On December 31, 1922, Albert Einstein came to Shanghai.

Threatened with murder in Germany, he left Berlin in July for a round-the-world trip that visited Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Shanghai was not among the cities he visited, but he passed through it on his way to Japan.

Einstein went to Japan to give lectures at the invitation of the Japan Reform Society, and arrived in Shanghai at 10 a.m. on November 13, 1922 aboard the Japanese ship "Kitano Maru".

It was on this day that the Swedish Consul General in Shanghai informed Albert Einstein that he had won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.

After that, he ate at "Yipinxiang" in Shanghai, listened to Kunqu opera in Shanghai's "Small World", and visited Chenghuang Temple, Yu Garden and other places.

At 6 p.m., Wang Zhen, a painter in the field of Chinese culture and education, hosted a banquet at his home to entertain Albert Einstein and his wife.

Present at the banquet were German Consul General in Shanghai, Mr. and Mrs. Farster, President of Tongji University, Mr. and Mrs. Inagaki of the Japan Reform Agency, and Murata of the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun Agency.

In addition to Wang Zhen, other people in Shanghai who attended the banquet were Cao Gubing, manager of Ta Kung Pao, Zhang Jiluan, editor-in-chief, Yu Youren, president of Shanghai University, Ying Shi, provost of Zhejiang Fazheng School, and his daughter Ying Huide.

The banquet ended at nine o'clock in the evening, and at midnight, Einstein left Shanghai for Japan.

This time, Einstein's stay in Shanghai was very short, but it caused a lot of repercussions, and various newspapers published the news of Einstein, mainly because he won the Nobel Prize in physics.

Lin Zixuan did not participate in it, and on the evening of November 13, he went to a dinner party for teachers at Shanghai University.

The main reason is that Einstein's lecture in Japan was invited by the Japan Reform Society, and the itinerary in Shanghai was also dominated by the Japanese.

Albert Einstein was a huge success in Japan, and Japan was the only Asian country that had invited Albert Einstein to give a lecture.

Japan received Einstein with the courtesy of a head of state, and the emperor and empress of Japan received Einstein in the palace.

His first lecture in Tokyo was attended by nearly 2,500 people who bought tickets, and then held lectures in many cities, which were almost overwhelming.

The Japanese side gave Einstein a commission according to the income from the tickets, and finally gave him a total of 2,000 pounds.

In other words, Einstein lectured in Japan for five weeks and received a total of about $5,000, which can be described as a huge profit.

Einstein returned to Europe on December 27 aboard the Haruna Maru and passed through Shanghai again at 11 a.m. on the 31st.

This time, the envoys and Chinese and foreign scholars in Shanghai were even more enthusiastic, inviting Albert Einstein to give a lecture in Shanghai and to exchange views with the elites of the Chinese intellectual circles.

Without the intervention of the Japanese, Lin Zixuan, as a celebrity in Shanghai, also attended the welcome dinner.

In fact, Cai Yuanyuan, then president of Peking University, learned of Einstein's visit to Japan in advance and sent a formal invitation to Einstein through the Chinese Embassy in Germany, hoping that he would come to Peking University to give a lecture.

In late June 1922, Cai Yuanyuan received a reply from Einstein from the Chinese Embassy in Germany, in which Einstein readily agreed to visit Peking University for two weeks after his visit to Japan, and asked for a very high honorarium. Cai Yuanbao finally raised enough funds through various efforts, and he and Peking University eagerly awaited Einstein's arrival and did a lot of publicity work.

However, on New Year's Day in 1923, Cai Yuanpei received a letter from Einstein from Japan on December 22, informing him that he had spent the time he planned to visit China to give lectures in Japan, and that he would cancel his trip to Peking University because he would visit Spain and other countries next. Albert Einstein released the pigeons of Peking University.

At the welcome dinner on the evening of the 31st, Shanghai scholars and celebrities gathered together, and the most common question they asked was Einstein's theory of relativity.

This topic can be said to be a hot topic in the scientific community, and it is also an important research result of Einstein.

Lin Zixuan couldn't help but complain in his heart, even if Einstein talked about the theory of relativity, in the scientific community of this era, few scientists can really understand.

Even if he comes from a later life, Lin Zixuan does not understand the theory of relativity, and he has no common language with this great scientist.

Moreover, he did not dare to communicate much with Einstein.

This is an extremely smart scientist, Lin Zixuan is afraid that what he says will affect the future research direction of this great scientist, and it is better to stay away from this kind of person who has the ability to change the world.

Think about it, if the Germans developed the atomic bomb first because Lin Zixuan and Einstein said about the big bomb, it would be difficult to imagine how the world would develop.

So, he just watched from afar.

At this time, Einstein did not have the appearance of a mad scientist in the future, he looked relatively normal, he was only 43 years old, he had just won the Nobel Prize in physics, and it was the most beautiful time in his life.

In the process of communicating with Chinese scholars, Einstein thought clearly and spoke appropriately.

It can be seen that he doesn't seem to want to talk about scientific topics, probably because he thinks that even if I say it, you can't understand it, so he doesn't want to explain, but he is quite interested in Chinese affairs, and asks about Shanghai's people's livelihood from time to time.

However, Chinese scholars are unwilling to let go of this opportunity to understand the most advanced scientific theories, and still seize the theory of relativity.

Later, Einstein described his experiences in Shanghai in this way in his travel diary.

"This city shows the difference in social status between Europeans and Chinese, and this difference makes the revolutionary events of recent years particularly understandable. In Shanghai, the Europeans formed a ruling class, and the Chinese were their slaves. They seem to be a tormented, dull, uncivilized people who seem to have nothing to do with the great civilized past of their country. ”

This is Einstein's impression of the city of Shanghai, and it is also his view of the Chinese intelligentsia.

Even if Lin Zixuan was hiding behind, he was still noticed.

Lin Zixuan is also a world-renowned novelist, and in the eyes of others, this should be a fierce and interesting ideological debate between two world-class scholars, so as to spark ideas.

But Lin Zixuan has been silent, and Einstein is reluctant to talk more about his scientific theories, resulting in a lively scene, but a little embarrassing.

Finally, some people began to want to stimulate the chemical reaction between the great scientists and the great writers, and create a good story of the great collision of ideas between the intellectual elites of the East and the West, so that everyone can talk about it in the future.

"Mr. Lin, what do you think of the theory of relativity?" A newspaper editor-in-chief asked in a loud voice.

Because Einstein was there, as a sign of respect, everyone spoke in English, and some of them even spoke German.

This question silenced the scholars present, waiting for Lin Zixuan's answer, wanting to see what novel insights this world-renowned writer would have.

I still can't hide from it!

Lin Zixuan is reluctant to dwell on the issue of science, but he is not lacking in impatience, you talk about science, I talk about science fiction.

"I'm writing novels, I don't know science." Lin Zixuan declared, "Mr. Einstein, I am very curious about one thing, what happens when an airplane is faster than the speed of light? Will it cause time rewind? Is it possible for us to go on time travel? ”