Rui Zheng thought in his mind: This Li Yu had become "sir" as soon as he came to the house, and he could also give lectures to Prince Qing. Wouldn't his status be immediately higher than his own?
As Prince Qing's translator, I am still a bannerman. Is it possible that when I see him in the future, a Han man will be a head shorter! This is really unreasonable!
He sat on the chair, held up the tea cup and hid his face, thinking in his mind how to make Li Yu's status lower than his.
Li Yu, however, had no time to think about his mental activities. He just got up and walked around the hall casually.
This chandelier is really beautiful when viewed up close, and it looks even more impressive in the small main hall. The teacup from which I just drank water looked smooth and clean, and must have been made of porcelain from a famous kiln; even the chair on which I sat was made of high-end mother-of-pearl inlays, making it very expensive.
Yi Kuang is worthy of being the top corrupt man in the late Qing Dynasty, and his wealth is evident in every aspect of his life. Coincidentally, he also lived in Heshen's old house at the beginning, so he really had the inheritance of greed.
Li Yu moved to the wooden box containing the chandelier and saw a few pieces of paper thrown randomly on the ground, which seemed to be some kind of documents.
He picked it up and saw that it was a tax declaration form from the customs. It clearly said "LANDED PRICE 1688 TAEL", that is, the landed price was 1,688 taels.
Li Yu accidentally discovered a little secret.
The actual price of this chandelier imported from Italy was 1,688 taels. When the young prince Zai Zhen chatted with Rui Zheng, he said it was 3,000 taels. I don’t know if Rui Zheng was deceived or deliberately lied.
Li Yu guessed that Rui Zheng had been tricked, otherwise why would such a document be randomly thrown here.
Ruizheng may not understand the meaning of "landed value". At this time, the Qing Dynasty's import and export trade was still very small. In Li Yu's era, China had long become the world's largest import and export trade country, which was completely incomparable.
However, the number 1688 is really interesting and meaningful.
Li Yu didn't intend to expose him just like that, so he folded the tax return and put it in his pocket.
Rui Zheng didn't see Li Yu's movements. He finally worked out a way to speak: "I heard that you are coming to the palace to be a teacher?"
This question was a bit confusing, and Li Yu replied: "I can't talk about sir, I just want to be a student assistant to help the prince understand the knowledge of Western learning."
Rui Zheng snorted: "If you want to be a gentleman in the palace, you must at least have a good reputation, and at least be a Jinshi. Do you have it?"
Li Yu heard the thorniness in Rui Zheng's words and replied: "I have already said that I am just a student assistant for Western studies, not a teacher."
"That means there is no fame." Rui Zheng felt proud that he had caught Li Yu's hand.
Li Yu, however, continued to write lightly: "So what? Does your Excellency have any fame?"
Rui Zheng said with an air of dignity: "Of course! I am a Gongsheng student of the Imperial College, with a Juren status, and I am a graduate of Tongwen Hall in the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu."
"Oh, that's really awesome." Li Yu complimented with a fake smile.
Although Gongsheng is often the same as being promoted, many of them can actually be obtained with money.
Rui Zheng continued: "I don't give a damn about those things learned from the West. They are all weird techniques. Learning those things won't bury your ancestors!"
Li Yu didn't expect that he, a graduate of the Tongwen School, would be so conservative in his thinking, and said, "Then you have to keep the things belonging to your ancestors, otherwise you will be in trouble if they are snatched away by those strange and obscene skills."
"you!"
Of course Rui Zheng knew the importance of Western learning, but he didn't learn much about it in Tongwen Hall. He could only try his best to belittle Western learning and then highlight himself.
"The imperial court has said that Chinese learning should be the body and Western learning should be used. This is the direction of the great government!" Rui Zheng said unconvinced.
Li Yu was well versed in the essence of Internet debates and immediately replied: "Okay, okay, everything you said is right!"
When Rui Zheng heard this, he was really confused. This was the first time he saw someone arguing like this! I had a lot of saucy words in my mind, and I could immediately retaliate if Li Yu dared to refute, but I didn't expect him to say such a thing directly! As a result, one's own ammunition misfired directly, and all the words organized in the stomach were invalid.
What was even more uncomfortable was that although Li Yu "agreed" with him verbally, Rui Zheng always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't explain it.
Although Li Yu didn't want to argue with him, Rui Zheng didn't want to let it go. He thought for a while and said: "In short, without fame, I can only be a book boy in the palace!"
This sentence is what he really meant - Li Yu must be ranked below him.
Li Yu felt really speechless, so he said, "I see that you are the prince's English translator. Why don't you ask for a little advice on this?"
Rui Zheng was startled. Although he was trying his best to belittle Western learning, he still relied on English to make a living. If he also belittled English, he would be scolding himself, so he said: "What do you want to ask me?"
Li Yu said: "Sir, you are a wise guy, so I have some questions for you."
Ruizheng's mind flashed and he immediately said: "Please ask."
Li Yu secretly laughed in his heart. It turns out that you didn't even learn English. Although "a wise guy" literally means a smart person, its true meaning is an arrogant person.
The early English teaching in Tongwen Library was mainly in formal settings, and the teaching level was uneven, and the students' level was even more uneven.
Ruizheng was a monk halfway through, so he could only cope with daily English. If his level was really high enough, Ruizheng would have been able to go abroad with the mission like some outstanding graduates of Tongwen Hall.
Li Yu knew Rui Zheng's skill well and continued: "What does' black and blue' mean?"
"That's it? Isn't it just black and blue?" Ruizheng said.
Of course what Ruizheng said was wrong. In fact, he meant a bruised nose and a swollen face.
Li Yu asked again: "An other one, what does 'black sheep' mean?"
"Black sheep?" Rui Zheng said.
In fact, he was a black sheep. Li Yu pointed his nose and cursed, but Rui Zheng couldn't even hear him.
Li Yu asked a few more questions, but Rui Zheng also answered incorrectly. Li Yu smiled and said, "You are not only a wise guy, but also a confident man."
Rui Zheng thought he was still boasting that he was not only smart but also a confident person, so he said proudly: "It's just English, what's the problem?"
Li Yu sighed in his heart. Confidence man actually means liar. This feels exactly like a person scolding a foreigner who doesn't understand Chinese in Chinese.
Rui Zheng's level can be used as an English translator. It can be imagined to what extent there is a shortage of people who understand English in the Qing Dynasty.
Li Yu felt that it was too boring to talk to him anymore, and whispered to himself: "You still call others a book boy? It's really like in the picture, the dragon doesn't roar, the tiger doesn't roar, the little book boy is ridiculous!"
"Eh!" Rui Zheng was shocked. He had sharp ears and heard the pairs Li Yu said. He was confused. Why could he "answer" the English words just now but couldn't answer any of the pairs? "What pair did you just say? Tell it again."
Li Yu didn't expect that he heard it, so he said: "It's nothing, just a little bit of self-deprecation."
Li Yu repeated it again, and Rui Zheng actually became interested. After all, he had just laughed at the other party for being a book boy. Li Yu immediately took the opportunity to write the first couplet, which could be said to be very "appropriate for the occasion". It was really difficult for him to write the second couplet for a while. .
Li Yu saw sweat pouring from Rui Zheng's forehead, and felt funny in his heart. Isn't this even right? You are pretending to lift people, I think you are not lifting people!
Just like the Eight Banners has become a pile of mud due to neglect of training, Rui Zheng has not studied hard for many years, and has deteriorated seriously.
Rui Zheng felt a little unable to get off the stage. Fortunately, at this time, the voice of Prince Qing Yikuang came from the inner hall:
"Mr. Ding, I have been waiting for a long time. This Russian envoy is really a bit long-winded."
Yikuang was quite polite to Ding Nailiang because he happened to be an American. Yikuang always felt that Americans were easier to deal with than the Japanese and Russians.
He continued: "What I can't stand the most is the envoys from Russia and Japan. They can't discuss anything for most of the day. The Russian envoy is really a bit aggressive and unpleasant; the Japanese envoy has a lot of demands and documents. One after another.”
Yikuang knows that the United States has always been neutral. As an educator, Ding Haoliang will not get involved in politics, so he is not afraid to speak out.
In fact, the attitudes of the two countries were well known even at the time.
Moreover, during the Republic of China, various countries began to stop or even return the Boxer Indemnity. Calculating the "Xin Chou Treaty", we paid more than half of the compensation in total, which is more than 500 million taels of silver.
But there is only one country that has not reduced or refunded a penny, and that is Japan!
