1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 105: Double happiness at the beginning of the new year!
1901 ended quietly amid the huge shock brought to people by wireless communications.

When later historians opened the chronicles and carefully studied what happened in that year, they discovered that many signs had already appeared at that time.

Although many new theories and technologies have emerged, they have not yet been widely used by ordinary people.

Therefore, everyone at that time thought that it was just an ordinary year. At most, a Qing Dynasty man named Bruce Lee became very famous and was the topic of conversation among people.

January 1902, 1, at home in Cambridge.

Li Qiwei is teaching daily courses to He Yujie and other two.

After one year of foundation, they really began to show genius learning ability.

Now Li Qiwei only needs to give some pointers on the general direction and some details, and the rest is for the three of them to learn on their own.

The three subjects of physics, chemistry and mathematics have basically been learned by the three of them, but there is still a long way to go before they can master them thoroughly.

Li Qiwei estimated that by the end of this year, the three of them should be able to reach the level of ordinary college students in later generations.

It may not be a big deal in later generations, but in 1902, he was definitely a gifted child of destiny and a scientific elite.

There are three graduation dates at Cambridge University: January, June and December.

Li Qiwei arranged for He Yujie and the other two to graduate in December, so they needed to submit their thesis in July and then prepare for the defense.

PhD graduates from Cambridge University are not subject to time limits.

Although theoretically, you can graduate early as long as your thesis is qualified and excellent, for undergraduate students.

But without the consent of the dean and the president, it is basically impossible. An undergraduate student cannot produce any "excellent" results.

Of course, this does not include monsters like Li Qiwei.

Therefore, he was very grateful to Sanders and Cardwell for agreeing to let him graduate early.

While he was thinking about graduation in his mind, he was invigilating the chemistry test for three people.

Li San found him and took out a letter that looked very high-end.

"Master, this is something that was just delivered by someone who claimed to be a British government employee."

"I was worried that it was expensive and urgent, so I sent it here immediately."

Li Qiwei nodded, opened the letter and found that it was stamped with the seal of the British Prime Minister.

Hey!
It’s a big deal.

He read the letter carefully. It was very short and he finished it quickly.

A smile appeared on Li Qiwei's lips, and it seemed as if a huge stone had finally fallen from his heart.

Li San saw that he suddenly became happy and asked, "Master, what's the good news? Why are you so happy?"

"Hahaha." Li Qiwei laughed loudly: "My nomination for knighthood has been approved."

"From now on, you have to call me Lord Li."

"Wow!" Li San's loud voice instantly reached everyone's ears.

Wang Luyao was the first to run over and asked quickly what had happened.

After Li San's explanation, everyone realized that Li Qiwei was about to be conferred a title of nobility!
"Wow, Brother Qiwei, you are so awesome." Wang Luyao's eyes were full of little stars.

"Master, you are the most powerful." Xiang Lan might be making a double entendre.

"Oh my God, when I return to China after this, even the county magistrate and the prefect will not dare to look down on me, Brother Li. I will have to treat him well." He Yujie grew up with his father, and was influenced by him so well that he knew the Qing officialdom very well.

"When I go back and tell my parents the news, they will definitely be glad for my choice." Xia Yuanzhen was very happy and felt that he had done the most right thing in his life.

"Brother Li, when are you going to attend the ennoblement ceremony? It must be very grand then. I really want to see it with my own eyes!" Xu Qitai said enviously.

Unexpectedly, Li Qiwei sneered and said with a smile: "Qitai, you are wrong. I will not participate in that stupid ceremony."

Li Qiwei knew that the procedure for participating in the enthronement ceremony was to kneel down before the King of England and then accept being hit with a big sword.

As a time traveler from the future, how could he possibly kneel down to anyone except his parents? That would be too cowardly.

What's more, the other party is a foreigner. Even if he is the King of the British Empire, he is nothing in Li Qiwei's eyes.

So, he had decided from the beginning that he would not attend the ennoblement ceremony.

When the time is up, someone will naturally bring the certification documents and medals of the lower-level knighthood.

As for whether Edward VII would be angry about this, Ridgway was still very self-aware.

In Britain's recent wars, such as the Anglo-Boer War and the Anglo-Prussian War, a large number of people have won military merits and need to be rewarded.

How could the high and mighty King of England remember a small figure in the field of science, even if he won the Nobel Prize?

"Oh." Xu Qitai said with regret. He still wanted to see the world.

Li Qiwei teased him, "Qitai, since you want to go so much, why don't you go on my behalf and see what the King of England looks like."

Xu Qitai smiled shyly and waved his hands quickly, causing everyone around him to laugh at him.

Li Qiwei knew that Xu Qitai's obsession with this kind of thing was related to his childhood experiences.

Xu Qitai's father and grandfather wanted throughout their lives to gain recognition from the Qing court as craftsmen and have the opportunity to have a monument and a biography written about them.

As for being granted a title, they dared not even think about it, and even such a plug-in did not even occur to their minds. This was the tragedy of traditional scientific and technological talents in the Qing Dynasty.

No matter how earth-shattering your talent and inventions are, they are not as good as a simple evaluation from those in a higher position.

Until death, in the eyes of others, you are just a tool, and the kind of tool that is honest, durable and does not complain.

Fortunately, Li Qiwei came and he wanted to change the situation of scientists.

"Qitai, you have to remember that our achievements never need to be evaluated by outsiders, or even rewarded by them."

"In my eyes, the Nobel Prize in Physics is a hundred times, a thousand times more important than a knighthood."

"If it weren't for the upcoming Spark Project, I wouldn't even accept the British knighthood."

"This is the backbone and pride of our scientific talents!"

Xu Qitai, Xia Yuancong and He Yujie nodded heavily after hearing this.

Although he decided not to go, Li Qiwei still pretended to write down the reason sincerely, and his words were full of regret.

He is not stupid or stubborn enough to find fault on purpose to appear noble.

Li Qiwei always puts substance before appearance first.

What Li Qiwei didn't know was that his title was almost entirely up to Prime Minister Cecil.

From the moment he received the letter, he was drawn into the conspiracy and became a pawn.

However, no one can predict the outcome until the last moment.

As long as the chess pieces are heavy enough, they can still overturn the chessboard and injure the chess players.

Li Qiwei thought that he would start school as a jazzman soon, but unexpectedly, another happy event suddenly happened.

Just the day before school started, he received a letter from the Netherlands.

He had some guesses in his mind, and when he opened it, it was, as expected, a letter from Gerard.

It detailed Philips' profits from tungsten filament light bulbs, and the results surprised Li Qiwei.

His personal patent dividend was as high as 8742 pounds!

The company has transferred the money into Li Qiwei's personal account at Standard Chartered Bank.

You have to know that this is only the dividends for three months in 1901.

In the letter, Gerard explained that the sales of Philips' tungsten filament light bulbs skyrocketed because of Li Qiwei's subsequent Nobel Prize.

Their high-end art series are especially popular among the elite, with the greatest demand in the United States.

Li Qiwei was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. It seemed that there were many new elites rising up in the United States at that time, but they did not have the foundation of the British aristocracy.

Therefore, they can only buy some expensive things to decorate their facade to look high-end.

However, Gerrard said in the letter that there are now several competitors in Europe alone.

They also developed the tungsten filament light bulb, which perfectly avoided Ridgway's patent.

General Motors in the United States is said to have begun improving tungsten filament light bulbs.

He worries that profits from tungsten filament bulbs may decline next year.

Fortunately, the market is now large enough, and in the short term, companies will not fight each other to the point of bloodshed.

Li Qiwei was secretly shocked. It seemed that entrepreneurs of this era should not be underestimated, especially figures in history books like Edison.

But he was not worried at all, as he would soon develop a more awesome product, so he could leave the light bulb competition to them.

So he wrote to Gerard, telling him to continue expanding the market and not to be nervous about other people joining in.

We are designing new creative products that will continue to be world-leading technologies.

Philips' scientific laboratory must be built as soon as possible, so that many of my ideas and designs can be tested as soon as possible.

After a large sum of money was deposited into the account, Li Qiwei then called Wang Luyao, Xia Yuanshao and Xu Qitai.

The Nobel Prize of 3300 pounds was returned to the three people, and finally there was 300 pounds left.

Including the dividends, he now has a total of 9042 pounds.

It seems like a lot, but Li Qiwei still has to fulfill his promise.

First, he wanted to donate all the Nobel Prize money to Cambridge University, which was what he had agreed with Cardwell.

Second, he donated 5000 pounds to Trinity College. This was a little secret between him and Sanders at the graduation ceremony, and in return, the three of them graduated early.

So, by the time school started, he had only £742 left.

Fortunately, I can hold on for a while.

Overall, 1902 was a good start and a double happiness, which made Li Qiwei very satisfied.

He was looking forward to a year in which his strength and influence would make a huge leap forward.

The initial realization of true freedom!
(End of this chapter)