Chapter 31: I am Chinese, not a Qing person!

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  "Jason, delighted that you could accept my interview. I heard that you just received an invitation from the French Academy of Sciences, they want to make you a member of the academy, right?" Engels asked with a smile.

  "It's just a candidate for academician, and there are 11 other candidates, it's hard to say whether I can be elected or not." Zhu Jisheng replied humbly.

  "Jason, you're sure to be elected an Academician." Mrs. Dulan interrupted, bringing in two cups of coffee and placing them on a small round table in front of Engels and Zhuzi, then pulled up a chair and sat down behind Zhuzi.

  "My view is the same as Madame Dühring's, you will certainly be elected because those Frenchmen won't let slip any opportunity to show themselves more clever than the English." said Engels half-jokingly.

  However, this statement is not entirely accurate. If it weren't for the trial on January 20th and the conflict between Zhu Jieshi and the British Royal Medical Society, the French might not have invited Zhu Jieshi to become a member of the Academy of Sciences so quickly. The problem is that over the past few hundred years, the UK and France have accumulated too much resentment towards each other, forming a habitual way of thinking where whatever the UK opposes, France will inevitably support.

  Now that the French want to use the "stupidity" of the British to highlight their own intelligence, they will not let Zhu Jishi lose. Moreover, Zhu Jishi's "achievements" in science have long been qualified to be honored as a member of the Academy of Sciences.

  Moreover, he himself was very willing to become a member of the Academy of Sciences. To make an improper analogy, at present in Europe, the status of science is equivalent to that of Confucianism in China. Becoming a member of the French Academy of Sciences is like becoming a great Confucian scholar recognized throughout China, and the status is even higher. So as long as this halo protects him, although Zhu Jishi is a yellow-skinned person, he is not an ordinary figure who can be manipulated in Europe at this time. If he had become a member of the French Academy of Sciences two months earlier, the British Royal Medical Society would not have dared to revoke his license, let alone sue him for libel.

  In addition, most of the rulers in Europe at that time, whether they were kings, emperors, queens, grand dukes or tsars, liked to show off their enthusiasm for science and art. The former made them appear more intelligent, while the latter showed off their refined taste. For example, Napoleon himself was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and Prince Albert, the uncrowned king of the British Empire, was also eager to show off his erudition (in 1847 he even appointed himself as the Chancellor of Cambridge University). Therefore, having the identity of a member of the Academy of Sciences also gave Zeng Jize more opportunities to come into contact with the top figures in Europe, which was also a layer of protection.

  "Jason, come on, let's get back to the point, what do you think of the sanitary conditions in British hospitals and working-class districts?" Engels asked with a smile after taking a sip of his coffee.

  "The sanitary condition of British hospitals is indeed deplorable, but that is due to the ignorance of the medical profession regarding bacteria; I believe there will be improvement in the future."

  Zhu was cautious with his words. The purpose of gaining fame had been achieved, and it seemed that he had also gained a member of the French Academy, so his next goal was to get rich, at least to earn back the 7 million pounds that the Qing dynasty had paid out in the Opium Wars, so he didn't want to offend the British Empire's ruling class again.

  Upon hearing Zhu Jishi's response, a hint of disappointment flashed across Engels' face.

  "Jason, can you tell me about yourself?" Engels seemed to know that Zhū Jì Shì and the current self were not on the same path, so he quickly changed the subject.

  "Me myself?"

  "Yes, where are you from? Where did you receive your medical education? And where is your family?" Engels smiled and said: "Jason, now that you're a very famous person, everyone wants to know more about your past."

  Upon hearing this, Zhu Jishi's face still wore a smile, but his expression slowly sank. Famous people have no privacy! He had only thought about becoming famous and getting rich, how could he forget this? The celebrities of later generations, who weren't their absurd pasts dug up by tabloid reporters? If these reporters discovered that he was actually someone without a past, what would they think?

  "Yes, Jason, where are you from? I don't think I've ever heard you mention it." Mrs. Dulan, a familiar woman sitting next to him, asked with wide eyes like a curious baby. She had already told Zhū Jìshì everything she knew about Isabel's past, but Zhū Jìshì had never mentioned his own past, and he was indeed somewhat mysterious.

  Zhu Jishi put down the small coffee cup in his hand, smiled slightly and said, "Friedrich, I think you should be able to see some of my past from my appearance."

  "What's your face? Are you a Tartar?" Engels asked with a smile. Zhū Jìshì had been mistaken for a Tartar by him and Bronshtein, Isabelle, and Qiu Pangzi from the very beginning, and he hadn't denied it either.

  "No, I am not a Tartar, I am Chinese! My Chinese name is Zhu Jishi."

  The news of the end of the Opium War has spread throughout Europe, and Zeng Guofan now also has a great reputation, so he is not afraid to be called an underground party of the Qing Dynasty, so can he acknowledge that he is a Chinese?

  "Qing country? Are you a Qing person? Good heavens! You are from the Qing country to Europe? How did you come?" Engels stared at Zhu Jishi with wide eyes, as if he was looking at an alien. Madame Dulan stretched out her jade hand and touched the back of Zhu Jishi's head, "Huh? Why no queue, cut off?"

  "No! I've never had a queue!" At the thought of that pigtail, Zhu Jishi's face suddenly turned somewhat gloomy. He emphasized his words: "I am Chinese, not Qing!"

  Engels and Madame Durrant stared blankly at Zhū Jìshì, unable to understand what he meant.

  Zhu Jishi was silent for a moment, then explained: "The real China has actually been extinct for a long time! The territory of China was occupied by the Manchu... that is, the Tartar regime that now rules China more than 100 years ago. These foreign invaders turned all Chinese people who did not escape from China into slaves. And my ancestors were lucky, they left China in time, so I am not a slave of the Manchu dynasty!"

  When he said this, Zhu Jishi felt a bit helpless in his heart. In the future, he was not very interested in politics and only wanted to be a good doctor. So when he crossed over to 1840s Europe, he didn't plan on finding trouble with the Qing Dynasty and Emperor Daoguang - at least not for now. Using his knowledge of medicine and chemistry to make a fortune in this time and space was his current life goal. As for what meaningful career he would pursue after getting rich, that could only be said later.

  However, not opposing the Qing dynasty for the time being does not mean that Zhu Jishi loves the Qing state and is willing to remain a subject or slave of the Manchu Qing dynasty. But he was also born in New China and grew up under the red flag as a new generation, naturally loving his country and people. He also knew that loving one's country means loving its government, according to this standard, from 1840 onwards, one should love the Qing and Daoguang, otherwise it would be considered treasonous and unpatriotic.

  So, Zhū Jìshì chose to escape from the contradiction and directly denied that the Qing Dynasty represented China. Instead, he said that China was a country occupied and enslaved by the Manchu dynasty. Of course, there is no reason in this world for people of an occupied land to love their invaders!

  "So Jason, I'd like to know how you view the just-concluded China-US trade war?"

  Engels' question was indeed sharp, and Zhu Zhi's face showed a helpless expression again. He carefully chose his words and said: "I don't understand why the Qing country with over a million troops would be defeated by more than 10,000 British soldiers? This is truly absurd!"

  This issue, Zhu Jishi was clear before crossing over that the Qing court was corrupt, the army was corrupt and smoked opium, and the ordinary people of the Qing dynasty were in deep water and hot fire, all of which showed that the Qing would inevitably fail. However, after staying in the UK for several months in the 1840s, he found that the UK was also corrupt enough, with officials being bought and sold, their army smoking opium, and the British people also suffering from deep water and hot fire!