While he was talking, a voice came from the Governor's Mansion: "Is Mr. Li Yu here? Come in quickly." Zhang Zhidong actually greeted him in person.
Li Yu felt a little flattered. He was the governor, so he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Li Yu is a late student, please pay homage to the governor!" Zhang Zhidong said, "You're welcome! I've been waiting for you to come! Sir, you are really a talented man, a young hero!" Hua Shifang also said from the side: "Greetings to Xiangshuai." Zhang Zhidong said to the two of them: "Come and sit inside quickly, today is such a good day!" Although the Huguang Governor's Palace is not as luxurious as the Liangjiang Governor's Palace in Nanjing, it is still Not small.
After the three of them came to the hall, Zhang Zhidong immediately greeted everyone around him: "Quick, get the best Maojian." Li Yu thought to himself that if it were a hundred years later, he would probably go to the Yellow Crane Tower.
Zhang Zhidong added: "I have heard of Mr. Sir's name for a long time, which is fascinating. I have established a school for several years and have always attached great importance to Western science, but I have never seen anyone who can dominate science in the West." Li Yu said with a smile: "China is like this. It’s big, and if it can be discovered correctly, the talent is inexhaustible.”
"If this is true, I'm very lucky!" Zhang Zhidong said,
"Speaking of talents, I have to mention the Ziqiang School, the Craft School, and the Lianghu Academy that I have established in recent years. They are now in full swing. Mr. is now the Imperial Master and is proficient in Western learning. I must make suggestions for several schools. ." Li Yu said: "You should do your best." The most famous Ziqiang School will be Wuhan University in the future; Hubei Polytechnic School, like the craft schools in various places, is also set up in the manufacturing bureau, mainly studying chemistry and mechanics. study; now this school has slowly evolved into Wuhan University of Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
As for the Lianghu Academy, it was a pity that it was closed after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Zhidong's work on education, like the construction of the Hanyang Iron Works and the Beijing-Hankow Railway, was also progressing through exploration, and there were many detours.
The original Ziqiang School had four subjects: dialect, arithmetic, style, and business. Later, after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Zhidong carried out a series of major reforms in Ziqiang School. He adjusted the original four courses of Ziqiang School and moved one arithmetic course to Lianghu Academy; discontinued two courses on style and business; and moved one course on dialects. It was expanded to four subjects: English, French, German, and Russian, and later Eastern language was added, for a total of five subjects.
Because Zhang Zhidong felt that there was only one dialect,
"For the ladder of all Western learning", mastering foreign languages,
"In the future, for style and business, you can translate and discuss it by yourself." Then there are China, Russia, and China and Japan, which are close neighbors.
"The current situation is urgent, and two texts are of particular practical use." But soon, after the Hanyang Iron Works attracted investment and took over, he merged the chemistry in the Craft School into the Ziqiang School and listed it as a special subject.
Because Zhang Zhidong believes that
"Everything in Western learning is originally based on chemistry. The more refined the chemistry, the more it can turn nothing into something and the useless into something useful, and the greater the profit will be."
"But the secrets of chemistry cannot be acquired by those who do not understand Western languages." Although later generations do seem to be quite one-sided, there is nothing wrong with the current situation.
Moreover, things like iron factories and arsenals really value chemistry. A few years later, I felt that mathematical science was the foundation of Western learning, and the status of mathematical science was raised again.
In short, Zhang Zhidong was the Westernization Minister after all. The Westernizationists initially considered practical science. Later, after decades of development, they gradually came to understand the logical sequence of Western science.
It can be regarded as a necessary path. After all, although Zhang Zhidong once took the imperial examination
"Xie Yuan" is the most popular person in high school. The competition in the imperial examination was so fierce, which shows that he must be a smart man, but he did know very little about Western learning.
Of course, for modern people, everyone has learned this since childhood, and has already established scientific and correct deductive logic in their minds.
Zhang Zhidong said: "We can let Ruoxi take Mr. to inspect various academies in the past few days, but today we will first discuss Hanyang Iron Works and other matters in detail." Li Yu cupped his hands and said: "Please follow the arrangements of the Governor. "Hanyang Iron Works is on the other side of the river.
Among the three towns in Wuhan, Wuchang is now the seat of the Governor-General's Office; Hankou is mainly a concession area; Hanyang has an arsenal and a steel plant.
Going to Hanyang by ferry across the river, Zhang Zhidong said on the boat: "In the early years, Master Zeng Guofan and Master Li Hongzhang established manufacturing bureaus in various places and searched for relevant talents. The resulting products Hua Hengfang and Xu Shou built the steamship Huang "Hu Hao" is really exciting. I also hope to find talents who understand such technology and take a further step." Then he looked at Hua Shifang: "Fortunately, we have Ruoxi now. In the past, Mr. Xu Shou's son Xu Jianyin also worked for our Hanyang Steel Medicine It’s a pity that he was killed in an accident while trial-producing gunpowder in the steel factory.” Li Yu asked in surprise: “Died in an accident?” Xu Shou’s name must be known to most people, after all, he is a person who has been mentioned in history textbooks.
He once built a steam engine ship with Hua Hengfang at the Anqing Manufacturing Bureau, the Huanghu. This ship was actually made of wood, but it was powered by a steam engine.
But it is indeed not easy to build it just based on sketches and a one-day visit. It's a pity that it didn't develop later.
Xu Shou is a chemist, and his most famous contribution is probably the various elements in the periodic table: he basically translated the names of the elements, which is indeed very accurate.
Of course, we must also thank the Zhu Ming Dynasty for creating so many characters with the radicals of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth for naming.
Nowadays, anyone who has studied chemistry has already made use of Xu Shou's contribution. It’s also quite powerful, after all, it affects so many people.
His son Xu Jianyin is also a chemist, but he is less famous. Zhang Zhidong said: "Our Hanyang Steel Pharmaceutical Factory was preparing to develop a smokeless gunpowder. He was unfortunately killed during the manufacturing process." Li Yu lamented: "It turned out to be because of the gunpowder, which is indeed too dangerous." Now all countries They are working on gunpowder, but this thing is really not easy to work with. If you are not careful, the entire laboratory can be blown up. That's why the Nobel achievement is so great.
Xu Jianyin can be said to be the first scientist to sacrifice for the cause of science in modern Chinese history, and he is worth remembering.
Arriving at the Hanyang Iron Works, Li Yu found that the scene in front of him was quite spectacular. There were many factories and chimneys, and the scale was indeed quite large.
There is a large stone tablet standing outside the gate, which says
"Hanyang Iron Works" has four big characters. Li Yu was a little curious and asked: "Mr. Zhang, what is the production capacity of the iron plant now?" Zhang Zhidong was very proud of this: "Now it can produce 50,000 tons of pig iron, nearly 30,000 tons of steel, and more than 10,000 tons of rails every year. ." These words did not have any shocking effect in Li Yu's ears. Hanyang Iron Works later evolved into Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, and Wuhan Iron and Steel's annual production capacity was 50 to 60 million tons.
There is not much steel now, but in the future it will reach the point of overcapacity. However, the quality of the products produced by the Hanyang Iron Factory is indeed very high. There are always experts from Luxembourg and other countries in the factory, and the products are comparable to those of Western countries.
Even in 2012, it was discovered that some domestic railways were still using rails produced by Hanyang Iron Works in 1902, which are still strong after a century.
Li Yu felt a little puzzled. In fact, at present, the scale of Hanyang Iron Works was no problem and it was quite successful. He didn't know why he was asked to do it.
Li Yu had no choice but to say: "This successful model can be extended to the whole country." Zhang Zhidong said: "I also have this intention, but the funds required are very large, and the local governor may not be willing to invest; even if he is willing to invest, he may not be willing to invest. There are mineral deposits." Li Yu thought about it. Although China has a large iron ore reserve, most of it is poor ore, and it is quite difficult to mine and smelt it.
The initial investment in Hanyang Iron Works reached 5 million taels, and later it was continuously increased, and additional loans were made from Japan. The total investment was too large.
Nowadays, it is true that where there is money, there are no mines, and where there are mines, there is no money. It is very contradictory. The Qing government now has little ability to control local areas and has no way to integrate resources.
Li Yu asked the question in his mind: "What is Mr. Zhang's next plan?" Zhang Zhidong looked at the iron factory and said: "This is why I asked you to come. Although I have not studied any Western science subjects, through the construction of the factory, I learned more or less about the smelting industry. A few years ago, one of the students from the school returned from studying abroad and brought me a metal as thin as a cicada's wings and dazzling luster called aluminum. I was greatly shocked. It turns out that steel is also It can be like this." Li Yu was surprised, he never expected Zhang Zhidong to be so advanced.
I thought they would discuss some issues about iron smelting. Li Yu himself was quite familiar with iron. After all, anyone who has studied astrophysics knows that iron is the final product of nuclear fusion and will not go any further.
Li Yu knew a lot about the properties of iron because of his high school chemistry studies, but who would have thought that Zhang Zhidong suddenly mentioned aluminum!
But then I thought about it, and there was actually nothing wrong with Zhang Zhidong’s mention of it. Aluminum is originally the most widely used metal besides steel, and its reserves are huge. Its content in the earth's crust ranks third after oxygen and silicon.
The key point is that Li Yu really wants to get involved in the automotive industry in the future. The automotive industry has a real demand for aluminum.
Li Yu asked: "Master Zhang wants to produce aluminum?"
"Yes," Zhang Zhidong nodded,
"Of course, I know it's difficult, but after doing something as difficult as making iron, I don't believe it can't be done." Li Yu thought for a while and felt that it could indeed be done, so he said, "I understand, I don't know How far has Sir Zhang come?" Zhang Zhidong smiled bitterly and said: "The only person I have who is proficient in chemistry is Xu Jianyin. At first, I hoped that he would conduct research on aluminum production after developing gunpowder, but he had an accident." Li Yu said: "So, we haven't started yet." Zhang Zhidong said frankly: "That's right, we currently know nothing about how to make aluminum." Li Yu's head is a bit big, which is really difficult to handle, Zhang Zhidong He was presented with such a big problem.
But since everyone is here, something has to be done. Li Yu said: "It's not impossible, smelting is the basis of industry. Moreover, I may bring more surprises to Mr. Zhang in the future.
