the hottest potato after becoming the Minister of Finance of the Beiyang Government.

Throughout the Republic of China, finances were in a mess. In this position, if you want to do something, there is no way, you can only line your own pockets.

Later Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi were typical representatives. Among the four major families, the Song family is very powerful, but Song Ziwen is not greedy, or in other words, he no longer needs to be greedy. Song Ziwen also knew economics very well, which made it difficult for him and Chiang Kai-shek to deal with him, because Chiang Kai-shek always gave him "difficulties", which led to Song Ziwen's resignation several times.

There is no need to say what Kong Xiangxi did after taking over Song Ziwen's job.

Liang Qichao wanted to do something. After taking office, he found an opportunity: since the Beiyang government declared war on Germany, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally did not need to pay back the Boxer Indemnity. Allied countries such as Britain and France also agreed to defer payment for five years, thus saving more than 13 million silver dollars each year.

In other words, the Beiyang government has gained more than 13 million yuan in fiscal revenue every year (the European banking group controls salt taxes and customs duties, which can indeed be said to be revenue).

Liang Qichao wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to carry out currency reform. But, this can't be done at all.

What's even more distressing is that after reducing or exempting compensation, the Beiyang government's finances are still tight and it still needs to borrow money.

Regarding borrowing money, Liang Qichao knew that he could not be tied to the Japanese tree. Moreover, Japan is so heavily dependent on China's market. If Japan were to control China's finances, the consequences would be disastrous.

Therefore, in addition to borrowing money from Japan, Liang Qichao has always wanted to find other ways to borrow money. In the past, there were options such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands, but now they are in a mess and have no money to lend to the Beiyang government.

We can only find a solution in the United States.

Historically, Liang Qichao rushed to the United States to try to persuade the United States, which had stopped lending to China for many years, to rejoin the banking syndicate.

Liang Qichao knew that Li Yu had a good relationship with the United States. The key was to have direct dealings with large companies. Even if the U.S. Treasury Department does not borrow money, big businessmen are willing to contribute money. At this time, the words of the chaebol are very weighty.

At Li Yu's home, Liang Qichao came to ask for a few boxes of aspirin. He took these small bottles and said, "My sleep has become worse and worse recently, and my energy has begun to decline. It's really strange."

"It was caused by pursuing an official career." Li Yu said.

Liang Qichao had a deep understanding and said bitterly: "I always thought that it was not difficult to do finance. Only when I actually do it do I know what it's like."

Li Yu asked: "Is the current director of education still Fan Yuanlian?"

"It's him." Liang Qichao said.

Li Yu took out a letter: "Please pass it on to Mr. Ren."

"what's the matter?"

Li Yu said: "The Beiyang government declared war on Germany, so the French Concession in Shanghai publicly announced the dissolution of the Tongji Medical and Engineering School on the grounds that it was a German property and to prevent the Germans from using the school's machinery to make weapons, and ordered the teachers and students to leave on the same day. I think this move is too radical and the school can be changed to a Chinese board-run school and moved to Wusong Town.”

Liang Qichao said: "I understand. As the Chief Financial Officer, I will definitely help approve the funds for the new school."

Li Yu cupped his hands and said, "If you have a job, I will serve you."

Many people in this cabinet are from research departments, and their work is relatively reliable. Unfortunately, the duration is very short, only a few months.

After Liang Qichao left, Li Yu returned to his home laboratory to tinker with new patents.

Li Yu's vision has been declining recently, probably due to the weak and dazzling light from incandescent lamps.

He planned to spend some time to come up with fluorescent lamps, which did not have many advantages compared to incandescent lamps.

Fluorescent lamps are one level ahead of incandescent lamps in principle.

Incandescent lamps emit light by heating a filament to a high temperature of about two thousand degrees.

Fluorescent lamps rely on low-pressure mercury vapor to release ultraviolet rays after being energized. Specifically, after the electrons of mercury atoms are excited, they emit ultraviolet rays when they return to the ground state from the excited state. Of course the human eye cannot see ultraviolet rays, but the lamp tube is coated with phosphor, and when ultraviolet rays hit the phosphor on the wall of the lamp tube, visible light is emitted.

Fluorescent lamps consume very little energy, only one-fifth of incandescent lamps - 90% of the energy of incandescent lamps is wasted as heat.

At the same time, the life of fluorescent lamps is also very long. After all, incandescent lamp filaments need to be heated to more than 2,000 degrees, and no material can withstand such a long period of heat.

Li Yu plans to apply for the patent first. Some of the components may need to be produced by companies such as General Motors, such as starters. At that time, a branch factory can be opened in China. Anyway, the technical difficulty of this thing is not that big.

Once the fluorescent lamp is invented, it will definitely make a lot of money.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the power supply was tight, and many people were reluctant to turn on the lights in order to save electricity. If they could save so much on electricity bills, the lamps would not break easily, and consumers would foot the bill 100%.

Especially in China, the installed capacity of a large power plant is only a few tens of thousands of kilowatts, which is not as good as an ordinary township enterprise in later generations. It is not enough.

By the way, Edison also patented fluorescent lamps many years ago, but he went in the wrong direction and always used X-rays instead of ultraviolet rays, so he failed.

Li Yu knew that Edison had a way of getting patents, and he just happened to bypass his patents...

-

A few days later, there was a knock on Li Yu's door again. When he opened the door, he was met by Hu Shi.

"Mr. Academician, I'm sorry to bother you!" Hu Shi said, then introduced the person behind him, "This is my fellow countryman and Columbia University classmate, Tao Xingzhi."

Li Yu said happily: "Hello everyone! Come in quickly."

Tao Xingzhi and Hu Shi both studied under Dewey at Columbia University, but their life trajectories were very different.

Hu Shi has always maintained a Western style and mainly dealt with celebrities.

Tao Xingzhi was different. His ideal was to popularize education, focusing on grassroots and peasant education.

Although both are important, Li Yu still admires Mr. Tao Xingzhi more. He is really dedicated to education.

But for some reason, Tao Xingzhi's reputation is much smaller than that of Hu Shi.

"Are you two coming from Shanghai?" Li Yu asked.

Tao Xingzhi said: "Yes, Mr. Academician, I have just been in Shanghai for less than ten days, so he invited me to go north with him."

"After many years abroad, how does it feel to come back?" Li Yu asked again.

Tao Xingzhi said: "I returned to China a few months later than Shi Zhi. When the ship arrived in Yokohama, Japan, I suddenly heard the news of Zhang Xun's restoration. Fortunately, it was suppressed within a few days. Then I went to Shanghai to inspect When I visited Shanghai, I saw people everywhere who were illiterate, so I became interested in education rather than career."

"Not just the surrounding areas, even Shanghai, how much better can the lifeless cultural world be?" Hu Shi said, "China has not conducted itself in a scientific spirit, which is why it has become inferior to others. Peking University sent me a letter of appointment. Let me be a teacher. I want to change the situation. From now on, there will no longer be a bunch of teenagers following old teachers to dig into old papers. This is the saddest situation!" When I was studying in the United States, I changed my mind after only studying engineering for half a year! Hu Shi studied liberal arts, but Hu Shi always admired science, but he was not a scientist. He has said more than once that studying natural science is a "way to survive" and studying old papers is a "way to death".

Nowadays, many old academics at Peking University are still persisting in digging into the pile of old papers. This is what Cai Yuanpei tries to change by introducing new people.

Tao Xingzhi said with a smile: "I remember when I was at Columbia, Shi Zhi said that he would not talk about politics for twenty years. It seems that he wants to work hard on culture."

Hu Shi said: "The foundation of political innovation is cultural innovation, otherwise it will be a castle in the air."

Li Yu said: "You sound confident."

Hu Shi took out a portable diary, pointed to the latest line and said: "This came to my mind when I was going north."

The diary is written in English: "You shall know the difference now that we are back again."

Li Yu knew this line, which translated into Chinese was "Now that we are back, please see what happens" (Hu Shi later translated it as "Now that we are back, please see, we are going to change!"), but Li Yu didn't know the source. .

Tao Xingzhi knew: "Homer's epic?"

"Yes, it comes from Chapter 18 of "The Iliad". It explains my mission," Hu Shi said. "When I was in Shanghai, I didn't see anything new. I went to a big stage in Shanghai, and it was still the same. Old actors. This big stage is like a microcosm of China. The signboard is new, the house is new, the seats and scenery are new, but the actors are still the same old actors and actresses.”

Tao Xingzhi said: "I wish my brother Shi to become a new face at Peking University and sweep away the turmoil in the literary world."

Hu Shi said confidently: "I must make those 'Tongcheng monsters and literary anthology fallacies' realize the power of literary revolution."

"Tongcheng monster, literary anthology fallacy" is a saying used in the vernacular movement to depreciate classical Chinese, first used by Qian Xuantong.

Qian Xuantong has always been very radical in the vernacular movement. In fact, he wrote classical Chinese very well, not inferior to the Tongcheng school, but he firmly supported vernacular Chinese.

In "New Youth", Chen Zhongfu, Hu Shi, and Qian Xuantong directly targeted the old literature, calling Gui Youguang and others of the Tongcheng School "Eighteen Demons", and strongly criticized the Tongcheng and Wenxuan schools.

"Tongcheng is a fallacy, and studying is a monster" has become a consensus among people. These two slogans were very popular because they pointed out the target of the literary revolution, and the role they played is self-evident.

Li Yu said with a smile: "The literary world is really like the Colosseum, it's so exciting! I don't have such intense scenes here. Most supporters of Confucianism send a few irrelevant criticisms of science, and I'm too lazy to reply."

Tao Xingzhi sighed: "These Confucian elements are completely ruining the reputation of Master Confucius."

"Just defeat them all!" Hu Shi said. "I have long expected that there will be people who do not know what is right and wrong. We must be resolute in fighting them."

Hu Shi's determination was really not small, and he wrote a poem "Qinyuan Chun·Oath": "There is no doubt about the literary revolution! And prepare to be an athlete. We must go forward through the ages, open up hundreds of generations, accept his stinking rot, and give it back to me." Miraculous, create new literature for Greater China. Who do I want to leave to you?”

Hu Shi wanted to bring Tao Xingzhi with him: "Xingzhi, you should also come to Peking University. When you were at Columbia University, Professor Dewey even thought more highly of you than I did."

"Can't everyone get together? I'd better go back to the south," Tao Xingzhi declined politely. "When I come to the capital this time, I have one more thing to do. I want to talk to Principal Cai about the specific details of establishing the China Education Improvement Association."

The Chinese Education Improvement Society established by Tao Xingzhi and Cai Yuanpei was mainly to oppose imperialist cultural aggression, collect educational rights, and promote educational improvement.

——Quite prescient. Except for time travelers like Li Yu, there are only a handful of people who can see this.

Unlike some people, they do not shut themselves up and reject foreign cultures; nor do they lose themselves and just follow the lead of Western civilization.

Li Yuliu and the two had a meal, and then they headed to Peking University together.

-

The recent "New Youth" magazine has increasingly clearly advocated the two banners of "science and democracy" and mentioned Li Yu's name from time to time.

After reading the last few issues, Li Yu always felt a bit uninterested, and finally couldn't help but come to Bu Shu Bookstore next to the Shaoxing Guild Hall in the southern half of the alley outside Xuanwu Gate.

This is the residence of the Zhou brothers.

There was originally a large neem tree in the courtyard, but it was blown down by the wind, and a locust tree was replanted, hence the name "Replanting Bookstore". Lu Xun later said in "The Scream: Preface": "According to legend, a woman was hanged to death on a locust tree in the yard in the past. Now the locust tree has become unreachable, and no one lives in this house."

"Brother Zhou," Li Yu said as he entered, "I brought you two good cigarettes."

Lu Xun was surprised: "Mr. Li Yu, why are you here?"

"Can't I come?" Li Yu said, and then looked into the room, "Is your brother not here?"

Lu Xun said: "He was recruited by Peking University to teach the history of European literature and the history of Roman literature, and he happened to have a class today."

Zhou Zuoren goes to Peking University for three hours of classes every week and earns a monthly salary of NT$240.

Li Yu put "New Youth" on the table: "You should have read it. Although they advocate vernacular literature, they haven't produced many decent vernacular literature."

"Indeed," Lu Xun said, "most of them are not as good as Mr. Academician's Star Wars and Aliens."

"That's not serious literature, it's purely entertainment fiction," Li Yu said, then asked, "Are you still copying ancient scriptures?"

Lu Xun nodded: "Yes."

Li Yu asked: "What's the use of copying those?"

"It's of no use." Lu Xun said.

"Then what's the point of copying it?"

"It's not interesting."

Lu Xun's answer was very Lu Xun.

Li Yu immediately said: "So, you can write some articles yourself."

Lu Xun lit a Zhonghua brand cigarette that Li Yu had brought, took a deep sip, and said: "Suppose an iron house has no windows and is extremely difficult to destroy. There are many sleeping people inside, and soon all will be destroyed." I am suffocated to death, but I don't feel the sorrow of death when I go from sleep to death. Now if I wake up a few people and make them suffer irreparable death pain, is this worthy of them?"

Li Yu said: "You can think more positively. Since a few people have risen up, it cannot be said that there is no hope of destroying the iron house. What is missing now is the sound of shouting."

Lu Xun had been working in the Ministry of Education of the Beiyang Government for five or six years, and he was somewhat suspected of dawdling. He took another strong drag on his cigarette and said, "Okay, I'll give it a try, but I just don't know what to write. Don't submit it to no avail."

This was not his first time writing in vernacular, but it was his first time writing in vernacular. He didn’t know what the effect would be.

Li Yu took out another box, "There are fine Parker pens and inks inside, for Brother Lu...Shu Ren."

Lu Xun glanced at the cigarette in his hand: "I think this is the best."