Chapter 139: The Light of Hope

Downing finally understood why the Second Opium War had not ended after the Treaty of Tientsin. In June 1859, Britain and France sent warships to Beijing to exchange the treaty and establish an embassy with the new minister to China. According to Western custom, Emperor Xianfeng had to meet with ministers representing his country. Xianfeng did not want to meet with foreign envoys, so he ordered the monk Greenqin to secretly trap the troops of the two countries, and an artillery battle broke out between the two sides at the mouth of Dagu, and the British and French troops were wounded and left. When the Anglo-French forces came back to retaliate, they were defeated because they were not familiar with the landing location in Tianjin, and the ships were not well controlled. The government and the opposition were all happy, and they all called the foreigners and the navy more than Erer.

Xianfeng finally died, and the British were furious and vowed to teach the stubborn Qing Emperor a hard lesson. Just as Downing was back in London to Parliament to hear what they were discussing. It's been a long time since I've been back to London, and my wife hasn't seen each other for a long time.

The advantage of the majority party in power is that it can go up and down, and if it doesn't do well, or if it is unlucky, there will be an incident like the assassination of the French emperor in London, and the prime minister can be used as a gas bag, and Palmerston was appointed prime minister by the queen after a short period of opposition, and he also secretly established the Freedom Party during his opposition period. Russell is even more up and down several degrees. No matter who is in power, they still have a huge influence on the political arena, this is the actual influence, unlike the president of the United States, after the opposition can basically only carry out ceremonial work, no matter how good the president is, he can't stand the example of Washington's term of office for only two terms, no matter how good you are, in the third time, if there are no special circumstances, the Americans are not willing to elect you, no matter how good you are, can you beat Washington?

In the eyes of many people, Downing was still a pure British, you see, wasn't the army in Lombardy dominated by the East India Company? This is dominated by the British, which is equivalent to the Earl of Cambridge taking a large piece of European territory for the British, this is not a colony, here is the famous Lombardy of Italy, which was once the division of Europe. The development potential of the Lombards is quite large, his main body is the Germanic people, many of the Germanic barbarians who once plagued the Roman Empire were from the Lombards, in the eyes of the ancient Romans, the image of the Lombards is a terrible barbarian with a tomahawk in his hand, charging and shouting, and it is also highly organized and disciplined, and Italy is the most German-like region.

Now Downing is more often a politician, but because he has been away from London for too long, many scientists and engineers have accumulated a lot of technical problems to consult the boss, so it took him half a month before he had time to meet Prime Minister Palmerston.

Palmerston, of course, first congratulated him on his entry into Lombardy, and once again mentioned that many people thought that he had helped Britain win an Italian territory, and Downing also laughed at this honor. If Tang Ning is knighted at this time, he will confirm this name, "I don't think the queen will refuse this time, right?" Even the extremely conservative Habsburgs made you a general of the Imperial Army! Palmerston said.

Downing said regretfully, "It's a pity that they didn't hand over Venesia to me. ”

Palmerson laughed, patted the shoulders of the young man who was not very popular, remembered the matter, and said: "Many of my friends say that your Chinese is professional, it seems that your understanding of China is quite deep, our exchange fleet was defeated by the Qing State in Tianjin, it is really a great shame, the Congress is discussing how to deal with the Chinese, what do you think?" ”

Downing: "Ugh...... The Qing Emperor couldn't even accept it when he met with a foreign minister, this is the rhythm of a barbarian country, and the Manchu aristocracy is really brainless, you know? The Manchu aristocracy is a quite self-sustaining nation, everyone has a love for beauty, as the emperor, their queen concubines are not beautiful, restrain themselves from accommodating the **** of Han beauties, in terms of combat effectiveness, this nation has had a glorious past, but ...... Because they are too desperate to accommodate modern civilization, their hatred of Westerners will continue for a long time, far less open than in the Ming Dynasty. ”

Palmerston: "Oh, so their nobility is like this, it seems that we can't do business with China, but what can we do?" ”

Tang Ning: "Their emperor needs a national teacher, the Qing Empire, thousands of responsibilities are concentrated on the emperor alone, because it was once a foreign invasion, they even destroyed the Confucian tradition of scholars caring about state affairs, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the government did not kill literati and scholars, and the emperor and ministers were 'sitting and discussing'." In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor took over the power from the foreign Mongols, and the status of the scholars fell another notch, and the ministers became 'standing and obeying' in front of the emperor. Daqing, as you know, ministers are not allowed to have their own thoughts at all, they are all slaves, and they have become 'kneeling and receiving orders'. This is the ultimate of the most stupid imperial power in history, and if you can get the emperor, only if you can get the emperor, it will be helpful for the Qing Dynasty to integrate into the international community. ”

Palmerston: "If we send a national teacher to the Qing Emperor, we will kill him in less than a day." ”

Tang Ning: "Well, of course, this national teacher must have the ability to kill the emperor, so as not to be killed by the emperor." It is not without precedents in history that the emperor was held hostage by the eunuchs around him. ”

Palmerson said: "Should we send some eunuchs to arrest the Qing Emperor?" ”

Tang Ning laughed: "You underestimate the Manchu nobles, in the past two hundred years, there has been no eunuch interference in politics in the Qing Dynasty, and they have invented a unique trick to secretly seal the edict of succession in order to make the princes unable to covet the position of the prince." In order to limit the power of the queen's family, they formulated an ancestral system that the daughter of a minister could not be married as the queen. Had it not been for the advent of the Industrial Age, the dynasty would have lasted longer than the Han Chinese had previously ruled. As soon as the industrial age came, all their efforts were completed, and the stronger the rule, the slower the pace of integration of the Qing Dynasty into the international community, which was the sorrow of this ancient oriental power, the endless sorrow of the huge population of 400 million. ”

Then, he couldn't laugh anymore, and from laughter to sadness, it was just a few words.

Palmerston: "...... You still have a lot of feelings for China. ”

Downing: "Yes, my ancestors may have been of East Asian descent, and my skin is much more delicate than that of your pure Anglo-Saxons, which is characteristic of the Orientals. ”

This was the first time that Downing's "rumors" about him being a half-breed had admitted to a friend who was not very close, and Palmerston was shocked. This can also be seen that Downing is now very confident in his own status, and there is no possibility that he will be severely threatened because he "has East Asian ancestry". He is a god-level scientist, engineer, and industrialist, and countless nations are like zombies who are obsessively reaching out and trying to invite him to join and alliance.

Palmerston collected his feelings and said: "Let's discuss how to fight to the capital of the Qing Dynasty, the shallows of Tianjin are very unsuitable for landing, and I am a little worried that our army will face a more complicated situation after landing." ”

Since sooner or later it is necessary to "fight if you want to fight", it may be better for the common people to be earlier than later, and after a long silence, Tang Ning finally said: "I can help the fleet design landing ships." ”

In the prime minister's office at 10 Downing Street, Downing drew a sketch of a landing ship with a pencil, claiming that such a landing ship with an air cushion at the bottom and propelled by an air propeller could make short voyages on land, and could land on 70% of the coastline, and that the enemy country had no possibility of defending it by means of a fortress.

Palmerston understood the principle and exclaimed: "Good thing! ”

Downing: "It will take me about half a year to a year to design and build this kind of hovercraft, enough for our army to land on the beach, these ships are not for sale, and they can be provided to the Royal Navy for free, but I have one condition, you have to consider it carefully." ”

Palmerston: "What conditions?" ”

Downing: "Appoint me as the Supreme Commander of the Anglo-French Army." ”

Since I want to fight, then I will do it myself, there is no guarantee that the damage caused to the Chinese will be the least, at least the Old Summer Palace will not burn.

"This ......" Palmerston, who had just heard Tang Ning personally admit that he was of East Asian descent, was not so sure that he thought Tang Ning was the best candidate for commander-in-chief, for fear that his pro-China tendencies would affect his combat judgment.

Tang Ning said lightly: "You think about it slowly, I'm not in a hurry, at least half a year is left, when the time comes, even if I am not the commander-in-chief, I will intervene in this war in some way, these landing ships are always useful." ”

The strength of the East India Company's backing had already made France and Sardinia spit out the fat of Lombardy, and Downing was absolutely capable of intervening in the Anglo-Chinese war alone.

Let Palmerston think about it slowly, Downing is fighting the idea of Paris, and if he wants to become the commander of the Anglo-French army, he must more or less ask for the consent of Napoleon III, whom he does not like, right? Therefore, in order to establish a good relationship with Paris, he decided to visit Paris in person for the first time to show his sincerity, and it was the sincerity of peace, and to bring Princess Sissi and his wife to visit Wèn, which was friendly enough, right?

Of course, this has to be safeguarded, get the title of Duke of London, with Downing's current status, after getting this title, I am afraid that the honorable status in England is second only to the queen and his wife, and the French will be polite to the Duke of London anyway.

There is no problem on Palmerston's side, the problem is that the queen has to agree, and last time it was rejected by the queen's majesty, so he directed Downing to release the black silk brand "Victoria's Secret" with hatred, and then left home and went to Northern Europe to travel.

Originally, Downing was not sure about the queen's side, but unexpectedly, Queen Victoria was very enthusiastic about him, and held a very grand welcome ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Downing's favorite Princess Louise is 11 years old, and she looks like a water spirit, like one of the most beautiful daffodils in Wordsworth's poems. It's a pity that he has grown so big, and Uncle Blame can't hug and kiss as affectionately as before.

Princess Louise, who loves to draw, claims that she has decided to join Downing's science fiction school, which makes Downing laugh.

Much to the little princess's distress, she didn't know what to draw.

Downing said: "Flying in the sky and running underground, all of them are indispensable to the painting, by the way, Mr. Brunel's airship doesn't know how it is built, Louise wants to go to the airship test base to inspire the science fiction school of creative inspiration?" In case you fantasize well and draw well, in the future, you will come up with an airship that you designed, cool or not? ”

The little princess jumped up with excitement.

After having a good time, Downing finally discovered the secret of the queen's love for him, her beloved husband, Downing's old friend, Prince Albert's face was not good-looking, Downing asked: "Albert, what's wrong with you?" Sick? ”

Tang Ning received the answer that the prince suffered from Yan zhòng's stomach cramps, the cause of which was unknown, and the imperial doctor was almost helpless, and the prince's answer was "painful to death".

The queen's family all looked at the god-level medical scientist, hoping that he could bring miracles to the world again, although he was an atheist, and it was okay to let the big devil perform a magic, and at the critical moment, everyone didn't care whether it was a demon or a god at all, it just worked.

Alas, Tang Ning is a great scientist, yes, but he is not a great medical scientist, the drugs he once invented and manufactured are general-purpose, and it is good to bring great changes to the medical field, but medical treatment is an extremely complex system, he has not worked real medical skills at all, and if you want him to diagnose or invent any drugs based on a symptom, it is unlikely.

Downing pondered for a long time, and in anticipation, he could only say: "Mr. Tyndale of the Royal Academy is leading a team to work on a device that can bend light, which can be used to stuff into the stomach to spy on lesions, and may be of some use to the doctors in diagnosis and treatment." ”

He was cautious in his words, but he still gave the prince and his family a little hope that they could bend the light? It sounds so magical, magical things always give people blind confidence, well, the queen's family seems to be full of hope again.

In the context of the great magician, the queen could not refuse Downing's request in any case: "I intend to visit Paris once to make a diplomatic effort to secure the post of commander-in-chief of the Anglo-French forces fighting against the Qing Dynasty." ”

This sentence is so informative that the queen and prince have to look at each other in exchange for their surprise.

Downing smiled and continued: "Recently I have sabotaged the efforts of the French and Sardinia to defeat the Austrians, and I am afraid that the French are not so happy, can Her Majesty the Queen do something for the safety of my trip to France?" ”

When the queen asked what she could do, Downing naturally said that the British royal family of "Jin Jue" could use to subtly express their attitude.

At this time, the queen was powerless to refuse Downing's request, and a suspense that had been tossed for many years was finally settled, the Duke of London's tuba couldn't run away, and the children were happy for Uncle Downing.

Love is mutual, and Princess Louise is also fond of Uncle Downing, and instead of Sister Victoria, she becomes a curious student, and asks Downing, "What does a curved light look like?" ”

Tang Ning smiled: "I just said that I missed my mouth for a while, but in fact, it is not that the light is bent, but that the light will be fully reflected when it encounters different refractive indices, and the route of the light is still straight, but in the designed total reflection pipe, it is like being bent." Mr. Tang, who is a serious professor at Cambridge, habitually took out the pen and paper he carried with him to draw a road map of light refraction, which was clear at a glance.

Princess Louise smiled: "I say, how can the light be bent!" It turned out to be an illusion of reflection. ”

"Uh...... Princess, light actually does bend. Tang Ning couldn't help but say casually.

Princess Louise's beautiful cute eyes glared: "How did you bend?" It can't be an illusion again this time, right? ”

This is a big mouth, and if you want to clarify this issue, you have to think long-term.

After a long time, Tang Ning sorted out his thoughts and said, "Kinetic energy and thermal energy can be converted into each other, do you make them?" ”

This is a very simple science, even children know it, and then Downing said: "The nature of light and heat energy are also related in some way, do you think, the sun's rays will produce heat when they hit the earth's surface, does this mean that light is essentially energy like heat energy and kinetic energy?" And further conjecture, are all energies essentially the same? Well, now we have guessed an amazing truth, the nature of kinetic energy is the same as the nature of light energy. What is kinetic energy made of? It has two parameters, one is the mass of the moving object and the other is the velocity of the moving object.

If the nature of light and the kinetic nature of an object are the same, well, that's interesting. I have said on many occasions that light is the upper limit of the speed of the world, and many scientists have measured that the speed of light in all directions is still the same in the case of the high-speed rotation of the earth, which means that the fastest speed in the universe is light, and it also means that this is a limit of the mass of the object, the limit is small, in this limit, the mass of light has been so small that it is immeasurable, but its essence is still an object with kinetic energy, since the essence of light is the same as ordinary matter, then, He will be affected by gravity, and when the gravitational pull of the light is strong enough, we can observe the phenomenon of the light being bent by gravity! ”

The Principal Prince had already been attracted by Professor Tang's Heavenly Desolation Tales and forgot that his stomach hurt: "What do you mean - light is matter, and matter is light?" ”

Downing: "Well, it can also be said that matter is energy, energy is matter, and light is an extreme form of energy. ”

The prince stroked his palm and smiled: "Interesting, so interesting!" But...... Is there any evidence for this conjecture? ”

Tang Ning smiled and said, "Well...... Astronomical scales can cause light to be bent by gravity, and you look at this galaxy map......" He drew two very typical galaxy maps on paper and continued: "These two galaxy maps are almost identical, both in terms of the number of stars they make up and the arrangement of stars, but the subtle difference is that they are seen from different directions of the galaxy. (http：／／.）。 We should never be able to see such a galaxy map on Earth at the same time, because the Earth is aiming at this galaxy in only one direction, but if it happens that there is a huge mass object between the galaxy and the Earth, both in terms of distance and mass, then we will see such a galaxy map, and the two galaxies that are magically similar are actually the ghosts of a galaxy, because the light is refracted by the large object in the middle! ”

The prince immediately asked, "Is there really such evidence?" ”

Downing: "It's also a conjecture, but if an astronomer sees it one day, it proves my conjecture, I just gave a direction, I don't have time to look at the stars every day." ”

The prince rubbed his hands excitedly, the queen's family had rarely seen him so happy since he fell ill, and it was estimated that this state had not cured his illness and delayed his condition. "I'll have to ask the astronomers if they've seen any of these star charts," said the Prince, "and if not, ask them to pay attention, haha, it's very interesting." ”.