"You scientists, you all claim to be indifferent to fame and fortune, but in reality, you care more about your reputation than anyone else!"

If Jerome Bonaparte were reprimanding an "academic gatekeeper," the "academic gatekeeper" would not feel any shame and would even cheerfully agree that His Majesty was right.

However, William Thomson was still a newcomer in the realm of scientific research, having only been in the field for about 14 years.

Therefore, there remained a stubbornness and a sense of shame typical of a young man of science within him.

Seeing Jerome Bonaparte bluntly expose his innermost thoughts, William Thomson could only bow his head in embarrassment and apologize to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your recognition, and I also ask for your forgiveness for my selfishness!" William Thomson paused, then earnestly said to Jerome Bonaparte, "I still wish to become a foreign academician of the French Academy through my own efforts!

Only then will I not feel I have let down my passion for scientific research!"

Jerome Bonaparte did not immediately respond to William Thomson but quietly observed the overly stubborn scientist in front of him.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became tense, causing another guest in the room to silently blame William Thomson for his lack of tact.

The Emperor’s invitation for you—William Thomson—to join the French Academy as a foreign academician was in itself a recognition of your scientific work.

Unexpectedly, you repeatedly refused the Emperor’s good intentions, putting him in an awkward position!

You must know that the person before you wields more power than even Queen Victoria, who cannot decide a person’s life or death at will in the Kingdom of Britain, while he can do so within France.

William Thomson, are you really not afraid of death!

Although the other guest was inwardly wishing to curse William Thomson’s ancestors, he still wanted to speak up for William Thomson.

After all, William Thomson was currently serving as their company’s consultant and had come to France at his invitation.

If anything were to happen to William Thomson in France, he and his company would undoubtedly be significantly affected.

For the sake of himself and the company, Field felt he should say something, although he didn’t quite know how to ease the increasingly tense atmosphere. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Across from the guest, Bourbas also felt that the current atmosphere was not conducive to the upcoming discussion, and he too silently mulled over words to ease the tension.

Just as Bourbas and the other guest were racking their brains to break the deadlock, Jerome Bonaparte suddenly let out a light laugh. Amidst the astonished looks of all present, he applauded William Thomson by himself and said, "Mr. Thomson, you are a scholar unafraid of authority!

I admire your character!"

"Your Majesty, thank you for your magnanimity!" William Thomson smiled bitterly, feeling a twinge of regret about whether his earlier refusal had been too blunt, leaving the Emperor without a graceful exit.

"What magnanimity?" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and candidly said, "You did nothing wrong; striving to become a foreign academician of the French Academy through your own efforts is a perfectly right path!

On the contrary, being invited by me into the French Academy would be the wrong path!"

William Thomson dared not say much more. Some matters could be openly discussed by the Monarch, but as a subject/guest, simply listening quietly was sufficient.

"There is now an opportunity that can earn you an invitation into the French Academy!"

At this point, Jerome Bonaparte turned his gaze to another guest accompanying William Thomson, "Am I right, Mr. Celest West Field?"

Being named, Celest West Field was initially startled, but quickly understood Jerome Bonaparte’s meaning, hurriedly agreeing with him, "Your Majesty, you are correct!"

"Mr. Thomson, if you can assist France in constructing a telegraph line connecting to French Guiana, then I believe your name will be forever recorded in history!

The doors of the French Academy will also open for you!" Jerome Bonaparte persuasively said to William Thomson.

"French Guiana???" William Thomson murmured to himself.

William Thomson was puzzled as to why the endpoint of the telegraph line had changed to French Guiana, while he clearly remembered Field mentioning that their goal this trip was to help France build a telegraph line to the African region.

Thus, William Thomson instinctively looked at Celest West Field, his gaze seeming to question what exactly was going on.

Celest West Field was evidently quite bewildered too, as he remembered the Emperor’s request was merely to construct a telegraph line to the African Region. Why did it suddenly become a transoceanic telegraph line!

Constructing a transatlantic telegraph line is not an easy task; there is much preparation required, such as surveying the terrain, manufacturing telegraph wires, and even if preparations are complete, success is not guaranteed.

So far, no country has managed to truly construct a transatlantic telegraph line.

"Your Majesty, French Guiana is too far from the French Mainland, the huge impedance during Morse code transmission results in significant signal attenuation and delay!" William Thomson raised the issue of long-distance telegraph transmission to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Is this the result from the British Investigative Committee regarding the previous Atlantic Telegraph outage?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired of William Thomson.

The Atlantic Telegraph Jerome Bonaparte mentioned was precisely the failed project by Field’s company a year ago. The entire transatlantic telegraph consumed a vast amount of resources and manpower, yet the results were negligible.

Economically speaking, the economic benefit of the transatlantic telegraph was already negative at the point of failure, and Field’s company could have declared bankruptcy directly.

However, sometimes actions should not only focus on immediate economic benefits, but also on the future.

From a governmental perspective, although the transatlantic telegraph has failed, it does not mean that it cannot succeed.

Despite the brevity of the telegram sent by Queen Victoria to President Buchanan, it was enough to spur the government to seek out the causes of failure.

Only by quickly summarizing the experiences of failure can they regroup in the shortest time possible.

This is precisely the purpose of the "Investigative Committee"!

"Indeed!" William Thomson did not know where the Emperor had obtained this information, but he still honestly replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "Mr. Charles Wheatstone suggested that increasing the voltage could enhance the signal!"

"How many volts would that require!" Jerome Bonaparte continued to question William Thomson.

"According to Mr. Wheatstone’s calculations, about 2000 volts of voltage would be needed!" William Thomson helplessly answered Jerome Bonaparte.

"2000 volts of voltage! My goodness!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to William Thomson in an exaggerated tone, "Doesn’t Mr. Wheatstone realize that such voltage could easily pierce the cable insulation?"

"So it’s only an idea from Mr. Wheatstone, with no viable feasibility!

Even Mr. Wheatstone privately told me that to build a transatlantic telegraph, we must have an insulation material capable of withstanding 2000 volts. Today’s world probably doesn’t have any material that can withstand 2000 volts!" William Thomson replied to Jerome Bonaparte with helplessness.

"Perhaps...Mr. Wheatstone’s approach is mistaken!" Jerome Bonaparte smacked his lips and said to William Thomson with a meaningful smile, "If we had an instrument that could accurately detect signal currents and amplify them a hundred or even a thousand times, wouldn’t it replace the voltage enhancement solution!"

William Thomson revealed a joyful expression in his eyes upon hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s solution. He never expected that someone else shared his thoughts.

What surprised him even more was that the person with such an idea was not a scientist, but the ruler of a country.

"Your Majesty, how did you know!" William Thomson eagerly asked Jerome Bonaparte, feeling as if he had found a kindred spirit.

"Mr. Thomson, what should I know?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired of Thomson with a feigned look of ignorance.

It was then that William Thomson realized he had not informed Jerome Bonaparte of his previous invention.

Therefore, William Thomson hurriedly informed Jerome Bonaparte about his invention, the "Mirror Galvanometer," and explained its principles.

"Why wasn’t such a great invention used back then!" Jerome Bonaparte exclaimed in apparent regret, his right hand clenched into a fist and slapped his palm.

Subsequently, he glanced at Field subconsciously and murmured, "Is it possible that this instrument was just created?"

William Thomson, unaffected by his own boss’s dignity, frankly mentioned that the "Mirror Current Needle" was invented in 1857.

Standing beside him, Field blushed with embarrassment at Jerome Bonaparte’s words.

It turned out that the reason William Thomson’s "Mirror Current Needle" wasn’t used was entirely due to the company following the advice of the newly appointed chief electrical engineer, Edward Whitehouse, choosing another path which led to an error in William Thomson’s design.

Meanwhile, Field came to understand why the Emperor invited William Thomson instead of Edward Whitehouse; it was evident that the Emperor had favored William Thomson’s design all along.