Chapter 157 Seeing Yu Shimei, it still feels familiar
On March 25, 1903, Li Qiwei was invited to go to Guangdong to study politics at Yu Shimei.
As soon as he went out, he saw Song Daquan waiting at the door. The rickshaw behind him was polished by him and looked like brand new.
After Li Qiwei learned that Song Daquan was Xianglan's eldest brother, he decided to help him and asked him if he would be a full-time coachman for him.
From now on, you will only pick up and drop off one person, and the price will be based on a monthly basis, which is 20% higher than the market price.
Song Daquan was immediately overjoyed. There were so many people rushing to get such a good thing, how could he be unwilling.
Money is secondary. The key is to give Li Qiweila a car. Maybe he can get a little cultural flavor in the future.
Song Daquan was secretly happy. In the future, we, Old Song, will also be educated people, different from ordinary cart pullers.
Don’t think of this as an insult or as something that feels aggrieved to Xiang Lan.
Being a full-time coachman for ordinary people may be a bit objectionable, but it is different to be a full-time coachman for Li Qiwei.
Could anyone think that holding a horse for the emperor was a humiliating job?
Sitting on Song Daquan's rickshaw, Li Qiwei felt very comfortable. He was indeed an experienced driver and was very familiar with various roads.
After Li Qiwei gave him Yu Shimei’s address, he immediately came up with three shortcuts.
The two of them chatted while walking.
"Brother Song, in a few years, you will stop pulling this kind of rickshaw. I will bring cars back from abroad for you to drive."
"That thing is comfortable, you can also sit and drive."
Song Daquan smiled and said: "Third Young Master, are you talking about the kind of car that the Queen Mother Lafayette rode in? It is said that it caused a big sensation. "
"My dear, you don't need to be driven or fed, you can move by yourself. It's really a rare thing."
Li Qiwei said with a smile: "Hey, cars are not that rare in Western countries. Things will become more and more popular in the future.”
“By then, you will be the first group of drivers to learn to drive a car.”
Song Daquan smiled honestly. He actually had no idea about cars at all. All he knew was what his peers boasted about.
So Li Qiwei asked him to be a car driver. He would only feel that the third young master trusted him very much, but he had not thought about the car itself.
Can he learn to drive?
Well, since you don’t have a driver’s license in this era, they won’t care about you parking on the side, so Song Daquan shouldn’t have much of a problem.
Hu Xizhong previously advised Li Qiwei not to drive a car too early, because currently only Cixi can drive a car in the Qing Dynasty, and anyone else who dares to drive is arrogant.
Li Qiwei was too lazy to offend the old woman, so he drove it and asked Sheng Jingran to buy one from Mercedes-Benz next year.
The two were chatting and laughing, and unknowingly arrived at Yu Shimei's house.
After letting Song Daquan go around by himself, Li Qiwei knocked on the door of Yuzhai alone.
Soon, a boy came to open the door. When he learned that Li Qiwei was coming, he took him in without even announcing it.
Li Qiwei understood clearly that Yu Shimei seemed to value himself quite a bit.
He looked at Yu Shimei's house carefully. It was said to be a house, but in fact it was just a small courtyard.
There are only three or four rooms in total, but the layout of the courtyard has a unique flavor, with rockeries, flowing water, flowers, plants and trees, complementing each other.
It seems that this Yu Shimei is also an elegant person, probably because he is relatively poor.
The poorer the material life is, the more rich the spiritual life must be.
In fact, this has been the case for officials in the past dynasties. If you are not willing to corrupt and just rely on salary, your life will actually be like that.
Although they are much better than ordinary people, they are far inferior to those of wealthy merchant families.
Most officials must be unbalanced in their hearts. What grade are you in? You have been better qualified than me.
While he was thinking wildly, a short old man with glasses and a beard walked towards him.
Next to him is the boy who just picked him up.
Li Qiwei knew that the other party should be Guangdong Academic Affairs, Yu Shimei.
So he took a step forward and said in a neither humble nor condescending manner: "Junior Li Qiwei, thank you for the invitation."
Yu Shimei looked at this legendary young man carefully to see what the difference was. Emperor Guangxu personally recruited talents.
The other party was wearing a suit, his braids were cut off, his eyes were bright, and there was no hint of flattery towards him on his face.
I did not use the Qing Dynasty's unique etiquette for meeting officials, but just bowed slightly and meant something similar to foreigners.
Tall and mighty in stature, with an upright temperament, and an aggressive spirit.
With just one glance, Yu Shimei judged that Li Qiwei's personality was influenced by Western culture and independent, just like those of the early reformers.
Although cutting pigtails is not a capital offense these days, many students from the Qing Dynasty cut their pigtails when they returned home, and there are also many people who cut their pigtails.
But you, Li Qiwei, still want to be an official in the imperial court after all. Is it really okay to blatantly oppose the rules of this dynasty like this?
However, he would not say this to his face.
“I have long heard that the third young master of the Li family is well versed in both Chinese and Western studies, and is a man of extraordinary talent. When I see him today, he is indeed worthy of his reputation.”
"He is handsome, handsome and worthy of being the person your Majesty values."
Li Qiwei said: "Xuetai can just call me Qiwei."
"Xuetai is so complimentary. Qiwei has been drifting overseas and has been influenced by foreigners for a long time. Today he suddenly returns home. If there is any lack of etiquette, I hope he can learn from it." Yu Shimei said with a smile: "Qiwei is too worried, you and I will be together in the future. As an official, don’t talk about these false etiquette.”
“Please!”
After that, Yu Shimei took Li Qiwei and walked towards the living room.
After the tea was over, the two sat down separately as the guest of honor and started chatting.
"Qiwei, the purpose of my invitation this time is to meet your future colleague."
"You are too mysterious. England is far away overseas and the news is blocked. Even if you have achieved a lot, it is difficult for us to know about it in time."
"Many of them are learned through newspapers."
"But newspapers are called the public's mouth, but they are actually private prejudices. They are unfair and unfair."
Yu Shimei is also very interesting. He obviously wants to hug Li Qiwei's lap, but And he couldn't save face. He was more than two rounds older than the other party, and his official position was also higher than that of the other party.
But status is very complicated.
The little eunuch next to the emperor has a very low position, but would he dare to offend a feudal official?
Why don't you just obediently pay for it, lower your posture, and let the other party say a few nice words in front of the emperor.
Nowadays, Li Qiwei is a favorite of Guangxu, and is incomparable to others in academic and political affairs.
Although Guangxu has no real power for the time being, he is still the emperor of the Qing Dynasty after all, and it is still a matter of one sentence to determine his future in Shimei.
So, Yu Shimei must want to curry favor with Li Qiwei.
But he wanted to deliberately suppress the other party and cause psychological pressure to Li Qiwei, and then educate him like a senior.
In this way, we can establish a relationship with Li Qiwei without appearing too deliberate and losing face.
This leads to the problem just now. Let me humiliate you first.
Yu Shimei's meaning is very obvious. Is Li Qiwei really as famous and famous as the propaganda?
I’m afraid he’s not a vain person.
Yu Xuezheng also took great pains, and it was all Qinggui’s fault.
Li Qiwei thought to himself, good guy, test me when you come up.
Sure enough, it still has that familiar taste, too strong.
Before in the UK, he had always been well-known in the field of physics, and the people he dealt with were basically physicists. He went straight to them without any small talk.
Now that I am back in China, it is very difficult to communicate with people.
You must first understand the true meaning of other people's words, and then you can respond calmly, otherwise you will make people laugh.
Li Qiwei was not used to him, so he smiled and said, "I wonder what Xuetai wants to know?"
Yu Shimei said: "I heard that Qiwei is well versed in the study of physical objects and won the Nobel Prize in the West."
"What is this Nobel Prize and why is it so respected by foreigners?"
< br>In fact, Yu Shimei knew about it privately.
As an academic administrator, although he is responsible for traditional imperial examination education, it does not mean that he knows nothing about Western science.
In real history, after 1903, Yu Shimei also served as the Minister of Academic Affairs.
He has been responsible for railway construction and visited Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries, so he has a deep understanding of the West.
But at the time, these achievements of his seemed insignificant.
In the end, it was Li Hongzhang's influence that allowed him to rise all the way up, because he had served as Li Hongzhang's staff for many years.
Now, he is just using this question to test it briefly.
Li Qiwei said: "The way of physics is just a branch of the way of Western science, there are also the way of chemistry, the way of biology, etc."
"The essence of physics is the rules that explain the operation of everything in the world."
"Why the sun rises and sets in the east, why the moon shines, why leaves fall to the ground, why it rains in the sky, and so on."
“These are all questions for the study of the Tao of Physics.”
“Although Tao is not big or small, the results of research are divided into high and low.”
“Someone is not Talent, he has made some achievements in physics, and is temporarily ahead of the great sages of Western countries.”
"The Nobel Prize is awarded to the person with the greatest research achievements."
"It's just like the No. 1 Scholar is the title for the first place in a new subject."
After some explanation, Yu Shimei felt in his heart I was surprised and thought to myself that you kid is not modest at all.
Comparing it directly with the top pick in high school doesn’t mean that your achievements are compared to the top pick in high school.
It is said that Westerners are straightforward and do not understand the subtlety and restraint of China. Now that I see it, it is true.
The other party has only been away for a few years, and after coming back, he has learned the tricks of foreigners, how can he praise himself.
Yu Shimei's daddy feeling is getting worse. He wants to use traditional Chinese culture to educate Li Qiwei well.
(End of this chapter)