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

Chapter 96
In the past two days, Li Yu has finished writing manuscripts for The Times and Shenbao. One is a miscellaneous talk on science, and the other briefly talks about the industrial revolution and the scientific impetus behind it.

Although he is not good at writing such articles, after all, he examines everything from the perspective of a hundred years later, and his writing reveals a natural sense of insight into everything.

In addition, he has already written the call for papers on the Three-Body Problem, but unfortunately the length of this kind of article made it impossible to send it by telegram, so Zhao Qian had to ask Zhao Qian to take him to the Qing Post Office again.

Zhao Qian said to Li Yu while pulling the cart, "Master Li, I have an unfeeling request, I wonder if you can agree?"

"What request?" Li Yu asked.

Zhao Qian chuckled: "Fengling also wants to move here."

Li Yu laughed and said: "You boy, if you still move here, you can just say that you just moved here to live with you!"

"I can't hide it from my eyes." Zhao Qian didn't hide it either.

"Has she redeemed herself?" Li Yu asked.

Zhao Qian replied: "Actually, Feng Ling had already redeemed herself, so my brother had no money when the accident happened. She wanted to leave the dusty place a long time ago, but I was poor and empty before, so I couldn't let her live with me in a ruined temple." Don't worry, Lord, when Fengling comes, she can wash, cook, and do maid work, so she won't live in vain."

"Okay, I agree." Li Yu said simply
"Master, thank you so much!" Zhao Qian said excitedly.

Li Yu felt that Zhao Qian's footsteps were starting to become brisk, and he said with a smile: "One more thing, don't call me Lord in the future, it's better to call me Mr."

Xiyuan, Yiluan Palace.

Yikuang, Ronglu, and Yuan Shikai came to report to Cixi. At the end, Cixi suddenly asked: "The Ai family wants to teach the emperor another Western lesson, but foreigners are not allowed. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Teaching?" Rong Lu was a little confused about what the Empress Dowager meant.

Some time ago, the Queen Mother had just arranged for the emperor an English teacher, Yu Deling, so why did she need to find another Western teacher?Could it be that the empress dowager's attitude towards the emperor has really eased?

Yikuang and Yuan Shikai also couldn't figure out what the queen mother meant, so they didn't dare to speak.

Cixi clicked her tongue and continued: "Aijia is old and can't learn much. But the emperor is not old, so he should know something about Western learning, otherwise foreign envoys will not understand anything when they meet the Qing emperor. What's the matter?" system."

It seems that Cixi still regards Guangxu as a puppet, completely a tool man, and only uses it when it should be used on the scene.

Knowing Cixi's attitude, Yikuang dared to speak: "This servant thinks that Li Yu, who was once a student in my residence, is very suitable."

"Is that Li Yu who adjusted the telescope?" Cixi asked.

"Back to the Queen Mother, that's right." Yikuang said.

Cixi nodded slightly: "He is suitable, Yuan Shikai, what do you think?"

Yuan Shikai said: "I also asked Li Yu to teach in our Beiyang Army. After a month of contact, I think he is indeed the person who understands Western learning best in the Qing Dynasty."

Cixi said: "The person who knows Western learning best? Well! Then it makes sense to teach the emperor."

Rong Lu said: "It's just that this Li Yu just got the No. 1 in the entrance examination of the Imperial University of Beijing a few days ago. I don't know if he has time."

Cixi said: "Is there another matter? It's interesting, so let him teach it! In the past, the Imperial College didn't pay much attention to it. You and the University just let them know. Can they stop it?"

Cixi's attitude towards the university did not go beyond the traditional category.

Yikuang knew Li Yu well, and he added: "Teaching the emperor is no small matter. The slave is afraid that Li Yu will not understand the rules of the palace, so the slave thinks that Zhang Deyi, who once taught English to the emperor, can help him a little bit."

Cixi didn't care about such specific operational details, "You just need to know what to do." Then she called Li Lianying and said, "Little Lizi, when Li Yu goes to Yingtai to meet the emperor, let Eunuch Cui follow him. "

Li Lianying understood in her heart: "Cha!"

Eunuch Cui is Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch who accompanied the Queen Mother to take pictures a few days ago.This person is probably most famous for throwing Concubine Zhen into a well and drowning in accordance with Cixi's order.

Guangxu also hated him deeply, and it was perfect for him to watch over him.

Cixi was too familiar with the political trick of giving a candy to eat and then slapping, and completely controlled Guangxu in her own Wuzhi Mountain.

Guangxu started learning English ten years ago. As the head teacher of Tongwenguan at that time, the imperial court asked Ding Weiliang to introduce two graduates of Tongwenguan, Shen Duo and Zhang Deyi, to teach English to the emperor.

Martin was also a little strange about this matter. He once said: "One student has two teachers teaching the same class. In this world, I am afraid that there is only the emperor of the Qing Dynasty."

In short, since 1891, Guangxu has been in contact with English for ten years.Of course, there was a break in the middle.

Guangxu's English grades are also not bad, which may be similar to most middle school students today. Apart from relatively poor oral English, he is still remarkable in reading and writing.

As for why the spoken English is so poor, the reason? It is really because of the two teachers.

Shen Duo is from Canton, while Zhang Deyi is from Liaoning, and the accents of the two people in Tieling are quite different.

Moreover, although both are graduates of Tongwenguan, Zhang Deyi graduated from Jingshi Tongwenguan, and Shen Duo graduated from Guangzhou Tongwenguan.

Even in the 21st century, when Mandarin is so popular, when a Northeast veteran and a Guangdong handsome guy appear in a university dormitory at the same time, the conversation can be beautiful, let alone more than 100 years ago.

There is nothing to say about reading and writing, but there is a big difference on the issue of pronunciation.

Martin, as the chief instructor of Tongwenguan, was responsible for approving all the English dialogue exercises provided to the emperor.He mentioned that Zhang and Shen had complained to him that the other had "corrected his pronunciation of a word" during a lecture.

For court teachers, this kind of mutual correction will damage Guangxu's impression of them, and may even hurt his official career, which can be said to be harmful but not beneficial.

Henceforth, the two adopted the "correct" way of doing things: hearing the emperor's pronunciation wrong, regardless of whether the error had anything to do with another teacher, they kept silent and did not make explicit corrections.

For Guangxu, this kind of silence really damaged his learning effect.

Martin wrote helplessly in his diary: "For a long time, their distinguished students were punctual in class, rarely missed classes, and showed considerable wisdom in reading and writing. But his Spoken English is terrible. How can a student learn well if the teacher never dares to correct him when he makes a mistake?"

However, Guangxu did not know about it, and even prepared an English manuscript, preparing to give an English speech to ministers of various countries!
Fortunately, it didn't work out in the end, otherwise it would be really embarrassing.

How to say Guangxu's English accent, anyway, I can't imagine the effect of speaking English that combines the Northeast accent and Cantonese accent.

Guangxu's deeds of learning English were reported by many newspapers at the time. "Shenbao" published a review article with more than a thousand words, saying that the emperor was so eager to learn, and in the future "it is not difficult for me to have all the so-called skilled people in the West."

Many scholars were encouraged to learn English enthusiastically, and one of them was named Kang Youwei.

Even the "New York Times" in 1892 solemnly reported the matter: "The 20-year-old His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (in the Qing Dynasty, the people called him the Son of Heaven), is currently being taught English by two British and American educated students from the Beijing Imperial College, Emperor Guangxu issued an edict to inform the whole country about this matter. The news that His Majesty is learning a foreign language really surprised people here, and they even doubted whether it was true."

There are obviously some mistakes in the report of the "New York Times". Tongwenguan is not the Imperial College, and Guangxu did not issue an edict to inform the whole country.

It was the eunuch Cui Yugui and the former emperor's English teacher Zhang Deyi who came to tell Li Yu the news with Cixi's edict.

Cui Yugui delivered the decree loudly: "Li Yu listened to the decree. From now on, I want you to teach the emperor's Western learning, and go to Yingtai to teach regularly. You should do your best and work hard!"

The moment Li Yu got the news, he was really dumbfounded!

What?

Why did he suddenly teach the emperor Western knowledge again!
I didn't expect that just after I was moved by De Ling's situation, I would go to the palace to teach the emperor. No matter how I think about it, this is not a good job!Do I have to buy some aspirin too?
Now that Yi's decree has been issued, it's too late to refuse.

Zhang Deyi smiled and said to Li Yu: "It's a pleasure to meet you. I, Zhang Deyi, have heard about your deeds a long time ago."

Li Yu still hadn't recovered from the state of being surrounded, and said casually: "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Zhang Deyi added: "You don't have to worry, I have taught English to the emperor for several years, and the emperor is actually very easy to get in touch with."

Guangxu really respected the two professors, and sometimes he even let the two English teachers sit beside him when the courtiers received them.

Moreover, Guangxu's enthusiasm for Western learning is very high, it should be said that he is a fanatic fan.

Li Yu had no choice but to say, "This is the best."

Seeing Li Yu's reaction, Zhang Deyi said in surprise: "It's a great thing to be a teacher for the emperor, why don't you seem to be reluctant?"

Li Yu hurriedly put on a happy look and said, "It's a good thing, of course it's a good thing. I was just too shocked just now."

Zhang Deyi smiled and said: "When I first entered the palace to teach, I was in the same state as you, but I quickly got used to it. I read your news in the newspaper. With your knowledge, even the chief instructor praised you. An excellent emperor teacher."

Li Yu can only accept the reality, let's take a step at that time.

Although Zhang Deyi's reputation is not obvious in later generations, he has indeed created many "firsts" in China.

In 1868, when China sent a diplomatic mission to Europe and the United States for the first time, it was he who accompanied the mission as an interpreter;

In 1876, China sent a minister to a foreign country for the first time, and accompanied the minister as an interpreter in the UK.

He was also the first person in China to enter the pyramid.

He was the first to record Western food, the first to record punctuation marks, the first to record the Paris Commune, and the first to record bicycles.

The name "bicycle" was his earliest translation.

The most interesting thing is that he was the first person in China to record condoms.In the works written by Zhang Deyi, he mentioned twice that there is an item called "kidney clothes" outside the territory.

When mentioning what he saw and heard in France in 1866 in "Navigation Stories", he wrote: "Wen Ying, there are people who sell kidney clothes in France, but I don't know what they are made of. According to the cloud, when they are prostitutes, they will be the best in Longyang. The head of the body, so as not to get sick. The male and female are compatible, and there is no room for one. Although the cloud is sick, it is not as fast as being naked."

Later, in "Europe and America Travel Notes: Franc's Journey to the West", he recorded what he saw and heard when he traveled to France again: "I heard that foreigners who are afraid of having children are tired, so they buy a leather or silk cover and put it on the penis. Up, even though the phoenix and the luan are turned upside down, the chicks have no eggs."

He has recognized the two functions of condoms: prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and family planning.

However, he used Confucianism to severely criticize this violation of human relations: "The method is solid and wonderful, but Mencius said: There are three unfilial acts, and the greatest is to have no descendants. It is a pity that such people have not heard of it. It is important to advocate Insisting on this law, causing people to behead their heirs, is a crime that cannot be punished. The so-called instigators have no heirs!"

As an early Tongwenguan graduate, even though Zhang Deyi traveled around the world, he only reached the level of extensive knowledge of blogs. Although he was proficient in foreign languages, he did not really learn Western learning in depth.

Zhang Deyi said: "To be a teacher for the emperor, you need to know a lot of rules, especially at this time."

Li Yu knew what Zhang Deyi meant: "I understand."

Zhang Deyi continued: "You can choose the textbooks yourself, but you must let the Queen Mother read them first."

Li Yu nodded, since he was controlling Emperor Guangxu, of course he had to know the general idea of ​​what to learn from Cixi.

Zhang Deyi continued: "The tone of teaching must be calm, neither too strict nor too soft, it must be persuasive, and you must not blame the emperor."

Li Yu smiled and said, "I don't dare either."

Zhang Deyi said: "There is another most important point. You must remember that although you are a teacher and a student, you are also a monarch and a minister."

Li Yu understood everything, but now Guangxu was no longer a real emperor, and his fate had already been planned in Cixi's mind.

As a student of Ding Weiliang, Zhang Deyi knew that Ding Weiliang attached great importance to Li Yu, so he basically explained everything to Li Yu in detail.

Li Yu is also very grateful to Zhang Deyi. Now that the court is dangerous, it is difficult for someone to explain everything to you in advance.

After Zhang Deyi left, Uncle Wang, Zhao Qian, and Feng Ling who had just moved in were all shocked.

De Ling is a woman after all, so the fact that she taught the emperor English is only known in the court, but Li Yu has no scruples when it comes to Li Yu. People who understand Western learning are completely fine.

Feng Ling had just moved here, and as soon as she entered the door, she saw her father-in-law coming to read out the imperial decree, and she just froze in place: "You can't go wrong, right?"

It wasn't until Zhao Qian pulled her to kneel together that he realized that he wasn't dreaming.

Zhao Qian also exclaimed: "Master! Oh no, sir! You want to be the emperor's teacher!"

Li Yu waved his hand: "There's nothing to make a fuss about."

"How can you not be surprised? To be the imperial teacher! What an honor!" Uncle Wang said with his eyes shining.

Li Yu didn't feel too honored, maybe people would mention him in the future, and they would be more willing to mention that he was a teacher of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang at the same time.

Hey, but thinking this way suddenly feels a bit interesting: when later generations mentioned Sun Chuanfang and Wu Peifu, I wonder if they would add that to some extent they and Guangxu also came from the same school.

It is estimated that Sun and Wu will definitely publicize this in the future.

When Uncle Wang went to the Qing teahouse that day, he sat down in the middle and boasted loudly: "Listen up, everyone, my master will be the emperor's master from now on!"

Wang Bo Erlang's leg turned up, but it broke his fork.

Lao Yu and the others stared wide-eyed: "Teacher?"

It took a while to react:
"Oh, my God! Uncle Wang, take a breath of my cigarette, I just lit it!"

"Uncle Wang, drink tea!"

"What kind of tea are you? Quickly serve the best Mingqian Gonglong to Uncle Wang!"

Although Guangxu is a puppet emperor, people still think that he will be in charge sooner or later and become the real emperor.

(End of this chapter)