Newton's Robbing People!

Throughout the long history of Physics, Newton had always been a highly controversial figure.

The controversy here was not some idiotic question like, "Could Newton graduate as a 985 postgraduate student today?" Rather, his life trajectory was simply too fantastical.

Many people had probably heard this statement before:

Seventy percent of Newton's achievements were completed between 1665 and 1667.

That statement was not far off.

During the eighteen months he spent avoiding the plague, Newton seemed to have activated cheat codes. He established the Binomial Theorem and infinite series expansions, invented calculus and the Reflecting telescope, discovered sunlight's seven-color spectrum, and laid down the basic ideas behind Newton's First Law, Newton's Second Law, and the Law of Universal Gravitation.

With that, he laid the foundations of classical physics.

Setting aside those eighteen months of Academic achievements, Newton turned toward politics and economics after reaching middle age—yes, politics and economics, not theology.

That was because Newton had always been a devout believer. It was not as though he suddenly changed camps on a whim in his old age.

Besides, Newton's achievements during his middle and later years were not insignificant either.

For instance, in 1717, through Queen Anne's Act, he established a link between gold and silver coins, informally shifting pound sterling from the silver standard to the gold standard. He had also served as the Factory Director of the Royal Mint.

Factory Director of the Royal Mint—this was roughly equivalent to the modern governor of a central bank, an achievement that would be enough to bring glory to one's ancestors for ninety-nine percent of modern people.

It was just that Old Master Newton's accomplishments before middle age had been too dazzling, so many Marketing Accounts and haters called his middle and later years a complete failure.

All right, enough about Newton's middle and later years. Let's turn our attention back to that little house.

As mentioned earlier,

during the eighteen months he spent avoiding the plague, Newton achieved a great many things.

And that was why Xu Yun had first needed to determine the exact time—if the man had already developed calculus, then if you stupidly ran up to him and awkwardly showed off Fluxions, it would be a miracle if he even spoke to you.

"Late October 1665, huh."

Xu Yun lightly scratched his hair and muttered,

"If I remembered correctly, the first officially confirmed case of the Black Death in 1665 should have been in April, and the royal family fled in July.

Old Master Newton returned to Cambridge University in April 1667. He stayed in his hometown for eighteen months, so he should have fled Cambridge University around July or August.

Hmm, if we calculated based on the absolute latest possible date,

then he should have been back home for about four months now?"

The London Black Death was the plague.

It was the last widely spreading plague on John Bull soil. It caused more than eighty thousand deaths and could be considered a crucial turning point in John Bull's history of disease.

In truth, this Black Death had begun spreading in January. The docklands on London's outskirts and St Giles Parish were hit first, and the impoverished workers living in those two places became the first victims of the Black Death's rampage.

However, because the workers in those districts had extremely low status, they received almost no attention or documentation.

Thus, the first officially recorded case of the Great Plague of London was Rebecca Andrews, a woman diagnosed on April 12, 1665.

That was also why, just three months after the Black Death erupted, even the John Bull Royal Family had to run away. It was simply impossible to contain.

It was like cockroaches. When you saw one cockroach in your home, it meant hundreds of the little bastards had already settled there.

And if it had only been four months since Old Master Newton returned home, then he should still have been pondering

"the problem of simplifying the binomial ((P+PQ)^{m/n})?"

At that thought, Xu Yun's eyes immediately lit up.

Of course, "simplifying" here was Newton's own wording in his manuscripts. The academic world now used "expanding."

At present, Newton should have worked out the case where the exponent was a positive integer, only to get stuck on fractional or negative exponents.

Once he completely derived the unrestricted nature of exponents, his next step would be to arrive at the static concept of infinitesimals and create Fluxions through the method of generating variables in motion—the basic conceptual framework of Newtonian calculus.

Later, Newton would use the framework of Fluxions, combined with Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion, to derive the renowned Law of Universal Gravitation.

Therefore, even if Xu Yun's estimate of the time was slightly off, it would at most mean he was before or after some minor milestone. He could adjust his plans according to the circumstances at any time.

Having thought it through, Xu Yun felt somewhat reassured.

He then sat up, ready to get out of bed.

But when he moved to the edge of the bed, he realized,

"My shoes are wrong. Damn it, where are my socks??"

Staring at the bare soles of his feet, Xu Yun's face filled with question marks. He had been thinking about the timing just now, so he had genuinely failed to notice that even his socks had been taken off.

Not long ago—or rather, before he had fainted—he had briefly checked his body.

Aside from his phone and watch not appearing along with him, his clothes, shoes, and hairstyle had all been exactly as they were back home.

Whether this was reconstructed consciousness or soul transmigration remained unclear, but at least his "equipment" was roughly the same as it had been back home. He had not been additionally given clothing from this era, such as Dabli clothes or Hussar pants.

Yet after waking from this "sleep," his clothes were still reasonably neat, but both his socks and shoes were gone?

Of course.

For now, it could not be ruled out that the owner of the house was a clean freak who had removed his shoes and socks before carrying him onto the bed.

But how likely was that?

Just as Xu Yun's thoughts began to churn, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the wooden door on the left side of the room, drawing closer and closer.

Obviously.

The owner of the house had likely noticed the sounds caused by his awakening.

Tap, tap, tap—

The footsteps drew closer. Soon, the doorknob began to turn.

A moment later.

With a click, the door was pushed open from outside, and a figure walked in.

The newcomer had jade-green eyes that shone with cold starlight, thick lacquer-black brows slanting apart, and a seven-foot body like silver.

It was none other than Newton. He wore a Great Britain Dabli coat, a multicolored silk sash from Amsterdam, Netherlands around his waist, and a pair of Anta 2021 winter warm low-cut boots on his feet. Holy shit?

Xu Yun rubbed his eyes hard. That was right—his shoes were really being worn by this younger version of the founding master. (I'm not uglifying him or making things up. Newton really had this personality; this isn't fanfiction.)

Xu Yun: "..."

Perhaps noticing Xu Yun's gaze, Newton said calmly,

"This place lies within the territory of the Isaac family. According to the Burl Ordinance issued by Parliament fourteen years ago, as the family's eldest legitimate son, I have the right to personally collect fines from trespassers.

"Since I also saved your life, I am formally notifying you: your boots now belong to me—this includes your subsequent medical expenses, as well as your short-term food costs."

Newton then gave him a somewhat strange look and shook his head.

"I really don't know what you were thinking. Such fine fabric, and you used it for footwear? Wouldn't it be ruined after stepping in a few piles of shit and piss outside?"

Hearing that, Xu Yun froze again—not because he was surprised by Newton's talk of fines and fabric, but because

he could actually understand Newton perfectly?

One had to know.

Modern English was divided at the year 1700 into Early Modern English and Late Modern English, and the differences between them were considerable.

English in 1665 was nowhere near seamlessly compatible with later English. One could even say the differences were still enormous.

Xu Yun had initially prepared himself to communicate by making nonsense sounds and gesturing, yet he had not expected to understand Newton's words?

Obviously, this must have been some ability granted by the Gate of Spacetime.

As for why Newton had acted this way, Xu Yun quickly pieced together the sequence of events.