After Fengling went out, Li Yu immediately began to imagine what a good picture would be. In this era, there is no chance to watch a short video. Things like Happy Buddha or erotic pictures are too rare.
It's exciting just thinking about it.
While thinking about it, a sharp voice suddenly came from the door: "Emperor Master, you are finally back."
Here comes Xiao De Zhang.
The beautiful pictures in Li Yu's mind were suddenly blown away.
Suddenly I remembered some naked dialogue between the two of them when they faced the army of the Unsullied in Game of Thrones.
——A group of men without penises. Don't know what they are fighting for.
——Gold?
——How do you think my soldiers will spend the gold they earn?
Li Yu stood up and said, "Eunuch De, why are you here?"
Xiao Dezhang said: "Lafayette also knows about the emperor's master's overseas affairs. He is very happy. He will reward you heavily. Today, I specially sent Zajia to invite you to the palace."
Li Yu remembered Eunuch Cui's lukewarm words before, so he took out a gold pen and gave it to Xiao De Zhang: "It is made in Germany. My father-in-law accepted it. If I draw in the future, it will be more comfortable to use a pen to draw lines."
Xiaode Zhang liked to engage in architectural design in his free time. It suited his taste, so he took it and said with a smile, "Master Lao will remember Xiaode."
Xiyuan.
Cixi read the "Declaration" for a while while holding a pair of glasses. There were also several English newspapers from the Tianjin Concession in front of her eyes, such as "Zilinxi Daily" and so on.
Cixi said to Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Management and Education next to her: "The Ai family has been thinking about it for a long time and it turns out that this Nobel is an explosive maker."
Zhang Baixi said: "Explosives are a part of chemistry, and chemistry is a part of Western learning."
Cixi said: "All newspapers say that this award is very powerful, better than the previous arithmetic award of the King of Sweden?"
Zhang Baixi replied: "Yes, Queen Mother."
"In that case, it should be rewarded!" Cixi said, "I heard that the prize money for the Nobel Prize is the same as that set by the King of Sweden, and there is also a gold medal. What should we reward this time?"
Zhang Baixi said: "It all depends on the Queen Mother's decision."
Cixi thought for a while: "How about taking two paintings from the palace."
The cash in the inner treasury is still a little short, but there are many paintings hidden in the palace.
After Li Yu came to see him, Cixi said: "Li Yu, the Ai family has heard your name more and more in the past few years, which is good. It shows that we are not alone in the Qing Dynasty. In view of your performance, I have Eunuch Li went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ordered two more famous paintings to reward you."
Li Yu replied: "Thank you, Queen Mother."
Not long after, Li Lianying came back: "Old Buddha, according to your instructions, this time it is a Song painting and a Tang painting."
Cixi said: "I understand."
Li Lianying then came to Li Yu: "Master, this one is the "Picture of Geese" by Zhao Lingran of the Northern Song Dynasty; this one is the "Picture of Horse Nature" by Han Gan of the Tang Dynasty. They are both first-class masterpieces, covered by Qianlong's Grandpa’s treasure seal. Rewarding it to you now is a testament to Lafayette’s grace.”
Li Yu was a little speechless when he thought of Qianlong, the stamping maniac.
It is said that whenever a painting has Song Huizong's thin gold inscription and double dragon seal, its value will skyrocket, because Song Huizong's art appreciation ability is recognized as top-notch.
As for Qianlong...there are so many stamps that it looks like psoriasis.
But these two paintings themselves are indeed priceless.
Like "Six Dragons", they were all lost to Japan in the future. In 2017, Christie's in New York specially auctioned these six Chinese paintings that Japan's Fujita Museum took out because they could not afford air conditioning bills. At that time, it shocked the entire calligraphy and painting world.
"Six Dragons" is undoubtedly the most expensive.
"Picture of Geese" cost 27 million US dollars, equivalent to about 200 million yuan;
"Horse Sex Picture" cost 15 million US dollars, close to 100 million yuan.
After Li Yu thanked him for the reward, he added, "Queen Mother, I have brought some things back from abroad this time."
He took out the "Heart-written Zhiping Diagram" from his arms: "This is a relic from the Old Summer Palace."
All the officials were shocked: "Old Summer Palace?"
Cixi said: "Show it to me quickly."
Li Lianying quickly held up the painting, and Cixi's hands were trembling a little: "It really looks like Emperor Qianlong! There are also several queens and imperial concubines!"
Li Yu added: "In addition, I also redeemed the sheep head from the Old Summer Palace and returned it to the imperial court."
Cixi was even more delighted: "The emperor's master is really the pillar of the country, and he deserves to be rewarded!"
Li Yu guessed correctly, and indeed these two things directly affected Cixi.
Cixi looked at Yikuang next to her: "Prince Qing, what do you think?"
Prince Qing Yikuang immediately said: "Li Yu is very talented and has such merits. If he is not promoted to an official position, it will appear that the court does not know how to make good use of people."
Cixi nodded: "It makes sense, pass it on! In addition to Li Yuli, a member of the Li Department, he will be supervised by the New Learning Envoy, and he will be promoted to the fifth grade."
In fact, Li Yu didn't want to be an official at all, but the atmosphere was so high that he had no choice but to accept it, and he was just a sinecure, so he said: "Queen Mother, I have a small request. I have traveled to many countries and seen the loss of cultural relics, and I am deeply touched by the loss. I feel sad, and I hope that I can be allowed to do things easily in the future and shoulder the responsibility of protecting cultural relics."
Zhang Baixi admired it very much: "Queen Mother, Li Yu's heart in boxing should not be let down."
This little thing is very simple for Cixi: "Okay, give him the second-grade seal of the Ministry of Rites. If there is a cultural relic problem, you can mobilize the local academic administration, library and college."
It's just a little more power based on the sinecure, but it's not real power, it can be said to be insignificant.
However, this has met Li Yu's requirements, and he thanked him: "Thank you, Queen Mother!"
With this small title, Li Yu can do something he has always wanted to do.
After withdrawing from Xiyuan, Zhang Baixi also prepared to return to the Capital University.
The two walked side by side, and Li Yu asked: "Principal, are the 20 teachers I want to come from the Netherlands arranged properly?"
Zhang Baixi said happily: "I was just about to thank you. The university hall has always been short of teachers. So many came this time. I was so happy that I couldn't sleep all night."
Li Yu said: "These are the people I plan to put in primary and secondary schools in the future."
Zhang Baixi was surprised: "Primary and secondary schools?"
Li Yu told him about himself and the Carnegie Education Foundation's plans to build a school.
Zhang Baixi thought for a moment: "Primary and middle schools should indeed be arrested, but I am indeed short of people here. Let's do this. I will keep eight and give the rest to you."
Li Yu smiled bitterly: "There aren't many in the first place."
Zhang Baixi bargained: "Five, no more! You are also a person from the Capital University, so you have to give me this face, right?"
"Okay, five will be five," Li Yu said with a smile, "But Teacher Holland's treatment has been agreed upon, so please pay attention, principal."
Zhang Baixi said: "The Capital University is not short of funds, don't worry."
It’s really unbelievable that the Capital University would openly “rob people”.
——
Tianjin, Tanggu.
As soon as Lu Bicheng came back, she was detained and grounded by her uncle Yan Fengsheng.
Lu Bicheng was known to be a maverick, and he was a breath of fresh air in the late Qing Dynasty. How could he stand the anger of this feudal ethics and he immediately went on a hunger strike to protest.
Lu Bicheng's mother, Yan, felt sorry for her daughter and quickly called Yan Fu, who happened to be in Tianjin.
Yan Fu had a very good relationship with the Lu family and the Yan family, and he cherished Lu Bicheng, his talented and beautiful disciple. After arriving at Yan Fengsheng's house, he first comforted Lu Bicheng, and then smoothed things over: "Brother Feng Sheng, my son It’s normal to be difficult to manage when it’s grown, but you can’t starve your body to death.”
Yan Fengsheng snorted: "How unbecoming is it for a female prostitute to walk around the world! Nowadays, there are rumors everywhere in Tanggu that my family's upbringing is not strict and they let their little girls run around."
Yan Fu thought about it and said, "It's time for Bicheng to talk about marriage. Some time ago, Mr. Hu Weide, the minister to Russia, returned to the capital for official business. He heard about Bicheng's talent and appreciated it very much. His wife has also passed away. Please ask him." I acted as a matchmaker and also gave him a poem as a token.”
Yan Fengsheng's eyes lit up. Those who are now sent out as ambassadors will definitely be senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when they come back.
His guess was correct. Hu Weide later even served as the head of state of the Republic of China. Although he was only in power temporarily as acting prime minister and only served for less than a month, he was at least a top leader.
Yan Fengsheng was immediately very interested: "Hurry and show it to me!"
Yan Fu took out a hand scroll, which read: "The dust in the Wuling Mountains is all over the city in spring, and I know that if the valley is not empty, there will be no beauty."
Yan Fengsheng praised: "What a poem, what a poem! It is my blessing that Mr. Hu is attracted to my daughter. Please reply to your letter, and we agreed..."
Lu Bicheng immediately interrupted him and said sternly: "I! No! Marry!"
Yan Fengsheng slapped the table angrily: "What do you know! Mr. Hu is the Imperial Envoy Minister. Do you understand, Imperial Envoy Minister? The second-rank officials and the wives married by Ming Media can all be called the imperial wives in the future. What else do you want?"
Lu Bicheng said: "I have heard this from my little sister. Mr. Hu just lost his wife, and he dated an American female student. I don't want someone who is impatient to continue their relationship!"
Lu Bicheng's mother, Yan, also quickly persuaded him: "Bicheng, Mr. Hu is a rare good man no matter what you look at."
Lu Bicheng still insisted: "It's not suitable! I don't like it either!"
Mrs. Yan glanced at Yan Fu, so Yan Fu opened his mouth to persuade: "Bicheng, don't care too much about a man's single-mindedness. Throughout the ages, how many men have only loved one woman in their lives? Men are all like this. After getting married, After giving birth to a child, a woman’s life is considered complete as she watches the child grow up. When a man loves someone, he just turns a blind eye and passes by.”
Lu Bicheng shook his head: "Master, you know me. I will never change my mind about what I have decided."
Of course Yan Fu knew Lu Bicheng's temperament and sighed: "Bicheng, if you are so arrogant and arrogant, no man in the world will agree with you."
But Lu Bicheng said: "Don't interfere with my business, I have my own opinions."
"Proposal, what proposal!" Yan Fengsheng said angrily, "Could it be that yellow-haired boy Li Yu? When I saw Mr. Yuan at that time, I thought he was a relative of the Yuan family. Even I was shocked. When I asked about it later, It turns out that he is just a student of Western learning. He has no official position and no noble ancestors. He is nothing more than a homeless man who has had some luck. How can he be compared with Mr. Hu? He is just a shameless villain who has forgotten his ancestors and has no family education! "
