The Fox of France

"According to the rules, as a member of the Academy... I, as one of the reviewers of this paper, also have the right to speak," Napoleon quickly said, fearing that if he spoke slowly, Joseph would end the meeting directly.

After saying this, Napoleon breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that although Joseph was a very annoying fellow, although he was very, very bad, if we were to classify him into the Nine-Grid Alignment Camps, this guy was definitely of the Lawful Alignment. As for whether he was Lawful Evil, Lawful Good, or Lawful Neutral, different people in the family had different opinions. But everyone agreed that Joseph was a rule-abiding person. Since according to the rules, Napoleon had the right to speak, and Napoleon pointed out this point, then Joseph should not break the rules and deny him the opportunity to speak.

Sure enough, Joseph frowned, but he still said, "Well, Academician Bonaparte, please come up and speak. But keep it brief...," at this point, he took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, "don't delay everyone's lunch."

"No, no, I'll be brief, I'll be brief," Napoleon said as he hurried up to the podium.

Napoleon knew that a major trick in politics was to be able to turn a funeral into a celebration. For example, when a plague was rampant in the country and many were dying, it had to be said that "because we have the highest testing numbers in the world"; for example, when large numbers of relatively resistant young people also contracted the plague, it had to be said that "more young people getting sick is, in a sense, a good thing." As long as one was good at turning a funeral into a celebration, maybe they could even dress themselves up as respecting science, being brave enough to admit mistakes, and correcting them.

"Gentlemen academicians, sirs," Napoleon said, "having just joined the Academy of Sciences, I made such a mistake, and I'm sorry. Although Mr. Evans is not present, I still want to apologize to him. This is a great paper that should be worthy of the 'Prometheus Award,' but because of my outdated and conservative thinking, bound by past habits, I failed to recognize the significance of this paper, and even slandered it, which misled many colleagues. This is my mistake, so I also want to apologize to those colleagues.

On the path of science, there is no room for any pride or self-satisfaction, not even a little arrogance. On the path of science, we can only make progress by getting rid of all kinds of old prejudices and boldly discarding those old ideas. Our science, our cause, can only progress by combining these two things.

At this point, I am reminded of the famous saying by Dandong. During the most dangerous days of the Republic, Dandong said: 'We must be bold, we must be bold, always bold, and France will be saved!' In fact, in science, we also need the spirit of bold exploration, not to be bound by past habits, past dogmas, but to boldly break free from these shackles. We must be bold, bold, always bold, for science to make progress.

But being bold alone is not enough. We can see how rigorous Mr. Evans's argument is in this paper. To be honest, because I could not accept the conclusions that broke my outdated views, I spent a lot of time searching for flaws in this paper's argument. Of course, as you all know, I did not succeed.

However, my failure, or rather, Mr. Evans's success, also shows that science not only requires the courage to make major breakthroughs but also the meticulousness in operation. Only by combining these two can we achieve the glory of our science, and even our France, constantly exploring and advancing."

Napoleon felt that with such a speech, he had successfully turned the funeral into a celebration. Although this guy Joseph had embarrassed him a lot, but, it wasn't just him who made mistakes, the entire Paris High School Department was beaten together, right? And his main identity was that of a politician and military leader, the identity of a scientist was just a facade. Moreover, on a scientific issue, he and those scientists who could be nominated for the "Prometheus Award" made the same mistake, didn't that just show that his level was not much different from theirs, so he made the same mistake as them? Only if the level was high enough, close to that of Laplace and the others, would such a mistake be made, you guys are not worthy of making such mistakes! So Napoleon also won spiritually.

Next was the matter of propaganda, this matter had to be discussed well, it must be turned into a real celebration. And it must be a real celebration. It must not be like in a certain country in later generations, where funerals were turned into celebrations, and even their own country's people could not be deceived.

The journal "Mathematics" of the Academy of Sciences issued a special issue for this paper. In this thick special issue, which was as thick as a book, the first was the full text of Mr. Lucien Evans's paper, followed by papers by Joseph and Gauss, proving this paper from different angles and using different methods. Then came the speech by Fourier, followed by the speech by President Bonaparte, and finally, of course, Napoleon's speech.

Considering that French science was now the best in the world, especially in mathematics, this was even more so. So the "Mathematics" journal of the French Academy of Sciences was definitely the most authoritative journal in the world in the field of mathematics. For many mathematicians in other countries, if their papers could be published in the French "Mathematics" journal, it was almost the highest honor. Even in Oxford and Cambridge in England, some mathematicians were increasingly willing to publish their papers in the French "Mathematics" journal, not only because the remuneration for "Mathematics" journal was relatively high (the British had already raised the remuneration for some of their own professional journals), but also because publishing articles in the "Mathematics" journal brought higher academic reputation.

But in terms of publicity, the "Mathematics" journal had a big problem, that is, its circulation was too small. Because its readership was limited to a very small circle. The things in the "Mathematics" journal were often too advanced for most people to understand. For most people, the articles in the "Mathematics" journal were completely incomprehensible gibberish. Even for many college students majoring in science and engineering, it was the same.

But this did not mean that the influence of the "Mathematics" journal was not significant, because its prestige was high. Prestige itself was a kind of influence. For the folks in the news industry, news related to the "Mathematics" journal was always particularly attractive. Moreover, in this special issue of the "Mathematics" journal, there were so many newsworthy things.

First, there was a groundbreaking, revolutionary theory, and the author was unknown. Then the groundbreaking, revolutionary theory led to a split in the French Academy of Sciences, and finally, everyone resorted to a hearing like a duel to resolve the differences. How interesting! More importantly, the opponents in this scientific duel turned out to

be brothers. Of course, the most important thing was that these two brothers were the most prominent brothers in France, and they could even be said to be the most prominent brothers in the whole of Europe.

One was the first consul of the French Republic, and the other was the president of the French Academy of Sciences. One was the Augustus of the Roman Empire, and the other was the Caesar of the Roman Empire. In the past, these two brothers were models of brotherly love and respect, but now they had come to the duel over this paper. You could imagine how big of a news this was. For the journalists from various countries who were dedicated to making big news, this was something worth reporting!

So before the special issue of the "Mathematics" journal was published, the "Scientific Truth Gazette" first published relevant reports because they had special news channels and always managed to get the big news first: "'Euclidean Geometry' Challenged, 'Mathematics' Journal to Publish Groundbreaking Paper." The focus of this report was still on "mathematics" itself, on whether there were triangles with interior angles less than 180 degrees. But at the end of this report, it also mentioned that regarding this paper, President Bonaparte and Academician Bonaparte had different opinions.

Immediately following, the "Sun Gazette," with the fastest reporters in the world, followed suit. Of course, the "Sun Gazette" didn't care about the interior angles of triangles and how much they were. In fact, no one cared about that in the readership of the "Sun Gazette." So the headline of the "Sun Gazette" naturally became: "Who Will Prevail in the Battle Between Caesar and Augustus?" The focus of the report naturally shifted to the brotherly dispute.

Of course, even if you gave the "Sun Gazette" a hundred guts, it wouldn't dare to mess around and say that the Bonaparte brothers were at odds. In its report, both brothers still looked like "I love my brother, but I love the truth more." Their debate was also just a dispute between gentlemen based on different views.

Even at the end of the report, the "Sun Gazette" was filled with a desire to survive, attributing the brothers' debate to France's ideals of equality, freedom, and fraternity.

They said that in this debate, there were the first consul, the president of the Academy, academicians, trainee academicians, but when discussing scientific issues, everyone did not use their status to oppress others, which reflected the fundamental spirit of France—equality.

And everyone had no reservations about one question, freely speaking their minds, which also reflected the freedom of spirit of France's founding.

For the enthusiasm shown by everyone for an unknown author's paper, it truly demonstrates the spirit of fraternity in the French Republic. Therefore, France's dominance in the world is only natural!

With these two newspapers leading the way, although the special issue of "Mathematics" journal had not yet been released, the hype was already building up. Not only the French, but people from other countries were also keenly interested in this matter. Even British newspapers widely reprinted these news stories.

Of course, the British couldn't help but poke fun at Academician Joseph Bonaparte's status. They hinted that Joseph's membership in the French Academy of Sciences was solely due to his political position.

Certainly, there were some pro-France media outlets, especially those with a trade background. The backers of these media outlets were either in textile exports or machinery imports. They all needed "good Anglo-French relations." Therefore, their voices naturally differed.

"We interviewed Professor Cohen from Cambridge University on the academic level of Consul Bonaparte. Professor Cohen stated that Consul Bonaparte's research level in complex variables is very high. From his papers, it is only natural for him to be awarded the title of academician."

When asked about the possibility of Consul Bonaparte's papers being ghostwritten, Professor Cohen said, "The nonsense of those conspiracy theorists is not even worth refuting. These people, as soon as you look at them, you've lost to them."

As for the claim about "shaking Euclidean geometry," Professor Cohen said, "I'm very much looking forward to seeing the new issue of 'Mathematics.' Personally, I think it might be a paper on the fifth postulate. Since the time of the Greeks, countless mathematicians have been trying to demote this postulate to a theorem. It's been a problem that has persisted for thousands of years. Perhaps our French colleagues have made progress on this issue..."

Under the hype generated by these media outlets, the special issue of "Mathematics" journal was finally published.

Immediately, newspapers from all quarters erupted.

The "Scientific Truth Gazette" first interviewed some famous scholars from the University of Paris and the Paris High School. They each commented on the significance of this paper from their respective perspectives. Although their perspectives differed, everyone acknowledged the breakthrough and the importance of mathematics.

The "Scientific Truth Gazette" also published numerous reader letters. Most of these letters expressed love for science and admiration for both sides of this scientific duel.

"The academic acumen and talent of President Bonaparte in science, as well as his meticulousness, truth-seeking spirit, are admirable. He has become a role model for young people who love science. As for his brother, Academician Bonaparte, although he initially insisted on his own views, after realizing his mistake on this issue, he bravely admitted it, bravely searched for problems in himself, and bravely corrected his mistakes, which also demonstrated the noble character of a scientist." ——"Letters from Readers" section of the "Scientific Truth Gazette"

Led by the "Scientific Truth Gazette," the entire French media almost unanimously sang the praises of Joseph Bonaparte. Many newspapers even stated: although Academician Bonaparte lost to his brother, President Bonaparte, in the scientific duel, it proves that your brother is still your brother. However, Academician Bonaparte appeared even more adorable.

In other countries, newspapers naturally wouldn't praise Joseph Bonaparte as the French ones did, because while French newspapers praised Joseph Bonaparte, they still had to follow basic methods—ah, basic methods to praise. But foreign media, they didn't need to care about these. When they praised Joseph Bonaparte, they even made Joseph Bonaparte himself blush.

Actually, this is not surprising. In later generations, there were similar situations in some countries' media, when they praised other countries, they also had such things, like "domineering little passports," "conscience sewers," and "free houses." What "dignity of the slum" and "rigor of the oiled paper" and "conscience of free medical care," they made the moon of other countries rounder than a black hole. When the people of other countries read it, they even misunderstood that you were sarcastically mocking them.

Nowadays, in some European countries, some media outlets like to criticize France in order to criticize their own countries. These media outlets, Italy has them, the Rhine Federation has them, Austria has them, Prussia has them, Russia has them, and even the British have them.

Moreover, the situation in Britain is very special. In Austria and Russia, it is the reformists who praise France and Napoleon, while the conservatives criticize France and Napoleon. But in Britain, the situation is not quite the same. In Britain, there are pro-France and anti-France factions. According to reason, the pro-France faction should praise France, and the anti-France faction should criticize France. The pro-France faction should praise Napoleon, and the anti-France faction should criticize Napoleon. But this world is particularly strange. In Britain, both the pro-France and anti-France factions praise France and praise Napoleon together.

The pro-France faction goes without saying, what about the anti-France faction? What do they praise? They praise the patriotism of the French people, unlike in Britain, where there are so many damned pro-France traitors. Clearly, the French have always been secretly supporting, and even openly supporting, the internal separatist forces, but these damned traitors still follow the French for so little money. Look at the French, look at Napoleon, when did they ever do such shameless things? Ah, if Napoleon were British, it would be great. He would have sent all these traitors to the guillotine long ago! (Napoleon said that it would be more effective to let Robespierre handle this kind of thing.)

They also praise Napoleon for developing heavy industry, especially heavy industry. It's nothing like those bureaucratic officials in Britain who sit idly by while British heavy industry gradually falls behind. They sit idly by as these industries become increasingly uncompetitive. Their mantra is, "If our Prime Minister were Napoleon, we would have raised tariffs on French goods long ago."

In short, their praise of Napoleon is with ulterior motives. They praise Napoleon to scold those at home who are not in line with their interests. They praise Napoleon, even like Xin Qiji praising Sun Wukong. Although Sun Wukong is played around with on the battlefield by different people, compared to those emperors who I despise, he's still worth praising, at least he dares to march north.

Of course, this time, they had another opportunity to praise Napoleon, that is: "Napoleon admits his mistakes and is willing to correct them, but those bastards who have made so many mistakes and harmed the entire Britain are shameless. Hmm, they are still a little better than Napoleon in one respect, that is, their shamelessness is thicker than Napoleon's."

So Napoleon successfully turned mourning into celebration.

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