King of Beiyang

On December 5th of the fourteenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, the Lloyd, a passenger ship carrying Li Jingyuan and others, finally arrived at Hamburg, the largest port city in the German Empire, after a long voyage.

The vast majority of goods produced in the German Empire were shipped overseas through the port of Hamburg.

At the same time, resources and other goods imported by the German Empire from all over the world were also transported to various places through the port of Hamburg.

This makes the Port of Hamburg very busy, with all kinds of merchant ships docked at the pier.

Li Jingyuan and the others stood on the deck of the Lloyd cruise ship, looking at the bustling port, filled with emotion.

Such a scene would never have been seen in the Qing Empire.

And this is perhaps the biggest difference between industrialized countries and agricultural countries!

"Let's go, let's disembark. The people from the embassy are already waiting at the dock!" Li Jingyuan said to the group.

Li Hongzhang had already instructed the Qing Empire's legation in Germany to assist Li Jingyuan and the other Beiyang elites with their enrollment matters.

The group of Beiyang elites nodded in agreement.

After disembarking from the cruise ship with his luggage, Li Jingyuan discovered that Jin Kaili, the counselor from the embassy, ​​had personally come to Hamburg to greet them.

It should be noted that the Qing Dynasty's envoy to the German Empire was concurrently held by Hong Jun, the envoy to the Russian Empire.

As a counselor, Kim Kai-ri is considered the highest-ranking official on the embassy's side.

Li Jingyuan originally thought that Jin Kaili might send a few embassy staff to help them, but he didn't expect him to come in person.

It must be admitted that foreigners are also very adept at interpersonal relationships and social etiquette.

Moreover, Kim Kye-ri had previously served as an advisor to Lee Hong-chang.

"My lord, I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come all the way from Berlin!"

"Third Young Master, His Excellency has already instructed that the embassy will provide full assistance with your and the other students' enrollment matters. Everyone must be tired from the journey, so let's go to the inn to rest first. Then, let's try some German cuisine!" Jin Kaili's face was full of smiles.

Li Jingyuan did not refuse. After more than forty days on the ship, crossing half the globe, everyone was indeed very tired.

After arriving at the hotel and resting for a while, the group, led by Kim Gae-ri, went to a famous restaurant in Hamburg for dinner.

"Young Master, the most famous food in Hamburg isn't found in those big hotels and restaurants, but in these restaurants that have been passed down for hundreds of years or even longer. Everyone should try it; the food here is quite good!" Jin Kaili enthusiastically introduced.

  

Germans possess exceptional talent in areas such as mechanical manufacturing.

However, when it comes to food, there's very little to offer.

The main dishes include roasted pork knuckle, braised beef in vinegar, fried pork cutlet, and beef rolls. In addition, there are sausages, bread, various cakes and hamburgers, such as the famous local fish hamburger.

The first attempt seemed to go well, but eating these things every meal from now on would undoubtedly be a huge challenge.

For many students studying abroad, in addition to language barriers, food is also a significant hurdle.

Fortunately, having just arrived in the German Empire, everyone was quite intrigued by these novel foods and ate them with great relish.

After we had eaten and drunk our fill, the waiter served us several cups of tea.

However, it wasn't the kind of clear tea found in China; it had milk added.

This made everyone feel uncomfortable.

"Third Young Master, I've already booked the train tickets. There's one from Hamburg to Kiel tomorrow morning, and another from Hamburg to Berlin. The Naval Academy and the Prussian War Academy have already started classes. So, we need to act quickly!" Kim Kai-ri said.

Li Jingyuan nodded; their timing was inconvenient.

Both military academies have already started their semesters. In fact, they only have less than a month left to study this semester.

Next, everyone needs to hurry up and catch up on the previous material.

Li Jingyuan has already decided that he will probably have to hire extra teachers to tutor everyone.

Although foreigners don't like working overtime.

But as long as the money is right, everything is fine.

Money power is useful in any country.

However, Li Jingyuan didn't have much money; all of it added up to just over 70,000 marks.

If used sparingly, this money can comfortably get by for the next few years.

However, this was far from enough to achieve his goal of purchasing warships and strengthening the Beiyang Fleet.

Therefore, making money, and making as much money as possible, has become the top priority.

"Counselor, there's a small matter I need your help with!" Li Jingyuan said.

"Please give your orders, Third Young Master!" Jin Kaili said humbly.

"Here's the thing, some of my father's men have developed a new drug that's very effective against bacterial infections. I hope you can help me register a patent for it in the German Empire, other European countries, and the United States."

I will issue you a letter of authorization.

I will cover all expenses!

Li Jingyuan said in a low voice.

Kim Gae-ri glanced at Lee Kyung-won with a puzzled look, seemingly expressing doubt.

You know, the far East is known as a wasteland of technology!

This country can develop a drug to treat bacterial infections? That's simply a fantasy.

However, Kim Gae-ri still accepted the documents handed to him by Lee Kyung-won, and then signed his name on the documents.

"Third Young Master, these are minor matters. I will arrange for someone to take care of them!" Jin Kaili replied immediately.

Li Hongzhang was in charge of the entire Qing Empire's foreign affairs. Although Jin Kaili knew very well that he was a foreigner and could not possibly serve as the Qing Empire's minister to other countries, once he gained Li Hongzhang's approval, serving as a counselor in various embassies was entirely possible.

Just like the Qing Dynasty's legation to the German Empire today, since the minister was concurrently the minister to the Russian Empire, he was in charge of all the affairs of the legation.

This made Jin Kaili almost always oblige Li Jingyuan's requests.

Before the advent of antibiotics such as penicillin, sulfonamides were arguably the best antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Furthermore, in another timeline, sulfonamides were invented more than forty years later.

Currently, there is no effective antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drug in the world.

It's fair to say that Li Jingyuan's discovery of sulfonamides in this era was like finding a gold mine!

Especially if war breaks out, there will undoubtedly be a greater need for this medicine.

In war, the mortality rate from infections following injuries can be extremely high.

This is also why the casualty rate remained high during this era.

It is conceivable that once Li Jingyuan begins to sell sulfonamides in large quantities, he will inevitably gain a huge market share and make a fortune.

However, before that, Li Jingyuan must first apply for patents in various countries.

Only in this way can his interests be guaranteed.

In this era, Western countries already have relatively well-developed patent systems.

Even if it cannot achieve truly absolute patent protection, it is still quite good in a relatively sense.