Chapter 353: Understand the secret of the universe! Wen Ke is a warning to the world! The novel was released and shocked the whole world!
As the war in Europe intensified, its impact finally spread to Asia.
China was also affected by the war, and relations between countries became more tense.
A chaotic and cruel world has finally slowly begun.
War is cruel, especially to ordinary people.
Their wealth and safety are not guaranteed.
Live in fear every day.
Moreover, Romain Rolland’s experience has made many people understand that anti-war is not so easy to call for.
Germany has even begun arresting anti-war groups.
Of course, this kind of arrest is not to arrest people who publish articles like Romain Rolland, but to arrest those who secretly plan activities.
The anti-war group to which Einstein belonged was forced to go underground and lost several members, many of whom were scientists.
Germany has no worries about its own scientists.
Although it is impossible to kill them, they can be imprisoned until the end of the war to shut up these smart people.
When Li Qiwei saw Einstein's letter to him, he was also worried about him.
“God of Love, if you don’t have someone close to you in this life, you should be a little more insignificant.”
"If you are caught for engaging in activities, even I can't save you."
In his letter, Einstein also asked when Li Qiwei's novel would be published.
Everyone in the public opinion circle is in danger now, and fewer and fewer people dare to speak.
We need bosses like Li Qiwei to speak out.
And the most important thing is that Einstein believed that Li Qiwei was Chinese, so he could stand on a neutral standpoint and evaluate objectively.
After all, if a European opposes the war, he will inevitably be criticized by his own people.
——
January 10, 1915.
Macmillan Building, London, UK.
The headquarters of the journal "Nature" is located here.
It is also the headquarters of its parent company, Macmillan Publishing Company.
The Macmillan Publishing Company, founded in 1843, is now one of the largest and most well-known international publishing organizations in the world.
The business scope covers many countries around the world and has local branches.
The various high-quality books and journals it publishes have won the love and support of readers from all over the world and from all walks of life.
And because of the great success of "Nature", Macmillan Publishing Company has reached a higher level and become the most authoritative publishing house in the scientific world.
In addition to scientific journals, the publications published by the company also include encyclopedias, dictionaries, novels, poetry, music, education and other content.
The famous "Alice in Wonderland" was published by this company.
It can be said that as long as it is in the field of text, Macmillan Publishing Company is involved, and it is an absolute giant company in the cultural field.
In later generations, paper publishing houses were wiped out by the Internet and seemed to have no sense of existence.
But in today's era, publishing houses are definitely at the top of the food chain.
Because they have the right to speak!
At this moment, on the highest floor of the company building, in the president's office.
Alexander, the president of Macmillan Publishing Company, is holding a book without a cover in his hand.
Sitting opposite him was Gregory, the editor-in-chief of Nature.
The other person's face was still flushed, and he was obviously very excited.
Alexander weighed the book in his hand. Based on its weight, he estimated that the book had about 500,000 words.
He asked a little uncertainly:
"Dr. Gregory, are you sure this is the work of your mentor, Professor Bruce?"
You are only 40 years old this year. Alexander, who took over the company from his father a few years ago, is the time to make great strides.
He is determined to reform and enterprising, and wants to make the company create greater glory.
Therefore, he highly valued young and promising talents like Gregory and gave him strong support.
During the reform period of "Nature", it experienced a stage of declining profits.
It was Alexander who spoke for Gregory on the board of directors and supported his reform plan.
Facts proved that his vision was right, and Gregory's reform was a great success.
So, Alexander liked Gregory more.
But "Nature" is a professional academic journal after all. No matter how profitable it is, its total revenue cannot be compared with popular books.
Therefore, Alexander needs to expand into more fields, especially popular literature, such as novels.
A popular novel can even bring a publishing house on the verge of bankruptcy back to life and become a well-known company.
And now, he has such a novel in his hand, of course this is what Gregory said.
Alexander himself was still a little unconvinced and muttered in his heart:
"When people write novels, they first serialize them to see if readers like them, and then adjust the plot according to readers' tastes."
"When the serialization is completed, they will be printed and published for centralized sale."
"Bruce It would be better for the professor to finish the book first and then publish it directly. "
"How confident is he in his content?"
"Novel is not an academic paper, it can easily be hundreds of thousands of words. , how can it be without flaws?”
He was just thinking this in his heart, and of course he wouldn't say it out loud.
Gregory was immersed in excitement and did not hear the doubts in Alexander's words. He said excitedly:
"Yes, Professor Bruce has written nearly 5 chapters for this work. "
"This is an anti-war science fiction novel."
"I swear to God, this is definitely the best science fiction I have ever read in my life. Novel.”
"I can't even find the right words to describe its stunningness."
"There is no doubt that this is a work that transcends its time."
"Mr. Alexander, please Be sure to read it to the end."
"Professor Bruce commissioned me to have his work published by Macmillan."
"I think this is a huge deal for the company. Opportunity.”
Alexander couldn't help but feel a little moved in his heart when he saw Gregory bragging so well.
He knew Gregory very well. He was the doctor of the famous Professor Bruce, and his vision was not comparable to that of ordinary people.
But Alexander was still a little unbelievable.
“Professor Bruce can actually write novels?”
“God, isn’t this nonsense?”
And Alexander didn't understand why Ridgway wanted to publish it with him.
Given the other party’s wealth and status, it shouldn’t be difficult to establish a publishing company.
After all, in terms of strength, Bruce Group is much stronger than its own publishing company.
Alexander felt that Professor Bruce might be doing it for the students.
It is said that Bruce loves his students like his own children, and he truly deserves his reputation.
However, novels are not directly related to the level of scientific intelligence.
Alexander must be cautious, so he said:
"Don't worry, Dr. Gregory, I will finish reading this novel in the next few days."
"If If the quality is really as you said, then the company will definitely publish it."
Gregory was overjoyed, and he couldn't help but want to see everyone's shock.
Five days later, Alexander, with dark circles under his eyes, immediately held a core staff meeting.
At the meeting, he raised "Bug" with his right hand and said impassionedly:
"Everyone, the moment to change the destiny of the company is coming!"
"I The novel in my hand is the debut work of Professor Bruce, the first person in the scientific community today."
"This is a science fiction novel about anti-war themes."
"You must not think of it as a novel like "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"."
"I can guarantee that if you take the novel home today, you will have to take leave tomorrow."
There was a burst of laughter from the employees below.
Alexander continued to beat excitedly:
“This novel will definitely take the whole world by storm.”
"It will even create a literary genre and era."
"No words can describe the shock that this novel brings to me."
"And now, Macmillan is publishing The company has temporarily obtained its publishing rights."
"Although I don't like dictatorship, today, for Professor Bruce's "Bugs", I have to be a dictator."
" Starting today, everyone puts down their tasks and fully joins in the publication of "Bugs"
"We must seize this God-given opportunity and make this novel sell well all over the world!"
Alexander roared loudly.
“Roar!”
The employees in the audience responded at the right time.
Bugs will be released soon! ——
On the morning of February 1, 1915.
Wells, 49 years old, had just asked the maid to make a cup of fragrant black tea.
He was sitting in the yard, getting ready to start reading for the day.
Although the war has broken out now, for upper-class writers like him, there is no need to go to the battlefield.
Wells, like other anti-war writers, was busy publishing articles, organizing activities, and calling for peace every day.
Today is a rare free day.
So, he needs to give time to literature.
For people like him, a life without books is simply unimaginable. It would be better to die.
In real history, Wells was a famous British science fiction novelist.
During World War I, he participated in social movements, became a politician and sociologist, and published many articles commenting on the current situation.
In later generations, he was known as the "Father of Science Fiction" together with the French Jules Verne.
Wells' representative works include "The Time Machine", "The Invisible Man", "Star Wars", etc.
His science fiction novels contain science fiction elements such as time travel, alien invasion, dystopia and other concepts.
It is different from Verne’s science fiction which is closer to reality.
Wells's works are more unconstrained and unconstrained. He does not stick to existing science and technology, but gives full play to his imagination. He can do whatever he wants to be awesome.
There are many seemingly impossible technologies in the novel.
Therefore, his novels are closer to the concept of "science fiction" than Verne's.
Of course, today’s science fiction novels are developing more slowly and belong to a niche category in literature.
We have to wait until a few decades later, when the Golden Age of American science fiction begins, and that will be the beginning of the take-off of science fiction.
The famous "Three Giants of Science Fiction" in the 20th century: Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke.
Each of their works has influenced several generations and has been adapted into countless classic movies, which are enduring.
Especially Asimov, the talented Russian-American novelist, is the pinnacle representative of the golden age.
His three major works, "Foundation Series", "Galaxy Empire Trilogy", and "Robot Series" are known as science fiction bibles.
The "Three Laws of Robotics" proposed by Asimov are even called "the cornerstone of modern robotics."
Of course, the three giants of science fiction in the future are either children now or have not been born yet, and their time has not yet come. In this day and age, Welles is the king of science fiction.
Verne had died in 1905, so Wells is now the most authoritative figure in the world of science fiction.
And he has a wide range of friends, and he is close friends with traditional literary figures such as Bernard Shaw.
Although limited by the times, science fiction today belongs to a niche field.
However, due to the particularity of its unrealistic subject matter, science fiction novels have a very large audience even if they are small.
After all, compared to obscure and profound masterpieces, easy-to-understand science fiction novels can arouse the interest of ordinary people more.
Readers read to find pleasure, not to really want to know how steel is made.
Now, Wells picked up a science fiction novel that was just delivered today.
For a big boss like him, Macmillan Company always sends special personnel to deliver the latest works.
He took a sip of black tea, put on his glasses, and started reading.
"Bugs?"
"The title of the book is quite interesting, which makes me want to read it."
"Ouch!"
"The author is Bruce Lee? ”
“Is it that man? ”
Wells quickly turned to the page about the author and found that it was actually the famous Professor Bruce Lee.
The first person in today's scientific community to propose the theory of relativity, a great being who rivals Newton.
Wells has recently been contemplating a novel based on the theory of relativity.
“Are you kidding!”
“Professor Bruce can actually write novels?”
"Although science fiction novels require certain scientific knowledge."
"But this does not mean that scientists can write good science fiction novels."
Wells was instantly interested. There was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.
He couldn't wait to see what the novel of this first man in science would be like.
It can't be a plaything of the boss's whim.
But soon, Wells stopped laughing.
“Three-star civilization.”
“Atoms spread out two-dimensionally to cover the earth, locking basic science.”
“Physics no longer exists!”
< br>“Water droplets!”
"The Savior Plan!"
"The Law of the Cold Forest!"
"Dancer Civilization!"
"Two-way Law Weapon!"
" Dimensionality reduction attack! ”
"The universe restarts!"
"."
Unconsciously, the sky has already darkened.
A whole day passed.
It wasn’t until the maid cautiously reminded her again that Wells came back to his senses from the novel.
The black tea next to it has not been touched at all, and has long since lost its heat.
Wells's face was still filled with endless shock.
There seemed to be thunder exploding in his mind, and huge waves in his heart.
He was so excited that he had long forgotten his hunger.
Without food, the human body will be hungry; but without books, the human soul will be hungry.
Now Wells' soul has already been filled up, so he completely forgot about his body's reaction.
“Hiss!”
“God, I’m not dreaming.”
“Is this really a science fiction novel that can be written by humans?”
"Compared with it, the interstellar war I was proud to write before is as childish as a child playing house."
Wells's interstellar war is still at the stage where Earthlings and Martians rely on guns and cannons to bombard each other.
Even in the end, the Martians landed on the earth, and when they were about to win, they died because they were infected with bacteria on the earth.
This is indeed science fiction.
Of course, his idea is still countless times more advanced than the lightsaber battles and spear-tied chips of later generations.
“It’s terrible, it’s terrible, science fiction can still be written like this.”
"This novel completely surpassed the times, even surpassing a hundred years."
"Is this the strength of Professor Bruce? It is so terrifying!"
"I thought he was just He is talented in physics, but I didn’t expect that his talent in literature is no worse than that in physics.”
“Both arts and sciences can explain the secrets of the universe, and literature can warn people’s minds.”
Who is Wells? After all, he is the man who will be called the father of science fiction in the future. His vision is so vicious and his literary literacy is so profound.
He saw at a glance the deep thought the novel wanted to express.
That’s anti-war!
Especially the finale, the regular weapons of dancer civilization, is simply shocking to the core.
The image of a super civilization that is cosmic, vast, dark, cold, and profound is deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Everyone can feel the irresistible greatness
In the face of this kind of civilization, human beings are indeed regarded as insects, the kind of insects that have no power to resist, and are not even qualified to surrender and become slaves.
Wells's heart was still pounding.
No one can understand what he is feeling at this moment.
As a science fiction novelist, he deeply knows what this novel means.
"It will begin a new era of science fiction."
"Science fiction should be cold and serious!"
"Just like the vast universe."
At this moment, Wells was completely impressed by Ridgway.
Although he did not attend the Second Blues Conference, he was also aware of Ridgway's influence.
However, science and literature are two hugely different fields after all.
Even though Li Qiwei came up with a few good sentences, in the eyes of real literary masters, he was still at the level of an amateur.
Because of the blessing of his status, the bosses believed that if Li Qiwei really abandoned his theory and turned to literature, he would definitely be able to write good works.
But that is an assumption after all, not reality.
But now, no one dares to say that Li Qiwei is a literary lover.
A "Bug" is enough to make him one of the top science fiction writers.
At least Welles believed that all his works taken together were not as good as "Bugs".
Even adding Verne may not necessarily surpass it.
Of course, Verne is the originator, and his groundbreaking historical significance is not comparable to that of Li Qiwei.
Probably equivalent to the relationship between Galileo and Newton.
Although the literati look down upon each other, when the gap reaches a certain level, it would be sophistry and self-destruction to lose face.
Wells said to himself excitedly.
“No, I read too fast today, and there are many details that I haven’t figured out yet.”
“I have to read it at least three more times.”
“ Moreover, the anti-war angle of this novel is extremely unique and is very suitable for publicity.”
“I have to discuss with Bernard Shaw and others to vigorously promote “Bugs””
——
Early the next morning, Wells ate breakfast quickly and hurriedly left home without even letting the maid take care of his clothes.
A remote street in London, this is the venue for the activities of the "Fabian Society".
The society was founded by the British writer Bernard Shaw. Its main purpose is to pay attention to social construction and advocate social services of mutual help and love.
Now that Europe is covered by war, the main task of the association has naturally become to call for peace, advocate anti-war, and promote humanistic care.
The members of the society are mainly figures in the field of British culture and history, including well-known novelists, poets, university professors, etc.
Today is the club’s meeting day, and most of the members are here.
Originally, today’s topic was to discuss how to treat civilians well in war.
However, President George Bernard Shaw suddenly changed the topic temporarily and asked Wells to give a speech.
This made many members confused and confused.
Wells walked forward excitedly and said:
"Everyone, since the war broke out in Europe, people from all walks of life have publicly spoken out and called for a peaceful resolution of the matter."
"But things have gone counterproductive. , and now the war is getting more intense.”
“There are certainly many reasons for this”
“But I think the lack of propaganda in anti-war articles is a very important one.”
"Most people's articles are too obscure and deviate from the level of understanding of ordinary people."
"Even Professor Bruce, the first person in the scientific community, wrote "A Book for Scientists Around the World", which is widely read by ordinary people. Not a lot.”
Everyone nodded.
In the final analysis, the anti-war movement relies on the joint efforts of the general public to have influence.
“But now, things are finally coming to light, and there is a new possibility.”
"Professor Bruce just published a novel called "Insects"."
"I brought a dozen copies today, and everyone can pass them around."
"I pray to God I swear, you will be shocked by the content.”
Many literary figures present looked at each other, and they were infected by Wells’ passionate speech.
Although I am still confused.
"When did the famous Professor Bruce start writing novels?"
"And it deserves Wells's praise."
But he also opened the novel in his hand and started reading.
The noisy room soon became quiet.
Immediately, countless gasps of air erupted.
At the same time, the Chinese and English versions of "Bugs" have finally been published globally.
So.
Boom!
The whole world is shocked!
(End of this chapter)