Chapter 005: I've Arrived in China (Second Update, Seeking Recommendations)

  (Updated again today, I've worked so hard to update, I'm sure you guys must be enjoying it! Since that's the case, let me recommend and encourage Wu Yu (No Language) a bit! Hehe, thanks!)

  "...you should know, today the great president encourages industry..."

  Li Zicheng, seemingly sitting in an outdoor cafe drinking coffee, occasionally sizing up the man in front of him who was talking to him about "the good of the great president", Yang Du.

  Yang Du's head was of medium size, his build was slender, with a long face and prominent eyebrow bones. His two big eyes shone brightly, and between his straight nose bridge and clearly defined lips, there was a deep lip groove that left an unforgettable impression on people. But today, he wore a blue cotton robe that had been washed until it was white, with single-layer thin-soled black coarse cloth shoes on his feet, no hat on his head, and only less than an inch of short hair on his scalp, which was obviously newly grown.

  This man is a highly controversial figure in modern Chinese history, with exceptional talent and ambition. He was taught by famous teachers and studied the imperial system, later traveling to Japan to research constitutional monarchy. In the end, it was his imperial studies that led to Yuan Shikai's downfall. Even at the time of Yuan's death, he still lamented "Yang Du misled me".

  When Yang Deyi conveyed Yuan Shikai's "invitation", Li Zicheng knew he was faced with several options: one was to accept Yuan Shikai's invitation and go to the capital, two was to disembark in Shanghai as planned, three was neither of these.

  The third option is equivalent to not choosing, offending both sides, and China will have no place for itself. As for the second option, if one refuses the invitation and still gets off the ship in Shanghai as planned, then one is undoubtedly sending a signal to Yuan Shikai through action that one has chosen the revolutionary party. But what support can the revolutionary party give oneself now? At home, one has no roots, no relatives, no friends; without support from the government, it's feared that everything will be difficult.

  Why did Yuan Shikai want to invite himself to Beijing?

  Money!

  It's all about the money! Whether in Yuan Shikai's or the revolutionary party's eyes, they themselves are nothing but Tang Monk meat. The problem is that Tang Monk has Sun Wukong to protect him, but what about them? They have no protection at all.

  Either be eaten by others or cut off a piece of flesh and sell it at a good price! Compared to Yuan Shikai, the revolutionary party can give very little to itself, and the strength of the revolutionary party is too weak. They cannot protect themselves, at least not for now.

  Although it's uncomfortable to think about cutting off a piece of flesh after boarding the ship from San Francisco, Li Zichen was secretly delighted when he saw Yang Du and others coming on behalf of Yuan Shikai. Being bitten by a mad dog and still being as happy as now is probably only possible for himself.

  Yang Du! Yang Du!

  In his heart, he was secretly delighted that the biggest reliance of the present had come to his doorstep. Since Yuan Shikai took the initiative to find him, thinking of eating his own flesh, he would not let him off easily and must make him spit out a few big buckets of blood.

  Or he felt dry in his mouth, Yang Du picked up his teacup and took a sip, saying:

  "In today's China, who doesn't know the name of Li Zhiyuan? Who doesn't know his talent? The President knows that your interest lies in industry, not politics. That's why he wants to invite you to Beijing: first, to meet this outstanding young talent; second, because he knows that since childhood, you have lived abroad with your father and have no relatives or acquaintances at home. He wants to take this opportunity to introduce you to some people, which will be of great help in doing business."

  "It seems that Zichen must go to Beijing himself to thank the President!"

  Li Zicheng smiled and said, "Of course we must go to the capital. If we don't go to the capital, how can we make Yuan Shikai spit out a few buckets of blood?"

  "Others have overpraised me, I haven't done anything. The drawings are a summary of the experiences and techniques of our predecessors, to be honest..."

  "Zhiyuan, you're joking."

  As soon as Li Zicheng expressed his willingness to go to the capital city to personally visit the President and thank him in person, Yang Du hurriedly said that he knew half of his task was already completed.

  "For decades, our countrymen have been studying Western learning. In these dozens of years, countless people have written hundreds of millions of articles, but none of them can compare to the profit made by your blast furnace, which has sold over 100 million taels of silver. Although the purpose may be misguided, this huge profit has led to a trend among our countrymen to enthusiastically discuss science and patents, and even to devote themselves to it. It can be said that you have not only opened up the wisdom of our people today but also provided endless inspiration for future generations."

  This is not a compliment from Yang Du, but a fact. Lured by heavy profits, in the past, people only saw that learning from the West was the way to strengthen the country, but they never thought that this Western learning contained huge profits, and sometimes just one patent could make you rich enough to rival a country's wealth.

  Previously, people had doubts about Western learning, but now with this living example, no one has any more doubts. Western learning is wealth!

  The calm Yellow Sea seemed to welcome the returning traveler, quietly, without a single wave. As dusk approached, the sky and sea were dyed red by the setting sun. Sitting in a chair, Li Zicheng gazed at the sea and sky dyed red by the sunset, looking at the seemingly blood-red ocean, and appeared to have seen the smoke of the Battle of the Yellow Sea during the First Sino-Japanese War again. Perhaps this place was far from Dandong, but it didn't stop Li Zicheng's mind from conjuring up such a thought.

  "...At the same time, I also saw China, this empire that has declined, but can still rise again one day in the East!"

  I saw a sentence on the internet many years ago, which made Li Zichen lose the self-entertainment of exchanging flesh for blood, but instead gave birth to more heavy-hearted murmurs.

  The sleeping lion has awakened, rising in the East!

  This is the expectation of generations of Chinese people, and many nationals have paid their lives for it. Generation after generation of Chinese people have been working hard to find this answer, thinking they have found it.

  But even after a hundred years, people are still confused, and it seems that the answer is still far away.

  Answer!

  What is the answer after all?

  Li Zichen turned around and looked at Yang Du, who had been persuading him all along. He fiercely crushed the cigarette butt in the ashtray.

  "Mr. Xiaozi, what do you think is needed for China to become rich and powerful?"

  This question has been haunting me all the time, what is the answer after all? Homesickness or perhaps it's because I know that I'm about to set foot on this land of China in this era, that's why I have such thoughts.

  "A little less argument and a little more action, please?"

  Yang Du was slightly stunned when he heard this question, and then used Li Zichen's occasional words to answer. Although the words were short, Yang Du understood that what he said was true. China has never lacked people who comment on the sidelines, but there are not many people who bury their heads in actual work.

  Yang Du answered in his own words, Li Zichen smiled helplessly, isn't that the case? As long as everyone goes to do something practical, China...

  Looking out at the end of the sea, there... that is China, a country most familiar to oneself, yet everything there is also unfamiliar. And now, one is about to arrive in this familiar yet strange land, to start one's own career, or perhaps it should be said, to fulfill one's mission.

  But...

  Knitting his brow, people used to say that the closer you get to your hometown, the more timid you become. Is he not exactly like this now? As for the future, Li Zichen found himself to be so perplexed, even in his twenty-three years of life, he had never been as bewildered as he was today.

  "Mr. Yang, I'll get off at Qingdao!"

  Although Yang Du had not yet made his intentions clear, Li Zichen knew why he came here. What the president's earnest expectations were, what seeking talents like thirst, in short, was for his own money.

  If I were to disembark in Shanghai, I would likely be constantly lectured by people there, saying things like "The Yuan clan wants to usurp the fruits of the revolution" and such. This kind of lecture I have already studied for decades, now I no longer need to go learn it again.

  "...I will get off at Qingdao!"

  As soon as he heard this, Guan Zhenming's lips curled up and he unintentionally stopped listening. The rest had already become a foregone conclusion. To choose the revolutionary party? Any person with even a little foresight would know what that meant. China was now under Yuan Shikai's rule, and once they obtained Li Zicheng's support, those revolutionaries who were unwilling to relinquish the presidency would not be willing to hide in the wilderness as they are now. If that were the case, it's likely that China would ultimately become a bloody battlefield again.

  Moreover, Li Zicheng would certainly understand that with Yuan Shikai's support, his future business dealings in China would be twice as easy.

  "Railway, steel mill..."

  Repeating the two words in his mind, Guan Zhenming walked slowly down the stairs. This time he didn't go to the deck, but went straight to the third-class cabin. The cramped third-class cabin was filled with a mixture of inferior tobacco and foot odor, sweat odor and other smells lingering in the air. He walked into his own cabin, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

  "Railway, steel mill, railway..."

  Every time he repeated these two words, Guan Zhenming felt that deep within his heart, a fire seemed to be burning. This fire burned more and more fiercely, until he could no longer control the flames in his heart, and could only let them burn more and more intensely.

  "Li Zichen! Li Zichen!"

  At night, the sea presents another scene. The moonlit sea surface appears exceptionally pure and vast; while on a moonless evening, under the reflection of the sky's light, the sea is full of vigor and beauty, deep and mysterious.

  At dawn, when the ship was docking off the coast of Qingdao, looking at the lights on the shore and the German warships anchored in the harbor, Li Zichen sighed in his heart as he disembarked with the crowd, gazing at the distant Qingdao which seemed like a small Berlin.

  "Jiaozhou Bay! China's, but Germany's!"

  With the same sigh, Guan Zhenming, who was carrying his luggage off the ship, couldn't help but turn his head back to look at the first-class cabin as he stepped onto the land of Qingdao.

  "Zhiyuan, I've already booked a few compartments on that side. We can take the train tomorrow at noon. Today we can go to the restaurant first and rest for a while!"

  As he was about to disembark, Yang Du's words were tinged with a hint of cordiality, but his face couldn't conceal the triumphant look in his eyes. He had taken a subtle glance at Li Zichen on the ship, and this young man, who had no friends or connections in the country, made Yang Du see an opportunity that he must seize to bind him to himself.

  "Thank you!"

  When Li Zichen thanked, he looked back at a group of people behind him. They were experts in various fields whom he had hired from the United States to help him establish his business in China. As his left foot was about to step onto the land of Qingdao Port, looking at this city in front of him, Li Zichen suddenly felt an urge to shout loudly.

  "China! I'm coming!"