Chapter 308: Research Frenzy (K2)

Chapter 306 – Research Frenzy (4K2)

Louis took a look at the gentleman who spoke, with a medium build, dark brown bowler hat, and a trench coat that was blown around by the gusty winds as well as a large beard that had fallen in the rain.

Though the beard covered him up to make him look a lot older, if it was in the old days, Louis would probably think that this was a mature gentleman around forty years old. However, this working experience in the Police Intelligence Bureau had taught him a lot of useful skills in recognizing people, and after slightly observing the gentleman’s smooth sideburns skin and glittering youthful eyes, Louis quickly judged that the gentleman in front of him shouldn’t be older than thirty years old.

Louis had an assertion in his mind, and even the conversation became more confident, he asked with a smile: “Let me guess, you and Mr. Babbage know each other, and Mr. Babbage used to be the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. In that case, could you be his student? A distinguished Cambridge graduate?”

Hearing this, the gentleman sitting across from him just clasped his pipe and shook his head, “I do want to go to Cambridge to study, and if I can become Mr. Babbage’s student, then I would be doubly honored. After all, as you said, he was once the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge, the position that Sir Isaac Newton once held. But unfortunately, Cambridge tuition is simply too expensive for me to afford.”

It was certainly disappointing to Louis that the conjecture had fallen through, but he was not too upset. Because guessing such things as other people’s experiences, most of the time guessing wrong is normal, after all, he is not that fictional character – the great detective Hastings, who is a brilliant mind.

Thinking of this, Louis suddenly got playful, he wanted to take the opportunity to tease his detective friend for a couple of sentences, “Arthur, what do you think?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Louis noticed that Arthur, who was sitting on the side, was cupping his chin and surveying a unique scimitar hanging on that gentleman’s waist.

It was indeed a marvelous weapon, with the blade curved inward, and a V-shaped groove set into the connection between the blade and the hilt, as if it were a dog’s leg.

Arthur suddenly opened his mouth and asked at the strange gentleman, “You have spent time in India?”

The gentleman was stunned by the question, and he nodded hesitantly, “I served in Madras, India for five years, and I just retired from there earlier this year.”

Arthur thought for a moment and followed up with, “Were there any Gurkhas stationed near the unit you served in?”

“Gurkhas, you actually know about the Gurkhas.”

Mr. Strange was greatly surprised, “There are no Gurkhas near the unit in which I serve, but the unit in which I serve is itself made up of Gurkhas, the Gurkha Regiment of the East India Company, where the soldiers are all brave little men of olive complexion from the mountains of Nepal.”

Louis was surprised to hear this and said, “Sir, you are a Briton, why would the East India Company place you in the Gurkha Regiment?”

“No, no, you misunderstand, I am an officer, not a soldier.” The stranger waved his hands and said, “I was a second lieutenant rank in the army before I was discharged from the army, and I was in charge of commanding a thirty-man infantry platoon in the Gurkha Regiment.”

Louis smiled and asked, “Isn’t that good? Why don’t you continue there? If you’re lucky and get a few good battles behind you, with your dominant age, you might even become a general in the future. Don’t I remember that the Duke of Wellington made his fortune from India?”

Hearing this, the stranger just took a sharp sip of his cigarette, shook his head and sighed.

“Man, you think too simply about things in the army. I was thinking the same thing you were thinking back then, which is why I took the little inheritance my father left me to donate as a second lieutenant in the Indian army. At the time, I thought that although the conditions in India were not as good as those in Britain itself, so many of the great men of Britain made their fortunes from there that perhaps I could replicate their path to success as well.

I thought that if I suffered more when I was young, I would be able to enjoy happiness when I was older. But when I arrived in India, I realized that my thinking was too naive. Everyone knows that the Duke of Wellington made his fortune from India, but no one told me that when His Excellency the Duke came to India, his elder brother Richard Wellesley was serving as the Viceroy of India.

Had it not been for his brother, His Excellency would not have been able to command the Fourth Anglo-Macanese War with the rank of Colonel. Although His Excellency the Duke has since proved that he is indeed the greatest army commander in the history of Britain, at the time of the Fourth Anglo-Mayan War he was a fledgling brat who had only fought one battle in Europe at the time, and lost it. Although he hasn’t lost since then is all.

I’m not saying this to attack His Excellency the Duke, I’m just stating a fact. If His Excellency the Duke didn’t have his brother’s connections, there is absolutely no way he would have been reused in India after losing the battle. It would not even have been possible for him to make it to colonel, but rather, like me, he muddled around in the position of second lieutenant for five years and then just retired in disgrace.”

The stranger’s sour speech also piqued Louis’ interest.

He pursued the question, “Although I know that there is such a thing as donating officers within the British Army, didn’t you already pay your dues when you went to India?”

The stranger sighed helplessly, “What I paid was only for an ensign, and if I want to move up, I’ll have to add money rank by rank. These years have been relatively peaceful in India, and there are usually not many battles to fight, so there is almost no possibility of wanting to be promoted for merit. So, if you want to move up, it’s just a matter of one sentence – just get the pounds in place.”

Louis took a deep breath and said, “This is really dark!”

Arthur asked, “How much does an army second lieutenant’s rank cost?”

The stranger hugged his knees and smoked a cigarette, “Let’s take an ordinary line infantry regiment as an example, the lowest rank that can be purchased is 450 pounds for a second lieutenant, and the highest rank is 4,500 pounds for a lieutenant colonel. If you want to go to the cavalry and close guard regiments, then you have to add money upwards. You guys do know about the Coldstream Close Guard Infantry Regiment, right?
It’s that ace infantry regiment whose motto is ‘second to none’, and their rank prices are likewise second to none, and I’ve heard that the price of a lieutenant colonel at Coldbrook has been jacked up to £9,000 some time ago.

Although my second lieutenant’s rank is not that of Lengxi’s, since I wanted to go to India, which was recognized as a fat job, I bled heavily at the time. I had to trust someone and managed to take the position for £700.”

Hearing this, Arthur smiled and spoke, “Now I finally understand why you couldn’t afford Cambridge.”

The stranger smiled as if laughing to himself, “Who says it isn’t? Although my father left me a fairly generous inheritance, but it couldn’t be helped that I had to go to India to become a soldier! If I had chosen to go to Cambridge to study, at most 500 pounds will be able to solve the tuition fees and my living expenses in the university, and the remaining money I can also buy a small house in London. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to study at Oxford or Cambridge, and in the first half of this year I’ve already gone to the Duchy of Württemberg to study at the University of Heidelberg in order to find a cheaper school.”

Louis couldn’t hide the smile on his face when he heard this.

Although he felt that as a descendant of the Napoleon family, he was also quite miserable, but seeing a fellow with the same illness, it was always able to alleviate his psychological pressure a little bit. Louis comforted with a kind word: “Don’t be too sad, people’s luck changes. You have been unlucky in the past few years, perhaps God intends to arrange for you to walk more smoothly in the future? And Heidelberg University is not as bad as you said, although its name in Britain is not as loud as Oxford and Cambridge, but it is also a good university. Don’t I remember that Mr. Hegel was a professor there?”

“Hegel?” The stranger shook his head, “He left a long time ago, and is now the rector at the University of Berlin. But I even saw him when I went to Berlin to play, he didn’t seem to be in very good health, and he couldn’t seem to lift his strength when he was giving his speeches. But although Hegel’s lecture didn’t entertain me, I did see some delightful gadgets at the University of Berlin. If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to drop out of Heidelberg University and just run all the way back to Britain.”

Louis wondered, “Wow? What goodies did you find?”

The stranger spoke, “Well …… I don’t know if you two know anything about electromagnetism, but that’s a new invention in electromagnetism. An electromagnetic telegraph made by Baron Pavel Schilling, a Russian diplomat in Berlin.

It utilized the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction by using 6 wires to transmit signals, 1 wire to transmit the call at the beginning, and 1 wire as a common wire for the return of current. Another 6 magnetic needles were designed to express different messages by combinations of their deflections, each corresponding to a code of 32 Russian letters.

At the time I was simply amazed at this new invention, and although this telegraph was still very rudimentary, and transmitted over a distance of only 4 or 5 feet, I felt sure that by improving upon it, it would be possible to make a telegraph that would carry messages over long distances across the whole of Europe.

The very night I saw the invention on display, I lay in bed tossing and turning and could hardly sleep. I had been wasted in India for five years, and yet God had sent me such a chance to turn my life around. If I could work out the telegraph, I would instantly become one of the richest young men in Britain, like Mr. Wheatstone, who had invented the record player.

And the best thing to do to get the telegraph was to return to Britain. All of Europe knew that Britain was the leader in the brand new discipline of electromagnetism. Michael Faraday, William Sturgeon, Arthur Hastings, and so on, the list of names was enough to show that Britain had a head start in electromagnetism.

And Baron Pavel Schilling, when presenting his new invention at the University of Berlin, recognized the driving influence of Faraday and Hastings on the birth of the telegraph. Without that one-hit-wonder paper on electromagnetic induction, the electromagnetic telegraph would have been untenable from a basic logical standpoint. So it was not too difficult a decision for me to give up my medical degree at Heidelberg University to return to Britain. My life was nearly ruined by the Army at worst, so I don’t mind gambling on the telegraph again.”

Louis’ face turned a little odd when he heard this, and the corner of his mouth twitched as he glanced at Arthur beside him.

Arthur burned out the last bit of his cigarette, took off his pipe and tapped the long footstool to pour out the ashes, “In that case, I seem to know who you are.”

“Hmm?” The stranger frowned, “Do you recognize me? You also served in India, have we met before?”

Arthur fished two coins out of his pocket and handed them to the shoeshine man, then smiled and extended his hand to the stranger, “You are Mr. William Cook, aren’t you? Charles told me earlier that he had made a new friend who had returned from service in India, and since you are a friend of Charles, you are also a friend of mine. It is a pleasure to meet you, and at the risk of introducing myself, I am Arthur Hastings.”

When the stranger heard this, he stared at first, and then his mouth snapped open so wide that by the looks of it, he could have stuffed two goose eggs into his mouth.

“Are you …… you the famous Mr. Hastings? Before, Mr. Wheatstone mentioned you to me, and I didn’t think that it would be such a coincidence that I actually met you outside of Graysham Academy today.”

“Hm?” Arthur raised his eyebrows, “Charles mentioned me to you? What did he say?”

Cook hurriedly took Arthur’s hand, “Mr. Wheatstone told me to watch out for you more. Of course, it’s possible that I took the meaning astray or misheard him. After all, he was busy working on the telegraph at the time and just casually mentioned it to me. It’s also possible that he had a slip of the tongue.”

Louis also smiled and extended his hand to Cook, “It’s true that Mr. Wheatstone isn’t very good at communicating with people, but he’s a kind and honest man. Mr. Cook, that’s all I can say.”

Arthur didn’t mind being joked about, but he had to get on Cook’s good side before the joke became reality.

After all, although Wheatstone was not good at socializing, he was good at making scientific inventions. A guy who could get his approval must be very talented and accomplished in scientific research.

Arthur opened his mouth and asked, ”Mr. Cook, although your decision to bet heavily on the telegraph is indeed very bold. But I feel that dropping out of Heidelberg University in a hurry is just too risky. If you don’t make it this time, what do you plan to do with your life in the future?”

“This ……”

Cook was stunned by Arthur’s question, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about this problem, but people, sometimes they just simply don’t want to face it.

Cook laughed bitterly, “Honestly, I don’t know. But when I was serving in India, I still had some money saved up in my hand, plus some inheritance left by my father, it should still be enough to support me for a while. But I’m afraid there’s no chance of going on to university to get a degree. After all, university fees in Britain can easily start at three hundred pounds.”

“Well ……,” Arthur said, shaking his head gently, “You can’t say that, at least I know of one university that’s still quite cheap. Do you know the University of London?”

“University of London?” Cook sighed, “Mr. Hastings, don’t make fun of me. Don’t they even give out degrees? And judging by its popularity in the community, studying there not only doesn’t enhance one’s value, but has the potential to have a negative effect. After all, a school that doesn’t have a prayer room and preaches atheism is not accepted by many people.”

“You can’t say that either.” Arthur spoke up, “London University never preaches atheism, we just don’t actively preach theism.”

“Doesn’t not preaching theism mean atheism …… No, that’s not right …… Wait, we? Mr. Hastings, are you ……”

Louis smiled and introduced himself at the right time, “Yes, Mr. Hastings is a graduate of the University of London. Incidentally, the Royal Warrant of the University of London has been formally approved by Parliament, so if you are fancying a degree, you can indeed go there to read one, at least you can leave yourself a way out can’t you?”

Arthur sniffed and snickered, “But even if you don’t study at the University of London, it’s really nothing. After all, in the Royal Society, even graduating from high school can be considered a high degree. Mr. Faraday often joked about the fact that he had only studied in elementary school, doing research and studying at a university are not necessarily related. Multiple university degrees don’t change too much, they just occasionally give people a little blind confidence that they are very educated.”

(End of chapter)