Chapter 1169 Postscript 25: The Legend of the Eldest Princess
In a teacher's dormitory of Luoyang Taixue, Wang Daqing was working at his desk with concentration.
This dormitory is for temporary rent.
There is an obvious chain of contempt among the various administrative regions of the Ming Dynasty.
The North Korean Province where Wang Daqing was born is at the lower end of the chain of contempt, and is better than the Governor-General's Palace and the Protectorate's Palace.
He has publicly emphasized many times that his ancestors were pure Han Chinese and were Shandong military officers transferred to Pyongyang during the reign of Emperor Taizu Hongwu.
But his weird accent when he was young was still often made fun of by his colleagues.
For this reason, Wang Daqing specially took in a concubine from Luoyang. He talked to the concubine every day and practiced the Zhongyuan Zhengyin.
"Dong dong dong."
"Please come in."
A servant opened the door: "Erlang, Tang Xianggong from the Mathematics Society is here to visit."
The Tang Xianggong had already entered the room, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Bringing good news to my dear brother."
Wang Daqing asked expectantly: "Which scholar approved my new geometry?"
Tang Xianggong shook his head: "You print papers and distribute them everywhere, even at literati gatherings. The impact is really bad. People who understand mathematics will naturally know that your papers are too ridiculous. But what do those literati know? They still think that we are mathematicians.
Learn not to tolerate dissent!”
"The news has reached the ears of the old president. Although the old president does not agree with your paper, he has spoken and allowed your paper to be published. During the academic event in early summer, a hall will be reserved for you, and you will have half a day.
Sufficient time to introduce your academic achievements in public."
Wang Daqing couldn't help but be happy: "It's indeed good news. Do I need to come and pay homage to the old president?"
Tang Xianggong said: "The old president is not in good health, so don't bother him."
Wang Daqing asked again: "It has been two months and there is still no mathematician who agrees with my paper?"
Tang Xianggong patted Wang Daqing on the shoulder: "I have carefully verified Xiandi's paper. The derivation process is all correct, and the conclusions drawn are more absurd than the last. What is the use of studying these?"
Wang Daqing said: "Eyes can deceive people, thoughts can also deceive people, but mathematics cannot deceive people. Since it exists, it has its own value, and maybe one day it will be used."
It can indeed be used, but it will probably take hundreds of years.
In another time and space, Lobachevsky, the founder of Roche's geometry, was known as the "Bruno of geometry." From this nickname, we can know the situation he faced at that time.
Although he was not burned to death, he was never recognized and was even ostracized by the academic community. He died in depression in his later years.
Gauss was also doing similar research at the time, but Gauss never dared to publicly support Lobachevsky and only praised Lobachevsky privately as the best mathematician in Russia.
Wang Daqing's research into this stuff is doomed to disapproval for the rest of his life.
"Just take care of yourself." Tang Xianggong said goodbye with his hands in hand.
Wang Daqing hurriedly sent him downstairs in person, and stood quietly under the eaves for a long time. After Tang Xianggong completely disappeared from sight, he sighed and returned to his temporary dormitory.
Sitting on a chair, Wang Daqing took out his tobacco and puffed on his pipe, his thoughts wandering to nowhere.
He is very irritable!
Ever since he came up with the new geometric system, Wang Daqing has been in a state of agitation. Even his students were amazed at it on the surface, but secretly they didn't believe it at all.
He seemed to be standing on the opposite side of the entire world.
He was isolated.
"Dong dong dong."
Another knock on the door brought Wang Daqing, who was in a daze, back to reality.
Before Wang Daqing agreed to open the door, the servant happily pushed the door open and said, "Erlang, a young bachelor came to visit. He said he approved of Erlang's knowledge of geometry!"
Agree with me?
Wang Daqing stood up quickly and walked quickly to the door, only to see a young man standing outside the door.
This young man's face was too immature, Wang Daqing looked at his waist.
Bachelor of Jasper.
"My little friend, please come in quickly." Wang Daqing said with great enthusiasm.
Xie Yan bowed his head and said: "Xie Yan, who is a junior and is the last to learn, pays homage to Professor Wang."
Wang Daqing reacted suddenly: "Xie Yan discovered the damping phenomenon and caused controversy due to molecular theory?"
"Exactly." Xie Yan replied.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Wang Daqing suddenly laughed heartily: "You were scolded miserably, and I was scolded miserably. We share the same fate."
Xie Yan also smiled: "Those doubts about me will soon dissipate. But I am afraid that your criticism will not dissipate for another few decades."
Wang Daqing dragged a chair over and asked Xie Yan to sit down and talk: "Can you prove yourself?"
Xie Yan said: "I made a balance that is more accurate than the long-arm damping balance that came out some time ago."
"What a young prodigy." Wang Daqing praised.
The servant brought the kettle with boiling water from the briquette stove in the corridor.
Wang Daqing took out the tea leaves and made tea for Xie Yan himself: "Do you agree with my new geometry?"
"Mathematics doesn't lie." Xie Yan said.
Hearing this, Wang Daqing's eyes lit up and he quickly took Xie Yan's hand: "You know me too!"
Xie Yan said: "There are some parts of that paper that I didn't understand. Can Professor Wang explain it in person?"
"You don't have to call me by title, my name is Wang Daqing, my courtesy name is Shanzhi, and my family name is No. 2. Although you and I are meeting for the first time, we are no different from being close friends. We can be friends by the same generation."
Wang Daqing looked forward to the stars and the moon, and finally hoped that someone would take the initiative to ask him for advice on his essay: "If there is anything you don't understand, brother Xian, just ask. Brother Fool knows everything and can tell you everything."
Although Xie Yan has never learned Luo Clan geometry, no one else in the world has.
Even Wang Daqing himself has only been working on it for more than a year, and the new geometric system has not yet been perfected.
The two of them sat side by side at the desk, holding pen and paper and asking questions.
At noon, the servants were asked to buy some food, and they continued to explain geometry problems while eating.
Time flies by so fast, it’s already half afternoon.
Xie Yan's entourage stood at the door and reminded: "Liu Lang, it's almost time to return to the city. If you wait too long, you may not be able to close the city gate."
Wang Daqing said: "Brother, why don't you stay here tonight? Taixue has extra dormitories. I will help you borrow one."
Xie Yan stood up and said goodbye: "Thank you for your kindness. Brother is still waiting at home."
Wang Daqing sent the guest downstairs again.
But in the morning when seeing off guests, he felt depressed.
At this time, he was in a happy mood when seeing off guests.
When saying goodbye, Xie Yan suddenly said: "Brother Shan's new geometry is derived from the assumption that a straight line has multiple parallel lines. What if we assume that a straight line has no parallel lines?"
Wang Daqing was stunned on the spot, as if he had been struck by lightning.
By the time he came to his senses, Xie Yan had already walked away.
Wang Daqing shouted towards Xie Yan's back: "Thank you, dear brother, for reminding me. No matter what results come out, we will sign the paper together. You are the first author and I am the second author!"
Xie Yan was not good at mathematics and it was quite difficult to do the math, so he simply asked Wang Daqing to do the relevant research.
Roche geometry is already available, so we might as well develop Riemannian geometry.
At this stage, it is impossible for this thing to win honors and will only bring endless criticism.
It is a supporting mathematical tool for the theory of relativity.
In the next two or three months, Wang Daqing has been immersed in research, completely ignoring what is happening outside.
It’s already early summer in the blink of an eye.
More and more scholars are gathering in Luoyang, some even coming from border areas.
To be continued...