The bodyguards paddled and the boats sailed leisurely through the river.

Ma Jue came to Cambridge for the first time, and couldn't help but feel literary feelings, stood up and said with a smile: "In the soft waves of the Cam River, I am willing to be a water weed." Sir, did Xu Zhimo and Lin Huiyin go boating here to study? ”

Zhou Hexuan once came to Cambridge to give a lecture, and he also traveled before the crossing, he pointed to a building in front of him and said: "There is Trinity College of Cambridge University, and Xu Zhimo was an auditor of Trinity College back then." ”

"Auditors?" Ma Jue was stunned.

Zhou Hexuan explained with a smile: "Xu Zhimo is a full student at King's College, majoring in political economy just like you did when you were a graduate student in London. But he spent most of his time auditing literature at Trinity College, and his major was delayed. ”

Ma Jue couldn't help laughing and said: "So China has one less politician and one more poet." Sir, tell us more about Trinity College. ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The celebrity who came out of Trinity College was the first to recommend Byron, who was already famous when he was a student, so much so that the college gave him a privilege. ”

"What privilege?" Ma Jue asked curiously.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Trinity College has granted Byron permission to keep pets in the school. ”

Xiao Qian interjected: "This privilege doesn't seem to be excessive. ”

Zhou Hexuan laughed: "Byron's pet is not ordinary, it is a big brown bear." Every evening, Byron would lead the clumsy brown bear to roam the campus, scaring the timid teachers and students out of the house. ”

"That's pretty strange." Xiao Qian and Ma Jue were speechless, they couldn't imagine that someone actually treated a brown bear as a pet.

There are many rowers in the Kham River, especially those who train for rowing, and they keep shouting all kinds of horns to cheer them on. It was so noisy that most of the buildings on the riverside of Cambridge were double-glazed so as not to disturb the students, who is said to have suggested that Newton was so noisy by the noise of boating.

Perhaps Zhou Hexuan's Asian face on the boat was too conspicuous, and the students on the surrounding boats looked sideways, and one of the small boats came up directly.

"Mr. Zhou?" A girl on the boat shouted in Chinese, happy and uncertain.

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "Are you a Chinese student?" ”

"I'm Lu Guizhen from Gonville and Case College," the girl said, turning sideways, "and this is my mentor, Professor Joseph Needham, and these are my classmates Wang Yinglai, Shen Shizhang, Edward, and Groot. ”

"Hello, nice to meet you." Zhou Hexuan smiled and nodded.

Lu Guizhen said to her mentor: "Professor, this is Mr. Zhou Hexuan, a famous Chinese scholar. ”

The two boats approached, but it was still not enough to shake hands, and Joseph Needham actually came to give a fist salute: "Hello, Mr. Zhou, my Chinese name is Joseph Needham." ”

A strange smile appeared on Zhou Hexuan's face: "Hello, Mr. Joseph Needham, let's talk on the shore." ”

This is perhaps the most unprofessional British celebrity known to Chinese. Obviously a biochemist, he suddenly switched to Sinology in his 40s, and as a result, he became the most famous and authoritative disseminator of Chinese culture in modern times.

The two boats gradually approached, and everyone came to the river to find a bench to sit down, and Zhou Hexuan and Joseph Needham finally shook hands.

After some pleasantries, Joseph Needham expressed his admiration for Zhou Hexuan, and then said: "I am studying Chinese and studying the history of Chinese science, but unfortunately there are too few books in the East Asian Reading Room at Cambridge University. ”

Cambridge University had a large collection of Chinese books at this time, close to 2,000 volumes, and there were also some unique books of the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. But those are all subsets of classics and histories, and there are basically no miscellaneous books such as "Heavenly Creations", so it is very difficult for Joseph Needham to study the history of Chinese science and technology.

"If I have the chance, Mr. Needham can go to China, and I have some books on the subject at home." Zhou Hexuan said.

Joseph Needham regretted: "Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity, I guess I will never be able to go to China in my life." ”

Zhou Hexuan thought to himself: Not only will you go to China in two years, but you will also become a Chinese son-in-law, and the female student next to you will be your future Chinese wife.

Joseph Needham said: "I was shocked to hear Lu (Gui Zhen) say that papermaking, printing, compass and gunpowder were all invented in China, and the idea of studying the history of Chinese science and technology was born. You are a historian of China, can you tell me a little bit about this? ”

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Ancient Chinese science is all practical science. Take daily drinking water as an example, Westerners did not drill deep wells before, and the Chinese invented drilling technology in order to drink water. The oil drilling technology used in Europe and the United States today was transmitted from China to the West in the 11th century, and its invention was originally because the Chinese needed to find halolites underground. ”

"Really? Oil drilling technology was also invented by the Chinese, which is amazing. Joseph Needham hurriedly took out a small notebook and wrote it down.

Zhou continued: "A few months ago, I went to a city in China called Zigong, where this drilling technique was invented. There is a salt well called Shenhai Well, which is more than 1,000 meters deep, and is the first deep well in the world to exceed 1,000 meters, and it is still in use. ”

Joseph Needham asked, "In addition to drilling technology, what other great inventions did China have?" ”

Zhou Hexuan thought for a while and said, "Twelve equal laws." ”

Joseph Needham exclaimed, "Oh God, the law of twelve equals was also invented by the Chinese?" ”

Regarding this thing, Zhou Hexuan has bragged with George Bernard Shaw before, and it doesn't hurt to blow it again. Because the influence of the twelve equal temperaments in the West is too great, it gave birth to the modern piano, and gave birth to modern Western music in the true sense.

Zhou Hexuan said: "The inventor of the law of twelve equals is a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty of China, and a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Anything else? About the natural sciences. Joseph Needham was excited.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Around 1000 AD, Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty calculated the geomagnetic declination. He found that the Earth's magnetic poles were not straight, but slightly skewed, did that count? ”

Joseph Needham smiled: "Of course, and it is very important, this is the knowledge necessary for the great voyage of mankind." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "There are many scientific discoveries and inventions in ancient China, and it is obvious that Joseph Needham wants to do research in this area, so he must go to China in person. ”

"That's a shame." Joseph Needham still did not think that he could go to China, let alone that he would have to stay there for several years.

The two chatted for a while, and Ma Jue and Xiao Qian were also pulled by Lu Guizhen and other Cambridge students to chat. In the evening, Joseph Needham invited everyone to dinner, and in the evening he took Zhou Hexuan and others to the library.

In the next few days, except for the honorary degree conferment ceremony and the Cambridge lecture, Zhou Hexuan stayed in the major libraries in Cambridge.

Especially in the East Asian reading room of the library, Zhou Hexuan obtained permission from the school to take and copy all the ancient unique books of those Chinese classics. This is a very big gain, even if it is a photocopy, it is enough for collection.