Training the Heavens

Chapter 258 Sorbonne University
Reading these journals brought Zhang Xingjiu a very practical benefit, which was that it added another weight to his studying abroad. Letters of recommendation alone might not be enough to convince French universities, so he had to show more practical results.

By reading these journals and magazines, Zhang Xingjiu deepened his understanding of the level of global scientific research development in the late 19th century. Combined with his understanding of the history of mathematics when he was an academician in the world of "Alley People", he quickly wrote a paper on number theory and showed it to Fu Lan-ya.

Fu Lan-ya studied it for several days and conducted a serious study with the mathematics teacher of Gezhi Academy before he confirmed that there was indeed no problem with Zhang Xingjiu's paper and it was qualified to be published in Nature magazine.

Zhang Xingjiu's paper was originally written in English, so unlike Xu Shou's paper, he didn't need to translate it before submitting it. Fu Lan-ya directly sent the letter to the editorial department of Nature.

At that time, airplanes had not yet been invented, so the letter was first sent onto a merchant ship. The merchant ship left Shanghai, sailed on the sea for several days to reach Hong Kong, docked to refuel with coal and water, and replenished supplies. It then sailed south through the Strait of Malacca, entered the Indian Ocean, then entered the Red Sea, crossed the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, crossed the English Channel, and finally arrived in London.

The whole process took more than a month before the letter was delivered to the editorial department of Nature. The editors were very surprised to receive a submission from China. When they saw that it was a letter written by John Fryer, they immediately remembered Xu Shou's paper.

"It seems that Father John Fryer has finally achieved brilliant results in spreading civilization in the far East." They called him by his English name, John Fryer, and thought that the article was written under his guidance.

After reading the full text, they discovered that this was actually the work of a 15-year-old boy, and he had completed it independently. The editors were surprised and opened their mouths wide. "Unbelievable! If Father Fryer hadn't guaranteed it with his reputation, I would never have believed such a thing."

Another editor still regarded this as a glory of Western civilization. "Father Fryer also said that Mr. Zhang attended a church school, and perhaps other European scholars laid a solid foundation for him."

"I really want to know the quality of this article, so can it be put in line and submitted to the review editor for review as soon as possible? Who do you think would be a good person to help review it?" The third editor made a suggestion.

Nature during this period had not yet reached its peak status in later generations, and the current communication conditions were not as convenient as those in later generations, so the number of submissions received by Nature magazine was far from comparable to that in later generations.

Despite this, since Lockyer became editor-in-chief, Nature magazine has undergone drastic reforms and quickly became one of the most influential journals in the UK. They receive a large number of submissions every month. If the review is strictly in order, Zhang Xingjiu may have to wait for a few more months.

Now that his special identity had come into play, most editors agreed to give this article a jump in the queue. They were also curious about whether this genius from the East was really that great.

"How about asking Professor Laffer from Cambridge to review the manuscript? He's good at number theory."

"Yes, and send a copy to Professor Kelvin at Oxford."

The editors made a decision quickly. Both of them were experts in number theory and could tell the quality of the article. The former was now teaching at Cambridge, and among his students was Hardy, who would later become a famous mathematician.

London is only a hundred kilometers from Cambridge and Oxford, and the train took a few hours to deliver the letter to the local postman, who then delivered it to the two professors the next day. Just a week later, the Nature editorial office received a reply from the two professors, praising the article highly, saying that Zhang Xingjiu had solved a long-standing problem in mathematics and was fully worthy of publication in Nature.

"Ha, Professor Laffer also asked us to ask Mr. Zhang if he is interested in studying in Cambridge. He can help recommend him and apply for a scholarship! What a lucky guy! He will definitely be so happy to receive this news, right?" Even the editor was a little jealous. Even in the UK, studying in Cambridge is something to be proud of.

"Young scholars who can publish articles in Nature are fully qualified to enter Cambridge!" Another editor expressed his pride modestly, and this sentence won applause from colleagues.

"Then publish this article in next week's journal. Once the draft is ready, we'll mail it to him and tell him the good news."

Zhang Xingjiu once again won the treatment of queue-jumping. A week later, several sample magazines that still smelled of ink were sealed in a package and sent to a Shanghai ship. It left London, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea, and arrived in Shanghai and was delivered to Fu Lan-ya.

At this time, more than three months had passed since he sent the letter, but in this era, it was still unprecedentedly efficient, so much so that Fu Lan-ya was a little bit unbelievable when he received the letter.

After opening the letter and quickly reading it, he immediately asked the driver to take him to Xuhui Public School and told Zhang Xingjiu the good news in front of Jiang Yixu. "Your article was successfully published. I will publish this good news in the Gezhi Huibian later. Oh, by the way, the editor also asked me to tell you that Professor Laffer of Cambridge University admires your work very much and would like to recommend you to study at Cambridge University."

If so, wouldn't it be possible for me to be a classmate of Hardy? Zhang Xingjiu muttered to himself.

Before he could answer, Jiang Yixu got anxious and quickly stopped him, "Father Fryer, the Bishop has basically finalized Zhou Ping's study abroad in France. You can't let the Bishop go back on his word."

"Okay." Fu Lanya shrugged regretfully, but still didn't give up hope. "If something happens to His Excellency the Bishop, please be sure to tell me so that Zhou Ping can still enter university next year."

As soon as he left, Jiang Yixu took the sample magazine to find the archbishop and relayed Fu Lan-ya's words. The archbishop did not dare to be careless. He quickly sent a telegram to Paris, urging them to make a decision as soon as possible.

Those scholars in Paris were not in a hurry at first, but now that they heard that Cambridge was trying to recruit them, they immediately sped up their efforts. When Zhang Xingjiu was about to go home for the New Year, Paris finally gave an accurate response.

Jiang Yixu called Zhang Xingjiu to his office and told him the good news, "The Sorbonne University has accepted your admission to the Department of Physics. When you return from the Spring Festival, you can start preparing to go to France!"

(End of this chapter)