Li Yu returned home and received a telegram from Duan Qirui from Beiyang:
"Your Excellency, Imperial Master, you were in a hurry last time. I hope to write another radio-related lecture and send it to you."
Li Yu was puzzled, so he sent a telegram back: "General Duan, I remember that I left the lecture notes, and the outstanding student Wu Peifu's notes have always been very good."
However, Duan Qirui quickly called back: "The previous lectures were too advanced, and it was still a bit difficult for those in charge of the army such as Zhang Guandai and Cao Guandai."
In fact, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Li Chun and other Beiyang officers didn't understand it. They were just too embarrassed to speak directly, so they used the names of Zhang Xun and Cao Kun, two little officials.
Li Yu knew it well and did not criticize it, so he called back: "I will complete it as soon as possible."
Duan Qirui happily replied: "That's very good. I will send someone to the house to get it in a few days."
It can be seen that Beiyang is quite anxious. After all, the Japanese army and the Russian army have already fought against each other along the Yalu River.
Once the army starts fighting and enters Chinese territory, the problem will escalate.
Although the Qing court maintained outsider neutrality, Beiyang still wanted to detect intelligence as much as possible. Soldiers were the most reluctant to swallow this breath.
And all walks of life are paying special attention to the war situation.
In Xiyuan, Yuan Shikai was summoned by the court.
As soon as Yuan Shikai entered the main hall, he saw that Yi Kuang and other ministers of the Military Aircraft Department were almost there.
Cixi said: "Yuan Shikai, I heard that you have obtained a trick that allows you to know the situation on the Liaodong front line."
Yuan Shikai said: "Back to the Queen Mother, this is the case. This thing is called a radio transmission device and comes from Li Yu."
"Oh? It's Li Yu again!" Cixi blew a sip of tea and continued to ask, "How is the situation on the front line?"
Yuan Shikai said: "According to the spies I sent out, I learned that Japan and Russia have already fought against each other in Dandong. The Japanese side has at least tens of thousands of people; the Russian "Eastern Manchuria Detachment" defending there also has 20,000 to 30,000 people."
Cixi said: "Who has the advantage?"
Yuan Shikai said: "The book of war says that if ten are to surround an enemy, five to attack it, and if twice as many, it is divided. The two sides have almost the same military strength, so they should try to disperse the other side. But I didn't expect that the Russian army actually took the initiative to disperse in a wide front. What happened?
Hum hum."
Yikuang asked in surprise: "Japan has the advantage?"
Yuan Shikai nodded: "Yes, Prince Qing."
Cixi swallowed a sip of tea and said, "It's best this way."
Yikuang immediately boasted: "Lafayette has great blessings all over the sky."
Cixi said: "The previous case of Shen Xin was not wasted."
Last year, Shen Xin was executed with a cane for leaking the secret agreement between the Qing government and Russia. Li Yu had also met him.
Military Minister Wang Wenshao said: "This scene is very well done, and it saves our Ministry of Foreign Affairs the trouble of leaking information to the Japanese."
Unexpectedly, Shen Xun's life principle was used as a chess piece.
This is also true after a careful analysis. Since the Qing government's relationship with the Russians in the Northeast had reached a freezing point and it did not dare to go to war with them, it could only rely on the trick of "using barbarians to control barbarians", killing people with borrowed swords and letting the Japanese come in.
The Qing court did not have the courage to directly reveal the secret agreement, so it happened to meet Shen Xin, who was not afraid of death.
He obtained the contents of the secret agreement through the son of the Minister of Military and Aircraft Wang Wenshao who is present now!
Shen Xin was beaten to death, but nothing happened to Wang Wenshao, which already explained the problem - the Qing court deliberately leaked it to him.
Alas, poor Shen Xin turned out to be a political pawn of the Qing court.
Although Yuan Shikai didn't know the specific details, he roughly understood it after listening to a few words. He cupped his hands and said, "As expected of the Military Aircraft Department."
When Shen Xin was beaten to death, the Qing government gave Russia an explanation so that they could not blame them.
Wang Wenshao said: "I didn't expect that the Japanese were really angry and wanted to go to war with Russia."
Yuan Shikai said: "Originally there was a wolf in the house. Now we have introduced a wolf into the house. We must be careful in the future."
Yi Kuang said: "I have already met with Japan's Minister Yasuya Uchida, and he assured me that he will not get involved in Northeast China."
Yuan Shikai smiled: "I hope so. But I heard that there is a shrine in Japan, called the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines the memorial tablets of dead soldiers and war-related commemorative booths. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, oh, the Japanese called it the Sino-Japanese War Booth. Finally, there is a Chinese idiom called 'Lie on fuel and taste courage'."
Cixi was surprised and said: "Lying on the salary and tasting the courage? What kind of salary are you lying on? What kind of courage are you tasting?"
Yuan Shikai said: "Of course it was because of the intervention of the Three Kingdoms in returning Liaodong. This matter made the Japanese very worried, so they must still want Liaodong in their hearts."
Cixi thought for a moment and said, "We can only take one step and see what happens."
——
On this day, Li Yu received a stack of ferry tickets from Pu Lun's trustee, including those from Yang Xiaolou's celebrating class.
Li Yu was about to set out to give it to him. The location of the Tongqing Class was still near the Jingzhong Temple in Nancheng.
Zhao Qian drove to the place. There were not many people today.
After getting off the bus, Li Yu saw a sallow-looking man sitting outside Jingzhong Temple, looking to see if he could steal the offerings.
However, it seems that there are many people who have this idea, and it is not easy to succeed.
Li Yu gave the ticket to Yang Xiaolou. Although he didn't understand the dazzling English on it, he definitely knew that the price was not cheap.
Now that there is war at sea, the number of ferries has been significantly reduced, and the price of ferry tickets has more than doubled.
Jia Honglin, the head of the celebration class, and Yang Xiaolou expressed gratitude: "We will definitely fulfill our mission."
Li Yu is still very relieved about their level, "Don't have any baggage, just let go and perform."
Yang Xiaolou took out the written lyrics and introduced the background story: "We don't understand foreign languages, so we have to leave the translation to scholars like you."
Li Yu took it and said, "Easy to say, easy to say."
When he was about to return, someone suddenly came to see him.
"You must be the Imperial Master."
Li Yu looked at the young man in front of him; "Who are you?"
The other party replied: "I have met the Imperial Master! I, Xu Shuzheng, in the name of General Duan Qirui, came to the Imperial Master to get the radio lecture notes."
Xu Shuzheng was Duan Qirui's core strategist from then on, and his position was very important.
Li Yu asked: "How did you know I was here?"
Xu Shuzheng said: "As soon as I got off the train, I went to visit the emperor at his residence. Then I was told that the emperor had come to Jingzhong Temple. I happened to know about this place, so I took a rickshaw and came directly."
Li Yu said: "Are you quite familiar with the capital?"
Xu Shuzheng said: "I can't say that I am familiar with him, but there are not many temples to the King of Yue nowadays. My mother is a descendant of the Prince of Yue, and I rely on him very much, so I came here specifically to pay homage to him last year."
Li Yu really didn't know about this and said in surprise: "Your Excellency actually has the blood of the Yue family."
"It's not a direct connection," Xu Shuzheng said with a smile, then looked at Jingzhong Temple, "Let me go and burn a stick of incense first."
The skinny man next to the Jingzhong Temple saw someone coming and hid in the corner excitedly, his eyes widening.
Xu Shuzheng actually bought cakes on the road, placed them respectfully, added incense, and kowtowed three times.
As soon as Xu Shuzheng left Jingzhong Temple, the skinny man sneaked away the pastries inside and ate them in big gulps.
Fortunately, Xu Shuzheng seemed to understand the situation, so he never looked back.
Xu Shuzheng said to Li Yu: "Nowadays, there are Guandi temples everywhere. It is really not easy to find a Yuewang temple."
Li Yu said: "That's true."
Yue Fei was almost a god in the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, and his status was a little higher than Guan Gong.
However, after the Qing Dynasty entered the country, it felt unreasonable for the people to worship an anti-gold hero, and they were also afraid that the people would use Yue Fei's name to carry out anti-Qing activities. Therefore, Guan Gong's status was further improved, and Guan Gong was basically the only martial saint left in various places.
Of course, Yue Fei's image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The Qing court did not belittle him. Several emperors quite liked Yue Fei.
Yue Zhongqi, a direct descendant of Yue Fei, even served as a general during the Yongzheng and Kangxi dynasties, and was granted the title of the highest duke.
Li Yu took Xu Shuzheng back to his home and gave him the entry-level radio lecture notes he had written.
This kind of handout is the easiest to write, because the subject can be treated as a complete novice, no principles are involved, and it is a purely basic science story book.
Xu Shuzheng flipped through it and praised: "The Imperial Master really knows both Chinese and Western knowledge. I will definitely ask you for advice when I have the opportunity in the future."
Li Yu smiled and said: "It's just an ordinary introductory book."
Xu Shuzheng sighed: "I can be considered a scholar, but I can't understand the introductory books you mentioned. It seems that it is necessary for me to study abroad for further study, otherwise I will still be confused."
Li Yu agreed: "It is very necessary, otherwise we will not be able to help the great cause."
Xu Shuzheng cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much, Imperial Master, for your teaching."
Xu Shuzheng will study in Japan next year with the support of Duan Qirui, and will enter the Army Sergeant School that Principal Jiang dreamed of.
——
After Xu Shuzheng left, Pu Lun came to visit again and said, "Master, hurry up, let's go to Eunuch De's place together."
"Eunuch De?" Li Yu was a little confused as to why he was looking for Xiao De Zhang, so he asked, "He is looking for me specifically?"
Pu Lun said: "Yes, Eunuch De said that without you, things can't be done."
Li Yu followed Pulun to Xiao Dezhang's residence with confusion. After entering the door, he realized that Xiao Dezhang was working on the design there.
Cixi paid more attention to the World Expo. Pu Lun and others proposed to build a "Chinese Village" at the World Expo, that is, to design and restore a palace.
Since it involves construction, even if it is only temporary construction, drawings are needed.
So Xiao De Zhang took the initiative to ask Ying to be responsible for the drawing work. One of Xiao De Zhang's personal hobbies is architectural design.
At this time, Xiao Dezhang was talking to someone: "Brother Lei, I know what you said is right, but since you are participating in a grand gathering of foreigners, you have to use some foreigners' tools."
This person named Lei is the eighth generation descendant of the famous style Lei, Lei Xiancai, a family of imperial architectural designers of the Qing Dynasty royal family.
He looked to be in his mid-twenties.
Lei Xiancai said: "Eunuch De, I don't know how to use these tools of yours, I can't say anything about them."
Xiao Dezhang said proudly: "So I told you a long time ago that you must study! Everyone must study. If I didn't know how to study, I might still be a handyman cleaning toilets in the palace."
Lei Xiancai smiled and said: "What Eunuch De said is true. But the three views and proportions you mentioned are all foreign words. I don't understand them."
Xiao De Zhang said: "Then you'd better learn foreign language."
Pu Lun knocked on the door: "Eunuch De."
When Xiao De Zhang saw them, he quickly put down his ruler and pen and came over to greet them: "Master Bei Zi, Imperial Master, you guys came so fast."
Pu Lun said: "The main reason is that the imperial master has foreign cars, which drive like lightning and are much smoother than riding a horse."
Xiao Dezhang said: "I have seen Lafayette's car in the palace, but I have never ridden in it once. It was Master Bei who enjoyed it first."
Pu Lun laughed and said, "Why don't you, Mr. De, go for a ride first?"
Xiao Dezhang waved his hand and said: "There is plenty of time for driving, but we should finish the things assigned by Lafayette first."
Xiao Dezhang said to Li Yu: "Master Emperor, this matter would not be possible without you. Last time you brought me foreign drawing tools from the West. I thought about it day and night, and finally I got some ideas. But really
When I wanted to draw the drawings, I encountered a lot of problems."
Li Yu said: "Mr. De, in fact, I don't understand architecture, let alone draw architectural drawings."
Xiao Dezhang said: "I don't believe it. You are an emperor's teacher and a scientific saint. How can you not have this little foreigner's ability?"
Li Yu said: "The word saint cannot be used casually."
Xiao Dezhang pulled Li Yu over and said, "Master Emperor, just teach me how to do it. Once you learn it, I will definitely repay you."
Li Yu couldn't resist him, so he had to say: "Then I will tell you some basic things about foreigners' drawing."
Fortunately, in Li Yu's previous life, he had a diploma in mechanical design. He got full marks in the drawing geometry class, and he once stayed up all night drawing to hand in his homework.
Although there is a big difference between mechanical drawings and architectural drawings, one is enlarged and the other is reduced, but the use of tools is similar.
Li Yu demonstrated to him how to use rulers, pencils, and basic drawing principles such as three-dimensional views by drawing a car chassis.
Lei Xiancai on the side saw it and praised him repeatedly: "I have long heard about the emperor's talent and knowledge. When I saw him today, I didn't expect that he knew how to draw!"
Li Yu smiled and said: "I'm not much of a designer, I just know pointillism and geometry."
Lei Xiancai said: "I didn't expect that foreign tools can be so convenient for drawing. If I learn this craft, I will benefit a lot."
"Um," Li Yu looked at his posture and asked, "What do you want?"
Lei Xiancai cupped his hands and said: "I take the liberty to ask the emperor to teach me this skill! It is very important to our Lei family!"
Li Yu said: "It's not that I don't want to, but I really can't afford it. If you want to learn, I think you should find a foreign architect to learn from."
Lei Xiancai immediately asked: "Where can I find it?"
Li Yu said: "There are concessions in Tianjin and Shanghai. For the school I invested in Shanghai, I hired a British architect."
Lei Xiancai was very interested: "Please ask the emperor to introduce you."
Xiao Dezhang said: "Brother Lei, it's too late. We can't catch up with the Americans' World Expo. Besides, we are looking for foreigners to be our masters. Do you understand foreign languages?"
Lei Xiancai said helplessly: "That's right."
Xiao Dezhang has a very flexible mind: "But you can go to the Expo together. Anyway, someone has to be responsible for building the Chinese Village when you get there. There must be more authentic architects in the United States."
Lei Xiancai's eyes flashed: "That makes sense! I wonder if there is still room on the ship?"
Pu Lun then added: "Of course, building a Chinese village is a major matter, and I can rest assured that there will be a special Lei Feng to come forward."
Lei Xiancai then said to Li Yu: "On the way, I can consult the emperor's master and learn the basics of drawing."
"This... I can only say that I can teach you everything, but I can't actually teach you much." Li Yu said awkwardly.
Lei Xiancai was very grateful and said: "Thank you, Master Emperor!"
Li Yu himself had never thought about "becoming a teacher", so why did everyone want to learn from him after he gained the title of "Emperor Master"?