Berlin, Germany.

In a classroom at the University of Berlin, a student with a beard on his face stood up and bowed with the teacher's permission, and asked, "Professor, I have a question for you, that is, doesn't the conclusions of the special theory of relativity about distance contraction and time extension cause you panic?" ”

Placing the lecture notes on the podium, Max Planck motioned for the students to sit down, pondered for a moment, and then smiled: "These conclusions are difficult to accept only when people appeal to their own 'feelings,' but physicists are able to transcend the deep-seated intuitive impressions of space and time, and it is this ability that allows mankind to hope for a truly universal physics that is acceptable to both earthlings and Martians." ”

After a slight pause, looking at the students below, Planck continued: "Many electrodynamic theories use some kind of model of electrons, but Einstein's theory is the opposite, which is a relief for the panicked electrodynamicists."

Just as he was talking energetically, a student didn't say a word, didn't say anything, and went straight out the back door with his school bag.

Seeing this, Planck immediately stopped what he was saying, stopped speaking, and quietly watched the student go out, and as the student went out completely, the back door was closed, and the smile on his face came to an abrupt end.

The students looked at the back door, and then at the professor on the podium, silent, and there was a different smell in the air.

Faced with such a scene, Planck's face was gloomy, he sighed, took off his glasses and put them on the table, and said bitterly: "Students, what's the matter, why did you go out in the middle of the class, it makes me very sad, you must have a pious heart towards knowledge, blaspheming her will only lead to your own academic failure." ”

There were students at the bottom who cleaned up the books and made a loud noise, muttering: "It's not that they are not pious to knowledge, but that their patriotic heart can't bear this kind of insult. ”

The fool (German: der Depperte) is Einstein when he was a child to learn to speak very slowly, plus he especially likes to speak loudly, he is clumsy and has to show timidity, his maid also has such a nickname in addition to ridicule, but unfortunately Einstein slapped this maid in the face with practical actions, and he can write scientific papers in his teens, and everyone knows what he has since then.

The origin of the traitors was more complicated, when after the German conquest of Belgium, the British and French newspapers ran a large headline: "We love the Germany of Goethe and Beethoven, we hate the Germany of Bismarck and Wilhelm II." Faced with this situation, German academics immediately drafted a "Letter to the Civilized World" (German: An die Kulturwelt!) to advocate the justice of Germany in waging war, and that only the "German spirit" was the hope of all mankind.

The list is signed by 93 top scholars, such as Nernst, the proposer of the third law of thermodynamics, Roentgen ray discoverer, Roentgenium, and, of course, Planck, the protagonist of this class, who also signed it in support of the German government's policies.

In the face of the general positive attitude of German academic circles, Einstein did not sign it, and took the lead in drafting another anti-war agreement, "Letter to Europeans", which is bound to cause dissatisfaction among some people in Germany.

Planck saw the student's movements, remembered them in his heart, closed his eyes and pursed his lips, and became surprisingly silent, and when he opened his eyes again, his eyes were red.

An informed student couldn't stand it anymore, didn't raise his hand and stood up directly, looked at the classmate who made a movement just now, and looked at the teacher on the stage: "Professor, you misunderstood this, that student was already suffering from dysentery, and according to the doctor's instructions, he should have rested and recuperated, but in order not to delay your class, he came out after taking medicine and struggling, but his body did not allow it, he was sweating just now, and there was really no way to go out, otherwise he would have to make a fool of himself in class, and it would really affect the class at that time." ”

Hearing this, Planck's eyes were first full of joy, then some relief, and then immediately sad, and all kinds of feelings gathered together, and they were a little wet.

Turning his back, he didn't want the students to see this embarrassment, so he pretended to wipe his glasses, quietly wiped it on his face, quickly turned his head, and sniffled.

"Okay, let's put it in a paragraph, let's move on to the rest of the class, you have to take notes on that classmate just now, and teach him in time when the patient recovers, if you don't understand, you can go to the office to find me"

After class, Planck returned to his office, closed the door, recalled the words of the student just now, and combined with what had happened in recent years, he covered his eyes with his head in his hands and couldn't help but whimper, tears kept seeping out from his fingertips.

Don't look at Planck's fame in later generations, but he has received only a handful of honors in his life. He founded quantum theory in 1900 and did not win the Nobel Prize in physics until 18 years later, at the age of 61. In the middle, he became a member of the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and a third of the people voted against him by secret ballot, which was basically the greatest honor in the first half of his life, and the situation did not gradually improve until his later years, but it was still not worthy of his academic value.

The family seems to be a little more miserable, last year the big man Karl just died in the Battle of Verdun, the European meat grinder, at the beginning of this year Glitter also died of illness after giving birth, the son-in-law later married another daughter, but unfortunately two years later also died in childbirth, the second son seems to be a little luckier, the year before was captured by the French army, luckily escaped, but unfortunately the later ** staged, and died in World War II, the German version of "Alive" protagonist Fugui.

The career is not smooth, the family is bumpy, and now because of the signature on the "Letter to the Civilized World" by the European academic circles, because of sympathy for Einstein faintly dissatisfied by his domestic counterparts, sandwiched in the middle inside and outside is not a person, in less than a year a son and a daughter died one after another, the family photos on the table are directly buckled, and they dare not look at it again, and Planck's mood almost collapsed under several blows.

The boy doesn't flick when he has tears, just because he hasn't reached the sad place.

At this moment, there was a sudden rhythmic knock on the door.

"Professor, are you in the office?"

Planck quickly packed his clothes, wiped the tears from his face, and straightened the picture frame, but he still didn't dare to look directly at the figure above, and moved his perspective elsewhere.

"Yes, I'm here, the door is unlocked, you can just come in."

"Okay, sorry to bother you." It was a staff member in the communication room who opened the door, took off his hat and saluted, and respectfully handed over the document in his hand: "Professor Planck, that's right, I received a telegram from the Chinese Academy of Sciences here, and the recipient is you, and you rushed over immediately after getting the things." ”

"Chinese Academy of Sciences? I don't remember any contact with that side, and when did China have an academy of sciences, I had to ask those Chinese students when I came back. Planck thought about it for a while, but he didn't think of any connection with it, maybe it was just a mistake, and he didn't pay much attention to it: "Okay, thank you, my old Leon." ”

"Huh? Professor, you remember my name, I can't believe that other professors have always remembered my nickname, but never known my real name. Old Leon was very pleased, even if Planck was down, it seemed that he was a big man like him who could not be compared to a school worker, and it was worth remembering the name as a small honor, and it was worth going back to have a good drink of dark beer and show off: "It's okay, you just need to sign your name here, and you can take the papers." ”

"Here, okay." He took out a pen from his chest pocket and prepared to sign it, but unfortunately after a few strokes, only a white line appeared, and it was obvious that there was no ink, and finally old Leon took out his pen and signed his name.

Holding the receipt, old Leon handed over the document and took off his hat again to thank him, but when he looked down, he suddenly found that the eyes of the person in front of him were bloodshot, and he looked at the photo album at a strange angle, and suddenly understood something: "Professor Planck, if you can, you can come to my place in the evening and have a few drinks, my son and your son are still comrades in the army, it's a pity. You need to take care of yourself. ”

With that, putting on his hat, old Leon walked out of the door with the receipt, and softly closed the door again, and the room was silent again.

With this "weird" telegram, Pukron was not in such a bad mood in a trance, and even had an impulse to go out on the spot to catch up with old Leon, and vent all the unhappiness in the near future.

It's a pity that this telegram has a kind of magic, firmly glued to the hand, and there is no room for two things.

"The sender 'Tom Cheng' seems to have heard this name somewhere, and it always feels a little familiar." Planck looked at the name, unfamiliar with a hint of familiarity, very weird, but he didn't care about it, he would know the content after taking it apart and reading it.

"Dear Max Planck, I am glad that you can take time out of your busy schedule to read this telegram from a strange country, first of all, to introduce the Chinese Academy of Sciences, she is a newborn, just born this year, the purpose is to promote the spirit of science on this eastern continent, so that more Chinese can feel the charm of knowledge, enjoy the fruits of the development of natural science, of course, we are still shallow, I believe you will see many of our valuable research reports in the future."

Secondly, as the dean, my research focus is more on mathematical number theory, and the results I have made are not particularly significant, I have just solved Hilbert's conjecture recently, so you may not be very familiar with my name, but this is not the point, my partner and I are also very interested in quantum theory, mathematics and physics are also interconnected, I will definitely visit you in the future

We sincerely invite you to participate in the first scientific congress to be held in China at the end of this year, you are very welcome to come, if possible, we hope that you can give us an academic report, we will organize it for you to the highest degree.

Of course, if you aspire to a better, freer, purer, and more funded academic research environment, you are also welcome to come, I believe that the Chinese Academy of Sciences will give you a sufficient surprise.

Finally, on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I would like to express my deep condolences for what happened to your sons and daughters, and may their souls rest in peace and return to the arms of God.

In addition, traditional Chinese medicine is very researched in maternal and child health, so you can contact me at any time if you need it. ”

The career card and the family card were dispatched at the same time, although I didn't pay attention to Cheng Nuo's idea of inviting him to join, after all, it was too unfamiliar, how could he easily hand over his fate to such a strange person and place, even if the other party was a rising star in the academic world, but it was just a person, and it was far from enough to see in front of the bright German academic interface.

But thinking of his daughter and grandson who had just died in childbirth together, his heart was like a knife, and he had a second daughter, and something similar might happen in the future, making it difficult for him, who had always believed in his intuition.

Now that I have been excluded from the German academic community, it seems that it is not a big deal to go out for a walk and just make an academic report, and I can temporarily leave this haze, which is really exciting for a moment.

Straightening the photo on the table and looking at the smile of his second daughter, Planck secretly made up his mind, picked up the phone on the table, and went to the school library.

"Is it Simon, I'm Max Planck, do you have a paper on Chinese mathematics professor Tom Cheng, please make an appointment for me, I'll go over and read it right away, by the way, is there a relevant book on the introduction of traditional Chinese medicine, I also make an appointment, thank you."

Turning his gaze back to China, in addition to Planck in Germany, Cheng Nuo also sent telegrams to other people who had similar encounters, the content was very similar, and the theme idea was to let these people come over, perhaps directly to the point to invite them to join, or to invite them to come and avoid the war, or to invite them to participate in the first annual meeting of science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to participate in academic reports, etc.

The purpose is to let these people come and truly appreciate the charm of the Academy of Sciences, and if these people really agree to come, then the matter will be at least half the success.

Jiang Jiangzuo packed up the written telegram, and after briefly browsing it, he was a little puzzled: "Zhiyuan, you said that it is normal for you to send telegrams to Planck, Hilbert and others, and it is understandable to Zhukovsky and Paplov, they are very famous and powerful, but the problem is that some people are not down-and-out in their country, on the contrary, they are very reused, we do these jobs, isn't it useless, why do people look at us who are poor and famous?" ”

Cheng Nuo glanced at him, dipped the pen in some ink, and explained while writing a letter: "If you have dates, you have to have a rod, and if you don't have dates, you have to have a rod." You're not the person in question, how do you know they're doing well? If we want to have a more long-term development in the international academic community, we have to make a reputation. ”

"Yes, I understand all of this, but there are some drafted telegrams, why do you still invite you to join the company?" Jiang Jiang Zuo was still a little puzzled, and asked: "Just greet directly, will it cause their dissatisfaction if you forcibly use this to attract attention, at that time it was really a stone to shoot yourself in the foot." ”

Rustling, there was a sound of writing on the desktop, and after writing this paragraph along the train of thought, Cheng Nuo raised his head and replied: "At the moment, we are not very famous, but after the efforts of our comrades, it is not necessarily worse than these 'academic gathering places', at that time, the people we invited in retrospect, that feeling must be different, maybe there are really people who are willing to come, this is also a mutual achievement, one in a hundred telegrams is willing to come, it is enough." ”

Adjusting the angle of the table lamp, Cheng Nuo said: "Everything is difficult at the beginning, but now with Mr. Tesla joining, the latter's psychological burden and mustard will be much less, and the day when the second international person arrives will not be too long." We don't have to be greedy for many things, we just need to be the candidates of these university scholars, and when they really have difficulties, they will think carefully about us. ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo frowned, thought about it carefully, and said with emotion: "Yes, it is also a good thing to become their second choice in addition to the motherland, but it is also extremely difficult to do this." But the question is, in addition to these well-known scholars, how can you send telegrams to so many people who are not famous and have not even heard of in the academic world, which is not old and young. ”

Cheng Nuo smiled, picked up the roster prepared next to him, counted them carefully and said: "Not much, only one or two hundred people, these are really my main goals, and they are also important potential stocks, and they are at the trough of life right now, you can give them a little sunshine." Seriously, I sent telegrams to so many celebrities, in a sense, to elevate our Academy of Sciences, so that these 'little guys' can add some luster after receiving the telegrams. ”

"Raise the grade, add brilliance?" Jiang Jiang Zuo repeated, and soon understood what was going on, and praised him sincerely: "Okay, you are Zhiyuan, this is the reason why you really sent telegrams to those well-known scholars, in order to make you think that after receiving the telegram, these 'little guys' think that they have gained the same respect as well-known scholars, and in ancient times, they might die for their confidants." ”

"Academic respect is the most important thing for them at this stage." Cheng Nuo looked at the list and agreed: "I hope these people can appreciate my good intentions, our Academy of Sciences has a large territory, and I am willing to take as much as I come, and I will definitely not treat them badly." ”

After reading the preferential conditions for entry on the telegram that had been drafted, Jiang Jiang Zuo's eyes lit up: "With your conditions, it is rare to be placed in a foreign country, thanks to the fact that I have already joined our academy, otherwise I have to pack my things and run over directly, I don't even want to pack my things, just bring a ferry ticket." ”

However, what he didn't know was that Cheng Nuo relied on foresight, and only after knowing that the other party could indeed make results, did he dare to offer such high conditions, otherwise he would really dare to bet on someone, and the money of the Academy of Sciences was not blown by the wind, and not a single penny of funds could be wasted.

Therefore, this seemingly preferential condition, that is, the Chinese Academy of Sciences can open it, whether it is London or Berlin, or Paris, will not take such a big risk at all, resources are limited after all, and if you invest one more in this person, you may lose a dime on the other ten people, not to mention that there will not necessarily be a gain after investment.

Cheng Nuo smiled and continued to work hard: "If you really want you to say that, then our manpower will not be so short, but in the final analysis, iron still needs to be hard, and after all, we have to return to cultivating our own people. ”

After dealing with the telegram here, Cheng Nuo pulled Tesla again and went to the Watson Electric Appliance Manufacturing Factory together.

At present, many powers are busy with the First World War, and there is a competing product in the market, which is an excellent window for the development of domestic products, and this village has been missed, and when these things have gasped and swept again, if you want to develop again, you have to look at people's faces, not to mention that there are so many compradors waiting to be fed, and the situation at that time was quite impressive.

After greeting the doorman, Cheng Nuo did not alarm the leaders of the factory, and directly led people to push open the door of the factory, and the heat wave and rumbling loud noises came to the surface.

"Dean Cheng, is this what you said about the subordinate enterprises of the Academy of Sciences, it seems to be very large-scale, and these workers and masters are also very motivated." Tesla looked up and down and said.

"Yes, this factory is currently developing fans in order to quickly capture market share." Outside the safety distance of the lathe, Cheng Nuo introduced: "At present, its core is the fan motor, but unfortunately the technology is not mature enough, after the success of research and development, the production cost can not be reduced, but fortunately, the use of AC technology is what you are good at, which does not invite you to come." ”

The previous interest was already there, but as soon as he heard that the alternating current technology could be promoted, Tesla's face became even more interested: "Where is it, is the speed not enough, the starting is difficult, or the no-load current is unbalanced, and the three-phase difference is large."

As soon as Cheng Nuo took the lead, Tesla's chatterbox was completely opened, and more than a dozen common problems were said in a row, and even optimization and troubleshooting solutions were given.

It's a pity that Cheng Nuo's research on motors is too little, and he can't talk to it later.

At this moment, Yang Jichuan, who listened to the report of the workers below, hurriedly trotted over from another corner of the factory, his face was even covered with oil, and his body was a little thinner than last time.

"Professor Cheng, when are you coming, you should tell me in advance, I have to prepare for it, and I can't surprise you." Yang Jichuan wanted to take the initiative to stretch out his hand, but suddenly found that there was some oil stains on his hands, so he quickly wiped it on his body, but unfortunately the overalls on his body were not clean, and he couldn't get clean by wiping them around, so he had no choice but to say hello: "The workshop is too noisy, or let's go out and talk." ”

Cheng Nuo smiled, returned the salute, and said sincerely: "Lao Yang, it seems that you have been suffering a lot these days, you have pushed you at the last party, and you have a degree of work, and sooner or later you will be tired." ”

Yang Jichuan touched the back of his head, led the way in front and said with a smile: "It just happened that there was inspiration in those days, and you also know that thing, it is fleeting, and we are stupid, how can we do it if we don't pounce on it with all our hearts, but after this busy time, it will be much better." ”

Cheng Nuo nodded, he didn't want to get involved in life matters, so he pointed to Tesla on the side and introduced: "This is."

Yang Jichuan's eyes had already been aimed at Tesla, and without waiting for Cheng Nuo to finish speaking, he preemptively said: "This is the famous Mr. Tesla, I have admired it for a long time, and I can finally see the real person, hello, hello." ”

Because it is spoken in Chinese, although Tesla is also learning Chinese these days, it is only limited to the commonly used greetings, and after listening to this with a smile, he can only understand the last "hello", so he also laughed and said in a blunt tone: "Hello, hello, nice to meet you." ”

But after saying that, Tesla's head couldn't help but look at Cheng Nuo and glanced at him.

After receiving the hint, Cheng Nuo introduced in English: "This gentleman's name is Yang Jichuan, he is the director of this factory, and all the things in the workshop are under his control. ”

The word funding completely touched Tesla's heart, before in the United States, his most troublesome thing is this, last year relying on the patent of the vehicle counting meter and headlights, plus other miscellaneous things, earned less than 20,000 US dollars, this money was quickly invested in the next experiment, and it could not even cover scientific research expenditures, otherwise he would not have been renting in a hotel, who would not want to live in a big house.

Thinking of this, the smile on Tesla's face was even worse: "Director Yang, if there are any technical difficulties in the factory, just say, I will find a way to help you solve them, especially AC motor technology, I have a lot of experience in this area, and a small fan is definitely not a problem." ”

Who would have thought that Yang Jichuan didn't understand English either, so he frowned and listened for a long time, and finally only one sentence popped out: "Sorry." ”

Cheng Nuo, the initiator, almost couldn't hold back his laughter, and hurriedly translated the original words without moving, which solved the embarrassment between the two.

While the two looked at each other and smiled, they also secretly vowed in their hearts that it was too important to learn one more foreign language.

In this way, through the translation of Cheng Nuo, the middleman, the two also had a certain understanding of each other, and soon turned to the technical issue, that is, the motor technology that Watson Electric Appliance Manufacturing Factory is most concerned about and headache at present.

When I came to the exhibition room, I turned on the fan on the spot, and after the power was turned on, except for the noise was a little loud, there was basically no black smoke accident last time, and the operation was very stable.

Looking at the fan, Yang Jichuan was still dissatisfied: "Listening to the movement, it can be rotated, but the actual production cost has not been reduced, and the overall comfort is still a little worse than the American Qiqi brand electric fan. ”

After Tesla circled around the fan, he picked up a motor from the display rack next to him and looked at it, and found the original design drawings and read them carefully, and was surprised and sighed: "It's hard to imagine that this is a product that can be designed by someone who has never undergone professional electrical training, with a whimsical design, which makes me very inspired, but unfortunately the foundation is unstable, there are many small mistakes, a single may be harmless, but the accumulation is more, and the problem will appear, so let's do it, Let me re-explain to you the basic equation of three-phase AC motors and re-lay the foundation. ”