Li Yu has been quite busy in Beijing recently. Not only the Tsinghua University, but also the Capital University often look for him.
It was a rare day to take a break from the busy schedule, so I came to Dashilan to buy some daily necessities.
Dashilar was burned down during the Gengzi period and has just been rebuilt. Li Yu came here to buy some pens and ink because he felt that although he no longer understood Chinese studies, he should still practice calligraphy.
The expensive writing brush that Liu E gave to him would definitely be reluctant to be used, so he could only use an ordinary one.
Paper is actually quite troublesome to buy. Rice paper suitable for calligraphy would be a little uncomfortable if written with a pen, so Li Yu had to buy some suitable paper.
After buying the items and just putting them in the car, Li Yu saw a group of patrol officers coming over to direct traffic.
"Go away! Go away! Didn't you see the notice at the entrance of the alley? Dashilan is now a one-way street." The patrolman kept shouting.
However, people have never heard of the term "one-way street". Many people were dissatisfied and said: "We have been walking for so many years, is it possible that we have to take a detour?"
The patrolman said: "Hey! You are really right, you have to take a detour!"
The patrolman stood in the middle of the road and refused to give way at all. Ordinary people would not really quarrel with the soldiers, and most of them would just follow the planned one-way street.
But what kind of place is Beijing? A city where you can hit an official by throwing a brick, how can it be so easy to discipline?
Soon a lady came over stroking her belly.
The patrolman stopped her as usual: "Madam, this road is blocked."
The lady snorted: "Do you think I am blind? Why is the good road blocked?"
The patrolman didn't know the lady's background, so he didn't dare to get angry, so he explained carefully: "Madam, the sign at the intersection is clearly written. This road is now a one-way street."
"You're a big boss!" the lady scolded angrily, "You say you can go alone if you go alone? Why?"
The patrol officer said: "It's an order from Master Zhu of the patrol department."
"Patrol Department?" The lady sneered, "Do you know who Kawashima Naniwa, the director of the Patrol Department, is from our family?"
The patrolman was stunned for a moment: "Director Kawashima?"
The lady said: "I am Prince Su's confidant. Mr. Kawashima is a guest of our family. Even the patrol department was established at Prince Su's suggestion. You are now a small patrol officer, how dare you stop me?"
The patrolman was indeed a little frightened, but he still didn't move away.
The noble lady said angrily: "Why, do you not believe it?"
The patrolman quickly put on a smile: "Madam, that's not the case. It's just that Mr. Zhu said this morning that no one can violate the rules, otherwise he will fine me three days' wages. You are from a wealthy family, so naturally you don't like this
Pay some money, but I'm really hungry. Madam, please go that way, I'll carry your luggage."
Prince Su's friend Fu Jin was still unyielding: "I am pregnant with Liujia now. If I have to take a long detour and get pregnant, can you afford it?"
The patrol officer was really in a dilemma, "This..."
At this time, a middle-aged man in his thirties walked up to him and asked, "What's going on?"
The patrolman suddenly felt that he had met his savior: "Master Zhu, you have come at the right time. This is Fujin from Prince Su's Mansion, who wants to break through our barrier."
This Master Zhu was Zhu Qiqian, who served as the mayor of Beijing during the Republic of China, but his most well-known achievement by later generations was to preserve the pattern of style thunder.
When Zhu Qiqian heard this, he quickly smiled at Prince Su and said to Fujin: "Madam, of course you can go this way, but you will definitely have to pay a fine of ten silver coins."
Fujin said: "Ten silver dollars? Do you think you are Cheng Yaojin? You are the one driving this road? You can't be a bandit, this is the root of the imperial city!"
Zhu Qiqian still smiled and said: "Fu Jin, if the rules are broken, everyone will break them. Now with so many people watching, you only have two choices, either take a detour or pay a fine and walk over."
"You!" Fujin thought for a while but held back.
She still knew Zhu Qiqian's identity to some extent. Qu Hongji, the military minister of the dynasty, and Qu Hongyu, a celebrity in front of the Queen Mother, was his uncle.
In addition, Xu Shichang, who is currently the No. 2 figure in Beiyang and holds many important positions including Minister of War, is also his backer.
But his face really didn't look good when he went back the way he came. Fujin asked the maid to take out ten silver coins and threw them over, "Master Zhu, I will remember you!"
Zhu Qiqian smiled and said: "Remember, Fujin must remember to say a few nice words for his humble position."
Li Yu watched the whole process from the side and thought that Mr. Zhu was indeed a bit brave.
And the child in the belly of Prince Su Fujin can basically be concluded to be the future Aisin Gioro Xianjue, whose Japanese name is Kawashima Yoshiko.
Li Yu was about to drive home when Zhu Qiqian suddenly stopped him: "Are you Emperor Master Li Yu?"
"Yes." Li Yu replied.
Zhu Qiqian trotted over: "Just in time, I still want to find you."
Li Yu said: "Sir Zhu, I didn't force myself through the level."
Zhu Qiqian smiled and said: "That's not the case."
"What is that?" Li Yu asked.
Zhu Qiqian said: "Mr. Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Management of the Capital University, asked me to ask you to study the new school building."
"New campus? New campus of Capital University?" Li Yu asked doubtfully.
"That's right," Zhu Qiqian said, "the imperial court has just approved a few pieces of land. It happens that the school is going to build a new campus and wants to put some departments in the new campus. Mr. Zhang said that you have met with several principals in the United States. I am sure
Learn about school planning.”
Li Yu said awkwardly: "I don't know planning, let alone architecture."
Zhu Qiqian said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you can give a general idea, I have an idea."
"So, you are the architect?" Li Yu asked.
Zhu Qiqian said: "In fact, I was responsible for building the Translation Center of the Capital University."
It seems that there was a reason why he later protected Shi Lei's drawings. He had always liked architecture.
Li Yu said: "I don't know if I can help."
Zhu Qiqian said: "Now you are the first person in the country to understand new learning, and you have built a school yourself. I don't believe you when you say you don't understand, and Mr. Zhang doesn't believe it either."
There was no other way, so Li Yu had no choice but to agree: "I can only be a small consultant."
"That's enough!" Zhu Qiqian pointed to the seat, "Can I get on the bus?"
"Of course." Li Yu said.
Zhu Qiqian got on the passenger seat and said curiously: "This is my first time riding in a foreign car like this. It's interesting. It's really interesting!"
The two drove to the Capital University Hall.
Zhang Baixi was looking at a map in the office. When she looked up and saw Li Yu and Zhu Qiqian, she smiled and said, "We invited them so quickly."
Zhu Qiqian said: "What a coincidence, I happened to bump into the imperial master in Dashilan while patrolling the streets. By the way, I fined Prince Su Sifujin 10 silver coins today."
"Prince Su?" Zhang Baixi thought for a while, "Fortunately, it's not too hot money. If you keep this money, you might keep it."
Zhu Qiqian said proudly: "That's why I dare to impose a fine because I have this confidence."
"It would be great if everyone could understand the depth of water and the shallowness of water like you," Zhang Baixi said happily, and then waved the two of them to come forward and said to Li Yu, "I have been thinking about it for a long time, how to overcome the new Tsinghua Academy you are going to build.
."
Li Yu said with a black line: "Principal, Tsinghua Academy is just a prototype at present, there is no need to be so cautious."
Zhang Baixi laughed and said, "With so many people in the court paying attention, especially with the support of the Gengzi loan, how can I not be wary? What if in the future a school funded by an American is better than my capital university?
Where can I put this old face? You can't let me lose my life."
Li Yu said: "Although the Americans contributed money, the money still belongs to us, so the school still belongs to us."
"That's what I say, but our Tsinghua University must be the number one school in the capital!" Zhang Baixi continued, "Hey, I said talent recruitment! I already know that Beiyang asked you to be the supervisor of Tsinghua Academy, but
After all, you are from our Capital University, so your elbows cannot be turned outward."
"Students don't dare!" Li Yu said with a smile, "By the way, students can pay to build a building next to the school that will definitely stabilize the status of the Capital University."
"That's pretty much it!" Zhang Baixi said with satisfaction.
Zhang Baixi is a very upright official, but to become a second-rank official, it is not enough to be honest. He has a very sharp eye and a lot of ears and eyes. He has long known that Li Yu is worth a lot of money.
Zhu Qiqian probably thought the same thing, so he immediately came over and asked, "Where does the Imperial Master want to build it?"
Li Yu pointed to the map and said, "It's right next to our current school building."
Zhang Baixi said: "But this place has been prepared for the newly established Department of Agriculture."
"It's easy to say, isn't there a lot of land on the map? Move the Department of Agriculture outside." Li Yu said.
At this time, Li Yu said very happily that the Department of Agriculture of the Capital University was the later China Agricultural University...
But Zhang Baixi did not object: "The land nearby is already very tight. It seems reasonable to move the agricultural department closer to the suburbs. It is time for agricultural students to have more contact with the fields."
Well, the two of them put the China Agricultural University aside as soon as they sang together.
Zhu Qiqian continued to ask: "But on such a small piece of land, what does the emperor want to build?"
"Peking University..." Li Yu almost let it slip and quickly corrected him, "The Red Building of the Capital University Hall!"
It was the famous Red Building of Peking University in later generations.
Li Yu took a pencil from the table and roughly drew on the white paper.
Historically, the Red Building of Peking University was built by the Capital University with a loan from a Belgian company, and it cost a lot of money. The total price was 200,000 silver yuan, with an interest rate of 9%, and it was paid off in 20 years.
The Belgians made a lot of money from it.
Because the interest rate on loans during the late Qing Dynasty was generally around 5%, even for commercial loans, the interest rate was generally only 7%.
In addition, the Capital University will also pay a kickback of 4,000 yuan to the middleman.
It's not over yet. The building is designed and supervised by Belgian engineers, and the cost is 5% of the total engineering fee.
However, the theoretical charging standards for later generations of architectural design industry are only 1.6% to 4.5%.
I have asked some practitioners and found that the actual charges are much lower than this standard.
In addition, the construction company of the project is also a foreign company and should be a related company in Belgium.
In short, Belgium has made huge profits from this loan-to-building transaction.
At that time, Peking University was not as wealthy as Tsinghua University or later Yenching University, so it paid a heavy price.
However, the campus of the Capital University is really in short supply at present, so it is really a helpless move.
Li Yu brushed the floor and drew while saying that he was quite familiar with this super famous building, but Zhang Baixi and Zhu Qiqian looked at each other in confusion.
Twenty minutes later, Li Yu looked at the mess of papers in front of him and said with satisfaction: "Do you two adults understand?"
"Haha...ha!" Zhang Baixi smiled awkwardly, and then looked at Zhu Qiqian.
Zhu Qiqian scratched his head: "Master Imperial, how about you just draw an outline and then talk about the situation, and I'll do the drawing?"
"The relationship is great! Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Li Yu handed him the pencil.
Li Yu did not expect that Zhu Qiqian could actually do architectural sketching, which was one of the essential skills for architecture students in later universities.
Although it is relatively rough, the overall outline and general design ideas can be expressed.
Zhu Qiqian had just listened to the general idea, and after asking a few more questions, he quickly drew it.
Li Yu sighed: "It's so similar."
Zhu Qiqian didn't know why Li Yu said the word "like", and he couldn't understand why his painting resembled the ghost painting he drew, but he still said: "The emperor's master is really outstanding in the preliminary design of the building."
Li Yu chuckled: "I just saw it."
Zhang Baixi said: "Sure enough, it is good to travel abroad more. The horizons of talent selection are getting wider and wider. Even things like construction can be achieved through observation."
Li Yu was embarrassed by the praise, "But the detailed design still needs to be deepened. If you can't complete it yourself, you can find a foreign design company, but you said the budget is only 50,000 silver dollars, so their achievements will be less."
Zhang Baixi gave a thumbs up: "Shucai still knows how to bargain, so I'll do as you say."
Needless to say, the status of Peking University Red Mansion in the Republic of China was planned here. The New Culture Movement and the May 4th Movement were all planned here.
Zhang Baixi asked Zhu Qiqian to handle the design matter as soon as possible, and then said: "Don't forget about recruiting talents and funding."
Li Yu laughed and said, "How dare I lie to the principal."
Zhang Baixi said: "Don't worry, I won't ask for your money in vain. In the future, the money collected after renting out the student dormitories will be returned to you."
Li Yu waved his hand: "That's not necessary, let's leave it to the school."
In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, Peking University's financial problems had always been difficult to solve, and it was often stretched.
"I didn't expect that Shu Cai could have such a big heart at such a young age!" Zhang Baixi was really touched. Nowadays, there are several dignitaries who can spend so much money to sponsor the school. Others will probably regard them as fools.
So Zhang Baixi added another message to Zhu Qiqian: "From now on, schools must hang portraits of famous people like foreign schools, including portraits of talents!"
Zhu Qiqian immediately agreed: "I will definitely do it."
Li Yu felt a headache thinking about it. The people in the Red Building of Peking University will all be big guys in the future, so he politely said: "Principal, I actually think it would be better to recruit some sages."
Zhang Baixi said without thinking: "Of course, ours and those of foreigners are included, including those of Confucius, Mencius, Zhuzi, as well as those of Roentgen, Lorenz, and Curie who won the Nobel Prize. To show that we do not forget our roots.
, and an attitude of looking at the world.”
Zhu Qiqian clapped his hands and echoed: "Okay!"
"But..." Li Yu said.
Zhang Baixi interrupted him: "You are also a Nobel Prize winner. Your portrait can inspire students more. I have thought about this for a long time. You have to agree if you don't agree!"