The mastered record is the master and needs to be shipped to the United States or Hong Kong to be made into records for sale.
To be honest, Li Yu had never been exposed to such things as vinyl records. However, he had a classmate who was a super music enthusiast and once saw him buy a complete set of Jay Chou's vinyl records. A dozen or so pieces cost 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.
The first thing his classmate did when he opened the box was smell it, and he couldn't help but praise it as "it smells really good"!
For people like Li Yu who only listen to music on their mobile phones, buying a membership is already the greatest respect for music. What's more, this is just a record, and you also need to buy a record player, which is also expensive.
Therefore, it is so expensive to listen to vinyl records nowadays, not to mention that in the late Qing Dynasty, they were definitely exclusive to the upper class.
The craftsmanship at that time was also relatively primitive. Li Yu carefully studied the grooves burned on the record and felt that this thing was not difficult. The main problem was the accuracy of the craftsmanship.
The principle of the gramophone itself is not complicated. It is nothing more than recording sound waves with grooves of different depths in the grooves of the record. Then during playback, the stylus placed on the record will beat as the notch beats, causing the coil to cut the magnetic lines and play the sound.
The recording accuracy at that time was not high anyway, so it was not difficult to manufacture. The key was how to extend the life of the record as much as possible, otherwise the stylus might be scratched on the record a few times.
Carlos, the record company manager, saw that Li Yu was not listening to music, but was studying the grooves with the record, so he asked: "Mr. Purland said that you are very knowledgeable about technology. I really can't believe it, because I don't even know how to do it in the factory here." I can't recruit any workers, and some people even want to break the machines when they see them. What we lack most now is talents like you. How about you, are you interested in joining my company?"
Li Yu put the record on the gramophone, smiled and said, "I'm really sorry, manager, I didn't have this plan."
Of course, Li Yu couldn't spend his energy on selling records. After all, the gramophone was an entertainment product. The prerequisite for entertainment products to be widely popular is that people are wealthy and have spare money to enjoy life. But now the land of China needs too much development, and this kind of pastime can only be played by a few wealthy people.
Li Yu caught the needle, and after a few seconds of idling, a symphony was played, which was a section from Mozart's "Symphony No. 39 in E flat."
Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou were shocked when they heard the real gramophone sound. Their doubts were gone, and they finally understood what the result of this operation was.
Not long after sending off the celebrating class, Pulande came and called Li Yu away:
"Come on! Mrs. Smith from the Beijing-Tianjin Times has arrived, and Minister Sa Daoyi's wife will also be attending today."
The two immediately arrived at Puland's residence. As soon as they entered the door, they met a tall woman. She said in English: "Is this Li Yu?"
"Mrs. Smith has such a sharp eye!" Purland laughed, and then introduced to Li Yu, "The beautiful lady in front of me is Alice Smith, the editor-in-chief of the Beijing-Tianjin Times."
As a woman, it is not easy to be the editor-in-chief in this era, even for a British person. She has some skills. What's more, Smith did not receive a formal school education. Although Europe was more civilized at that time, most universities still refused to admit female students. The more well-known universities are, the more so. For example, Oxford and Cambridge did not officially grant degrees to women until around 1920.
What is even more incomprehensible is that many male students at that time also rejected female students. The dean of one college wrote: "A very annoying complaint is that male students are harassed by our female students because they are wearing tight skirts and sitting with their legs exposed. Disturbed."
Li Yu couldn't figure it out at all. How could he complain? Shouldn’t the complaint be about not showing enough! ?
It was only because of Mrs. Smith's reports that Li Yu was able to increase his popularity so quickly. He said respectfully: "Hello, madam, I am Li Yu."
Mrs. Smith looked Li Yu up and down, then turned back to Chinese: "Sure enough, he is not only young, but also tall and mighty."
She spoke Chinese very fluently, but her choice of words was a bit strange. It was okay to say "a talented person", but the result was "tall and mighty".
However, Li Yu was 1.8 meters tall, which may be normal now, but he was indeed called a little giant in the late Qing Dynasty.
Puland laughed loudly: "I said you won't come here in vain!"
Mrs. Smith, who probably had the common problem of editors, held a cigarette between the fingers of her right hand, which was very fashionable at the time. She took a puff and said, "It's not in vain."
Purland's home is very large. There is a circle of chairs arranged in an oval shape in the main hall. The scattered coffee tables are filled with fruits and red wine. The decoration is very British.
Mrs. Smith took out a cigarette and handed it to Li Yu: "Want one?"
Li Yu refused: "I don't smoke."
"Oh? It's really rare for Chinese people who don't smoke to smoke."
In the impression of many foreigners at that time, Chinese people smoked opium.
Li Yu said lightly: "It seems that Mrs. Smith needs to know more about China. Not everyone smokes."
"It's so difficult to understand China. I just want to understand you." Mrs. Smith said.
Damn it!
Li Yu was shocked. These words sounded like he was teasing me! However, he soon understood that it was actually because Mrs. Smith’s Chinese was not up to standard and her word choice was inaccurate.
She said slowly: "I have been to Beiyang University in Tianjin several times. Although there are many students there, most of them study politics and law. There are quite few students in physics, mathematics and other subjects. Why did you choose science, which is obviously more difficult? road?"
She indeed saw accurately. At that time, the Qing government was preparing to establish a constitution, and the most popular students were international students studying politics and law. Fan Xiren later obtained a law degree in Japan.
In these troubled times, there are indeed many passionate young people who really want to help the Qing Dynasty establish a constitution, hoping to change the situation. But they never expected that the Manchu royal family never really thought about establishing a constitution from beginning to end. The matter was delayed again and again until the gunshots were fired in Wuchang...
But generally speaking, it was really easy to become an official by studying politics and law at that time, and it was the first choice of students!
But Li Yu is different! If he just wants to be an official, with his knowledge, he can become the president of a university or even the president of the Capital University in just a few years, with at least a second rank title.
But, so what?
So Li Yu just replied casually: "Everyone has his or her own ambitions. I just like science."
——She couldn't refute this reason.
Mrs. Smith nodded and continued: "As a big Confucian country, you are really special. But I still have a question. I have seen the experimental equipment of Beiyang University Hall. It can be said that it is extremely rare. There are even photography and imaging principles. Experimental equipment that shouldn’t appear in a university. I’m very confused about how you wrote such a cutting-edge and high-quality paper on X-rays?”
Li Yu did not expect that Mrs. Smith knew a lot about this aspect. It is true that pinhole imaging was a bit too simple for a university, but there were a few people who were running the university at that time who knew science. If you want Beiyang University to buy experimental equipment, you must at least persuade Yuan Shikai or Sheng Xuanhuai.
And Yuan Shikai, a veteran in officialdom, only sees "pragmatism" and experiments? Unless you make him a bomb first!
