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

Chapter 631 Alliance under the City
Since you come to Tianjin, you must visit Feng Ru’s aircraft factory.

What surprised Li Yu was that Feng Ru had completed the development of the passenger aircraft ahead of schedule. Perhaps thanks to several aircraft technicians poached from Europe, his progress was much ahead of schedule.

Feng Ru excitedly took Li Yu to visit: "This aircraft uses Europe's more advanced all-metal stress skin technology and a cantilever-type lower wing layout. The corrugation direction of all corrugated plates is along the flight direction to reduce the resistance of the aircraft body. The whole aircraft is very streamlined. It has a crew of 2 and can carry 4 passengers, with a maximum range of 900 kilometers.”

This data is very close to the German Junkers aircraft.

Li Yu still felt incredible: "It can be made in just one year."

A French technician said: "Academician Li Yu, this is not difficult. All the technologies are ready. We just need to follow the steps."

Li Yu circled around the plane. It was different from the planes of later generations, just like a small machine.

Li Yu saw a few words on the fuselage: "Haidongqing, is this its code name?"

Feng Ru nodded: "I named it. Haidongqing is an eagle in the sky, and it comes from the dense forests of the Northeast, which means the heart of recovery."

"Very good!" Li Yu praised, and then asked, "How long will it take for flight debugging?"

"About two months." Feng Ru said.

"Be sure to pay attention to safety." Li Yu seemed to emphasize this issue every time.

Feng Ruxin said: "We have completed the test flight and it was very successful. We will spend another two months debugging it just to be on the safe side."

Li Yu said: "Be careful when sailing a ten-thousand-year-old ship. Civil aviation is different from military aviation, and accidents are very taboo."

Li Yu did not dare to put too much pressure on Feng Ru. From a technical perspective, Feng Ru was not bad, and there were many experienced European and American engineers. However, we cannot have high hopes for production capacity. The domestic supply chain is too weak and we can only maintain a very basic production scale.

But it’s pretty good to do this.

-

After leaving Tianjin for a while, Li Yu returned to the capital and first went to see the overseas affairs of the latest batch of students studying in the United States.

Among the very well-known international students in this class are Ye Qisun, Li Ji, etc.

Ye Qisun needs no introduction. He is the founder of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University and has brought out many physicists.

Li Ji was also very powerful, but he later turned to the direction of literature and history, and achieved remarkable results. For example, he was the first to conduct archeology of the Yin Ruins, which raised the study of the Shang Dynasty to a higher level.

Li Ji pointed to an unknown face and asked, "Who is that person and why is he here?"

Ye Qisun said: "The students who came to the auditorium today naturally want to study in the United States."

Li Ji asked: "Do you know him?"

Ye Qisun said: "He just won the first prize in the mathematics competition hosted by Academician Li Yu last year and was specially approved to study in the United States."

"It turns out he is not a student of Tsinghua University." Li Ji said.

Ye Qisun shook his head: "No."

Li Ji was very curious: "What question can I answer to get directly qualified to study in the United States? This is so comfortable. I studied at Tsinghua University for eight full years."

"It's quite difficult," Ye Qisun took out a notebook from his bag, "The questions Mr. Academician asked are very classic. I wrote them down for you to take a look at."

Li Ji picked up the notebook. It was a question about plane geometry and trigonometric functions. There was a triangle drawn on it, as well as angle bisectors. The question stem was only two lines long.

He pondered for a few minutes and said dejectedly: "I have no idea."

Ye Qisun smiled and said: "I solved it, but the time was far longer than the prescribed limit. And it was only the easiest one in the test paper."

"Is this the easiest?!" Li Ji exclaimed.

"Do you want to read the rest?" Ye Qisun asked.

"Spare me!" Li Ji waved his hand quickly, "By the way, you haven't said anything yet, what is his name and where is he from?"

Ye Qisun said: "Yang Wuzhi is from Fengyang, Anhui."

"They are still from the same hometown as the old Zhu family and the old Duan family," Li Ji said. "If you can solve these problems, you will indeed be qualified to study in the United States."

The questions Li Yu asked were of high difficulty, most of them were original questions from later mathematics and physics competitions, and were very selective.

After everyone gathered together, Li Yu gave each of them a booklet on things to note when studying abroad as usual, and then said: "Read more on the ship. There is a phone number at the end of the booklet. You can call it if you encounter difficulties in the United States. Some problems can be solved. In addition, try to keep a low profile during the first year, study more, and don’t participate in parades.”

Ye Qisun asked: "Americans also love to parade?"

"Aren't we recruiting soldiers now?" Li Yu said.

"Then we are not interested. The conscription is also recruiting their own people." Li Ji said.

Li Yu added: "Also, if you feel uncomfortable, you must seek medical treatment in time."

Ye Qisun said: "We exercise every day, how can we get sick?"

Li Yu warned solemnly: "After all, after crossing a continent, you might not be able to adapt to the climate."

After finishing speaking, Principal Zhou Yichun talked about some general precautions, and then prepared to leave, but Yang Wuzhi suddenly said: "Principal, according to my calculations, the prices of goods in the United States have skyrocketed, and the living expenses of US$60 per month may not be enough. Can’t it be improved?”

After Ye Qisun and Li Ji heard this, they immediately secretly rejoiced. They had wanted to say this for a long time.

Zhou Yichun turned around and asked Li Yu: "Mr. Academician, are prices in the United States really so unstable?"

Li Yu said: "Yes, since World War I, a large number of public bonds have been issued, and the United States has faced huge inflationary pressure, and prices have risen a lot."

"I understand," Zhou Yichun turned around and said to the students, "I will contact the school board to implement this matter as soon as possible!"

Ye Qisun and others cheered loudly, having a better impression of this foreign student who helped them fight for their rights.

Without Li Yu's intervention, Yang Wuzhi would have been studying abroad for several years longer, but there would definitely be more benefits early on.

After the students left, Zhou Yichun said to Li Yu: "Brother Shucai, I may have to resign."

"Resign?" Li Yu asked in surprise, "Why?"

Zhou Yichun said: "The work at Tsinghua University is heavy. Recently, I feel more and more overwhelmed by my body. I want to relax. Brother Shucai, don't worry, the next principal will definitely do a better job than me." "It is indeed hard work!" Li Yu said, “There are many places where we can cooperate in the future.”

Zhou Yichun said: "Of course."

While the two were talking, Liang Qichao walked over and said hello: "Brother Shucai."

Li Yu said: "Mr. Ren, when did you return to the capital?"

"In a few days," Liang Qichao said, "Let's stop talking here and go to my house. I got a few bottles of good rice wine, just in time to see Principal Zhou off."

Li Yu smiled and said: "Let's go! You must drink Mr. Ren's wine!"

The rice wine tastes good when drunk warmly. After tasting it, Li Yu asked: "Ren Gong no longer holds an official position, what are you busy with every day now?"

"Writing a book and talking about it," Liang Qichao took a dozen manuscripts from the table next to him, "Now I get up every morning and start writing this "General History of China" after eating. It feels really good to return to learning, relaxed and comfortable! After a long detour, I’m back to the way I left you.”

"General history?" Li Yu flipped through it a little, "It's not easy."

Liang Qichao said: "After completing it, I still have the idea of ​​​​writing a general history of the world, but this work is much more difficult and requires at least ten years of preparation."

Li Yu said with a smile: "In this current situation, it is difficult to meditate for ten years."

"I need to study and experience first. When the European war is over, I will go to Europe and see the devastated countries of Britain, France and Germany." Liang Qichao said.

"The timing of the public election seems inappropriate," Zhou Yichun said.

"It's appropriate, then we can see the true face of Europe," Liang Qichao said, "I just don't know when the war will end. Recently I saw in the news that Russia, a powerful country, signed an extremely shameful contract in order to cease the war. I don't know morality. Congress will not be able to breathe a sigh of relief."

At the beginning of World War I, Liang Qichao felt that Germany would win. Later, something changed, and now the situation has undergone unexpected changes.

Li Yu said: "If Li Zhongtang saw the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany, he might feel that the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Treaty of Xinchou he signed were too gentle."

Zhou Yichun asked doubtfully: "To what extent?"

Li Yu said: "To put it simply, Russia promised to cede millions of square kilometers of territory, which is almost equivalent to six or seven Shandong provinces, and most of these territories are densely populated fertile soil. The population loss will exceed 40%, and the industrial and coal and iron resources will be lost." The loss will be more than half.”

Zhou Yichun lamented: "I know a little bit about world history, so won't I give away all the achievements of the past tsars' hard work for hundreds of years?"

"This is the real alliance under the city, humiliating diplomacy," Liang Qichao lamented. "With Germany no longer worrying about the Eastern Front, Britain and France on the Western Front will have to bear greater pressure."

Zhou Yichun said in shock: "We have just declared war on Germany. Isn't Germany about to gain the upper hand?"

This is a very serious problem. If Germany really wins, it will be difficult for the fragile Republic of China government to bear the wrath of the great powers, and Shandong may even become Germany's sphere of influence.

Liang Qichao said helplessly: "We can only hope that the Allies will win."

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which was extremely humiliating and humiliating to the country, was signed by Lenin under great pressure. There were many different opinions within the Bolsheviks.

For example, another Soviet leader, Trotsky, advocated "no war, no peace." Anyway, the United States has joined, and Germany's defeat is almost a foregone conclusion. By then, Russia will be able to get a lot of benefits as a victor. It's just that Trotsky exposed this intention prematurely when negotiating with Germany. Germany was emboldened after knowing the Soviet Union's trump card. In the end, it prompted Germany to force the Soviet Union to sign the treaty.

There is also Bukharin, who advocates continuing the war. But this idea is obviously impossible to achieve.

In the end, due to Germany's fierce attack and major mistakes in diplomatic negotiations, Soviet Russia was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

As for the biggest purpose of the Soviet Union signing this treaty, that is, was it able to achieve an armistice and give the new regime time to breathe?

It's a pity, not really.

After the treaty was signed, Germany did not withdraw its troops from the Eastern Front. Instead, it continued its onslaught and forced Soviet Russia to sign more subsequent unequal treaties, such as huge reparations.

Soviet Russia had no choice.

There is a good metaphor about the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: the October Revolution was like a hungry beggar getting a piece of bread. Lenin’s plan was to eat secretly in the toilet, Trotsky’s plan was to eat openly, and Bukharin’s plan was to show off in front of other beggars. In the eyes of others, Trotsky's choice may be the most reasonable way, but if you put yourself in his shoes, Lenin's plan may be the choice a rational person would make.

As a result, the newly born Soviet Union was lucky. The United States' entry into the war and the even more terrifying Spanish Flu forced Germany to surrender.

Just two days later, Soviet Russia unilaterally announced the abolition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and at the same time sent troops to recover most of the ceded territories, and the reparations were ignored.

At this point, the content of the treaty has actually become a dead letter.

Li Yu, who knew the result, was not at all panicked: "The new Russia represents a new direction for world development. Although the armistice caused great dissatisfaction from the Allied Powers, the world in the future may be more interesting because of it."

"I hope so." Liang Qichao said.

"Boom boom boom!"

There was a knock on the door.

The person who came in was Zhang Junmai. He clasped his fists and said, "Sorry for disturbing Mr. Ren."

Liang Qichao knew that Zhang Junmai was in Europe when World War I broke out, so he happened to have a chat with him and said, "Shilin (Zhang Junmai) come in and sit down."

Behind Zhang Junmai was a young man who looked like a college student.

After sitting down, Zhang Junmai didn't want to talk about European affairs. He pointed at the young man and said, "Mr. Ren, this is your nephew. His name is Xu Zhimo. You must let me bring him to see you."

"Why do you want to see me?" Liang Qichao glanced at this handsome college student.

"Zhimo wants to become your teacher," Zhang Junmai said, and immediately added a few more words, "Zhimo studied at Peking University. He is a supporter of the New Culture Movement. He is also determined to study and is extremely smart."

Liang Qichao was a busy man and didn't really want to accept a disciple, so he asked: "My child, do you think I will definitely accept you?"

Xu Zhimo heard the polite refusal in Liang Qichao's words and said, "Mr. Liang, I think you should accept me as your disciple!"

Liang Qichao asked: "Then tell me, why should I accept you?"

Xu Zhimo said: "The reason why the morning sky is beautiful is because the sun not only shines by itself, but also illuminates the clouds around it, turning the clouds into colorful clouds, so the sky is particularly beautiful. You are the sun, I am the clouds, you should be right for me The same is true. If you accept me as your disciple and teach me with your talents, I will be able to make the world more colorful with you. So how can you, a person with a world in mind, refuse to make the world more colorful? "

Liang Qichao laughed loudly after hearing this: "So, if I don't accept you, I will make the world bleak and it will be a big sin. Well, Shucai is here. You can be a witness. Today I will accept Xu Zhimo." "As a disciple."

Xu Zhimo was overjoyed and immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times.

Zhang Junmai took out the apprenticeship ceremony that he had prepared and presented it respectfully.

Li Yu found it quite interesting: at this time, 13-year-old Lin Huiyin and 14-year-old Lu Xiaoman were both studying in Beijing, and they were not far apart at all.