Passing the Buck

There are actually techniques to surrendering. First, you need to know where to surrender. This isn't a real battlefield where the enemy is right there. Find a national flag, cut off both sides, and then raise it.

But on this battlefield, who should they surrender to in the quickest and most effective way to protect the gentlemen's interests? This is a big problem. Choosing the wrong person, aside from anything else, is just a waste of time, which is unbearable.

Moreover, not everyone among the France was willing to accept their surrender. If you found someone who wasn't willing to accept their surrender, like Ah Q going to the fake foreigner to declare, "I want to surrender to the revolutionaries," you'd most likely only get a "Get out!" If you were too slow to get out, you might even get a few blows to the head.

However, there was no time to list targets and analyze them one by one. Now they could only cast a wide net. As long as there was a possibility that they would accept their "surrender," the England doctors would send a council member to surrender to them. Of course, to put it more politely, it should be called "expressing goodwill."

In addition to "expressing goodwill" to the France, they must also reach a "goodwill reconciliation" with those forces that already maintain "goodwill" with the France.

So all the board members were mobilized. President Edward wrote down the targets that needed to be visited immediately on a piece of paper, and then everyone took on a target to visit.

Dr. James examined the targets closely, and then he saw a name: Charles James Fox.

He happened to recognize this Whig Party leader, the notorious playboy. (It was said that he was the one who had seduced His Highness the Prince of Wales into becoming a playboy as well.) He had once treated Mr. Fox, and the two had gotten along well. So he decided to approach him, intending to take over his target.

"Ah, James, you don't need to choose. You come with me first to the * Science Truth Daily * newspaper to publish an apology to Mademoiselle Bonaparte. Then you come with me to the editorial office of * the Lancet * in Britain..."

James knew this was the most important, and of course the most difficult and humiliating, action in this surrender. And indeed, it had all started with him. So now, no one else was truly suitable to do this shameful thing besides him. Moreover, even if someone else were willing to go in his place, he wouldn't trust them, because they might dump all the blame on him while he was away.

Thinking about this, he suddenly realized that he had really been out of his mind, almost choosing something else and nearly giving up this crucial position to someone else. At the same time, he was filled with gratitude towards President Edward.

Having set their goals, everyone quickly reached a consensus: they acknowledged the England Medical Association had made a mistake and misjudged the situation; they admitted everyone had been too proud and promised to work hard to correct this. However, there were a few things they absolutely could not admit:

First, it cannot be admitted that the England Medical Association opposed the scientific conjectures proposed by the France because of vested interests.

Secondly, it cannot be admitted that the Doctors' Union of England made such a mistake due to a lack of competence.

Then came the actual details of the surrender.

First, the England Medical Association acknowledges the need to learn from Europe countries, especially France, in medical technology. Going forward, England Medical Association will invite France experts to Britain annually to lecture, and simultaneously arrange for Britain doctors to study in France. While this is nominally called strengthening technical exchange, in reality, anyone can see that the Medical Association of England is acknowledging France's authoritative position in medicine.

In addition, the Doctors' Union of England reorganized its organization to allow foreigners to become England members, in order to avoid arrogance and backwardness caused by stagnation.

Finally, the England Medical Association will strongly recommend that hospitals renovate according to France standards, under the guidance of France doctors. If a hospital is unwilling to undergo such renovations, the England Medical Association will advise doctors not to work at such a hospital.

In short, through these measures, the France were able to leverage the England Medical Association to quickly gain a leading position in the Britain medical community.

Once the plan was finalized, everyone boarded their carriages and headed towards their destination.

However, as the saying goes, "Don't think you're the first to set off, there are always those who set off earlier." When Chairman Edward and Dr. James arrived at the "Science Truth Daily" newspaper to request a meeting with Editor-in-Chief Mr. Mabeuf, they were told that Mr. Mabeuf was meeting with someone and they had to wait.

So the two of them had no choice but to wait in a side room. The waiter led them to the side room, poured them some black tea, and then prepared to leave. But President Edward stopped the waiter.

"May I ask who the editor-in-chief is receiving right now?"

The waiter hesitated for a moment. So President Edward discreetly slipped a banknote into his hand. The waiter then overcame his hesitation and whispered, "It's Bishop White."

"Oh no!" President Edward thought to himself.

Clearly, the Anglican Church's presence here at this time is also related to the report in * the Lancet *. This is because most of the hospitals previously embroiled in this controversy were founded by the Anglican Church, and most of the remaining ones also have Anglican Church ties.

In the debate that had raged for over a month, members of the Anglican Church were also drawn into it. This was especially true after Charles James Fox, a staunch advocate for abolishing the Anglican Church's status as the state church, joined the fray. At Fox's suggestion, many of the more radical members went so far as to say that the Anglican Church hospitals were a means to systematically eliminate the poor who were no longer of exploitation.

The Whig Party, * The England News Review *, was a serious publication (at least in his own mind), and naturally couldn't publish overly sensational or unfounded speculations. However, it could publish reader letters. After all, those were the "readers'" opinions, not the newspaper's. Thus, the * England News Review *'s "Letters to the Editor" section practically became a breeding ground for all sorts of rumors. Although each sensational letter was followed by a lukewarm rebuttal and denial from the editor.

With the * England News Review * setting the tone, other tabloids quickly followed suit. These weren't the kind of high-brow newspapers that tried to maintain a certain image or pretend to "respect the facts without preconceived notions." They were inherently opinionated media outlets; for them, attitude was more important than facts. After all, reporting the facts required ability, while expressing an attitude depended solely on conscience. Tabloids, with their limited resources, couldn't get many exclusive stories, and it was inherently difficult for them to obtain the truth. If they lacked even an attitude and a conscience, what reason did they have to exist?

So these newspapers actually produced a whole bunch of prophecies targeting the Anglican Church's seemingly unbeatable lead. And the Anglican Church, of course, didn't have a tradition of not retaliating, and immediately retaliated in newspapers that were biased towards them. Naturally, they would then bring up the France "scientific conjectures," and the Anglican Church would launch a fierce attack on these unfounded "scientific conjectures," even raising the issue to the level of whether they were truly devout to God.

However, God delivered a resounding slap to the Anglican Church heresy with facts. In this era where science is now widely respected, even the Catholic Church no longer dares to recklessly attack scientists, and the Anglican Church no longer dares to directly confront repeatable and verifiable science.

Generally speaking, whenever science makes some progress and clarifies some unknown area, people always find theologians rushing into the unknown area that science has not yet figured out, and then declaring, "Look, we've been waiting for them here all along." Then, they quietly modify the doctrine and change the previously proclaimed truths into parables and analogies.

The Anglican Church was no exception, but compared to the England Medical Association, Anglican Church problem lay in the fact that they could not apologize; they could not admit their ignorance. Charlatans and scientists are different. Scientists never claim to possess the truth, so it's normal for them to make mistakes. But charlatans are different; they usually claim to have received revelations of truth, acting as spokespeople for truth. People follow them precisely because they believe they possess the truth. Therefore, they cannot admit wrongdoing; admitting wrongdoing means certain death.

Since they can't admit their mistakes and can't stubbornly defend themselves, there's only one option left: to shift the blame.

Clearly, the Anglican Church approached the Church of Scientific Truth to shift blame. But who could they pin the blame on? First, they certainly couldn't blame the France. They couldn't very well say, "The France used magic to deceive God," after all, this wasn't the 14th century. And to France were too cunning and had deceived them would be tantamount to admitting their own stupidity.

Although all of Britain knows that there are many clueless fools in the church, the church itself cannot admit it. It's like that king who was deceived by a swindler; even knowing he was naked, he still had to carry out the procession.

Therefore, President Edward immediately realized that he and the England Medical Association were the best scapegoats. The Anglican Church had made a mistake because they had been deceived. Well, everyone knew the France were their adversaries; if the France Anglican Church had been deceived by the French, it meant Anglican Church were foolish. But if there was a traitor among their own people, then they could only blame the Anglican Church for being too kind.

"Perhaps they're all prepared to accuse us of secretly worshipping the devil when the time comes?" President Edward couldn't help but think.