Columbia University President Seth Low suddenly poked his head out from the second floor: "General Carpentier, you forgot to bring your top hat... Wait, is that Mr. Li Yu? Oh my God, it's really you!
"
Seth Lowe quickly went downstairs.
Ding Long and General Carpentier downstairs were still a little stunned: "Li Yu?"
Seth Luo dodged past the two of them and came to Li Yu: "Oh my god, I didn't expect you to appear here, the great master of Eastern science!"
Li Yu didn't recognize him and asked: "Who are you?"
"I am Seth Low, president of Columbia University."
"Mr. Principal, nice to meet you!" Li Yu hurriedly shook hands with him.
Seth Low said: "It is not easy to meet you. I have been reading several astronomy articles written by you these days. They are really wonderful. The combination of mathematical derivation and astronomy is quite like Sir Isaac Newton."
Li Yu said: "The relationship between astronomy and mathematics will become closer and closer in the future. I just used the most conventional method."
Seth Low said: "Really? But I really don't read many articles that are as organized as yours. I remember the great mathematician Gauss once said that mathematics is the queen of science. Only in your article
, I have come to realize time and time again that you can use mathematics to explain physics and astronomy so perfectly. You are the strongest person in the world today who combines mathematics and physics."
Li Yu smiled and said: "Thank you principal for the compliment."
There is no need to be modest about this, after all, this is how the physics departments of later generations were trained. The mathematics in the physics department is generally not bad, because if you are not good at mathematics, you will not be able to handle high-end physics content.
Ding Long came over and said, "Are you really the emperor himself?"
Li Yu said: "If it is fake, it will be replaced."
"You are the most famous Chinese person in the world today!" Ding Long said excitedly, "Can the Imperial Master give a special lecture for our lecture? We are eager to improve the reputation of the lecture."
Carpentier also said: "Yes, Mr. Li Yu, you are the most famous Chinese in the United States now."
Li Yu said: "Your lecture is about Chinese studies, and my level of Chinese studies is terrible. If I really show up, I will only make people laugh."
This kind of speech is probably most suitable for Gu Hongming. He is a die-hard supporter of Chinese studies. Even in this era of most foreign worship, he can still speak clearly and eloquently.
Ding Long didn't want to let Li Yu go: "Sir, you can make whatever price you want, and we will definitely pay it in full."
"It's not a question of money. If it's a science lecture, I can still handle it. If I only know a little bit about Sinology, isn't it enough if I talk about Star Wars?" Li Yu said, "By the way, Liang Qichao will be here in a few days.
When I get back to New York, I can just call him over."
Liang Qichao's name was still famous enough. Ding Long said: "That's great, but you must also give a special speech."
Principal Seth Luo invited from the side: "Mr. Li Yu, if what you want is a scientific speech, we can definitely satisfy you."
Even Langmuir Owen echoed: "The god of science and the star of literature and music, it feels great to think about it together."
It was difficult to refuse the hospitality of several people, so Li Yu had no choice but to accept: "Okay, when Liang Qichao arrives, we will come to Columbia University together."
Seth Low said: "We will be fully prepared to receive it."
Franklin Roosevelt had completed the contract template at this time and took it to look for Li Yu, only to find him with the principal.
"Mr. Li Yu, I have written your contract."
Li Yu took it and said: "Thank you very much, I will need your legal assistance in the future."
Principal Seth Low saw this and smiled and said: "Our students have already done the work for you, so you have to come and give a lecture on whatever you want."
When Li Yu left Columbia, Ding Long still accompanied him, "Mr. Li Yu, I don't know much about academics, but people say you are an extraordinary person."
Li Yu was also very curious about his lecture career and asked: "Is there anyone else who needs my help? Donation is no problem."
Ding Long said: "We no longer lack funds, but we lack outstanding scholars to build momentum for the lectures, which is why we are so eager for your arrival."
Li Yu said: "I understand, what you are doing is not easy, I will try my best."
After all, it is called the Sinology Department or the Ding Long Lecture. The students who come here want to study Chinese culture and need a lecturer to give certain lectures.
It's just that the teaching format of this kind of lectures is, as we all know, relatively fragmented and not systematic enough.
But it is not easy to start something from scratch.
In fact, since then, many American universities have opened sinology departments and Chinese libraries, most of which took Columbia as a template.
——
In San Francisco at this time, the current leader of Hongmen, Huang Sande, came to Liang Qichao and said, "Mr. Liang, I came from New York with news that Li Yu wants you to visit his laboratory and factory."
Liang Qichao actually didn't know that Li Yu had arrived in the United States. The news was so lagging. There was no Weibo, Moments or anything like that.
"That's what I meant," Liang Qichao said, and then asked: "The leader came to see me in person, aren't you afraid that the teacher will have objections?"
In fact, it was his previous meeting with Mr. Zhongshan that aroused Kang Youwei's dissatisfaction.
Huang Sande said: "Mr. Liang, I received a letter from Mr. Zhongshan before. He mentioned that you are a pillar of the people. There is nothing wrong with me coming to see you in person. Even if Mr. Nanhai has opinions, I think he will understand."
Liang Qichao smiled bitterly: "Teacher is a very determined person, and it is difficult to understand each other on some things."
Then he asked again: "You said there was a letter from Mr. Zhongshan, right?"
Huang Sande said: "Mr. Zhongshan has decided to join Hongmen in Honolulu."
In fact, the Honolulu Hongmen branch originally refused, but it was Huang Sande who personally approved the decision to accept Mr. Zhongshan. Facts have proved that this was a very wise decision.
Liang Qichao said: "In that case, I already understand Hongmen's attitude."
Huang Sande said: "The general trend is the general trend, I hope Mr...."
Liang Qichao raised his hand to interrupt him: "I don't want to talk about this now. Even if I want to talk about it, let's see the real story in the newspaper."
It is not easy to surpass Liang Qichao in terms of writing skills. Seeing that Huang Sande could not persuade him, he could only clasp his fists and say: "Mr. Liang, have a good trip."
——
When Liang Qichao arrived in New York, Li Yu had already come to the station to greet him.
"It's been a long and dusty journey, Brother Liang, it's been a hard work."
Liang Qichao said: "It's not hard to take the train. I just hope that there will be so many railways in the country."
The railroads in the United States have indeed grown wildly. In the past half century, about 270,000 kilometers have been built.
This is a very scary number. As of 2022, the total length of global railways will be only 1.1 million kilometers, of which my country’s total railway mileage will be 150,000 kilometers.
It can be said that the United States basically achieved its industrial rise by relying on infrastructure, and became the number one in the world in 1900.
The railway infrastructure in Laos and the United States was basically completed this year.
Liang Qichao was extremely jealous of so many railways, not only him, but also Mr. Zhongshan was even more jealous.
Because if you do a little research, you will know how important the railway is.
Li Yu said: "Of course there will be in the future."
Liang Qichao sighed: "I don't know when it will be possible, let alone how Americans can do it? Hundreds of thousands of miles of railways require a huge amount of funds. Is the United States really so rich?"
"Actually, this is all thanks to Wall Street," Li Yu said.
"Wall Street?" Liang Qichao asked.
"It's the capital market," Li Yu said in general about the so-called stock market financing, and then said, "Brother Zhuo Ru should have read Mr. Marx's book. He once said that without the capital market, there would be no railways."
Liang Qichao should be the first person to introduce Marx.
In 1902, under the pseudonym "China's New People", he mentioned in the "Xinmin Congbao" that "in Germany today, there are two most powerful ideas, one is McCain's socialism, and the other is
Niziai’s Individualism.”
Mckess is Marx.
Liang Qichao said: "I have read about it, but I can't imagine that the capital market has such great power."
Li Yu said: "The power of capital, or finance, is indeed great. Without them, France would not have been able to recover so quickly from the Franco-Prussian War."
France's original compensation was 5 billion francs, which was equivalent to 1.2 billion taels of silver, which exceeded the total compensation of the Qing Dynasty. But France raised enough through the financial market and issued several national bonds.
Liang Qichao had not thought deeply about it from an economic perspective, so he said, "Can we do the same? Wouldn't the people suffer a lot?"
Li Yu shook his head: "No, finance is a high-level tool, and the court has no ability to control it."
Liang Qichao sighed: "So now I am really confused about whether it is reform or revolution. The court..."
Li Yu waved his hand: "Don't mention this matter. It's exactly noon, let's have lunch together."
Liang Qichao didn't want to talk about state affairs, so he said: "It's best to eat some Chinese food. I have been in the United States for nearly a year and have eaten enough Western food! It's not as good as the Japanese food I ate in Japan."
Liang Qichao pointed to his figure: "You see, I have lost a lot of weight."
Li Yu said: "If you want to eat Chinese food, you have to go to Chinatown."
Liang Qichao said: "As long as you can eat Chinese food, anything will be fine."
Li Yu pointed to the Buick car he drove: "I'll take you there."
Liang Qichao was surprised: "You know how to drive this kind of machine?"
"Of course," Li Yu said with a smile, then opened the car door, "Please."
Liang Qichao sat in the passenger seat, and Li Yu started the car and drove towards Chinatown.
Liang Qichao sighed: "The teacher doesn't like cars, so I have never experienced it."
After Kang Youwei went overseas, he still couldn't accept cars. In a book he wrote last year, he also mentioned that cars have the "pain of collision". He was obsessed with cars that "driving fast and forward without hesitation", and if he was not careful, "the whole car would break into pieces"
, all the characters were flying, their heads and arms were smashed, and their flesh and blood were in a mess." I felt extremely worried.
He doesn't like cars and doesn't allow anyone to drive one.
When I arrived in Chinatown, I saw all the "Li Hongzhang Restaurants", including "Li Hongzhang Noodles", "Li Hongzhang Fried Rice", etc., and the most popular ones were "Li Hongzhang Chop Suey".
Of course I'm not scolding Li Hongzhang. The name was entirely based on the allusion left by Li Hongzhang when he visited New York two years ago.
When Li Zhongtang visited the United States, he wanted to eat Chinese food, so he ordered a restaurant in Chinatown to select the ingredients to cook it, and also hosted a banquet for Americans.
Chinese food, compared with American food, is definitely a dimensionality reduction blow, so Americans feel that it tastes delicious after eating it. Then the Americans asked Li Zhongtang the name of the dish in front of him. Li Hongzhang didn't think of it for a moment, so he called it "chop suey".
.
Unexpectedly, "since then, the reputation of offal has become very popular", "there are three to four hundred offal restaurants in New York alone", and there are endless dishes named after Li Hongzhang.
After the two entered the restaurant, they ordered a few "Li Hongzhang dishes". Liang Qichao laughed and said: "Hefei (that is, Li Hongzhang) has suffered!"
The hotel owner suddenly recognized Li Yu: "You are a great benefactor! My child has just entered your training class, and everyone is looking forward to him continuing to enter the factory."
Li Yu said: "It's an honor, but don't relax. The assessment will be more stringent in the future."
The hotel owner was very confident and said: "This kid is really promising. In your factory, he can make more money in one month than I can in half a year. Maybe I can put down this hotel in the future and take good care of myself."
Li Yu said: "If you can really become a formal employee, I think boss you can really take a break."
The restaurant owner said happily: "My great benefactor, you are the benefactor of the whole Chinatown. You don't have to pay for today's meal."
Li Yu smiled and said: "It's not necessary."
The hotel owner insisted: "I will be very sad if you refuse."
Li Yu no longer shied away: "Thank you very much."
The restaurant owner continued: "By the way, we just recently served a dish named after you."
Li Yu was surprised: "Named after me?"
The restaurant owner pointed to the menu: "It's called Carp Jumping Over the Dragon Gate. Didn't you put forward a great theory called the Carp Effect? Just taking advantage of the good meaning of jumping over the Dragon Gate, this dish is very popular now. You two don't have to worry about the taste.
We specially found a chef from Shandong to develop it."
Liang Qichao became interested: "It must be added! I have to try it!"
The restaurant owner said: "Wait a moment, everyone!"
In later generations, carp flooded the United States. But in fact, carp was introduced to the United States as early as the 1870s.
And because of its scarcity, it was once favored by wealthy Americans.
At that time, there were very few fish in the Mississippi River, so carp were introduced to fill the fishery gap.
But soon, the carp's strong reproductive ability made it onto the dining table of ordinary people. The price dropped from 1 US dollar per pound to 3 cents per pound in 1900.
But once every household can afford it, the rich will no longer like it.
Another factor is that Americans really don’t know how to cook fish. Carp itself has some earthy flavor, and its meat quality is not superior to that of southern fish. It requires excellent cooking skills, which is obviously beyond the capabilities of Americans.
Moreover, the level of carp breeding in the United States is also not good. It is basically amateur farming and there is no formal selective breeding.
After the food was served, the two of them took a few bites and felt that although the taste was a bit lacking, it was much better than eating Western food every day.
After eating, Li Yu took him to see his laboratory and showed some results.
Liang Qichao saw the radio equipment and car parts and sighed: "Brother Shucai, I know that the route you are taking is right, and you are not from any faction. I believe it won't be long before you become the target of all forces competing to win over you.
Object. Perhaps, you are the wisest."
As a "experienced person", Li Yu certainly knows how to do the most correct thing.