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

Chapter 630 Not Returning
It was not a big problem to leave the factory-related matters in Shanghai to Liu Hongsheng and Song Ziwen. Li Yu happened to go north to Tianjin with Ren Hongjun who had returned to China. Yan Fansun and Zhang Boling planned to establish a university based on the Nankai School and invited Li Yu to come and organize a lecture at Tianjin Quanyechang.

The New Culture Movement started in 1916 and has made more and more people aware of "Mr. De" and "Mr. Sai".

It is difficult to promote "Mr. Germany". After all, letting warlords practice democracy is somewhat "difficult" for them.

There is no resistance to the development of "Mr. Sai". Whether he studies science or liberal arts, engages in politics or engages in military affairs, no one will question the important role of science and technology in national development. The key is that the development of science and technology will not provoke the military. In politics, they have no reason to obstruct it.

I heard that Li Yu was invited to give a speech, and the Quanye Field House was packed with people that day.

Yan Fansun said: "Brother Shucai's appeal is as strong as ever. Everyone wants to see the elegance of the most knowledgeable person today."

Li Yu smiled and said: "It's a pity that I am not an old man with a white beard and a fairy spirit."

Zhang Boling said: "By the way, I would like to warm up the new university. We mainly focus on science and engineering. The Shucai brothers are a perfect fit."

Yan Fansun said: "Some time ago I gave a speech on numbers in Quanyechang, and the reception was pretty good. Today I will continue to talk about this topic."

"No problem," Li Yu said, nothing was a big problem. "For science, mathematics is a good choice."

Zhang Boling said: "Many people may still want to hear the theory of evolution, but it has been taught too many times and there is nothing new."

Li Yu smiled and said, "If they knew that humans not only came from monkeys, but also that there might be more primitive ancestors, I would probably be scolded to death."

"Then don't talk about it," Zhang Boling said. "Everything should be done step by step. Don't talk about things that are too radical to ordinary audiences, otherwise they will suffer from indigestion."

"Many people are using this trick," Li Yu said with emotion. "Fortunately, science is all about logical deduction and progression step by step. Things that are too profound cannot be understood without a foundation, so you won't make any big mistakes."

Yan Fansun also smiled and said: "I know that Brother Shucai doesn't want to be a magic stick."

Several people came to the Quanyechang podium. Li Yu looked around and saw that there were students, faculty, businessmen, soldiers, and more ordinary people, which were different from the previous speech recipients.

Li Yu has a great name and does not need to be introduced too much. When he stood in front, many people started cheering.

Clearing his throat, Li Yu began to say: "Hello everyone, I am very happy to come to Quanyechang. Mr. Yan Fansun just told me that he hopes to continue talking about numbers. I think this is a good topic. Mathematics may be the earliest scientific category that humans come into contact with. It is completely derived from human logical cognition and is mysterious but not mysterious.

"There is no need to talk about any complicated mathematics. Today I will only talk to you about the most basic prime numbers in numbers.

“It’s simple enough for everyone here to understand, yet complex enough to stump even the best mathematicians.

"A French mathematician named Mersenne who lived more than 260 years ago once made a summary of prime numbers. He studied the numbers of 2 to the nth power minus 1 for a long time to see which ones were prime numbers.

“His work involves an old yet novel mathematical problem, how to find prime numbers.

"With just a pen, he calculated most of the cases where n ≤ 257, which we call Mersenne primes.

"You may not have any idea. When n=100, the number of digits in this number has reached a terrifying level."

Li Yu wrote on the blackboard, and just when he was about to continue, someone in the audience became unhappy: "Is this so-called mathematics? It turns out to be just troublesome arithmetic. I thought it was something great. What's the point of this? ?”

Li Yu had already guessed that someone would say this: "This is why I talk about prime numbers, because this is mathematics. If you think it is meaningless, I will not refute it, but this is a cage you have set for yourself."

The person in the audience said: "I was a member of the imperial court before. I didn't know mathematics and still lived a good life. How about a prison? What kind of prison?"

Good guy, it turns out that people who argue that mathematics is useless existed a hundred years ago, and they seem to be more stubborn...

However, it can be regarded as progressing from the theory of scientific futility to the specific theory of mathematical futility.

Li Yu said: "Just because mathematics is useless to you, it doesn't mean that mathematics is useless. These are two different things. Can't you tell the difference?"

The man in the audience snorted coldly: "If you asked me to learn how to calculate these boring things, I would rather go drink tea and listen to music."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Do you see that I'm stopping you?"

Li Yu directly criticized him until he could not refute, so as not to waste his words.

Seeing that the other party was silent, Li Yucai continued: "This Frenchman named Mason lived in the late Ming Dynasty. He was even a clergyman. He studied mathematics because he liked it.

"I deliberately talk about something that seems boring. I just want to say that the interest in mathematics is very advanced and unique. There are naturally many people who like mathematics among humans. The past imperial examination system suppressed the choices of the Chinese people, which allowed us to I am lagging behind in mathematical research. In fact, there have always been people who like mathematical research. Now that there is no such shackles, I can almost foresee a brilliant and colorful future. That is called a hundred schools of thought contending, instead of spending all my time discussing what I don't understand. Is something useful?”

After Li Yu finished speaking, Yan Fansun took the lead in applauding enthusiastically.

"Well said, Mr. Academician!"

"A former Qing Juren who doesn't even understand addition, subtraction, multiplication and division is here to listen to a mathematics lecture? If you want to humiliate others, you can only humiliate yourself!"

"That's right! Academician Li Yu is still a former Jinshi of the Qing Dynasty!"

……

The effect of the speech was not bad. That night, Yan Fansun, Li Yu and others went to the restaurant to have dinner together. At the same table was Feng Guozhang's son Feng Jiayu.

Feng Jiayu said: "I am also studying science and engineering abroad. I deeply feel that what the academician said is very true, but I really can't see the future he said."

Li Yu wanted to say that your grandson could see it, but it was strange to say so, so he replied: "How far Mr. Sai develops depends on Mr. De. Chen Zhongfu said it very well. Both are indispensable."

Feng Jiayu's mind turned quickly and he immediately said: "Sir, what you are saying is that the one who is really being hindered is Mr. De?"

Li Yu said: "Master Feng, you have been in the officialdom, don't you understand?"

Feng Jiayu said: "Actually, I no longer want to follow my father in the officialdom. Recently, my father and Prime Minister Duan are very busy due to the loan issue with the Japanese, but I can't calm down when I see the arrogant attitude of the Japanese. "

Li Yu said: "I can't calm down even more."

What Feng Jiayu mentioned was the Xiyuan loan during Duan Qirui's administration.

Duan Qirui signed multiple loan contracts with the Japanese through Nishihara Kamezo, totaling 1.45 million yen. The Japanese had a very positive attitude towards this loan, and almost took the initiative to approach Duan Qirui, hoping to give him a loan.

Japan just changed its cabinet prime minister some time ago. The new Prime Minister Masaichi Terauchi has a gentler attitude towards China than the former Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu who proposed the "Twenty-One Plan".

But he is by no means kind-hearted, he has just changed into a more sinister and vicious soft knife. Terauchi Masaki wanted to carry out economic colonization and economic binding of the Republic of China by lending money to the Republic of China, so as to achieve the expectation of controlling the Republic of China without any bloodshed.

Since then, the Japanese cabinet has been hoping to implement this policy, but later Japan's militarism became too strong and the military forcibly led the war of aggression against China, which accelerated its own demise.

Japan naturally made a lot of money during World War I. The surge in domestic industry and commerce led to the emergence of inflation. There was a large amount of hot money that urgently needed to find investment channels to reduce domestic inflationary pressure.

For Japan, China is the best choice. The Terauchi cabinet also wants to use this to save Japan's negative international image and ease international conflicts; at the same time, during the vacuum period during the First World War when Western powers had no time to look eastward, they excluded other countries in East Asia. Especially China’s sphere of influence.

In short, Nishihara Kamezo and Duan Qirui hit it off immediately.

Nishihara Kamezo had visited China for several years and knew that the economic foundation of the Republic of China was weak. If Japan could provide loan support to support a large number of pro-Japanese forces, the benefits to Japan would be far-reaching.

This move was somewhat similar to the Marshall Plan that later led to US economic support for Europe. But Marshall succeeded, but Japan made a mess.

For the sake of the so-called "Sino-Japanese friendship," the mortgage conditions for Nishihara's loan were very broad. They did not specify a certain coal mine and iron factory as before, but only verbally agreed on some forests, minerals, and railways in the Northeast.

This loan indeed made Duan Qirui's seat of power more secure.

And if you want to ask if the Republic of China government has not paid back the money, that would be interesting: not a penny has been paid!
In fact, Duan Qirui had no intention of paying back the money from the beginning.

After acting president Feng Guozhang learned that Duan Qirui had borrowed money from the Japanese again, he said to him worriedly: "We have borrowed too much debt. How will we pay it back in the future? There is no guarantee of victory in the war. It is in vain to destroy lives. Really." It’s heartbreaking! I think it’s better to be cautious.”

Duan Qirui said disapprovingly: "It is right to be cautious, but we have to do something. We are only using Japan for a while, who is going to repay these loans to him! As long as our country becomes strong, we will knock them all down with a glare!"

However, the script did not completely follow Duan Qirui's instructions. With the outbreak of the Zhi-Anhui War, Duan Qirui soon fell.

The subsequent rulers of the Republic of China expressed their disapproval of Duan Qirui and the Japanese loans.

After the success of the Northern Expedition, the Nanjing National Government directly stated: "The Peiping government will not be responsible for repaying the foreign debts borrowed by bribery to elect the president!"

At the same time, the Western powers in the international community are also very angry. What a little Japan, you actually want to secretly benefit from the Republic of China in the name of economic loans?

They then continued to put pressure on Japan, causing Japan to lose the confidence to collect debts.

In the end, most of the Nishihara loan became bad debts and bad debts.

Masaki Terauchi was also reviled by Japanese society as a traitor and a person who betrayed Japan's interests...

Well, that's a good scolding.

Duan Qirui's action is commendable. 1.45 million yen is not a small number, almost equivalent to half of the compensation paid by Li Zhongtang in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was a humiliation and loss of power.

It can be said that Duan Qirui indirectly filled some of the big holes in the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Feng Jiayu asked again: "I heard that Mr. Ren, who just returned from studying abroad, studied chemistry?"

Ren Hongjun said: "That's right."

"It just so happens," Feng Jiayu said, "I am planning to invest in a paint factory. Are you interested in giving me some guidance?"

"Produce your own paint?" Ren Hongjun was very interested. "Interesting! Most of the paints on the market now are Japanese 'Chicken' brand paints. It would be great if we could take back the market occupied by the Japanese."

"That's what I think," Feng Jiayu smiled slightly, "The paint brand I plan to launch is called 'Cat' brand, and we will have a cat-chicken battle with the Japanese."

Ren Hongjun was obviously moved, but he still hesitated: "I haven't gotten the results of the research topic Mr. Li Yu gave me yet."

Li Yu said: "Don't worry, I will invest in building several laboratories at the Nankai University in Tianjin that will be established soon, including chemistry. You can continue to do research."

Ren Hongjun finally felt relieved: "Then I will join this fight between cats and chickens!"

Yan Fansun said happily: "Fan Xudong just came out of Tianjin, and here comes Ren Hongjun. Okay, okay!"

Ren Hongjun then talked to Li Yu about his studies in the United States: "I have never forgotten the questions raised by Mr. I was blocked, so I let it go.”

"It doesn't matter, it's not your fault." Li Yu said.

What Li Yu wanted him to study was apparently the decontamination principle of soap, but in fact it was organic chemistry, and eventually extended to very meaningful polymers.

France's Staudinger was the pioneer in this regard, but it took him three or four years to slowly establish the framework of polymer chemistry.

Li Yu wanted to train Ren Hongjun and work hard in this direction.

It's just that Li Yu really doesn't know much about chemistry. The most I can do is ask him to work harder in this direction and produce results as much as possible. It would be great if he could share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Staudinger in the future.

Ren Hongjun continued: "In the past two years of the European war, I studied the European chlorine industry while in college. When I got involved in this field, I immediately discovered something that shocked me. It turned out that the Japanese had already made great achievements in the chlorine industry. Very terrible results have been achieved, and the future...the future will be unimaginable.”

Li Yu knew that Japan had the same evil chemical warfare, and the leader, Koizumi Chihiko, was a Class A war criminal.

"We have to guard against it, but it's hard to guard against it," Li Yu said.

Ren Hongjun said: "I learned how to make gas masks in my spare time, which is much simpler than the chemical industry that requires huge investment."

Li Yu sighed: "This is already good."

Chemical industry is a very complex and high-input heavy industry project. It was difficult for the Republic of China to engage in chemical industry on a large scale. Even if it had the technology but no oil, it was impossible to find oil deposits in advance. That would be a wedding dress for the little devil, because the oil deposits were just right. Just in the northeast.

There is no good solution in this regard. The most that can be done is to disgust the little devil more in chemical projects such as soda ash that can be properly carried out.