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

Chapter 685 Parents’ Meeting

Houdefu Restaurant.

At the instigation of the three children, Li Yu and the fathers of Qian Xuesen and Qian Sanqiang held a small "parent-teacher meeting".

When the restaurant owner Liang saw Li Yu coming, he immediately greeted him warmly: "Master Li, welcome! Today, anything you order is free!"

Li Yu said, "You don't have to be so polite."

Restaurant owner Liang said: "Our whole family is very happy that our son Liang Shiqiu has passed the examination to study in the United States."

Li Yu said: "That was the students' own hard work. I don't have any credit for it."

Boss Liang was in a good mood: "Master Li, don't be so modest! This is just a small token of our appreciation."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Okay, I'll introduce you to more guests next time."

Boss Liang said, "Come on! Please come in!"

The restaurant specially arranged an elegant room for Li Yu.

Qian Sanqiang's father, Qian Xuantong, had met Li Yu several times and introduced him to Li Yu: "This is Mr. Qian Junfu."

Li Yu shook hands with him: "Nice to meet you!"

Qian Junfu said: "The academician is very knowledgeable and has a good way of educating his children. He is admirable."

Li Yu said: "I am usually very busy and don't have much time for education."

But no matter what, as a time traveler, many years of reading experience are no joke. At least when the children are young, Li Yu can really teach some things much better than today's primary schools.

Qian Xuantong said: "Education lies in the heart, not in the length of time."

Li Yu asked curiously, "Both your families have the surname Qian, are they related?"

Qian Xuantong said: "My ancestors should all be from the Wuyue Qian family, but so many years have passed, and I can only trace them back to that time."

Thousands of years have passed and there is indeed basically no blood relationship.

"I see," Li Yu said, "I brought two of Mr. Qian's... young classmates to my house to play. They were mainly interested in my collection of books and some instruments. I observed that they seemed to have received a very Western-style education since childhood."

Qian Xuantong said: "Of course we have to get rid of our bad habits. When the Three Powers were not called by their current names, I told them that the 'Three Bonds' taught in private schools are ancient bad habits. The ruler is the bond between the ministers, the father is the bond between the sons, and the husband is the bond between the wife. They are all nonsense! They are not the 'Three Bonds' at all, but three hemp ropes that have been entangled with the Chinese for two thousand years! The grandfather entangles the father, the father entangles the son, the son entangles the grandson, and so on from generation to generation... From now on, we can no longer use the ropes of old ethics to bind children in the future!"

"Mr. Qian, that's great!" Li Yu applauded. "By the way, you mentioned earlier that the name Three Powers was chosen later?"

"Yes, his name since childhood was Qian Bingqiong," Qian Xuantong said, "later I found that when he was joking with another classmate, he called the other person 'Tai Ruo', and the other person called him 'San Qiang'. I asked him the reason, and he said that because he was good at sports and ranked third, his classmates called him 'San Qiang'. Children's words are sometimes worth learning from. Names are originally symbols. I think the name 'San Qiang' is better. It can be interpreted as a determination to strive for progress in moral education, intellectual education, and physical education, so I used it."

"It's indeed a good name." Li Yu didn't expect there was such a story behind it, and then asked, "I heard from Xian'er that you decided to let your child choose French as a foreign language subject?"

Qian Xuantong said: "It just so happens that the school offers French courses. I have studied linguistics for many years. Even though I don't understand foreign languages, I know that French is more complex and elegant than English. If I want to learn it, I should learn something in depth."

Li Yu laughed and said, "It might be painful to learn numbers in French in the future."

Qian Xuantong was not impressed: "French science is not very strong, so it's certainly not a problem. On the contrary, I think Chinese has a huge flaw in translating science."

Let’s talk about Qian Xuantong’s advocacy of abolishing Chinese characters.

Li Yu said: "The strength of Chinese lies in its tolerance and acceptance. There is no need to worry."

Qian Xuantong sighed: "I can't help but worry."

Although he was the most determined advocate of abolishing Chinese characters, his original intention was to make China strong. Now he is not so radical anymore and has turned to studying phonetic characters.

"In the recent debate between science and metaphysics, I firmly stood on the side of science! Even though I was studying metaphysics," Qian Xuantong added, "I have repeatedly taught Sanqiang that a person should have a scientific mind. No matter what happens, one should use one's own reason to analyze, study the truth, judge right and wrong, and then decide what to choose. Even when reading ancient books, one should analyze them with a developmental perspective. Only in this way can one understand the changes in culture and be enthusiastic about reforming society. The times are always moving forward. Only by learning scientific skills can one have the ability to change the status quo."

Qian Junfu said: "I share the same view as Mr. Academician, so I encouraged Xuesen to learn more about Western learning. This is also the origin of our idea of ​​letting our children learn from academicians in the future."

"That's unacceptable," Li Yu said, "How can I be the master of the two Mr. Qians... Mr. Qian?"

"Why not?" Qian Xuantong said.

"I..." Li Yu didn't know how to explain.

Qian Junfu said: "Mr. Academician has been a tutor to the emperor. It is impossible that he is unwilling to be a tutor to children of ordinary families, right?"

At this point, Li Yu couldn't refuse: "Okay! I'm just worried about delaying the child. I don't know if I'm good at educating him."

Qian Xuantong said: "Mr. Academician, you are worrying too much. The master can only lead you to the door, but it is up to you to practice. How can you blame the master if you can't learn well?"

Li Yu smiled and said, "The main thing is that these two children are indeed child prodigies."

"Now I'm afraid that my child is a child prodigy," said Qian Junfu.

"Injury to Zhongyong?" Li Yu asked.

"There is such a concern," said Qian Junfu.

"I think you're worrying too much." Li Yu said.

"No matter what, whether he is a child prodigy or a mediocre person, he needs to be taught well by the teacher," said Qian Xuantong.

Anyway, it’s just some remedial lessons on the weekend, which won’t take much time.

Li Yu said, "No problem, and my son will also rely on Mr. Qian to make up for his Chinese studies."

"This is even simpler," Qian Xuantong said, "Besides, what's the use of these things, whether they are repaired or not?"

Li Yu said: "As Chinese people, we must always pass on our excellent culture."

They just complement each other.

However, Li Yu can indeed allow these future scientific giants to get in touch with some of the most advanced scientific content earlier. Even if he can't teach, if he puts the right things in front of the two Qian masters, they can figure it out on their own without having to worry about it. -

When Li Yu returned home, he met President Li Yuanhong at the entrance of Dongchang Hutong. He was arranging for several servants to install a huge plaque on the car.

"President Li, which shop is this plaque for?" Li Yu asked.

"To General Wu in Luoyang," said Li Yuanhong.

"Marshal Yu?" Li Yu said.

"Yes, General Wu is about to celebrate his 50th birthday, and I personally carried the plaque," said Li Yuanhong.

"General Wu must attach great importance to receiving the plaque written by President Li," said Li Yu.

"In addition to the plaque I proposed, Emperor Xuantong of the Forbidden City also presented a plaque with his own calligraphy, which is more noble than mine," said Li Yuanhong.

Wu Peifu was now at the peak of his career, and his reputation for patriotism was much better than that of other warlords. Hundreds of politicians personally went to Luoyang to celebrate his birthday.

Kang Youwei also ran over from afar and presented a birthday couplet: "Muye is like an eagle soaring high, with fame and talent for a hundred years and half a century; Luoyang is watching like a tiger, winds and rains from all directions will gather in Zhongzhou."

Although this birthday couplet was obviously an exaggeration, the current Marshal Yu was indeed in great glory. Time magazine was established in the United States this year, but Wu Peifu was no longer the first person to appear on Time magazine, because Li Yu's portrait had already appeared on the cover.

In a few months, Time magazine will put Wu Peifu's portrait on its cover, which shows that not only the Chinese people are optimistic about Wu Peifu, but foreigners are also very optimistic about him.

Time magazine commented on Wu Peifu: GENERAL WU, Biggest man in China.

Time magazine knew that even though Wu Peifu was only the second-in-command of the direct lineage, he was the one with real power.

In the article, Time magazine also posted several photos of other warlords. When mentioning the Fengtian clique, the article said that Zhang Zuolin was "a devout supporter of the empire, that is, a supporter of the monarchy", and believed that "with such a large territory in northern China, General Zhang was irreplaceable as a warlord". It also mentioned that "although General Zhang was quick-witted and had great power, he was no match for General Wu and was defeated by him."

Surprisingly, there was no photo of Zhang Zuolin in the publication, but a photo of Zhang Xueliang was used instead. And under the photo of Zhang Xueliang, he was described as "MARSHAL CHANG" (Marshal Zhang) and "His title is no empty epithet" (His title is no empty epithet).

It is easy to understand why Li Yu can be on the cover, after all, he has almost been on the headlines in Europe and the United States.

As for why Wu Peifu was able to appear on the cover of Time magazine, another reason may be that Henry Luce, one of the founders of Time magazine, was born in Wu Peifu’s hometown, Dengzhou (Penglai), Shandong.

Wu Peifu was born in 1874. Twenty-four years later, Luce was born in the home of an American missionary in Dengzhou. It was not until he was fourteen that Luce left Shandong to study in England.

In Luce's eyes, people from Shandong are his "fellow countrymen", so he often casts his eyes towards the distant East.

However, what is more surprising is that just one month after Wu Peifu appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was named "the strongest man in China", he fell from the altar.

It's simply poisonous milk!
But that was more than half a year later. Wu Peifu is still at the peak of his life, and the roller coaster is still at the highest point.

The Marshal who was celebrating his birthday hung the plaque bestowed by Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty in the center of the birthday hall, and placed the plaque sent by President Li Yuanhong on the side. The representative sent by Puyi was also seated before President Li's representative, which shows the status of the two in Wu Peifu's heart.

Li Yuanhong's current position as president is the result of power struggles among various parties.

The Zhili clique drove away the former President Xu Shichang, and was afraid of the Fengtian clique, the southwestern warlords, and the opposition from the Guangzhou National Government, so they had no choice but to let Li Yuanhong come back.

The "good old man" Li Yuanhong was really lucky.

The Zhili clique also gave Li Yuanhong the title of "Glory of the Legal System".

Li Yuanhong was very happy to be reappointed as president. Before the reinstatement ceremony, Li Yuanhong smiled in front of the mirror in a formal suit and said, "Everyone says I am Li Dashao. Today, I, Li Dashao, am back to rule the country again!"

"Tiao" means sweet potato in Hubei dialect. For a long time, people thought that Li Yuanhong was simple-minded and unsophisticated, so they gave him this nickname.

"Now we can be neighbors again," Li Yu said. "I remember that President Li's business in Tianjin was booming."

Li Yuanhong complained, "Well, I'm glad I made some money! After being president for such a short time, I finally realized that it's no different from before. The presidency is really not a human thing. I lost more than 30,000 yuan this month!"

Li Yu said: "More than 30,000 yuan was spent in one month?"

Li Yuanhong said helplessly: "According to this calculation, I will lose 360,000 yuan every year. I can't support it in the long run. I have almost lost all the interest on my coal mine stocks and salt tickets. Donations from all over the place, fundraising from all over the place, it's too much to handle. I only make 100,000 or 80,000 yuan a month, but the donations alone are not enough to cover the expenses!"

Li Yu said: "It turns out that being president is a costly job."

Li Yuanhong said: "The new government has no money and can hardly function. It is even difficult to borrow money now."

Li Yu said: "Didn't the Chief Financial Officer Luo Wengan just borrow nearly 600 million pounds from the foreigners?"

Li Yuanhong said: "That's true. Without this money, the cabinet cannot be formed. But, Mr. Li Yu, how do you know this?"

Li Yu smiled and said, "Because recently Peking University suddenly paid all the wages owed in the past few months, and the same is true for government employees. I asked President Cai Yuanpei and found out."

Because of this money, the "Cabinet of Good People" organized by Li Yuanhong came on the stage. Many people in this cabinet were senior intellectuals or university professors.

However, if you look closely, most of them are still Wu Peifu's forces: the Chief of the Army Zhang Shaozeng is Wu Peifu's son-in-law, the Minister of the Interior Sun Danlin was formerly Wu Peifu's secretary-general, the Minister of Communications Gao Enhong is Wu Peifu's fellow townsman and follower, and the Prime Minister Wang Chonghui is also pro-Wu Peifu.

Therefore, there is no doubt that this cabinet has been criticized from all sides since its birth.

For backward countries, having too many forces is really not a good thing. There is no possibility of "democracy" at all. It can only be a slogan. No one will submit to anyone else, and in the end they will only fall into endless quarrels or even disputes.

The current focus of attacks from all parties is Luo Wengang's loan issue.

It wouldn't be long before the "good cabinet" resigned in anger under impeachment and lawsuits from all sides. It only lasted for two months.

Cai Yuanpei would also resign out of frustration over this incident; Mr. Hu Shizhi, who also wholeheartedly supported the "good cabinet", also resigned from his position as Dean of Academic Affairs of Peking University.

In the Luo Wengang loan incident, President Li's attitude was somewhat wavering and his personal prestige was greatly damaged.

In fact, Li Yuanhong's presidency was originally meant to supplement his predecessor. His term of office was only one year and would expire in June this year.

Therefore, Cao Kun, who was nicknamed "Cao San Shazi", had already started to prepare for the election. He was happy to see Li Yuanhong fall into trouble, and the more chaotic it was, the more logical it would be for him to take the throne.

The chaos will continue.