Everyone knows that Zhang Zhidong is rich, but now he says that he has no money, what can Sun Yuanqi do? You can't pull Zhang Zhidong and turn over his pocket, right?

Fortunately, before coming, Sun Yuanqi was afraid that the funds would not be abundant, so he deliberately created an extra budget of 5,000 taels. Now it's time to take a step back: "I don't know how much the provincial government can allot?" ”

As the saying goes, ask for a price all over the sky, and pay back the money on the spot. It depends on how Zhang Zhidong takes over.

Zhang Zhidong twisted his beard and pondered for a moment before saying, "The old man can only squeeze out 10,000 taels from other places." ”

"Only half?" Sun Yuanqi was a little disappointed. However, there seemed to be no room for bargaining with the old man in front of him, so he could only walk out of the governor's mansion in a hurry.

Returning to Shuilu Street and Yang Duyi, Yang Du's expression did not change in the slightest, and in turn persuaded Sun Yuanqi and said: "Our previous budget was planned according to the official operation of the school. Now with the extra 10,000 taels, it should be enough to complete the preliminary renovation work. ”

Sun Yuan nodded from the starting point, now the transformation of the craft school has not been skimmed, if it is just a preliminary preparation, 10,000 taels of silver is indeed enough. It's just, what to do in the future?

Without waiting for Sun Yuanqi to ask, Yang Du continued: "As for the future, don't worry. Xiang Shuai is now nearly seventy years old, and he has been in the governor of Huguang for more than ten or twenty years, does his life's fame stop here? The so-called 'old man is determined to be thousands of miles; The martyr is in his twilight years, and his heart is full of strength, "He must now always want to go north as soon as possible, join the military plane, become a university scholar, and be a great minister, and die without regrets."

"At present, there are four scholars in the imperial court, among which Wang Renhe (Wen Shao) is already seventy and seven, and in May last year, due to old age, he was not on duty at the military aircraft department, and the time to come to the office is not far off; Your uncle and grandfather, Sun Shouzhou (Jia Nai), is even more old, recuperating at home every once in a while, ignoring mundane things; In addition, there are only two full people, Shixu and Natong, although they are not stupid, but they are only middle-aged. In the co-organizers of the university, in addition to the full of honors, there is only Qu Hongzhen, who has just been appointed after Xu He's retirement in the first month of this year. In other words, there are only six people in the full count, and there are two people who are not directors, which is very rare since the first year of Yongzheng had a co-organizer of the university. If nothing else, if there is no supplementary award at the end of this year, then it will definitely be supplemented in the first half of next year.

"Looking around the country, among the Han people, there are only a few people who can be qualified to serve as university scholars, such as Xiangshuai and Yuan Gongbao. However, Yuan Gongbao held military power, and his direct subordinates were close to his elbows, and the bannermen in the court were quite suspicious of him, and in order to prevent him from sitting big, most of them would not award him a bachelor's degree. And Xiang Shuai is different, he was young and visited the flowers, and when he was in Hanlin, he was famous for his outspokenness and daring to admonish; After serving in the local government, he actively set up foreign affairs, trained recruits, and promoted education, which was effective; Now that he is in his last years, and his brother Wen Dagong was a scholar before his death, the imperial court must choose Xiangshuai in order to reward the old ministers and spread it as a good story.

"Once Xiang Shuai is appointed as a scholar, he will enter Beijing and enter the military aircraft department. The governor of Huguang has changed a new person, he has just arrived, you go and ask him to allocate a little education funds, with your unique saint, will he still refute you and lose face? So, you don't have to worry about the future at all. ”

After listening to Yang Du's analysis, Sun Yuanqi was relieved.

Before the school department did not approve the merger of the normal college, Sun Yuanqi prepared to rectify the interior of the craft school. As soon as I got started, I felt a little powerless: a fence with three piles, and a hero with three gangs. But after removing Chen Qiansheng, who was running around, and Zhang Shizhao, who was in charge of the yamen's money bag, he couldn't even get together three helpers

Coincidentally, when I was worried that there was no one under him, more than 10 or 20 students from Jingshi University came to Wuchang from Beijing to "ask for bags*". Sun Yuan saw so many people, and was happy and suspicious: "How did you get here?" Hey, Pan Xian, you're here too? ”

Pan Xian replied with a smile: "Hello sir, we heard that Mr. said that we needed people, so everyone volunteered to come." It just so happens that Mr. Tesla also has some questions for you, and I haven't been to Wuchang yet, so I'll join in the fun. ”

Except for Pan Xian, the vast majority of this group of students are graduating this year. Sun Yuan then asked, "Have you all graduated?" ”

The students said in unison: "No, there is no President Zhang who wants to come to Hubei to work and want to study with Mr. to come to Wuchang to find you to defend your thesis."

Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but be overjoyed, and took advantage of this time to quickly finish the student's thesis defense, and then dismissed all the Japanese teachers in the craft school and the normal school and replaced them with his own students. With the change of teachers, the textbook also became the Commercial Press edition. Hubei's science education entered the Sun Baixi era in half a month.

It was already mid-August, and after more than a month of deliberation on the case of the adults in Beijing, he finally returned to Hubei. Along with the recital, there are also Tony and Lilith.

Obviously, Tony's visit is to develop unlimited broadcasting business in Central China. Tony thought to himself: Now that Sun Yuanqi, his brother-in-law, is taking care of him in Hubei, he can get twice the result with half the effort if he wants to do things. If you don't go now, when will you wait?

Tony's broadcaster still has its own shares, isn't helping him just helping himself? Moreover, broadcasting plays an important role in disseminating knowledge, disseminating information, promoting science and technology, and entertaining the masses. Sun Yuanqi planned to take Tony to Zhang Zhidong every other day to talk about Xiang.

After listening to it, Yang Du hurriedly suggested: "Baixi wants to help with this matter, and when you see Xiangshuai, it's best not to say that this Mr. Tony is your relative, just say that he is your good friend in the United States, even if you spend more money because of this, it doesn't matter, lest others attack you in the future for collusion between officials and businessmen and the use of power for personal gain." And in the long run, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. If Xiang Shuai allowed the establishment of a broadcasting bureau in Wuchang and let the gentry know that this was a foreigner industry, it would be better to ask the Chinese to come forward on weekdays, knowing that although Hubei has been open for a long time, the people are still suspicious of Westerners. ”

Sun Yuanqi only said that Yang Du was thoughtful, and without thinking about it, he agreed.

"I also thought of this verse, so I came with Xiangli." Tony pointed to a young man who was only seventeen or eighteen years old next to him, "This young man is called Liu Hongsheng, a native of Shanghai, who just dropped out of St. John's University and came to work in our company. I think he is very smart and clever, so I took him out to experience this time. If there is anything in Wuchang in the future, I will ask him to come forward."

The young man hurriedly got up, made a circle to everyone present, and said in a thick Shanghai accent: "Junior Liu Hongsheng, please meet all the lords and gentlemen."

Everyone spoke, only Lilith sat on the side and smiled silently, with Sun Yuanqi's understanding of her, this little girl's coming this time is not just as simple as learning from Zhao Wuniang to find a husband for thousands of miles. After everyone dispersed and the husband and wife lingered on the bed, Sun Yuanqi asked, "Lilith, how is your MSG factory?" ”

Lilith looked proud: "Very good, after my father's machine arrived, it was debugged in half a month, and it began to be put into normal production at the beginning of this month." With the help of my brother's broadcast, the sales in Shanghai were very smooth. What we need to do in the future is to expand sales. ”

Sun Yuan smiled and said, "Lilith is really amazing, right, you came this time, I'm afraid it's not just to see me, right?" ”

"Nasty, I'm just here to see you," Lilith said coquettishly.

"Okay, well, you came all the way to see me. After reading me, what else is there to do? ”

Lilith drew circles with her fingers on Sun Yuanqi's chest, and it took a long time to raise her head and say, "Last time in Shanghai, didn't you ask me to build another flour mill by myself somewhere else?" I thought about it, it is best to choose Wuchang, with the Yangtze River waterway, the transportation is more convenient. ”

Sun Yuanqi was a little surprised: "Is there wheat in Hubei?" ”

Since ancient times, there has been a rumor that "the lake is ripe, and the world is full". But in Sun Yuanqi's mind, Hubei, known as the "province of a thousand lakes", should be planted with rice everywhere, how could there be wheat

Lilith was also stunned: "I heard in Shanghai that Hubei is rich in wheat ......"

Although she did a careful investigation in Shanghai, she still had no bottom in her heart when she heard her husband's doubts. In fact, this is Sun Yuanqi's loneliness, Hubei is an important wheat producing area in China, with the help of abundant water resources, his output ranks among the top in the country.

Sun Yuanqi couldn't eat it either, so he had to say, "I don't know very well, let's find someone to ask tomorrow." Suddenly, another question came to mind: "Lilith, the last time I mentioned to you about the production of potato chips, are you still interested?" ”

Lilith raised her head vigilantly like a frightened kitten: "Yes, of course there are only in the past two years, first busy building an underwear company and selling MSG, and now building a MSG factory in Shanghai, so it has been delayed." When this time is over, I will immediately start producing potato chips. Making potato chips is a big business with incredible profits, so you don't want to pass it on to someone else, right? ”

Sun Yuanqi scratched her little nose: "Where do you want to go, I just want to ask you, if you are going to produce potato chips, is the potato peeler designed by someone?" ”

Blamed her husband, Lilith felt embarrassed, so she shrank into Sun Yuanqi's arms: "Not yet." What, you're going to help someone? ”

Sun Yuan nodded: "I have a general idea, but I can't put it into practice." At present, there is a craft school in Wuchang, and the students in it have good hands-on ability. I hope you can invest some money in the school, and then organize students to develop it. When the result comes out, you will take it to the United States to apply for a patent, how about it? ”

Usually, when everyone goes to potato chips, they use a knife to cut them, or scrape them with a bottle cap or something. When it comes time to peel potatoes on a large scale, many people will fall into the mistake of habitual thinking: what knife or tool should be used to peel the skin? Potatoes come in all sizes and shapes, and there's really no way to learn how to peel them. In fact, a real potato peeler, properly called a "potato peeler", uses a brush such as a steel wool ball to rub against the fast-moving potatoes to remove the thin skin on the surface and obtain a completely peeled potato. As long as you think about this layer, it is much easier to implement later.

Lilith said, "Okay, how much does it cost?" ”

Sun Yuanqi thought about it in his heart: "You pay 20,000 US dollars first, and I will let them develop a potato peeler." After you apply for a patent, you pay another $40,000 to develop the entire assembly line, from potato cleaning to final chip packaging. ”。.。