For most people, the word "IIII" has never appeared in life, and the closest thing is the "III" seen in some old-fashioned clocks, which corresponds to the Arabic flat numeral "3" in Roman numerals. In the Roman numeral system, an "I" represents 1, and the notation from 1 to 3 is to accumulate "I" side by side, but its 4 is represented as "IV", not "IIII" as seen by Xiang Nanxing at this time. Because in Roman numerals, "V" stands for 5, and the numbers marked on the left are used for subtraction, and the numbers marked on the right are for addition, so "IV" represents the equation of "5-1", which is "4".

"At first glance, this 'IIII' looks like someone who knows a little about Roman numerals has misspelled '4'. However, what many people don't know is that there was indeed a country in history that used 'IIII' to represent the number '4' at some point in history. Xiang Nanxing poked his head out and reconfirmed the number on the side of the entire row of bookshelves, and nodded, "It is indeed the fourteenth bookshelf in the history reading room, so it seems that the person who asked the question should want to express this meaning." ”

On the other side, Liang Jingmo clasped his hands to his chest and smiled to see how he solved the puzzle with reasoning.

"In 14th-century France, during the reign of King Charles V, he decreed that the use of 'IV' should not be used, but should be replaced by 'IIII', because he inexplicably found the word 'IV' insulting. This sticky note is affixed to the fourteenth bookshelf, stating that '14' is a message on the table, not an answer. At the same time, the 4 represented by 'IIII' is also recognizable at a glance, and it is unlikely to be the information it wants to tell me. ”

Xiang Nanxing looked around and said to himself: "So in this way, what it wants to express should be 'Charles V' or '5', right?" But what is associated with Charles V? ”

In his memory, the main achievement of King Charles V of France was to reverse the unfavorable situation of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War, and to make great reforms that allowed France to be revived, and he was described in the history books as "the great king of France". In addition, he can recall the name of the unequal treaty signed with England at the beginning, the Treaty of Bretiny, but the peace itself does not have much to study.

The clue has been cracked to this point, and it seems to be broken.

"What does the "Charles V" that appears in the Historical Reading Room represent? Or did I have a problem with the direction from the start? ”

Xiang Nanxing pursed his lips and paced in the library in thought. Inadvertently, he raised his head and suddenly saw the orange round ceiling lamp near the door, and his eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had realized. He walked quickly to the door of the reading room and found a globe on the check-in table that he had just entered.

As a historical reading room, there is nothing surprising in itself that there is a globe, after all, to understand history, you must know some common sense of geography. However, this reading room was originally a place where Xiang Nanxing frequented, and he knew that the original location of this globe was not here, but should be deeper in the room.

He looked at the ceiling lamp above his head and tossed the globe in his hand again. After seeing the situation on the back, he finally smiled a little.

"It's really interesting, this person is really interesting." He seemed to want to laugh out loud, but he tried to hold back.

"Do you know the answer to the puzzle?" Liang Jingmo approached.

"It's an interesting connection." Xiang Nanxing nodded, "I have no problem solving the puzzle in the first stage, what the questioner wants to tell me is the keyword 'Charles V'." But to dig up clues for the next step on this basis, it is necessary to combine one of the characteristics of this reading room. ”

He raised his hand and pointed to the round ceiling lamp above his head.

"Because of the failure of the switching circuit, the light could not be turned off, and it would be on all day and night, and it would not go out until the entire building was closed in the middle of the night. Although it is not a 24-hour continuous lantern, because of its shape and the orange color, it is very suitable to refer to a term that is often said in history, that is, - 'the sun never sets'. ”

Liang Jingmo raised his eyebrows slightly and said a meaningful "oh".

"When it comes to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, anyone who has read a little bit of history will have an impression. He ruled over the Kingdom of Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the titular entire German Confederation, and Tunisia, Oran, and Africa among others. At his peak, he once uttered the world-famous phrase - 'In my land, the sun never sets'. Hence his empire, which later became known as the 'Empire on which the sun never sets'. ”

Xiang Nanxing said with a smile: "So, this round ceiling lamp is a clue related to Charles V." ”

"But that's not the answer." Liang Jingmo said.

"That's just a clue to the transition." Xiang Nanxing knocked on the globe in his hand, "Someone specially brought this thing from the depths of the room. If the overhead light is the sun, then the globe at the bottom represents the earth. In addition to his political and military achievements, Charles V financed the navigator Magellan, whose fleet was able to complete the first circumnavigation of the world. If you take the literal meaning of 'circumnavigating the globe', rotate this globe a little......"

He literally turned the globe around again, revealing the side that had been hidden inside the registration table at the beginning. The whole of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea was displayed before them, and one of the areas that caught the eye was painted pink.

"Where is this?" Liang Jingmo asked.

"Are you testing me?" Xiang Nanxing said with a smile, "Britain, to be precise, the British Empire. There are two countries in history known as the 'Empire on which the sun never sets': the Spanish Empire of Charles V and the British Empire of the Victorian era. ”

"That's right, the British Empire under the Queen." Liang Jingmo nodded.

"At that time, the world map published by Britain had a characteristic feature that the British Empire was marked in pink alone, vividly showing Britain's hegemony on a global scale. So, 'UK' should be the final answer. The library has two foreign language reading rooms, one for English books and one for other languages. The next clue is not surprising, it should be in the English reading room. ”

"But if you listen carefully, you should feel that something is wrong." He laughed, "It was clear that Charles V was the king of France, but then he became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and then the Spanish Empire. Which country is he the monarch of? ”

He snapped his fingers.

The answer is that the two Kings of Charles V are not referring to the same person. The one who changed 'IV' to 'IIII' was the King of France, and the counterpart of 'The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets' was Emperor Charles V. The person who wrote the puzzle did not understand the specifics of this, and mistook the two for the same, so he put the puzzle together with some facts he knew. This suggests that the person who wrote the question was at least not a history major, and most likely a ...... Polytechnic man? ”

He shook his fingers, as if pointing at Liang Jingmo, who replied with an innocent smirk.

"After all, not everyone transferred to the history department like you." He laughed, "This puzzle in the history reading room is like the one who made it for you, even if you can solve it, you don't have to be so proud." ”

"If you can't solve it, you will be the one who is proud." Xiang Nanxing said angrily.

The two chatted as they walked upstairs to the English reading room. This time, the clues were not hidden too deeply, but were written on the bulletin board as openly as in the reading room of Chinese studies at the beginning. But compared to the fanfare declaration at the beginning, this time the clues are much more low-key, and to those who don't know the cause and effect, it looks like a string of information that has been memorized.

7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Xiang Nanxing leaned over and carefully looked at the five numbers, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"See it at a glance?" Liang Jingmo was surprised, "Your speed really scares me." ”

"I haven't understood the code itself, but I understand another thing." Xiang Nanxing said, "This is the third clue, and it should be the last, or the penultimate location." The reading room of Chinese culture is written on the bulletin board so that others can see it, and it is helpless to risk being erased, but the latter few should be hidden in a relatively hidden place in order to avoid being destroyed by irrelevant people. Since the clues here are written directly on the bulletin board, it means that the questioner is likely to have insufficient time when he arrives at this link, for example, ......"

He looked at Liang Jingmo with a smile again: "For example, I suddenly received a call from a friend or something." ”

"You don't want to be distracted by all sorts of nonsense." Liang Jingmo glanced out the window, "The sun is about to set, I'm still waiting to see how you, the campus detective, solve the mystery of the library's code." ”

Xiang Nanxing's heart trembled suddenly, and he suddenly remembered the agreement with Nangong Qian after school. Although her mood has become more and more peaceful recently, and she has long said goodbye to the dangerous things of killers, if she delays her date because she is solving the mystery here......

He swallowed unconsciously. At this moment, he heard Liang Jingmo's voice.

"If you really can't think of it, do you need a hint?"

"Yes." Xiang Nanxing replied without hesitation.

Liang Jingmo was slightly stunned by his decisiveness: "You are really simple." Where is the dignity of a campus detective? ”

"I'm not a campus detective. Without further ado, what are the tips. ”

"The hint is, think back to how you solved the puzzle in the history reading room." Liang Jingmo smiled, "Then please remember that this floor is a foreign language reading room. ”

Xiang Nanxing frowned and fell into thought. However, in the next second, he suddenly looked up at the row of numbers on the whiteboard, and his eyes sparkled.

"I see!"

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