SGB Chapter 306

## Chapter 306: The Research Frenzy (4K2)

Louis glanced at the speaker, a man of average height with a dark brown bowler hat, a windblown trench coat, and a rain-soaked beard.

Despite the beard, which made him appear older, Louis would have estimated him to be around forty if he hadn’t worked at the Metropolitan Police Intelligence Bureau. His time there had equipped him with useful people-reading skills. Observing the man’s smooth sideburns and eyes that sparkled with youthful energy, Louis quickly judged him to be no older than thirty.

With this deduction in mind, Louis felt more confident as he smiled and asked, “Let me guess, you know Mr. Babbage, and he was once the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. So, are you his student? An outstanding graduate of Cambridge?”

The man across from him simply nodded, his pipe clenched between his fingers. “I did want to go to Cambridge. It would have been an honor to be Mr. Babbage’s student. After all, as you said, he held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge, the same position once held by Sir Isaac Newton. Unfortunately, the tuition fees at Cambridge are too expensive for me to afford.”

While Louis was disappointed that his guess was wrong, he wasn’t too disheartened. After all, guessing someone’s background was usually more likely to be wrong than right. He wasn’t the fictional character, the brilliant detective Hastings, who could deduce everything with a glance.

Thinking this, Louis, in a playful mood, decided to tease his detective friend: “Arthur, what do you think?”

As the words left his lips, Louis noticed Arthur sitting beside him, chin in hand, scrutinizing a unique curved dagger hanging from the man’s waist.

It was indeed a peculiar weapon, with an inwardly curved blade and a V-shaped notch at the junction of the blade and hilt, resembling a dog’s leg.

Arthur suddenly spoke to the stranger, “Have you been to India?”

The man was taken aback by the question. He hesitated before nodding, “I served in Madras, India, for five years. I just retired from there at the beginning of this year.”

Arthur pondered for a moment before asking, “Were there any Gurkhas stationed near your unit?”

“Gurkhas, you actually know about Gurkhas?”

The stranger was amazed. “There weren’t any Gurkhas near my unit, but my unit itself was comprised of Gurkhas. The East India Company’s Gurkha Regiment, all the soldiers there were brave little olive-skinned men from the Nepalese mountains.”

Louis, hearing this, also exclaimed, “Sir, you’re a British man. Why would the East India Company assign you to the Gurkha Regiment?”

“No, no, you’ve got it wrong. I’m an officer, not a soldier,” the stranger quickly waved his hands. “I was a lieutenant in the army before I retired, and I commanded a thirty-man infantry platoon in the Gurkha Regiment.”

Louis smiled and asked, “Well, isn’t that great? Why didn’t you stay there? If you were lucky enough to fight a few more good battles, given your advantageous age, you might even become a general later on. I remember the Duke of Wellington rose to prominence from India, didn’t he?”

The stranger just took a long drag from his pipe and sighed.

“Mate, you’re making the military seem too simple. I had the same idea back then, which is why I used my father’s inheritance to donate money for a lieutenant’s commission in the Indian Army. At the time, I thought that even though the conditions in India weren’t as good as in Britain, many great British figures had risen from there, and maybe I could replicate their success story.

I thought I’d suffer a bit when I was young so I could enjoy myself when I got older. But after arriving in India, I realized how naive I was. Everyone knows the Duke of Wellington rose from India, but no one told me that when the Duke went to India, his elder brother Richard Wellesley was the Governor-General of India.

If it hadn’t been for his brother, the Duke would never have been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War with the rank of colonel. While the Duke later proved himself to be the greatest military commander in British history, he was just a greenhorn during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. He had only fought one battle in Europe, and he lost it. Although he never lost another battle after that.

I’m not trying to attack the Duke. I’m just stating a fact. If the Duke hadn’t had his brother’s connections, he would never have been re-employed in India after losing a battle. He might not even have reached the rank of colonel, but like me, he would have been a lieutenant, aimlessly drifting for five years before retiring in disgrace.”

The stranger’s sour remarks piqued Louis’s interest.

He asked, “While I know there’s this thing called ‘buying a commission’ in the British army, didn’t you pay when you went to India?”

The stranger sighed dejectedly, “I only paid for a lieutenant’s commission. To climb higher, you have to pay incrementally. Things have been relatively peaceful in India these past few years, and there haven’t been many battles, so there’s almost no chance of promotion based on merit. So, if you want to climb the ladder, it comes down to one thing – enough pounds.”

Louis took a deep breath and said, “That’s outrageous!”

Arthur asked, “How much does a lieutenant’s commission cost?”

The stranger hugged his knees and smoked, “For a regular line infantry regiment, for example, the lowest-ranking lieutenant costs 450 pounds, and the highest-ranking lieutenant colonel costs 4500 pounds. If you want to go to the cavalry or the Guards, you have to pay even more. You know the Coldstream Guards, right?

The elite infantry regiment with the motto ‘First and Foremost.’ Their commission prices are also ‘first and foremost.’ I heard that the lieutenant colonel’s price for Coldstream has been driven up to 9000 pounds recently.

Although my lieutenant’s commission wasn’t for Coldstream, I wanted to go to India, and India is known as a fat plum, so I had to bleed a lot back then. I made connections, and with great difficulty, I secured the position for 700 pounds.”

Arthur, hearing this, laughed and said, “Now I understand why you can’t afford Cambridge tuition.”

The stranger chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Who wouldn’t? My father left me a fairly substantial inheritance, but I couldn’t resist going to India to join the army! If I had chosen to study at Cambridge, I could have solved my tuition and living expenses in university for a maximum of 500 pounds, and I would have had enough money to buy a small house in London. Unfortunately, now I can’t afford Oxford or Cambridge. Earlier this year, I went all the way to the Duchy of Württemberg in Germany to study at Heidelberg University just to find a cheap school.”

Louis couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

Although he felt sorry for himself, a descendant of the Bonaparte family, for ending up in such a state, seeing someone else in a similar situation somehow eased his psychological burden.

Louis comforted him kindly, “Don’t be too sad. Everyone’s luck changes. You’ve been having bad luck these past few years, maybe it’s God’s plan for you to have a smoother journey in the future. Besides, Heidelberg University isn’t as bad as you say. Although its reputation in Britain isn’t as loud as Oxford and Cambridge, it’s still a good university. Wasn’t Mr. Hegel a professor there?”

“Hegel?” The stranger shook his head, “He’s gone. He’s the principal of the University of Berlin now. But I saw him when I went to Berlin. He doesn’t seem to be in good health, he seemed to lack energy during his speech. Although Hegel’s speech didn’t satisfy me, I did see some exciting gadgets at the University of Berlin. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have rushed to quit Heidelberg University and run all the way back to Britain.”

Louis was curious, “Oh? What good things did you find?”

The stranger said, “Well… I don’t know if you two have any knowledge of electromagnetism. It’s a new invention in the field of electromagnetism. The electro-magnetic telegraph machine made by Baron Pavel Schilling, the Russian ambassador to Berlin.

It uses electromagnetic induction, with 6 wires transmitting signals, 1 wire transmitting the initial call, and 1 wire serving as a common line for current return. It also designed 6 magnetic needles, which express different information through their combined deflection, corresponding to the coding of 32 Russian letters.

When I saw this new invention, I was simply amazed. Although this telegraph machine is still very rudimentary, and the transmission distance is only four or five feet, I think that as long as it’s improved on this basis, it will definitely be possible to make a telegraph machine that can transmit messages over long distances across Europe.

That night, after watching the demonstration of the invention, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. I wasted five years in India, but God has given me a chance to turn things around. If I can make a telegraph machine, I can immediately become one of the wealthiest young men in Britain, just like Mr. Wheatstone, who invented the phonograph.

And to make a telegraph machine, the best choice is to return to Britain. All of Europe knows that Britain is the leading force in the new field of electromagnetism. Michael Faraday, William Sturgeon, Arthur Hastings, and so on – this string of names is enough to prove that Britain is at the forefront of electromagnetism.

When Baron Pavel Schilling demonstrated his new invention at the University of Berlin, he also acknowledged the driving influence of Faraday and Hastings on the birth of the telegraph machine. Without that groundbreaking paper on electromagnetic induction, the electromagnetic telegraph machine would not have been logically possible. So for me, giving up my medical degree at Heidelberg University and returning to Britain was not a difficult decision. My life was almost ruined by the army, and the worst thing that could happen was this. So I don’t mind gambling on the telegraph machine again.”

Louis heard this and his face suddenly became a little strange. He twitched his mouth and glanced at Arthur beside him.

Arthur finished off the last bit of tobacco, took off his pipe, tapped it against the long stool, and poured out the ash. “So, I think I know who you are.”

“Hmm?” The stranger frowned, “You know me? Did you also serve in India? Have we met before?”

Arthur took two coins from his pocket and handed them to the shoe-shiner, then smiled and extended his hand to the stranger, “You’re William Cooke, aren’t you? Charles told me he had met a new friend who had returned from serving in India. Since you’re Charles’s friend, you’re also my friend. Nice to meet you, let me introduce myself, I’m Arthur Hastings.”

The stranger, hearing this, was stunned at first, then his mouth suddenly opened wide, as if he could fit two goose eggs in his mouth.

“You… You’re the famous Mr. Hastings? Mr. Wheatstone mentioned you to me before. It’s such a coincidence that I met you outside Gresham College today.”

“Hmm?” Arthur raised an eyebrow, “Charles mentioned me to you? What did he say?”

Cooke quickly grasped Arthur’s hand, “Mr. Wheatstone told me to be wary of you. Of course, maybe I misinterpreted it, or maybe I heard wrong. After all, he was busy with his telegraph machine at the time, and he just casually mentioned it to me. Maybe he just slipped up, too.”

Louis also smiled and extended his hand to Cooke, “Mr. Wheatstone is not very good at communicating, but he’s a kind and honest man. Mr. Cooke, I can only say so much.”

Arthur didn’t mind being teased, but he had to build a good relationship with Cooke before the joke became reality.

After all, although Wheatstone was not good at socializing, he was very good at scientific invention. Someone who could be recognized by him must have a lot of talent and expertise in scientific research.

Arthur asked, “Mr. Cooke, although your decision to gamble on the telegraph machine is indeed bold, I think it’s too risky to quit Heidelberg University so abruptly. If you don’t succeed this time, how are you going to live in the future?”

“This…”

Cooke was taken aback by Arthur’s question. He wasn’t unaware of the problem, but sometimes people just didn’t want to face it.

Cooke chuckled wryly, “To be honest, I don’t know. But I saved some money during my service in India, and with some of my father’s inheritance, I should be able to support myself for a while. But I’m afraid I won’t have the chance to go back to university for a degree. After all, tuition fees in British universities are all over 300 pounds.”

“Hmm…” Arthur shook his head gently, “You can’t say that. At least I know of a university that’s quite cheap. Do you know the University of London?”

“The University of London?” Cooke sighed, “Mr. Hastings, you’re kidding me. Don’t they even give out degrees? And judging by its reputation in society, studying there won’t improve your value, it might even have a negative effect. After all, a university that doesn’t have a prayer room and promotes atheism is not accepted by many people.”

“You can’t say that either,” Arthur said, “The University of London never promotes atheism, we just don’t actively promote theism.”

“Not promoting theism is atheism… No, no, wait… Wait, we? Mr. Hastings, you wouldn’t be…”

Louis laughed and introduced him at the right time, “That’s right, Mr. Hastings is a graduate of the University of London. Incidentally, the University of London’s Royal Charter has been officially approved by Parliament. If you’re looking for a degree, you can definitely go there to study, at least it will give you a backup plan, wouldn’t it?”

Arthur, hearing this, joked, “But even if you don’t go to the University of London, it’s okay. After all, in the Royal Society, even a high school graduate can be considered highly educated. Mr. Faraday often jokes about only having a primary school education. Research and going to university are actually not necessarily related. Multiple university degrees don’t change much, they just occasionally give people a little blind confidence that they are very knowledgeable.”

(End of Chapter)