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

Chapter 75
The next day, the special mission left to visit the French parliament, which is an important task of the special mission.

Li Yu was not interested in politics, so he didn't go there, but wrote articles on falsifiability in his room.

Although the writing of this kind of article is not as troublesome as a paper, it must be logical and rigorous, and there must be no flaws, otherwise it will cause a lot of discussion.

In the afternoon, Li Yu finished the article and came to the University of Paris.

Principal Greal liked it very much after reading it, and couldn't help but praise it as an excellent philosophical article.

Li Yu, who was really boastful this time, was embarrassed. He was more or less humble before, but philosophy is really not his field of expertise.

In fact, the word "philosophy" has been around for a long time, and later on, many people can't even understand what philosophy is.

Philosophy itself is just a general term for high-level thinking, such as the thinking about the nature of everything in the universe. In ancient Greece, all kinds of thinking about this were collectively called philosophy.

At that time, science was just emerging, so there was no division of subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, and biology, and they were directly referred to as philosophy.

Later, after the Renaissance, out of tradition, Newton still called "physics" "natural philosophy", so his book was named "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", which is actually "Mathematical Principles of Physics".

But the "philosophy" mentioned by Li Yu this time is really philosophy, but an attributive is added, which is "philosophy of science".

When Li Yu was about to leave the University of Paris, someone approached him again, and he seemed to be a public official in his clothes.

"Mr. Li Yu, hello."

"Hello. Who are you?" Li Yu asked.

"I forgot to introduce, I am a driver of Mr. Verne, called Anatole."

Li Yu asked in surprise, "Verne? Are you referring to Mr. Jules Verne?"

The driver continued to reply in broken English: "Exactly. I wonder if you have time to meet? Mr. Verne happened to be in Paris recently. He heard about your arrival. He is very interested, and he is also very interested in China."

Li Yu didn't have anything special, so he said, "Of course."

The driver said happily: "Great, my car is outside the house, let's go together."

"Wait a minute, I have another question," Li Yu said, "Can Mr. Verne speak English?"

The driver shook his head.

Li Yu said, "Then I'll bring a translator."

When the car stopped at the legation, Li Yu found Yu Deling, a young language prodigy, "Princess Deling, can you please help me with a translation?"

"Princess Deling" was the pseudonym Yu Deling used later, but this name was not used at this time.

De Ling shook her head and said, "Princess? I'm not a princess."

Li Yu is a modern person, so he felt indifferent, and said, "Just say you are you!"

De Ling thought about it for a while, and he really liked this title in his heart, which girl wouldn't want to be a princess!

"What do you want me to translate?"

"Mr. Verne invited me to meet, but I really don't speak French, so I can only ask you to be a simultaneous interpreter." Li Yu said.

"Verne? Mr. Jules Verne?" De Ling was taken aback, and then took out a copy of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" from the shelf, "Is it the author of this book, Verne?"

Li Yu nodded: "Otherwise, who else could it be?"

"My God! How did you know him?!"

Verne is now a super best-selling author in Europe, and he is very famous.

It goes without saying how strong French literature is. Before that there were Hugo, Stendhal, Maupassant, Dumas, Balzac, Flaubert, and later there were Romain Rolland, Proust and so on.

But at this point in time, the sages have passed away, and the later "John Christophe" and "Remembrance of Things Past" have not yet been published, which is a small gap.

However, at the beginning of the twentieth century when the industrial revolution was flourishing, popular novels sold well in France and throughout Europe.After all, science fiction is a popular work. It is not as deep and dignified as those classics that focus on the times, and ordinary people are very sought after.

Verne also made a lot of money because of this, and even bought a yacht to travel around Europe.Even for his son who had a bad relationship, Verne still gave him 300 francs a month for living expenses, which was 10 times the income of ordinary laborers.One can imagine how rich Verne was.

He really lived a pretty good life, unlike Balzac, Maupassant and others who had a more regrettable life.

Moreover, he is also a member of the council of Amiens, and he has gained both fame and fortune. It is only natural for him to have a special car and a driver.

Verne currently lives in Paris temporarily, and he usually lives in Amiens.But now that I have yachts and cars, I naturally think about poetry and distant places, and I have also sat in hot air balloons. I have basically achieved all-in-one sea, land and air. In this era when airplanes have not yet been born, it is indeed unusual.

Now that Verne has reached his twilight years and suffers from diabetes, it is very understandable for him to enjoy life more.

Li Yu really didn't expect that he would be invited by Verne, it felt quite sudden.

But thinking about his life, I want to write some science fiction along the way, it's really too profitable!

Li Yu wrote a lot of papers. Although he was famous, he didn't earn much money at all.

Yu Deling also loves literature, so he has naturally read a lot of Verne's works, and science fiction was relatively popular at the time.She didn't necessarily know the great scientists at that time, but Verne was really impressive.

Li Yu smiled and said, "Academic communication is normal."

"Wait for me, I want to get some books for him to sign!"

After loading Yu Deling, the car continued to set off and stopped at a high-end hotel. Li Yu met Verne in a rather large guest room.

Verne is now 74 years old. Although he is still in good spirits, diabetes still tortures people a lot in this era, and there is almost no good way.

Verne said: "Excuse me, let Your Excellency come to visit."

Yu Deling's French is very good, and he immediately translated for Li Yu.

Li Yu said: "It's a natural thing to visit, and it's a great honor to meet you."

Verne smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to have such a beautiful translator, which makes me quite envious."

De Ling was also very happy to be praised by Jules Verne. He emphasized the word "beautiful" when translating, which is the key point!

Li Yu said: "We are all your fans, and we have read your works before."

"Oh?" Verne was surprised, "I didn't expect China to have my readers."

"I have read "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Around the World in Eighty Days", "Captain Grant's Children", and "Mysterious Island" by Mr.

In fact, he has not only read it, Li Yu has also watched the movie!
Verne said: "I didn't expect you to have read all these. I wanted to give you a few copies of my autographed works."

How clever Li Yu was, he immediately said: "If Mr. said so, then I can only say that I have not read it."

Verne laughed loudly: "The Chinese are not as old-fashioned as they say! You are really interesting. I once wrote a book "A Chinese's Experience in China", but I was not satisfied, so I also want to find another Let’s talk about the Chinese. Recently, I read in the newspaper that the majestic ‘Oriental Proud Son’ has come to Europe and France, and I want to see him no matter what.”

Li Yu also said with a smile: "The so-called 'Oriental Proud Son' is just a false name given by newspapers."

Verne's "A Chinese's Experience in China" is really shocking. After all, Verne has never been to China. The protagonist in the article is very Westernized, and the story is only the shell of China. At most, it can only be regarded as a Chinese book. The little travelogues cater to European readers.

In fact, for Westerners, it is really difficult to get a thorough understanding of China. I am afraid that at least they have to live in China for more than ten years.It takes a long time to really understand the thousands of years of continuous history and the vast human geography alone.

Verne said: "I read your report in the newspaper, which really surprised me. It is really rare to be able to master multiple disciplines across fields."

Verne himself, as a science fiction writer, also understands science, although not so deeply, but in order to write, he needs to read scientific works in various fields.So even if he is not a science fiction writer, he is also a competent naturalist.

Verne continued: "You have made a lot of predictions in cutting-edge science. This is what we science fiction writers are most interested in. Science fiction is about the future. Speaking of which, I am preparing to write a novel recently, but I have no ideas, so I hope to get inspiration from the conversation with you.”

Li Yu didn't expect that Verne was already 74 years old, already well-known in Europe, and a wealthy man would continue to create, and he felt a sense of respect in his heart.

He thought for a moment and said, "I think you could write about interstellar travel."

Verne stroked his beard: "Interstellar travel? Good idea, but is it feasible?"

Li Yu's ideas were indeed too advanced for the people at that time. Even in science fiction, in that era, human beings could never think of any way to leave the earth, unless it was in the realm of fantasy.

But humans can imagine after all.

Li Yu said: "Science fiction, what if it comes true in the future!"

Wells, who was known as the father of science fiction along with Verne at that time, had already written the famous "Time Machine", which was almost the originator of time-traveling novels.

Verne thought for a while: "It makes sense! If it's easy to realize, it's still science fiction! Then I'll start writing from the moon!"

Jules Verne had a sudden inspiration, and he wished he could start writing now, "I am so relieved to see you today, as expected, young people have a lot of ideas!"

Li Yu smiled and said, "Then do I still have a signed book?"

"Yes! Of course there is!"

Yu Deling at the side immediately took out the book in his bag: "Mr. Verne, can you also sign for me?"

Verne was in a good mood: "Of course, as many signings as there are!"

Leaving Verne's residence, Yu Deling was so excited that he was holding a few books like a baby lump, but it was a pity that he didn't buy the hardcover back then.

Li Yu turned around and was ready to think about whether he should also write some popular science books or science fiction works?
Nowadays, people in the East, except in some parts of Japan, really have too little knowledge of science. It is difficult for them to read any science-related books. I am afraid that they cannot understand popular science books.

If science fiction works can be used to mobilize some public interest in science, it seems to be a good choice.

And popular novels don't need too high a writing style, as long as they can tell the story clearly, it is very good, which also slightly lowers the writing threshold for Li Yu, a man of science and technology.

If it doesn't work, you can also find a big name in the literary world to polish it. We really have a lot of talents in literature!

(End of this chapter)