I control the AI ​​empire thanks to the geniuses in my group.

Seeing Tom looking uncomfortable, Su Zhou asked curiously, "Why are you blushing?"

Tom was taken aback, then quickly waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's probably just because it's stuffy here."

Tom is quick-witted, but not very brave.

He wouldn't dare to say what was on his mind.

Mr. Newton is fifty-four years old this year, but he has never married, which has long been gossip among the lower classes of London.

Some say that this great scientist poured all his energy into apples and those seemingly nonsensical formulas, and never touched a woman since he was young, turning himself into a monk!

Some people even whispered among themselves that he might have been dumped by some noble lady in his early years, which made him disheartened and sell his soul to alchemy, resulting in a head full of genius but losing his life of marriage and children.

Tom found it increasingly exciting. He had just witnessed this usually cold and gloomy big shot actually condescend to tie the cloak belt for a young man from the East.

Tom's gossip radar was instantly activated, and all sorts of images flooded his mind, almost suffocating him.

Seeing that things were not going well, Tom quickly slipped outside to wait. The cold wind helped him calm down.

Su Zhou and Newton changed into their tattered clothes and headed straight for the Leaky Cauldron, a notorious pub in East London, with Tom.

Before entering, Su Zhou and the other two grabbed handfuls of dirt from the ground and smeared it on their faces before going inside.

The air in the Leaky Cauldron bar was a mixture of cheap ale, vomit, and the stench of people who hadn't showered in years. As soon as Su Zhou pushed open the greasy oak door, he felt like he was in a fermenting barrel.

The tavern was a melting pot of all sorts of people, with sailors, peddlers, prostitutes, and others crammed together.

Mom!

The Western flavor is so strong!

Su Zhou found a corner of the bar where his feet weren't so sticky and sat down. Tom said to a sailor-looking man next to him, "Brother, do you hang out here often?"

The other person glanced at him and said, "Of course, I come here every day!"

Su Zhou was delighted and turned to Newton, raising an eyebrow: "Sir, we need to lay some bait first, you see..."

Newton's already gloomy face instantly stretched into an elongated expression, resembling a miser forced to donate money.

Historically, this scientific giant was notoriously stingy.

When he was a poor student at Cambridge University, he would even keep a small notebook to record the exact interest rate on the money he lent to his friends.

He had already spent a lot of money today, and he felt the pinch.

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; this is for the economic lifeline of the British Empire," Su Zhou continued, smiling as he applied moral blackmail.

Finally, Newton, with a heavy heart, pulled a few coins from the inside pocket of his worn-out coat and placed them on the bar: "Two jugs of ale for the guy next to me!"

The bartender quickly nodded and bowed, lining up his glasses.

Soon, the foam of the beer pried open the mouths of these people from the lower classes.

A sailor with yellow teeth let out a loud burp and slurred, leaning closer: "Brother, thanks for the drink, you're so generous! If you ever need anything, just call me!"

"I'll do my best to help you!"

Tom immediately seized the opportunity to ask, "Brother, could you tell me about someone?"

"You said I'd know as long as he came!"

"One-Eyed Thomas".

"One-Eyed? That guy doesn't come here every day. Every time he shows up, he causes trouble. He's either fighting or smashing tables. But he's generous with money. He pays in real cash and never delays."

Another drunken man nearby chimed in, his voice lowered but still reeking of alcohol: "Heh heh, his money... it's not exactly clean. We all suspect it's connected to counterfeit money!"

"Is he involved with counterfeit money?"

Seeing that Su Zhou believed him, the drunkard immediately perked up: "Of course, he probably thinks that after getting the counterfeit money, he'll find a few poor peddlers, sneak into the market and spend it little by little, without anyone noticing, and then he'll take a cut."

"Tsk, these days, counterfeit money is everywhere, even the mint is having a headache."

"Who else is like One-Eyed? You've been around here a long time, you must know quite a few."

The drunkards looked at each other, and as the alcohol took effect, they started talking non-stop.

A tall, thin man hiccuped: "There are plenty of them. Jack from the East End is pretty much the same, specializing in money laundering; and there are a few guys who hang around the docks, targeting foreign goods that have just come off the ships... In short, they're all birds of a feather, money comes quickly and goes quickly."

The drunkards, having received their bribes, readily rattled off several names.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Su Zhou and Newton got up and walked out of the smoky tavern.

As soon as they entered a secluded alley, Newton impatiently declared, "Send men to arrest these people immediately! Once they're in the Tower of London, they'll confess!"

"Mr. Newton, this is not very useful."

Newton was dissatisfied and said, "Why? Are we just going to let these people do illegal things outside?"

"Of course not, it's just that someone like One-Eyed Thomas is most likely one of Charona's men, someone who specializes in smuggling counterfeit money into the market. If you take down one Thomas, Charona can find two more tomorrow."

Newton frowned. "Then what do you suggest we do? Just stand by and watch?"

"No, I want to use these people as coordinates."

"Do you remember when the mint compiled historical minting data?"

Newton nodded.

That's actually the foundation of my plan.

Newton exclaimed in surprise, "So you had this planned all along?"

Su Zhou thoroughly enjoyed Newton's reaction, and he confidently said, "Of course."

"The group just mentioned seven names, and with the ones Tom found out, that makes eleven in total. These people are scattered throughout East London, the docks, and several markets in Westminster."

He picked up a stick and drew a few circles on the ground: "You see, for counterfeit money to become real money, it has to go through a series of operations. Charona can't possibly do these public things himself."

"So he needs a net to do these things for him."

"You mean his men?"

"That's right, each of his men is responsible for a small area."

Su Zhou pointed the wooden stick at the center of several circles: "If Charona wants to distribute counterfeit money, he needs a transit station. This transit station can't be too remote, because the amount of counterfeit money is large, and he needs a place that is easy to enter and exit."

"The information we gather here will definitely be much more valuable than what we get from randomly arresting and interrogating a few people."

"How are you going to find it?"

"Mr. Newton, have you heard of big data analytics?"

"What is that?"

Su Zhou thought that if he wanted to explain things clearly to the great Newton, he would probably have to use the most primitive method.

So he picked up a stick and drew a crooked table on the mud.

"Mr. Newton, when you conduct experiments, do you record many sets of data? For example, when you study the refraction of light, do you measure the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction, recording dozens or even hundreds of numbers, and then look for patterns in them?"

Newton nodded: "Naturally, without data there are no patterns, and without patterns there is no truth."

"Yes, this is big data analysis." Su Zhou poked the wooden stick into the ground. "Except we don't measure light, we measure people."

"For money laundering people like One-Eyed Thomas, I wrote down the time, place, amount, and route of each of them spending counterfeit money, made a big list, and then we looked for patterns."

Newton squatted down, staring at the circles on the ground, and a light slowly shone in his eyes.

"You mean... you're studying criminal behavior as a natural phenomenon?"

"To be precise, it treats crime as a regular physical movement."

17th-century England had no criminology, let alone the seemingly profound modern concept of behavioral psychology.

In this day and age, police basically rely on shouting to catch thieves, and the highest level of crime-solving is to find a few informants, have a drink with them, and get them to talk.

Therefore, when Su Zhou put forward the theory of "studying crime as a physical motion", Newton was inspired.

Su Zhou pointed to the circle on the ground: "Think about it, if Charona wants to distribute counterfeit money to eleven people, he can't possibly carry a sack all over the city every day. He must have a fixed transfer point, or even a fixed handover method. Once there is enough data, the location of that transfer point will appear on its own."

Newton stood up excitedly, took a couple of steps with his hands behind his back, and suddenly stopped: "Just like when I calculate planetary orbits, the more observation points I have, the more accurate the orbits will be."

Su Zhou almost spat a mouthful of blood onto the 17th-century ground.

Grandmaster, can you please be a little more down-to-earth?

In this era before large telescopes, radar, and even computers were invented, is it appropriate for you to compare my makeshift, artificial big data analysis to the sophisticated method of calculating planetary orbits?

"What we're about to do is just the prototype of big data analysis; it's not that complicated."

"What? This is still just a prototype?"

"Could real big data analysis find the key evidence to convict Charonnay?" Newton asked eagerly.

"able."

"But I need some data."