When Li Yu returned to his apartment, Konoe Aki came over with a boy of 16 or 17 years old, "Mr. Li Yu, this is my cousin Zuo Xiang. He loves your technology very much and hopes to join your factory."
."
Li Yu looked at it and asked: "How old are you this year?"
Zuo Xiang said: "Seventeen years old."
Li Yu shook his head: "Too young. He must be at least eighteen years old, and he must be one year old according to the Gregorian calendar."
Konoe Akiyuki said: "Sir, we were stranded in Japan for many years because of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894. We are too young to remember it clearly."
"Refugees?" Li Yu asked.
Konoe Akiyuki nodded, then stretched out his hand to wipe away his tears and said: "I was living overseas. Fortunately, I was taken in by a teacher in Japan. Otherwise..."
Li Yu said: "So, you have been in Japan for many years."
Konoe Akiyuki said: "Yes, but we also learned modern science, Japanese and some basic English, which will definitely help in the future, because I heard that you will sell goods to Japan."
Li Yu did have such a plan, but thinking that he was still too young, he said: "It is okay to be an apprentice for the time being. My purpose is to be an adult. I should be at least 18 years old if I am not 20 years old."
Konoe Akiyuki immediately agreed: "It's fine to be an apprentice, but can we let him go to the capital?"
"If he is willing and he is Chinese, he can take him back." Li Yu said casually.
"Thank you sir!"
Konoe Aki seemed very happy, and then took Zuo Xiang to a secluded corner.
"Senior, how am I doing?" Zuo Xiang asked.
Konoe Akiyuki was quite satisfied: "Very good, after all, you are originally Chinese."
To be precise, from a Chinese perspective, he is a traitor and has changed his name to Xiao Zuoxiang.
This kind of person is actually more terrifying. If it is just a matter of naturalization, it is still a personal wish.
But if you are doing things for the Japanese military, it will be very destructive.
——Because traitors often behave more Japanese than Japanese, and are often more cruel to Chinese than Japanese.
Just like Mustache, he is not originally German, but his actions are more German than Germans, and his actions are very unique.
Konoe Aki assigned him a task: "When I arrive in the capital, I am often unable to move, so you can help me with some secret matters."
Little Zuo Xiang said confidently: "Sister, don't worry!"
Konoe Akiyuki warned: "Don't act rashly. Now the empire is at war with Russia. We must do our best to help the empire win."
Xiao Zuo Xiang said seriously: "I understand."
After all, he is too young and somehow he was brainwashed by Japan.
——
After staying in Japan for three days, there was news about the voyage.
In the past three days, Li Yu took the students to visit some factories and schools.
After seeing the uniforms of Japanese students, Hu Jiayan was quite envious: "It would be great if we looked like this."
Li Yu smiled and said: "There will definitely be uniforms in schools in the future."
Li Yu thought to himself, if you had seen the uniforms of Japanese female students in later generations, you would be even more envious...
Since the Russian Navy retreated to Port Arthur and no longer went into battle, the only maritime operations it conducted were a small number of ships sailing from Vladivostok to harass the Japanese Navy's communication lines, which had little impact on the overall situation.
So the Yellow Sea ushered in a superficial calm.
It can also be said that the Japanese navy controlled a large area of sea outside Port Arthur and blocked the Russian navy.
In order to win the war, the first staff officer of the Japanese Navy, Akiyama Shinyuki, came up with the idea of using the tactics he learned in the United States to sink ships and block the port of Port Arthur.
The Japanese navy was eager to control sea power and also wanted to catch a turtle in a jar.
However, Lushun's reputation as the "First Fortress in the Far East" is not for nothing. The shore artillery firepower is very strong, making it difficult for warships to approach.
Akiyama Shinyuki's strategy failed to work.
By the way, the Japanese Navy's "sinking of three Russian warships" previously written in the newspaper was also a surprise attack strategy proposed by him.
Well, to put it bluntly, it was a sneak attack.
This trick has been used in Japan before and will be used again in the future.
But in fact, the Russian warship was not sunk, but was severely damaged. Even the so-called "severe damage" only took about two months of repairs to restore combat capability.
So another naval admiral, Hirose Takeo, who was called the "number one military god in the Russo-Japanese War" by Japan, proposed the tactic of laying mines over a large area. (Come on, the Japanese really like to come up with all kinds of weird names.
No., including those during Japan's Warring States Period.)
It's a dirty trick, but very effective.
Because a large number of mines were laid, the passenger ship had to be approved by the Japanese Navy and follow the established route.
The Japanese navy was unable to expand its results and could only rely on its army to slowly advance and capture Port Arthur, forcing the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port to come out for a decisive battle.
So now both Japan and Russia are beginning to assemble their armies.
In fact, the Russian army has an advantage in this regard because it has already built the railway.
The problem is that they underestimated Japan's determination and did not believe that Japan would dare to fight with them in Northeast China, which they have managed for many years.
Japan first landed in North Korea and slowly advanced towards Port Arthur. The distance was very long, more than 500 kilometers, and they would encounter multiple obstacles from the Russian army along the way.
Even if we cross the Yalu River and reach Dandong, we are still 350 kilometers away from Lushun.
Without modern transportation conditions, it is almost a lonely journey.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the Russian army did not pay enough attention and did not believe that the Japanese army could successfully reach Lushun.
But they forgot that their navy could not shrink, but instead allowed the Japanese navy to safely use naval guns to support the army's advancement.
For the Japanese military, it is extremely rare for the navy and army to operate together.
As mentioned before, the firepower of naval guns is very strong, which can be said to be a crushing advantage compared to the artillery fire of field troops. In other words, shore guns with permanent bases can suppress the firepower of naval guns.
Anyway, now is the period for the troops of both sides to gather together, and it will be almost two months before the first direct battle will take place in Dandong today.
Li Yu and others boarded the ship, and he accidentally discovered that Mr. Zhongshan was also on board.
Li Yu reminded: "Sir, it's very dangerous."
He was wanted by the Qing court.
Sun Wen smiled and said: "Of course I know, but I want to see the war between Japan and Russia as close as possible. Don't worry, I won't get off the ship."
The ship sails from Yokohama Port next to Tokyo to Tanggu Port in Tianjin.
When approaching the Bohai Strait, you can indeed see some Japanese military ships coming and going, but they are all small speedboats, and the main warships will not wander around casually.
Sun Wen pointed to the sky in the distance and asked, "What are those?"
Li Yu looked far into the distance and said: "It should be a reconnaissance balloon, but I can't tell whether it was released by the Russian army or the Japanese army."
It's a bit similar to an airship, but of course technically inferior to the German Zeppelin airship.
Sun Wen sighed: "The current war has developed to this point?"
"I'm afraid it will continue to evolve. No matter where it is, the shadow of war has never dissipated," Li Yu said. "Since ancient times, wars have focused on being able to occupy the commanding heights to gain a view, and thus obtain the enemy's movements. And if you can fly into the air to observe
, the view is definitely better.”
Sun Wen said: "No wonder we can't win the war and are so far behind."
Li Yu suddenly had an idea flash in his head, and he almost forgot about it.
In fact, airships or observation balloons were used for reconnaissance as early as the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, used by both France and Prussia.
The later Zeppelin airships were influenced by it.
Japan spent huge sums of money to import observation balloons from France ten years ago, but they were damaged during transportation, so they developed it themselves and succeeded last year.
Now, both the Qing Dynasty Yuan Shikai's new army and the Japanese army have hired many German instructors, so of course the Japanese knew about this technology and immediately put it into use in the Russo-Japanese War.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai also bought two and hired Japanese instructors to train them on how to use them, but they were never used in actual combat.
The Russian army on the opposite side naturally also has this kind of observation balloon.
Observation balloons are indeed very useful for reconnaissance. They are usually hung in a basket and carried with one or two people in the air. Then the opponent's deployment can be clearly seen from a long distance, especially the deployment of firepower points, which is very helpful in correcting the impact point of one's own artillery shells.
Everyone should be able to see that this is a very old military technology, but during the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army still used it smoothly in the early stages.
If placed on the European battlefield of World War II during the same period, this kind of aerial tethered balloon would be a living target and would be shot down not long after it took off.
However, there was little domestic air power, and it was impossible for a small number of aircraft to dispatch just for a few balloons. In addition, balloons were often far away, beyond the range of anti-aircraft guns, so the Japanese army could use this technology arrogantly.
Although tethered balloons are backward, they have many advantages over aircraft reconnaissance during World War II.
Because the tethered balloon can hover in the air for a long time and observe the target 360 degrees, it can discover a lot of details. However, a passing aircraft can often only get a general view.
Tethered balloons are usually directly connected to telephone lines to transmit information at any time, but aircraft during World War II had to type out radio codes before transmitting information.
In addition, the tethered balloon can be lifted into the sky at night, and there is no sound during the lift-off process.
The general artillery firing procedure is to test fire first, and then adjust the firing angle by observing the impact point of the artillery shell. Therefore, observation data is the key to whether the artillery can hit accurately. With the balloon as an excellent observation point, the Japanese army's artillery unit has a better hit rate.
Very high.
At the beginning of the Japanese invasion of China, tethered balloons were used in both the North China battlefield and the Battle of Songhu, which posed a great threat to our army.
A veteran who participated in the Nanjing Defense War recalled: "Under the command of balloon lookouts, they used aircraft and artillery to violently bombard the city gate area. The shells shot towards our position as if they had eyes."
It was not until later that it was discovered that the load-carrying vehicles of the tethered balloon unit were extremely heavy, often exceeding five tons, and the Japanese army was prevented from continuing to use tethered balloons by destroying roads in advance.
Basically after the Battle of Changsha, tethered balloons were no longer seen.
Li Yu remembered that Konoe Aki had asked whether airships could be used for military purposes. According to his understanding, it would be difficult for at least ten years. But at that time, he was thinking about bombing, so why did he forget that there was also a very critical reconnaissance.
Before he had time to think about it, Sun Wen lamented: "Two hungry wolves are fighting, but we can only wait and see what happens. If the corrupt Qing government starts a war with them again, there will be no chance of winning. It is a pity that the Qing government first considers its own dominance.
, I have never thought carefully about how to make the country prosperous and the people strong. It is really time for a big change."
If he could have seen up close the battle for Port Arthur and the Battle of Tsushima, the most intense battles in the Russo-Japanese War, his emotion would probably be even deeper.
Li Yu said: "There is indeed a lot we need to do."
He will not interfere in the competition between various political forces such as royalists, constitutionalists, revolutionaries, reformists, etc., because for China under thousands of years of feudal autocracy, more trial and error is the only way to go, and there is no way to talk about it.
detour.
Just like doing an experiment, there is no way you can succeed just by doing it once.
Even if Li Yu knew hundreds of years of scientific and technological knowledge, many difficult experiments would not succeed even once.
Sun Wen finally said: "It should be said that we are lacking too much. Even if the imperial court begins to establish new schools, it is still far from the previous Japanese investment in education."
After the passenger ship arrived at Tanggu Port, Li Yu and others needed to disembark. Li Yu and Sun Wen said goodbye: "Sir, the green mountains will not change, and the green water will always flow."
Sun Wen waved to him on the boat: "See you later."
——
Li Yu asked the students to return to the capital first, while he went to see the school construction situation in Tianjin.
The land in Tianjin was purchased relatively early and the progress was the fastest. The key was the help of Yan Fansun and Zhang Boling, two giants in the education industry.
Tianjin is definitely the most important school-running town in the north at this time.
Yan Fansun has opened 16 primary schools, as well as 11 girls' primary schools, and also established a technical school cram school and a training center.
Yan Fansun made a great contribution to Tianjin’s education and basically created Tianjin’s modern education in a systematic way.
In addition, the fact that education in Tianjin can achieve this is also thanks to the salt merchants.
Salt is the catalyst of Jingu civilization. There are hundreds of salt merchants in Tianjin city alone. Salt merchants have a tradition of donating money to establish schools. When Yan Fansun tried to establish a new school, his relative Fahrenhe donated 1,000 taels of silver to help.
When Li Yu met Yan Fansun, he was studying Li Yu's introductory lectures on various subjects with Zhang Boling, Jin Bangping and others.
"Brother Shucai!" Yan Fansun and Zhang Boling were very happy to see Li Yu's sudden visit. "I didn't expect you to come back. It is said that there is a war at sea now."
Li Yu said: "Russia and Japan are accumulating strength at this time. They are about to start a war on land, so the sea is calm."
Yan Fansun went to Japan two years ago to study education, but he never went to Russia. He just knew that Russia was very strong and terrible. He said: "We were extremely shocked when we heard about this. When the three countries intervened in Liaoning, Japan was still the country after all.
Never forget it."
Yan Fansun also understood Japan's intentions.
Zhang Boling continued: "It is difficult to imagine that a second-class envoy country dares to challenge a first-class envoy country."
Currently, Japan's various embassies abroad use the name "legacy" corresponding to a "second-class country"; while Russia, as a "first-class country", uses the name "embassy".
This classification was obviously very discriminatory and was later abandoned in all formal diplomatic arenas.
Li Yu smiled bitterly: "If Japan wins, they will become an ambassador country."
Yan Fansun sighed: "Japan has attached great importance to education for many years, and its contribution is indispensable."
Yan Fansun and others are people who do practical things. They will not just lament that Japan or Russia are powerful, or be a troll, but they will do things down-to-earth.
Such people have always been at the level of the backbone of China.
Yan Fansun introduced Li Yu to Jin Bangping, a graduate of Waseda University in Japan who later served as a senior official in the Beiyang government.
Then Yan Fansun took out several lecture notes and said: "After careful study, we want to make a more detailed compilation of your lecture notes on various subjects. We are worried that we cannot find you to discuss this matter."
Of course Li Yu agreed: "I am indeed not detailed enough in the difficulty level. It would be great if you could help me."
Zhang Boling said: "To be honest, I have never seen such a comprehensive textbook. Everyone cherishes it very much and has made many handouts for class based on your textbook."
"It's best if it's useful!" Li Yu asked about his piece of land again, "How is the construction of the new school progressing now?"
Yan Fansun said: "The basic school building has been completed. In fact, we don't have to wait for everything to be ready. I think we should be able to enroll students in a few months."
Li Yu followed Yan Fansun's advice on these matters: "I will publish it in the newspaper after the New Year."
Zhang Boling smiled and said: "With your reputation, I'm really afraid that the school will be crowded."