Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 657: Lisbon's Spy
August 6, 1637, 8pm, Ajuda Palace, Lisbon. A party is taking place.
The temperature was very pleasant on a midsummer night in Europe. In this former Portuguese royal residence, the ladies dressed in very cool clothes walked around the exquisite and elegant palace, leaving all kinds of fragrant perfumes along the way. Their chests were so charming, and their graceful waists set off by the puffy skirts were full of extreme temptation... This made the men in this palace have to pretend to be elegant and try their best to suppress the crazy secretion of their hormones... The whole palace was full of ambiguous atmosphere.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let us warmly welcome Professor Johannes Kepler, member of the Academy of Sciences of Asturias, legislator of the sky, discoverer of gravity, inventor of the electric light!"
Amidst warm applause, a tall, thin man with a graying beard, about sixty years old, walked onto the podium.
"Thank you, thank you Duke Pinto for your kind invitation, and thank you all for coming to this dinner."
"Everyone, Professor Kepler is Professor Galileo's right-hand man and a shining star in the sky of the Kingdom's scientific community. Just seven days ago, in the battle report just sent from America, our Prince of Asturias easily sank two Chinese ironclad ships in the Battle of Quito, completely regaining control of the sea on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean in America. And this great battleship was assembled by Professor Kepler. I propose that we first toast to the great Majesty Philip, and then to Professor Kepler!"
"To His Majesty the Great Philip, and to Professor Kepler!"
"Thank you, everyone. I propose that the third glass of wine be toasted to our fearless sailors."
"Cheers to the Navy!"
After the opening remarks, Duke Pinto waved his hand gently and his own band began to play.
Zhu Youdong and Yi Praxin were not here, otherwise if they heard the music played by the band, they would definitely yell in unison, destroying the atmosphere : Bah! Shameless!
Because at this moment, the song played by the band is the famous "One Step Away" in later generations: it is a classic among classics in tango music, and it is a super famous song that has been quoted in countless movies and TV dramas, thus becoming popular all over the world.
It seems that Philip's work as a plagiarist is going well.
After awkwardly and politely dancing the first dance with the Duchess to the song "Por Una Cabeza", Kepler left the center of the dance floor, sweating profusely, and found a seat to sit down.
He was a German. In terms of history, his most outstanding contribution was the development of Copernicus' heliocentric theory - except for the earth, all other planets also revolve around the sun. And through rigorous observation and careful calculation, he determined the three laws of planetary motion, thus gaining the reputation of "the lawgiver of the sky".
In addition to his great contributions to astronomy, he also made outstanding achievements in optics and mathematics. In physics, he had already touched the threshold of the law of universal gravitation. In addition, he also had the characteristics of a time traveler: in 1600 in the historical plane, he published the book "Sleepwalking". It describes the interactions between the earthlings and the moon people. In the book, jet propulsion, weightlessness, space suits, etc. are all described.
His life was generally filled with poverty and illness: his father died early, his mother was labeled a witch because of her bad mouth, and he spent all his savings to rescue his mother. Although he was a university professor, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire did not value his research and often delayed his salary. By the time of the Thirty Years' War, his salary was completely stopped.
His first wife was a widowed noblewoman, but the feeling of a Phoenix Man made him divorce her. Although he had a good relationship with his second wife, unfortunately, they were both very poor, so most of their dozen children died young.
In 1630, Kepler, who had not received his salary for several months, had to go to Regensburg, where the Imperial Conference was being held, to ask for it. After arriving there, he suddenly developed a fever and died quietly in poverty and illness a few days later. When he was buried, it was the turbulent era of the Thirty Years' War. Not long after, his tomb was destroyed and his body was gone...
Of course, in this plane, historians like Philip would not allow such a tragedy to happen. He was invited to Madrid by Philip very early, and material security was needless to say. Even in academia, after Philip's gentle guidance, he not only established the three laws of planetary motion, but also completely opened the door to the law of universal gravitation. At the same time, due to the improvement of life, he no longer had to waste time on other aspects and could do research wholeheartedly. More importantly, at this time, the most outstanding group of scientists in Europe were gathered by Philip, and this collision of ideas was extremely beneficial. As a result, he made new achievements in optics, electricity, and physics.
This time he came to Lisbon, but he was not going to do anything in Lisbon. Instead, he was going to sail to America : the first battle of the Prince of Asturias battleship was fruitful, but there were also many problems. As the person in charge of the final assembly, when the Prince could not return because of the blockade of the waters around Lima, he had to take a ship to America for a field investigation.
Philip attached great importance to his voyage and assigned two ironclad ships from the Mediterranean Squadron to escort him. Due to the distance, the former Portuguese region has been increasingly integrated with the Spanish mainland in recent years, and Lisbon has gradually become the first port of call for the Kingdom of Spain to the American continent. Therefore, Kepler came here.
For a scientist who is loyal to his wife and obsessed with research, such a cocktail party is simply torture for Kepler. However, facing the invitation of Duke Pinto, he still attended. Because many years ago, His Majesty Philip told this group of scientists: Appropriately satisfying the curiosity of these bored nobles will help the Academy of Sciences obtain more research funds. After all, the road of science is more expensive the further you go, and relying solely on royal financial support is not a long-term solution.
So, after completing the first dance as a task, he quickly found a corner and sat down, hoping that no one would see him.
Unfortunately, Lisbon was once the capital of Portugal, and there are quite a lot of noble ladies here. And noble ladies are probably the most boring people in the world.
Now, there is such a nerd sitting here, and the key point is that he is also a great scientist. If I don’t tease him and get some topics to talk about from his mouth, how can I show off in front of other ladies in the future?
So, a large group of beautiful women surrounded him in a corner of the ball, and the strong smell of perfume almost suffocated Kepler on the spot.
However, after talking to him for a while, the ladies were disappointed: he was not good-looking, old, and dull. Most importantly, after sitting closer, they found that this old man was actually disabled! The muscles in one of his hands were obviously atrophied, and his eyes were extremely nearsighted - there was a large piece of white fat in front of him, but he couldn't see it!
"Huh~" After nearly an hour of suffering, the ladies around him finally dispersed one after another. Kepler took a deep breath of the air that was finally not particularly sweet, and felt that he was finally alive again.
At this time, the Duke of Pinto's voice sounded again: "Ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome Ms. Gloria, who has become increasingly popular among men in Lisbon over the past year, to play the elegant Chinese zither from the East for us!"
"Zhengzhengzheng~!" As soon as Duke Pinto finished speaking, three rapid accents suddenly rang out, instantly focusing the attention of everyone present on one point.
Kepler, who had been breathing heavily just now, turned his eyes to the bandstand after hearing this unprecedented sound.
Well, in the blur, a white figure sat on the stage, her body swaying slightly, just like a willow branch blown by the breeze. Her delicate fingers danced on the strings quickly and rhythmically, which attracted people's eyes unconsciously... No, in fact, these are not the main points. The most important thing is that this instrument that has never been heard before is so beautiful! It is so elegant and beautiful when it is slow. It is so full of the sound of golden swords when it is passionate. Such an instrument is really perfect!
"Oh~" Kepler suddenly reacted with a cry of surprise. Unknowingly, he had walked onto the stage and walked to the side of the lady who was playing the instrument called zither.
"Hahaha, it seems that even our famous Professor Kepler can't resist Ms. Gloria's charm!"
"Uh, no, that's not it. I just..."
"Kengkeng~" After two quick final beats, Gloria ended her performance, stood up gracefully, lifted her skirt to thank everyone around her, and walked in front of the bewildered Kepler.
"Hello, Professor. I'm Gloria."
"Hello, ma'am. You play the zither so well."
Clumsily taking the other person's outstretched hand and kissing it gently, Kepler raised his head and finally saw the lady's face clearly from a close distance.
Oh my God, this is Venus reincarnated. How else to explain such a perfect face?
And the smell of her body. Well, although she also sprayed perfume, the smell of this perfume, just like the performance just now, is elegant and beautiful, highlighting a wild charm that attracts people.
"Professor, may I invite you to dance with me for the next dance?"
"Huh? Oh, of course. It's my pleasure."
