Li Yu followed the path pointed by Guapimao and walked towards Dongtiaozi Alley.
The Tongwen Museum of the Capital and the famous Prime Minister's Office for International Affairs are both located in this alley. It can be said that this alley witnessed the ups and downs of the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty.
Now after the "Xin Chou Treaty" was signed, according to the terms, the Prime Minister's Office of Foreign Affairs was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its status was superior to the six ministries. Together with the Cabinet and the Military Aircraft Department, it was the lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty.
As the earliest modern school, Jingshi Tongwen School was affiliated to the Prime Minister’s Yamen.
Since the Treaty of Tianjin signed during the Second Opium War, it has been stipulated that the content should be mainly in English. Therefore, Prince Gong Yixin applied to open such a school directly under the imperial court. At first, it mainly trained talents who knew foreign languages. Later, Western "new studies" such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, etc. were also added.
Unfortunately, during the Gengzi National Disaster when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, this school was also affected and closed for more than a year. But after all, the school has nothing of value, so relatively speaking, the impact on Tongwenkan has been very small.
Li Yu knew these things, but when he walked in today's Beijing city, he really felt like he was in another world!
The Prime Minister's Office was very close to the later Dongdan and Xiehe Hospitals, but Li Yu had never been to this alley before, so he asked for directions for a long time before turning in.
Not far away, he saw the door of Tongwen Hall, which was neat and formal but not very impressive. Standing at the door was an official in patchwork uniform, probably a sixth- or seventh-rank official, instructing several handymen to pack their things.
Li Yu walked to the edge and took a look inside. It was indeed a bit messy.
When the official saw Li Yu, he thought it was just a bunch of people waiting, and yelled, "What are you doing? Do you know where this place is?"
Li Yu didn't have time to beat around the bush with him and went straight to the point: "I'm looking for some work."
The official looked at Li Yu doubtfully and asked, "Looking for a job? What will you do?"
Li Yu guessed that he was also from the Prime Minister's Yamen, so he said: "I came from the Tianjin Concession. I know a little English, and I also know mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and other Western studies."
"oh?"
The official was surprised and asked, "Do you understand British?"
Li Yu immediately introduced himself: "Yes! My name is LiYu! What could I do for You?"
"Oh~" (This is a raised voice that represents surprise~)
The official was really surprised this time, "Have you ever studied in the new school?"
Li Yu quickly said yes.
The official said: "Then you came just in time. I am He Fangxu, the head of the Ministry of Etiquette. I am worried that I can't find anyone. You know Western learning best. The Prime Minister's Yamen can't spare any manpower right now. I'm here to help temporarily, so you can call me first." Let’s start and wait for their people to find time to come over and then make specific arrangements for you.”
Li Yu said: "That's the best."
The official thought for a while and said: "No one here knows about Western stuff now, and no one is in charge of the library. You go and sort out the books first. I think you should be able to figure it out. As for the wages, according to the standards of short-term workers, I will pay first You get 50 cents a day."
Li Yu almost vomited out his old blood. It only cost 50 cents a day, which is 1,500 cents a month. Now that the price of copper is low, it is only one tael in silver.
But think about it, this is already a daily portrayal of ordinary working people in the late Qing Dynasty! Moreover, the Ministry of Etiquette is the famous Qingshui Yamen, and the salary of a sixth-rank director of the Ministry of Etiquette is only 5 taels of silver a month.
Thinking about the bannermen I just met, they only have one or two a month, so they can only accept this reality.
After all, Li Yu has no other options now. This is what a time traveler first faces: find a way to survive first!
Seeing Li Yu's expression flickering, the official added, "There is a house in the backyard. You can stay here temporarily and eat two meals a day in the kitchen in the backyard."
——Taking care of food and housing, that’s pretty much it!
After registering with the officials and receiving the key, Li Yu entered the Tongwen Hall. Because of the Gengzi national crisis, the current household registration management is quite chaotic. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Li Yu, an unidentified person, to find a job.
The courtyard of Tongwen Hall was very large. Sure enough, he found several rooms used for accommodation in the backyard. He could tell that they had been idle for a long time and there were no people around at the moment, so he randomly found a relatively clean room.
With nothing to do, Li Yu immediately came to the place where he worked: the Tongwen library.
Yes, this is his first job after time travel: to be a librarian!
The library is a large five-bay room, which is basically the earliest modern school library in the Qing Dynasty!
The books inside had not been taken care of for a long time and seemed a bit scattered. However, Li Yu took a cursory look and found that there were still a lot of them. The three long rows of bookshelves were almost filled. It has been 40 years since Tongwen Museum opened in 1862, and it has indeed accumulated a lot of materials.
Li Yu first browsed them one by one. The most common ones were original books from various countries, including English, Japanese, Russian, German, and French, and a considerable number of them were textbooks from Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and other countries.
Li Yu suddenly thought that when he was still doing scientific research, it was extremely difficult to publish a paper in the world's top scientific research journals such as "Science"! If you can publish even one article, you will definitely be a top leader in the industry, and you can easily become a university professor!
And now... 1902, my God, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics are still in their infancy, why can't I have a column in "Science"!
Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm floating! Li Yu quickly wiped his saliva and tried his best to get back from his fantasy.
——Let’s be a good librarian first!
The three large bookshelves on the west side contain Chinese books translated by Tongwen Library over the years. The names of the categories are written on the edge of the bookshelf: Politics and Law, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, etc.
The study of things is actually the meaning of physics, which is derived from the study of things to achieve knowledge.
Li Yu planned to start from this corner first, just in time to see what the mathematics and physics textbooks of the Qing Dynasty looked like. As the tooth dealer said, he could also take the opportunity to teach the princes and nobles later - he did not want to be a bookkeeper all the time. Administrator, how can you realize your dream of being a columnist?
Ah, why are you thinking of this again?
Speaking of the current Qing Dynasty, although the Westernization Movement has gone bankrupt, a series of military failures have made everyone now know that they must learn from the West. For the Chinese at that time, the most direct thing about the West was the strong ships and powerful guns, and it was Western science and technology that ensured their strength.
As the saying goes, technology is the primary productive force. This saying in the late Qing Dynasty was not just about productivity, but it also ensured that people would not be beaten in the first place.
Li Yu picked up a mathematics textbook from the ground and saw that the title was about calculus. He thought to himself, this is so simple! Although I am not a mathematics major, it is well known that physics cannot be separated from mathematics, and my mathematical literacy is also top-notch!
But when he opened it with confidence, he was completely confused!
this! This damn thing is simply amazing!
