A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 109 Invitation

Since the telegram from Sweden was sent in the name of the king, it was naturally sent directly to the Prime Minister's State Affairs Office of the Qing court, that is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The telegrapher was stunned on the spot when he received the telegram, and after transcribing the telegram tremblingly handed it to Prince Qing Yikuang.

"King, king, lord!"

Yikuang was checking the indemnity account book for this period, and he was dissatisfied when he heard the words of his subordinates: "Speak sharply, what a hat to put on me!"

The telegrapher carried the message: "My lord, there is a telegram from Sweden."

"Sweden?" Although he has been in contact with many great powers, Yikuang is really unfamiliar with the Nordic countries, because they have never invaded China.

Yikuang thought for a long time before he remembered seeing such a country on the map, and asked in confusion, "What does Sweden have to do with us?"

"It's nothing to do with it, my lord, the Swedish royal family wants Li Yu to visit."

"Hey! It's Li Yu again," Yi Kuang said in surprise, "What's he doing again?"

"The telegram stated that Li Yu would be awarded the Mathematics Prize in the name of the King of Sweden, and the telegram was signed by the King of Sweden himself."

"The King of Sweden...?"

"To be precise, it should be the king of Sweden and Norway."

Yikuang was startled, although the Qing Dynasty had never fought against Sweden, so he didn't know if they were strong or not, but he knew that they were also a powerful European country, and the letter came from the king himself, so of course he couldn't underestimate it.

Yikuang grabbed the telegram and read it carefully, "Good guy! This is Li Yu!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Rui Zheng hastily knocked on the door of Li Yu's house: "Hurry up, hurry up! I want to find Li Yu, no, it's Prince Qing who wants to find Li Yu!"

Li Yu came out from the courtyard and asked, "Interpreter Ruizheng, what's the matter with you?"

"Hurry up to the prime minister's office, the prince is looking for you!"

"My lord looking for me? Why are you looking for me?" Li Yu didn't know what was going on yet.

Ruizheng said: "A telegram was sent from abroad just now, saying that you won some kind of Oscar Gold Award."

Li Yu didn't realize it for a while, shouldn't it be the "Oscar Award", what is this "Oscar Gold Award".

At this time, Chinese people don’t choose their names as freely as foreigners. They just use the names of their ancestors, and then add a few generations and it’s done.

It was Ruizheng's omission of "Second Generation" that made Li Yu ambiguous at this time.

He didn't know what was going on until he arrived at the Zongli Yamen.

In Prince Qing's opinion, if it is a telegram from a foreign king or government, it is naturally a diplomatic matter and must be taken seriously.

When Yikuang saw Li Yu, he immediately said, "Oh, Li Yu! I really didn't expect that a Western king would personally present you with an award! I just inquired about it, and Sweden, oh, it should be Sweden and The United Kingdom of Norway, their strength is really not low, it is unbelievable! What did you do this time?"

Li Yu glanced at the telegram and found that it was indeed sent by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, so he replied: "They invited me to write a mathematics paper, and I won a prize."

"It's over? It's so simple?" Yi Kuang asked in surprise.

Li Yu shrugged: "That's what happened."

Yikuang stroked his beard and said, "Why do these Western kings pay so much attention to mathematics and physics? I always feel that it will not make the country stronger. It is really confusing. If it were me, I would rather have a cannon award." ! By the way, tell me first, what article did you write?"

Li Yu really couldn't explain it. After all, it involved advanced mathematics. As a "baby" in science, how could Prince Qing understand it.

Li Yu had no choice but to say: "It's too complicated to say. In short, I have studied some mathematical problems and discussed the huge impact that small disturbances may have on the macroscopic whole. It is our old saying that the embankment of a thousand miles is destroyed by an ant's nest."

"Oh?" Yi Kuang seemed to understand, "That's it? Foreigners don't even understand this? They can still win big prizes? Tsk tsk tsk!"

"Then I know!" Yikuang became a little proud, and continued: "Whether foreigners understand our old sayings or not, this time you are also on a diplomatic visit, and all food and clothing expenses will be borne by our prime minister's office. For convenience, First of all, I will give you a reserve fund of 2000 silver dollars, if it is not enough, you can ask us to continue writing it off after you return to your country.”

Li Yu didn't want to make a diplomatic visit at all, but since the Prime Minister's Office can pay, let him do it! "Thank you Yamen for your care."

Yikuang thought for a while and said, "After a while, Zhang Deyi will be the ambassador to the UK. You can go abroad with him."

Fortunately, the candidate given by Yikuang was not bad, and Li Yu was afraid that he would send his son Zaizhen on another mission.

Li Yu quickly agreed: "My lord has arranged it just right! If there is nothing else, I'll go back and get ready."

Li Yu first went to the Imperial University Hall to tell Ding Weiliang and Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Education, after all, Ding Weiliang first told Li Yu the news.

But Martin didn't seem surprised by this at all, and even said frankly: "I have already guessed such a result in my heart. There is no doubt that you are the pride of the university."

The last time Li Yu helped Tang Shaoyi and Zhang Xinwu, Zhang Baixi didn't even have time to reward him.

Zhang Baixi said with a smile: "I was still learning from Hattori Unokichi how to make a Western award certificate, and you have received a reward from the Swedish royal family again."

Of course Li Yu didn't care: "It hasn't been long since the university started, and everything needs to be perfected. There is no need for Principal Zhang to be busy with my affairs."

Zhang Baixi praised: "Very good! I appreciate your demeanor very much. It is really a blessing to have you in the university."

Li Yu can leave at any time, but on the other hand, Zhang Deyi, as the British ambassador, has a lot of materials to prepare, and now he can leave when he is well.

During this time, Levler had already printed the first edition of his mathematical treatise, which was published in Europe under the name "Fractals and Chaos".

A total of 1000 volumes were published in advance, and the funds used were all provided by the Swedish royal family.

Since it is released for free, the promotion effect is naturally good and fast.In addition, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has just won the Nobel Prize, and many mathematicians have won this book in their hands.

One stone stirred up thousands of waves, and immediately caused an uproar in the mathematics world.

Mathematicians praised its profundity of thought, ingenious method, and profound insight; and outside the mathematics circle, people who study physics and chemistry have also begun to read this book.

Because the current mathematics has developed to be very abstract, just like Hilbert's 23 questions, if you don't study mathematics, you basically can't understand the questions.

However, there are really too few mathematical articles such as chaos theory that directly express the principles of nature. Although some mathematical derivations and differential equations are still pure mathematics, many people who are not engaged in mathematics can still understand them in general. It does not hinder everyone's elaboration of its core "chaotic thinking".

The "Times" is still the most sensitive to the market. He quickly contacted Pu Lande, a reporter in Beijing, and asked him to do an exclusive interview with Li Yu again.

When Pu Lande found Li Yu, Shi Liangcai, a reporter from Shenbao, was also requesting an article. After learning about Li Yu's deeds in Sweden, he immediately expressed that he would spend a lot of money to arrange an interview.

No way, we had to be together.

It was in this interview that Shi Liang created the expression method of "carp effect" on a whim through the "ant nest effect" mentioned by Li Yu.

Li Yu also liked it very much after hearing it: "Sure enough, you guys who make news will create hot words!"

Through interviews, Li Yu briefly described the nature of chaos, using the most common language.However, if you say a thousand words, it seems that the expression of "carp effect" is too direct.

On the same day, Pu Lande sent a press release to London by telegram. With the influence of The Times in Europe, many scholars in other fields quickly started to pay attention to Li Yu's paper.

Soon, a "carp" in the Yellow River in the East was painted on the front pages of major European newspapers, but in order to take care of European readers, the newspapers drew a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean next to it.

And it was an academic hurricane!
Because the press release is easy to understand, all the discussions on the streets and alleys are all about the "carp effect".

Someone also thought of the Scottish ballad:
"A nail is missing, a horseshoe is missing;
Lost a horseshoe, lost a war horse;
Lost a steed, lost a king;
Lost a king, lost a war;
Lost a war, lost a country. "

It is also talking about a historical event in which small, inconspicuous things at the micro level lead to huge changes at the macro level.

The prototype of this story is the Battle of Bosworth in England in history.

In 1485, after Richard III succeeded to the throne of England, Earl Henry, who was in exile in France, led 2000 French soldiers to land in Wales with the support of the King of France, and went to London to challenge Richard III.

The two sides met on Bosworth Plain in central England, and a decisive battle ensued.

Before the battle began, Richard III's groom found that the four horseshoes of the king's mount were badly worn, so he went to the blacksmith to ask for a replacement.

But because they have been marching during this time, the blacksmith has changed horseshoes for many people, and the horseshoes that were originally prepared are all used up.He took the iron material off the iron bar and beat it into horseshoes.

While nailing the horseshoes, the assembly horn outside had already sounded.

The groom urged him again and again, and the blacksmith said: "There is still a nail missing in the fourth horseshoe, and I will drive another nail to nail the horseshoe firmly."

The groom was in a hurry: "Wait until you drive another nail, the king will have chopped off my head long ago! Don't talk nonsense, quickly nail it!"

The blacksmith had no choice but to nail the last horseshoe with three nails.

After the battle broke out, the troops led by the King of England were quite powerful in combat effectiveness, which could not be compared with the troops pulled up temporarily by that boy Henry.

Richard III was so brave that he even killed Henry's standard bearer himself.

Soon, Richard III launched a final battle with the enemy.

Tragically, when he started to charge, the unstabilized shoe of his mount fell off.Richard III's horse fell on the ground at that time, and Richard III was thrown out.Richard III was immediately chopped into diced meat by the swarming enemy soldiers.

In this way, Richard III lost his kingdom and his life.

Of course, this is just a legend.

However, at this time, the discussions caused by this from all walks of life are really endless, and some people are even discussing that Napoleon's Battle of Waterloo was defeated because of this.

What the mathematics community focuses on is derivation and thinking, while other sectors, especially the general public, do not understand advanced mathematics, but the "carp effect" is really amazing. What they see is that details determine success or failure.

In short, due to Li Yu's thesis, there are now various interpretations of it from different perspectives.

Even the original translation of "Carp Effect", many people disregarded the order of the surname and first name, and directly pronounced it as a homonym of Li Yu's name: "LiYu Effect".

As a result, his name resounded in Europe again, and the effect was not even weaker than that of the discovery of Pluto.

(End of this chapter)