Since Napoleon did not change his position, then Fourier naturally did not change his position either. A few days later, at the French Academy of Sciences, a hearing began.

Before the hearing, Napoleon and his think tank carefully studied the paper, hoping to discover the errors it implicitly made in the course of its argumentation. However, despite their efforts, they still failed to find such a loophole.

"I don't even know how this terrible paradox came about. But his mistakes are beyond doubt. So, in the middle of the debate, I suggest that we can only attack this paper by clinging to the fact that it does not correspond to reality and that there is no achievable model. In the end, Laplace and others made such a suggestion.

Napoleon felt that this was not enough to defeat his opponent completely, but now he had to use this method. With such means, at least we can remain undefeated.

The weather was fine on the day of the hearing, and Napoleon and his allies arrived at the door of the small hall where the hearing was held. I happened to meet Joseph with Gauss, Fourier and a group of others.

"Mr. Fourier, how could you support such a strange paper." Laplace asked, leaning closer to Fourier.

"Ah, Mr. Laplace, there is something strange about this paper," said Fourier, "and I think it is the best, most groundbreaking, inspiring, and discursive paper in mathematics in recent times." In fact, this is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of Mr. Gauss and Dean Bonaparte. ”

In fact, Laplace's conversation with Fourier at this time was largely also the art of war, and he wanted to exert a certain amount of psychological pressure on Fourier. But Fourier dragged Gauss and Joseph out, which made Laplace feel a lot of pressure. Because although Gauss is young, his series of achievements in mathematics are really heartbreaking. And his talent, his ability to deal with difficult problems, is even more admired by everyone. As for Dean Bonaparte, he had the reputation of "Joseph who never made mistakes". So when he heard that the two of them also thought the paper was excellent, Laplace, although he was very confident in his academic skills, still felt quite stressed. As for Napoleon, there was already a premonition that he was tied to the guillotine.

Then Joseph spoke: "Now that everyone has arrived, let's go in and get ready to begin." ”

So everyone went into the small hall and sat down in their seats. Joseph then spoke:

"As a matter of general procedure, we should have invited the author of this paper, Mr. Lucien Evans, to be present. But the address left by Mr. Lucien Evans does not exist. Therefore, this hearing can only be conducted in the absence of the parties. ”

"He knew that his paper would not stand up to cross-examination, so he hid and did not dare to come," Napoleon couldn't help but say.

"Academician Napoleon, haven't you read the Outline of Discipline for the Conference of the Academy of Sciences, please abide by the discipline of the meeting, if you want to speak, please raise your hand first, and then speak after getting the permission of the presiding officer of the meeting." Joseph said.

Napoleon was silent.

"Since the author is absent, let's skip this step and go straight to the next step. First, it is up to the opposing party to raise questions and point out the error. Well, Academician Napoleon, please come to the stage to state the case. ”

Napoleon looked around, then walked towards the podium. At the same time, I thought to myself: "When I gave a speech, I didn't have a team of sub-armed guards with me, and I was really a little weak-hearted. ”

However, the heart is empty, but it is still necessary to talk about it. So Napoleon spoke: "It is well known that mathematics is a respected science because it accurately describes our world, and we might even say that mathematics is the most basic rule of the world, and it is the language in which God created the world." Therefore, mathematics and reality are inextricably linked. The conclusions of mathematics cannot and should not exist in isolation from reality. And this paper, there is such a problem.

For example, if the paper is correct, there will be internal angles and triangles less than one hundred and eighty degrees. I would like to ask, can any of you draw a triangle like this?

Again, based on this paper, we see that perpendicular and diagonal lines of the same straight line do not necessarily intersect. So who can make such a diagram is impossible, just like the inner angles and triangles less than 180 degrees, the situation where the perpendicular and diagonal lines of the same straight line do not intersect does not exist in reality. Obviously, the people who wrote this paper completely ignored the real world and the basis for the existence of mathematics. He relegated mathematics to a meaningless logic game. That's why I decided that this paper was not qualified. ”

After saying this, Napoleon glanced at Fourier and said, "My words are finished." ”

The mathematicians from the École Supérieure de Paris applauded together. Napoleon bowed slightly to them and stepped off the podium.

At this time, according to the rules, the person who should come to the stage to speak should be Fourier. But at this time, it was Joseph who stepped up to the podium.

Seeing Joseph walk up to the podium, Napoleon suddenly shivered and his hands and feet were cold.

"Gentlemen, in fact, Mr. Fourier discussed this paper with me before making that judgment. His evaluation of this paper is actually my evaluation as well. In my opinion, this is a subversive, groundbreaking, extremely important, epoch-making paper. I predict that this treatise is no less significant than Euclid's geometric originals. Now, I would like to answer the questions that Academician Napoleon has just asked. ”

"First of all, Academician Napoleon just mentioned that mathematics is not a meaningless logic game, it must have practical significance. I couldn't agree more. However, I would also like to remind Academician Napoleon that what reality is is is not something that he can subjectively determine. Speaking of this, Joseph glanced at Napoleon triumphantly,

"We know that if the frequency of the sound is a little higher or a little lower, we can't hear it at all. But that doesn't mean sound doesn't exist. Bats rely on higher frequencies that we can't hear. Through photosensitivity experiments, we can also find that in areas other than violet light and areas other than red light, where we look like there is no light, silver iodide can still have a photosensitive reaction. Therefore, what we hear with our ears is not necessarily the complete reality, and what we see with our eyes is not necessarily the complete reality. So don't think you can define reality. Reality doesn't have to be what you think it is. ”

Napoleon was tempted to retort: "Then you should find an inner angle and a triangle less than 180 degrees," but, after thinking about it, he remained silent.

"Well, let's look at this paper, let's look at the first part of the paper." Joseph said as he projected the first part on a curtain hanging on the wall using a slide projector.

"Academician Napoleon, could you please tell me if there is anything wrong with this part?" asked Joseph.

This part consists mainly of the five axioms in Euclidean geometry and the first four axioms, as well as the latter assumption: "At a point outside the straight line, there are two or more straight lines parallel to the line." ”

Napoleon was taken aback, he looked at the contents of the projection, and then hesitantly replied: "The first ones are naturally fine, but the last one is ridiculous and does not correspond to reality. ”

"Napoleon," said Joseph in a sarcastic tone, "I remember that when you were ten years old, I taught you what the counter-evidence was."

Napoleon hurriedly said: "Then there will be no problem here." He knew that he had said the wrong thing just now, and if he continued to revolve around the "counter-proof method", he would really act like a fool who didn't finish elementary school.

Since Napoleon was silent, Joseph continued to show the rest of the content on the slide projector, and with each piece of content, Joseph would ask Napoleon: "Academician Napoleon, is there a problem with the argument in this paragraph?"

Of course, there is no problem, if there is a problem, these days, Napoleon and the gang of fellows from the Paris masters have been working together for so long, how can they not find it So, every time Napoleon can only reply in frustration: "No, no." ”

The slide projector projected the treatise one by one, and in Napoleon's answer "no, no problem", it finally reached the last paragraph.

"Napoleon, is there no problem here?" asked Joseph.

"Yes, there is no problem, but it does not correspond to reality" Napoleon also wanted to save himself.

"Napoleon, the reality you speak of is not equal to the real reality," Joseph responded.

"Then you draw an inside angle and a triangle less than 180 degrees." Napoleon couldn't help but fight back. He also knew that if he didn't fight back, he would be defeated.

"Hehe, Napoleon," said Joseph, smiling, "you see, the whole process of argumentation is in accordance with the rules, and if the premise is okay, the whole process of argumentation is fine, but it is not the same as you assume. Reality is impossible to be wrong, so where is it wrong is the whole mathematical method, the mathematical system is wrongNapoleon, this judgment of yours is really brave, you are trying to overturn almost the entire mathematical system. ”

"I'm not, I don't. I'm just looking at the inside angles and triangles that are less than one hundred and eighty degrees. At this time, Napoleon could only bite the inner angle and the triangle less than 180 degrees as a lifesaver.

"No problem, I'll show you now." Joseph looked like he was in a good position. Seeing Joseph's appearance, Napoleon chuckled in his heart, and he knew: something bad was going to happen, and the most devastating blow was about to fall.