Li Yu has written manuscripts for The Times and Shenbao in the past two days. One is a scientific talk, and the other briefly talks about the industrial revolution and the scientific driving force behind the industrial revolution.
Although he is not good at writing such articles, he is looking at everything from the perspective of a hundred years later, and his writing reveals a natural sense of insight into everything.
In addition, he had already written a call for papers on the three-body problem. Unfortunately, the length of this article made it impossible to send it by telegraph, so he had to ask Zhao Qian to take him to the Qing Post Office.
Zhao Qian said to Li Yu while pulling the cart: "Master Li, I have an unkind request. I wonder if you can agree to it?"
"What request?" Li Yu asked.
Zhao Qian chuckled and said, "Feng Ling also wants to move here."
Li Yu laughed and said: "You kid, if you want to move in here, why don't you just say that I will move in with you!"
"It can't be hidden from my eyes." Zhao Qian didn't hide it either.
"Did she redeem herself?" Li Yu asked.
Zhao Qian replied: "Actually, Fengling redeemed herself a long time ago, so my brother had no money at all when something happened. She had wanted to leave the dusty land for a long time, but I was so poor before that I couldn't let her live in a ruined temple with me. . Don’t worry, Sir, Fengling will know how to wash and cook when she comes, and she can also do housework, so her stay will not be in vain.”
"Okay, I agree." Li Yu said simply
"Master, thank you so much!" Zhao Qian said excitedly.
Li Yu felt that Zhao Qian's steps began to become brisk, and he smiled and said: "One more thing, don't call me father in the future, it is best to call me sir."
Xiyuan, Yiluan Hall.
Yi Kuang, Ronglu, and Yuan Shikai came to report to Cixi. At the end, Cixi suddenly asked: "The Ai family wants to find another Western teacher for the emperor, but we can't ask for a foreigner. Do you have any recommendations?"
"Teach?" Ronglu was a little confused about what the Queen Mother meant.
Some time ago, the Queen Mother had just arranged for an English teacher, Yudeling, for the emperor. Why did she need to find a Western teacher again? Could it be that the Queen Mother's attitude towards the Emperor has really softened?
Yi Kuang and Yuan Shikai also couldn't figure out what the Queen Mother meant and didn't dare to speak.
Cixi clicked her tongue and continued: "The Ai family are old and can't learn much. But the emperor is not old, so he should know something about Western learning. Otherwise, if foreign ministers want to see me, the Qing Emperor, in the future, they don't understand anything. What will happen? Decency.”
It seems that Cixi still regarded Guangxu as a puppet, a complete tool man, only used when the situation should be used.
Knowing Cixi's attitude, Yi Kuang dared to speak: "I think it is very suitable to assist Li Yu who was once in my house."
"Is that Li Yu who once adjusted the telescope?" Cixi asked.
"Back to the Queen Mother, that's right." Yikuang said.
Cixi nodded slightly: "He is quite suitable. Yuan Shikai, what do you think?"
Yuan Shikai said: "I also asked Li Yu to teach in our Beiyang Army. After a month of contact, I think he is indeed the person who knows the most about Western learning in the Qing Dynasty today."
Cixi said: "The person who knows the most about Western learning? Hmm! Then it makes sense to teach the emperor."
Ronglu said: "It's just that this Li Yu just won the first place in the entrance examination of the Capital University a few days ago. I don't know if he has time."
Cixi said: "Is there still such a thing? It's interesting, then he must teach me! In the past, the Imperial College didn't pay much attention to it. If you inform the university, can they still block this matter?"
Cixi's attitude towards the university did not go beyond the traditional scope.
Yikuang knew Li Yu well. He added: "It is no small matter to teach the emperor. I am afraid that Li Yu does not understand the rules of the palace, so I think I can ask Zhang Deyi, who has taught English to the emperor, to help."
Cixi didn't care about such specific operational details, "As long as you know what to do." Then she called Li Lianying and said: "Little Li Zi, when Li Yu goes to Yingtai to see the emperor in the future, let Eunuch Cui follow him. "
Li Lianying understood in his heart: "Cha!"
Eunuch Cui is Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch, who accompanied the Queen Mother to take photos a few days ago. This person is probably most famous for following Cixi's order to drown Concubine Zhen in a well.
Guangxu hated him equally, so it was perfect for him to monitor him.
Cixi's political skills of giving candy and then slapping her were too familiar, and she completely controlled Guangxu in her five-finger mountain.
Guangxu started learning English ten years ago. As the chief teacher of Tongwen School at that time, the imperial court asked Ding Haoliang to introduce two graduates of Tongwen School, Shen Duo and Zhang Deyi, to teach English to the emperor.
Ding Haoliang was also a little strange about this matter. He once said: "If a student has two teachers teaching the same course, I am afraid that there are only emperors of the Qing Dynasty in this world."
In short, starting from 1891, Guangxu had been exposed to English for ten years. Of course, there was a break in the middle.
Guangxu's English academic performance was pretty good, probably similar to that of most middle school students today. Apart from his relatively poor oral English, he was still remarkable in reading and writing.
As for why my spoken English is so poor, the reason is really because there are two teachers.
Shen Duo is from Guangdong, while Zhang Deyi is from Liaoning. They live in Tieling. Their accents are really very different.
And although they were both graduates of Tongwen Guan, Zhang Deyi graduated from Tongwen Guan in Beijing, and Shen Duo graduated from Tongwen Guan in Guangzhou.
Even in the 21st century, when Mandarin is extremely popular, when a Northeast veteran and a Cantonese handsome guy appear at the same time in a university dormitory, the conversation is so beautiful, let alone more than a hundred years ago.
Naturally, neither of them had much to say about reading and writing, but they had very different opinions on the issue of pronunciation.
As the chief instructor of Tongwen Museum, Ding Weiliang was responsible for reviewing all English conversation exercises provided to the emperor. He mentioned that Zhang and Shen once complained to him that the other person "corrected his pronunciation of a word" during class.
For the court teachers, this kind of mutual correction would damage Guangxu's impression of them, and might even hurt their career.
So after that, the two adopted the "correct" way of doing things: when they heard the emperor's pronunciation error, regardless of whether the error had anything to do with another teacher, they remained silent and did not explicitly correct it.
For Guangxu, this silence really damaged his learning effect.
Ding Haoliang wrote helplessly in his diary: "For a long time, their distinguished students have been punctual in class, rarely absent from class, and have shown considerable intelligence in reading and writing. But his But speaking is terrible. Just imagine when a student makes a mistake and the teacher never dares to correct it, how can he learn well?"
However, Guangxu did not know it and even prepared an English manuscript to give an English speech to ministers from various countries!
Fortunately, it didn't work out in the end, otherwise it would have been really embarrassing.
How do you describe Guangxu's English accent? Anyway, I can't imagine the effect of speaking English that combines the Northeastern accent and the Cantonese accent.
Guangxu's story of learning English was reported by many newspapers at the time. "Shenbao" published a commentary of more than a thousand words, saying that the emperor was so studious that in the future "it will not be difficult for me to have all the so-called skilled people in the West."
Many scholars were inspired and became enthusiastic about learning English. One of them was Kang Youwei.
Even the New York Times solemnly reported the matter in 1892: "His Majesty, the 20-year-old Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (in the Qing Dynasty, the people called him the Emperor), is currently being taught English by two students from the Imperial College in Beijing who have received British and American education. And this matter was informed to the whole country by an edict issued by Emperor Guangxu. The news that His Majesty the Emperor is learning a foreign language really surprised people here, and they even doubted whether it was true."
The New York Times report obviously had some errors. Tongwen Hall was not the Imperial Academy, and Guangxu did not issue an edict to inform the whole country.
It was the eunuch Cui Yugui and the former emperor's English instructor Zhang Deyi who came to tell Li Yu the news with Cixi's decree.
Cui Yugui loudly announced the order: "Li Yu heard the order. From now on, you will be the emperor's Western education teacher. You will go to Yingtai to teach regularly. You should do your best and work tirelessly!"
The moment Li Yu got the news, he was really confused!
hat?
Why are you suddenly teaching Western learning to the emperor!
Unexpectedly, he had just lamented De Ling's plight, and he would actually have to go into the palace to teach the emperor. This was not a good job no matter how you thought about it! Do you need to buy some aspirin yourself?
Now that the decree has been issued, it is too late to refuse.
Zhang Deyi smiled and said to Li Yu: "I'm glad to meet you. I, Zhang Deyi, have heard about your deeds a long time ago."
Li Yu was still in a state of confusion and said casually: "Nice to meet you!"
Zhang Deyi added: "Don't worry, I have been an English tutor for the emperor for several years. In fact, the emperor is quite easy to get in touch with."
Guangxu really respected the two teachers, and even sometimes let the two English teachers sit beside him when he was being received by courtiers. This kind of treatment was not bad, after all, Guangxu was not under house arrest at that time.
Moreover, Guangxu was very enthusiastic about Western learning. It should be said that he was a fanatical fan.
Li Yu could only say: "This is the best."
Seeing Li Yu's reaction, Zhang Deyi was surprised and said: "It is a great thing to serve as the emperor's tutor. Why do you seem so reluctant?"
Li Yu hurriedly put on a happy face and said: "Good things, good things, of course they are good things. I was just too shocked just now."
Zhang Deyi said with a smile: "When I first entered the palace to teach, I was in a similar state to you, but I quickly adapted. I have read your news in the newspaper. With your knowledge, even the chief teacher praised you, you will definitely become a An excellent imperial master."
Li Yu can only accept the reality and take it one step at a time.
Although Zhang Deyi is not well-known in later generations, he did create many "firsts" in China.
In 1868, China sent a diplomatic mission to Europe and the United States for the first time, and he served as a translator with the mission;
In 1876, China sent a minister to a foreign country for the first time, and he also served as an interpreter with the minister in Britain.
He was also the first person in China to enter the pyramid.
He was the first to record Western food, the first to record punctuation marks, the first to record the Paris Commune, and the first to record bicycles.
The name "bicycle" was his earliest translation.
The most interesting thing is that he was the first person in China to record condoms. In the works written by Zhang Deyi, he mentioned twice that there was an item called "kidney clothing" outside the territory.
When referring to his experiences in France in 1866 in "Navigation Narratives", he wrote: "Wen Ying, there are kidney clothes for sale in France, but I don't know what they are made of. According to the cloud, when staying with prostitutes, they would be crowned with the items in Longyang. The first thing is to avoid getting sick. A male and a female cannot live together in the same room. Even if they get sick, it is not as good as being naked."
Later, in "Travels in Europe and the United States: France's Journey to the West", he recorded what he saw when he visited France again: "I heard that foreigners are afraid that having children will be tiring, so they buy a leather or silk cover and put it on the penis. Even though the phoenix and the phoenix are upside down, there is no egg left in the chick."
He has realized the two major functions of condoms: prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and family planning.
However, he used Confucianism to seriously attack this kind of violation of human ethics: "The method is indeed wonderful, but Mencius said: There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and the greatest is not having offspring. It is a pity that these people have not heard of it. It is necessary to advocate it. If you use this method to kill someone's heir, his crime cannot be punished. The so-called person who created the figurines has no descendants!"
As an early graduate of Tongwenguan, even though Zhang Deyi traveled around the world, he only achieved the level of blogging and extensive knowledge. Although he was proficient in foreign languages, he did not truly study Western learning in depth.
Zhang Deyi said: "Being a tutor for the emperor requires you to understand many rules, especially at this time."
Li Yu knew what Zhang Deyi meant: "I understand."
Zhang Deyi continued: "You can choose the teaching materials by yourself, but you must let the Queen Mother read them first."
Li Yu nodded. Since he was controlling Emperor Guangxu, of course he had to have a rough idea of what Cixi should be like.
Zhang Deyi continued: "The teaching tone must be calm, not too harsh, nor too gentle, and must be persuasive, and the emperor must not be blamed."
Li Yu smiled and said, "I don't dare either."
Zhang Deyi said: "The most important thing is that we must remember that although we are teachers and students, we are also kings and ministers."
Li Yu understood it, but now Guangxu was no longer a real emperor, and his fate had already been planned in Cixi's mind.
As a student of Ding Weiliang, Zhang Deyi knew that Ding Weiliang valued Li Yu, and basically explained everything clearly to Li Yu in every detail.
Li Yu is also very grateful to Zhang Deyi. Now the court is dangerous, and it is difficult for someone to explain all the pitfalls to you in advance.
After Zhang Deyi left, Wang Bo, Zhao Qian and Fengling, who had just moved in, were all shocked.
After all, De Ling was a woman, so the fact that she taught English to the emperor was only known to the court, but when it came to Li Yu, she had no scruples. After all, Li Yu was already a sensation in the European scientific community, and he was said to be the most popular figure in the Qing Dynasty. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people who understand Western learning.
Fengling had just moved here, and as soon as she entered the door, she saw the eunuch's father-in-law coming to read out the imperial edict, and she was dumbfounded on the spot: "You can't go wrong, right?"
It wasn't until Zhao Qian pulled her to kneel down that she realized she wasn't dreaming.
Zhao Qian also exclaimed: "Master! Oh no, sir! You actually want to be the emperor's master!"
Li Yu waved his hand: "What's all the fuss about."
"How can we not be surprised? To be the emperor's master! What an honor it is!" Uncle Wang said with his eyes shining.
Li Yu didn't feel too honored. Maybe in the future, when people mentioned him, they would be more willing to mention that he had been the tutor of both Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang.
Hey, but it suddenly feels interesting to think about it this way: when future generations mention Sun Chuanfang and Wu Peifu, I wonder if they will add that to some extent they and Guangxu also came from the same school.
It is estimated that Sun and Wu will definitely publicize this in the future.
When Uncle Wang went to the Qing Teahouse that day, he sat in the middle and boasted loudly: "Everyone, listen up, from now on my master will be the emperor's master!"
Wang Boerlang raised his legs, but his cross was broken.
Lao Yu and others stared at each other: "Emperor Master?"
It took a while to react:
"Hey, my God! Uncle Wang, please take a puff on my cigarette, I just lit it!"
"Uncle Wang, have some tea!"
"What kind of tea are you talking about? Give Uncle Wang the best Mingqian Gonglong!"
Although Guangxu is a puppet emperor, people still believe that sooner or later he will take charge and become the real emperor.
