On the streets of London, black and gray water flows between the wet floor tiles.

With red sparks shining under two large-brimmed hats and a few clouds of smoke coming out from time to time, Arthur and Louis walked alongside each other towards their destination, Grey Sam's College, the seat of the Royal Society.

Louis said, "I heard that the Royal Warrant from the University of London seems to have been officially approved. Maybe in a little while, the degree certificate will be in your hands. ”

Arthur, who had a bandage around his neck, took a puff of cigarette and said: "After a while, when I helped Alfred to register for school at the University of London a while ago, the director of the Academic Affairs Office told me that the school is currently printing degree certificates, and is preparing to reissue the academic certificates that should have been handed over to us for the first batch of graduates. He also asked me if I would mail it to me when it was printed, or if I would pick it up myself. ”

Louie quipped, "I'm sure you're going to pick it up yourself." From what I've observed during my time in London, the postal service in London doesn't seem to be much better than in Paris. ”

Arthur nodded in agreement.

Unlike the modern and efficient postal industry, the postal service in the 19th century was synonymous with inefficiency and chaos.

On top of that, its high prices and collect-only payment methods are often unbearable.

If an ordinary worker wanted to send a letter from Inverness, Scotland, to a relative's house in London, it would often cost him half a month's salary.

However, although mailing letterhead is very expensive, to encourage the development of the printing and journalism industries, newspapers are mailed free of charge through the postal system.

Therefore, in order to prostitute Britain's postal service, many people have come up with a crooked idea to avoid paying high postage fees.

They put a new newspaper in an envelope and made a hole in the specific letters of the newspaper. This way, the person who receives the newspaper can spell out the 'encrypted message' based on the letters of the prickly hole.

Those who have relatively good money and are unwilling to put up with the inefficiency of the postal system simply choose to publish their encrypted messages in newspapers with large circulations.

The big national newspapers, such as The Times and The Manchester Guardian, usually have low-cost sections for personal notices and completely free columns for readers' letters.

The original intention of the newspaper to open these columns was to communicate with readers more, shorten the distance between the two sides, and then increase the sales and influence of the newspaper.

However, to their surprise, many couples simply posted their love letters on it, so that the citizens jokingly called it the 'lovesick column'.

In order to put an end to this phenomenon of wool picking, the newspaper naturally began to make efforts to rectify it.

However, it didn't take long for couples to master the basic skills of encrypted communication and begin to express their lovesickness in more subtle language in their columns.

Originally, it was not Arthur's business for couples to vent their hormones that were so vigorous that they almost overflowed, but coincidentally, a supernumerary employee of the Police Intelligence Bureau liked to delve into these things.

Since the initial realization of financial freedom, Mr. Wheatstone, a person with deep social phobia, has begun to let himself go.

He didn't do any scientific research for two months, and every day after eating, he locked himself in his bedroom with a large pile of newspapers.

And two months later, Charles Wheatstone, who broke through the barrier, proudly announced at the police intelligence bureau working meeting that he had successfully deciphered the encrypted language of at least nine couples. In order to prove the accuracy of his cracking, Wheatstone also read the translated love letters aloud in front of Arthur, and successfully inspired Arthur to include the key element of deciphering love letters in the new issue of "Detective Hastings".

And after Wheatstone tasted the sweetness, he was also out of control. Now, he's not just content to decipher the love letters in those columns. He will even pay out of his own pocket to intervene in the love-hate relationship of these young couples, this four-eyed boy who usually doesn't talk to women, but now he often pretends to be an emotional expert to haunt the 'lovesick column' of major newspapers, providing unprofessional and very annoying consulting services for free.

- You should break up with that bitch, she doesn't deserve it. If it were you, I'd have shot her.

- Elopement is not a problem, and even if you want to elope, you have to graduate from Oxford first. And if you really got an Oxford education, are you sure you really like girls?

- The man is lying to you, and I'm all too familiar with that, because there's such a bastard among my friends, and he's a cop in Scotland Yard. But I don't think your boyfriend is even as good as my friend, at least my friend can offer me a little house for free accommodation. And you, girl, your boyfriend can't even pay the rent of his own house.

And after the bombardment service of Wheatstone's social terrorists, couples in Britain have obviously settled down a lot lately, and even those who are still obsessed with the lovesick column have made a massive upgrade to the code book.

And after getting too much of it, Wheatstone soon found himself in the middle of a big deal.

A while ago, while preparing for a duel, Arthur also took the time to appoint Wheatstone as the Cryptography Commissioner of the Police Intelligence Bureau, and authorized him to be solely responsible for organizing the compilation of a reliable set of encryption language for the Police Intelligence Bureau's internal use - Wheatstone Language.

This time, however, Wheatstone was less resistant, partly because he was genuinely interested in cryptographic languages, and partly because he had recently met a new friend who had retired from the British Army in India.

The new friend was also very interested in encrypted languages, and they also felt that they could do something nice with the special funding from the Police Intelligence Agency for encrypted languages.

Although Arthur repeatedly asked Wheatstone what big news they were planning to make, Wheatstone was reticent and unwilling to give any information about it.

Since Wheatstone didn't want to say it, Arthur definitely couldn't force it, and those who knew him well knew that Arthur fully respected his friend's personal privacy.

That's why Arthur chose to leave the warm and comfortable secret liaison room today, and go to the laboratory of the Royal Society with Louis to launch a secret, but also a friend, routine polite blitz against Wheatstone, who has been soaking there lately.

Of course, this blitzkrieg certainly cannot be compared to the operation codenamed 'Barbarossa', after all, Arthur was not accompanied by motorized infantry, but only the police secretary of the Metropolitan Police Department of Greater London and the Second Emperor of France.

Arthur and Louis chatted, and when the dark riding boots were covered with mud, they knew they were in front of Grey Sam's College.

Although the weather was not good today, and the temperature dropped very low in early winter, this did not affect the enthusiasm of middle-class and upper-class ladies to learn about science.

Today, there is still a lot of traffic in front of Grey Sam College, and from a distance, the carriages are neatly parked on the boulevard outside the college.

The coachmen, who were in charge of driving for the ladies and ladies, rubbed their hands vigorously and took two puffs of their pipes from time to time, trying to warm up their bodies from the rain.

And the scavengers who were thinking of clearing the way to get out of the car in exchange for a few bounties shook their heads, their lips trembling with cold, and from time to time they had to squeeze a few foul words out of their mouths. They cursed that the damn weather not only made them stiff and stiff, but even robbed them of all the work of sweeping the roads.

Arthur took a deep breath, and not only did the rain wash the roads clean, but even the strong smell of perfume in the air was diluted a little.

Louis looked down at Arthur and his mud-stained boots, and pointed to the shoe-shiner sitting in the corner waiting for the guests to come to the door, "Shall we clean it first?" Wouldn't it seem disrespectful to go to Mr. Faraday in this way? ”

Arthur turned his head to look at the signage placed in front of the academy, nodded slightly, and said, "It's really not a coincidence, it's Mr. Faraday who is giving a lecture today." As was customary, most of his lectures would not end on time. Instead of going to the lab early to be asked, it seems good to shine your shoes. ”

When the two came to the shoe stall, several shoe-shiners who had been complaining about the ghost weather suddenly put on smiling faces.

They enthusiastically took the cane from Arthur and Louie, and placed it on the stool next to them and found a clean cloth to cover it.

Louis sat on a bench and asked, "Do the apprentices in the lab ask you questions?" I don't think so. If this is in France, then I think it's normal to ask questions and talk about things, because it's a way for us to show that we care. The French consider eloquence to be an outstanding talent, and humor to be a noble character, and anyone who is a man of few words will definitely be despised by everyone.

But this is in Britain after all, and from all the time I've lived in Britain, you Brits have maintained a considerable sense of social distance. Hugs are seen as rude, even slapping guests on the shoulders, and there are many bizarre taboos like raindrops in London. Aren't the apprentices of the Royal Society native? Otherwise, how could they not understand these basic British etiquette? ”

Arthur sat on a stool, took the sweat-wiping towel from the shoe-shiner's hand, wiped it, and replied after a brief thank-you.

"The apprentices of the Royal Society certainly know how to socialise, but apart from being Englishmen, they are usually very fond of learning. Unfortunately, they identified me as another British authority on electromagnetism after Mr. Faraday, so they often asked me questions I didn't understand.

If I answer those questions randomly, it is that I am neither honest nor rigorous in my approach to learning. And if I tell the truth that I don't know, the apprentices will think that I am hiding from them, that I am perfunctory. Therefore, after considering the impact of various aspects, I chose to reduce the frequency of my visits to the Royal Society as often as possible. ”

Louis was in disbelief when he heard this: "Come on, Arthur." Perhaps there is a better Britannia than you in the field of electromagnetism, but I can assure you that such a person will never count a hand. Although I am not as proficient in mathematics, astronomy, or other sciences as my uncle, I probably have no hope of being elected to the French Academy of Sciences as he did.

But I have always kept an eye on the new developments in the field of science, and the paper you co-authored with Mr. Faraday is definitely very valuable in the field of electromagnetism, and I can even say that if Faraday's publication of "On the Phenomenon of Electromagnetic Induction" is a sign of the opening of the new discipline of electromagnetism. Then your "On the Concept of Faraday Lines of Force" and "On the Three Laws of Electromagnetism" are the first two exhibits to be presented after the curtain opens.

Nowadays, when electromagnetism researchers cite the three rules, they directly indicate the three rules: Ampere's rule, Faraday's rule, and Hastings's rule. Although your research results can't be compared to the first two for the time being, it is perfectly fine to be called an authority on electromagnetism by putting their names together.

At the very least, I don't think you should be stumped by the apprenticeship. If you really didn't hide it from your apprentice, then I can only assume that you are being humble. ”

"Humility?"

When Arthur heard this word, he couldn't help but take a puff of his cigarette and wanted to take a look at his black-rimmed glasses, but he found that he didn't have this kind of accessory after touching it for a long time, so he could only shake his head lightly and said, "I think the apprentices should be smarter." I'm not modest, how did I, a history graduate from the University of London, end up at the Royal Society? ”

No matter what Arthur said, Louis just didn't believe him, not only did he not believe it, but he even wanted to ask Arthur a few questions about electromagnetism.

Arthur saw that he was holding on, so he could only divert his attention with a topic that Louis was more interested in.

Arthur asked, "You just said that Napoleon was once elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences?" Was his academician genuine, or was he elected under political pressure? ”

As soon as Louis heard this, he immediately threw electromagnetism out of the clouds, and the French artillery commander, the police secretary of Scotland Yard and a graduate of the Swiss Military Academy, immediately set up his position in the same place and began to argue for his uncle like a treasure.

"I know a lot of people have had doubts about that. But I must emphasize that most of my uncle's achievements were made by him. It's just that his achievements in military affairs are too dazzling, so it only hides his talent in other areas. In fact, when my uncle was studying at the military school of Brennesburg in 1784, his talent in mathematics was already evident, and he was ranked among the top of the whole school in the mathematics examinations.

And at that time, he also took a math test organized by Laplace, and his talent was even praised by Laplace himself. Later, my uncle transferred to the Paris Military Academy to study artillery command. As we all know, if you don't learn mathematics well, even if you don't have a good range and angle, you won't be able to correct your trajectory, and naturally you can't become an excellent artillery commander. And how good my uncle was in artillery command, I don't need to dwell on it.

When he went on an expedition to Egypt, he was even busy with war, but he personally participated in the measurement of the Egyptian pyramids, and found that the ratio of the height to the circumference of the pyramids was equal to the approximation of pi. Later he was also interested in the periodic flooding of the Nile and tried to find a pattern. But since he returned to China not long after, the job was gone.

And like you, he has the law of the formula that bears his name, the Napoleonic function, the Napoleonic equation, and the Napoleonic theorem. Then again, I can tell you a secret. Do you know why my uncle always likes to take a bunch of scientists with him when he goes on expeditions? ”

Arthur asked, "I'm really curious about this, do you know why?" ”

Louis mysteriously lowered his voice and said, "Because he has been trying to analyze the possible outcome of the war mathematically. He wanted to build a complex mathematical model based on his own and the enemy's strength, equipment, supplies, terrain, climate, and other factors, and use probability theory to calculate his odds of winning. Sadly, he didn't succeed in the end. The bitter fruit of the defeat was eventually reflected in the expedition against Russia, where he did not take into account the scorched-earth tactics of the Russian army and the harshness of the Russian winter, which led to the eventual failure of his invincible calculations and the crushing losses. ”

Hearing this, Arthur said thoughtfully: "When you say this, I seem to suddenly understand why the Duke of Wellington invested so much money in Mr. Babbage's difference machine. Now it seems that the famous generals have a crazy need to improve the amount of mathematical calculations. The Duke of Wellington is also doing the same thing as Napoleon. ”

Louis was stunned when he heard this: "Babbage's difference machine? What's that? ”

Arthur shook his head slightly, "Don't mention it, it's a gold-absorbing black hole, and Mr. Babbage can be miserable by it." With his talent, if he hadn't devoted himself to the difference machine, he might have already made many achievements that shocked the world by now. ”

As soon as Arthur's words were spoken, he suddenly heard the guest sitting at the shoe-shine stall beside him speak: "You are too pessimistic, sir. Although Mr. Babbage's research is indeed in trouble, I think he will succeed sooner or later as long as the cabinet is willing to continue to invest in him. And once that thing is made, it will definitely improve the army's material supply, military deployment, and logistics support capabilities. The cabinet should continue to inject money, they are too petty now. ”

(End of chapter)