Jiang Menglin and Zhou Yichun are about the same age. They are both in their twenties, very young.
Jiang Menglin is a student of Shanghai Public School; Zhou Yichun is a graduate of Shanghai St. John's University, and Zhou Yichun has been a teacher at St. John's University for three years.
St. John's University is currently the No. 1 university in Shanghai. Being able to stay at the school as a teacher is enough to show that Zhou Yichun is quite capable.
According to history, Zhou Yichun will study in the United States at his own expense in two years. If he can afford to study in the United States at his own expense these days, his family background must be very good.
Moreover, when Zhou Yichun became the president of Tsinghua University, he began to attach great importance to sports, which gave Tsinghua a century-old tradition of attaching importance to sports.
Li Yu signed the certificate for them, and a week later they could go to the capital to go through the procedures for studying in the United States arranged by the American Travel Affairs Office.
But in fact, the area that is most strongly boycotting American goods right now is the Shanghai area.
Jiang Menglin took the certificate and said: "I would like to see if the Americans are really as powerful as the British as they say."
Zhou Yichun was also very confident: "The Chinese Exclusion Act, haha! Americans really don't know that water can carry a boat or capsize it. It's just the common people. They dare to use this kind of bill that specifically excludes labor to treat the Chinese."
The two of them are worthy of being the future principals of Qingbei. Their thinking is very clear and they have seen the core through the phenomenon.
Of course, Cai Yuanpei understood these problems and said to several people: "You still have to boycott when you should, but you still have to study when you need to learn. One code should be the same, and there will be no delay! Don't have too much psychological burden when you go to study in the United States."
Zhou Yichun and Jiang Menglin said: "Students understand."
Cai Yuanpei asked Li Yu again: "Brother Shucai, you have stayed in the United States the longest. What do you think?"
Li Yu said: "I agree with what Brother Heqing (Cai Yuanpei) said. Boycott is for national awakening, while learning is for national self-strengthening. Both are correct. Moreover, we need to learn from the Western industrial system. Here
In terms of technology, the best at the moment are Americans."
Zhou Yichun asked: "Mr. Imperial Master, shouldn't the country with the strongest industry be England?"
Li Yu shook his head: "The United States already has a large population. Now it has been making a fortune for so many years. It has long surpassed the United Kingdom. Moreover, their potential has not been fully released. In the future, the industrial output value will be greater than the combined output of Germany and the United Kingdom.
Be big.”
Jiang Menglin said: "It seems that our choice to study in the United States is very correct."
"That's right!" Li Yu affirmed, "Although I don't understand politics, in industry, the most important place we should learn from is the United States, because only the United States has a vast environment similar to ours. As for Japan, England, etc., although
They are also very strong, but they all rely too much on international trade, and the focus of many industrial policy formulations is very different."
Cai Yuanpei said to several students: "After you go to the United States, don't just limit yourself to your majors. You should broaden your horizons like your talented brothers and learn as much as possible. It would be even better if you learned how to build warships."
"
Li Yu said with a smile: "That's not necessary. There were so many warships in Beiyang back then, but not all of them sank to the bottom of the sea. The navy really spent too much money. Besides, it couldn't learn the most advanced warship technology. It could only be the ironclad ships of the past. This year
The British have just launched the dreadnought, and all warships from the old era will be eliminated, including Japan and Russia, which fought fiercely in the Sea of Japan last year."
Cai Yuanpei was shocked when he heard this: "I was lucky enough to see a warship in the port. It's such a huge thing. Why can't it be done?"
Li Yu said: "The Navy is a super gold-selling cave, and once there is a generation gap, the big fish eats the small fish, and there is almost no ability to resist."
Cai Yuanpei lamented: "The world is developing so fast, we should pay more attention to learning! It seems that you should go to the United States to study more education in order to cultivate more talents in various subjects."
Zhou Yichun said: "I will obey the principal's instructions."
Jiang Menglin also went on to say: "I am also determined to do this. Education is the way to give birth to two, two to three, and three to all things."
Of course, after the two went to study in the United States, what they paid most attention to was education.
After the students left, Cai Yuanpei stayed with Li Yu to ask about the situation in the capital.
"I heard that the Manchu Qing court sent royal family members and important ministers abroad to inspect the constitutional government. I wonder if it is possible to implement it after returning home?"
Li Yu knew that Cai Yuanpei had joined the Tongmenghui and belonged to the revolutionary faction of Mr. Zhongshan, so he replied: "What can we do if we establish a constitution? The basis of the constitution is to limit the imperial power. Does Brother Heqing think it is possible for the imperial family to delegate power?"
Cai Yuanpei said: "The Manchus and Qing Dynasties have always placed the greatest emphasis on guarding against the Han. The conflicts have not completely dissipated just because two hundred years have passed. I don't think they will delegate power."
"So," Li Yu said naturally, "there is no foundation for establishing a constitution. Do you think it will succeed?"
Cai Yuanpei said with a smile: "Brother Shucai, you always say you don't understand politics, but I would say you see it more clearly than anyone else."
Li Yu just saw it accurately from the perspective of a person from the future, and said: "It's just a deduction of the current situation."
Cai Yuanpei said: "Shucai can't continue to elaborate."
So Li Yu asked: "Brother Heqing, what do you think of the Qing Dynasty's industry?"
"It's bad, and it's very bad!" Cai Yuanpei said.
"Last year the imperial court abolished the imperial examination, leaving hundreds of thousands of scholars without a way out; in the future, when schools are built, even if there are hundreds of thousands of graduates, they will have no way out without supporting industry and commerce. At that time..."
Cai Yuanpei was stunned for a moment, and then said: "At that time, the court will lose the support of the gentry class and the new learning group at the same time!"
Li Yu just nodded.
Cai Yuanpei felt that his palms were sweating: "Brother Shucai woke me up with his words. I will send electricity to my colleagues in Japan today!"
Li Yu said: "In any case, the imperial court is already facing a road with no future. The arrival of foreigners will only intensify and accelerate this situation."
China's national conditions are too special, and a relatively simple route such as constitutionalism cannot be suitable. This has been proven with blood by history.
The current situation is: if the Qing Dynasty does not change, it will perish; if it changes, it will perish quickly.
It's a dead end.
If any Aisin Gioro wants to save the Qing Dynasty, at least it must be before the Opium War.
But at that time, it was still the "prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong" that many people dreamed of, so how could there be any sense of crisis?
Cai Yuanpei sighed: "The despotic power of foreigners has been exerted on the people for decades, and the double fear from foreigners and the imperial court has dominated the world for too long. To be honest, the world has been suffering from the Qing Dynasty for a long time, but it has also suffered from the foreigners for a long time. This kind of pain
It's always with me, and sometimes I can't even sleep."
Li Yu naturally understood this sentiment. Not to mention Cai Yuanpei, even the princes and nobles did not dare to speak loudly when they saw foreigners.
"Brother Heqing, I know that your emotions are all caused by the depressed mood of the poor and weak people in the country, but we are just at the beginning. As long as we go step by step, there will be a way."
Cai Yuanpei picked up the wine on the table and filled it up for Li Yu and himself: "Brother Shucai, I often see an unspeakable confidence in you and a sense of maturity that I don't know how to describe. I don't know.
Why, after these two years of contact, I firmly believe in your judgment."
Li Yu said with emotion: "Brother Heqing, despite the fact that foreigners have strong ships and powerful guns, the principle behind this is actually not elusive. As long as we follow the correct route, sooner or later we can impress the foreigners."
"Like you? Become a foreign academician of the Royal Society of England?" Cai Yuanpei said.
Li Yu said: "Not only that, I am just one person among thousands of people."
Cai Yuanpei, a veteran who has experienced many things, sighed: "How can things in the world be so simple? A few months ago, I went to Qingdao and saw the construction of the German concession. It was not much different from the Shanghai concession. It was different from other concessions in Qingdao.
Comparing national regions is really hard to see directly. This gap is visible to the naked eye. If you have been to so many countries, it is impossible not to understand what I am saying."
Cai Yuanpei and Li Yu clinked their glasses together and drank the whole drink in one gulp.
Li Yu knew very well what Cai Yuanpei said, especially the story of Qingdao, that "story" that was widely circulated.
The most well-known concessions to future generations are the concessions in Shanghai and Tianjin. A few people may also know about the Hankou Concession, the Xiamen Concession, and the Guangzhou Concession, but many people have forgotten that there is also a German concession in Qingdao.
Later, the Qingdao Concession became known to the world because of a lie fabricated by some public intellectuals, that is, the very famous and widely circulated lie about Qingdao's sewers.
In 1897, Germany forcibly leased Qingdao. It was taken away by the Japanese in World War I and lasted for a total of 17 years.
Many people must have heard this story:
The meticulous Germans stayed in Qingdao for 17 years. They did not build villas or buildings, but they repaired the sewers.
As a result, Qingdao will never be flooded for a hundred years!
Especially during the rainy season, Beijing, the capital city that is flooded with water, and Shanghai, the most prosperous city in Asia, are embarrassed by the Qingdao sewers made in Germany.
Even 100 years later, when some joint parts of the sewers in the original German concession area needed to be replaced, the Chinese searched for the parts but they were missing. Finally, an email came from Germany, explaining to the Chinese a small warehouse where spare parts were stored.
When the Chinese technicians opened it, they found that the parts in the small warehouse were still as good as new after a hundred years!
For a time, public opinion was in an uproar. This was simply the supreme display of the legendary German rigorous spirit!
The showdown between China and Germany in the sewers has risen to the level of a comparison of national spirits.
As a result, the German sewers not only washed away China’s self-esteem, but also washed away the IQ of its people!
Yes, it has washed away the IQ of countless Chinese people!
Why?
Because this historical story was all fabricated by public intellectuals!
Everything is just a lie to bury China and exalt the West.
The fact that the Germans prepared for a rainy day and set up a "small warehouse to store spare parts" is purely a historical rumor.
Public intellectuals lamented that "China is 100 years behind in technology and 300 years behind in industrial spirit," which is a crime intended by those with ulterior motives.
It is true that in order to compete with Britain and France, Germany spent a lot of money and tried to build Qingdao into a "model colony."
After all, Germany started late and wanted to impact Britain's status as an empire on which the sun never sets, so the world was desperately looking for remaining colonies.
Qingdao is an unimaginably good place. It is backed by the hinterland of the North China Plain. If it is connected by railway, it will not be inferior to Guangzhou at all.
So a group of top German urban planning experts and architectural designers were sent to Qingdao to lead Chinese workers in building housing buildings, drainage systems and other infrastructure in Qingdao urban area.
This naturally includes sewer projects.
Looking at it today, this project is indeed quite remarkable - the total length of the completed pipeline is 80 kilometers, and it is wide enough to run a car.
However, the "public knowledge" who is good at historical fabrication only showed the top of the "historical manhole cover", but deliberately did not open the "manhole cover".
If anyone tells you that the colonists are here to make the colonies more prosperous, then he is not stupid, he must be bad!
Germany’s sewer project in Qingdao was not prepared for the Chinese at all.
Qingdao during the colonial period was divided into Western areas and Chinese areas. The Germans lived in the Western areas, while the Chinese lived in Chinese areas such as Dabao Island.
Modern facilities like sewers are only distributed in Western areas, and Chinese areas have no way to enjoy them.
Bockmann, a German naval construction consultant, even said: "The sewer project prevents the dirty water used by Chinese residents from flowing through the places where Europeans live. This dirty water will cause great harm."
The sewer is indeed an important part of the city's municipal engineering and can be called the kidney of the city.
However, the modern Qingdao of later generations is a super metropolis with a population of nearly 10 million. It has gone through several rounds of expansion. There are only 2.6 kilometers of pipelines left behind by German sewers. No one who knows nothing about sewage projects would dare to say that these pipelines can handle the huge task.
The drainage task of Qingdao City?
The fundamental reason why Qingdao is not prone to water accumulation is its special terrain: high in the northwest, low in the southeast, and facing the sea on three sides.
The accumulated water can be quickly discharged into the sea, and it is difficult to cause waterlogging. In the credit book, you can write about the terrain and the sea, but you can't write about Germany.
What's more, the current Qingdao sewer system is made in China.
Cai Yuanpei's vision was relatively broad during the Republic of China. He later studied in Germany and had a deep understanding of Germany.
Cai Yuanpei said: "I know that Brother Shucai is an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and Europe still leads the world in culture and other aspects. Even the United States you mentioned is just a barbarian land in the eyes of the Germans.
"
What Cai Yuanpei said was actually the reality. At least until the end of World War I, Europe still did not think highly of the United States.
Even though the United States' economy, military, and technology all surpassed Europe at that time, the pride in the hearts of Europeans could not be changed.
Li Yu doesn't hate this sense of pride, because China also has it...
Cultural self-confidence is actually rooted in the bones, but it lacks a medium for release.
No matter how much Li Yu didn't understand political economics, his world view for a person born a hundred years later was far superior to anyone at this time. The two of them started drinking and chatting until late at night.
Cai Yuanpei burped deeply, "Brother Shucai, I rarely drink so much. There are even fewer people who can make me drink alcohol willingly. You are the rare one."
Li Yu's head was also a little dizzy. Come on, why are these big guys from the Republic of China so drunk? It's unscientific!
Li Yu replied: "Brother Heqing, the days are long, this little wine is nothing, just drizzle!"
Cai Yuanpei laughed loudly: "Boy, I will bring you a drinker one day, and I will make sure you drink until you are unconscious!"
Li Yu also smiled and said: "My little brother has long been drunk."