Beggar at the gate of Tsinghua University
After the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, a ragged, disheveled beggar came to the gate of the Bible College (the temporary site of Tsinghua University) in Changsha, Hunan Province, walking trembling and trembling, holding a vegetable jar tightly in his arms.
The beggar said to the doorman, "Is President Mei Yiqi of Tsinghua University here?" I want to see him. The doorman only thought he was talking nonsense, drove him away, and pushed the beggar to the side as he spoke.
beggar
At this time, Mei Yiqi, who was wearing a long shirt, walked past the school gate, the beggar broke away from the doorman and rushed to Principal Mei, Mei Yiqi stood in the distance and looked at the beggar in front of him in shock, probably wondering why the beggar would know him.
When he saw the beggar's face clearly, he was shocked and said excitedly, "It's you!" Come in with me! Only the security guard was left to stare at the direction the two men had left with stunned eyes.
Mei Yiqi
Principal Mei brought the beggar into the office, and the beggar drank two sips of water, put the vegetable jar in his arms on the table, and said with relief: "My task is finally complete!" ”
What is the origin of this beggar? Let Principal Mei personally receive him, what is his task? How did he end up in such a field?
01
The identity of a beggar
The "beggar" is Zhao Zhongyao, the father of China's atomic energy, whether he is alive or dead, his name is almost no one has heard of, but Deng Jiaxian is already familiar with it, Deng Jiaxian was once his student.
In 1902, Zhao Zhongyao was born in a well-known family of traditional Chinese medicine in Zhejiang, his father read poetry and books, read all the cold and warm in the world, and always believed that knowledge can change his destiny, so he trained his son Zhao Zhongyao and let him use knowledge to change his fate and even the fate of the country.
Zhao Zhongyao
Zhao Zhongyao was admitted to Nanjing University at the age of 18, and because of his outstanding performance in the school, he successfully stayed in the university to teach at the end of four years of university life.
Zhao Zhongyao was engaged in physics research wholeheartedly in NTU, he had a passion and passion for physics, in 1925, at the invitation of Tsinghua Ye Qisun, Zhao Zhongyao came to Tsinghua University and became an assistant professor in the Department of Physics.
After two years at Tsinghua University, Zhao Zhongyao was fortunate to be sent to the United States for further study, and his mentor at that time was also very powerful, Robert Andrew Millikan, who had won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Millikan
After five years of further study in the United States, Zhao Zhongyao put all his time and energy into academic research, and just when he was about to graduate, Zhao Zhongyao felt that the topic given by his tutor was too simple, so he did a topic that the tutor had not yet studied.
That is, this topic has opened a new door to world physics, and Zhao Zhongyao has also become the first person to discover the annihilation of positive and negative matter, and could have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, but Zhao Zhongyao's mind is not on the award, he only wants to learn knowledge to serve the motherland.
In 1931, Zhao Zhongyao graduated from a polytechnic university in the United States, and then stepped into the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where he met the physicist Rutherford.
Rutherford
Zhao Zhongyao would conduct physics research with Rutherford every day, and Rutherford looked at this colleague who was struggling to study and "liked", so he gave him fifty milligrams of radium.
Radium is very radioactive, and before he returned to China, he kept radium on his body, afraid that others would find out and snatch it for him.
After returning to China, Zhao Zhongyao put fifty milligrams of radium in the laboratory of Tsinghua University and established China's first nuclear physics laboratory.
When the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in 1937 and Peiping fell, Zhao Zhongyao was thinking of these fifty milligrams of radium.
02
Zhao Zhongyao escorted Radium south
After the fall of Peiping and the fall of Tsinghua University, radium is a scarce physical material banned all over the world and plays a vital role in China's "nuclear weapons", and if radium falls into the hands of the Japanese, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Zhao Zhongyao had received the order to go south to Changsha, Hunan Province, and because he was relieved not to be able to get radium, he wanted to risk going back to get it.
Zhao Zhongyao's family
In order to make his operation more successful, he found Liang Sicheng, hoping that Liang Sicheng could drive his car to Take Zhao Zhongyao to Tsinghua University and help him cover up.
Liang Sicheng and his wife were also patriotic scholars, and immediately agreed to Zhao Zhongyao's request, along the way, they encountered a lot of patrolling Japanese troops, fortunately, they could overcome the danger every time.
Liang Sicheng and his wife
Zhao Zhongyao did not dare to enter through the gate, fortunately he was familiar enough with Tsinghua University, he flipped into the school from the outer wall, evaded the patrol of the Japanese army, and "crossed the mountains" to the laboratory.
Fortunately, his treasure "radium" was still there, and the Japanese army had not yet discovered anything valuable in the laboratory, so he put the radium into his clothes and carefully came out of the laboratory and flipped out of Tsinghua University.
Zhao Zhongyao and Liang Sicheng were separated at the mouth of an alley, Zhao Zhongyao escorted Radium south, Liang Sicheng and his wife went back to prepare for some things going south, and the three parted ways.
Zhao Zhongyao knew that it was very difficult for him to go south, not to mention that he still carried radium on his body, which was difficult to add, if he was discovered by the Japanese army, the Japanese might directly snatch it away, and Zhao Zhongyao would also be killed by the Japanese army.
In order to better protect radium, he disguised himself, dressed himself as a refugee, his hair had not been washed in years, his clothes were a little tattered, he picked up a vegetable jar in the garbage heap, and his face was smeared with mud.
Dressing himself up as a beggar, it was this outfit that evaded the search of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army saw that he was dirty and waved his hand to let him quickly walk away.
As for the vegetable jar that Zhao Zhongyao was holding, and the fragrance of pickles, the Japanese were not suspicious, so he began his journey south.
Zhao Zhongyao never let others touch his vegetable jar, because the radium in the vegetable jar was too radioactive, and it would cause radioactive harm to the human body.
During the "journey" to the south, Zhao Zhongyao also met acquaintances, and in order to avoid complications, he shrank in the corner with his head down and did not speak to anyone.
After several turns, he finally arrived in Changsha, and there was no danger along the way, and when he arrived in Changsha, he could not find the site of Tsinghua University.
Because of the war, Tsinghua University moved to the Bible College in Changsha, Hunan Province, and he exhausted his strength to finally find the address of Tsinghua University, and was stopped by security guards.
Fortunately, when he saw President Mei Yiqi, Zhao Zhongyao was relieved, Tsinghua University was trampled by the Japanese army, and was forced to dismiss the teachers and staff in the school, Principal Mei was not moved, but when he saw this "beggar", he hid his face and cried bitterly, sighing, "How many sins have you suffered!" ”
This road is full of thorns, how difficult the road is, only Zhao Zhongyao alone knows.
In the war era, no place can stay for a long time, no matter where he goes, he will hold the radium himself, others want to help him take it, but he said: "This thing has radiation, I hold it myself at ease." ”
After a long journey along the way, when he reached the safety zone, Zhao Zhongyao's chest was burned by two red lines.
"If the country lives and dies, it is better to avoid it because of misfortune and happiness."
03
Missed "two bombs and one star"
In 1946, Zhao Zhongyao observed the Atomic Bomb Test conducted by the United States on Bikini Island in the Pacific Ocean, and while other countries were exclaiming at the power of the American atomic bomb, he wondered when China would be able to create a bomb of the same power.
The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the Japanese emperor surrendered in defeat, and since then, the study of atomic energy has become a top priority.
If the direct purchase of raw materials and equipment costs at least 400,000 US dollars, the cost is only 50,000 US dollars, which is simply a fantasy.
There is only one way to break it into pieces, Zhao Zhongyao stayed at MIT to learn the principles of operation and the manufacture of machines, and there was no material in China, and Zhao Zhongyao secretly shipped it back from abroad.
After studying at MIT for two years, in 1948, when Zhao Zhongyao was preparing to return to China to contribute, the country was in the midst of a civil war, so he temporarily stayed in the United States, and he had to return to China.
Zhao Zhongyao (right)
In August 1950, Zhao Zhongyao wanted to take a water detour from Hong Kong to return to China, but unfortunately, the ship he was on was targeted by American agents.
They put Zhao Zhongyao under house arrest because he was related to Qian Xuesen, and the US agents also pretended to say that he let him go, and Zhao Zhongyao would rather die than yield, and the Americans could not imprison him in a Japanese prison.
A month later, the United States was forced by pressure from various countries to release Zhao Zhongyao, went through three months of prison life, and finally returned to his homeland safely in November of that year.
Zhao Zhongyao entered the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences just after returning to China, and in 1958, the University of Science and Technology of China was established, and he established a professional laboratory.
The experience and technology learned in the United States were applied in China, and soon China's first proton electrostatic accelerator was built, and after a few years, a high-amplitude proton electrostatic accelerator was developed, and the birth of this machine meant that China could also develop atomic bombs on its own.
Everything is developing in a good direction, the road of life is not smooth, the Cultural Revolution broke out, they suspected that Zhao Zhongyao was suspicious, was isolated and censored, ten years have passed, Zhao Zhongyao has no time and experience to delve into physics research.
During this period, he did not participate in the "two bombs and one satellite" program, but several of his former students made great contributions to the research of "two bombs and one satellite".
At the same time as regretting it, he also felt relieved.
When the "mushroom cloud" rose, Zhao Zhongyao was happy, and what he learned in the United States was returned to the motherland, and he did not live up to his father's expectations in this life, nor did he live up to himself.
He gave up the comfortable life and traveled on all the way, he did not like this life of displacement, but in his heart there has always been a strong homeland.
As he himself put it:
"How much a person can do is largely determined by the times. Due to my meager talents and the limitations of the conditions, I did not make much progress in my work. The only thing that can be comforted is that for more than sixty years, I have been working diligently for the motherland, telling the truth, doing honest things, not seeking personal gains, and not wasting time. ”
04
brief summary
On May 8, 1998, Mr. Zhao Zhongyao passed away at the age of 96. What Mr. Zhao Zhongyao did in his life truly changed that era.
We should not forget the great scientist Zhao Zhongyao, but hope that more people will know about Zhao Zhongyao, even if it is only one more person.