Over the next few days, Li Qiwei wrote a textbook while also working on a paper about the Photoelectric Effect.
It was time to prove once and for all that Quantum Mechanics was correct and establish its place in science.
As he wrote, he suddenly remembered the last time he'd sent a telegram and how much it had cost.
A sudden idea struck Li Qiwei: if he was short on money, why not start a company and make a fortune?
As a transmigrator, he could invent a few things and make money with ease—and better yet, he'd be taking it from the foreigners.
A transmigrator who couldn't make money didn't deserve to have his name on the organization's rolls.
The Spark Plan would need a lot of money in the future. His family's wealth alone might not be enough to cover it.
It seemed that starting a company and making money would have to be added to his agenda.
As for what to sell—light industrial products? Heavy industrial products? Li Qiwei would have to think it over. In any case, he couldn't sell anything that would make foreign countries stronger.
While he was lost in thought, Hong'er came in, holding two letters.
"Young master, someone delivered two letters for you, one after the other. They said they were very important and asked you to read them as soon as possible."
"Oh?" Li Qiwei set down his pen and opened the envelopes.
The first letter was from Lockyer, editor of Nature.
He wrote that a recent issue of one of London's renowned academic journals had featured an article.
The author claimed in the paper that Quantum Mechanics was a complete fraud, riddled with flaws.
The author had also offered a number of so-called arguments and pieces of evidence.
After that, articles criticizing Quantum Mechanics appeared in several other mainstream academic journals, dismissing it as a wild fantasy.
Quite a few well-known physicists had also declared in public that Quantum Mechanics had not been experimentally verified and did not deserve such acclaim.
Li Qiwei was baffled. I only published a paper. I didn't take your money, and I didn't give myself the acclaim.
But when he read on, he understood what had happened.
Lockyer explained that ever since the paper on Quantum Mechanics had been published, Cambridge University had devoted enormous effort to promoting it.
The whole of Britain had been bombarded with news of the theory.
With Vice-Chancellor Caldwell at the helm, and a group of physics professors including Thomson publicly backing it, Cambridge University had successfully secured a large sum of government funding.
Lockyer didn't mention the exact amount, and Li Qiwei guessed he didn't know.
But according to people in the know, during the funding review meeting, Oxford University's vice-chancellor had even let fly with a curse.
Clearly, he was furious at Cambridge's windfall and believed a brand-new theory shouldn't receive such respect.
Caldwell had replied with just one sentence: "This is the British Empire's chance to take the lead in science once again, following the First Industrial Revolution."
Those words had moved the review committee members, and the funding was approved.
Reading this, Li Qiwei gave a helpless, wry smile. He couldn't believe so much had happened in the month or so since he'd left.
At the same time, he let out a deep sigh, full of feeling.
Compared with Huaxia's attitude toward science at the time, Britain's was unquestionably far better.
Both ordinary people and the government held science and technology in high regard.
They had seen with their own eyes the immense wealth the Industrial Revolution could bring.
And science was at the heart of industry. Without theoretical breakthroughs by scientists, there would be no inventions of all kinds of industrial machinery.
Britain also had another distinctive trait: many aristocrats and wealthy merchants liked to dabble in scientific research in their spare time.
So, if you studied histories of physics from later eras, you'd find that many important scientists hadn't pursued research for the sake of fame.
They were often aristocrats themselves, with no shortage of wealth or status. They pursued research simply because they were interested in physics, sometimes even paying for it out of their own pockets.
That cultural atmosphere was completely different from that of other countries.
It had to be said that the British Empire's prosperity came from more than just sheer luck; it had real substance behind it.
Li Qiwei envied Britain as he continued reading.
The rest became clear. After Oxford University had been humiliated, it rallied a group of physicists skeptical of Quantum Mechanics to challenge the theory on scientific grounds, hoping the author would respond.
An academic debate was nothing like a military war.
Right was right, and wrong was wrong. Both sides had to use logic, experiments, mathematical formulas, and so on to prove their arguments.
You couldn't just dislike someone, decide they were wrong, and blast them to smithereens with a cannon.
That was why journals across Britain had published papers questioning Quantum Mechanics.
Publishers loved this kind of controversy. It drew attention, had a major impact, and sent magazine sales soaring.
So, Lockyer had written to Li Qiwei, urging him to publish a paper as soon as possible, preferably one that unveiled a major discovery.
If they won this battle, Nature would gain tremendous prestige and become Britain's leading physics journal.
Sir Lockyer was enjoying a late springtime of his career and was deeply invested in the matter, so he wrote to hurry Li Qiwei along.
After all, Li Qiwei still held the title of honorary editor-in-chief of Nature.
After reading the letter, Li Qiwei smiled. This was just like having a pillow delivered when sleepiness struck.
He'd just finished his paper on the Photoelectric Effect. Now he could publish it at exactly the right moment.
Then he opened the second letter and discovered that it was from Lord Kelvin.
Li Qiwei could hardly believe it. He'd assumed that after the paper came out, Lord Kelvin would be mortified and furious with him.
He never expected the other man to write to him of his own accord, let alone openly admit defeat and apologize.
It made Li Qiwei realize he'd been judging a gentleman by the standards of a small-minded man.
Lord Kelvin himself had lowered his guard and acknowledged his mistake—to a man from the Qing Dynasty, no less.
He had to hand it to him: the man was magnanimous. No wonder so many people respected him.
When Lord Kelvin died on December 17, 1907, almost all of Britain and scientists around the world had mourned him.
In the end, he was buried beside Newton's tomb—a testament to his influence.
Li Qiwei sighed inwardly. Lord Kelvin was indeed broad-minded, but that was also because Li Qiwei had the ability to back it up.
If he hadn't published Quantum Mechanics and caused such a sensation, Lord Kelvin probably wouldn't have given him a second glance.
Equality was always built on strength. You could be arrogant, but you couldn't actually be useless.
Putting those thoughts aside, Li Qiwei read on. Lord Kelvin's letter was related to Lockyer's, too.
It turned out that several of Britain's senior physicists thought that trading blows in academic journals would get them nowhere.
They thought it would be better to organize a meeting where everyone could speak freely. It might even become a celebrated event in the history of physics.
So, with Lord Kelvin leading the effort, they invited many well-known physicists from Britain and abroad to a conference in London.
The conference had just one topic: Was Quantum Mechanics right or wrong?
As the central figure, Li Qiwei was obviously the key to the whole affair. He received a formal invitation, and his response might even determine whether the conference took place.
After reading Lord Kelvin's letter, Li Qiwei stretched and felt a little pleased.
At the Berlin Physical Society, Röntgen and the other big names hadn't challenged Quantum Mechanics or given him a hard time because they were showing deference to Professor Planck.
They had surely debated it fiercely in private.
When he'd faced several professors during his doctoral defense in his previous life, he'd felt no small amount of pressure.
Now he was going to take on a host of great minds alone, arguing his case against a crowd of scholars. Li Qiwei was practically trembling—and it was from excitement.
Though a thousand great minds stand before me, I'll still press on!
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