"Younger Brother? ”。 

Sun Yuanqi's head was a little bit unbent for a moment: how long has it been since he has been used as a "junior". Called? When was the last time, it seems that it was when Tang Guoan came to look for him, right?

Thinking of Tang Guoan, Sun Yuanqi suddenly came to his senses and asked tentatively: "You also graduated from Yale?" …”

"Not bad! Zhan Tianfang, a man of openness, graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering of the Sheffield Institute of Technology of Yelau University in seven years. ”。 The middle-aged man in front of him, who was not tall and chubby, nodded with a smile, and then said: "The graduation that day seems to be like this, but more than 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and I have never seen such a ceremony again." Now revisiting the old dream, I can't help but sigh that time recommends it. ”

In the Qing Dynasty, China used to call "Yale University". Translated as "Yalau College". , Sun Yuanqi, who follows the customs, naturally understands it.

Zhan, Zhan Tianyou?

Sun Yuanqi's face was full of astonishment: it turned out that the kind middle-aged man in front of him was the "father of China's railways". , "The Father of Modern Chinese Engineering". The known Zhan Da Niu?

"Hello seniors!". Sun Yuanqi immediately greeted respectfully with his fists, "You should say hello in advance, and I will go to greet you." It's rude to offend just now! ”。

Zhan Tianyou didn't care: "It's the openness that has to be so abrupt!" ”。

Sun Yuanqi said sincerely: "I have long admired the name of the scholar!" See you today, three lives are lucky. Come on, come and talk slowly in my office. ”。

"Changren is also the name of a long-admired junior!". Zhan Tianyou laughed.

As he spoke, the two entered the principal's office hand in hand. Seeing that Sun Yuanqi was busy pouring tea, Zhan Tianyou looked around at the plain office: "The junior brother's office is tidy, and it is indeed the atmosphere that a person born in science and engineering should have." ”。

Sun Yuanqi turned around, served Zhan Tianyou a cup of hot tea, and explained with a smile: "For the art of calligraphy and painting, I am a layman, I don't know how to appreciate it, and I have treasured it when others give it to me, on the one hand, I am reluctant to hang it out,.) As for the various books, I was impatient to read them in the vertical version, so I didn't bother to put them on the table, and I went to the library to read them when I needed to. Now in this house, only a set of the Thirteen Classics and a set of "Four Books and Chapters and Sentences" that my uncle and grandfather gave me, and I flipped through them when I was tired. The rest are all academic books that were bought from Europe and the United States, and can be used when writing papers and compiling textbooks. …”

"The junior brother is open!". Zhan Tianyou took a sip of tea and praised: "Hmm! The buds are erect, the soup is clear, and the fragrance is overflowing, it should be the Longjing before the rain, right? Good tea! Good tea! ”。

Sun Yuanqi can't drink good or bad tea, but he feels that this tea is very fresh and used more daily: "This tea is given by students!" If the senior likes it, I'll take some back, anyway, I drink good tea like a cow chewing a peony, it's purely a tyrannical thing. ”。

"Good!". Zhan Tianyou didn't push much, and he was cool.

I remember that when I wrote to him three or four years ago, he was supporting the restoration of the Pingsan Railway Project, but he didn't know when he came to Beijing. Immediately, he asked, "When did the senior arrive in Beijing?" ”。

Zhan Tianyou put down the teacup: "I arrived in Beijing in March and April this year, and I originally wanted to visit, but I heard that you were promoted to a bachelor in the Hanlin Academy, and you were ordered to go to the northwest to investigate, so I had to wait for a while." No, as soon as I heard that you were back, I came looking for you in a hurry! ”。

Sun Yuanqi heard a little meaning: "What's the matter with the senior?" But if I can help, I won't refuse! …”

Zhan Tianyou was overjoyed when he heard this, and stroked his palms and praised: "Good, it is worthy of the school gate of "light and truth!" With your help, I don't have to worry about it! ”。

Hearing him say this, Sun Yuanqi was confused and asked, "I don't know what happened to the senior?" ”。

"Seeing that I'm so anxious, I forgot to tell my junior what the hell is going on!". Zhan Tianyou patted his head and slowly introduced the ins and outs of the matter to Sun Yuanqi: "In recent years, the construction of the Guanwai Railway (that is, the Jingfeng Railway) has a slight surplus, so two months ago, Yuan Xiangcheng Gongbao, who was also the Minister of Railways, asked for the construction of the railway between Jingshi and Zhangjiakou.

"Yuan Gongbao's proposal to build a railway to Zhangjiakou is not a whim, but an old man's view of the country! Zhangjiakou is outside Juyong Pass, the northwest of Beijing, the key point of North China to Inner and Inner Mongolia, and the hole between the north and the south has always been fought for by the soldiers, and it is an important town in northern Xinjiang. Therefore, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has important economic and political value.

"As soon as the news of the construction of the railway broke, Britain and Russia quarreled over the right to build the railway. Keijiro Amamiya also wrote to Yuan Gongbao, saying that the Chinese were unable to build this road, and it was better to hire a technician. Several powers could not hold each other, and in the end they had no choice but to sign an agreement to let us build this Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway by ourselves.

"In fact, this agreement hides their wishful thinking, that is, they are convinced that we Chinese are not capable of building this railway, and they want to see the jokes of the Chinese, and in the end we have to come back and beg them for help." Yuan Gongbao also advocated building it himself, so the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway General Administration and the Engineering Bureau were established a month ago. Under the protection of Yuan Gongbao, Uncle Chen Ping was appointed as the general office, and I was appointed as the general office and chief engineer.

"After I was instructed, I personally led the engineering team to survey the terrain and found that between Jingshi and Zhangjiakou, there are high mountains and steep mountains, a huge amount of earth and stone engineering, and more than 7,000 square meters of bridges, and the road is dangerous and difficult for other places. Especially in the area of Juyongguan and Badaling, there are many mountains and mountains, and there are many rocky bends, which is the most difficult in the railways that have been built in our country. Even in Europe and the United States, such projects are extremely difficult! As a result, some foreigners claim that the Chinese engineers who built the railway may not have yet been born.

"I held my breath in my heart and decided to overcome all difficulties and build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. However, the funding was limited, the construction period was urgent, and Yuan Gongbao strongly advocated self-cultivation, so he asked not to use a foreign worker. So I had to ask you for help! “

Only then did Sun Yuanqi understand that the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, which had laid the fame of Zhan Daniu, could only be built now. Then he was a little confused: "Senior, doesn't the construction of railways require professionals in civil engineering, roads and bridges, and transportation planning?" But we don't have any of these in our school! ”

"It's okay." Zhan Tianyou looked confident, "There are two main things for me to ask my junior for help, the first thing is to do urgently at the moment, which is to design the route and calculate the project cost, which will have a large number of complex and heavy calculation tasks. I know that my brother's university has a special mathematics department, and I believe that students in this major must be good at those complex calculations. So I want to borrow some math students from my junior! ”

Sun Yuanqi nodded without thinking: "That's no problem!" ”

Jingshi University has always been committed to applying what it has learned to the world, and organizes students to participate in various internships every year. At present, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is the best internship unit. I believe that students will be able to learn more knowledge in this internship process and contribute to the country.

Seeing that Sun Yuanqi agreed, Zhan Tianyou was very happy: "As for the second thing, I want to cooperate with you to form a major in railway transportation in your university." You must know that through preliminary estimates, the construction period of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is as long as six years. Moreover, this railway, which is only more than 200 kilometers long, needs to be divided into three sections to build, the first to complete the relatively easy Fengtai to Nankou section, then to complete the Kangzhuang to Zhangjiakou section, and finally to complete the most difficult Nankou to Kangzhuang section.

"My initial assumption is that the General Administration of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and the Engineering Bureau will be responsible for funding, and you, the University of Economic and Technological Affairs, will be responsible for education, and now we will immediately start preparing for the establishment of majors, compiling teaching materials, and recruiting corresponding students in the second half of this year. Because the first section of the project is very close to the school, the students will have to participate in the internship at the construction site while learning the book knowledge at your school. After two or three years of training, the students will be able to basically reach the level of Western engineers, and then devote themselves to the construction of the most difficult section of the railway from Kangzhuang to Zhangjiakou. What do you think of this idea, junior? ”

Sun Yuan thought for a moment and felt that it was a good idea: "There is only one problem, how do you plan to solve the problem of teachers?" ”

"It's not a problem. When I was building the Beijing-Tianjin Railway and the Pingsan Railway, I knew a lot of excellent engineers, and I could invite them to come and teach at that time. It seems that Zhan Tianyou had thought about it very comprehensively before coming here, "Besides, I also heard that the relationship between the junior brother and the Yalau College is very close, and you can ask them to send this teacher over when the time comes!" ”

A few days ago, Sun Yuanqi came back from the northwest and found a call back from Yale and MIT in a pile of letters. First of all, they expressed their understanding and sympathy for Sun Yuanqi's resolute opposition to the United States' demand for the renewal of the treaty, and promised to use the influence of the university to actively promote the abrogation of the treaty by the United States.

Sun Yuanqi naturally felt their enthusiasm, and while affirming his position and sending the corresponding work plan, he told them about the admission of foreign students at Jingshi University, hoping that they would be able to maintain smooth academic exchanges by sending students before the abolition of the treaty. I just don't know if my move will affect the friendly cooperation between the two sides for three or four years.

As for what Zhan Tianyou said, "Please ask Yale University to send teachers over." I'm afraid it will depend on the subsequent reaction of the Yale school to know whether it is feasible or not!

Zhan Daniu and Sun Yuanqi carefully discussed the details of this cooperation, politely declined the invitation to stay for dinner, took half a bag of Longjing before the rain, and went satisfied. (To be continued.)