1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 172 Academic Exchange Delegation of Sakura Country

Chapter 172 Academic Exchange Delegation of Sakura Country
On January 1904, 1, Li Qiwei, who was in Guangzhou, suddenly received a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty.

As early as 1901, the Qing Dynasty abolished the Zongli Yamen and replaced it with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was ranked first among all ministries.

This reflects the importance of foreign affairs departments in special periods.

Three days ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suddenly received a request from the Sakura Country that the other party would send a delegation to the Qing Dynasty for academic exchanges.

It turns out that since the Qing Dynasty implemented the New Deal, the neighboring Sakura Country has been paying close attention.

If the Qing Dynasty had really succeeded, it would have been absolutely unacceptable to the Land of Sakura.

Among all areas of reform, education is the top priority and the foundation for all future development. Those in power know the importance of education.

Nowadays, Sakura has already carried out educational reforms in its own country, almost copying the education systems of Europe and the United States.

Moreover, they had universities much earlier than the Qing Dynasty.

However, when the Sakura Country learned about the educational reforms of the Qing Dynasty, it could no longer sit still.

He immediately sent a delegation to investigate and find out the details of the Qing Dynasty's educational reform.

The reason why the Sakura Country is so nervous is that the man is in charge of the education reform in the Qing Dynasty!
In the waters between the Land of Sakura and the Qing Dynasty, a ship flying the flag of the Land of Sakura was traveling at high speed.

On the deck, two Sakura people were talking.

One of them was in his twenties and asked the other respectfully:
"Teacher, is Li Qiwei from the Qing Dynasty really so terrible?"

Nagaoka Hantaro looked at the distant sky with his sharp eyes, and he did not answer the student's question immediately.

That’s right, Nagaoka Hantaro is the head of the academic exchange delegation to the Land of Sakura.

He is 39 years old this year. Although he does not have the domineering power of the father of physics in the Sakura Country in later generations, as a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University, he has an aura of majesty without even getting angry.

The reason why he became the head of this delegation was closely related to an incident that happened two years ago.

In October 1902, Nagaoka Hantaro published a model of Saturn's atomic structure.

Later, Ridgwell proposed the planetary model of atomic structure, which crushed everyone's model conjectures in one fell swoop.

However, almost all scientists in Sakura believe that the planetary model is expanded on the basis of the Saturn model.

In other words, they believe that Ridgway's achievements were based on the work of Nagaoka Hantaro.

As a result, Nagaoka Hantaro became famous in the country and was almost becoming the number one in the field of physics.

He was the first great physicist to make the voice of the Land of Sakura heard internationally and was admired by countless people!
However, when he heard Li Qiwei's name at this moment, his expression changed involuntarily.

He still looked at the end of the sea and said to the student: "Ishihara-kun, put aside all your pride, then you will truly understand how terrifying that man is."

"In physics, I think he has reached the realm of sainthood."

When Ishihara Jun heard the teacher's comment, he opened his mouth in shock and was filled with a gulp of sea breeze.

Jun Ishihara, 23 years old this year, has just graduated from the Department of Science of Tokyo Imperial University and is an absolute top student.

Now, he is studying under the great man in the field of physics in the country, Hantaro Nagaoka, and thus has developed a very high vision and confidence.

In real history, Jun Ishihara published "Universal Gravitation and Quantum Mechanics" in 1919, becoming the first book to introduce Einstein's theory of relativity in the East.

In the following decades, all the books about Einstein in China were translations of his works.

Although he himself did not make any special contributions, he, like Nagaoka Hantaro, is the founder of physics in the Land of Sakura.

So, when he heard the teacher speak so highly of Li Qiwei, his first reaction was disbelief.

"Saintly realm, doesn't that mean Li Qiwei is the saint of physics?"

“Just like Confucius in the Qing Dynasty.”

"This is too exaggerated."

Nagaoka Hantaro shook his head slightly, "He can't be considered a true saint right now, but he can be considered a half-saint."

“Once he completes general relativity and quantum mechanics, that’s when he’ll be canonized.”

At this point, Nagaoka Hantaro suddenly sighed. Only by personally studying the special theory of relativity and quantum theory in depth can one discover the horror of Li Qiwei.

He was a person whose genius could not be described, or perhaps genius was just the threshold to seeing him.

"Ishihara-kun, you just graduated from college and have no exposure to Li Qiwei's theory."

"Even after you graduate with a Ph.D., you won't be able to learn his theories."

"According to the latest classification of Western physics, one must at least reach the level of a senior physicist to barely understand his theory."

"And there are no such people in our country at present."

"The highest level in our country is currently only that of an ordinary physicist, or even a little lower."

"Now you know what Li Qiwei's position in the field of physics is, right?"

Ishihara Jun was stunned at this moment.

When Nagaoka Hantaro told him about the levels of physicists, he realized that the physics he had learned during his undergraduate studies was just the basics.

"It's ridiculous. After I graduated, I thought I was a physicist."

"Now it seems that I am not even the lowest level physicist."

"Teacher, why didn't you tell us about these levels before?"

Nagaoka Hantaro sighed, "That's because I'm afraid of damaging your self-confidence."

"It is said that this division standard was also set by Lidgwell and was unanimously recognized by European physicists. It is highly authoritative."

"In today's world, the center of science is undoubtedly in Europe."

“There are the most physicists, the best experimental conditions, and the best students there.”

“And we in Asia are a desert.”

"If I tell you the difference, many people might give up studying physics."

"If that happens, how can the science of our Great Sakura Empire develop and how can the country become strong?"

Only then did Ishihara Jun understand the teacher's good intentions. At the same time, he felt guilty for his previous pride. He still had a long way to go.

However, he was still somewhat curious and unwilling to accept it.

"Teacher, even if Li Qiwei is a genius, he can't know everything."

"For example, isn't his planetary model based on your Saturn model?"

Nagaoka Hantaro suddenly sneered: "If you are an ordinary person, you can have this view." "But if you want to devote yourself to the field of physics, you must learn to be self-aware."

“Where do you think those voices in China that flatter me come from? It’s just that the government wants to create a deity.”

"They were afraid that a new type of talent would emerge in the Qing Dynasty and promote rapid development of domestic education reform."

"So I want to find some dirt on the other person."

"At the same time, they want to bring out someone to compete with Li Qiwei."

"The confrontation between countries is an all-round confrontation. No area can be lost."

"I am a Sakura countryman. Of course I am willing to represent my country and compete with Li Qiwei."

"But I don't want to go through this stupid way."

"It's ridiculous. Does Li Qiwei still need to refer to my paper?"

"Mr. Ishihara, you know, those people in Europe don't even read any papers published by Asians."

"In their eyes, we are just a bunch of uncivilized monkeys."

"So, sometimes, I admire Li Qiwei very much in my heart."

“He single-handedly proved to the world that Asians can still achieve extraordinary achievements in science.”

In real history, Nagaoka Hantaro always wanted to compete with Westerners until his death.

He firmly believed that Asians were not only superior to Westerners in moral integrity, but also in scientific literacy.

He even studied Chinese classics carefully to prove that Asians were also talented in natural sciences.

For example, ancient Chinese people studied the Northern Lights, accurately recorded the movement of celestial bodies, and invented the compass.

All these made Nagaoka Hantaro firmly believe that he could also make breakthroughs in the field of natural sciences.

In this era, Sakura Country did not have the extreme ideas that existed in later generations.

Nagaoka Hantaro viewed the Chinese as cultural compatriots with East Asian traditions.

Of course, this is just his own way of flattering the Sakura Country.

The ancient Sakura Country was clearly a cultural vassal of China.

But no matter what, when Jun Ishihara saw his teacher getting angry, he was still shocked.

In his eyes, Nagaoka Hantaro has always been a kind and amiable person, but he didn't expect that he would suddenly become so serious today.

"Teacher, I apologize for what I just said."

"But I really can't accept this. Will the physics of my Great Sakura Empire be suppressed by Li Qiwei forever?"

"Or will our country's scientific community be caught up and surpassed by the Qing Dynasty?"

Nagaoka Hantaro also felt that he had been a little too serious just now, fearing that he would scare his students, and at the same time, that he might be encouraging others and undermining his own prestige.

So, he smiled and said, “Of course not, this is the purpose of our trip.”

“A person may be extremely talented and achieve great results.”

"But this doesn't mean he will be a good teacher and will definitely be able to teach students like him."

"If all the students taught by Li Qiwei could reach even one-tenth of his level."

"Let alone the Sakura Country, even all the countries in Europe and America combined would probably be trampled under the feet of the Qing Dynasty."

"But that's impossible."

"According to my information, Li Qiwei has three direct disciples in the country, all of whom graduated from Cambridge University."

"But these three people have not published any important results. Apart from their undergraduate theses, they have not even published formal academic papers."

"I think this is enough to show that Li Qiwei's teaching level is not as strong as imagined."

"Moreover, the Qing Dynasty at this moment was ruled by the Manchu feudal regime, and the people at the bottom were numb."

"Even though Li Qiwei is doing very well in running a university and doing education in China, it's still unclear what the results will be."

“Natural science is a huge system. No matter how great a person is, he will always have his limitations and he will die.”

"Therefore, the inheritance of science is particularly important."

"The purpose of our academic exchange this time is, first, to meet this legend in the field of physics, and second, to investigate the current situation of science and engineering in the Qing Dynasty."

"If their universities are just for show and their essence is still traditional, then our country does not need to worry too much."

“But if all universities in the Qing Dynasty were like those in Europe, with a strong academic atmosphere, then China would have to be on high alert.”

“Academic competition is different from war.”

"In war, victory is achieved by destroying the enemy's body."

"Academic competition requires completely suppressing the other party's ideas."

"If China has formed the idea of scientific freedom, then it has a soul."

“In the future, the seeds of science will continue to be born on that land.”

"This is something our Great Sakura Empire doesn't want to see."

Jun Ishihara nodded, he already understood the significance of this communication.

To put it bluntly, they are spies in the academic field, who specifically come to analyze the academic and educational situation in the Qing Dynasty.

If the Qing Dynasty took the right path, it would be a threat to the Sakura Country.

The competition of national strength is an all-round competition.

They are people in the field of education, so naturally they should contribute to the country in the field of education.

The competition in education is a literary battle.