This Quanye Expo is full of bargains. Only six provinces from China, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan, and Fujian, have purchased items to participate in the exhibition. However, looking along the way, most of the exhibits are antiques.
There are even tiles from the Han Dynasty and scripture buildings from the Tang Dynasty among the exhibits in Hubei. Zhang Jian couldn't stand it anymore: "These things should be placed in museums. Why come to the Quanye Expo?" Then he looked at the exhibits from the six provinces and found that many of them were duplicates. He sighed helplessly.
What Zhang Jian knew best was the exhibits in the Agricultural Museum, but he still said with regret: "It's a pity that our salt and cotton from Nantong were not able to participate in the exhibition, otherwise it would not be inferior to other countries." Of course, agricultural equipment is indeed better than other people's, so Zhang Jian then An order was placed for a batch of agricultural equipment such as rakes.
After shopping here, the most eye-catching thing is of course the Industrial Museum. The Industrial Museum even had one today
"Light show", thousands of electric lights are lit at the same time in an instant. It made the whole place excited. It may not sound like a big deal to later generations, but at the beginning of the 20th century, it was really an incredible industrial achievement.
Zhang Jian was very impressed: "I have never seen so many electric lamps in the whole of Nantong. They can be lit at the same time. How much energy is required!" Li Yu was not surprised. Japan was obviously imitating the European and American expositions this time. Turning on the electric lights at the same time was learned from the Chicago Exposition ten years ago.
At that time, Tesla used alternating current to light up the lights in the entire venue at the same time, directly allowing his alternating current to win the competition with Edison's direct current.
The "War of Electricity" will go down in history. Although it was the brightest, there was no booth for Chinese exhibits in the industrial hall. Fan Xiren and He Yujie had no choice but to pull up a small bench and put on the small differential made by Li Yu.
The third auto show was held in New York last year, but there are not many cars in Japan, and the only ones are imported from Europe and the United States.
Soon someone became interested in this gadget. A Japanese came over and took a closer look: "This is... a differential?" Fan Xiren understands Japanese, but the Japanese mentioned
"Differential" is used in English. ——Anyway, the Japanese language is like this. It has a weak ability to accept foreign words, so many times it can only be adopted.
Fan Xiren didn’t understand the technical vocabulary of machinery very well, so he didn’t understand this sentence.
"japanese-english", I had no choice but to call Li Yu over. The Japanese asked again: "Who did this?" Fan Xiren said: "Far away in the horizon and right in front of you, it is Li Yu in front of you." The Japanese was surprised: "Li Yu? I have heard of you. I was there last year. It was also mentioned in many news in the United States." Li Yu really didn't expect that in an era when communications were so backward, people in the United States and Japan would know about him.
The Japanese said: "My name is Shintaro Yoshida. I just bought some parts from an American auto show to assemble a car. I have nothing to do today to visit the Quanye Expo. I never thought that a Chinese person could make a steering system by himself." "Japan's first domestically produced car was assembled a few years later by Shintaro Yoshida and his own engineers using auto parts purchased from the United States.
But even just assembling it took Shintaro Yoshida and the engineers four to five years to figure it out.
Japan's automobile industry is too well-known in later generations, and Li Yu naturally understands it, but at this time, Japanese automobiles are really lackluster, at this point in time.
It can even be said that it is not much different from China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. It is a pity that no one in the Qing court had any understanding of the importance of the automobile industry.
Li Yu said: "There is nothing particularly difficult, it's just a differential." What he said is true. Cars are the crystallization of industry, and differentials are only a small part of it.
Shintaro Yoshida studied for a long time and couldn't help but marvel: "It turns out that a small steering system is so complicated! Looking at the whole of Japan, I'm afraid there is no engineer who understands such profound mechanics." Shintaro Yoshida himself is not good at mechanics. , relying on buying, buying, buying, and then said: "Can I buy this patent from you?"
"Acquisition?" Li Yu said,
"I'm afraid it's not possible, and besides, it hasn't been formed at all." Shintaro Yoshida said regretfully: "That's true, I don't seem to be able to use it after buying it." Fan Xiren on the side was confused.
"Patent?" Well, there is no patent system in China now. Even if Fan Xiren studied law after studying in Japan, even he currently does not know about the patent system.
Li Yu had no choice but to explain to him: "It is the decree issued by the imperial court that can protect inventors from enjoying the exclusive rights and interests of their inventions for a certain period of time." Fan Xiren still knows the law, and when he thought about it, he felt that it made sense: "There is nothing wrong, don't do this , How to encourage people to create, otherwise it will become a wedding dress for others." But then he thought that the Qing government had no laws related to patents, so there was no protection.
Not even the more basic laws above patent law. Zhang Jian somewhat knew what patents were, but why did the Japanese have to ask the Chinese to buy technology patents? It was like a dream, so he asked: "Are you a Japanese government employee?"
"No," Shintaro Yoshida said quickly, knowing that China and Japan were currently having conflicts.
"I'm just an ordinary businessman, without any military or government background, but I do plan to set up a car factory specifically to sell cars imported from the United States." Zhang Jian nodded. He turned out to be a second-rate dealer.
However, the Tokyo Automobile Manufacturing Plant founded by this man did indeed assemble Japan's first automobile and to a certain extent also build Japan's first automobile.
"Domestic" cars. Of course, the core components are still purchased from the United States, and only the car body is produced in-house, using a relatively slow and backward manual method.
The mass production of Japanese cars will not be until Mitsubishi ten years later. Mitsubishi again... The Japanese government quickly noticed the potential of cars, especially the huge potential in the military. Many car companies later had strong military backgrounds.
Li Yu knew it well. Not only does he not want to sell technology, he has even begun to have competitive thoughts, although currently he is as small as an ant compared with several major Japanese consortiums.
Fan Xiren didn't know what happened next. He just felt that if he could easily make a lot of money by selling patents, why not do it.
And this kind of thing can definitely become important news, and it can even boost domestic morale when the newspapers report it.
Fan Xiren whispered: "Why don't you offer him a big price?" Just as Li Yu was about to reply, someone came over and said,
"So we also have a booth in the Industrial Museum, and there are Japanese people who want to buy it?" Fan Xiren recognized him and saluted: "Prince Gong!" Then he introduced to Li Yu: "This is the King of Karaqin County in Mongolia." They also came. .
Fan Xiren introduced the other two people following King Gong: Xian Zhang, son of Prince Su Shanqi, and Qi Chengwu, son of Nayantu, Prince of Khalkha, Mongolia.
During the Qing Dynasty, there were almost twenty princes in Mongolia. But Qi Chengwu’s surname is a bit powerful: Borzigit, the descendant of Genghis Khan.
So one of these three people is already the prince of Mongolia, and the other two are the prince's sons and will inherit the throne in the future.
The people selected by the Japanese Black Dragon Society and Uchida Yasuya, the ambassador to the Qing Dynasty, are indeed very important. However, by the time the next two succeeded, the Qing Dynasty was gone... Japan also directly gave up on wooing them and turned to the seemingly more valuable Qing deposed emperor Puyi.
Anyway, Japan naturally only sees interests, and they are interests that they can take advantage of. King Gong looked at the differential model car in front of him: "Is this the thing that the Japanese want to buy?" Xing Zhang and Qi Chengwu also became interested and took a closer look. The gear transmission inside can provide different torques to the left and right wheels during steering. The speed and principle are still very good.
But they couldn't see anything: "So it's such a small thing? I thought it was some serious industrial product."
"That's right, I'm extremely disappointed!" Although Shintaro Yoshida didn't understand Chinese, he knew from his tone that the two of them didn't look down on the little invention in front of them at all.
You have just been praised, and then you are insulted by others. The typical insult is to yourself. Shintaro Yoshida didn't know these princes and princes, so he said directly: "I heard an old saying in China, a leaf can't see Mount Tai, no, no, no, it should be that one has eyes and cannot see Mount Tai." Qi Chengwu and Xianzhang couldn't understand Japanese. , asked Fan Xiren: "What did he say?" Of course Fan Xiren understood it, but it was a bit awkward to be caught in the middle and it was inconvenient to translate directly, so he said instead: "He said that this kind of thing is actually very powerful..."
"Oh?" King Gong said in surprise,
"But why do I look like a toy? Even if it is exquisite, it is just a thing made by a superb craftsman." Fan Xiren said angrily: "How can something made by Brother Li Yu be just a toy!"
"Li Yu? Are you the emperor's advisor?" Prince Gong had never met Li Yu, but he had heard of his name.
"Of course!" Fan Xiren said,
"And don't think it's just a model. It will be of great use in the future." Prince Gong ignored the model and said with his hands, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect to see you in Japan." The title of Emperor's Master As soon as it came out, Xian Zhangzhang and Qi Chengwu didn't dare to say anything.
I didn’t expect that taking lessons from Guangxu would have such an effect. Li Yu replied: "The tribute king is polite!" Although Guangxu has no real power now, even the Mongolian kings believe that sooner or later they will return power to the emperor.
Guangxu has always respected his teachers. When he still had real power, he slowly promoted his English teacher Zhang Deyi to a second-rank official.
——Zhang Deyi’s level is still very mediocre. Therefore, the identity of the emperor's master was indeed quite extraordinary, and they really did not dare to look down upon Li Yu.
Qi Chengwu and Xian Zhang also immediately changed their words: "Since foreigners think it's awesome, it must be awesome!" Li Yu didn't bother to explain to them, and just said: "It's still far from practical application, but once it is promoted in the future, Come, it can not only boost the economy, but also benefit the people." Qi Chengwu nodded and said: "Sir, that's right, but I think we must first benefit the Queen Mother Lafayette!" Well, Li Yu really couldn't explain anymore. .
Shintaro Yoshida couldn't understand their conversation, but since he couldn't buy the patent, he really wanted to buy the small model.
After all, it's an exhibition, so if someone buys it, they can't refuse it. Moreover, Shintaro Yoshida has already bought a lot of auto parts from the United States, but the finished products are more complicated. Even if his engineers can disassemble genuine American differentials, he really can't understand them.
To him, this thing in front of him is small and small
"Exquisite" and looks much more comfortable. Shintaro Yoshida said: "Sir, please give me a price. I can accept any amount." Li Yu had no choice but to say casually: "Then let's take 100 yen."
"Deal!" Shintaro Yoshida didn't even say anything. The Japanese yen is still relatively valuable now, almost equivalent to 10 pounds.
Although the Tokyo Automobile Manufacturing Plant subsequently established by Shintaro Yoshida also produced some
"Assembled cars", but the performance and technology are simply incomparable with products such as Ford in the United States at the same time, and the three key parts have to be imported.
Even Yoshida's automobile manufacturing plant could not survive within a few years and became part of Isuzu Corporation.
In fact, the Japanese automobile industry has been suppressed by the United States and Germany since then. Its rise in later generations is really thanks to the oil crisis. Everyone suddenly felt a pain when refueling.
King Gong and the others found out that the Japanese really paid. They counted it with their fingers and said in surprise: "A small model costs 25 taels of silver?" Qi Chengwu didn't know why: "Is this made of gold? It turns out that this is how much money is made. It's easy! We can just sell the models in the future." Li Yu kept talking for a long time, but they still didn't understand what science and technology and industrial output were.
The cause and effect have not yet been understood. After the things were bought and there was nothing left to see, King Gong called a Japanese over: "Mr. Amano, I also want to learn about education in Japan this time. Do you have any recommendations?" Mr. Amano is a counselor at the Japanese Consulate. , said: "There are many places where education can be seen. I wonder where King Gong wants to see?" King Gong replied: "Of course it has its own characteristics." Amano-kun thought for a while: "The best university in the country is the Tokyo Empire University, and if it’s special, we also have a school specially set up for Chinese students.”
"Japan actually has a school specially set up for Chinese students?" King Gong asked in disbelief.
"That's right," Amano-kun nodded.
"And the school's academic dean is a famous lady who once came from the palace."
"Still a woman?" King Gong found it even more difficult to imagine. Amano-kun continued: "Ms. Utako Shimoda, the academic director, is very famous in our country."
"How famous can it be?" King Gong asked curiously. Mr. Amano said: "Ms. Utako has hidden secrets with our two former prime ministers of Japan, Prime Minister Into and Prime Minister Yamagata."
"Oh?" This is so exciting! Although few people have never heard of Shimoda Utako, Yin Teng Hirofumi and Yamagata Aritomo both know his name.
King Gong couldn't help but ask: "What's the hidden secret?" Amano-kun said: "Utako is called the 'Female Fox of Meiji', but what exactly is the secret? It can only be understood but cannot be said!" The more educated you are, the more likely you are to say a few ancient Chinese proverbs or poems.
Moreover, Amano-kun still picked up the best title for Shimoda Utako among the people. Some people directly called Shimoda Utako "
"slut"
"magician"
"Japan's Rasputin". King Gong and others suddenly realized,
They know very well what "female fox" represents: Daji was called a fox back then. The interest of several people was completely aroused: "We must go and see it!"
"No problem!" Amano-kun said,
"You will definitely gain something!" King Gong and others said yes. But few people noticed, and Amano-kun secretly smiled mysteriously.
But Li Yu saw it. That smile was obviously malicious, and he didn't know what kind of trick it was. According to the information Tang Shaoyi told him originally, the Japanese will definitely try their best to win over King Gong.
Although historically it has been difficult to win over King Gong directly, they have a second plan, nb!
King Gong suddenly said to Li Yu: "Sir, do you want to go and see it together? Since the lady Amano-kun mentioned Gezi is from the palace, and you are the emperor's teacher, I think it is most appropriate for you to go, and you can also be strong for us." Prestige." Li Yu was stunned, and then said: "Okay, I just want to go to Tokyo." King Gong said: "That's very good!" Mr. Amano glanced at Li Yu, but he didn't expect that King Gong agreed directly. It’s hard to say anything else.
Li Yu wanted to go not only because of what they mentioned
"Breaking Content". How should I put it, Utako Shimoda was also one of the early feminist activists in Japan, but at this time, Japanese women’s rights were not much stronger.
There are many popular people. What's more, she is a woman who is very beautiful and appears frequently online. What’s more, a year later, a Chinese woman will sell her dowry to pay for school fees, go to Japan alone, and study in the girls’ school founded by Utako Shimoda. It is the heroine Qiu Jin.
Everyone agreed to leave in two days to go to Yokohama, where Utako Shimoda was.
