Around the Spring Festival, there were eight or nine students from all over the country who came from all over the country because of their love of airplanes, plus Zhang Zeyu, who arrived first, and students who were interested in the school, there were more than ten people in total. On the day of the Lantern Festival, the teachers and students held their first meeting in the newly repaired laboratory building.

When almost every student arrived, Sun Yuanqi personally met him. In normal times, I often communicate with these students, ask about their learning progress, understand their needs, and solve various corresponding questions. After a period of communication, Sun Yuanqi has a superficial understanding of these students, and in general, they have a deep-rooted hobby for aerospace. This is also understandable: without such strong feelings, who would have traveled thousands of miles to the capital and come to this remote suburb?

But what doesn't match their strong interest is their weak accumulation of knowledge. Don't talk about fluid mechanics, even if you can read through Sun Yuanqi's "Fundamentals of Mathematical Analysis of Engineering" and "Ordinary Things", there are very few. In their simple understanding, if you want the plane to fly into the sky, isn't it enough to design it and provide enough power? What kind of mathematics and physics are you studying?

At the meeting, everyone first introduced themselves, and then Sun Yuanqi spoke.

Sun Yuanqi stood up and arched his hand at everyone: "First of all, thank you for being here. After listening to everyone's self-introduction, I know that you come from all over the motherland, such as Wang Siyao from Hubei, Zhang Zeyu from Fengtian, and Zhang Jingfu, and even from Guizhou in the southwest of the motherland. A person can travel thousands of miles for his dreams, which is a prerequisite for achieving his dreams. As you sit here, you have taken the first step towards making your dreams come true. On behalf of the school, I would like to welcome you all here.

"Since the beginning of the people, people have always longed to fly freely in the sky like birds, so our ancestors created the story of Chang'e running to the moon, as long as a elixir, you can fly to the sky and reach the moon. What a wish! With the development of science and technology, flying and landing on the moon are no longer just dreams. I can tell you with absolute certainty that in the next 100 years, mankind will be on the moon!

"But before that, the first problem we have to solve is how to fly into the sky first. Some people will say, isn't there a hot air balloon now? That's right, with a hot air balloon, mankind has realized its dream of taking off. But because the balloon is too safe, not maneuverable, too slow, and it relies heavily on air currents, we are still a long way from the actual flight. Now it seems that the only way to achieve flight is an airplane.

"The thing that flew was the first test flight in the United States not long ago, and it was a certain success - well, to borrow a technical term from a certain country, it was 'partially successful'. You don't understand this new thing, and I don't understand it! It's up to us to grope in the dark together. It's like Watt developed a steam engine, we don't know, we don't care, and when people use steam engines to build ships to fight, we can only be beaten passively and stare dryly! It's the same with airplanes, we can't wait for the aggressors to drop bombs on our heads, and then we can study them, right?

"In order for an airplane to fly into the sky, I think you need two wings: one wing is physics, especially fluid mechanics in physics, which determines how high you can fly; The other wing is the engine, which determines how fast you can fly. A few days ago, I had a conversation with all of you and got a little bit of a glimpse of your learning. I think that in the next six months or a year, everyone's main task is to learn to walk on two feet before they are familiar with the two wings.

"Which two feet? Foreign Languages and Mathematics. Nowadays, almost all advanced scientific knowledge is created by foreigners and written in foreign languages. Only by learning a foreign language can we quickly understand the latest developments in foreign research aircraft. And all physics problems must be solved mathematically in the end, so mathematics must also be learned well.

"Studying aircraft is a long and arduous process. In this process, we also need to pay attention to two points: actively innovate and pay attention to confidentiality. The two go hand in hand. Only continuous innovation can have the value of confidentiality. Only with strict secrecy can the role of innovation be guaranteed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us work together to realize our common dream. When 50 or 100 years have passed, I hope that when we look back on the past, we will be proud and proud of today's decision! ”

Among the more than 10 people in this class, many famous experts represented by the "Three Heroes of Aviation" have come out. They are the leaders of the world's first generation of aviation personnel and support the development of China's aviation industry.

The meeting was held in early 1904, a year that was later called the "First Year of Chinese Aviation".

Just as Sun Yuanqi was preparing for various affairs of the Aircraft Research Institute, the Russo-Japanese War began vigorously in Northeast China: on February 6, 1904, Japan officially broke off diplomatic relations with Russia, and on the night of February 8, it did not declare war. Regarding the position of the Qing court in this war, later history writes as follows:

The Russo-Japanese War was fought mainly on Chinese territory. The corrupt Qing government went so far as to disregard state sovereignty and the people's lives and property, and allowed Japan and Russia to trample on the splendid rivers and mountains of northeast China. On February 12, 1904, the Qing government shamelessly declared "external neutrality", designated the area east of the Liao River as a "war zone" between the Japanese and Russian armies, and strictly ordered the local military and political chiefs to "take strict precautions" against the masses of the people and "effectively suppress them."

If Sun Yuanqi had read this passage at the beginning of the 21st century, he might have approved of it. When they truly integrate into this period of historical life and truly feel the powerlessness of the country's declining power, they seem to be more able to understand the government's policy of "partial neutrality". Perhaps, this is what Mr. Chen Yinke called "sympathy of understanding".

In contrast to the government's openly stated policy of "neutrality," there is a surging sentiment of "uniting with Japan and rejecting Russia" among the government and the opposition. During this period, Sun Yuanqi also received a letter from Cai Yuanpei, in which he said that they had organized and established a "Comrades Association for Russia" to step up their study of ways to deal with Russian aggression. Attached to the letter was also the magazine "Russian Affairs Alert," which they edited, which was roughly flipped through, and was full of arguments about "uniting Japan and rejecting Russia."

Sun Yuanqi was even more depressed, how could even an outstanding figure like Cai Yuanpei be involved in this kind of tone? As for the huge trauma caused by the First Sino-Japanese War ten years ago, we have selectively forgotten it, is it because Japan's propaganda is too good, or is our memory too poor?

With the victory of the Japanese army in the northeast one after another, the whole country celebrated and cheered. At Jingse University, the news of the Russo-Japanese War was broadcast every day, and students of all ages listened attentively, rejoicing when they heard the victory of the Japanese army, and depressed when they heard that the Japanese army was defeated. At this time, Sun Yuanqi felt that he was "standing alone, hanging from each other".

There is nowhere to vent feelings, and they accumulate in their hearts every day, in this case, I can feel the helplessness of Qu Yuan's "the whole world is turbid, I am alone, and everyone is drunk and I am awake". One day after the Spring Festival, Sun Yuanqi decided to go into the city, visit his uncle and grandfather, and ask him for advice.

Sun Jianai, who is already in his 70s after the Chinese New Year, was appointed a Fellow of Dongge University last year, and served as the Minister of Administration and the Minister of Studies. Although the boss is still strong, after all, the years are not forgiving, and he has become more and more old over the years.

In the study, the old man listened carefully to Sun Yuanqi's concern about Japan's rapid rise after defeating Russia, and then asked: "Baixi, why are you so sure that the Japanese army will win this vicious battle?" ”

Only then did Sun Yuanqi remember that the Russo-Japanese War began in early 1904 and lasted until the second half of 1905, when it ended in a crushing defeat for the Russian army. This is the knowledge point in the Chinese textbook "Mr. Fujino" back then, so remember some. As for now, the war has just begun, both sides are deploying troops, and the large-scale war has not yet begun. As for the fear of aggression against China after the victory of the Japanese army, it is even more groundless.

I had the intention to prevaricate, but I didn't want to deceive the boss, so I had to bite the bullet and say: "Yes, uncle, according to the existing situation, I can be sure that the Japanese army will win!" ”

Fortunately, the old man didn't ask, just stroked his beard slowly: "According to various news from the Military Aircraft Department, the old man also predicted that the Japanese army would win, but the victory was also a miserable victory, after all, Tsarist Russia is not a good match!" It is very rare for Baixi to have this judgment! ”

What kind of judgment do I have? It is clearly written in the book of the afterlife! Sun Yuanqi thought so in his heart, but he would not say anything, but said: "Japan first defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War, and then made Korea a vassal, and now it has defeated Tsarist Russia, and it will no longer be invincible in East Asia." Winning again and again will inevitably swell your ambitions. If you look around, you will inevitably aim at China. In this way, the country is in danger! The nation is in danger! ”

The old man squinted his eyes and looked Sun Yuanqi up and down: "Baixi, did someone else tell you, or did you come up with it yourself?" ”

Sun Yuanqi said sneeringly: "I listened to the radio and figured it out by myself." ”

The old man nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad! Not bad! Those who do not seek eternity are not enough to seek a moment; Those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a domain. You can think so far, the old man is so relieved! Immediately, the old man said: "However, Baixi, it is a good thing to see far away, and you must also see the key things clearly!" ”

Sun Yuanqi hurriedly asked.

The old man stroked his beard: "Baixi, are you a little dissatisfied with my policy of 'maintaining neutrality in the Ming Dynasty, but actually uniting with Japan to resist Russia'?" In fact, this is all a last resort! Isn't there a clear-eyed person in the court? Who can't remember the First Sino-Japanese fiasco ten years ago? Who can't see the wolf-like ambitions of Japan? Forced by critical circumstances, it has to be so. To put it mildly, now the Northeast is 'rather with Japan than with Russia'! ”