Chapter 117: Flying in the Snow

Although Sweden is a poor agricultural country, it is not far behind in science. First of all, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is famous, and Sweden has produced many scientists, such as: Karl? Linnaeus, who laid the foundation for the dichotomy of modern biological nomenclature, is the father of modern taxonomy and is considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.

Another example: Yongs? Betzelius. When Wühler prepared hydrocyanic acid, he noticed that although the elemental composition was identical to that of the thunder acid prepared by Liebig the previous year, their properties were very different. This discovery challenged the understanding of the mainstream chemistry community at the time, which believed that compounds would only be different if the elemental composition was different. As more such phenomena were discovered, such as Wüller's discovery in 1828 that urea and ammonium cyanate had the same atomic composition but different properties, Betzelius introduced the term "isomerism" to describe this phenomenon. The Swedish chemist, along with Dalton in England and Lavoisier in France, is known as the father of modern chemistry.

There are two great "fathers" of great scientists, which is enough to imagine the progress of Swedish science.

In addition to scientific achievements, Sweden's politics is also transitioning to democracy. After losing Finland and Pomerania to Russia in the war, disgruntled military generals forced the disorganized King Gustav IV to abdicate, and the parliament immediately elected Prince Karl as king, Karl XIII.

After Karl XIII married his cousin, his two sons died young, and his later cousin, the crown prince, also died of a stroke. Otto? Mornay traveled to France to inquire about Napoleon's wishes. But Mornay acted alone and betrayed the throne to the French marshal Jean-Baptiste? Bernadotte. This was due to the fact that most of the Swedish military were in favour of a military man as the future king, Bernadotte, who was later elected by parliament, in consideration of the possibility of a future military conflict with Russia; When he came to Sweden, he was adopted by Karl XIII as his adopted son, and changed his name to "Karl? John".

In 1812, Karl? Crown Prince John gradually took over the military and political power. Karl XIII had expected Karl? John led his troops and recovered Finland from Russia, but he did not do so. He continued his attack on Denmark, causing Denmark to cede Norway and defeating Norway, which was unwilling to unite with Sweden.

The Swedish generals are not fools, soon, Karl? John proved that he was not at all a puppet of the French: in 1813 he brought Sweden into the Sixth Anti-French Coalition with the enemies of Great Britain and Prussia - France. Napoleon was unstoppable, and one of the strategies of the strangely born Swedish crown prince gave the allies a new dimension - to avoid Napoleon and attack only his marshals.

After the Treaty of Moss in 1814, the Norwegian parliament elected Karl XIII to the throne of Norway, creating the Swedish-Norwegian union for King Karl II of Norway. Sweden, under the leadership of this "foreign king", did not take back Finland from Russia, but got Norway.

Karl XIII died at 10:14 p.m. on February 5, 1818, but he had already "committed himself and the kingdom to the crown prince" as soon as he became seriously ill on March 17, 1811. Cal? John succeeded to the throne of Sweden and Norway, called Karl XIV in Sweden? John, called Karl III in Norway? John. Thus began the Bernadotte dynasty.

Karl XIV? John realized that Sweden was exhausted by years of wars and the loss of Finland, so he pursued a policy of neutrality and no longer interfered in European affairs. Sweden has enjoyed peace ever since. The current King of Sweden and Norway, Oscar I, pursued the "most heartfelt and moderate" liberalism, rejecting any radical reforms. However, he has also worked on press freedom and equal rights for men and women. In the Crimean War, Oscar I sided with Ottoman Turkey and pursued an anti-Russian foreign policy, co-op with the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

In 1857, when Oscar I became seriously ill and handed over military power to Crown Prince Karl, the Swedish parliament made a speech saying that Oscar I had raised Sweden's economic status more than any of his predecessors. It is worth mentioning that Oscar I was even elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his outstanding social and political scholarship at a young age, and served as the rector of Uppsala University, the leading and oldest university in Northern Europe.

The king of Sweden is still the head of government, but the Council of State is in power, and all financial power is controlled by the parliament, and the members of the Council of State are not the king's words, so it can be regarded as a majority of democracies.

Downing, an atheist archduke who had never been to Luxembourg, was not confident in diplomacy in the name of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, so he planned to call the Stockholm Institute of Technology, the most prestigious science and engineering university in Sweden, in his capacity as president of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, to ask for academic exchanges and test the other party's attitude in a way that would not lose face. The University of Luxembourg has ambitious goals, but due to the unstable situation in Luxembourg, the construction has not started for the time being, and the name of Swiss Federal Technology is more appropriate.

Heck, the "Pope of Science" is coming, and the leaders of the Stockholm Institute of Technology, of course, are asking for it.

The Russians were a little nervous when they heard the news of the Grand Duke's visit to Sweden, their capital St. Petersburg was on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea, across the sea from Stockholm, a distance of 700 kilometers by sea, and Helsinki, the most important city of the Grand Duchy of Finland that they had invaded, was only 400 kilometers from Stockholm.

And that's not all, when they heard that the Grand Duke of Luxembourg was going to bring superpolar snow vehicles to the Swedes, their intelligence officers had their ears pricked up! With the help of hydrogen fuel cell engines, it is really extraordinary, and the speed of tracked snowmobiles has reached 60 kilometers per hour, once popularized, it is a terrible combat power, or at least a terrible logistics transportation capacity.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg always did not like to talk and used actions to put pressure on his opponents.

It's Mayday, and the snow has melted in southern Sweden, but snow can always be found in Scandinavia, close to the Arctic Circle, as long as you go further north. The snowmobile can be driven as a tracked vehicle by putting away the "front paws", and you can use it to experience fun snow flying when driving north. The Grand Orient of the Grand Duke, who was carrying a snow transport weapon, sailed from London to Stockholm along the thawing seaway, and his arrival was warmly welcomed by the locals because of the Swedes' anticipation of snow vehicles, which is a rare event in Sweden and Norway in recent years.

Prince Regent Karl personally greeted the Grand Duke of Luxembourg at the port with the etiquette of the head of state, accompanied by the Rector of the Stockholm Institute of Technology and a number of famous Swedish scientists and engineers. Times reporters captured smiling and shaking hands, and sensational newspapers like The Times made headlines with headlines like "Grand Duke of Luxembourg Approaching St. Petersburg."

"Welcome to the midday news. According to Reuters, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg arrived in Stockholm at 10 a.m. GMT on May 7 for a business and academic visit to Sweden. The Grand Oriental-class ship Sif is a passenger and cargo ship with a non-slip mechanism designed for automobile transportation, and can carry 500 passengers and 2,000 cars when fully loaded. The passengers of the Sif were a visiting group led by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and the cargo was dominated by legendary snowmobiles and pickup trucks.

It is worth mentioning that the hydrogen fuel cell engine for the Nordic market has been optimized for cold protection, can maintain good operation in temperatures of tens of degrees below zero, and the tight insulation system ensures that the fuel and catalyst can withstand the severe cold, and if the car is parked for many days, the engine can be completely turned off, and it only needs to be warmed up for a few minutes when used again, which has a revolutionary impact on traffic in Scandinavia. （http：／／.）。 ”

The next words of the news anchor are remarkable: "Since the Grand Duke of Luxembourg joined hands with Japan to establish the Alaska Mining Company, the Grand Duke has been committed to the development of vehicles suitable for severe cold regions, and the current progress is quite smooth, and the Swiss Zurich Continental Automotive Company, which is responsible for snowmobile and cold protection technology, is preparing to set up sales centers in Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo (Norway), Copenhagen (Denmark) and other central cities in Pan-Scandinavia. Cars are sold in the form of a Grand Duke's signature rental method. Smart and car terminology may have noticed that the car company under the Grand Duke encourages the use of the car they have rented consistently, and the price will be reduced every year, and the rental price of the replacement car is different.

St. Petersburg and Helsinki were also in the planning to sell, but unfortunately, the Russians did not amicably withdraw from Alaska amicably after receiving a lump sum of 1.5 million pounds in cash from the Bank of Zurich, and Luxembourg's relations with Russia were in a state of uncertainty, so Continental Motors broke off plans to sell cars and snowmobiles in Russia. ”

Later, after the official snowmobile fair, the Telegraph advertised this powerful vehicle under the headline "Flying in Snow - The Beginning of the Nordic Accessible Era".