1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 359: Establishing the Chinese Science Society!
The news of the first Physics Olympiad brought a bit of excitement to the dull Asian scientific field.

Countless people with lofty ideals in the scientific community are paying close attention to this competition.

Each country is formulating corresponding policies for this competition.

How to select outstanding talents to participate in the competition, who will lead the team, etc.

These are all things that need careful consideration.

After all, this competition is the first of its kind and no country has any experience with it.

If anything goes wrong in this kind of international competition, it will bring shame to the country.

So for a time, great changes were taking place in the scientific fields of various countries.

However, the situation in China is rather special.

The Director General of the Science and Technology Department, Xu Shoushang, personally arrived in Kuching to visit Li Qiwei.

After communicating with Li Qiwei, he almost left the decision to the latter.

Li Qiwei readily agreed and asked He Yujie to arrange the matter.

Just as Xu Shoushang thought, he had no intention of interfering in the competition organized by Li Qiwei himself.

Given his current status, hosting this international competition was purely for the development of science rather than for his own personal gain.

At the same time, in this process, the scientific level of China can also be improved, which is why Li Qiwei is willing to hold the competition.

As the president of Huangpu University of Technology, He Yujie is definitely more adept at handling matters such as competitions than Li Qiwei.

He and Xu Shoushang promised that China would definitely take the lead and become famous throughout the world.

After hearing this, Xu Shoushang laughed so hard that his mouth was crooked.

If Hua Xia is really number one, then he would be a great contributor, and his future career as an official would definitely be smooth sailing.

Maybe he can even become the Minister of Education.

He Yujie immediately recommended Yan Renguang, the current dean of the School of Physics at Huangpu University of Technology, as the head of the delegation, who would be fully responsible for all matters related to the competition.

As Li Qiwei's direct disciple and the president of Whampoa Institute of Technology, it was naturally unsuitable for him to be the head of the group.

Xu Shoushang agreed to this recommendation directly.

Before he came, he had already learned about the situation of Huangpu University of Technology in detail.

Yan Renguang was a genuine Chinese elite and one of the first outstanding graduates of Whampoa Military Academy. He stayed on at the school and became the dean after graduation.

And now he has the title of associate professor, which meets the requirements for the competition.

His physics grades as an undergraduate were among the best, so it was an overkill for him to guide a group of undergraduates.

"That's great. With Ren Guang's guidance, I can rest assured."

Li Qiwei also smiled and said, "Yan Renguang is very good."

Then, He Yujie added: "Principal, Director Xu, I have another idea."

"I want Ren Guang to bring the contestants back to China for training."

"Firstly, the closed environment allows students to improve their skills and prepare for the competition without being disturbed."

"Secondly, this can also avoid suspicion, so that other countries won't say that China is the first to get the moon because it is close to the water."

"I don't want to be accused of using a backdoor."

"What do you think?"

After listening to this, Li Qiwei nodded and looked at He Yujie approvingly.

The other party is now able to stand on his own and no longer needs his protection.

He has been able to stand at a very high level and look at things from a comprehensive perspective.

Li Qiwei did not interfere in He Yujie's choice of who would be the group leader, in order to give the other party independent power.

"That's right, Yujie, I'll do as you say."

At this time, Xu Shoushang also smiled and said, "Principal He is absolutely right."

"I think it would be better if we let Dean Yan lead the students to train at Guangdong University."

“It’s not only close to Kuching, but it’s also convenient to travel back and forth if anything happens.”

"And it was you, Professor Li, who founded Guangdong University."

"This can be considered a glorious return home."

Xu Shoushang's words made Li Qiwei and He Yujie laugh involuntarily.

Yeah, that is indeed a fond memory.

Today, Guangdong University, as one of the two giants in China, is the best choice for students in the south.

Whether it is the school hardware, teaching staff, external exchanges, etc., no other school can compare.

Li Qiwei was also very pleased about this.

His love for Guangdong University is only slightly less than that for Huangpu University of Technology.

So, the three of them discussed for a while and decided on all the matters concerning the first Physics Olympiad.

Xu Shoushang also went back happily. Next he just had to contact Yan Renguang.

The Ministry of Education will definitely meet all reasonable demands of the other party and ensure that students welcome the competition with the greatest enthusiasm.

As for which students He Yujie selected to participate in the competition, Xu Shoushang did not ask, and Li Qiwei did not ask either.

His power is now growing, and his subordinates are becoming more mature, so there is no need to pay attention to every detail.

He believed that He Yujie wanted Hua Xia to achieve good results more than anyone else.

This is also a battle for Huangpu University of Technology to verify its teaching results, and He Yujie will certainly give it his all.

However, a few days later, there was something that required Li Qiwei to take action personally.

1915 8 Month 1 Day.

Three young men suddenly came to Kuching.

Now that the City of Science has not been built yet, in order to facilitate office work, Li Qiwei moved to the side of Huangpu University of Technology.

He built a three-story building here specifically for entertaining guests visiting the City of Science.

Li Qiwei named the small building: Wuya Pavilion.

It is inspired by Zhuangzi's "My life is limited, but knowledge is unlimited", expressing the desire for knowledge.

To the south of Wuya Pavilion is the Kuching River. Although it is located in the city center, it has a sense of tranquility in the midst of bustling city.

In the morning, in the office on the third floor of Wuya Hall, Li Qiwei was conceiving a domestic education reform plan.

Since returning to Kuching, he has accomplished several major things in succession, and now he can finally free up his hands to plan his domestic education career.

Now due to special circumstances, domestic education has begun to deviate from his previous design.

Although he donated 300 million taels, it was just a drop in the bucket for a country as big as China.

Therefore, he needs to re-plan and take advantage of this rare opportunity to accelerate the level of scientific education in the country.

At this time, Secretary Wang Zhengyang came to report:

"Principal, Principal He Yujie just said that three Chinese students from the United States have come and want to meet you."

"Principal He is now in the lounge downstairs with his people."

Wang Zhengyang is a distant relative of Wang Luyao's Wang family. According to seniority, he is Wang Luyao's nephew.

So, he is Li Qiwei's junior.

Wang Zhengyang, who is only 22 years old this year, has just graduated from university.

Because he is very calm, yet has a bit of smartness, Wang Luyao took a fancy to him and recommended him to Li Qiwei as a secretary.

This is also Li Qiwei's second secretary.

His first secretary, Yu Tianchi, is now the deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, which can be said to be a great success.

After all, Yu Tianchi’s uncle Yu Shimei was an official of the former Qing Dynasty.

Not only was he not implicated, but he was promoted step by step. No one would believe that he had no influence from Li Qiwei.

Therefore, Wang Zhengyang cherishes this opportunity very much.

Being able to serve as a secretary to Principal Li Qiwei is an opportunity that countless people dream of.

If you can gain experience in front of him for three to five years, you will definitely have a bright future.

He was also very clear about Yu Tianchi's story.

Wang Zhengyang works diligently, and most importantly, his loyalty is impeccable.

So Li Qiwei used him.

At this moment, after hearing Wang Zhengyang's report, Li Qiwei was a little puzzled.

"A Chinese student studying in an American university? You want to see me?"

"I don't have any impression."

However, since the other party took the initiative to ask for a meeting, and he is an elite overseas student in China, Li Qiwei had to meet him no matter what.

He cares very much about anything related to Chinese education science.

So he ordered:
"Let Yujie bring his men up."

Wang Zhengyang said respectfully, "Okay, Principal." After a while, He Yujie came up with three people.

Li Qiwei looked at the three people and had a good first impression.

The three people in front of him all had handsome appearances and righteous faces. They were obviously passionate and progressive young people.

Moreover, they are students of Cornell University and are considered elite students in China.

One of them was a little older, around 30 years old, and the other two were around or years old.

Just as Li Qiwei was observing them, He Yujie began his introductions.

He pointed to the older one and said, "Teacher, this is Ren Hongjun."

"He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his master's degree from Columbia University, majoring in chemistry."

Then he introduced two more people:
"This is Zhao Yuanren. He graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics."

"This is Yang Xingfo. He studied abroad at Cornell University and Harvard University, majoring in mechanical engineering."

"The three of them came here today, saying they have something important to discuss with you, teacher."

The reason why He Yujie was willing to help the three people was because he was impressed by their impressive resumes.

This is enough to show that all three of them are elites in science and engineering.

This kind of elite is definitely what Principal Li would like to see.

That's why he took the three of them to Wuya Pavilion as soon as possible.

After listening to He Yujie's introduction, Li Qiwei was slightly moved.

Because the information of the three people began to emerge in his mind.

This shows that they are not unknown people.

This also made Li Qiwei interested in their purpose.

At this time, Ren Hongjun and the other two also began to carefully observe Li Qiwei, the man who was like a god in Asia.

The other party's name is a legend.

His glorious deeds could not be described in three days and three nights.

His scientific achievements are admired by everyone, and he has countless titles.

However, He Yujie told them that Professor Li liked people to call him the president the most.

The three of them still couldn't believe that they could meet the legendary Principal Li so easily.

Given the other party's current identity and status, even if the three of them were graduates of prestigious American universities, they were just like ordinary people.

If you are not a physicist, you are not even qualified to see the back of Principal Li.

Therefore, the three of them were very excited, knowing how rare this opportunity was.

Ren Hongjun spoke first: "Principal, we are so excited to see you."

"You are so high and mighty, I didn't expect you would be willing to meet three unknown people like us."

Li Qiwei roughly knew the information of the three people and said with a smile:

"I am a Chinese scientist, so I naturally care about the growth of Chinese students."

"You are all Chinese elites studying in Europe and America, and you will all serve the motherland in the future."

"If you have any difficulties, you can come to me."

Ren Hongjun and the other two were delighted.

Principal Li really cares about the motherland, just as everyone said.

Zhao Yuanren continued:

"President, when I was studying in the United States, I heard many students around me still talking about your speech at Princeton University in 1910."

“The content of that speech was really fascinating.”

"I always feel bad that I wasn't there."

Li Qiwei laughed, he liked this flattery very much.

He looked at Yang Xingfo again, and the other party also smiled and said:

"Principal, I have read your book 'Bugs' at least ten times."

“It was truly a work of science fiction that was ahead of its time.”

"Its role in popularizing and disseminating science is more useful than thousands of newspapers and magazines."

Li Qiwei looked at the three people with a smile. He had heard such praise countless times.

He stretched out his hand and said casually:
"Come on, sit down and talk. We can talk slowly about anything."

"Zhengyang, go serve tea."

Soon, the three of them sat down, and after Wang Zhengyang served tea, he went out and closed the door.

After a sip of tea, Ren Hongjun, as the eldest brother of the three, said:
"Principal, Yuan Ren, Xing Fo, and I came here this time because we need your help with something."

Li Qiwei took a sip of tea and motioned for him to continue.

Ren Hongjun said:

"Yuan Ren, Xing Fo and I met while studying abroad at Cornell University."

"After seeing the prosperity of the United States, we feel more and more the power of science and technology."

"The United States is even a second-tier country in the field of science and technology, but its strength is too strong."

"We visited automobile production lines, railway construction, chemical raw material production processes, and so on."

“I discovered the gap between China and the United States.”

"And these gaps are caused by gaps in science and technology."

“So, the three of us founded a magazine called Science in the United States last year.”

“It is to spread scientific knowledge in the country.”

"Translate foreign scientific articles or cases and publish them in China."

"This is very similar to the Science Weekly you created, President."

"The purpose of Science magazine is to promote science, encourage industry, approve terms, and spread knowledge."

"In January of this year, the first issue of the monthly journal Science was published in Shanghai and caused a small sensation."

“But we soon realized that this goal couldn’t be achieved with just one magazine.”

"Of course, I don't mean to slander you, the principal."

Li Qiwei waved his hands to show that he didn't care.

Ren Hongjun continued:
"Therefore, I discussed with Yuan Ren and Xing Fo and wanted to reorganize Science Magazine into the Chinese Science Society."

“Make it a true academic society.”

"This will attract more like-minded friends to join us and greatly enhance our strength."

“One person’s expertise is limited.”

"There are many important but niche areas that the three of us are not capable of."

“Only by pooling the efforts of everyone can we comprehensively disseminate knowledge in all scientific fields and improve China’s scientific level.”

Wow!
After listening to what Ren Hongjun and the other two had done, He Yujie was shocked.

"These three young men are so courageous!"

A heart full of patriotism is awe-inspiring.

Ren Hongjun and the other two are elites who studied abroad at prestigious American universities.

Originally, after they graduated and returned to China this year, they would definitely be immediately valued by their country.

Promotion and wealth are all no problem.

However, now for the sake of domestic scientific undertakings, they would rather give up their bright future and do popular science work.

He Yujie is a veteran in the field of education.

He is well aware that doing science popularization in the country now is a matter where the input and return are seriously disproportionate.

Not to mention how many people can earn money to support their families, I'm afraid they can't even solve the problem of food and clothing.

No one would be willing to do such a thing except out of a true love for his country.

Therefore, He Yujie admired Ren Hongjun and the other two very much, and secretly gave them a thumbs up, and the three of them quickly responded with a smile.

Then, He Yujie looked at Li Qiwei. He knew that the teacher would definitely like the three of them.

But he didn't see any particular surprise on the latter's face.

Li Qiwei frowned slightly, as if he was in deep thought, with an inexplicable emotion in his eyes.

He Yujie's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh no, the teacher doesn't think they are daydreaming."

After all, although ideals are beautiful, they must be based on reality, otherwise they will be castles in the air and will be difficult to sustain.

(End of this chapter)