Sun Yuanqi came all the way, but he was safe. In less than a day, the ship sailed from the Arabian Sea around the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, then through the Suez Canal, to the Mediterranean, and soon to Marseille, France.

As soon as I got off the ship, I saw someone on the pier to greet me, vaguely the figure of the Curie couple.

To say that Sun Yuanqi also stayed in France for a period of time, he can be called an "acquaintance". , there are only the Curie couple who count them around. This is because everyone studies nuclear physics, and they usually exchange letters and discuss academic issues with each other, so they gradually become acquainted. Maybe there is really a butterfly effect, the good ones who shouldn't have died have died, and a tragic man like Mr. Curie, who should have been hit by a carriage, is still alive and kicking in the world!

Did he know I had saved one of his lives, so he came to the docks to thank him? Hehe, if Mr. Curie knew that his wife would develop an indecent love with his student Lang Zhiwan in the future, he should regret still living in the world!

Sun Yuanqi is not a French morality, so he naturally can't control so much. Hurry over and greet everyone. When I got closer, I found that in addition to the Curie couple, the rest of the people who greeted them were Chinese in suits and leather shoes with braids. Could it be the comrades of the European division of the League?

In the midst of doubt, he saw the leader with his eyes, and Gu Qi's face immediately made Sun Yuanqi think of who he was: "Brother Ze Zhenmin, don't come unharmed!" ”。 It turned out that this person was Li Fuji, who changed his engine school at Sun Yuanqi's suggestion.

Li Fuji smiled and said, "Mr. Baixi is well, everything is going well on the journey?" ”。

"Hehe, everything goes well.". Sun Yuanqi replied, "Brother Ze Zhenmin" Didn't you study in London? It's time to defend your dissertation, right? How do you have time to come to Marseille? ”。

"The dissertation defense has been passed, and the specific details will be discussed with you in detail when I have time. Now I would like to introduce you to all the colleagues present, these are Yang Yincai, Wu Guoliang, Wang Zhongyue, and Luo Jianyin, all of whom studied industry in Belgium, and they are all studying in Hubei government, speaking of which, you are still their top boss........."

Li Fuji was the first to come to Europe to study, and he stayed long enough that he was elected by his classmates as the president of the European Chinese Friendship Association. I heard that Sun Yuan came to Europe and took advantage of the Christmas and New Year holidays to "mobilize all the students in Europe to Marseille to welcome them." Most of the people present today are Hubei government-sent students.

Because after the Gengzi year, in order to cultivate all kinds of talents needed by the new policy of foreign affairs, Zhang Zhidong vigorously sent students overseas. Hubei soon joined the provinces of Jiangsu, Xi and Sichuan as one of the provinces with the most students. Nowadays, it is no longer possible to accurately count the total number of students", but as of the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), there were 25 Hubei students sent to Germany, 24 in Belgium, 23 in England, and 10 in France............

As the president of the association, Li Fuji is absolutely competent, and he has already arranged accommodation. After everyone met, they prepared to go to the reserved restaurant in accordance with Chinese customs to pick up the wind and wash the dust for Sun Yuanqi. Before he left, more than a dozen reporters poured out from behind the crowd, surrounded Sun Yuanqi, and asked in fluent or broken English:

"Dr. Johnson, I'm a reporter for The Times, could you please talk about your suggestions for exploring antimatter?".

"Dear Professor, can you give an optimistic timetable for the progress of superconductivity research?".

"The Big Bang theory of the universe is of great interest to the French public. As the founder of the theory, Mr. "Can you easily introduce it to the public?" ”。

The scene suddenly became chaotic, causing pedestrians to look sideways. Sun Yuanqi had no choice but to raise his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "Gentlemen," I am happy to accept everyone's interview.

But because of the fatigue of the journey, I can only briefly answer one question from everyone, how? ”。

The crowd said yes and began to ask questions in an orderly manner.

The young woman that Sun Yuanqi met on the boat before happened to get off the boat and pass through the crowd at this moment" Seeing a bunch of reporters surrounding Sun Yuanqi for an interview, curiosity broke out again, and asked a crowd of onlookers who understood the truth in a low voice: "Who is this Chinese?" What did he do and why did the reporter interview him? …”

"Oh, dear lady, I will be happy to answer your questions." ”。 The onlookers are all good people" "This Chinese is Dr. Johnson, who proposed the Big Bang theory of the universe, a very famous scientist. Ma'am, have you ever heard of the Big Bang cosmology? If you don't know, I can give you an introduction............

The talker, and the inquiring lady had already covered her mouth with her hand, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Ah, so he is Johnson!" ”。

"Why, ma'am, have you seen him before?".

"Hmmm! Well! ”。 The lady nodded heavily, "When I saw him, he was lying alone on the deck, pondering. That demeanor is reminiscent of Sir Newton sitting under the apple tree. He was so focused that I stopped by his side for more than ten minutes without him noticing my presence! ”。

"That's really .........," the listener sighed, "and then what? ”。

"And then? Then I asked him what he was, and he said he was studying the sun. ”。

The listener looked up at the sun in the sky: "The sun? What is there to study about the sun? ”。

"He said he was studying why the sun shines!".

"If he succeeds in his research, wouldn't humans be able to make a sun of their own? Oh, my God! His research is truly astonishing. ”。

Sun Yuanqi naturally didn't hear the conversation between the two gossips, and after dealing with the reporters, he followed Li Fuji and his party to the hotel. On the way, he and Li Fuji sat in a car, and continued the topic just now: "Brother Ze Zhenmin, congratulations on passing the dissertation defense!" In this way, you have become the first person in China to obtain a Ph.D. in Europe! ”。

"Hehe, thank you, Mr. Baixi. The first person or something, forget it, the students are in front of you, it's really a class axe. ”。

"By the way, you have finished defending your thesis, when do you plan to return to China?"

"Now that my studies have ended, I plan to return to China in the near future." Li Fuji smiled bitterly, "It's just that where to work after returning to China is really hesitant."

"Aren't you studying engines? That's still worrying about not being able to find a job! ”。 The engine is high-tech, and the production involves military industry and civilian use, so such a doctor should not worry about running out of food anywhere.

Li Fuji looked bitter and shook his head: "It's because it's a research engine that I can't find food in the Qing Dynasty." Let's talk about shipbuilding first, China's steamers, the larger tonnage are all funded by foreign shipyards to build: the smaller tonnage can be manufactured by themselves, but the engines have always been imported, and there has never been a precedent for their own development. As for other machinery, such as various steam engines and internal combustion engines, they are also imported from foreign countries, and they have their own maintenance technicians. When I go back to China, I will at most become a maintenance technician. I can hire a doctor, and the salary is enough to cover several skilled craftsmen, and I guess people are not very happy to hire me! ”。

This is the sorrow of high-tech and highly educated talents: the scope of high-tech and sophisticated research limits their narrow employment range, and there is usually very little room for choice: the training cost of high education increases their psychological expectations, and they often have harsh requirements for salary and working conditions. Once they lose their jobs, it will be difficult to find a suitable home. From this point of view, PhDs in environmental engineering and biomedical sciences are not as easy to find jobs as undergraduates in Chinese and mathematics.

"My alma mater, Nanyang College, wanted me to go back and start a mechanical course." Nanyang College has been renamed the Ministry of Commerce Higher Industrial School in the year of sacrifice, but Li Fuji is still used to the name he used to call when he was in school, "But the school is poor and white, starting from scratch, how easy is it to talk about?" In particular, the design and manufacture of engines involves many aspects such as materials science, mechanics, and thermalism. And no one in China today is willing to invest tens of thousands of dollars to support such protracted but possibly futile research! But I also know that the engine is very important to the country's industrial base, China has fallen behind a lot, and if it doesn't catch up now, I'm afraid the gap will be even greater in the future, and even unable to catch up! So I was torn between what to do. ”。

Sun Yuanqi said solemnly: "As the president of Jingshi University, I sincerely invite you to work at Jingshi University!" …”

"Thank you, Mr. Baekhee, for your kindness! I know a little about the schools in China, and I know that the academic research atmosphere of Jingshi University is the best in China, and even the research in the fields of physics, chemistry, and electronics is at the forefront of the world. However, the school is located in Beijing, and there is no industrial base nearby, which is not suitable for the development of engines, because the engines are based on steel smelting and casting. From this point of view, Jingshi is even inferior to Shanghai, after all, Shanghai is closer to the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant. ”。

Seeing Li Fuji's refusal, Sun Yuanqi was not at all dissatisfied, and then said: "The reason why I invite you is because Jingshi University has the following three conditions: First, Jingshi University has established an engine research institute three years ago, and now there are nearly twenty students. They may not be at the same level, but many of them already have a basic knowledge of the relevant knowledge, which is better than starting from scratch elsewhere. ”。

It seems that the secrecy work of Jingshi University has been done very well, and the engine research institute has been established for more than a year, but the outside world has not received any news.

"Secondly, after you arrive at the institute, the university will give you sufficient financial support. That's what I can assure you! ”。

"As for you saying that there are no steel mills near Beijing, you don't have to worry about that. When you arrive at the school, you will first run in with the directors of the institute for a period of time, discuss with each other, improve their knowledge level, and carry out preliminary research. I believe that before you come up with your own engine design plan, a steel plant has been built in the suburbs of Beijing! ”。 Sun Yuanqi said confidently.