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

Chapter 635 Tao and Technique

When the Anhui clique in the north was holding elections, Wu Peifu was not idle in Hunan. He took military pay and did not fight. He kept expanding the army to increase its strength. Then he suddenly joined forces with Jiangsu governor Li Chun to issue a message calling for peace and accusing unification by force of one's own people against their own. telegraph.

At first, Li Chun and others did not dare to speak out. When Wu Peifu saw it, he took out his money and made a big move that electrified the whole country. The content was all about calling for peace talks and denouncing separatism and corruption. He also publicly stated that he would not serve as a military governor, live in a concession, make friends with foreigners, or raise foreign debts, and he would demand of himself the four self-disciplines of honesty, integrity, patriotism, and non-envy of power.

This was the beginning of the highlight of Wu Peifu's life.

All of a sudden, major media outlets praised Wu Peifu for being no longer a "Beiyang soldier" but a "national soldier."

The education and student circles, including Cai Yuanpei, also applauded. These old Beiyang warlords on the stage relied too much on foreign forces. It is so rare for a patriotic warlord to suddenly appear.

At this time, the warlords still paid more attention to public opinion. Duan Qirui knew that he could no longer command the direct army, and it was impossible to do anything to him because of Wu Peifu's patriotic telegram. He could only let Wu Peifu madly increase his reputation.

In this way, the two-year war between the North and the South came to an end.

Still feeling lonely.

-

Shichahai, Huixiantang Restaurant.

Cai Yuanpei and several Peking University professors dined with Li Yu.

Li Yu smiled and said: "Principal Cai has chosen a good restaurant. The last time he came was many years ago."

Cai Yuanpei said: "Huixiantang is the first of the eight restaurants in the capital. It specializes in Shandong cuisine. But the restaurant owner is too willful. He must book a table in advance, otherwise there will be no fire at all. People nearby say that Huixiantang's business is three One day to fish, two days to dry the net.”

In the past, Huixian Hall only hosted princes and nobles. After the Republic of China, it gradually opened to the general public.

After a few people sat down, several waiters first brought each person a special "assorted ice bowl", which was made with freshly picked lotus root, fresh lotus seeds, freshly picked water chestnuts, and water chestnuts, chopped and mixed together, and then cooled with crushed ice; when eating, you can continue to sprinkle with white sugar, and add some peeled fresh walnut kernels, fresh almonds, and fresh hazelnuts.

This is a signature dish of Huixiantang. Its complexity is probably due to the custom of making royal snacks in the former Qing Dynasty.

After tasting a few mouthfuls, Cai Yuanpei said, "I heard that it was Shucai who sent a telegram to Yushuai that made him choose peace?"

Li Yu smiled slightly and did not answer directly, but said: "When the United States suddenly declared war on Germany last year, the German ambassador to Turkey once asked the US ambassador in confusion, why did you declare war on Germany? The US ambassador's answer was, Americans It’s about fighting for morals and principles.”

Hu Shi said: "I understand, you mean these are just high-sounding polite words."

Li Yu nodded.

Cai Yuanpei said: "But the Shucai brothers have indeed found the right person. If it is another warlord, it would be hard to say."

Suddenly there was the sound of a car outside, and then a group of people walked into the restaurant. Hu Shi looked through the window and said, "The man in the long robe and mandarin jacket has a good background."

Cai Yuanpei glanced sideways and immediately recognized the person in front of him: "President Xu."

Duan Qirui of the Anhui clique and Feng Guozhang of the Zhili clique were both unwilling to be president again, so they promoted good old Xu Shichang.

Xu Shichang was highly respected and was firmly elected as the second and actually fourth president in the legal system of the Republic of China (the first three were Yuan Shikai, Li Yuanhong, and Feng Guozhang).

Li Yu recognized two other people: "One is Shixu, the minister of internal affairs of the small imperial court, whom he had met in the Forbidden City before; the other is Zaitao, the younger brother of the former Qing regent Zaifeng."

Several others are also princes of the Xunqing royal family.

"Zai Tao? Xuantong's uncle?" Hu Shi snorted coldly, "This President Xu is indeed flirting with the little court."

Cai Yuanpei said: "There are rumors that President Xu took away more than 200 million taels worth of property from the Imperial Household Office a few months ago. It seems that it is not groundless. This time, it may be that the royal palace specially entertained President Xu."

Li Yu said: "President Xu is an old minister of the former dynasty. He has expressed sympathy for the former Qing Dynasty many times as early as Yuan Shikai's period. The small court and the elderly and young in the Forbidden City probably welcome him as president."

Cai Yuanpei lowered his voice: "Listen!"

Several people outside the house happened to pass by the door of their room.

Minister of the Interior Shixu asked: "What are the ambitions of my eldest brother's coming out this time?"

Xu Shichang said: "Weiting (Yuan Shikai) should not miss the opportunity in the Guichou Year (the second year of the Republic of China to suppress the second revolution) first, and then he should not cause Hongxian restoration. Zhang Xun was too reckless in the Dingsi Year and was unpopular... …We came out this time just to serve as regent for the young master…”

Shixu was overjoyed after hearing this: "Thank you, President!"

Several people entered another room.

Hu Shi joked: "No wonder today's assorted ice bowls are much more exquisite than the last time we came here. They have been making trouble for a long time."

Qian Xuantong said disdainfully: "The small imperial court can only rely on external forces. In the eyes of others, it is just a plaything with a slight use value, which is squeezed out and then discarded at will."

Xu Shichang supported the royal prince Yu Lang to become a member of the Republic of China, and let Zai Tao serve as a general of the Republic of China. This was his respect and compensation for the Qing Dynasty. There must be personal emotional factors. In Xu Shichang's view, although the Qing Dynasty has withdrawn from the stage of history, there are still some survivors In Yi Shao's heart, the Qing court still has a certain appeal.

The old and the young have always had latent hostility towards the Republic of China, and the Republic of China was disdainful of the former Qing Dynasty. This was one of the many social contradictions in the Republic of China, and Xu Shichang wanted to alleviate it.

As for what he said about "regent for the young master", it sounded like a joke to others, but the Xunqing royal family regarded it as a life-saving straw.

Since Xu Shichang came to power, the Forbidden City has become lively again, and many people have begun to spend money to ask for posthumous titles and couplets from the small court. The prices have been increasing, and the old people are flocking to them.

But the subsequent progress of the interactions between Xiao Chaoting and Xu Shichang was very embarrassing.

Puyi's imperial advisor Chen Baochen once said with disdain: "It's too much for Xu Shichang to want to be the political king. A 'gong' is enough!"

Another time he said: "What was the intention of advocating that the daughter of a Han minister be the queen? It has been seen that she came to serve in the Republic of China as a Qing Taifu!"

Anyway, Xu Shichang definitely failed to fulfill his promise to continue with the world. Soon, the Forbidden City gradually became disappointed with Xu Shichang and returned to peace. Hu Shi was very unhappy: "President Xu's inauguration speech mentioned the need to 'defeat military force and cultivate culture.' In terms of Yanwu, Wu Peifu happened to stop fighting. The president could order a ceasefire on the front line and switch to North-South peace talks; but Xiuwen was a bit wrong. However, Confucius’ birthday was once again declared a national holiday!”

This point undoubtedly offended Hu Shi and other New Culture Movements.

The attitude towards Confucius has always been regarded as a "barometer" to test the regime of the Republic of China: when it was conservative, Confucius would become the banner of support; when it was radical, Confucius would become the target of attack.

Xu Shichang obviously belonged to the conservative faction. He also announced that he would vigorously advocate respecting Confucius, reading scriptures, and holding suburban heavenly sacrificial ceremonies. Of course, Hu Shi and other new cultural figures could not understand it.

Qian Xuantong was not unhappy at all. He said: "The Republic of China has been in existence for seven years, and the implementation of education is so slow. Can't they see that education is the foundation of saving the country, and the top priority of education is democracy, science, etc. Western civilization! Why not talk about Confucius and Mencius? "

Hu Shi said passionately: "Confucius is still the authority. Only when the authority falls can the light of reason have room and individuals can be independent. The authority of foreigners is God, and the authority of China is Confucius. If Confucius is fully questioned, Confucius' authority will be shaken Only then can cultural conservatism loosen, and only then can Chinese people be freed from decadent and rigid ways of thinking, and only then can they be able to talk about seeking truth from facts, and only then can they talk about creative thinking.”

Qian Xuantong praised it: "Well said! In the end, we will take down the sign of Kong's store, smash it and burn it."

Hu Shi nodded and said: "If we don't smash the Confucian store to pieces, new ideas will not be able to take root, and new Western theories will not be introduced. 'Recreating civilization' is ultimately empty talk."

The two of them were the most radical in the New Culture Movement.

"It doesn't matter if we smash them all to pieces, if they are all smashed, our roots will be gone." Cai Yuanpei slightly suppressed the two people's efforts, and then said to Li Yu, "Shu is the current leader of science, what do you think? What do you think of this?”

Li Yu knew that the momentum was unstoppable and there was no need to stop it. It was no big deal to overdo it sometimes, so he said: "The new culture must be implemented, there is no doubt about it."

Hu Shi said happily: "I knew Mr. Academician would support us."

"Support must be support," Li Yu said with a smile, "but it is best to take the essence and discard the dross. There is no need to deny all ancient literature, including Han Fu, Tang poetry, and Song poetry. There are people who study and sort out the national heritage, and there is no need to deny it. Is it right to label them as restorationists and attack them indiscriminately? There may be those who protect traditional culture."

Qian Xuantong was more radical than Hu Shi, saying: "Vernacular Chinese is the first step in the new culture. The national heritage is classical Chinese, so of course it must be overthrown."

Fortunately, he doesn't want to abolish Chinese characters yet.

Li Yu said: "Chinese culture has never had any gaps. It relies on those national traditions. If they are completely abolished, it may cause a gap between national nihilism and traditional culture. Western culture should be introduced, but I hope that both You can know that if you only advocate the introduction of Western culture from an overall perspective and neglect the necessary digestion of Western culture, it will not be in line with China's national conditions and will cause indigestion. "

Hu Shi said: "Mr. Academician, you actually value the national heritage so much?"

Li Yu said: "Although I don't understand classics and ancient books, I have always believed that they are indispensable. I believe that in a few years there will be a climax of Chinese studies research. This kind of research is no longer about advocating Confucian ruling ideas, but For the true study of Chinese studies, at that time, the national heritage was not the national heritage, but Chinese studies.”

Qian Xuantong said: "I understand, Mr. Academician means to put it to death and survive, so what we are doing now is completely correct."

There were three black lines on Li Yu's head, and his ability to understand caught him off guard.

Hu Shi said: "We advocate science. It is even more far-sighted for the academician to have this kind of understanding of Chinese studies! Science will definitely replace Confucianism and be admired and learned by everyone. That is the important goal of the new culture."

Well, although the New Culture Movement has some unavoidable shortcomings, such as the discussion of science is still too superficial and belongs to the pan-scientific discussion, not only is it not rigorous, but it also ignores the discussion of life beliefs and values, but these are all Only people after the age can understand it.

Li Yu couldn't say anything more about this. After thinking for a while, he said to Cai Yuanpei: "Principal Cai, how is your discipline construction at Peking University going?"

Cai Yuanpei understood this and immediately understood what Li Yu wanted to say, and replied: "I have decided to drastically change the old subject division system. In the future, arts and science cannot be separated too clearly."

Li Yu was deeply impressed and said along the way: "History in liberal arts cannot be separated from scientific research, and philosophy is based on natural science. Similarly, science majors are also closely related to philosophy. Therefore, the disciplines should be intertwined and cannot be simplified at all. Divided by arts and sciences.”

For the present, there is nothing wrong with this view.

This is what Cai Yuanpei wants to do. He said: "If the division between liberal arts and science is too clear, liberal arts students will regard natural science as useless because they are isolated from science, and they will inevitably become empty; science students will be isolated from liberal arts. , regard philosophy as useless and fall into a mechanical world view.”

Cai Yuanpei's views are quite profound and far-sighted.

Li Yu said: "Decades ago, the first batch of Chinese people who opened their eyes to the world proposed 'Chinese learning as the body and Western learning as the application.' It makes sense when you think about it. 'Chinese learning' focuses on world view, self-cultivation, and conduct. , can be called 'Tao'; Western learning focuses on 'techniques', specifically various technological and political innovations. Both are important, and a person should possess them at the same time."

"What Mr. Academician said is absolutely true," Cai Yuanpei said, "I was deeply touched by the process.

"China envies outsiders. The first time we saw their guns and cannons, we knew that their guns and cannons were better than ours.

"If you see foreign artifacts in the future, it would be good to know their craftsmanship.

“Also, seeing that foreign doctors can cure diseases, it’s good to know their medical skills.

"Some people say that although foreign technologies are good, they are only domineering in politics and not as benevolent as China. Later I learned that foreign constitutions, administrative laws, etc. are more advanced than China.

"So I studied their law and politics, but I still suspected that their Taoism was poor. After a detailed examination, I found out that their philosophy was also valuable for research.

“Their benefits were all known, so they sent overseas students. Over the years, various academic studies have been studied.

"But among the international students, there are many who seek money specifically to occupy high positions after returning to their countries. They only do it in a narrow sense without asking for deep reasons."

Hu Shi asked: "What is the reason for Shen?"

Cai Yuanpei looked at Li Yu: "Short the talent, you tell me."

Li Yu said: "China certainly needs engineers, doctors, judges, and lawyers who have studied abroad, but in order to cultivate many good engineers, doctors, etc. in China, it must be run by people with skilled skills and profound academic knowledge. It cannot be based on International students who are good at everything can do it. And if they only know how to practice technology and don't study academics, technology will be water without a source, and their development will eventually be limited.

"To learn from the West, we should not only learn Western 'skills', but also learn Western 'Tao', which is the humanistic thought behind advanced science."

Hu Shi understood: "Renaissance...revival!"

Li Yu took a bite of the assorted ice bowl: "So the West has not completely given up on their own 'Tao'. If we gave up, it would probably be very bad."

"That's too bad!" Cai Yuanpei laughed, "Half of the subjects in my plan will be abolished."