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

Chapter 713 Epilogue : Layout
After Wang Ganchang completed the experiment at Datong University, Meitner personally sent a letter from the University of Berlin, admitting that he had made a mistake and sincerely inviting him to return to continue his research, and at the same time awarded him a doctorate degree.

Li Yu certainly wouldn't stop him, so he quickly sent him there to study for a few more years while Germany only had three or four years left when many masters gathered there.

After Wang Ganchang left, the Science Society showed Li Yu the latest issue of "Science Magazine".

Li Yu usually doesn't take care of these daily affairs, but when he is in Shanghai, the editorial department will still let Li Yu review them.

Flipping through the pages casually, Li Yu noticed one of the articles, "The Reason Why Su Jiaju's Solution to the Fifth-Order Algebraic Equation Is Invalid", signed by Hua Luogeng.

Li Yu immediately started reading.

The current editor-in-chief of the Science Magazine editorial department is Wang Jiliang, a Boxer Indemnity student who studied in the United States at that time. He noticed that Li Yu paid special attention to this article, so he said: "I heard that it was written by someone with only a high school education."

Li Yu smiled and said, "As expected, mathematics is the only subject that can realize personal heroism. A piece of paper and a pen can create the world. By the way, who is this Su Jiaju?"

Wang Jiliang said: "He seems to be a middle school math teacher and math enthusiast, and he is well-known in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. His article "Solution of Algebraic Quintic Equations" was first submitted to our magazine. But I was very surprised, because even if I don't understand math, I have heard that general quintic equations have long been proven to have no radical solutions, so I refused to publish it."

Li Yu asked, "What magazine did Su Jiaju's article appear in?"

"Hua Luogeng, who was in Xueyi magazine, felt that Su Jiaju's article was wrong after reading it because it contradicted Abel's conclusion. So Hua Luogeng wrote to Xueyi magazine to point out the error. Xueyi magazine later published a brief correction statement, admitting that Su Jiaju's article was wrong. However, Hua Luogeng was dissatisfied with Xueyi magazine's perfunctory attitude, so he wrote this detailed correction article and submitted it to our magazine."

Li Yu nodded: "The quintic equation involves group theory, which is already a very difficult field of mathematics. Such talents cannot be wasted."

Wang Jiliang said: "It is not easy for someone with only a high school education to achieve this level. Academician, do you want to recruit him?"

Li Yu said: "Our main areas are physics and engineering. Tsinghua has Xiong Qinglai and Yang Wuzhi. I wrote a letter and asked him to go to Tsinghua first and then study abroad in the future."

Li Yu has already dominated the field of physics, but mathematics is not his strong point, so he still needs to stay in school first.

-

After completing this episode, Li Yu felt that it was time to consider making some further plans.

He brought his capable economic aide Hu Jiayan and arrived in Kunming on the passenger plane developed by Feng Ru.

By the way, they showed the performance of the aircraft and sold it to the warlords in Yunnan. At that time, the transportation conditions in Yunnan were quite poor, and they would definitely like the aircraft.

The chief official of Yunnan was Long Yun.

This guy is also a legendary figure. Four years ago, he joined forces with Hu Ruoyu and other four Yunnan garrison commanders (what a retro name) to force Tang Jiyao to step down.

Hu Ruoyu then raided Long Yun's residence and captured him. Fortunately, Long Yun's men escaped and led the army to counterattack, so Hu Ruoyu did not dare to kill Long Yun.

After a month of stalemate, Hu Ruoyu was forced to let Long Yun go. Long Yun then launched a massive counterattack and gained command of the Yunnan Army, beginning his 18-year reign in Yunnan.

However, when Hu Ruoyu attacked his residence, Long Yun's left eye was injured. He did not receive effective treatment during his one-month detention, which led to blindness. He has to wear glasses ever since.

In the photo, Long Yun is wearing glasses and looks gentle and refined. At first glance, you might think he is a Confucian general, but he actually doesn't like reading at all and is only very good at kung fu.

Just before Li Yu arrived in Kunming, Long Yun had just experienced another coup.

The reason was that he wanted to better control the Yunnan Army by abolishing divisions and replacing them with brigades.

——Those who understand the military know that throughout World War II, including for a considerable period of time thereafter, the army was organized into divisions. This was done to meet the needs of large-scale combat.

But after the 1990s, the Gulf War made major powers wake up from their dreams. Warfare has changed, and the advancement of equipment has become more important. So they all followed the US military and began to switch to a more flexible brigade and battalion system.

Our country also started such reforms in the 90s.

However, since most war movies are still centered around World War II, most people still have the impression of divisions in their minds.

Obviously, Long Yun's "abolishing divisions and changing them into brigades" could not be such an advanced consideration. He himself had a bit of the flavor of "releasing military power with a cup of wine". Then, four major commanders including Lu Han under his command immediately refused to accept it, forced him to abdicate and launched a coup.

But this coup was very mild. Less than a month after Long Yun was driven away, Lu Han and other four major commanders felt that they could not be without a leader, so they invited him back to Kunming.

From then on, Yunnan's political situation stabilized.

Long Yun personally met with Li Yu and was extremely surprised by his request: "Mr. Academician, why do you want to buy such a large piece of land?"

Li Yu said: "It's a good thing to expand Yunnan's education!"

"Building a school requires such a large piece of land? More than 6,000 acres?!" Long Yun asked.

"There are also many surrounding facilities. If you have seen universities in Europe and the United States, you will know that some of them are even like a small city." Li Yu explained.

Long Yun said: "Of course it's a good thing! We are located in the border area, and Mr. Academician is willing to make such a big move. There is no other person like him in the whole country."

Li Yu said leisurely: "Kunming is a precious place, and looking back through the long river of time, this is the only way to do it."

Long Yun didn't know what Li Yu meant by this inexplicable remark, but if someone was willing to invest, even a huge amount of millions of dollars, he would definitely be happy to accept it. At least they would be able to benefit hundreds of thousands of dollars from the construction process.

After selecting the land, all matters in Kunming were handed over to Hu Jiayan. Handling business worth millions of dollars was not a difficult task for him.

Long Yun and others were indeed interested in the plane, so Hu Jiayan could just make the connection regarding the purchase of the plane.

Before leaving, Li Yu arranged a large number of radio equipment for him. "If anyone from the north comes to ask for it, just give it to them and tell them that we will continue to provide it."

Hu Jiayan smiled faintly: "I understand."

-

After returning to Shanghai, Li Yu wrote a letter to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Nobel Prize Foundation. Apart from the polite words, there were only two key sentences:

"I am willing to lend a portion of the funds to your foundation to distribute this year's physics prize. In addition, I personally recommend Mr. He Yujie, who discovered the proton, as the winner of the physics prize."

They will definitely agree.

Although quantum mechanics had been basically established in the 30s, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences still did not recognize it. After all, such a profound and revolutionary theory is only understood by a small number of top physicists, and it is difficult for other physicists on the periphery to judge whether it is correct or not.

Pauli criticized in 1930: "No one in Sweden understands quantum mechanics!"

But the awards are given by others after all. According to the tone of the Nobel Prize Committee, more emphasis is still placed on experimental physics with applied or expansion significance. This realistic-oriented aesthetic is unlikely to favor breakthroughs in purely theoretical forms.

Otherwise, Heisenberg, Born, Schrödinger and others should have won the Nobel Prize as early as 1930.

Olsen, the person in charge of the Nobel Prize in Physics, did not like or understand quantum mechanics very much, and in 1930 he chose the Raman effect as the award recipient that year.

The year came to 1931, and no Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded that year.

The reason is that, on the one hand, Orson still insisted on not giving the prize to the field of quantum mechanics, and on the other hand, due to the economic crisis, funds were indeed tight, so Orson decided not to give the Nobel Prize in Physics that year.

Li Yu's letter just solved these two problems for him:

Now that the neutron and anti-electron have been discovered one after another, it is not appropriate to give out the prize immediately. We need to wait at least a few years until more laboratories complete the verification. Before that, it would be perfect to award it to the discoverer of the proton. Moreover, it is just right that Li Yu is willing to give the money. The wording in the letter is "loan", which will be repaid later. Anyway, the foundation will not be short of money in the future when it recovers, and they are happy to see someone willing to temporarily help out.

Therefore, after several months of discussion, the Nobel Prize in Physics Committee decided to give the 1931 award to He Yujie. Logically, Li Yu should also be included, but Li Yu has no shortage of honors, so letting He Yujie win the award himself has a more deifying effect.

After receiving the news, Li Yu, Wu Youxun and Wang Ganchang accompanied He Yujie to Sweden.

Several people set off in September, and they will conduct another round of lectures in the United States on the way, and will also meet Zhao Zhongyao in the United States. ——This luxurious Chinese team is very intimidating.

When the ship docked at Yokohama Port, the Japanese physics community, led by Hantaro Nagaoka, invited the group to go ashore to give speeches.

But everyone was quite disgusted because Sino-Japanese relations were too tense and the September 18th Incident that shocked China and the world was imminent.

Li Yu smiled coldly in his heart: Okay, damn little Japanese, come on.

He could talk about a lot of things, including physics, astronomy, mathematics, and engineering. But when he mentioned the aircraft-related content in engineering, Li Yu intentionally or unintentionally mixed in his own little thoughts:
"I think that if you design an aircraft with strong air combat capabilities, you should focus on maneuverability without reservation. Speed ​​is king in the air. Considering the current economic crisis, it can also save a lot of money. From the perspective of game theory, it is the best choice."

Li Yu often talked about this matter in conversations, which subtly deepened the ideological imprint on the Japanese.

After hearing this, the Japanese also expressed their agreement because it perfectly met their needs.

In the early stages of World War II, the Japanese Air Force, especially the Naval Aviation, was quite strong; but in the later stages, Japan's aviation power was greatly weakened for two reasons:

First, the selection system based on seniority;

Second, there is the problem of aircraft design concept.

Let’s talk about seniority first. This is an old tradition in Japan, and it has not changed even in the 21st century, a hundred years later.

Japan's pilots come from three main sources: cadets at the Naval Academy; selection from active-duty soldiers; and selection from the civilian population, such as high schools.

Obviously, only the first one, that is, the students of the Naval Academy, are the so-called orthodox air force, and they are of the "True Sun Flag" level in the Japanese Air Force.

But the vast majority of pilots came from the latter two types, especially the late-stage "Kamikaze" team members, who were basically ordinary students recruited from the civilian population.

In the Pacific battlefield of World War II, a group of very powerful ace pilots emerged in Japan. Some of them even completed the glorious record of shooting down more than 50 enemy planes, which is quite amazing.

But the highest they can achieve is basically flight attendant, and they cannot even be promoted to the lowest rank of second lieutenant.

This is a very common phenomenon. In the Japanese Navy and Army Aviation flight teams, many veterans with thousands of hours of flying experience are only sergeants or slot leaders, or at most slot leaders.

However, when they are performing their missions, they have to obey the orders of an inexperienced commander who just graduated from the Naval Academy but has the rank of second lieutenant.

The contradiction here is too huge!

In 1943 and 1944, after a large number of veteran pilots were killed in battle, Japan finally woke up from its dream. But even if they wanted to change, it was too late to reverse the situation. Moreover, the situation was hopeless and it was too late to do anything.

Let’s talk about Japan’s fighter design concept.

A simple evaluation is: in the eyes of European and American aircraft designers, both Japanese Army Aviation and Navy Aviation aircraft are products with extremely poor anti-destruction capabilities and cannot withstand a few attacks.

Take the most famous Zero fighter of the Japanese Navy during World War II, and the Type 1 fighter of the Army Air Force which was of the same generation as the Zero fighter.

These two aircraft were developed independently. After all, the Japanese Army and Navy were at odds with each other and didn't like each other.

The design of the Zero fighter basically did not take into account any protective performance, but only flexibility, and the fuselage can be said to be as thin as a cicada's wing.

It was not until 1943 that the Zero fighter was equipped with bulletproof glass and automatic fire extinguishers; and it was not until the end of the war that it was equipped with a self-sealing fuel tank.

Are you asking about the bulletproof armor commonly equipped on European and American fighter jets? Not at all!
Wow, what a design concept! The pilot’s life is not a life.

The manufacturer Mitsubishi was a little shocked, but it was the Navy Department that asked for this.

In the early stages of the war, the Zero did gain a lot of advantages, but in the later stages, after the US military equipped the Hellcat F6F and Corsair F4U, they began to be superior to the Zero in all aspects, including power, firepower, climbing ability, diving ability, protection performance, etc.

However, due to its early design, the Zero fighter had a very small and frail fuselage and even had no room for upgrading, and it was impossible to replace it with a high-horsepower engine.

As for the Type 1 fighter of the Japanese Army Air Force, it is much less famous, and its protection performance can only be said to be slightly better than that of the Zero, but it is better than nothing, mainly because it has no strong opponents.

But its design is also quite strange, it doesn't even have a machine gun.

The machine gun equipped on the Zero fighter was already quite useless. It was a Type 99 Type 1 20mm machine gun. The barrel of this machine gun was relatively short and the initial velocity was low, so the trajectory was relatively curved, and it was ridiculed by some pilots as a "piss" cannon.

But it was a machine gun after all, while the Japanese Army Aviation aircraft used 7.7mm and 12.7mm caliber machine guns.

During the Battle of Rabaul on New Britain Island in 1943, faced with the U.S. B-17 and B-24 large bombers with powerful self-defense firepower and sturdy fuselages, the Japanese Army Aviation fighters often found themselves in the embarrassing situation of running out of bullets and failing to shoot down the U.S. bombers.

In any case, both the Japanese Army and Navy were very backward in their concepts of air force and never placed aviation forces in the right position (in this respect, they were even behind the National Army, which had extremely weak air force).

In the eyes of the Japanese Army, air force is flying artillery, used to bomb places that artillery cannot reach; while in the eyes of the Navy, airplanes are flying battleships, used to assist the main fleet in winning naval battles.

Except for a few people, such as Isoroku Yamamoto, Takijiro Ōnishi, and Tomoyuki Yamashita, basically no senior Japanese generals regarded the air force as a strategic force.

It was this series of factors that led to a sharp decrease in the number of experienced pilots in Japan in the late World War II. Even if Japan was able to build more airplanes, there would not be a single qualified pilot.

Of course, these people deserved to die.

Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the Japanese aviation industry continues to maintain the spirit of "fearlessness of death" - let's all die with honor!

As for the economy, Japan is now in a mess and is facing the Showa economic crisis. They don't have the money to build better aircraft, and they even urgently need to divert domestic attention, such as provoking the September 18th Incident.

Some Japanese students listened to Li Yu's speech and believed it absolutely, and among them was a future Japanese fighter designer.

Well, let’s learn it well!
-

Li Yu can only do things in a subtle way regarding military matters, and taking advantage of Japan's current economic crisis, Li Yu must take further action.

While flipping through a Japanese magazine, Li Yu accidentally saw an article by an author named Akamatsu Kaname, which made him even more speechless about the Japanese thinking.

This Japanese scholar named Akamatsu Kaname proposed a very ridiculous so-called "flying geese theory".

According to him, Japan is the leader of economic development in the Western Pacific region, the leader of the flock of geese, the head goose, belonging to the first level, mastering the core productivity;

The second level is South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other places, which have mastered some core productive forces, accepted Japan's technology and industrial transfer, and provided support for Japan;
The third level is Southeast Asia, which provides labor and resources and takes over the labor-intensive industries transferred from the first two levels, serving as supporting facilities within supporting facilities.
Finally, there is mainland China, which is the tail goose and only serves as a production base for cheap raw materials and a market for dumping goods.

His theory became extremely popular in Japan in the 80s (the above is the revised version in the 80s).

These grandchildren!

Okay, let you show off!
Li Yu arranged for Davis of the Morgan family to come forward and buy part of the shares of several major Japanese publishing houses and department stores, including the already established Kodansha.

Kodansha is the largest comprehensive publishing company in Japan in later generations, but what everyone is familiar with is generally its "Weekly Shonen Magazine", which is one of the three major comic book companies in Japan that has published a large number of famous anime including "Attack on Titan", "Initial D", and "Fairy Tail".

Li Yu mentioned this in a telegram to Lu Bicheng, who was a little confused as to why Li Yu was so interested in the publishing company.

Li Yu just replied calmly: "The cultural battlefield will be even longer."