Zai Zhen didn't expect this, after all, the list of envoys had been decided by the Prime Minister's Office.
"Why did Prince Chun say this?"
Zaifeng said: "Now Li Yu has gained a reputation in Europe, especially in England. It just so happens that you are going to England. From my point of view, foreigners value people who understand these knowledge, and it can improve our face to some extent."
Zai Zhen thought for a while and said, "That makes sense. Now the Queen Mother also knows about Li Yu. His Western attainments are no problem and he can speak foreign languages. It's perfect. I will report to the Queen Mother today when I go back and ask for permission to bring Li Yu along with me." "
Li Yu was confused beside him, why did he have to be taken there after going back and forth.
But think about it, it’s too boring to stay in the imperial city all the time, it’s not bad to go out for a walk. Besides, the start of the Capital University School will not be until mid-to-late October, so there is still enough time.
After Cixi saw Zai Zhen's memorial, she immediately agreed and issued an edict emphasizing: "This trip is strictly related to the ceremony, and it is also a way to expand your knowledge and expand your knowledge."
Zai Zhen took Ci Xi's imperial edict and came to Li Yu with a smile, "It's great to have Professor Li accompanying me!"
Now that it was almost time to go abroad, Zai Zhen and Li Yu met the envoys at the Prime Minister's Yamen. The lineup was quite strong:
Liang Cheng, Senator, Zhili Alternate Road, second-grade rank. Liang Cheng's achievements are not small, but they are easily overlooked. In fact, when he was the minister to the United States, he urged U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to reduce or reduce part of the Boxer Indemnity, and a lot of this money was later directly used for construction. Tsinghua University!
Yang Laizhao, second-grade title, Mingdao.
Huang Kaijia, second-grade title, candidate for Taoism. He was one of the first batch of young children studying in the United States in the late Qing Dynasty. He was an early participant in the World Expo in China, and together with Zhan Tianyou, he was known as "Northern Zhannan Huang".
Wang Daxie, counselor, fourth-grade rank, foreign minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later he became the Prime Minister of the Beiyang Government, and he was also an extraordinary figure.
Tang Wenzhi, fourth grade, director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tang Wenzhi later devoted himself to education. The predecessors of the current Dalian Maritime University, Shanghai Maritime University and Suzhou University were first founded by him.
In addition, there are several translators, such as Tao Dajun: the first generation Japanese translator in China, who also worked as a Japanese teacher in Tongwen Museum;
Liu Shixun, a French translator, later became the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China and also served as the president of Southwest Jiaotong University.
Wu Yingke, one of the second batch of young children studying in the United States;
Pan Sichi is one of the fourth batch of young children studying in the United States.
In short, this group of people is definitely full of talents and the standards are quite high. Moreover, they all have official titles now, and the lowest is a fifth-grade title.
Therefore, several of them suddenly heard that there was a new person coming, and he had no fame, so they complained quite a lot.
Yang Laizhao, a second-rank official, said to Li Yu: "What achievements have you made? This mission to England is extraordinary. It is impossible without some ability."
Zai Zhen spoke up first. He smiled and said, "The person you are looking at is called Li Yu. He is not only proficient in Western learning, but can also speak English, German, and Japanese. I wonder if he is capable enough?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately stopped. Not to mention being proficient in Western learning, he could only speak three foreign languages. Basically, the translators in the mission only knew one foreign language. Suddenly, the translators felt a little insecure: I thought there was a new person just now, but I didn’t expect it. This guy is as good as three! On the contrary, I am a bit redundant.
Only the French translator Liu Shixun wasn’t too worried: Fortunately, he doesn’t speak French!
In fact, Li Yu originally wanted to learn it, but after a brief attempt, he let out Yuan Hua's miserable cry: "It's too difficult!"
Seeing that everyone was silent, Zai Zhen continued: "I hope everyone will work together on this mission to fulfill the mission of the imperial court."
Liang Cheng had been a counselor in the United States for several years. He was also one of the early children studying in the United States. He came over and said to Li Yu: "Mr. Li Yu, I have admired him for a long time. I have seen an article introducing him in the newspaper. It is said that the British The Royal Society has praised you very much."
Li Yu cupped his hands and replied, "Mr. Liang is ridiculously complimentary."
Liang Cheng has stayed in the United States for a long time, and his horizons are much broader than ordinary people. He is well aware of the difficulty of doing Western learning. He said: "It is not an exaggeration. I have been in the United States for many years and I have only learned a language. I am not interested in science." Along the way, I only scratched the surface, but I know that the strength of Western countries also stems from politics, law and science."
Li Yu said: "Mr. Liang is very smart because he is able to handle the diplomatic field with ease. We are just involved in different fields."
Huang Kaijia smiled beside him and said: "Little brother, don't be polite to him. Yi Zhong (Liang Cheng's nickname) couldn't even distinguish the three sides of a trigonometric function when he was in the United States. A few days ago, he asked me for a paper you wrote. When I stopped him, it was really laughable that a person who failed mathematics and physics actually wanted to read a professional paper."
Huang Kaijia is one of the first batch of young children studying in the United States, and Liang Cheng is the fourth batch. There is a bit of a senior flavor in them.
There were 120 children in the first batch of children studying in the United States, and only 50 of them were admitted to American universities. Moreover, Huang Kaijia was admitted to Yale University. He was definitely a top student in the late Qing Dynasty.
Liang Cheng smiled and said: "Brother Dounan (Huang Kaijia's nickname), don't expose me for being short-sighted. I haven't been able to understand numbers since I was a child, but I'm thankful that I can understand a few formula questions."
Huang Kaijia refused to give up: "What are you talking about? If I hadn't tutored you for two months, you couldn't even understand the formula of the quadratic equation. How would you have been admitted to an American high school?"
Young children studying in the United States start studying in elementary school or middle school in the United States. As for Chinese subjects, they are taught by economics and history teachers brought from China.
Liang Cheng joked: "Brother Dounan, if you are still not convinced, let's continue to see Zhenzhang on the court."
Liang Cheng once fell in love with baseball when he was studying in the United States. He also participated in many competitions and won awards.
Huang Kaijia's eyes twitched: "Well, well, the ball you threw hit me in the face and it was swollen for five or six days!"
Wang Daxie was different from them. He had never been abroad before. He asked Li Yu, "I wonder if your Excellency has ever set foot in the West?"
Li Yu said frankly: "I only know about the West from the foreigners in the concession, and I am still far from you."
Wang Daxie praised: "You can sit in the country and know the world's affairs. You are really as talented as Zhuge Kongming in the world."
Li Yu quickly said modestly: "Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning!"
Without the Internet now, it is really difficult for people who do not go abroad to understand foreign countries, or even the entire world. Even those who study abroad find it difficult to fully understand all fields, but it is already very difficult.
Moreover, Wang Daxie was by no means an ordinary person. The reason why he was able to join the mission as the only person who had never been abroad was because he was indeed outstanding in diplomacy. When the "Xin Chou Treaty" was signed, Russia wanted to take the opportunity to occupy the three eastern provinces. It was Wang Daxie who stated his interests and prevented the Qing government from compromising. So this time the Prime Minister's Office also intended to cultivate him.
