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

Chapter 683 Invisible

Yang Xiaolou and Mei Lanfang's performance in Shanghai was indeed a great success, and they were invited to the famous Gong Stage.

Only then did Li Yu take the time to go over and join in the fun.

Strictly speaking, this is not the later Gong Stage, but it is also a continuation of the same lineage, and anyway, it is all Huang Jinrong's industry.

Huang Jinrong used the word "gong" which means "men and women performing together".

The Gong Stage was quite famous during the Republic of China period. In 1936, when Chaplin arrived in Shanghai, he went to the Gong Stage to watch Peking Opera accompanied by Mei Lanfang.

Li Yu sat down according to the seat numbered on the ticket. There was a program on the table in front of him. In addition to the famous names of Mei Lanfang and Yang Xiaolou, there was also a less famous name: Lu Lanchun.

When he looked up again, he saw Huang Jinrong sitting in the center. Lu Lanchun was the key to Huang Jinrong's decline.

As a Peking Opera actress, Lu Lanchun can almost be said to have been cultivated by Huang Jinrong. Huang Jinrong spared no expense to make Lu Lanchun famous, making her a little famous in Shanghai; if she were to perform on the same stage with Mei and Yang, she would be even more popular.

Huang Jinrong definitely put a lot of effort into Lu Lanchun.

Many people start to go downhill after reaching the peak of their lives. Huang Jinrong was the top man in the Green Gang of Shanghai at that time and he was invincible. The downfall of a successful middle-aged man is often inseparable from a woman.

Lu Lanchun is this woman.

Huang Jinrong was not short of money. He made the same mistake as many people: he thought he could buy the youth of other women with money. At the same time, he overlooked another very important thing: money can not necessarily buy love.

After Lu Lanchun gradually became famous, many of Shanghai's leisure class came to support her because of her outstanding beauty.

Lu Lanchun became a little star as she wished, which made Huang Jinrong want to get her completely.

For her, Huang Jinrong even gave up his habit of going to the bathhouse, and would come to Gongtai Stage in person to support Lu Lanchun whenever he wanted, picking her up and dropping her off almost every day.

After Yang and Mei finished singing, Lu Lanchun came on stage. The fact that she was able to go on stage after the two big names showed that Huang Jinrong had spent a lot of money. After all, the stage was his.

Huang Jinrong looked at Lu Lanchun's graceful figure on the stage and cheered loudly.

But Lu Lanchun's performance today was very average, probably because she was a little worried about Huang Jinrong's forced marriage recently. She even sang a part of the opera out of tune.

This was a big mistake. Many people in the audience heard it, but they knew Huang Jinrong was there, so they didn't say anything.

Coincidentally, there was a young man who came to listen to the opera today. Mei and Yang had performed brilliantly before, but Lu Lanchun, who was praised by the public stage, sang out of tune at the end, which was simply unreasonable!
"What the hell! If you don't have this ability, don't go on stage. I thought you were a famous actor, but it turns out you're just a prostitute who only knows how to sell your looks. No, maybe you're not even a prostitute! Haha!"

The booing was so ugly and too conspicuous on the stage.

Li Yu glanced over. Although he didn't recognize him, he guessed that it was Lu Xiaojia, the son of Zhejiang warlord Lu Yongxiang.

A brief introduction to the recent political background: the first Zhili-Fengtian War had just ended in the north. Although Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian faction had an advantage in numbers and weapons and equipment, he was still no match for Wu Peifu of the Zhili faction.

Just like the Zhi-An War two years ago, it only took Wu Peifu five days to end the battle.

The Zhili clique is now almost the only dominant force, occupying most provinces. The only remaining ones are the Fengtian clique in the northeast, the Anhui clique in Fujian and Zhejiang, and the military government in Guangdong.

Then the three parties prepared to unite to deal with Wu Peifu.

As a warlord of the Anhui clique, Lu Yongxiang had great influence in Zhejiang.

Lu Lanchun on the stage was booed and burst into tears.

Huang Jinrong saw that the moment of "hero saving beauty" had come, and he immediately shouted: "Hit me!"

Several younger brothers immediately rushed out and held Lu Xiaojia down, slapping him twice in the face.

The two slaps were so hard that Lu Xiaojia was stunned, and then he was taken in front of Huang Jinrong.

Huang Jinrong had already rolled up his sleeves, ready to give a few slaps. When he looked at Lu Xiaojia with eyes wide open, he couldn't slap with his raised hand for a moment - because he recognized who the young man in front of him was!
Although he was very successful in the underworld, that was all. Facing real warlords, Huang Jinrong was not on the same level at all, and was even several levels behind.

Huang Jinrong had countless thoughts flashing through his mind. He knew he was in big trouble, so he immediately pretended to be drunk and said to Lu Xiaojia, "I won't bother with it today! Let you go!"

The thugs were completely confused. Why did they let him go? But since the boss had given the order, they had no choice but to obey.

Lu Xiaojia stood up with her face flushed with anger, perhaps because she was beaten. After touching it, she said, "Good, very good!"

Then he walked away.

Li Yu did not expect to see such a scene with his own eyes. He felt that there was no big hatred or grudge. It was just two slaps, and it was not Huang Jinrong who did it himself. Although it was he who gave the order, which was equivalent to him doing it himself, as long as the public relations were in place, it would be easy to make a big deal out of a small matter.

However, the subsequent development of the situation was a bit strange.

Not only Li Yu saw the scene, but also hundreds of pairs of eyes, and it was soon reported in the newspapers.

What everyone loves to read the most is this kind of gossip about jealousy over a woman. It spreads extremely quickly and the whole of Shanghai knew about it the next day.

And almost everyone can see that Lu Xiaojia will not give up, but it also depends on how Huang Jinrong handles it.

The strange thing is that Huang Jinrong did not deal with it!

On the second and third days, Lu Xiaojia did not lose his temper, because according to common sense, Huang Jinrong, who had sobered up, should come to his house to apologize to him and compensate him with some money.

But Huang Jinrong did not do so.

It seems that after neglecting his first wife Lin Guisheng, Huang Jinrong really lost a capable backbone and his ability to handle crises was almost zero.

Later, of course, Lu Xiaojia couldn't stand it anymore, so he ordered his father's subordinate, the Songhu Guard, to send a team of soldiers with live ammunition to arrest Huang Jinrong who was watching the show. Then he was tied up and taken to the detention center under the jurisdiction of the Songhu Guard, and even the Shanghai police couldn't do anything about it.

Once you are sent to the warlord's detention center, you will inevitably be severely beaten.

Fortunately, Huang Jinrong had already formed the notorious "Sanxin Company" with Du Yuesheng and Zhang Xiaolin, which specialized in selling opium. Du Yuesheng was a wise man, and he knew that the three of them would prosper together, and Huang Jinrong's downfall would not be good for them either.

Du Yuesheng was much smarter than the other two of the three tycoons. After learning about the sky-high ransom offered by Lu Xiaojia, he did not panic but immediately contacted the opium dealers in Shanghai and asked them to pay: Haven't you always wanted to curry favor with Boss Huang? Here's your chance!

In this way, Sanxin Company doesn't have to pay a penny and can still pay the full ransom.

In addition, Zhang Xiaolin contacted his classmates and apologized to Lu Yongxiang himself.

Du Yuesheng sent Lu Yongxiang a message that he could not refuse: "You will still need us local tyrants in the future."

Lu Yongxiang would naturally not kill Huang Jinrong for such a small matter. Since he had given so much money, he ordered his son Lu Xiaojia to release him.

The matter was settled, but Huang Jinrong still couldn't forget Lu Lanchun after he was released, and even forced Lin Guisheng to divorce him.

Lin Guisheng’s contribution to Huang Jinrong’s rise was enormous. It can even be said that without her, there would be no Huang Jinrong. She was once known as the female boss of Shanghai.

Lin Guisheng was extremely disappointed with Huang Jinrong and lived in seclusion from then on.

Huang Jinrong got his wish and married Lu Lanchun, who was only 25 years old. But he never expected that Lu Lanchun had an affair with another rich second-generation man named Xue, and a year later, she stole a lot of property from Huang Mansion and eloped with this rich second-generation man!

Because of these two things, Huang Jinrong lost all face in the Shanghai Green Gang.

From then on, Du Yuesheng gradually secured his position as the top leader of the Shanghai Green Gang.

By the way, the Zhejiang warlord Lu Yongxiang fell just two years later. Lu Xiaojia knew that Huang Jinrong would definitely take revenge on him, so he ran to Peiping and actually got together with the ex-wife of Puyi’s younger brother Pujie.

Pu Jie's ex-wife even secretly sold a lot of real estate in Prince Chun's mansion to give Lu Xiaojia back to Shanghai to do business. Although Lu Xiaojia returned to Shanghai again, he hid in the concession and dared not come out.

Huang Jinrong suffered a lot in love during the peak of his career in his middle age...When he wanted to get his first wife Lin Guisheng back, she no longer cared about him.

In comparison, Du Yuesheng was very capable and always respected Lin Guisheng.

But these are all things for later.

-

In the tavern, Shi Liangcai laughed while reading the newspaper: "Evildoers will be punished by their own evildoers. Huang Jinrong has finally met his end!"

At this time, Huang Jinrong was being held in the detention center by Lu Xiaojia.

Li Yu said: "Since ancient times, the people have never fought against the officials. Boss Huang has obviously forgotten his identity."

Shi Liangcai said, "By the way, brother Shucai, you have connections with several generals. If you come forward and say a few words, you can even do them a favor."

Li Yu smiled and said, "I don't need this kind of favor. Besides, I don't bother to care about such a stinky thing."

Shi Liangcai said: "Brother Shucai sees it clearly!"

Li Yu asked again: "Have you brought back the photos I asked you to find from Mongolia?"

"I got it," Shi Liangcai took out a photo from his bag, "This is a photo of the new Mongol Queen, Genenpiler. Normally, this kind of thing should be reported, but no one cares much about it. What do you want this for?"

Li Yu said: "The American publisher wanted to make another set of illustrations for the Star Wars series, which must have some oriental colors. I accidentally saw the news and felt that this new queen was very suitable for the image of Queen Amidala in Star Wars, the wife of Anakin Skywalker."

"The heroine in the three prequels?" Shi Liangcai, who had read Star Wars, asked.

Li Yu nodded: "A very important role."

Shi Liangcai approved of Li Yu's move: "More oriental elements must be a good thing!"

In the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the heroine Queen Amidala was indeed designed based on the image of Genenpiller, the last queen of Mongolia.

Li Yu has no need to change these very successful castings.

-

After returning to the capital, Li Yu asked Gao Lu to cooperate with him in some astronomical observations.

Gao Lu saw that there was already some data, so he asked, "Academician, are you studying the rotation speed of stars around the center of the Milky Way?"

"That's right," Li Yu said. "Although we can't get much precise data, as long as we roughly draw some points, it will be enough to support the paper."

Gao Lu looked at the complicated mathematical calculations on the paper and knew that it was not his strong point, so he should do more observation work.

This went on for quite some time.

Although Li Yu knew the result, the observation equipment was really mediocre, and he could only take his time to get the process data.

As for the paper he is going to write, it will definitely be another explosive piece.

After Li Yu drew two beautiful curves, Gao Lu was extremely surprised: "This... this does not conform to Newton's law of universal gravitation!"

"You're right," Li Yu said with a smile, "According to the law of universal gravitation, the farther away from the center of the Milky Way, the slower the speed of the stars should be. With distance as the horizontal axis, it is expressed as a gradually declining curve.

"But actual observations do not show this to be the case. Recent data analysis shows that the speed of stars does not decrease as the distance increases, but instead remains almost constant."

Gao Lu was shocked and said, "No, it's impossible! Could it be that Newton was wrong?"

"Newton's theory has been verified and is definitely correct," said Li Yu.

"Then what are you doing..." Gao Lu swallowed his saliva, "Who is wrong?"

"No one is wrong." Li Yu said.

Gao Lu didn't understand: "But your results don't match the law of gravity!"

Li Yu said: "Astronomy is like physics, it relies on observational data. We have verified it many times and it is absolutely correct."

Gao Lu said, "I have calculated the speeds of several planets in the solar system, and they all completely conform to Newton's law of universal gravitation. It can't be that universal gravitation is wrong on a larger scale like the Milky Way, right?"

Li Yu said: "Of course not."

"The more you talk, the more confused I become!" said Gao Lu.

"It's very simple. It's science. Now that we have solid data, we should make bold assumptions and verify them carefully," Li Yu said. "Since the speed does not decrease with the increase in distance, it means that there is something else providing gravity to these stars."

Gao Lu's eye twitched: "What?"

Li Yu said, “I don’t know.”

Gao Lu became even more frantic: "You don't know?"

"Yes, I don't know what is providing gravity to these stars in the dark, because I can't see anything through the telescope, so," Li Yu said word by word, "I gave them a name, called dark matter."

"Dark matter?!" Gao Lu pondered for a long time, "What is this?"

Li Yu spread his hands and said, "I said I don't know. But the observation results are clear. There must be something invisible providing gravity, otherwise the speed of stars at the edge of the Milky Way would not have decreased."

Gao Lu said speechlessly: "I can no longer keep up with Mr. Academician's knowledge!"

It was normal that he couldn't understand. If he wasn't a time traveler, he wouldn't be so sure.

Historically, dark matter was discovered by accident nearly a decade later by Oort and Swiss astronomer Zwicky.

However, the naming rights of dark matter have now been taken by Li Yu.

The evidence for the existence of dark matter is very reliable, otherwise such an explosive paper would definitely be considered a fantasy.

(End of this chapter)