Chapter 64 Treaty of Eden

As for the first item, Hartley had actually started to do it a long time ago. Now that he had received the order from London, it was nothing more than sending more people to find out the political inclinations of the French crown prince.

Hartley inferred from the fact that the French crown prince opposed the development of the navy that he was at least not anti-British, so the matter of establishing a relationship with him could be arranged as soon as possible.

It is said that the French crown prince is also a very capable mathematician. Hartley made a decision quickly and sent a scholar to contact him.

As for the second item, he was a bit troubled.

After Prussia withdrew its troops from the Netherlands, it had very few intersections with France.

He thought for a long time but could not find a handle that could be used. At most, it was just to spread rumors and smear. It seems that he can only wait for a better opportunity to appear for the time being.

Hartley put away the secret letter, immediately called his men to a meeting, and instructed them on all the matters in the letter.

...

Early in the morning, Joseph welcomed a distinguished guest.

His one-day teacher - Mr. Lagrange, the prince of mathematics.

In fact, Lagrange would come to the Palace of Versailles to give lectures every two days. But Joseph has been busy lately, and the two have never met.

After exchanging greetings, the old mathematician pushed an exquisite invitation to Joseph and persuaded him earnestly for a long time. The core meaning was to ask him to attend an academic conference two days later.

In fact, Joseph had received two invitations from the French Mathematical Society, but he really didn't have time to go, so he declined both times.

Half a month ago, Joseph's expanded Rolle's theorem was compiled and published in a journal by Lagrange. Now he is already well-known in the French mathematics community.

At the same time, the Mathematical Society also wanted to use the crown prince to expand its influence, so it brought out a heavyweight master like Lagrange to invite him.

Since it was the teacher who came in person, Joseph couldn't refuse it anymore, so he promised to be there at that time.

The next day, in the luxurious villa of the noble widow Mrs. Josna in the Saint-Germain district of Paris, dozens of scholars in mathematics and physics stood up and saluted His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

In this era, the boundary between physics and mathematics is not so clear. Physicists often get involved with mathematicians.

An official from the Mathematical Society gave a warm speech and solemnly introduced the Crown Prince, and then announced the official start of the meeting.

People came to the stage to give speeches one after another, most of which were cutting-edge mathematical topics of this era, and the atmosphere was quite serious.

More than an hour later, the meeting entered the free discussion session, and the servants began to bring out various delicacies, and the room was suddenly filled with the aroma of drinks and snacks.

Everyone laughed and talked. The meeting site suddenly turned into a mathematical salon.

Joseph wanted to leave, but he saw his host, Mrs. Josna, diligently brought him a glass of high-quality black tea, and then enthusiastically pushed him to the center. Obviously, the Crown Prince's presence made her very proud.

Joseph sat down next to Lagrange helplessly, smelling the fragrance of hot tea, and listening to a white-haired old man on the left describe a method of deriving discrete probability distribution in probability theory that he envisioned.

When the old man finished speaking, he immediately attracted a lot of discussion. Joseph could vaguely hear that what the old scholar said was a bit like Poisson distribution, but it was still a long way from being a finished product. Hmm... I wonder if Poisson is born now.

Then, Lagrange stood up with the manuscript and began to explain some of his inferences and ideas between the connection function and the function derivative. After discussing Rolle's theorem with Joseph in depth last time, he has been studying this aspect and has made a significant breakthrough recently.

Everyone also gave him very high praise and discussed it enthusiastically for a while.

Then, several scholars spoke. Although they were not as profound as the first two masters, most of them had clever ideas and novel angles, and had considerable academic value.

At this time, a young scholar in a dark gray short coat coughed lightly, attracted everyone's attention, and began to talk about the negative impact of Protestantism on science.

Joseph was quite surprised and asked Lagrange in a low voice, and then confirmed that he was not a clergyman, but an assistant professor of physics at the University of Paris.

After the young professor finished speaking, he unexpectedly won a round of applause. Except for a few people like Lagrange, everyone else praised loudly or agreed.

Since then, the rhythm of the discussion has begun to go a little awry.

A short and fat middle-aged man spoke angrily about the crazy theft of French science and technology by British industrial spies. He said that this behavior would cause France to suffer tens of millions of livres in losses every year.

Joseph frowned slightly. There was no patent law in this era. It was normal for Britain and France to steal each other's technological achievements, but it was a little different from what the fat gentleman said, that is, France stole more British technology. However, it seemed inappropriate to talk about this at an academic conference.

But others obviously didn't think so. They immediately started to criticize the British, and all kinds of sarcasm and abuse were heard.

The brown-haired young man sitting behind Joseph on the right loudly recounted France's leading history in academia, denounced the British for plagiarizing France's achievements one by one, and finally gritted his teeth to express his contempt for the British academic community.

Someone shouted excitedly:

"So the British will never surpass France in the world of science!"

"That's right, look at their stupid papers, saying that light is a wave, haha!"

"They always come up with such ridiculous things, and they always like to be complacent."

"Only France can lead the advancement of science. This is the will of the Lord!"

Nowadays, the French academic community is still very proud. Coupled with the feud between Britain and France, criticizing Britain has become a kind of political correctness.

"Has there ever been any great scholar in Britain? No!" The brown-haired young man waved his hands and shouted excitedly.

Then, he looked at Joseph, as if seeking support, and leaned forward: "Your Highness, do you think so?"

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head slightly, and whispered: "They have Newton."

There was silence all around, and dozens of pairs of eyes looked at Joseph at the same time, as if they did not expect that the crown prince would actually speak for the British.

Joseph thought for a while and simply stood up. The atmosphere and arguments just now really made him unhappy: "Actually, Britain also has a lot to offer in terms of science.

"Except Newton, I think everyone is familiar with Mr. Taylor, and his Taylor series is often used when calculating motion trajectories.

“And MacLaughlin’s Structural Geometry.

"In fact, more often than not, craftsman Mr. Watt's steam engine may have an even more amazing impact. In the field of textiles, the entire France has already felt that threat.

"Speaking of textiles, an Englishman invented an automatic loom not long ago..."

A middle-aged man with bright eyes and a big nose whispered: "It's Cartwright."

"Oh, yes, Cartwright." Joseph nodded, "If this loom is combined with a steam engine, it will crush the textile industry around the world.

"France does have many very outstanding scholars and has achieved amazing academic achievements, but we must also see that in many aspects, the British have actually gone ahead..."

The reason why he said this is to remind the French scholars sitting here that the battle for the Industrial Revolution is right in front of us, and the next technological explosion is also coming.

Steam engines and textile technology are areas that must be focused on and are the core pillars that will shape the Industrial Revolution.

And being unable to extricate yourself from France's previous academic glory, or being jealous of the British's progress, will only completely lose the industrial revolution.

After he finished speaking, the scene suddenly cooled down. For a while, no one stood up to speak. They all seemed to be caught in the conflict between self-confidence and reality.

The middle-aged man with a big nose came to Joseph's side and whispered: "Your Highness, what you said is so good! I didn't expect you to know Britain so well."

Joseph smiled and nodded at him.

The middle-aged man continued: "A few years ago, I conducted an in-depth inspection of the British industry and technology for the purpose of the British-French trade negotiations. As you said, the British have gained a lead over France in many technologies. It is a pity that people like you are like this There are too few knowledgeable people, and most of them are still immersed in pride..."

"Trade negotiations?" Joseph looked at the middle-aged man, "Who are you?"

"Oh, look, I was so excited that I forgot my basic courtesy. I'm so sorry. My name is Dupont, Pierre Dupont."

This name is too familiar. Joseph immediately asked: "Have you participated in the U.S. independence negotiations and also run a company in the chemical industry?"

"Oh, yes, Your Highness." Dupont said in surprise, "Do you know me?"

Joseph nodded secretly. It turned out to be the famous industrialist DuPont. He didn't expect to meet him here.

"I've heard of you."

As a result, the two started chatting about the industrial technology situation in the UK, and the topic quickly turned to the UK-France trade negotiations.

"Your Highness, since the death of Count Vergennes, our negotiations with the British have stalled... and the single tax plan has not been implemented." Dupont said worriedly, "You know, the negotiations have not yet been completed. The signed " The Treaty of Eden was very detrimental to France."

The "Treaty of Eden" he was talking about was the Anglo-French trade treaty just signed last year. The two sides have imposed a series of restrictions on tariffs - France has comprehensively reduced tariffs on British industrial products, while the UK has reduced tariffs on French wine and some agricultural products. tariff.

As a result, French industry lost its tariff protection and was defeated by the British who had technological advantages. The increased sales of wine and agricultural products in France are far from making up for the huge losses in industry.

Joseph nodded: "This treaty was signed inappropriately and had a disastrous impact on French industry."