1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 93 was reprinted in Shenbao, causing public outcry!

In any era, the rulers are the first to know the news, and then decide whether to blockade it and keep the people ignorant based on the situation.

But at this moment in the Qing Dynasty, the internal situation was riddled with holes, and the external situation was not solid, so many things were no longer important.

From the perspective of later generations, the Qing Dynasty in 1901 was a typical small government.

That is, in many areas, the Qing Dynasty had no real management power and was completely autonomous.

In this case, newspapers as a medium of communication will be extremely developed.

So even in the feudal era, there were several newspapers in the country.

The most famous of these is Shenbao.

It was founded in Shanghai in 1872 by a British businessman, Mark.

After Mei Cha founded Shen Bao, he believed that if Chinese newspapers wanted to survive and develop in the Qing Dynasty, their content must meet the requirements of the Chinese.

Therefore, he recruited Chinese writers directly from the Qing Dynasty and let them do it.

From the very beginning, Shenbao focused on writing in easy-to-understand language that appeals to both the elite and the masses, with ordinary people as its target readers.

By constantly improving the form and content of the newspaper, it soon defeated its competitors, the Shanghai Xinbao and other Chinese newspapers.

The content includes national politics, changes in customs, the key issues of China's foreign negotiations, the advantages and disadvantages of business trade, and all other surprising and gratifying things.

It covers everything from the secrets of the Qing court to trivial matters in the market.

Sales also increased from the initial 600 copies to tens of thousands of copies in 1901, making it the largest newspaper in the Qing Dynasty.

Mei Cha also disposed of all his assets in China, including the Shenbao, and returned to the UK to retire.

"Shen Bao" is basically the Chinese people's own newspaper, edited, printed and sold by Chinese people.

The current chief editor is from Jiangsu, Huang Xiexun (pronounced Xun).

He has three other main writers: Jin Jianhua, Lei Jin and Zhao Menglin.

Mr. Huang, the editor-in-chief, is very cautious and dares not overstep the line.

After he took office, he changed the reform and benefit-the-world style of the previous editors-in-chief and made the newspaper publishing style full of corruption, conservative and taboo, making it boring to read.

As a result, the reputation of Shenbao was greatly affected and its sales plummeted.

At this moment, in the Shenbao Press, Huang Xiexun and the three main editors had a heated argument.

"No, the Times' report on Ridgway is arrogant and radical in its language, so it's not easy to reprint it as an editorial."

Lei Jin had a bad temper. "Mr. Huang, you won't let me write this, and you won't comment on that. If I say a little more, you'll delete it."

"Then why are we still running a newspaper? We might as well disband it now and go back to farming."

Jin Jianhua also echoed at this time, "Li Qiwei, at the young age, has become famous overseas and is respected as a scientist by foreigners."

“This is a great thing that will boost people’s morale.”

"Now the Qing dynasty is weak, China is being ravaged by foreign powers, and the people are all timid when they see foreigners, and they respect them as if they were gods and ghosts."

"We should vigorously publicize Li Qiwei's story to prove that China is a nation of talented people and is not a backward nation."

"Mr. Huang, please think twice!"

Huang Xiexun looked at his two capable men and sighed, "Ah, you always say that I am conservative and that I choose every word carefully, fearing that I may offend anyone."

"I'm reporting this for protection, to protect ourselves."

"Have you all forgotten the outcome of the various reforms and innovations two or three years ago?"

"You guys are happy to curse, but have you considered the impact?"

After saying this, he suddenly looked very lonely, and even Lei Jin and the other two were speechless.

At this time, the last editor, Zhao Menglin, said, "Chief Editor, no."

"I have heard that even the Emperor Guangxu of the time praised Li Qiwei highly and called him a young talent."

"It can be seen that he is favored by the emperor and is in his heart."

"Furthermore, the Qing government had no jurisdiction over the affairs of Shenbao. This is the freedom of the press advocated by the West."

"Since we are engaged in journalism, we should abide by our mission and report the truth."

"Not to mention Li Qiwei, a young talent who has restored the reputation of China. This is a great event that should be reported in great detail."

"Please let the chief editor know."

Faced with the three people's requests, Huang Xiexun finally compromised.

However, he demanded a minimum bottom line: "Don't incite public opinion, just explain the reason for the Nobel Prize."

The three of them were overjoyed and immediately began to reprint and write editorials.

This is not a simple matter of translating the contents of The Times, but rather converting them into a language that the common people of the Qing Dynasty can understand.

For example, you have to explain what physics is, what level of award the Nobel Prize is, how great Ridgway's achievements are, etc.

This is a great test of the editor's own qualities and accumulation.

In order to strive for accuracy, Jin Jianhua and the other two even found foreigners to help them figure out some professional issues.

Finally, on November 1901, 11, the latest issue of Shenbao was published.

Li Qiwei's deeds in the UK occupied more than half of the newspaper's pages and could be called a super headline.

The 1000 copies of Shenbao were sold out as soon as they were released that day.

At this time, Shanghai had been a trading port for decades and was the most prosperous city in the country.

Here, there are all kinds of people, including businessmen, gentry, scholars, workers, craftsmen, people who have studied abroad, foreigners, and so on.

Their characteristics are that they often deal with foreigners, are highly civilized, know the situation outside, and have no sense of belonging in the early morning.

So when the news that Li Qiwei won the Nobel Prize in Physics spread, it immediately caused a storm among the people and became the topic of conversation for countless people!

Restaurants, teahouses, shops, wherever people gather, they are bound to be talking about the reprint of Shen Bao.

"Could this Li Qiwei be the God of Literature who has descended to earth? According to the explanation in the newspaper, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics among foreigners is just like being named a university scholar here, my goodness."

"That's different. Even if you win an award from a foreigner, you are still an ordinary citizen, without an official position. I'm afraid you can't even compare to the county magistrate."

"What's so good about studying physics? It's all recorded in the Yongle Encyclopedia. I think Western science and culture are all plagiarized from our Chinese ancestors."

"He is coming back to open a university and promote education. I have to make my son work hard so that he can work in a foreign bank in the future."

"Oh my god, the prize money is 6 taels of silver. Could it be that all the foreigners' money was blown away by the wind?"

"This Li Qiwei really brings honor to us Han people. We were bullied so badly by foreigners, but now we can finally hold our heads high and be proud of ourselves."

"What a pity! This is a victory in the field of science and culture. If one day we can destroy the foreigners with one shot, that would be awesome."

"Haha, you are talking nonsense. How can there be a bomb with such a powerful force?"

With the publication of newspapers and spontaneous word-of-mouth among the people, everyone knew Li Qiwei's name.

Although most people don’t understand Li Qiwei’s specific achievements, they can only draw analogies with those in China.

But this does not prevent him from increasing the confidence of the Chinese people at this moment.

Many people even naively believed that it was through the art of literature that Li Qiwei suppressed the Western countries.

It is on the same level as a general who leads troops to conquer the capital of a foreign country. Civil and military officials have different paths but the same goal.

It can be seen how frustrated the people of the Qing Dynasty were at this moment, being bullied by foreigners.

Any Han Chinese who can crush foreigners is a Chinese hero and deserves a thumbs up. What? Why didn't the eight clans of the Qing Dynasty produce such talents?

Isn't that nonsense? Those good-for-nothings deserved only to be beaten. When they saw the foreigners, they treated them like their own fathers and knew to keep quiet.

Many guys get drunk and talk without restraint.

Because in the past few decades, the Qing Dynasty's performance was so poor that it was beaten at every turn and had to pay compensation to others.

There is a fire in the hearts of Chinese people.

Anyway, this is Shanghai, the foreigners have concessions here, and the Qing government has almost no jurisdiction over this place.

Except for those who were venting their anger, all the young people who were interested in Western learning regarded Li Qiwei as a role model.

Even the three people from the Spark Project were regarded as objects of envy by them.

They heard that Li Qiwei was planning to take several more groups of people abroad to study, so they were very much looking forward to it.

I began to improve my knowledge of Western studies, hoping that I would be selected in the future and achieve such brilliant achievements like the other party.

At this moment, the seeds of science have been planted, waiting only for Li Qiwei to water and cultivate them.

Ordinary people could only watch the fun, but in the eyes of the real Chinese elites, they all smelled a hint of something unusual.

The Nanyang Public School in Shanghai was founded in late 1896 with the approval of Emperor Guangxu and the construction of Sheng Xuanhuai, the Minister of Railways.

It is one of the earliest universities founded by Chinese people.

The current chief instructor of the special economics class, 33-year-old Zhou Ziyu, was holding a newspaper, reading it intently, and exclaiming from time to time.

"Too amazing! Li Qiwei's physical attainments are probably already at the level of a celestial being."

"The key is that he is only 21 years old. How did he think that a strong country must first have education?"

“The strength of the West lies in its respect for science, education and humanity.”

"His philosophy and ideals are exactly the same as mine. I am not alone in my path. I am not alone in my path."

"When he returns to China, I will definitely pay him a visit and discuss the great plan for China's century-old education."

"Haha, I'm afraid not many people can see the meaning of his words to seduce the Qing court."

"This boy is simply a god descending to earth, born with intelligence, and is truly a blessing for China."

Zhou Ziyu was almost praising Li Qiwei to the sky.

Because he himself loves education and strives for it, he can fully understand Li Qiwei's grand ideas and empathize with them.

With the other party's joining and guidance, it is even unimaginable that China can save more than ten years.

At Wuchang Agricultural School, 24-year-old translator Wang Guozhen was reading two newspapers, The Times and Shen Bao, one by one.

He is fluent in English and has translated many foreign scientific articles.

He has also studied Western ethics, psychology, aesthetics, logic, education, etc.

But this is the first time I have seen a Chinese person publish a paper in a foreign journal and it was widely publicized.

He is well aware of the arrogance of foreigners, and is able to make them put aside their pride and racial differences and report and praise them truthfully.

This shows that Li Qiwei's achievements have reached their peak and are the wealth of all mankind, breaking through narrow national barriers.

Although Wang Guozhen could not understand quantum theory, he was well versed in the pre-Qin philosophers and Song Dynasty Neo-Confucianism, and had a deep understanding of Chinese classical culture.

When he saw that Li Qiwei was preparing to establish a distinctive university in the country to promote Chinese culture, he was moved!
He doesn't want to stay here and be a small translator. He deserves a bigger stage.

"Li Qiwei" He slowly savored the name, as if he wanted to communicate with the young man thousands of miles away through the name and photo.

"Li Qiwei, who exactly are you? Why do I see in you the perfect combination of Chinese and Western thought?"

"Wang Guozhen, join me, let's create the future of Chinese education together."

At the same time, inside the Governor's Office across the river.

Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Huguang, sat with a smile on his face, discussing something with Xu Jianyin, General Manager of the Gunpowder Bureau.

"Zhong Hu, I heard that your youngest son also went to England to study with Li Qiwei?"

Xu Jianyin only had half of his buttocks sitting on the chair, his face respectful, and he quickly replied: "Your Excellency the Governor, my son is naughty by nature, so I sent him to the West to hone his skills."

"Because he loved the study of things since he was young, he followed Li Qiwei."

Zhang Zhidong stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Great! I will learn advanced Western technology in England, and when I return to China, I will be able to inherit my father's business."

"My ironworks, gun factory, and textile factory are in urgent need of workers. Western talents are hard to come by."

Xu Jianyin said: "Your Excellency is too kind to praise me. What I have learned is just a minor skill and cannot be used for any major purpose."

"We still have to rely on you to plan and take a high-level view. We will follow your lead."

Zhang Zhidong laughed loudly, "Don't be so modest. Li Qiwei is almost praised as a scientific saint by foreigners. It shows that he is indeed extraordinary."

"Although the Westerners' study of things to gain knowledge is extremely powerful, it is ultimately no match for our teachings of Confucius and Mencius in controlling people's hearts."

"But for now, China is weak, so we still have to rely on things like physical science."

Xu Jianyin echoed, "Your Excellency has a good opinion."

Zhang Zhidong said: "Well, you go ask Li Qiwei if I want to send a group of workers to Western countries to learn about production engineering."

"Can he make arrangements and contact us?"

Xu Jianyin was surprised, so he decided to ask, "What specific technology do you want to learn?"

Zhang Zhidong thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the reason why Britain, France, and Germany are so powerful is that they have good factory management."

"Everything must be done according to rules, and everyone must be educated, so that everyone can work together to produce perfect steel and iron materials."

"Let's start by learning these first."

Xu Jianyin didn't understand. With the identity and ability of the person in front of him, sending the workers out for training would only be a matter of a word.

Why did he go through so much trouble to find Li Qiwei?

However, even if you can't figure out the boss's business, you have to do it, so he said calmly: "As you command, I will go back and take care of this matter."

"Well, let's go."

"Yes."

In addition to the attention of countless people in China, even those studying abroad were shocked by Li Qiwei's deeds.

Southeast Asia, Japan, and the United States.
There are people with lofty ideals everywhere who go abroad to seek ways to save the country.

At this moment, they all regarded Li Qiwei as a role model.

I hope to be able to show the Chinese style like them in this era when foreigners are rampant and colonizing the world.

Reform and change will enhance national strength to avoid the same tragic fate that China suffers as other countries.

Although everyone's methods may be different, they do not have Li Qiwei's amazing talent for Western studies.

But everyone has his or her own areas of expertise, and as long as they work together, they will be able to unleash endless power.

A country's national strength is comprehensive, and is definitely not just based on science and technology and education.

Ridgway, who was far away in the UK, had no idea that just because he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, it would cause such a big stir in the country.

Soon, the news will reach him via telegram.

Unfortunately, a piece of bad news also came along.

(End of this chapter)