Dilapidated houses, weak withered vines, small bridges and flowing water.

The chimney emits smoke and the smell of firewood is clearly audible.

"This is where the teacher lives in seclusion!" Michel Renault said breathlessly, pointing to the dilapidated house.

Michel Renault is also an old man, not young. Even just walking on this mountain road is tiring enough.

Liu Yichen just thought it was incredible.

The dignified 'Pope of Mathematics' Grothendieck had many fans. He lived in seclusion in his later years. There were no castles or villas, just a shabby house. Even Liu Yichen could see that there was no water or electricity here, let alone the Internet.

.

Looking at the dilapidated appearance of the house, Liu Yichen suspected that if it rained here, it would probably rain inside as well.

Michelle Renault knocked on the door and said: "Teacher, I am Michelle, I am here to visit you."

After a while, the wooden door was opened, and a gray-haired old man surrounded by old age walked out. He had to walk with a cane and wore a pair of glasses.

"Michelle, you are here, come in and sit down." The old man said calmly: "Who is this young man? Didn't I tell you that you can come, but others can't come. I just buried half of my body in the ground.

As an old man, everything in the outside world has nothing to do with me."

Liu Yichen looked at Grothendieck and felt incredible. Who would have thought that this ordinary old man would be the "Pope of Mathematics". His achievements in mathematics are enough to make all mathematicians today look up to him.

He is one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. To put it bluntly, the word "one" can be removed.

Such a great mathematician was actually like this in his later years. He did not have the legendary extreme temper, hysteria, or mental illness.

"Teacher, this is Liu from China. He is a disciple of Deligne. His mathematical talent is astonishing. Goldbach's conjecture was finally solved by him." Michel Renault said quickly.

Although Michel Reno was only a few years younger than Grothendieck, he had always admired Grothendieck very much.

When he heard that Liu Yichen was Deligne's disciple, Grothendieck's expression softened and he showed a kind look: "Young man, I heard Deligne talk about you. He praised that your talent is even better than his. It's very good."

It is not easy for young people to achieve these achievements at your age."

"Come in!" Grothendieck led the two of them into the house.

Although it was daytime, the room seemed a little dark. Grothendieck lit an oil lamp and illuminated the hall. There was no computer or TV in the hall, only a player that had been used for an unknown number of years, which was playing

Music from long ago.

Grothendieck said: "This is a very suitable place for retirement. I have been here for more than 20 years and I am very satisfied with the environment here. The people here are peaceful and the environment is quiet. There are no calculations and dirty things, which makes people feel comfortable physically and mentally."

Incomparable.”

He poured two glasses of water for the two of them, and then set a tone: "As you know, I have left the world of mathematics a long time ago, and now I am almost ninety years old. I can even hear the voice of God every day when I sleep.

Calling my name, my mind has long been frozen and I can't think. If you, young man, come to ask me for math, I think you will be disappointed. Now I may not even be able to compare with a primary school student, no, even a kindergarten child."

"Haha, the most terrifying weapon in the world is not machine guns, cannons, or nuclear weapons, but time!"

"Time is the most terrifying weapon. It can cause everything to be eroded and dissipated in time, even thinking."

Grothendieck said self-deprecatingly: "I once thought that knowledge and thinking transcended the years, but later I realized that nothing is eternal and immortal in front of the years, not even civilization, even the solar system and the Milky Way.

Facing the power of time, it may one day fall into silence."

"Sir, I think it is precisely because of the horror of time that we have to keep working hard. If we don't work hard, maybe human beings are still in the primitive tribal era and there will be no current human social civilization." Liu Yichen disagreed and said instinctively.

"Young man, you are still young. It is normal and commendable to have such thoughts. When I was young, I also wanted to create a brilliant civilization. In my mathematical civilization, mankind has entered a new era.

, I will surpass any mathematician in the history of mathematics. I will build a mathematical building that those who come after me can only look up to, but cannot surpass."

Grothendieck was not angry at all. He said: "However, when I was forty years old, I gradually came into contact with the true meaning of life, mathematics. Just like that, it is a natural existence. It doesn't matter how great people create it, it's just that

Some lucky guy goes and finds it."

"In the entire universe, the earth is so small, human beings are so small, and there is nothing worthy of praise. And human beings are so stupid to try to contact alien civilizations, but you must know that if the alien civilization level is higher than

The earth, then it will bring destruction to the earth."

"I discovered again that no matter how great a person is, no matter how great his achievements in his field are, he will still get old. This is a natural law, and no one can change it!"

"In this world, there is a creator, and God exists. In front of God, human beings seem insignificant, but they are not overestimated."

"You know, I can often hear music from heaven. Pianists such as Beethoven and Mozart play piano music, and believers read the Bible. I also hear God calling my name.

..."

Grothendieck muttered these words. If there were an old man like this in a city, he would definitely be sent to a mental hospital as soon as possible. If there were an old man like this in a rural area, he would definitely be imprisoned.

He is in the room and will not be allowed to come out.

Liu Yichen was quite disappointed. In his mind, Grothendieck should be a very wise mathematician. He could see the development and future of mathematics, and it was not impossible to see mathematics a hundred years from now.

A great mathematician like this should be an atheist. He does not believe in the existence of gods in the world, but only believes in the victory of man over nature, and is full of unyielding heart.

However, I did not expect that a great mathematician like Grothendieck would ultimately follow Newton's path and believe that there is a creator and God in the world.

It was a bit boring. After sitting in the house for more than an hour, Liu Yichen felt uncomfortable all over. After leaving the dilapidated old house, Liu Yichen sighed in his heart.

"Liu, you are still young and have a lot to do. Don't take the teacher's appearance to heart. Everyone has their own life experience. The teacher personally experienced the cruelty of World War II. If you don't have his life experience, you will naturally not be able to understand him."

Michelle Reno seemed to know what Liu Yichen was thinking, patted Liu Yichen on the shoulder and said.

"Isn't there a saying in the scientific community that the end of science is theology!" Michel Reno said with a smile.

The end of science is theology!?

Maybe!

But Liu Yichen only believes in science and evidence. If one day it can be proven that theology is right and God really exists in the world, then he will believe it.

If you can't prove it, then whoever wants to believe it can believe it, because he doesn't believe it anyway.

Of course, Liu Yichen did not realize that there was a big gap between his own thinking, or that of Chinese scholars, and Western thinking, not in terms of IQ, but in terms of cultural roots.

Even though Marxism originated in the West, there are many scholars in the West who study Marxism. Science is also popular in the West. Many of its founders and promoters are Western scholars, but this does not prevent them from believing in religion. Almost most Western scholars are

For those who believe in religion, the sect they believe in is different.

On the contrary, in China, there are only a few religious believers, and not many believe in those gods and Buddhas. As a result, the Chinese civilization believes more in its ancestors. The dead are granted the title of gods, and the living are granted the title of princes. How many gods and Buddhas have been defeated.

, he was a human being during his lifetime.

As for Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Taoist ancestors, worshiping them is not because of true faith, but just to seek wishes and peace of mind.

Liu Yichen then left France and went to Germany, where he joined the school leaders and went to the University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich to promote cooperation between Kowloon University and them.

Although the University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich are not as well-known internationally as universities such as Harvard, MIT, University of California, Princeton University, Oxford University, and Cambridge University, their actual strength cannot be underestimated.

Of course, what interests the leaders of Kowloon University is the institutional setup of the University of Munich. The University of Munich has set up a Senate Assembly, which is the authority for decision-making in the university. Its members are elected. Among the representatives of each session, professors

There are 36 representatives, 12 other academic staff representatives, 12 academic representatives, and 6 non-academic staff representatives. Five members of the school leadership committee including the principal are also members of the review assembly.

It can be said that this institutional setup is very unique.

In addition to examining the institutional setup of the University of Munich, we also naturally discussed the quota issues for exchange students and international students, as well as mutual cooperation mechanisms.

The same goes for the Technical University of Munich.

Kowloon University also hopes that through cooperation with the University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich, it can enhance its own strength and also benefit the further development of students.

If your own strength is slightly lacking, you must learn to make good use of external strength.

It is the right way to make many friends and few enemies, instead of making everyone the enemy.

Overall, Kowloon University's journey to Germany was relatively successful and its goals were achieved.

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter completed!