Li Yu became busy during this time. The reason why chaos theory did not appear until the middle of the 20th century was actually because early computing power was too poor, making it difficult to simulate and calculate various complex systems.
Fortunately, Li Yu had a calculator. Although it was a little more troublesome to press, it was much better than the one Lorenz used in the 1960s.
And he doesn't need to introduce too many calculations, the main thing is to write down some theoretical things.
Although Li Yu is not strong in writing mathematics papers, the mathematics used in chaos theory are not too complicated and he can master them.
For example, the concept of "fractal" was mentioned at the beginning.
As early as ten years ago, several mathematicians had touched the threshold of fractals.
The most famous one is the Swedish mathematician Koch, whose "Koch Snowflake" is very famous.
That is, taking the middle third of each side of an equilateral triangle as the base, and making another equilateral triangle outward.
Then it goes on infinitely. It can be understood as a matryoshka doll, which is repeated infinitely.
If the perimeter of the original equilateral triangle is 1, obviously the perimeter of the formed Koch snowflake is (4/3) raised to the nth power, which is obviously an infinite number.
But what is very counter-intuitive is that its circumference is infinite but its area is finite.
Just draw a slightly larger circle to cover it.
In fact, its area is indeed convergent and can be calculated.
The Koch snowflake formed in this way is not "round" at all and is prickly everywhere. In mathematical language: although it is continuous, it is not differentiable everywhere.
The same theory is the "coastline paradox" once proposed by Richardson, a leader in the field of turbulence. If you use a ruler with higher accuracy to measure, for example, the British coastline, the measured circumference will be longer.
If you measured it with an infinitesimal ruler, the circumference of the British coastline would be infinite.
Although it is counter-intuitive and a bit anti-physical, in mathematics, it is like this.
Another well-known one is the "Hilbert Curve" proposed by Hilbert ten years ago: divide a square into four small squares, and then use a curve to spread over each small square.
If the small square continues to be subdivided into four and the loop continues indefinitely, the curve will fill the entire square.
In this way, what was originally just a one-dimensional curve has an area.
It's also quite counter-intuitive, the line actually has an area.
Li Yu is quite familiar with these contents, but the process of mathematical derivation wastes a lot of time.
At noon that day, after Li Yu had eaten, Uncle Wang saw Li Yu holding a small black box and basking in the sun, and asked curiously: "Sir, what are you holding?"
Li Yu looked at the calculator in his hand and said with a smile: "Don't talk nonsense outside. It is the treasure of this house."
"Baby?" Uncle Wang asked in surprise.
"Yes, big baby! But don't let anyone know, otherwise it won't work." Li Yu said.
Uncle Wang nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely not leak anything."
"Well, that's good!" Li Yu called Zhao Qian over: "Let's go out."
Zhao Qian was much freer now and immediately picked up the rickshaw: "Sir, where are we going?"
"The British Embassy."
Li Yu found Puland in his office and gave him two press releases, both of which were about conventional science popularization content. Anyway, these news items would be published in China.
Puland said happily: "Mr. Li Yu, I just like to read what you write. I dare say that when it comes to scientific articles alone, no one in Asia can write better than you."
Li Yu said: "Mr. reporter, you are really joking. One more thing. I am here today to ask you how to buy a telegraph machine."
One of Puland's main jobs is to engage in journalism, so he must know the best about this aspect. He said: "You came at the right time. The minister's wife also asked about this matter a month ago."
"Mrs. Minister? Mrs. Takeda?" Li Yu asked.
"That's right. Some time ago, Japan set up hundreds of telegraph offices in North Korea and purchased a large number of telegraph machines. The minister's wife thought that she could communicate with the country faster, so she used the ambassador's connections to purchase several machines." Purland said.
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Japan greatly benefited from telegraph during the Sino-Japanese War.
In the past few years, great efforts were made to build telegraph offices again, and the number has reached more than 2,000! New telegraph offices were also vigorously built in Busan, Incheon, and Seoul (later called Seoul) on the Korean Peninsula.
As for the purpose, of course it is when relations between Japan and Russia are tense and a war is about to break out.
Japan attaches great importance to telegraphs and railways. Although Japan is currently unable to manufacture them on its own, it has purchased large quantities of British and American telegraph machines through the government-run Postal Steam Company and the private Mitsubishi Company.
Moreover, it is the kind of purchase that does not hesitate to spend a lot of money, and the orders even far exceed actual needs.
Originally, Japan wanted to extend its tentacles to Manchuria at the same time and continue to build telegraph lines in Fengtian (today's Shenyang), Harbin, Dalian and other places. However, Russia sensed Japan's ambitions and tried its best to obstruct it. Therefore, there are currently many idle telegraph machines on the Korean Peninsula.
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Of course, Er Mao himself is also ambitious.
After all, the Mitsubishi Group is a business group. With so many telegraph machines placed in Incheon, there is no way to recover the cost, so they are looking for buyers everywhere.
The wife of the British Minister to the Qing Dynasty, Satoshi Takeda, was a Japanese. She happened to think that a telegraph machine could be used to communicate more conveniently with the country, so she naturally would not let go of the news when she heard it.
Li Yu sneered: "Japan and Russia seem to be almost unable to bear it anymore."
Puland asked: "Why can't you bear it?"
"Of course it's a war." Li Yu said helplessly, "And it's a war on our Chinese territory."
Puland laughed loudly: "Are you kidding? If you use Chinese language, Japan would not dare to offend a big European country even if it gave Japan the courage to do so. Although Russia is just a backward country in Europe, it is not just a country that is relatively backward in Europe.
Japan can afford it.”
Purland was an Englishman, and he still believed that the entire East was weak in terms of national strength. Even though Japan had just won the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, he had been in the Qing Dynasty for so many years and knew the details of the Qing Dynasty. It was indeed because of its weakness that it lost the war.
But Russia is different. It is still a ferocious polar bear anyway, while Japan is like a wild boar.
How can a wild boar win when it meets a bear?
This is a common thought in the entire world right now.
Li Yu said: "Japan now has your Anglo-Japanese alliance behind it, and it has the convenience of being close to a certain extent. Maybe it will dare."
"No, no, no!" Puland shook his head. "Although our British empire is on Japan's side, we still absolutely do not believe that Japan dares to take action, let alone the issue of whether we can win or not."
"Okay, wait and see what happens." Li Yu didn't want to talk too much about this issue. After all, it was something that couldn't be stopped, so it was better to think about what he should do.
Puland was obviously not interested in continuing to talk about the issue of Japan and Russia, because in his opinion, it was a situation that did not need to be considered at all. He asked: "If Mr. Li Yu wants to buy a telegraph machine, he can attend a meeting tonight.
People from Mitsubishi Corporation will also attend the party organized by Mrs. Takeda."
Li Yu could only agree that it was not easy to find a channel to buy a telegraph machine now.
Li Yu asked again: "If I buy a telegraph machine, how will the line be connected?"
Puland patted his chest and said, "We also have a telegraph office. You don't have to worry about the lines. However, you have to pay fees to the Daqing Telegraph Office and newspapers on a regular basis. It depends on the number of telegrams sent each month and the areas to which they are sent."
Li Yu nodded: "I understand."
Thinking about it, I feel a little helpless. Communication is so important to a country, but now I have to pay the British to send telegrams.
But there is nothing we can do, and the same is true now in Japan. After all, the equipment and patents are in the hands of the British and American countries.
Li Hongzhang, who has passed away, understood that not every industrial field can introduce foreign investment at will. Railways, mining, communications, banks, etc. must be tightly controlled by himself.
Therefore, the domestic telegraph lines were indeed built by the Qing Dynasty itself. In this regard, Li Hongzhang was actually better than the Japanese. The current telegraph lines in Japan are basically built by British and American companies.
But unfortunately, I didn’t think of further studying the underlying principles of communication.
In short, to send domestic telegrams, you have to pay money to the telegraph office of the Qing Dynasty, but if you want to send overseas telegrams, the British and American telegraph offices will naturally charge the fee, and the price is quite high.
In the evening, Li Yu came to the party of the British minister's wife as scheduled. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Yu Geng and his wife, and their youngest daughter Yu Rongling.
Li Yu stepped forward to say hello, "I didn't expect that Mr. Minister would also attend the party."
Yu Geng said: "It's a coincidence that the staff of the British Legation came to invite the French Minister's wife to the party. We were having afternoon tea with the French Counselor. When I heard that you were going too, we naturally wanted to join in the fun."
Yu Geng has been a minister in France for many years, and now many negotiations with France are still handled by him.
Li Yu's appearance caused a slight sensation. Elodie, the wife of the French minister, asked Mrs. Takeda: "Is that Chinese Li Yu?"
Mrs. Takeda had met Li Yu before and nodded: "Yes, that's him."
Elodie exclaimed softly: "It's really incredible. He has been received by the president in our country. It's unbelievable that you can invite him."
These ministers' wives also like to compare themselves. They have a lot of free time on weekdays, and how well their party goes is the subject of conversation the next day.
Mrs. Takeda said with a little pride: "He is now a famous person in the scientific circle."
Elodie walked up to Li Yu gently and said, "Hello, sir, I am Elodie, the wife of the French Minister."
"Hello, madam." Li Yu responded with a French kiss on the hand.
"I know about your deeds, and you even gave a speech at the University of Paris. It's really amazing." Elodie said.
"Thank you, Madam, for the compliment."
The wives of ministers from other countries are also very interested in Li Yu. In addition to those high-ranking officials and dignitaries in Beijing, Li Yu is probably the most famous one.
But today's protagonist is not him. A young man coughed a few times and said, "Dear gentlemen and ladies, please allow me, Koyata Iwasaki, to introduce to you some of our Mitsubishi products."
Li Yu had heard of the surname Iwasaki. The founder of the Mitsubishi Group was called Yataro Iwasaki. The Japanese in front of him who was only in his early 20s was his son.
Koyata Iwasaki did indeed inherit the Mitsubishi Group 14 years later and became the fourth president.
Iwasaki Koyata said: "First of all, I would like to thank Mrs. Takeda for her kind invitation, allowing me to attend such a grand party. For this reason, I specially brought the latest telegraph machines purchased by our company from American Telephone and Telegraph Company and German Siemens Company.
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Today's Japanese companies are really exploiting every opportunity to promote their products.
Mrs. Takeda is most interested in American products: "I want an American one."
Iwasaki Koyata said: "Mrs. Takeda has a good eye. The transmission loss of AT&T's telegraph is very small."
American Telephone and Telegraph was the Bell Telephone Company back then, and its later abbreviation was AT&T. I believe many people who have used locked Apple phones know this very well.
Nowadays, the United States is a big commercial country. It has turned a deaf ear to what is happening outside the window and only focuses on making war money. Many of the products it sells are indeed cheaper than those in Europe and the United States, and the quality is not bad.
Several other counselors quickly bought the remaining American telegraph machines.
Li Yu smiled and said: "It seems that I will choose Siemens."
Iwasaki Koyata is very good at sales. He said: "Great scientist, Made in Germany is more rigorous for you."
This is Li Yu's first contact with Mitsubishi Group, and of course it will not be the last.
Li Yu is not exposed to industry now, but when he takes action, whether it is Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, or Yasuda, they will usher in a trembling era.
This is also his protection for himself. Not only is the pH value of the industrial soil in the Qing Dynasty now too low, which is not suitable for early industrial production. There are also the four major Japanese chaebols who are eyeing you. Once they attack you, they will be wiped out.
disaster, and it can be concluded that the Qing Dynasty will not take any effective actions to protect its own industrial and commercial groups.
Li Yu asked: "How much does this telegraph machine cost?"
Iwasaki Koyata said: "The price is 365 silver dollars."
Li Yu said: "It is auspicious for you to get the number."
Iwasaki Koyata said: "The meaning is to wish customers to make money every day."
"Okay, I bought it." Li Yu said.
Iwasaki Koyata immediately bowed at 90 degrees: "Thank you for your support."
Today, the Mitsubishi Group brought not only telegraph machines, but also several boxes of Kirin beer, which was definitely a rarity in the Qing Dynasty.
Now, except for people from Harbin, I am afraid that no one in China has ever drank beer.
Koyata Iwasaki said ambitiously: "We at Mitsubishi Corporation are confident in establishing a brewery in Qing Dynasty to compete head-on with the Russians' unpalatable beer!"
After listening to Xiaoyata's words, Li Yu remembered some not-so-good things.
But counting the time, Tsingtao Brewery is about to be established, so it’s best to think of ways to get them ahead.
Although Tsingtao Brewery was originally foreign-owned, the Japanese are so pissed that they will not leave anything of value in China.