New York is also a small destination. The royalties from the Star Wars sequel were remitted from Europe. Sales in Europe and the United States were about the same, and the royalties were US$40,000.
When the sales of the prequel, which has just been released, increase, it is expected that the main sequel will continue to sing triumphantly. It’s a huge profit!
It was not easy to remit the money. Hachette Publishing House first transferred it to HSBC through Bank of Paris, and then transferred it to Li Yu's account through HSBC.
Although they are all wire transfers in form, the operation process is still much slower than that of later generations. After all, there is no convenient international settlement system at this time.
Moreover, HSBC is the only bank that has such a wide range of businesses and can take care of Europe, America, and Asia at the same time.
BNP Paribas is quite powerful, but France's influence in the Americas is very weak now, and the sun never sets on Britain, and it is still superior in the eyes of Americans today.
Therefore, it seems that the only bank with global influence at this time is HSBC. As for the United States, although the financial industry is already quite powerful and there are super financial tycoons like Morgan, the banking industry in the United States is in disarray.
Without the Fed, management would be chaotic. The reason why Morgan has such a high status and accumulated so much wealth is because he has been like the Federal Reserve for a long time.
As for Citibank, its reach is far and wide. It also has a branch in Shanghai, but its coverage capabilities are still far behind HSBC.
In short, international remittance may seem simple to future generations, but it was not easy just a few decades ago.
The main reason is the lack of a perfect price anchor. Later generations used U.S. dollars. But those who understand a little bit about finance will know the huge benefits they will enjoy by becoming an anchor. The United States was able to dominate the world after World War II because of the petrodollar system, which gave it a tool to loot the world's wealth.
——With money, it can have the financial resources to support its military hegemony and technological hegemony. So when some countries began not to use US dollars for settlement, the beautiful country became as angry as if someone had used a trick to kill it for a thousand years.
Of course, this is related to the beautiful country's own actions. He actually kicked Russia out of the international settlement system SwIFt.
This trick seems to be very precise, and the effect is immediate. But it made everyone realize that something was wrong: Oh, so this thing can also be used as a sanctions weapon?
All countries, including the allies of the beautiful country, are actually on guard. As for international relations, who believes in true friendship?
The chicken in the footpan suffered two orphaned mushroom eggs, the Gallic chicken had its wool harvested for three to four hundred years, the Hans cat and the beautiful country were beaten to death in World War II, and as for the tycoons in the Middle East, not to mention their teeth were broken. I can only swallow it in my stomach.
Everyone was thinking: If someone accidentally offends the beautiful country in the future, will they follow in the footsteps of Da Mao?
Musk said that once the U.S. dollar is
"Weaponize" it enough times and countries will abandon it. Brother Trump also said that once de-dollarization is completed, beautiful countries will be reduced to second tier.
It's a pity that Li Yu couldn't travel to the future, otherwise I really want to know what will happen in the future, but it seems that it is impossible to survive until then... As for the early twentieth century, no one is convinced by anyone, and the pound can only say There is a slight advantage, but the East still prefers natural currency-gold and silver.
——Winning the bid from the U.S. Navy, we still need to continue to study contract issues. According to conventional requirements, a formal contract must be signed within a certain period of time after winning the bid.
Li Yu didn't understand the law, so he could only seek professional advice, and naturally it had to be Roosevelt. Li Yu first came to Chinatown and found Situ Meitang.
"Brother Situ!" Li Yu cupped his hands and said. Situ Meitang smiled and said: "I like this sentence, big brother! What do you want from me, my dear brother?" Suddenly, it felt like the Water Margin or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Li Yu said: "I won a small bid from the Navy, and I hope to find Mr. Roosevelt Jr. to continue studying the contract issue."
"Navy? U.S. Navy?" Situ Meitang was stunned. Li Yu nodded: "Yes."
"Can this be Xiaobiao?!" Situ Meitang said in astonishment. In his opinion, supplying goods to the government is a very prestigious thing.
Li Yu was so calm that he said: "There are only 20 sets of equipment, but if this order can be completed, there will be more orders in the future." Situ Meitang grabbed Li Yu's shoulders and said excitedly: "My dear brother, my dear brother Brother! You make me, your elder brother, really feel like I have picked up a treasure. I am so lucky to be able to work with you!" Li Yu said: "I hope that my elder brother will do a good job in the assessment in the future. I will build another factory in the future. The location is far away from Manhattan. The lower city is not far away, just on the other side of the river." Situ Meitang patted his chest and said, "Brother, don't worry. You don't need to tell me. Chinese people in Chinatown and even all over America hope to rely on you to grow their face. You guys will never do that. I missed your business." Li Yu smiled and said: "It's the best." Situ Meitang picked up a newspaper: "It's just that some people still can't understand it. Look, Liang Qichao just published this article in the newspaper Article." This was a Chinese newspaper. Li Yu took it over and looked at it. Sure enough, it was written by Liang Qichao.
In the article, he stated China's thousands of years of tradition, saying that the path of revolution was too violent. Without the emperor, 40 million people would lose their spiritual totem, which would inevitably lead to the earth being turned upside down and the mountains and rivers broken.
At this time, it seems that there is not much problem with Liang Qichao's words. Then Liang Qichao mentioned that reform was the right path, and the current situation was caused by Guangxu's failure to come out.
And they had met Guangxu and bluntly said that he was definitely a wise king. As long as Guangxu returned to power, he would definitely be able to lead the country to rise like Japan.
Finally, he called on everyone to donate to the royalist cause. This rhetoric was really popular in the early 20th century.
Moreover, Liang Qichao's writing power is indeed amazing, and it is difficult to refute various quotations from scriptures. After Li Yu finished reading, he did not comment too much on the content. Instead, he asked: "Where is he now?" Situ Meitang said: "As expected, he should be in San Francisco, with Kang Youwei."
"San Francisco," Li Yu calculated.
"Could it be that he wants to board a ship to go to Japan?" Situ Meitang said, "Then I don't know. The Royalist Society's behavior is different from our Hongmen, and it's unpredictable." Li Yu asked again, "Is there any way? Can we contact him as soon as possible?" Situ Meitang thought for a while and said: "We don't have a telegraph in San Francisco, but there is an official San Francisco telegraph office nearby. The Hongmen headquarters will regularly send people to check whether there are any telegrams from our own company." Li Yu felt Liang Qichao should be allowed to take a look at his own business. You can generally guess that he was influenced by Kang Youwei to write such an article.
Now Liang Qichao is very conflicted. On the one hand, I felt that many of Kang Youwei's views were indeed problematic, and even advised him to
"Relaxing in the forest and enjoying the evening scene" made Kang Nanhai very angry, and the two began to be separated from each other from then on.
But on the other hand,
The title "Kang Liang" resounded throughout the country, and the whole world knew that Liang Qichao was a disciple of Kang Nanhai. According to tradition, betraying his master would be punished by others.
Therefore, even though Liang Qichao knew that many of Kang Youwei's arguments were problematic, he did not dare to oppose it too openly and still obeyed his orders in many places.
"Brother Situ, please draft a telegram to San Francisco as soon as possible." Li Yu said.
"No problem," Situ Meitang called Huang Boyao, the reporter.
"Xiao Huang, you immediately send a telegram to the headquarters in my name, saying that Li Yu is in New York asking to see Liang Qichao." While waiting for the telegram to be sent, Situ Meitang accompanied Li Yu to Columbia University to find Franklin Roosevelt.
Compared with the legal procedures related to listing, the supply contract was just a small job for him. Roosevelt immediately said: "It's very simple. I can finish it in an hour. You guys wait for me in the library." Li Yu did not expect that Xiao Roosevelt Roosevelt could finish it so quickly. If he only had an hour, he would just wait for a while in the Columbia Library.
As soon as Li Yu arrived at the library, he was recognized by several students: "Are you Li Yu, the master of Eastern science?" Li Yu nodded: "It's me."
"What an honor! I really have unparalleled admiration for you!" said the student. Li Yu asked: "Are you a student at Columbia University?" The student said: "Yes, my name is Langmuir Owen. I will graduate from the Department of Metallurgy soon and will go to the University of Göttingen next year for further studies. I know you also have a career in Germany. Extremely high academic prestige." Langmuir Owen was not an ordinary student. 29 years later, he would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Li Yu said: "It is a good thing to go to Germany to further your studies. I wish you success in your studies." Owen said: "Can I see you in Germany in the future?" He instantly became Li Yu's little fan.
Li Yu said: "Yes."
"Great!" Owen said excitedly,
"I have read various papers of yours. You are so talented, like the God of Wisdom!" The student on the side said: "You are wrong. The God of Wisdom is Athena, a goddess." Owen smiled and said: "I forgot this Point." The student said: "And Mr. Li Yu is not only the best scientist, in my opinion, he is also the best writer in the East." Li Yu said: "I can't afford the latter title. When it comes to literature , in China, I am the best." Although it is a bit like what Chen Zhen said when he was kicking the gym: I am the best apprentice in Jingwu Sect.
But Li Yu really didn't dare to be presumptuous in literature. Not only was he more powerful than him, but even the Star Wars series had to be polished by Lu Bicheng.
The student didn't quite believe it: "I have read your Star Wars series. How many people can create such a grand background and tell such wonderful stories? You must be the best writer in China." Li Yu said : "It seems that you still know too little about China." Although science is very weak in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, even if there is
No one should be convinced by the statement that "literature is not the best", as China's literary achievements have been for thousands of years. They are all younger brothers.
Owen said: "I want to correct what I just said, you should be Gavin the God of Science."
"Wenquxing?" Li Yu suddenly asked in surprise,
"How could you say such Chinese-style words?" Irving said: "Because a Chinese donated a Sinology lecture at Columbia."
"Chinese? Sinology?" Li Yu was even more surprised. Irving said: "Yes, I happened to see him today. That face is so recognizable."
"Can you take me to see him?" Li Yu said immediately.
"Of course!" Owen was happy to oblige.
"They should be in an office building." Columbia University is not large in area. After all, it is located in Manhattan, where land is at a premium.
Several people quickly arrived at the Columbia University office building, where the principal's office was. As soon as they arrived outside the building, they saw an American and a Chinese walking out of the building.
The Chinese man stood behind him humbly and said: "Sir, President Seth Low has accepted donations again. Can the lecture be expanded to the Department of Sinology?" The man called "Sir" said: "There is still some distance. We must expand the reputation of Ding Long’s lectures.” The Chinese name is Ding Long, a Chinese worker living in America.
Two years ago, he donated all his life savings of 12,000 US dollars, hoping to build a Sinology department at Columbia University to promote the civilization and culture of the humiliated motherland.
If someone donates money, American universities are generally happy to accept it. Many American universities are donated by wealthy capitalists. For example, the University of Chicago is donated by Rockefeller; Carnegie Mellon University is donated by Carnegie and Mellon; Stanford University is donated by railroad symbol Stanford; Duke University is donated by tobacco tycoon Duke ; Johns Hopkins University is endowed by banker Hopkins... There are too many such examples.
US$12,000 is a huge amount of money for a middle-class American family, but if you want to build a college from scratch at a top university like Columbia University, US$12,000 is far from enough.
Because their requirements are very high, prestigious universities do not accept all donations. Ding Long made it clear from the beginning that he wanted to build a sinology department as formal as the physics department, literature department, and law department.
But he was actually just a Chinese laborer. This humble Chinese laborer had no idea how much money it would cost to build a Department of Chinese Studies.
Fortunately, his
"Master" Carpentier respects his servant Ding Long so much that he doesn't even treat him as a servant. In order to realize the dream of his servant, Carpentier also devoted everything he had.
Carpentier was able to speak to the president of Columbia University because he was not only a Columbia University alumnus, but also a major benefactor of Columbia University - he was a trustee of the Columbia University School of Medicine and the Women's School.
Carpentier personally came forward to discuss with Columbia University President Seth Lowe, and added an additional $100,000, which he later increased to $500,000.
He even donated his house in New York. He was dragged to the brink of bankruptcy and had to move back to his hometown in rural upstate New York to spend the rest of his life.
The principal was moved by the two men's approach and agreed to establish a Sinology lecture. This donation that has lasted for many years is unprecedented and tragic.
Things are perfect here, but something even more amazing is yet to come: with the support of rich people, outstanding alumni, and school directors who have additionally made up for the entire cost of establishing the department, Columbia University is still unwilling to use an unknown person like Ding Long. Seniors come to name and establish a department.
They wanted to name the department after Li Hongzhang, the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty at the time; they also thought about naming the department after Wu Tingfang, the Qing Dynasty ambassador to the United States at the time; later, after Empress Ci learned the news, she donated more than 5,000 volumes including the "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" It is a rare book, and the school wants to name it after the royal family of the Qing Dynasty.
What is admirable is that Carpentier always insisted on naming the department after his servant Ding Long, otherwise he would withdraw funding.
Columbia University President Seth Low finally relented. So, to this day, we can still remember the name of this Chinese worker, because in the early years, the name of the Department of Sinology at Columbia University was
"Ding Long Lecture". Usually established in American universities, the so-called
"Lectures" are mostly commemorative in nature. They are usually donated by private individuals with large sums of money, and then the interest income generated each year is used as the end result.
Honoraria for "lectures." Such
"Lectures" are not set up lightly.
