The detective on a par with Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly Hercule Poirot,

He is portrayed by Sha Po, a typical "Grim Reaper Detective", much like the well-known "Grim Reaper Schoolboy" Edogawa Conan, with the attribute of taking death wherever he goes, and he can encounter homicide cases when he goes out on a trip or vacation.

"Murder on the Orient Express",

"Tragedy on the Nile",

"The Mystery of Roger",

"Murder in ABC",

……

Poirot's masterpieces are numerous.

Lu Shi said to Cooper: "Put the new work in advance, and wait for the end of the serialization of "No One Survives". ”

Cooper was itching in his heart, and he couldn't press the question, so he could only retreat and say, "I hope you will give priority to us in The Scotsman when you submit." ”

Lu Shi was not ready to promise anything, so he diverted the topic: "Let's go in first." ”

Cooper then remembered that he was here today, and he wanted to discuss with Scott how to deal with the menacing Sherlock Holmes.

The three of them entered the office gate together and went straight to the editor-in-chief's office.

Scott was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground, a pencil in each of his left and right hands, and one in his mouth, without raising his head, and said vaguely: "Coming?" I don't have time to greet you alone, pour your own tea. ”

On his desk are piles of all sorts of news manuscripts:

"Sherlock Holmes" may be republished;

221B Baker Street was photographed and will host a large-scale Sherlock Holmes theme exhibition;

The Waterfront Magazine was out of stock, and Strands Street was packed with demonstrators;

……

A virtual character can make a newspaper a mess, which shows how popular it is.

Cooper staggered: "Tsk......"

Scott heard clearly behind his desk and said, "I know you're in a hurry, but don't worry about it yet." It's useless to rush anyway. ”

Sherlock Holmes is back, and the writers of the novel are all in unison,

What's the use of writing well?

It's a dragon, and you have to coil it for me;

It's a tiger, and you have to lie down for me.

Scott turned to comfort Lu Shi: "Mr. Lu, it's not a good time for "No One Left Alive" to come out. Alas...... It's also that I didn't think about it enough, and I didn't expect Dr. Doyle to act at this time. ”

At that time, he still wanted to make a fuss about Lu Shi's identity, but now it's good, he doesn't have to think about anything.

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"It's okay, it's okay, I've been mentally prepared for a long time."

As he spoke, he handed out the manuscript and asked, "Didn't you ask me for an editorial before?" Do you have time to take a look at it now? ”

Scott's movements froze, he didn't expect Lu Shi to be so fast.

Will this work?

He muttered in his heart, and with some hesitation, he reached out and took it,

"Mr. Lu, how many words have you written?"

Lu Shi said: "More than a dozen, less than 100,000 words. ”

Scott felt that he was at risk of being played with as a child, but because he had worked with Lu Shi for a long time and knew the magic of Lu Shi, he did not lose patience.

He flipped through the manuscript and found that the titles of more than a dozen articles were coherent,

"Are you writing editorials the same way you would write a book?"

Lu Shi scratched his head,

I was copying books.

Scott sighed and said, "Yes, you're good at writing English novels, but this kind of thing...... Hmmm......"

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the manuscript.

The manuscript begins with a story:

On November 16, 1532, Pizarro, a Spaniard, led 168 soldiers to meet with Atahualpa, the indigenous emperor of the Inca Empire of South America.

As a result, Pizarro led his troops to kill 7,000 of the 80,000 men and capture the emperor, while the Spaniards suffered no casualties.

What's more, such stories are not just once, but several.

In Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire, with a population of several millions, with less than 200 men, there were four major battles, in which Spain committed 80, 30, 110, and 40 troops, and dealt with thousands and tens of thousands of enemies, but each time it was a complete victory.

Scott felt his blood rush upward, and his temples jumped suddenly,

168 vs 80000，

What kind of digital difference is this!?

Scott decided that the excitement of Pizarro leading a handful of soldiers against an enemy army four hundred and fifty times his size should be a hundred, a thousand times more exciting, than a lunge on his lover's bed.

He raised his head and looked at Lu Shi,

"It's not fabricated history, is it?"

Lu Shi replied with certainty: "No." I use this story mainly to elicit the following questions, which are also the core questions that I am going to answer in this series of articles. ”

Scott understood, and continued to read,

He whispered it out:

“

What is the reason why a hundred and ten Europeans can conquer a country?

Why was it Europe that conquered the Americas, and not the other way around?

”

Scott couldn't help but raise an eyebrow,

"Mr. Lu, you really chose a difficult topic."

What he meant was not that the question was difficult to answer, but that there were so many people studying it that it was like a wasteland that had been dug countless times by gold prospectors, and it was difficult to dig up any more valuable treasures.

Of course, Lu Shi also understands,

Humanities and social sciences are summarizing and inductive disciplines, and this kind of problem is inevitably commonplace.

For example, the Needham problem should be remembered by anyone who has studied in junior high school.

Lu Shi said: "Mr. Scott, if you look back, my solution is significantly different from that of ordinary people. ”

Scott took out his glasses,

"Okay, I believe Mr. Lu."

He continued to read, but he never expected that the first idea in the manuscript would give him a great impact.

The Eurasian continent has a vast land area and many species, among which the quantity and quality of species suitable for cultivation into food have an absolute advantage over other continents.

The climate of the Eurasian continent is stable, which is suitable for the cultivation of annual food crops;

The long transverse distance of the Eurasian continent enables the smooth horizontal transmission of grain production, while the American continent is a longitudinal extension, and it is difficult for grain to spread along the latitude.

……

Is this still the domain of social science research?

Scott was a little confused.

"This is geography? Not...... Should it be ecological? No, it's still geographical......"

He was already a little incoherent and couldn't speak.

Lu Shi said: "Mr. Scott, even if you don't read what I wrote, it is not difficult to find from the facts that the level of development and civilization in temperate regions is higher than that in tropical regions. Of course, there is a premise for this, and the influence of colonization and foreign domination needs to be excluded. ”

Scott thinks it's a bit consequential, a kind of causal reversal.

However, the arguments given by Lu Shi in the book are very sufficient, and the reasoning is also very rigorous, so that he has a faint tendency to be persuaded.

He looked away from the manuscript with difficulty,

"Mr. Lu, I already thought that it was impossible for you to write anything new, but who would have thought that your argumentation method was completely subversive. Compared to you, I'm just a babbling child, and I don't deserve to judge your articles. ”

There is no hypocrisy in this statement, it is completely sincere.

Lu Shi was a little embarrassed, and said that it would be good if there was "Civilization 6", and let Scott play a few rounds, and he would definitely have a more thorough understanding of "Guns, Germs and Steel".

He asked, "So I'm out of it?" ”

Scott head,

"Of course! Of course, it's over! ”

Lu Shi's article was both popular and academic, and it should have been published in a university journal, and it was even a bit violent to vote for the Manchester Guardian.

Scott has already decided, starting the serialization from tomorrow,

He couldn't help but look at the reports about Sherlock Holmes, and suddenly felt bored.