360: Chapter 360 Is Zhao Shen Going to Change Careers?

After Zhao Yang left, the eyes of almost every editor in the editorial department fell upon his submission.

The middle-aged editor, surnamed Liu, had worked at Historical Research for nearly twenty years and had handled countless manuscripts. What kind of submission hadn't he seen before?

Yet, the manuscript in front of him still left Editor Liu at a loss.

"No way. Zhao Yang is in mathematics, so why did he suddenly come to submit a history paper?"

The young editor in the corner, Xiao Chen, couldn't help but speak up. He had graduated with a doctorate from the Peking University History Department just last year and stayed on. He was mainly responsible for the initial screening of manuscripts. As a student of Peking University, he was certainly no stranger to the name Zhao Yang.

"Who knows!"

An editor next to him shook his head.

"I'm still a bit confused! When Zhao Yang walked in just now and said he wanted to submit to Historical Research, I was stunned!"

"In mathematics? He's not so one-sided. He also does Physics, Biology, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and chips," Editor Fang pushed up his glasses and sighed.

"Then why did he suddenly come to do history? Is he addicted to crossing boundaries?" Xiao Chen's tone was full of curiosity.

"Who knows? Let me take a look at the manuscript first."

Editor Liu opened the paper and read a few lines. A look of surprise appeared in his eyes because the content of this paper was incredibly solid.

The introduction began with the division of the Nine Provinces from the Shangshu · Yu Gong, cited records about the old course of the Yellow River from the Records of the Grand Historian · Treatise on Canals and the Book of Han · Treatise on Geography, and interspersed relevant textual research from the Commentary on the Water Classic.

The writing style of the paper possessed both the traditional research skills of historiography and was full of rigorous logic. Between every piece of historical material, they were connected and mutually verified. Under this circular argumentation, the paper looked both substantial and rigorous. Editor Liu was somewhat amazed.

"This paper... is not simple."

Editor Fang also leaned over to look, and the more he looked, the more serious his expression became.

"Look at this paragraph. He maps the several diversions of the Yellow River between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei-Jin period to the population migration and the shift of the economic center at that time. He even strung together all the relevant records scattered in various biographies in the Book of the Later Han and the Records of the Three Kingdoms. This method of organizing information has never been done before."

"No, it's not that no one has done it; it's that no one could do it this thoroughly."

Editor Liu flipped to a page in the middle and pointed to a section on the textual research of the clearing volume of the Grand Canal in the Tang Dynasty.

"He extracted all the relevant data from the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang to make a comparative statistic, and even cited several records about the scale of caravans in the Hexi Corridor from the Dunhuang manuscripts of the Tang Dynasty. These things are scattered in different historical materials. To find them all and connect them into a single line, it would be impossible without decades of literature accumulation."

"Where did he get so much time?" Xiao Chen couldn't help but ask.

In the editorial department, everyone fell into silence. No one in the entire editorial department could answer this question.

The news spread quickly. The campus of Peking University was neither big nor small. Once posted in several core academic groups, it spread throughout the campus within a few hours.

The news that the Historical Research editorial department had received a submission from Zhao Yang spread rapidly through various department offices, mailing lists, and private group chats.

At this moment, President Wang was sitting in his office reviewing a document on the allocation of scientific research funds. The desk phone rang. He picked it up, and after listening for a few moments, he stood up from his seat with a start, a look of disbelief on his face.

"What did you say? Zhao Yang submitted a history paper? Submitted to Historical Research?"

"Is he going to carry this cross-disciplinary thing to the end?"

After speaking, he put the receiver back on the base, leaned back in his chair, took off his reading glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes filled with helplessness.

"Professor Zhao is truly worrisome. The difference between liberal arts and science is just too great. The research methods of history are completely different from those of mathematics and Physics. For him to spend this time doing history, isn't this a waste of talent?"

It wasn't that he didn't respect the liberal arts. As the president of Peking University, he knew too well the importance of humanities such as history and philosophy to a university's foundation.

But the problem was that Zhao Yang was not an ordinary scholar. He was the future leader of the global mathematics community recognized by all, the deputy chief designer of the long march 5 rocket, and the person who solved the carbon fiber breakthrough and the P vs NP proof.

For such a person, every minute of his time was an extremely precious strategic resource. To invest this kind of resource into history, even if it was only a small part, was, in President Wang's view, unworthy!

If Zhao Yang was really planning to switch to the liberal arts, then his term as president wouldn't just be over, his reputation would be ruined! He might even be condemned by the entire internet!

Thinking of this, he didn't hesitate at all, grabbed his phone, and dialed Zhao Yang's number.

"Professor Zhao, is it convenient to talk now?"

"President Wang, please speak."

"I heard you submitted a paper to Historical Research?"

"Yes, I just submitted a manuscript. Is something wrong?"

President Wang took a deep breath, quickly organized his language in his mind, and then began his long, persuasive speech that he believed was very convincing.

"Professor Zhao, I know you are gifted and your cross-disciplinary ability is extraordinary, but there is an essential difference between liberal arts and science. Liberal arts require long-term accumulation and are very time-consuming. I'm not saying you can't do it well, but..."

"President Wang."

Zhao Yang interrupted President Wang and said directly.

"This is just my rest, just to relax. Doing the P vs NP proof a while ago was too tiring, so I did some history to relax. It didn't take much effort."

President Wang was stunned.

Writing a 200,000-word history paper in a month is... just relaxing? ? ? ?

Is this even human language?

Zhao Yang didn't know President Wang's reaction and continued.

"And I won't waste time on this matter in the future. The paper is submitted, so it's submitted. I will put my main energy into scientific research later. Don't worry."

After a long silence, President Wang spoke again: "Okay... that's good. As long as you know what you're doing."

He hung up the phone and dialed another number to the director of the Historical Research editorial department.

The call was connected quickly. President Wang said to the director: "For Zhao Yang's paper, just follow the normal review process. No special treatment is needed. Review it as you should."

Putting down the receiver, President Wang muttered in amazement: "Is this the world of geniuses? Hard to understand!"

President Wang shook his head with a bitter smile and continued to process other documents.

And just as the university was still digesting this matter, the news had already leaked out through the internal channels of the Historical Research editorial department.

At first, a Doctoral Student from the history department posted a message on his Moments, saying that his girlfriend was interning in the editorial department and saw Zhao Yang's manuscript with his own eyes, with "Professor Zhao Yang, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University" written in the signature column.

This Moments post was quickly screenshotted and sent to Weibo, and then it started to be frantically forwarded.

"Holy crap? God Zhao submitted a history paper? Did I wake up too fast and am still dreaming?"

"Wait, wait, wait, let me process this. God Zhao has always been known for crossing boundaries. Is he now doing history?"