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

Chapter 626 Callisto

After class, Cai Yuanpei had dinner with Li Yu, Lu Xun, Li Dazhao and others. He originally wanted to invite Gu Hongming, but he obviously didn't want to be with a group of people engaged in the New Culture Movement.

Arriving at the hotel, Li Yu asked: "Hu Shizhi and Mr. Gu don't get along well?"

"It's quite difficult to deal with. They are simply sworn enemies," Cai Yuanpei said with a smile. "A graduate who just returned from studying abroad became a professor. Not only Mr. Gu, but also many older gentlemen cannot accept it."

"What lesson did Shi Zhi teach?" Li Yu asked.

"Chinese philosophy." Cai Yuanpei said.

Hu Shi studied philosophy in the United States, which was his main profession.

"What are the students' evaluations?" Li Yu was a little curious.

Cai Yuanpei said to Li Dazhao: "Shou Chang (Li Dazhao) has many contacts with students, so he should know better."

Li Dazhao said: "Yesterday I heard Fu Sinian, who has the best grades in the Faculty of Liberal Arts, comment that the Mohism class taught by Shi Zhi was not ideal, just like the foreign sinologists teaching Chinese literature. Although some of the ideas were relatively novel, most of them were briefly touched upon without in-depth exploration. , and not very suitable for Chinese people.”

Fu Sinian is a later great historian and is currently studying in the Liberal Arts Department of Peking University.

His grades are quite outstanding and he has been ranked first since he entered school. Moreover, Fu Sinian is quite "big brother". In addition to being good at learning, he is also very strong, good at fighting, and loyal. Many people were willing to follow him when he was a child, and now he is the leader among Peking University students.

"Another student with very good grades, Gu Jiegang, also made similar comments," Li Dazhao continued, "but Fu Sinian had a good overall evaluation of Shi Zhi, thinking that '(Hu Shi) although he didn't read many books, he was on the right path. of.'"

In order to save the teacher's face, Li Dazhao did not tell the whole story. In fact, Fu Sinian also said at the end: "You (students) don't mess around."

Li Yu smiled and said: "The student evaluation of Mr. is a bit interesting."

This was a trend in Peking University in its early days.

As early as the days of the Imperial Academy, many Peking University students had higher official status than teaching, and their career prospects were better than teaching. Therefore, there were people who gave up teaching positions and preferred to be students. This tradition gave Peking University students a vague sense of superiority.

Since the Republic of China, Peking University has been relatively casual in terms of admissions and teacher recruitment, and does not have as strict standards as other schools. Many students are indeed more knowledgeable than their teachers in certain aspects. In the memoirs of Peking University students, we often see records of students making things difficult for teachers.

Hu Shih's ability to gain a foothold at Peking University in a short period of time was really inseparable from Fu Sinian, the student leader.

Later, Hu Shi himself admitted that many students felt that his treatment of ancient history was ideologically treacherous. They believed that he was not qualified to teach this course and wanted to drive him away. However, Fu Sinian, who was "already a force in the school", intervened and was dismissed. Give up. Hu Shi was very emotional: "I, an international student in my twenties... faced a group of mature students without causing any disturbance. It took more than ten years to realize that Meng Zhen (Fu Sinian) was secretly protecting me. people."

Cai Yuanpei said: "Shi Zhi is very diligent. He knows that he is not as good as some students in Chinese studies, especially those like Fu Sinian who studied in Zhangmen, so he is not only worried, but also studies harder."

"I know this," said Lu Xun, who had also been a disciple of Zhang Taiyan. "Shi Zhi often took a set of "Zhang's Series" to study, and used new punctuation to punctuate the whole book. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he would ask De Qian (the same character as Qian Xuan). Sometimes I just eat preserved eggs when I study late at night.”

Li Yu has given lectures in many schools, but fortunately he has not encountered any difficulties.

Li Yu thought that everything would be fine after Hu Shi passed the student level, but Cai Yuanpei said: "Not only the students are making trouble, but some existing teachers at Peking University also think that it is unreasonable."

"It doesn't make sense? Why doesn't it make sense?" Li Yu asked.

Cai Yuanpei said: "The lecture notes Shi Zhi gave out in class were called "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy." A teacher who taught the history of Chinese philosophy to third-grade students took Shi Zhi's lecture notes in class and said, 'I said Hu Shi didn't make sense, and it really didn't make sense.' Looking at the title of his lecture notes, you can tell that he is ignorant. The history of philosophy is originally the outline of philosophy. Doesn’t talking about the outline of the history of Chinese philosophy become the outline of the outline?”

The word "philosophy" is very new to the Chinese and was translated from Japan in modern times.

Since there is no word "philosophy", there is no philosophy in the Western sense in ancient China.

Western philosophy often talks about one word - "being", which is the top priority of Western philosophy. But in traditional Chinese culture, there is no exact word corresponding to it. Even if you find something with a similar meaning, it's not a particularly important concept.

Because Chinese culture is too long and has its own system, there is no need to talk about Western "philosophy".

Later, Hu Shi figured this out and insisted that what he was studying was not the "history of Chinese philosophy" but the "history of Chinese thought."

The word "thought" has a very Chinese flavor.

But Hu Shi did make a small mistake at this time. At Peking University, the three words "history of philosophy" are an overall concept, that is, "the outline of philosophy" rather than "the history of philosophy."

The professor made fun of Hu Shi based on this, and there was nothing wrong with his laughter.

“It’s a good thing that Peking University is still a bit acclimated, but fortunately it has the strength of the vernacular movement,” Li Yu said.

Hu Shi always did well and became famous quite early.

Several people slowly talked about the European War. After all, the Beiyang government had declared war on Germany.

Li Dazhao is most concerned about this aspect: "Russia's withdrawal is the most important factor in this year's European war. When I saw Lenin's slogan of 'peace, bread and land' in the newspaper, I knew that the Eastern Front battlefield was coming to an end."

Lu Xun said: "Not only Russia, but France has also had a huge mutiny this year. There are troubles on both sides, and I am really worried that Germany will take advantage of the situation to counterattack."

"It's not that simple," Li Yu said. "The mutiny of the French army is not a revolution like Russia's and can be suppressed. Moreover, with the US military joining the war, the pressure on Germany on the Western Front will only be greater, and the final decisive battle is coming. ”

The French army launched a major counteroffensive at the beginning of the year, launched by Nivel, the new commander-in-chief who succeeded Joffre.

However, his combat plan was fully known to the German army before the war, because Nivele gave speeches everywhere and told the soldiers specific tactics...

After the war broke out, Niweiler mobilized a large number of artillery to provide fire coverage to storm the Hindenburg Line of Defense deployed by the Germans.

But after the French artillery barrage ended, the German trenches, bunkers and forts did not suffer much damage.

When the French infantry attacked, the Maxim machine gun, the most famous death weapon on the battlefield of World War I, began to harvest.

It can be said that the Nivel Offensive made no progress. The French army was crippled. From then on, the Western Front was mainly dominated by the British and German forces.

The British carried out the largest non-nuclear explosion in human history.

During the Battle of Messina Ridge, the British army dug more than 445 meters of tunnels under the German positions and buried 2 tons of explosives. They were detonated in the early morning, killing German troops while they were sleeping.

The German army discovered it in advance and took anti-explosion work, but they did not expect the British army to do it so brilliantly.

But none of this matters anymore, because the biggest show of the year is in Russia.

Li Dazhao said: "I am a little worried about the situation of the Chinese laborers. The war in Europe is so fierce. If the troops sent by the Beiyang government pass, I am afraid the losses will be even heavier."

Li Yu said: "American soldiers still have to train for a year before they can go to the battlefield. There may be no need for Beiyang soldiers at all."

Duan Qirui did form three divisions according to the Japanese model, but their training was not completed until the end of World War I. After chatting for a long time, the restaurant served food.

Lu Xun said to everyone: "This store has the 'Presidential Fish' that has recently become famous in Beijing. Let's try it."

Li Yu looked at the big plate of carp on the table and said casually: "It's a very normal dish with such a ridiculous name."

Lu Xun explained: "This was fished out of the North Sea, South China Sea and China Sea by the newly appointed President Feng Guozhang. It is extremely valuable."

Cai Yuanpei said: "The fish in the three seas? Aren't they all raised by the former Qing royal family and President Yuan?"

"So they are very precious," Lu Xun said. "President Feng heard that these fish could fetch a good price in the market, so he found a businessman to fish them out and sold them to various restaurants. He heard that he made tens of thousands of yuan."

Li Yu said with a smile: "This president is too boring, and he has to start making money from the bottom of the river."

The president of the Republic of China had neither money nor power, so he only wanted to make a name for himself. Li Yuanhong was no more. Feng Guozhang was a man of real power. After being in office for a short time, he couldn't hold on.

Cai Yuanpei picked up his chopsticks: "I have to taste the difference in the fish from Sanhai."

After tasting a few chopsticks, Cai Yuanpei said: "The taste is not much different, but the fish is really fat."

-

A few days after returning from Peking University, Li Yu met another visiting scholar, Gao Lu, at the Capital Observatory; he was accompanied by a graduate of Tsinghua University, both of whom were astronomers.

Gao Lu was a modern astronomer, the first director of the Purple Mountain Observatory and the first director of the Institute of Astronomy, Academia Sinica, Nanjing.

"Mr. Academician, you really made this ancient observatory look like a modern observatory!" Gao Lu said excitedly.

Li Yu said: "It took several years. The telescope was shipped from the United States and assembled."

"Looking around the world, you are second to none in the field of astronomy. You can appreciate the elegance of the astronomy masters without going abroad," Gao Lu said sincerely. "I used to study in Belgium and fell in love with astronomy. I have been unable to find it since I returned home. To such a well-equipped observatory.”

Li Yu said: "I am usually very busy, and the observatory happens to be short of people. If you like, you can be the director of the observatory."

"No, no, no," Gao Lu quickly waved his hand, "The director of the station should be an academician. As long as I can touch the telescope, I will be satisfied."

"Then become acting director," Li Yu said with a smile, "and get a salary from the Beiyang government."

Anyway, if Li Yu hadn't appeared out of thin air, the director of the Capital Observatory would have been Gao Lu.

Of course, without Li Yu, the Capital Observatory would still be just a place with backward equipment and more formality than significance.

Gao Lu loved astronomy so much that he couldn't resist even a few words of advice: "Thank you, Mr. Academician! I worked at the Xujiahui Observatory in Shanghai for a period of time. The observatory was built by the French, and I could only do some chores every day."

Li Yu led them into the observatory. The Tsinghua student couldn't help but said: "What a spectacular telescope! It's much bigger than the one in Xujiahui."

"I seem to have seen you at Tsinghua University." Li Yu said.

Gao Lu immediately introduced Li Yu: "His name is Yu Qingsong. He will graduate from Tsinghua University this year and go to study in the United States."

"No wonder it looks so familiar." Li Yu said.

Yu Qingsong said: "I don't know if I can major in astronomy in the United States."

To be honest, astronomy is a very unpopular major. Before Li Yu traveled through time, there were only a dozen universities across the country offering astronomy majors.

When Yu Qingsong went to the United States, he first entered the School of Civil Engineering, and then transferred to the astronomy major of another university.

In 1929, Gao Lu was appointed minister to France, and Yu Qingsong took over as the second director of the Purple Mountain Observatory.

Gao Lu said: "Tokyo, Japan will hold a meeting of directors of observatories from various countries this year. In the past, they only invited French priest Lao Jixun from the Xujiahui Observatory in Shanghai and never asked about the true representative of China. This is extremely annoying."

"Then this year we will achieve something they cannot achieve and humiliate the Japanese." Li Yu said. That's what he loves to do.

Gao Lu and Yu Qingsong were instantly motivated: "What's the result?"

"It doesn't have to be complicated," Li Yu thought for a while, "For example, let's find a few more satellites of Jupiter."

"There are new satellites?!" Gao Lu was a little surprised.

"Jupiter's gravity is too strong. I guess there are many more satellites," Li Yu said. "It's just getting more and more difficult to find them."

Three years ago, the Mount Wilson Observatory, built under the leadership of American astronomer Hale, discovered Europa. Since then, no new satellites of Jupiter have been discovered for thirty years. It was not until 1938 that two more were discovered, also from the Mount Wilson Observatory.

In fact, Jupiter has many satellites, and later generations discovered at least 95 of them. One of them was found by an amateur astronomer in the 70s.

Of course, it is no longer possible to discover through simple direct observation, and professional methods such as photographic analysis and spectral analysis are required.

In this age where the understanding of the universe is not very deep, the discovery of several new satellites in the solar system is still commendable.

A few people just do what they say.

As a time traveler, Li Yu knew clearly that there must be satellites there. Under this guiding ideology, they are much more efficient in surveying the vast night sky than other observatories.

After spending some time, several people finally found a small satellite.

Logically it should be Callisto, but since it was found first, it became Callisto.

This satellite has some peculiar phenomena. For example, its orbit is in the opposite direction like Europa.

Gao Lu and Yu Qingsong were extremely excited after getting this result.

"It will definitely make the Japanese shut up!" Gao Lu said, he had come up with this tone many years ago.

Li Yu said lightly: "There will be plenty of opportunities to astonish the Japanese in the future."

Yu Qingsong's interest in astronomy greatly increased through this incident, and he wished he could go to the United States and directly enter the astronomy major.

"It's better to do it sooner," Li Yu agreed. "Astronomical research is becoming more and more complex, involving a lot of physics and mathematics knowledge. Put some effort in the United States, and we will continue to make big moves in the future."