The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 652 They are all great people
With Teng Yuzhao's introduction one by one, everyone gradually understood the backgrounds of these foreigners and the Chinese people wearing Zhijun uniforms and what they did.

The two Chinese men wearing the uniforms of the Zhi Army were only about twenty years old and both held the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The older young soldier is Feng Ru, whose courtesy name is Ding San.

Feng Ru spoke authentic Cantonese. Even if Teng Yuzao didn't introduce him, everyone could tell that this Lieutenant Colonel Feng was from Guangdong.

When Feng Ru was twelve years old, he followed his father across the ocean to the United States to make a living, and studied mechanical manufacturing at a university in New York.

Last year, when Feng Ru learned that the Wright brothers of the United States had invented the airplane, he became very interested in airplanes that could carry people into the sky. He also developed a strong belief that he should build an airplane on his own.

However, just when he began to study the Wright brothers' airplane based on information reported in newspapers and was troubled by lack of development funds, Huang Kaijia, who was leading a team to the Olympic Games and the Expo in the United States, found him.

Huang Kaijia told Feng Ru that Teng Yuzhao, the Beiyang Minister and Governor-General of Zhishan Provinces who had just led his troops to defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance, asked him to tell Feng Ru that Teng Yuzhao very much wanted to build his own aircraft and use it to promote the Westernization Movement in the country and start a wave of establishing new industries in the country.

Therefore, Teng Yuzao very much hoped that Feng Ru could return to China to research and manufacture aircraft, a very promising and future-oriented aircraft. He would not only provide him with sufficient funds, but also appoint him as the first director and chief engineer of the Zhijun Aviation Research Institute.

Feng Ru was extremely excited about Teng Yuzhao's invitation. After saying hello to his father, he happily followed Huang Kaijia back to China at the beginning of the year.

Teng Yuzhao did not let Feng Ru down at all. Not only did he immediately fulfill his promise, he also gave Feng Ru a private villa in the villa area of ​​Tianjin New City, and sent someone to bring Feng Ru's mother from Enping, Guangdong to Tianjin to reunite with Feng Ru.

Although Yang Shixiang, Duan Qirui and others had no idea about airplanes, they could all see that Teng Yuzao attached great importance to this airplane from the fact that he went to such great lengths to invite Feng Ru back from the United States, and even gave him the rank of lieutenant colonel, which was equivalent to a third-rank military rank, as soon as he returned to China, and gave him a villa that is now worth two or three hundred thousand oceans.

Especially since Teng Yuzhao's younger brother was the captain of a flight team, everyone became very curious about airplanes, which they didn't even know much about.

In fact, what Teng Yuzao did not say and could not say now was that Feng Ru in history established his own aircraft manufacturing plant in Oakland, east of San Francisco, USA three years later. Two years later, he formally established Guangdong Aircraft Company and served as the chief engineer himself.

Historically, in 2010, Feng Ru performed a flight show in Oakland, USA with two aircraft he designed and manufactured, which was a great success.

It can be said that Feng Ru is an aviation pioneer among Chinese people.

As for the other Chinese man, his name was Li Ruyan, with the courtesy name Yizhi, and he was from Dinghai, Zhejiang. He also surprised everyone because he was only seventeen years old.

Li Ruyan's experience of returning to China was somewhat different from Feng Ru's, because as early as two years ago, Teng Yuzao entrusted the new Chinese Minister to the UK, Zhang Deyi, to find Li Ruyan, who was studying at the Nathanbutton Industrial School in London, and conveyed Teng Yuzao's requirements and funding.

According to Teng Yuzao's request, Li Ruyan entered the newly established Bristol Flying School in the UK with the money funded by Teng Yuzao, and just returned to China three months ago.

What everyone doesn’t know is that Li Ruyan is also a famous Chinese aviation pioneer in history. He has served as captain of the Shanghai Military Governor’s Office Aviation Squadron, flight director and repair factory director of the Nanyuan Army Third Division’s attached flight training class, and chief instructor of the Nanyuan Aviation School.

In the third year of the Republic of China, he also built a seaplane. He and Pan Shizhong, the director of the aviation school repair factory, were early domestic aircraft designers.

Teng Yuzao pulled a thirty-something foreigner who was wearing a black suit, had a serious expression and a thick beard, and spoke to everyone.

"Everyone, as for what an airplane is, we will discuss and introduce it later, so I won't explain it for now. You just need to know that it is a flying machine that is more flexible and faster than an airship."

"Just at the end of last year, the American Wright brothers successfully tested a new type of flying machine, an airplane, different from an airship, in the wilderness outside Kitty Hawk, North Carolina."

"For this, they won great reputation in Europe and the United States, and were even dubbed the father of the airplane."

"However, I can tell you that the real father of the airplane is not the Wright brothers of the United States, but the German-American Mr. Whitehead in front of you."

"Because, as early as three years ago, Mr. Whitehead had successfully tested an airplane he designed and built called the Vulture in the wilderness of Bridgeport, Connecticut, at least two years before the Wright brothers' first flight."

"Therefore, Mr. White is the real father of the airplane. It is just a pity that some mainstream American historians have turned a blind eye to Mr. White's achievements because he is a German who immigrated to the United States more than a decade ago."

Teng Yuzao continued, "In fact, Mr. White's first flight was far more successful than the Wright brothers' first flight. Mr. White's plane not only flew about 2.4 kilometers, but was also very agile and could turn flexibly in the air."

"In contrast, the Wright brothers' airplane only flew a few dozen meters for the first time, and it was quite clumsy."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have no intention of belittling the achievements of the Wright brothers. I am just stating a fact to you. Now let us applaud and congratulate Mr. White for his great achievement!"

Although everyone was still a little confused, after Teng Yuzao's initiative, everyone applauded enthusiastically.

Amid the applause of the crowd, Whitehead's face had already turned red with excitement. He had learned from Teng Yubin that the people who followed Teng Yuzao were all big shots. Teng Yuzao once again expressed his strong praise for him in front of these people, which made Whitehead inexplicably grateful, and he spoke to Teng Yuzao in an excited tone.

"My respected Lord Teng, I am very grateful for your compliments once again!"

"I promise you that I will do my best to help you build the best airplane in the world!"

This was exactly what Teng Yuzao wanted to hear from White. He reached out and patted him on the shoulder affectionately, encouraging him.

"Do a good job, Mr. White. We will never treat unfairly those friends who sincerely help us!"

After introducing White Hyde, Teng Yuzao pointed at a tall and thin foreigner and said.

"This is Alberto Santos Dumont, he's Brazilian."

Although Teng Yuzao was also very enthusiastic in his introduction of Dumont, his praise was obviously not as great as his praise for White.

Just after Teng Yuzao had introduced Alberto Santos Dumont to everyone, two lieutenant colonel officers in Zhili Army uniforms suddenly ran in from outside. When they saw Teng Yuzao, they saluted him.

Teng Yuzao laughed and said, "You came at the right time. Come, I will introduce you to the adults."

Teng Yuzhao first introduced the people headed by Yang Shixiang to the two officers, and then pointed to a thin young lieutenant colonel and said with a smile.

"This is Pan Shizhong, from Qingpu, Jiangsu. After graduating from high school, he was selected to study abroad. He went to study at the Ecole Polytechnique in France, and then studied at the Paris Aviation School for a year. He returned to China at the beginning of the year."

Pan Shizhong was also found by Teng Yuzhao and sent abroad to study.

This person is also a figure that cannot be avoided in history. In history, Pan Shizhong served as an instructor at the Aviation School during the Republic of China period and concurrently served as the director of the school's factory.

He was very interested in developing aircraft. While he was in charge of the aviation school factory, he also built his own aircraft and performed flight demonstrations, which impressed people in the aviation industry of the Republic of China.

Later, when he was at Nanyuan Aviation School, he also studied and designed aerial bombs, which he successfully achieved.

When Zhang Xun tried to restore the monarchy in 1917, Pan Shizhong flew a plane to attack him, throwing Zhang Xun's troops, who had never seen an airplane, into chaos and forcing them to surrender.

Another lieutenant colonel in his thirties was named Qin Guoyong, also known by his courtesy name Zizhuang. He was from Dingzhai, Xianfeng County, and was of the Tujia ethnic group. He was one of the founders of the Republic of China Air Force.

Like Pan Shizhong, Qin Guoyong was found by Teng Yuzhao, but he was sent to study at the Belgian Aviation Academy.

Historically, Qin Guoyong was also a capable man. He was the first principal of the first aviation school in the country. He trained nearly a hundred pilots and participated in the establishment of the first aviation team in the country.

When Zhang Xun restored the Qing Dynasty, Qin Guoyong led his planes to bomb the Qing Palace and dropped three bombs.

Although the two are now working as engineers at the Aviation Research Institute headed by Feng Ru and participating in aircraft development, they each have their own tasks.

Pan Shizhong will also serve as the director of the aircraft manufacturing plant, and Qin Guoyong will serve as the principal of the aviation school which is still being established.

After meeting everyone, Teng Yuzao followed Teng Yubin to the restaurant on the first floor for a simple meal. After a short rest, he held a work report meeting in the conference room on the second floor.

First, Teng Yubin reported on the situation at the Zhangbei base.

Regarding the Zhangbei base, there is not only a small airport covering an area of ​​nearly 1,000 acres, but also an aircraft manufacturing plant and aviation school.

The airport has reserved land for expansion, but that is for the second and third phases.

The Aviation Research Institute is not in Zhangbei, it is in Xigu, Tianjin.

This time, Feng Ru and others came to Zhangbei to design two types of aircraft. They have been in Zhangbei for more than a month.

The aviation school has also started recruiting students, but since Qin Guoyong was there, Teng Yubin didn't say much.

In addition, Zhang Bei not only had a flying team of only thirty people, but also a cavalry guard unit.

In his report, Teng Yubin also mentioned that construction of a branch line from the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line to Zhangbei has started and will be open to traffic around March next year.

At that time, it was more convenient to travel between Tianjin and Zhangbei, especially the transportation of some materials and equipment.

In the appointment of Teng Yubin, Teng Yuzao admitted that he had selfish motives.

Although he had stayed with Wu Peifu for a while, and Wu Peifu even took him to Gongchangling outside the Great Wall, he had some experience. Then Teng Yuzhao transferred Teng Yubin over under the pretext of forming a flying team.

According to Teng Yuzhao's idea, if Teng Yubin was promoted too quickly in the Zhi army infantry, it would inevitably cause some concerns. But when it came to the flying team, which no one knew what to do, it was much easier.

When the flying squadron expands in the future and even becomes the country's air force, Teng Yuzhao's promotion will be a natural thing and no one will gossip or criticize him anymore.

The matter regarding the plane was reported by Feng Rulai.

Before the Wright brothers in the United States succeeded in their test flight, no one believed that something with a mass density greater than that of air could fly. Even after the Wright brothers succeeded in their test flight, airplanes still did not receive enough attention.

The current aviation research institute of the Zhi army has never appeared in any powerful country.

According to Feng Ru's report, their research institute, in accordance with Teng Yuzao's request, first disassembled and repeatedly studied the two aircraft purchased from the United States, the Flyer II produced by the Wright Brothers and the No. 1 aircraft produced by Curtiss.

After referring to the aircraft appearance design drawings provided by Teng Yuzao and the corresponding design parameters proposed by Teng Yuzao, they have successively manufactured two batches of aircraft.

The first batch of aircraft were basically a copy of the Flyer 2, and three were manufactured. However, there is no result yet on the aircraft designed based on the aircraft shape proposed by Teng Yuzao.

The main difficulty was still the engine problem. Due to the aircraft design given by Teng Yuzao, although it was still a biplane, the fuselage was relatively closed, with only the cockpit open.

Feng Ru and others believed that although such a design had many advantages, especially the excellent rectification effect, it also increased the weight of the aircraft.

Therefore, they have contacted Li Yulin. Whitehead, who has designed many aircraft engines himself, will soon return to Tianjin to join the engine development of the Military Industry Bureau.

The Aviation Research Institute and the aircraft manufacturing plant are both under the Military Industry Bureau.

Then, Qin Guoyong and Pan Shizhong also reported on their respective responsibilities.

Teng Yuzao's guidance was necessary, as if he intended to help Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang and others increase their understanding of aircraft. At Teng Yuzao's signal, a staff officer soon brought a roll of aircraft appearance sketches drawn by Teng Yuzao himself and hung them up one by one in the conference room.

Although some of the previous sketches still amazed Feng Ru, Li Ruyan and others, they were able to control themselves overall.

This time, the aircraft sketches that Teng Yuzao took out were actually all aircraft from the early days of World War I, about ten years later.

As for whether the original war in history would take place as scheduled at the same time as in history, Teng Yuzhao did not know.

However, Teng Yuzao had already made preparations for what might happen in advance.

In the sketch, there is a French Spade S-VII fighter. The most obvious advantage of this French aircraft is its excellent speed and climbing ability.

In addition, Teng Yuzao knew that its appearance design was on the right track of development.

Another aircraft is a sketch of a German Fokker E-III fighter
(End of this chapter)