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

Chapter 702 White Terror

Li Yu not only collects antiques in this secret room, but sometimes also has private conversations with some people, such as Yao Hongye who just returned from Japan.

Li Yu is now an invisible major shareholder of Mitsui. He transfers the money earned from the Mitsui Zaibatsu through the First National Bank under Mitsui through David Buick to some banks in the United States and the United Kingdom, and then quietly transfers it back to China.

The US "white glove" should not be wasted. This hassle will cost an extra three or four percentage points in handling fees, but it is the only way to do it for safety.

Yao Hongye took out a few lists and said to Li Yu, "Sir, Zhang Zuolin controls the soybean purchase in Northeast China."

This was a very important signal, so Yao Hongye came to report to Li Yu. However, Li Yu was not very surprised. He asked, "What is the attitude of Mantetsu and Mitsui?"

Yao Hongye said: "The top executives of the Mitsui Group were extremely angry. They wanted to lobby the Japanese Army and the Black Dragon Society to threaten Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Xueliang and his son."

Li Yu snorted coldly: "As expected."

As we have said, although the Mitsui Group was not as famous as Mitsubishi, which produced a large number of military weapons during World War II, Mitsui held a large share of the logistical supplies for the Japanese invading China.

Logistics ability directly affects frontline operations and has always been extremely important. In ancient times, the first meritorious generals of the founding of a country, such as Xiao He of the Han Dynasty and Li Shanchang of the Ming Dynasty, were in charge of logistics. Although they were not as glorious as the frontline generals, they actually played a very important role. However, most people don't know this. The most colorful generals in history are often the dashing frontline generals, such as Han Xin, Xu Da, and Chang Yuchun, who don't pay much attention to logistics.

Even Zhuge Kongming was portrayed as a skilled warrior, but in fact he was more of a logistics expert, and fighting was his last resort.

Mitsui's base in China is the Northeast. In recent years, Mitsui has penetrated into every corner of the Northeast through soybean planting and some comprador classes. They purchased high-quality grain from the Northeast in the name of Chinese people, and then resold it to the Japanese military to earn the difference.

But the emergence of Zhang Zuolin broke this situation. In order to build up his own power and strengthen his control over the Northeast, he also set his sights on the fat piece of soybean. So he decided not to cooperate with the Japanese anymore and to monopolize the right to purchase soybeans in the Northeast.

The top management of Mitsui was naturally very angry. The profit from soybeans was secondary. What Mitsui really cared about was the role of soybeans as a link.

Although Northeast China is rich in resources, there are not many products available for trade at present. Soybeans are the most valuable hard currency. Through soybeans, Mitsui can establish a trade network in Northeast China. If the soybean supply is cut off, the Northeast branch may go bankrupt, and Mitsui will lose the most promising market in East Asia.

That's why Mitsui and Zhang Zuolin had an irreconcilable feud.

Yao Hongye asked: "Do we need to tell Zhang Zuolin?"

"No, he won't listen," Li Yu said, "Let's just follow our established plan and do things in secret."

"I understand," Yao Hongye paused and added, "and in fact I hate the Japanese and I don't like Zhang Zuolin."

Li Yu patted his shoulder and said, "I know you are under a lot of psychological pressure and there are not many good people you face every day, but there are some things that must be done. You must persevere."

Yao Hongye perked up: "Don't worry, sir!"

Of course, the Japanese were the most hated, and Yao Hongye would definitely not like Zhang Zuolin.

When Li Yu was still in Europe and the United States, a white terror swept the capital.

After Zhang Zuolin entered Beijing, he killed the famous journalists Shao Piaoping and Lin Baishui, shocking the whole country.

The press in the early years of the Republic of China was relatively free, and even if a newspaper was closed down, it was rare for someone to be killed simply because he or she cursed at them.

Dai Jitao wrote in the newspaper: "Xiong Xiling is a traitor, kill him! Tang Shaoyi is a fool, kill him! Yuan Shikai is a tyrant, kill him! Zhang Binglin is a pervert, kill him!"

The word "kill" four times in one sentence was directed at the then President Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Shikai did not cause any trouble for him.

After the first generation of warlords came to an end, the second generation of warlords obviously could not control their desire for power.

The death of Shao Piaoping, the editor-in-chief of Jing Bao, was caused by his writing an article supporting the rebellious Guo Songling. Shao Piaoping put the portraits of Guo Songling and Zhang Zuolin side by side in the newspaper, with "Zhang Zuolin, the bandit leader" written under Zhang Zuolin's photo, and "Guo Songling, the savior of the three northeastern provinces" under Guo Songling's photo.

Zhang Zuolin was very angry, and after the Fengtian Army entered the city, he immediately wanted to kill Shao Piaoping.

Shao Piaoping had originally taken refuge in Dongjiaomin Lane, but the Fengtian Army sent spies to contact Shao Piaoping's friends, falsely claiming that the Fengtian Army had forgiven Shao Piaoping. Only then did he leave Dongjiaomin Lane. As soon as he arrived home, he was captured by the waiting spies.

Someone went to Zhang Xueliang to plead for mercy, but the young marshal made a beheading gesture and said, "The old marshal (Zhang Zuolin), Ziyu (Wu Peifu) and other generals have already made the decision to arrest Piao Ping, and will execute him on the spot once he is captured."

Just three months after Shao Piaoping's death, Lin Baishui, chief editor of the Shehui Daily, was also brutally murdered at the Tianqiao execution ground in Beijing.

Within a hundred days, two journalists were tragically killed, which people at that time called "a chance encounter within a hundred days."

Lin Baishui was punished for writing an article cursing Zhang Zongchang's subordinate Pan Fu, comparing the relationship between Pan Fu and Zhang Zongchang to "the relationship between the kidney sac and Gaowan."

Pan Fu was furious and asked Lin Baishui to apologize in the newspaper, but Lin Baishui said, "Freedom of speech should not be interfered with by violence." Then Pan Fu went to Zhang Zongchang and falsely accused Lin Baishui of being a communist.

The next day, Lin Baishui was taken to the execution ground by the warlord.

Ridiculous, how ridiculous!

Both of them just wrote an article, and there was no proper trial during the whole killing process. They were killed at will! There is no concept of republicanism or democracy at all.

Throughout the Republic of China period, there were countless incidents of mutual abuse. If this continued, I'm afraid everyone would have to turn around.

Previously, the Beiyang government had always advocated freedom of the press. The fact that two journalists were killed in just a hundred days was enough to show the extent of the white terror at the time.

Nowadays, all major newspapers in Beijing are silent and there are basically no articles writing about current affairs.

-

Biyun Temple in Xishan.

Li Yu and Lu Bicheng came with flowers to mourn Mr. Sun. His coffin remained here until the construction of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was completed in 1929.

There are many mourning couplets hanging in the back hall, of course, there is no famous one by Zhang Taiyan:
Sun Lang divided the country into three parts. When the Wei Dynasty was just beginning to take shape, how could Jiang Biao forget to attack Xu?
The Southern Country is my family’s old property, the resentful spirits are everywhere, and Wuguan joined the Qin alliance for no reason.

The first couplet implicitly satirizes Mr. Sun's Northern Expedition for provoking war, while the second couplet is even more severe, comparing the Soviet Union to Qin's "country of tigers and wolves", implying that Mr. Sun invited wolves into the house.

Zhang Taiyan was still the same. He would not allow anyone to scold Mr. Sun except himself.

Two years later, when the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was completed, Zhang Taiyan was originally asked to write the epitaph, and he felt that only he was qualified to write the epitaph for Mr. Sun. However, Zhang Taiyan had a personal grudge against Chiang Kai-shek, so Chiang rejected his proposal.

In the end, there was no epitaph on the monument, and it became a famous monument without words.

(Someone suggested writing “天下为公” (The world is for all), which also sounded good, but I don’t know why it was rejected.)
As soon as Li Yu came out of the back hall, he saw a monk stopping an American reporter.

“Photographic equipment is not allowed here,” the monk said.

The American reporter had no choice but to put down his camera and turned around to see Li Yu.

"Mr. Li!"

Li Yu also recognized him. He was Powell, the American reporter involved in the previous train robbery. Now he has become a top reporter from Europe and the United States in China.

"Aren't you interviewing the generals fighting on the front lines?" Li Yu asked.

"Just got back," Powell said. "The front was retreating so fast I couldn't even keep up!"

"Are you the Yu Shuai we are interviewing?" Li Yu said.

Powell said: "Yes, I finally finished the interview in Xinyang, Henan. General Wu Peifu is worthy of being a Confucian general. During the interview, he kept holding a tattered thread-bound book and glanced at it from time to time.

“I asked him what book it was.

"General Wu replied, 'Wu Yue Chun Qiu'. Then he added, 'There were no machine guns or airplanes at that time'.

"And General Wu repeatedly stressed that he was just a soldier and didn't understand politics."

Li Yu said: "It won't be long before Time Magazine will choose a new cover character."

Powell didn't know what Li Yu meant, so he said, "I just interviewed Feng's old commander Zhang Zuolin, and he gave me a calligraphy piece."

"Zhang Zuolin? Give you a calligraphy?" Li Yu felt like he might have heard it wrong.

Although Marshal Zhang was not completely ignorant of a single word, his educational level was certainly not high, and sometimes he could not even recognize all the words in the newspaper.

Powell carefully took out a piece of calligraphy from his bag: "This word 'tiger' was written by him on the spot when he was interviewing Marshal Zhang."

There are some so-called calligraphy works of Zhang Zuolin in later generations. It is estimated that except for Zhang's seal, it is difficult to tell the authenticity of the others.

But the character "虎" in front of him is written quite majestically. Maybe he likes Siberian tigers, so he also likes to write the character "虎".

Li Yu asked: "Did Mr. Powell mention the murder of the journalist?"

Powell said: "Marshal Zhang said it was a misunderstanding and that he just wanted to scare people."

Li Yu was speechless and said, "Do you believe it?"

"It's too late to believe it or not. The dead can't speak," Powell said.

Li Yu sighed: "So now many scholars have left the capital."

In the future, Powell witnessed many cases of the Beiyang government arresting and killing progressive people, and mentioned them in his personal writings.

For a period of time afterwards, Li Yu gave many lectures in various universities as usual, mainly talking about the cutting-edge quantum mechanics content, including matrix mechanics, wave mechanics, spin, etc. - It is estimated that apart from Li Yu, there is no one else in China who can give lectures, but the content is relatively large and it takes quite a long time to talk.

Considering future development, Li Yu plans to move his family to Shanghai first.

Within a year, the Northern Expedition will be over and most of the intellectuals will flock to Shanghai.

Li Yu also wants to devote more energy to Tatung University.

Anyway, the groundwork has been laid for many years, and Lu Bicheng could not have any objection to Li Yu's decision. Besides, the Yu Garden and Dongping Road villas in Shanghai have long been mature and are very comfortable to live in.

Li Yu and Lu Bicheng left first, leaving Zhao Qian and the others to pack up. Of course, they would not abandon the house completely, as they would stay there when they came back.

Affairs in Shanghai are busier than those in Beijing, because Li Yu also holds the title of president of the Shanghai Industrial Association, and he is determined to build Datong University into a university that will be on par with Peking University and Tsinghua University in the future.

For Li Yu, it is not that difficult to make Datong University a top university. He can invite many world-class scholars to give lectures every year, and he will also train several Nobel Prize winners at Datong University. These achievements are absolutely real.

Today's Tatung University is actually very lively. Whenever Tang Feifan and He Yujie return to China, they will teach at Datong University, and in the future they will also become professors at Datong University.

The main reason is that Datong University's conditions are indeed strong, the treatment offered by Li Yu is good enough, and Shanghai is the strongest city in the entire Far East. With the right time, place and people all gathered together, they will definitely stay.

It happened that Tang Feifan came back that day to give a lecture on biology and medicine, and Li Yu came over to support him after finishing his own lecture.

After Tang Feifan finished his speech, many students surrounded him and asked questions enthusiastically.

A student looked at the experimental equipment of Datong University and drooled, "Professor Tang, your equipment and laboratory are really enviable!"

Tang Feifan said: "It's mainly because the funding provided by Academician Li Yu is very high. Looking around the world, the conditions here are not bad."

"Mr. Academician, do you attach so much importance to biology?" the student asked.

Tang Feifan said: "Of course! Academician Li Yu said that biology is a subject with great potential."

Li Yu just happened to come over: "It should be said that it is a future discipline."

When the student saw Li Yu, he immediately said respectfully, "Mr. Academician!"

Li Yu saw his face and felt like he had seen him somewhere before. "Are you a student at our school?"

"No," the student said, "I graduated from Fudan University and am now a teaching assistant in the Department of Biology at Central University. My name is Tong Dizhou."

It turned out to be him.

Li Yu said: "The mysteries of biology are still difficult to uncover because they are limited by chemistry and physics."

"Restricted?" Tong Dizhou didn't quite understand.

Li Yu said: "The molecular structure in chemistry has not yet been verified, and it is difficult for instruments to complete more subtle observations, so of course they are limited."

"Is there a device that can see tiny structures better than a microscope?" Tong Dizhou asked in surprise.

"There will definitely be one, and it won't take a few years," said Li Yu.

Tong Dizhou immediately thought: "If someone can invent a more sophisticated instrument first, wouldn't he be able to easily spy on the secrets of more organisms? And thus stand at the forefront of this field?"

Li Yu said: "That's true."

If technology is allowed to develop on its own without intervention, the gap will definitely become larger and larger over a certain period of time.

"So this is also a competition?" Tong Dizhou said.

"You can understand it that way," Li Yu said, "and it's a competition that could win a Nobel Prize."

Tong Dizhou said regretfully: "Then we are far behind."

Biology is really hard to pursue. Li Yu has always felt that it is quite difficult, so he had to ask: "Do you have any idea to study abroad earlier?"

Tong Dizhou said: "Of course I want to, but studying abroad is too expensive."

The last thing Li Yu lacked was money. "It's easy! You can try to take the Education Foundation exam this year. If it's biology, just choose a European school."

Tong Dizhou's eyes lit up: "Full amount?"

Li Yu smiled and said, "Not only is it full, but there are also scholarships and living allowances, which are enough for you to have food and clothing in Europe without worries."

Tong Dizhou was a person with a strong learning ability, and he was eager to try it out immediately: "I will start preparing from today!"

It was still Li Yu's old "routine", trying to let the bigwigs in the scientific community complete the task of studying abroad as early as possible. Historically, Tong Dizhou would not go abroad to study until one year later, and soon he encountered the September 18th Incident, making it difficult for him to concentrate on his studies. It would be better to let him go abroad to study for a few years earlier.