In the next few days, Lu Shi visited the British Museum library every day.
Kao Wen was a little afraid of him and stayed away.
Ozzy was unable to accompany him throughout the whole trip because he had something important to attend to.
Lu Shi was also happy to see this situation. He read various historical materials himself to improve the loose parts of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" and make the finished manuscript as blameless as possible.
However, the difficulty of writing a historical monograph was beyond Lu Shi's expectation.
He worked hard, but progress was still slow.
…
March 10th.
Gu Hongming is leaving London and heading to France.
Riku Toki and Natsume Soseki saw him off at the port.
The ship's whistle has not yet sounded, and the travelers are either saying goodbye or hugging each other.
The three of them had nothing to do, so they put Gu Hongming's huge suitcase on the ground as a low table and stood playing cards.
When they play cards, they have to bend down and throw them on the table, making a snapping sound.
Looking from a distance, it looks like a three-street street kid.
From time to time, there were British people around who came over to take a curious look. They found that they did not understand the rules of Landlords and could not understand the Chinese communication, so they walked away angrily. When leaving, they occasionally stopped and looked back to linger.
"To two."
Gu Hongming threw out two cards and then said: "It's a pity that I didn't see the final draft of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli"."
"I can't afford it."×2
Riku Toki and Natsume Soseki leaned over to join the cards.
The corners of Gu Hongming's lips curled up,
"I still have a bomb here~ It's boring, boring, it's all finished so quickly."
He throws away the cards.
The old gentleman is very lucky today and keeps winning.
Lu Shi said sarcastically: "It's uncomfortable. Mr. Gu is leaving London today, and his rare good luck will soon be useless~"
Gu Hongming glared at Lu Shi dissatisfiedly,
"Go! No more playing!"
Attitude is like that of an old kid.
Lu Shi laughed.
Gu Hongming took out his tobacco bag, knocked on the pot, then lit it with a match himself, and said: "If you lose your mind by playing with things, let's not talk about fighting landlords."
When he looked at the landing,
"Lu Shi, when will your "Fifteen Years of Wanli" be completed? Although there is no shortage of history textbooks in the university hall, they are all serious history books. There is no monograph with explanations and analysis like yours. We are waiting for you. I must be really anxious.”
Lu Shi waved his hand,
Frankly speaking, even if "The Fifteen Years of Wanli" is completed, this book still has a long way to go before it can be used as a teaching material.
“Learning is subtle,” he said.
Gu Hongming asked: "How do you say this?"
Lu Shi rummaged through the put away playing cards and replied: "The manufacturing of playing cards has always been developed along each manufacturer's own route, until the French government promulgated an officially approved design, and paid a special price for each head card. name."
He drew the King of Diamonds,
"This painting is of Julius Caesar, the most famous dictator in human history, and he deserves to be on the playing cards."
Gu Hongming couldn't help but think deeply,
"..."
Lu Shi said: "Mr. Gu, don't believe it? Then you should go to the museum and see the ancient Roman coins. The profile of Caesar is engraved on it, which looks very similar to the figure on the K of Diamonds."
Gu Hongming shook his head,
"No, it's not that I don't believe it, it's just that I've never thought about it. So according to what you said, the opera singers, the paper-cutters, the candy-blowers, the clay figurines...these people are also educating the common people about history?"
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the roaring whistle in the distance.
555——
Much louder than a train.
At the same time, the sailors lowered the chain blocking the gangway.
Travelers rushed to board the ship.
Lu Shi said to Gu Hongming: "Mr. Gu, let's talk next time."
Gu Hongming nodded, picked up his suitcase and walked to the boarding gate.
But he stopped halfway as if he remembered something, ran back with small steps, and said to Lu Shi: "Don't change the overall framework of your book, just write it like that."
Lu Shi didn't understand.
"What?"
Gu Hongming smacked his lips,
"I mean, just write clearly about the failure of the Wanli Dynasty."
The original author Huang Renyu wrote in the preface of the book: "What is described in the book can be called a general record of a great failure."
Emperor Wanli, Shen Shixing, Zhang Juzheng, Liao Hairui, Li Zhi, and Qi Jiguang, six failed people, constitute the history of failure.
So the core idea of the entire book is "How 'I' failed."
Lu Shi said: "I understand. You are worried that the Qing court will be too sensitive to Ming history."
Gu Hongming smiled and said,
"This is certainly one of the reasons. But the most important thing is that someone still needs to summarize the failure."
At this time, China experienced many tragic defeats, especially its loss to Japan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1896, which cast a gloomy atmosphere over the entire intellectual community.
People don't like predictions of success, but they like summarizing failures, and finally come to the conclusion that "failure is bound to happen".
This can be regarded as ancient defeatism.
Lu Shi was helpless,
"Reflection, right? I understand."
Of course Gu Hongming heard the sarcasm in Lu Shi's tone, but he did not feel dissatisfied. Instead, he laughed and said: "After reading your speech at Cambridge, I know that you despise those who depreciate themselves the most. But you have to You know, that’s the way it is.”
Lu Shi gave a shallow "hmm",
"Don't worry, I won't change the structure of the book."
Gu Hongming was relieved, turned around, carried the box and boarded the gangway.
Watching his back, Natsume Soseki asked: "Lu, are you still going to the British Museum today?"
Lu Shi said: "No, let's take a rest and go home and write "The Lord of the Rings"."
Natsume Soseki curled his lips.
"You call this rest?"
The two of them were arguing while waiting for the ship to leave the port, and then took the car back to Braiya Road.
As a result, as soon as they jumped off the carriage, they saw Bernard Shaw.
George Bernard Shaw was waiting at the door, seemingly unfazed, smoking his pipe and flipping through the Daily Telegraph, muttering something from time to time.
Lu Shi was surprised,
"Mr. Superintendent?"
Bernard Shaw said: "Lu, you are finally back."
He put away his pipe and lowered his voice,
"I met Professor James from King's College, Cambridge University today. He told me that he had told you about the Nobel Prize in Literature before, but you refused."
I didn’t expect it to be about the Nobel Prize again.
Lu Shi nodded,
"Yeah, I just feel... um... you said you met Professor James? Is it about the Nobel Prize?"
Bernard Shaw grinned,
"Did you guess it?"
Lu Shi complained: "Looking at the proud look on your face, I'm afraid you were nominated in the preliminary list, right?"
According to history, Bernard Shaw is indeed the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature,
The reason for the award is: "Because of his idealistic and humane works - their exciting satire, often containing a high degree of poetic beauty."
Because of the rapid spread of drama, he has been nominated many times.
But the final award came in 1925.
George Bernard Shaw smiled even more happily,
"Lu, it seems that you also recognize my level, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to directly guess what was going on."
Lu Shi looked at someone in vain,
"Haha, hahaha."
An awkward laugh.
But George Bernard Shaw wasn't that excited either.
Because the Nobel Prize at this moment is only the first one, although there is a lot of movement, it is not authoritative yet.
George Bernard Shaw said: "Lu, you seem to have been nominated too."
Lu Shi was a little confused.
"I only rose to prominence last winter, why should I be nominated? Moreover, what do you mean by 'seems to be' just now?"
George Bernard Shaw replied: "This kind of thing can be discussed~"
Lu Shi was speechless.
In later generations, as soon as Sweden announces the primary list, media from all over the world will follow suit. Especially when there are Chinese people on the list, the entire Simplified Chinese Internet will go crazy about it.
But now, the list of Nobel Prizes is actually a black box, which can even be added, deleted, modified, and checked. It is very outrageous.
George Bernard Shaw smiled and said: "Your reputation is growing, how could there be no place for you~"
Lu Shi realized that he had read it correctly.
For the current Nobel Prize, one word stands out——
rub!
Stick to whoever has traffic.
Lu Shi said: "Forget it, Mr. School Superintendent, please help me...uh..."
He originally asked Bernard Shaw to help him carry the message, saying that he was not going to participate in the selection for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But halfway through the sentence, he realized that he didn't even know who to deliver the message to.
Swedish Academy?
James of Cambridge?
Nobel Committee?
…
Lu Shi scratched his head.
George Bernard Shaw said: "How about you come with me to University College London? There is a temporary jury there, and I am also one of them."
Lu Shi was even more confused.
"Didn't you just say you were nominated?"
Bernard Shaw nodded repeatedly,
"right."
Lu Shi added, "Then you said you are on the jury?"
Bernard Shaw continued to nod: "Yes. Any questions?"
"hiss……"
Lu Shileng took a breath.
George Bernard Shaw asked: "What's the matter?"
Lu Shi said, "It's nothing, I just have a little toothache."
Bernard Shaw had already reacted at this time, patted Lu Shi on the shoulder and said, "You think it's inappropriate for me to judge myself, right? That's all, just follow me. You will know after looking at the list."
Lu Shi was helpless and nodded to Natsume Soseki on the side.
Natsume Soseki then said: "Then I'll go back first and take a walk."
After saying that, he opened the door and entered the house.
On the other side, Lu Shi and Bernard Xiao got into the carriage.
University College London is not far to the northwest of the British Museum. Lu Shi passed by it often during this period, so he was very familiar with the road.
It didn't take long before the destination was reached.
The two jumped out of the carriage.
By March, the weather in London had become warmer, but there would be light rain from time to time, leaving a vague sense of humidity in the air.
But there are benefits to light rain, at least it can disperse the fog.
Shaw took the landing into the teaching building.
Soon, they came to a huge room similar to a conference room.
There was a long oval table in the room that could seat thirty people. The table was covered with scattered manuscripts. Lu Shi only glanced at them and found that they were written in Danish, Swedish, German, French, English, and some. A language unfamiliar even to him.
On both sides of the long table, a dozen professors were sitting there, lazily reviewing manuscripts.
Some of them even put their feet on the edge of the table.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the person closest to the door didn't even raise his head and said, "Mr. Xiao is back? Close the door tightly."
Lu Shi closed the door tightly with his backhand.
Click——
A soft sound.
The man still didn't look up and said, "Thank you."
He was not the only one who was immersed in work. Everyone was reading the manuscript, with some despair in their expressions.
Someone complained: "I shouldn't have taken this job if I had known better. Fxxk!"
It looked like he was going crazy.
Bernard Shaw ignored him, rummaged through the pile of papers on the table for a while, and finally took out a thick book, handed it to Lu Shi, and whispered: "Let's take a look."
Lu Shi originally didn't want to be a judge or translator.
But since Bernard Shaw asked me to help, I would still help if I could.
Moreover, many of the professors who were watching the scene were older, so don’t overwork yourself by reading the manuscript.
Lu Shi weighed the manuscript in his hand.
"whose book is this?"
The corners of George Bernard Shaw's mouth twitched slightly, as if he was holding back a smile.
He said: "You will know after you open it and take a look."
Lu Shi noticed that there wasn't even a title on the cover of the book. He couldn't help but feel curious and muttered: "It's so mysterious? Mr. Superintendent, isn't it your new script?"
As he spoke, he opened the manuscript,
As a result, Lu Shi froze in the next second and opened his mouth wide, as if he could stuff a whole durian into it.
He talks incoherently,
"This... this special meow... this special meow is actually a list?!"
The words were almost shouted.
In an instant, the eyes of everyone in the room were attracted.
A short-sighted old professor took off his glasses and squinted at the landing.
"Chinese? So young..."
Another professor reacted and said loudly: "Lu! Professor Lu from London Economics and Political Science! I didn't expect that Mr. Xiao actually invited you here."
The crowd surged forward and surrounded Lu Shi.
Lu Shi was a little confused.
When he came to his senses, he suddenly found that he was shaking hands with the professors one by one.
Such high-level treatment is confusing.
However, Bernard Shaw had expected this and said: "Lu, you gave that speech in Cambridge, but later did not accept the public invitation from Oxford and Cambridge. You are already synonymous with loyalty in the London University Alliance."
Rejecting the two schools of Niu and Jian is really awesome!
Lu Shi had no choice but to socialize with these professors for a while before turning everyone's attention back to the list.
"Gentlemen, is this list the shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature?"
Everyone nodded loudly,
"That's right."
"Tsk..."
Lu Shi was speechless and looked through the list at the same time.
This list has twenty people per page, over twenty-five pages,
So, at least five hundred people.
The first quarter of the list is typed, and the last three-quarters is handwritten in ink.
Lu Shi suddenly discovered that his name was written by hand.
Next to the name is a long list of works:
"Roger's Mystery",
"yes! prime minister",
"Roman Holiday",
"answer",
…
, drama, poetry, everything is available.
Miraculously, there are even monographs like "Guns, Germs, and Steel", which have almost nothing to do with literature.
In addition to Lu Shi, there is also Professor James, an acquaintance from Cambridge, who also has a handwritten name.
Lu Shi asked in confusion: "Why are some of these names typed on a typewriter, and some..."
Halfway through the words, the door was suddenly pushed open.
A clerk stood outside the door, leaned half in and said, "Gentlemen, there is another telegram from Sweden."
George Bernard Shaw immediately reached out and took it.
At the same time, someone handed a pen to Lu Shi and said, "Professor Lu, take note."
Lu Shi took the pen in a daze,
"Remember what?"
The man pointed to the list and nodded in Shaw's direction.
Just listen to Bernard Shaw read: "The new addition is Mr. Theodor Monson, whose representative works are "History of Rome", "Roman Chronicles", "History of Roman Coinage", and "Encyclopedia of Latin Inscriptions". In brackets, "Encyclopedia of Latin Inscriptions" is Edited by Mr. Monson, it not only has important historical value, but also has high artistic value..."
Lu Shi wrote furiously with his hand,
At the same time, ten thousand horses of grass and mud were galloping past in my heart,
I didn’t expect that the first Nobel Prize for Literature would be so informal, and nominations could be added at any time.
(End of chapter)
