The next day,

Early morning.

Stockholm.

Despite the fact that it is already early spring, the city has short days and long nights, and the average daily temperature still fluctuates around 0°C.

Especially in the morning and evening, it is like winter in other low-latitude regions.

Carl David Ave Wilson stepped on the dry lawn, making a "crunching" sound under his feet, and walked slowly in the direction of the office in the thick darkness.

Just then, he was greeted by someone who said, "Mr. Wilson." ”

Wilson turned around,

In front of him was a young clerk at the Swedish Academy.

The clerk carries a tin-plated thermos pot in his left hand and a set of porcelain cups in his right hand.

Wilson asked, "What's wrong?" ”

The clerk said, "Would you like coffee?" I've got it ready-made. ”

As he spoke, he didn't wait for the other party to refuse or agree, and directly used the small stone pier next to him as a table and poured a small cup of hot coffee.

Wilson snorted with his palms,

"Okay, let's have a drink."

He stepped forward, took his coffee, and took a sip.

In an instant, it was as if some kind of GPS device was installed in the body, and you could clearly feel the warm drink sliding through the esophagus and then falling into the stomach pouch.

The warmth then poured into the limbs.

"Whew~~~"

Wilson breathed a sigh of relief.

The clerk asked, "Are you in a hurry, are you going to the office?" ”

Wilson just let out a breath, and now it seems to be holding back again,

He's going to the office now, yes,

But when I went, I really didn't have much work at hand.

Because the Nobel Prize in Literature has completely pulled the crotch.

Seeing that Wilson did not speak, the clerk asked curiously: "I heard that a few days ago there was a science fiction film that swept Paris, called The Country Teacher, which received a lot of praise, and its author may be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature." ”

Isn't this a pot that doesn't open and mention?

Wilson looked depressed,

"That's Lu Shi's work."

Clerk: "......"

An eerie silence hung between the two, as if a vacuum had formed.

After a while, Wilson sighed and said, "Is there really such an all-rounder in this world?" ”

This sounds like a question, but it is actually talking to oneself.

The clerk remained silent.

After a long time, Wilson put down the cup in his hand and looked at the white of the fish belly that had risen in the sky.

"Thank you for the coffee."

He walked slowly towards the office building.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the gate, he was stopped by Hans Ludwig Fussell, the first seat of the Swedish Academy.

I saw that Forssell was holding a telegram in his hand, and the expression on his face was not very good.

Wilson asked, "Hans, why are you here?" ”

Fussell sent a telegram,

"See for yourself."

Wilson leaned over and read: "

'Dear colleagues of the Nonots Committee and the Swedish Academy,

Thank you very much for nominating me for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. ’

……

”

There are more than 100 words at the back.

This is a telegram that Tolstoy refused.

"The telegram was sent from the Paris Post Office, and after several rounds of travel, it arrived in Stockholm in the early hours of last night," Fussell said. ”

Paris......

Wilson's brow furrowed,

"If I remember correctly, Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw were communicating with the Collège de France on behalf of London Economics at this time, and they were in ...... at the moment Not...... Is this what they faked? ”

"Poof!"

Fussell sprayed on the spot, secretly saying that Wilson was really imaginative.

He complained, "Carl, you don't have a fever, do you?" ”

Wilson also felt that his falsification theory was a little too outrageous, coughed awkwardly, and said, "No, I'm just kidding." Anyway, could it be that Tolstoy was also invited to the Collège de France for an exchange? ”

“……”

“……”

Both were silent at the same time.

After a long time, Fussell asked, "Have you watched "The Country Teacher"? ”

Wilson nodded,

"There is no science fiction work before it. Before, even if someone imagined the starry sky, they had never tried to describe a developed alien civilization like that book, and most importantly, the theme of that book was profound and connotative. If it weren't for a short story, maybe it would be ......"

Speaking of this, Wilson stopped,

He almost blurted out that Lu Shi's works could be selected for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Fussell glanced at him,

"I know what you're trying to say, but I think you're talking nonsense. Judging from the purpose of the establishment of the Nobel Prize in Literature, it is difficult for science fiction to win awards. You should know how big the gap is between the aesthetic tastes of popular and serious literature. ”

Wilson spreads his hands,

"The level of the land time is really ......"

He couldn't say any more, so he simply spit out a dirty word: "! ”

Then, he said: "Who would have thought that such a powerful person would be provoked. ”

Fussell further noted: "And, as I have heard, this short story appears as a model text. In other words, if the French really want to do a literary prize, and combined with the fact that Mr. Tolstoy is currently in Paris, do you think it will ......?"

Tolstoy rejected the Nobel Prize in Literature but accepted the Collège Française.

Don't slap your face too loudly!

If it comes true, then the Nobel Committee of the Literary Award will be completely disbanded, each going back to his own home and finding his own mother.

But the two wanted to break their heads, but there was nothing they could do.

As the saying goes, "It's going to rain, my mother is going to get married", it's probably such a powerless feeling.

Wilson sighed,

"That's it~ That's it~ I don't want to do this, come to my office for a drink."

Forcer: ???

"Drinking in the morning?"

Wilson said helplessly: "What are you doing without drinking?" ”

Fussell complained: "I can see it, you want to lie down completely......"

Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps not far away.

A clerk came running briskly,

"Mr. Wilson, there is a telegram from Paris. But this telegram was sent to the special line of the British Consulate, probably urgently. ”

Wilson and Fussell looked at each other,

Hope rose in their hearts at the same time.

Wilson stepped forward quickly, unfolded the telegram, and found that the telegram was written in English, and his heart could not help but become more and more excited.

He read it directly: "The message is as follows, 'Honorable Nonots, Swedish Academy ......'"

Fussell frowned,

"Is there any difference between this beginning and the beginning? Tolstoy deceived people so much that he wanted to go through the special line of the British Consulate to humiliate us. ”

Wilson made a silent gesture to him,

"Nope! It's good news. ”

Fussell couldn't help but be surprised,

He didn't wait, he stepped forward and read the contents of the telegram.

——

Dear colleagues of the Nonotist Committee and the Swedish Academy,

Thank you very much for nominating me for the first Nobel Prize in Literature.

It is true that there are many talented people in the European literary scene, and my works are just "old-fashioned games", which has no merit.

But allow me not to humbly accept this nomination.

Praise to Chunqi.

Your faithful Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy.

——

Forcer: ???

Wilson:???

Both were stunned.

Two telegrams in succession, why is the difference in attitude so big?

After a while, Wilson came back to his senses and said, "This time, it won't be Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw playing us, right?" You see this telegram is from the British Consulate......"

Fussell is also not sure,

"They should...... Behoove...... It shouldn't be so funny, right? ”

It's a bit confusing.

Wilson said, "Forget it, it's useless for us to break our heads, so let's send a telegram over there first, and inquire carefully." ”

With that, he was ready to instruct the clerk.

But Faysell grabbed him and said, "Wait." Before we send us back, we have to confirm two things ourselves. First, if Mr. Tolstoy really agreed, what would be our attitude? ”

Wilson scratched his head,

"So what? Fireworks to celebrate, of course! Fortunately, the first literary award was not messed up. ”

Although this may sound a bit nonsensical, it does come from the bottom of my heart.

Fussell only smiled bitterly,

"Second, don't forget, it's only the initial evaluation stage. It's not that if Mr. Tolstoy doesn't refuse the nomination, he will definitely win the prize. ”

Who else can this prize be given if it is not given to Tolstoy?

If it is given to others, then the first Nobel Prize in Literature will inevitably be set on the pillar of shame, and there will be no need to hold it in the future.

But Wilson also understood Fussell's worries, and smiled: "Understand, we still have to have our own reserves." ”

With that, he walked over to the clerk and arranged for a confirmed telegram.

……

Paris.

Académie Française.

The smell of smoke in Tolstoy's dormitory was pervasive.

The three Frenchmen, Poincaré, Verne, and Roland, gathered around the table and played happily against the landlords.

Lu Shi, George Bernard Shaw, and Tolstoy were watching the game.

Tolstoy said: "The name of this game is really interesting, 'fighting landlords', farmers fighting landlords, I didn't expect Professor Lu to invent a game so revolutionary and avant-garde." If only the serfs could really stand up against the landlords. ”

Verne said: "It is because of the revolution that we like to play. ”

Poincaré threw two cards,

"One-on-two. That's right! We're French! ”

When the land is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

George Bernard Shaw on the side acted as a substitute and complained: "You obviously just like to play." ”

Poincaré justified,

Roland and Verne followed suit,

For a while, there was a lot of commotion in the house, so it was not lively.

Lu Shi looked at these writers, and couldn't help but shake his head, saying in his heart that celebrities in history are really ordinary people, just like Hu Shi, they can't move their legs when they encounter their favorite games.

At this time, Tolstoy approached Lu Shi and said, "Professor Lu, we talked about the Foundation before, do you remember?" ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Of course I do."

Tolstoy sighed, "You know, because the emperor, there has never been a similar organization in Russia, and I have no idea about such a thing. ”

Needless to say he's a Russian,

The French and British people present were very interested in how charity should be done.

The rest of the people pricked up their ears, and even the sound of poker was quieter.

Lu Shi asked: "Toon, you said before that you are going to scatter all your assets to the peasants?" ”

Tolstoy nodded,

"Yes."

didn't need Lu Shi to say anything, Verne next to him shook his head and said, "I said it that day, this is a symptom but not a cure." ”

Tolstoy, of course, also knew,

That day, he talked about his donation because he talked about France to improve people's livelihood and reduce children's tuition fees.

He now vaguely feels that the root cause lies in education.

Lu Shi said: "There is a Chinese Mr. Liang Qichao who said in his speech, 'The wisdom of the youth is the wisdom of the country, the wealth of the youth is the wealth of the country, and the strength of the youth is the strength of the country'. Even someone from my hometown came to London and asked me to do nothing but write a textbook. ”

Tolstoy silently,

Unexpectedly, even the weak Qing court knew that education was the top priority.

He said, "I see. ”

"The cost of building a university is probably ......," Poincaré said.

The latter words were not said.

Roland took over the conversation: "What Professor Lu just said is that 'the wisdom of the youth is the wisdom of the country', and it does not necessarily have to be a university. ”

Tolstoy said, "Don't run a university? What's the use of that? ”

Roland said: "When Germany was still Prussia, it began to engage in compulsory education~ Ah, speaking of which, why did compulsory education not start in Britain that had just completed the industrial revolution, but in economically backward Prussia? ”

Roland began to pay attention to this matter when he was at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

But thanks to Bismarck, the iron-blooded chancellor, when it comes to Prussia, everyone seems to be concerned about fighting and fighting, and there is little talk about education.

At this point, George Bernard Shaw has the most position to complain,

He said: "Compulsory education requires big government and huge public expenditures, and where can the British Empire, a feudal and free country, get this huge expenditure? ”

The "feudal freedom" of Shente Meow!

The crowd burst into laughter.

George Bernard Shaw spreads his hands,

"Don't think I'm joking. In my mind, Britain is like "Yes! The opening sentence of "Prime Minister", 'Britain has always been inappropriate in terms of not being human', Lu summed it up quite well. ”

In fact, the United Kingdom had the Primary Education Act in 1870.

As for the lack of implementation......

It can only be said that there is such a thing.

Lu Shi also said: "No matter how you look at it, what is in line with the characteristics of Britain is the education of the aristocratic elite, rather than universal compulsory education." ”

Tolstoy asked, "Is primary education so important?" ”

The rest nodded in unison.

Lu Shi further said: "There is a characteristic of Russia now - it is so poor that there are only people left. What else can you do with these people when there are only people left? The first is to fight, the second is to farm, and the third is to engage in education, right? I won't fool them into making a revolution......"

And the crowd was amused again,

Because Russia does now have the spark of revolution all over the land.

George Bernard Shaw said: "I'm afraid it's going to be difficult. ”

In 1763, Frederick Wilhelm II promulgated the Ordinary School Ordinance, but the compulsory education decree met with great resistance in practice.

Especially in rural areas,

Farmers believe that it is more important for children to participate in labor on small farms than to go to school.

In 1815, for example, Prussia acquired the Eiffel region and began to make it compulsory, only to be met with two decades of violent protests by the rural population against children going to school.

Tolstoy said in a deep voice: "Thousands of tall buildings rise from the ground. Only when the foundation is laid can the country ......"

Before the words fell, there was a sudden knock on the door outside,

"Gentlemen, there is a telegram!"

Tolstoy was a little surprised,

"So fast?"

They had just delivered the telegram to the British Consulate the night before, and George Bernard Shaw intervened and asked the consul for help in photographing the telegram.

Verne quipped: "I'm afraid I can't help it in Stockholm~ I finally grabbed a life-saving straw, and I can't let it slip through my fingers, right?" Now let them kneel for Mr. Tolstoy, and they are all a hundred willing. ”

Tolstoy waved his hand again and again,

"Not so ~not so much~"

Despite his modest appearance, he couldn't help but blush.

Lu Shi went over to open the door.

Unexpectedly, the clerk at the door said, "Professor Lu, it just so happens that this is a telegram for you." ”

"For me?"

Lu Shi was stunned, opened the telegram,

In an instant, a shocked expression appeared on his face, and he turned to look at George Bernard Shaw and blinked subtly.

George Bernard Shaw leaned up and swept his gaze,

I saw that it was written: "Your Majesty is seriously ill, return quickly." ”

Lu Shi said: "This is the end of this exchange, and we have to book the nearest ship back to London." Thank you for your understanding. ”

(End of chapter)