The two were chatting happily when someone came to the door again.
As he entered the door, he shouted: "I would like to inform you that I am Per Fisher, Counselor of the German Legation."
Lu Bicheng, who was working as a prostitute in another room, also heard it and quickly came to the hall.
Per Fisher will become the official German minister to the Qing Dynasty in a few years. He is considered a small "China expert" and has studied Chinese for many years.
Li Yuying came out and said, "Mr. Counselor, I'm sorry to hear you come from afar."
Robert Fisher said bluntly: "Mr. Emperor, have you been making mistakes when you talk too much recently?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "Mr. Counselor can also speak idioms, but why do you speak like this?"
Fisher took out the "Ta Kung Pao" and said: "I'm afraid it's inappropriate for Mr. Emperor to talk about our country's great philosophy Hegel like this in the newspaper. You should have enough respect for our country's thinkers."
Li Yu said: "What if Mr. Hegel doesn't respect our country's sages first? What can you say?"
"That is a philosophical question, and it is not disrespectful. Moreover, I have read your so-called classics of ancient thinkers. I think Hegel is qualified to criticize them." Fisher said.
Zhu Guozhen was a serious man who had passed the imperial examination, but he immediately became dissatisfied: "Counsellor, now you disrespect us even more."
"I don't mean that out of thin air," said Per Fisher.
Li Yu corrected him: "It must be groundless."
Just now I praised him for being able to speak idioms.
Fisher took out an English translation of "Zhuangzi" and said, "I think this is your country's supreme ideological classic, right?"
Li Yu nodded: "That's right."
Fisher said proudly: "Look at these sentences, they are just like eating candles! How can there be any profound thoughts?"
Li Yu didn't bother to correct his idiom error. He looked down and saw this sentence: "The ends of the newly grown fine hairs on birds and animals in autumn are bigger than Mount Tai."
The literal English translation is so awkward.
Li Yu thought about it for a while, but couldn't figure out where it came from. Zhu Guozhen didn't understand English well and asked: "Which sentence is it?"
Li Yu gave him a literal translation.
Zhu Guozhen touched his chin and thought for a while: "In autumn, birds and beasts, the ends of fine hairs are bigger than Mount Tai? It's so harmful! Obviously, there is nothing in the world larger than the end of autumn hair, while Mount Tai is small. Heaven and earth are coexisting with me, and all things are there."
Be one with me'."
Sure enough, in terms of familiarity with classics, there is a huge gap between Li Yu and people like them who passed the imperial examination.
Fortunately, this sentence is quite famous and Li Yu has seen it before.
Per Fisher said: "Why are you saying something different?"
Li Yu said: "Mr. Counselor, this is a problem of translation. If you want to understand Chinese culture, it is impossible to rely on translations. It is only possible to go deep into ancient books, understand classical Chinese, and understand the history of that time."
Nowadays, including the later English translations of "The Analects" and "Zhuangzi", they are all at the same level. Even if Gu Hongming is more powerful, he can only explain the meaning more properly. English cannot express it in a highly refined way.
The momentum of classical Chinese writing.
Before Li Yu traveled through time, the largest publishing house in the UK had just published "Zhuangzi", so we can learn more about how Europeans and Americans read ancient books.
It was translated from the original work into English and then back into Chinese. The content is as follows: "The ends of the newly grown fine hairs on birds and beasts in autumn are larger than Mount Tai."
Zhu Guozhen suddenly stopped thinking that foreigners were so powerful, and laughed and said: "Mr. Counselor, your Chinese level still needs to be improved!"
This is a bit difficult for Peter Fisher. In fact, even Li Yu's understanding of classical Chinese is limited to what he has learned in Chinese classes in school.
Zhu Guozhen even wrote it out and showed it to Peter Fisher.
It is true that Poe Fisher has never seen the original version of "Zhuangzi", or to be precise, he cannot understand it.
"Doesn't that mean the same thing?" asked Per Fisher.
Li Yu said: "I will teach you another Chinese proverb. You can only understand it but not explain it in words. If you can't understand the original version, don't say you understand "Zhuangzi", let alone be qualified to criticize Confucius and Zhuangzi."
"Aren't you criticizing our Hegel?" Fisher said reluctantly.
"It's different," Li Yu spread his hands, "I'm just talking about the matter, and I respect his dialectical philosophy from the bottom of my heart. But that doesn't mean everything a thinker says is right. Do you want us to talk about dialectical philosophy?"
Even if Li Yu doesn't understand philosophy, he grew up in an atheistic society like China and knows very well what dialectics is.
Per Fisher opened his mouth: "We...have a chance to discuss this issue again."
Li Yu found a copy of "Zhuangzi" from the bookshelf: "This is for you."
It was somewhat ironic, but now Per Fisher almost knew that he had misunderstood it, so he responded shamelessly: "I understand Chinese, and it won't take long to finish reading it."
Li Yu joked: "I hope the counselor will criticize me when the time comes."
He didn't believe that the other party could really understand it.
After Fisher left, Zhu Guozhen said: "I didn't expect foreigners to view our classics this way."
Li Yu was already unhappy with this: "It can't be changed."
Zhu Guozhen said: "In this way, foreigners' writing is just mediocre!"
Li Yu said: "Don't be so confident. I can only say that there are big differences in the way of thinking between the East and the West."
Zhu Guozhen said: "Then why didn't you just keep him down to talk more? Maybe you can make him truly understand and respect our culture."
Li Yu said: "An Englishman said this: He is a sheep herder, and I am a woodcutter. The two of us chatted all afternoon. His sheep are full, but where is my firewood?"
Zhu Guozhen thought about it for a while, "This sentence seems to make sense. It seems that the British have some meaning."
That sentence comes from Maugham, the author of "The Moon and Sixpence".
Li Yu said: "So even if I can talk him through, so what? I can't gain anything, but I'm wasting my time. Books, like plants, rely heavily on the water and soil environment. When the cultural environment changes, no matter how time changes,
Or the changes in space will make a book become weird."
Zhu Guozhen said: "But we can't let foreigners continue to misunderstand us like this, right?"
Li Yu spread his hands: "You have also seen how difficult it is for a foreigner to understand China. They must be willing to spend a lot of time, but how many people are really willing to do this?"
Zhu Guozhen said with some disappointment: "But we must be willing to learn from them."
Li Yu patted him on the shoulder: "Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. Take your time, things will always change."
Lu Bicheng also breathed a sigh of relief at this time and thought to himself: "Li Yu is really quite capable. He seems to not understand Confucianism, but he can defend Confucianism in front of foreigners again and again. It's really strange."
After Zhu Guozhen left, Li Yu went to the noodle stall in Ding Deshan in Dong'an Market.
"Hey, it's the Emperor's Master!" Ding Deshan already knew Li Yu's identity, "The Emperor's Master comes to my stall to eat noodles again, what a shameful villain."
Li Yu said: "I'm really not here to eat noodles today. I have some big business that I want to discuss with you."
"Big business?" Ding Deshan picked up a towel and wiped his forehead, "Master Imperial, I'm just a small stall owner. How do I know about big business?"
Dong Laishun will not be a big deal in the future.
Li Yu said: "I am asking you to develop a product. If it is successful, I will give you a minimum of 500 taels of silver as a reward."
"Five hundred taels?!" Ding Deshan was extremely shocked. This was a huge amount of wealth that he could not accumulate in four or five years.
Li Yu asked: "How is it? Do you want to do it or not?"
Ding Deshan swallowed and said: "I have no talent or virtue, how can the emperor look down on a villain? Apart from making some noodles, I don't know anything."
Li Yu smiled and said, "Just making noodles."
Ding Deshan was even more confused: "What noodles can be made with five hundred taels?"
Li Yu said: "I am considering making a noodle that is easy to carry and can be brewed anytime and anywhere."
"Anytime and anywhere? Is there such a thing?" Of course Ding Deshan had never heard of it.
Li Yu explained it to him again, and then said: "That's it in general, but many details and key material package preparation need your help."
Ding Deshan felt that it was not too difficult. It was completely his own profession. The main reason was that the temptation of five hundred taels of silver was too great, so he agreed: "I hope I will not disappoint the emperor."
Li Yu said: "I believe you can do it! I have even thought of the words to promote it, which is called 'the inheritance of the craftsman spirit, the eternal taste'."
Ding Deshan said sheepishly: "The emperor's master is over-reputed."
Li Yu said: "Where is the praise? You don't know that in Japan, across the sea, people who have been cooking rice for decades can be regarded as the god of rice, which is the so-called craftsman spirit. You have made thousands of
A bowl of noodles, what’s wrong with it?”
"The word "craftsman spirit" sounds really cultured, I like it," Ding Deshan said.
Li Yu laughed and said: "If you like it, the brand of instant noodles we will launch in the future will be called Craftsman. We will sell it in large quantities to Japan and earn money from Japan!"
"The emperor's words make me feel relieved. I must do it!" Ding Deshan said.
"That's great! You can come to my house tomorrow. Don't worry, I will also pay for lost work time." Li Yu gave him another guarantee.
Ding Deshan was extremely grateful. He had never seen anyone doing business like this before: "Master, you are really the great master of Qingtian!"
The next day, Ding Deshan came over early.
Li Yu explained the process to him, and then asked Fengling to bring a lot of oil, noodles, and condiments.
Li Yu said: "Don't be afraid of waste. All expenses incurred in the scientific research process are funded by me."
Fengling asked curiously: "Sir, what are you doing?"
"Develop new varieties of noodles." Li Yu said.
"I'm familiar with this too!" Fengling said suddenly, "How about I help Master Ding here."
Fengling does have a good way of cooking, and there are actually no complicated secrets to instant noodles. Perhaps the most important thing is the recipe of the ingredients.
Perhaps the real trouble lies in assembly line manufacturing.
Fortunately, Li Yu said that he had a double bachelor's degree in mechanical design, so he could modify and design a similar noodle machine by buying it.
Nowadays, there are electric pasta machines in Europe and the United States, and there will be a grand display in New York in the United States in a year or two.
It’s just that foreigners don’t like noodles very much.
The aroma of Dingdeshan fried noodles quickly attracted people from other yards.
Yu Heqin also put aside the MSG purification experiment and came here following the taste: "Sir, why is the meal served so early today?"
Li Yu spread his hands: "We haven't started cooking yet. Just like you are developing MSG, we are engaged in research and development of food. When the time comes to add MSG to the ingredients, it will be a masterpiece."
To be honest, even if Li Yu is not short of money now, the food he had during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was far from what he ate in the university cafeteria.
I even started to miss instant noodles and ham sausage.
The current situation, at least for many years, is to rely on hydrolysis to purify MSG, and fermentation cannot be used because it takes more time to find strains.
Although the hydrolysis method is more expensive, it is at least simple and can be gradually improved in the future.
Yu Heqin's focus was different: "What kind of food is Jue Juezi?"
"Uh... is an adjective, which means very good." Li Yu explained.
Yu and Qin Ning thought for a while: "Jue Juezi, where does it come from? Why haven't I seen it in other books?"
Li Yu couldn't elaborate with him, so he quickly changed the topic: "By the way, after you finish researching MSG, I have something else to ask you to continue research and development."
Yu Heqin said: "As long as it's chemistry, just leave it to me."
"Of course it is in the field of chemistry. I want to develop a bag that is soft, tough and easy to carry," Li Yu said.
"Bag?" Yu Heqin asked, "What's there to study in this?"
"I'm talking about a chemical product. Ethylene can be synthesized into a polymer structure under certain conditions, such as high pressure or a catalyst, and turned into polyethylene." Li Yu said briefly.
Yu Heqin's eyes widened: "How can it be like this! Imperial Master, your idea is so genius, you are simply the god of chemistry!"
Li Yu smiled and said: "It's still an idea now, mainly because the current development conditions are not met. But I want you to take note of this matter. When you study abroad in the future, you can learn more about it and it will definitely be useful."
Yu Heqin really admired Li Yu: "The Imperial Master is the Imperial Master! It turns out that you are not only proficient in mathematics, physics, astronomy, but also have such profound attainments in chemistry."
This kind of thing is not something to be boasted about. After all, it was all learned in chemistry class back then, and by the time he time traveled, plastic bags had been banned.
However, in the early years, plastic bags were still valuable, and even if there was pollution, they would have to go through this process.
——History has proven time and time again that it is useless no matter how hard you insist on it, unless mankind suffers some big losses.
The development process of key plastics is quite meaningful and will surely spawn many chemical companies in the future.
The layout of related industries including glass is considered a move planned by Li Yu in advance.
For fields other than mathematics, physics and astronomy, Li Yu can indeed only play the role of overall planning.
If applied to later generations, it is a bit like some Internet companies: some great figures only study key algorithms and core businesses. As for the people who actually write the code, they all have dedicated coders, or they are simply outsourced.
For example, scientists at companies such as Google and TSMC are actually very idle, and even admit that they "can't be busy at all."
Because they dare not make changes at will. As long as a small change is made, the outsourcing companies or code farmers below will have to modify countless contents and then test it many times.
And once this change is proposed, scientists will have to take a long break with nothing to do.
So they spend most of their time drinking coffee, reading emails, and holding meetings to discuss with others to make sure they don't make any mistakes.
It seems that this can also explain why Europeans don’t seem too busy and have high welfare.
Li Yu actually doesn't understand the specific development of plastics, manufacturing of instant noodles, and purification of MSG.
But he can rely on the concept of time travelers that are hundreds of years ahead of time to ensure that the general direction is absolutely correct. For corporate research and development, it is already the most important. Otherwise, research and development funds will be wasted, time will be wasted, and competition will be lost.