Fell for It

This Lucien Evans was actually Gauss's pseudonym. Of course, the name was given to him by his mentor Joseph Bonaparte, for reasons unknown to most.

"Heh, do you really think this matter is over and done with?" Joseph couldn't help but think this as he decided on this name for Gauss's disguise.

Of course, apart from Joseph, no one knew what kind of horror the seemingly ordinary name "Lucien Evans" represented. In another dimension, such infamous names as "Primeval Devil, Fallen Morning Star, Skullcrusher, Brain Eater, Head -Headshot Maniac, Worldview Destroyer" would be enough to silence a baby's cries.

Napoleon, of course, had no idea what kind of horror he was about to face.

"A rigorous proof of the principles of geometry and the parallel lines theorem?" Napoleon read the question aloud. "The parallel lines theorem, ah, is this also someone who wants to remove parallel lines from the axioms?"

The fifth postulate in Euclidean Geometry, the Parallel Postulate, seems far less intuitive than the previous postulates. It lacks the simple and clear beauty of a postulates. Therefore, since ancient Greece, countless mathematicians have tried to prove it through the other four postulates and five axioms, thereby removing it from the list of postulates and making it a theorem.

Napoleon opened the paper and began to read.

"Not bad, at least from the beginning it's quite organized, unlike those idiots before, who couldn't even understand the most basic things." Napoleon nodded, picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, and then lowered his head to continue reading.

As he watched, Napoleon lost his composure.

"What the hell is this?! Seriously... I thought I'd see something decent, not some amateur scientist, but... How can this guy spout such nonsense with such a straight face?! Seriously, doesn't this guy even want to look at the outside world? It's infuriating!"

Napoleon couldn't stand it any longer, so he flipped to the end of the paper and began to comment directly:

"An absurd line of reasoning has led to a ridiculous conclusion: this is a flawed paper, utterly worthless, and cannot pass review. I think the author should look out the window and see the real world... In my opinion, the paper cannot pass review. I believe the best way to deal with this kind of whimsical, incomprehensible rambling is to throw it in the fireplace; that will serve its only purpose."

Having finished writing this, Napoleon tossed the paper aside, muttering to himself, "Now I understand why nobody wants to proofread papers. It's like forcing people to eat shit. A whole morning, a whole morning, just reading this pile of absurd nonsense! It's really... Joseph was right, human intelligence has absolutely no limits."

Generally, to ensure a fair evaluation of papers during the review process, a single paper is sent to several reviewers. This, of course, increases the workload, so Napoleon was assigned a pile of papers again that afternoon.

Napoleon's enthusiasm had long been exhausted by those pseudo-scientific papers. So he made an excuse, saying he had to meet with Ms. Lola, then dumped all the work on Mr. Lagrange and slipped away. Of course, Mr. Lagrange wasn't keen on doing such things either—he hadn't done it for years. So, quite naturally, he distributed the materials to a few of his students, so they could get some experience...

The next morning, Napoleon unexpectedly received a notification from the Academy of Academy of Sciences. His assessment of the paper, "A Rigorous Proof of the Principles of Geometry and the Parallel Lines Theorem," differed significantly from that of another academician, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier. Therefore, as was customary, the Academy of Sciences resent the paper to him for further review. If no one was willing to change their opinion after a week, a hearing would be held to resolve the disagreement.

"Huh? Fourier approved this damned paper?" Napoleon was taken aback.

Based on Fourier's academic level and contributions, he should have been a member of the Academy of Sciences long ago. However, he remained an important figure in Bonaparte Laboratory, and his most important research results, especially in the field of radio communication, were considered by Joseph to be of great strategic significance. As long as his work could be kept secret for the time being, even if the Britain stole the France's secretly equipped radios, they would hardly be able to replicate anything useful. Therefore, these results were kept secret for the time being.

Of course, Joseph did not treat Fourier unfairly. As a result, Fourier also received a considerable amount of stock in Bonaparte General Electric. Just from the annual dividends, he became the second richest man in the French Academy of Sciences, after Joseph and Lavoisier.

Of course, because of this, even now, Professor Fourier is only a probationary academician. (Actually, it's not bad; in the original history, Fourier wasn't even a probationary academician at this time.)

Although Fourier was only a trainee academician, Napoleon still greatly admired Fourier academic abilities. Moreover, Fourier was a member of Joseph's faction, which made Napoleon even more wary.

"Was I really wrong? Yeah, I didn't even finish reading that damn paper. If I make a mistake on my very first thing after becoming an academician, it would be truly embarrassing. Damn it, could that paper have been deliberately prepared by Joseph to trap me? No, I have to look at it again, look at it again..."

Half a day later, Napoleon painfully looked up from the huge stack of papers. He forced himself to read through the entire paper, which was utter nonsense, from beginning to end—it felt like forcing himself to eat a huge pile of excrement.

"Shit, utter shit! Although this damned paper is structurally sound and resembles a normal paper, it is still shit at its core! Even if you make it look like chocolate, it is still shit!" Napoleon cursed angrily.

However, Napoleon lacked the confidence that his mathematical abilities surpassed Fourier's. So, although he still considered the paper utter garbage—just garbage presented in a chocolate-shaped form—he decided to quickly find some reliable people to review it, lest he be misled by Joseph and his group in the end.

So Napoleon summoned his adjutant:

"Have someone make several copies of this paper and send them to Mr. Laplace, Mr. Lagrange, and Mr. Monge. Then have them all come to see me the day after tomorrow."

The adjutant saluted and left, and Napoleon lowered his head again, staring at Lucien Evans's paper, muttering to himself, "What the hell are you up to?"

Soon, Laplace, Lagrange, and Monge all obtained the paper and learned the story behind it.

"Our Emperor is really something. When faced with a difficult judgment, he should just put it aside and ask us first. Admitting a mistake now, even if it's not a big one, is still a shameful thing." After receiving the paper, although he hadn't had time to read it yet, considering Napoleon's and Fourier's mathematical abilities, Laplace didn't even look at it before making this remark.

After saying this, Laplace sat down behind his desk, put on his glasses, and began to study the paper.

"Ah, is someone else tackling the fifth postulate? That's one of the most famous unsolved problems since Elements. Can anyone really solve it?" Laplace became interested and continued reading carefully. But soon, like Napoleon, his expression changed.

"What is this? How could this be? This is utter nonsense! How could such a conclusion be reached? It doesn't fit into the real world at all. How dare Lucien Evans write something so bizarre? No wonder Napoleon deemed this paper unacceptable. How could something like this pass? If my student had written this, I would have had him hung up and beaten. His Majesty Napoleon commented that the only use of this paper was to throw it in the fireplace to start a fire, which is perfectly accurate. However... however, Fourier wouldn't risk his reputation like this, and, and... Fourier might have the dean behind him. Let me take another look, let me take another look..."

So Mr. Laplace forced himself to read the paper again carefully. Or rather, he forced himself to eat the chocolate-shaped dog poop again. But Laplace was different from Napoleon; he still found a problem.

"The conclusion of this paper is absurd, but there isn't a single obvious flaw in the derivation process. How is that possible? But how can there be no flaws? If this is correct, then the world is incorrect! I can't say that I'm not wrong, but the world is wrong, can I?" Laplace muttered to himself.

In several other places, Lagrange and Mr. Monge reached similar conclusions to Mr. Laplace: the paper was definitely wrong and therefore should not have been approved. However, the paper was flawed in a sophisticated way; for the time being, no problems could be found in the entire derivation. But regardless, the paper was certainly wrong; otherwise, could the world be wrong?

On the third day, they went to the Consulate together and discussed the paper with Napoleon again. However, they still couldn't find any problems in the paper's derivation process.

"Could it be that we've really made a mistake?" Napoleon wondered, feeling a little guilty.

"Your Majesty, this could be a trap," Laplace said. "If you change your mind now, and then Mr. Fourier follows suit, how do you intend to defend this paper?"

Napoleon paused for a moment, then said, "Damn Joseph, maybe that's how he arranged it. Damn it, I won't fall for it!"