Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 390 Sensation
The content of Li Mingyuan's public speech at the Yong'an Hydropower Station spread rapidly within half a month and caused quite a stir in Europe and the United States.

Electric lights and generators, like the four great inventions of ancient China, were originally invented by Western countries. However, in terms of technological improvement and practicality, the Han Dynasty was ahead of Western countries in two sub-sectors.

In 1854, Henri Goebel, a German watchmaker who immigrated to the United States, used a carbonized bamboo filament placed in a vacuum glass bottle to make the first practical electric light, which lasted for 400 hours.

In 1860, Englishman Joseph Swan also made a carbon filament light bulb, but he failed to obtain a good vacuum environment to keep the carbon filament working for a long time.

In 1878, when Britain's vacuum technology had developed to a level that met the needs, he invented a light bulb that used carbon filaments to conduct electricity in a vacuum and obtained a British patent. In early 1875, after purchasing the vacuum patent, Edison conducted experiments on improving the filament, and in the second half of 1880, he created a carbonized bamboo filament lamp that could last for 1200 hours.

The carbonized bamboo filament lamp is a new type of incandescent lamp with practical application. However, because some of the technical patents for the preparation of the carbonized bamboo filament lamp were in the hands of Henry Goebbels, the US Patent Office ruled that Edison's carbon filament incandescent lamp invention was lagging behind and the patent was invalid.

The patent application was rejected and the industrial production of carbonized bamboo filament lamps was put on hold. While Edison was busy fighting a patent lawsuit with Henry Goebbels's widow, bright tungsten filament incandescent lamps had already lit up the streets of Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty.

The tungsten filament incandescent lamp adopts a new technology, bypassing the patent technology system of Western countries. It is a more economical and popular product than the carbonized bamboo filament lamp.

"Tungsten filament incandescent lamps have high lighting intensity, a lifespan two to three times that of carbonized incandescent lamps, and an overall economic cost half that of carbonized bamboo filament lamps...

From a scientific and technological perspective, we have to admit that the tungsten filament incandescent lamp is an invention with extremely superior performance. Its appearance is an epoch-making change in the field of electric lighting..."

When German engineers passed the performance data obtained from tungsten filament incandescent lamps back to Europe, it set off a considerable wave in the European electrical science community.

"My team and I have already started the screening experiment of preparing metals for incandescent lamp filaments. If the U.S. Patent Office and Mrs. Henry Goebbels had not blocked the patent application for carbonized bamboo filament lamps, I believe that the honor of inventing the first tungsten filament incandescent lamp would belong to America, rather than a South American country that had just learned industrial reform from Western civilized society.

As a pure scientific researcher who loves invention, I have an equal attitude towards civilized races in any region of the world. However, the practices of the U.S. Patent Office are heartbreaking and infuriating. They do not respect the results of the hard research of American scientists. With their old thinking as hard as stone, they have brutally killed countless great technological inventions and hindered the further development and improvement of the United States in the field of science and technology. Regarding the practices of the U.S. Patent Office, I am not only sad for the tragic fate of carbonized bamboo filament lamps, but also dissatisfied with countless scientific inventors who have been treated unfairly like me.

The sadness and grief in my heart are not just for myself, but for the future of American science...

Here, I openly publish my true thoughts, hoping that the great American government can be an ideal country of freedom, equality and respect for science as it claims, rather than a barbaric country that allows the Patent Office to do whatever it wants and arbitrarily stifles scientists' inventions! "

In the United States, when Edison learned that tungsten filament incandescent lamps had taken the lead and were put into production and use earlier than carbonized bamboo filament lamps, he was extremely angry and excitedly published a public statement in the newspapers, criticizing the conservative and backward management style of the US Patent Office.

Following Edison, American scientific researchers who were engaged in the research of hydroelectric generators also filed a lawsuit against the federal government. They accused local officials in Wisconsin of deliberate delays and negligence, which caused the construction of the Fox Hydropower Station to be delayed and fall behind the Xing'an Hydropower Station in Hanguo.

Faced with pressure from the new field of electricity and other scientific researchers who had joined in the fun, on November 1882, 11, the U.S. Patent Office, with rare efficiency, persuaded Henry Goebbels's widow to reach an understanding with Edison and resolved the patent dispute over the carbonized bamboo filament lamp.

On the European continent, the reactions of the scientific communities in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia were different. Some scientists believed that the achievements of the South American Han Kingdom in the two sub-fields were just a flash in the pan and could not reflect the competitiveness of the Han Kingdom in the overall scientific field.

Some scientists, from a relatively fair and neutral perspective, pointed out that as an emerging country composed of Chinese immigrants, some whites and a few Indians, the Han Kingdom of South America has made significant progress in the fields of electricity, medicine, military, steel, etc., under the condition that the overall scientific quality of its citizens is far lower than that of Western powers. It took only fourteen years for it to become a primary industrial country with breakthrough achievements in certain industrial fields from a completely backward agricultural country. This is a very remarkable achievement. They advocate that Western powers should face the strength and achievements of the scientific community of the Han Kingdom of South America from the perspective that scientists should have.

The scientific and technological achievements suddenly demonstrated by the Han scientific community, which had been developing in a low-key and unknown manner for more than a decade, not only surprised the Western scientific community, but also provided great encouragement to overseas Chinese and international students who were at the lowest point in their national civilization.

"When will I wake up from this thousand-year long dream? Who will ring the alarm bell in my sleep?

The Jiashen National Day has lasted for three hundred years. How could we bear to give away such a great country? ..."

In the woods outside the University of Berlin, more than 300 Chinese students gathered together and excitedly recited Li Mingyuan's speech:

"Looking at all the countries in the world, there is no country that has had unchanging laws for five thousand years.
In the Jiashen year, the country was in mourning and the Central Plains was in ruins. Now, the people are liberated! Men shaved off their golden rat tails, and women let go of their traditional hairstyles and tied their hair into new styles!
The national spirit and outlook have changed, but improving the country's strength still requires the efforts of all citizens!

The importance of education, the independence of culture, and the advanced technology!

Only by adhering to the three core principles of reform can the empire embark on the path of prosperity and strength.
Only when all citizens unite as one can the country resist foreign aggression! …………

I hate the humiliation of the American barbarians! Today, I and all the people swear together:
As long as the country is not strong, the struggle will not stop. As long as the people are not respected overseas, the struggle will not stop! As long as the foreigners do not give up their hostile policies towards the empire, the struggle will not stop...”

…………“As long as the country is not strong and prosperous, the struggle will never stop!

As long as our citizens are not respected overseas, the struggle will continue!

As long as the foreigners do not give up their hostile policies towards the empire, their struggle will not stop......"

Hundreds of students kept repeating the last paragraph of the speech, with excited and thrilled expressions on their young and passionate faces!

"Students! Fellow countrymen! Did you see that? The first hydroelectric power station and the first tungsten filament incandescent lamp were both invented by local Chinese scientists! The Chinese nation is still the same majestic and progressive nation as before! We are no worse than white people in the field of science! The Chinese have never been an inferior race!"

Tan Yaoxun stood in the woods and said in a hoarse voice, "Young people are the hope of the country and the future of the nation. The country has spent precious financial funds to send us to study in Europe. We must not let down His Majesty and the country's expectations, and we must not waste the precious opportunity to study abroad!"

"Yes! Your Majesty has called on us. All Chinese people should work hard for the prosperity of our country and nation!"

At the University of Berlin, the 17 Chinese students who were the first to escape the supervision of the Qing Dynasty's diplomatic officials and were arranged by the Han government to study in the United States were about to complete their university studies. As one of the Chinese students who defected to the Han Dynasty, Pan Mingzhong, Tan Yaoxun, Shi Jinyong, and Cao Jifu were arranged to receive higher education at the University of Berlin.

"Brother Tan, Brother Shi, Brother Cao and I will all graduate next year. Now that we have completed all the professional courses in school, I suggest that we use the six months between now and graduation to go to large industrial plants around Berlin for interviews and internships, get in touch with the industrial production industry in Germany in advance, and make better preparations for returning to China in six months!"

"I'm a steel smelting major, and I want to interview at the Ruhr Steel Group!"

"My major is chemistry, and I want to do an internship at Bayer for a while..."

"I am studying shipbuilding, so I may have to go to coastal areas to find internship opportunities."

"My major is also steel smelting. Brother Shi and I can go to the same company for an interview."

After the four of them successively said where they wanted to go for internships, other Chinese students gathered in the woods also spoke up: "Although Brother Li, Brother Wang and I have just entered freshman year this year, we can use our vacation time to do internships in factories."...

"Yes, and me too. I can also take some time off from my vacation to do internship in the factory."…………

The temperature in Germany in November was below zero, but the Chinese students in the woods did not seem to feel the cold around them. Everyone had a vibrant look on their face.

"Everyone, be quiet and listen to what I have to say!"

Seeing the excited students, Tan Yaoxun said loudly with a hoarse voice: "Dear students, the purpose of our study abroad is to learn scientific knowledge. Learning is the first priority. If the freshmen and sophomores have tight courses, you don't have to follow me to the factory for internship. You can also use the small amount of free time after school every day to translate a small part of the German textbooks. If you persist in it for a long time, there are more than 300 international students at the University of Berlin. At the speed of each student translating a textbook every two years, they will graduate in four years. The University of Berlin alone can provide 600 Chinese textbooks of different majors and different levels of difficulty for the local area.

Students, the number of local new generation children exceeds four million. Every year, there will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of children enrolled in schools. There is a shortage of local talents who know foreign languages ​​and can write professional foreign books. By using the professional knowledge learned by our international students, translating foreign language textbooks such as German, English, and French into Chinese can make a profound contribution to local education! "

The pain in his throat forced Tan Yaoxun to stop his speech for a moment. Just one minute later, he continued, "There are more ways for international students to serve the country than just internships in factories. We should try anything that is beneficial to the country!
Now please go to Brother Shi and Brother Cao to register the categories you have chosen. After the registration is completed, we will contact other students studying in Germany, and then make plans and assign tasks based on the selected factories and translated textbooks. "…………

The Han Dynasty first sent its first batch of students to Germany in 1871. In the following twelve years, from 1871 to 1878, the Han government sent a total of 3278 students to Europe.
In the three years from 1879 to 1882, the number of students studying abroad, including those sent by the government and those funded by the private sector, reached 3900, exceeding the total number of government-sponsored students in the previous seven years.

The rapid growth of government-sponsored and privately-funded international students benefited from the financial support from the local government of Han and the continuous development of the local education level.

According to government statistics, in June 1881, the first batch of 6 native-born teenagers aged 207 or who had performed well in school were selected by the Ministry of Education and were sent to Germany for a study abroad program of about ten years after completing five years of primary education.
In June 1882, the second batch of 400 young students were sent to Germany and Austria-Hungary to receive secondary and advanced education.

Behind the breakthrough progress made in China's science and technology field is the overseas student program that has been promoted for more than ten years and the results that have gradually emerged.

The young local new generation followed in the footsteps of their predecessors and embarked on the path of studying abroad. Their predecessors, such as Tan Yaoxun, who are about to complete or are in the process of completing their studies, are running around to notify and contact others, trying to contribute to the country's development with their own efforts.

(End of this chapter)