Chapter 581: Speak After Reading

The night at Penglai Base was as tranquil as ever. But behind this tranquility, a storm that would soon change the world's landscape was brewing.

Li Mingyuan stood before his office window, gazing at the lights of the laboratory in the distance, idly playing with a sample issue of *Cangjie*. With three days left until the official release, his heart was surprisingly calm, as if everything were under his control.

"Lao Li, do you know? The old fogies can't sit still anymore." Minister Zhang pushed the door open and entered, his expression somewhere between amusement and helplessness.

"Which old fogies?" Li Mingyuan asked without turning his head, though he already had the answer in his heart.

"Those 'leading authorities' at the Academy of Sciences who returned from studying in the Star-Spangled Country." Minister Zhang made a gesture of quotation marks, "Just now at an internal meeting, they spouted nonsense, saying things like 'hastily founding a so-called top international journal is a desecration of the scientific spirit,' and 'it will surely become a laughingstock.'"

Li Mingyuan finally turned around, a faint, inscrutable smile on his face: "That was within my expectations."

"You aren't angry?"

"What is there to be angry about?" Li Mingyuan sat back down at his desk, "This is an inevitable process. Any revolution goes through three stages: ridicule, opposition, and being taken for granted. We are currently in the first stage."

Minister Zhang shook his head: "Lao Li, this way you have of seeing through everything is truly hair-raising at times."

"I have simply made thorough preparations," Li Mingyuan replied nonchalantly, though a sharp glint that did not belong to this era flashed in his eyes.

The next morning, the capital of Long Country, the editorial department of the *Daily*.

"I firmly refuse to allow this editorial to be published!" Li Mingyuan slammed a draft of the newspaper onto the table; his voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable power.

Zhao Zhiyuan, the director of the editorial department, looked troubled: "Chief Engineer Li, this article was requested for publication by several academicians jointly. The title is 'Some Thoughts on the Construction of Scientific Journals.' On the surface, it is discussing academic issues..."

"On the surface?" Li Mingyuan sneered, flipping open the draft and reading aloud: "'Scientific journals require long-term accumulation to gain international recognition; rashly claiming to be top-tier internationally may prove counterproductive,' 'one should be humble and cautious, not reach for what is beyond one's grasp'... Where is this discussing academic issues? It is clearly denying the significance and value of *Cangjie*!"

He continued reading: "'Western academia has a tradition of several hundred years; the authority of a journal cannot be built in a day; one should respect the laws and proceed in an orderly way'... Heh, proceed in an orderly way? Then must we wait another hundred years before we can have our own voice?"

Director Zhao wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Chief Engineer Li, you also know that these are all old experts who returned from overseas; they have great prestige in the academic world..."

"Prestige?" Li Mingyuan's voice suddenly turned cold, "On what foundation is this prestige built? Is it on the worship of the West, or on a lack of confidence in one's own country? We have already surpassed them in technology; why must we still look to others for approval in academic discourse?"

He pushed the draft back onto the table: "This article cannot be published. If they have objections, tell them to wait until they have read the inaugural issue of *Cangjie* in three days."

Walking out of the editorial department, Li Mingyuan's expression finally softened slightly.

That afternoon, the Long Country Academy of Sciences, inside a quaint meeting room.

"Chief Engineer Li, please forgive us for inviting you here so presumptuously." The speaker was Xu Guohua, Vice President of the Academy of Sciences, a physicist in his seventies who had studied in the Star-Spangled Country in his early years and had been regarded as a representative of the "Western scientific spirit" since returning home.

Li Mingyuan looked around; five white-haired old scholars sat in the meeting room, each with an expression of elder-like concern and worry.

"The seniors may speak their minds directly," Li Mingyuan said calmly.

Xu Guohua coughed: "Chief Engineer Li, we all deeply admire your contributions in the field of science and technology. Longxin-III is indeed a remarkable achievement. However..."

"However, founding *Cangjie* is too rash, is that it?" Li Mingyuan finished for him.

"It is not just a matter of being rash," another old scholar took up the thread, "The authority of a scientific journal requires long-term accumulation and international recognition. For us to rashly declare that we are going to run a 'top international journal' is very easily seen by the international academic community as overestimating our own capabilities."

"Indeed," Xu Guohua nodded in agreement, "The mainstream Western academic community has already formed a fixed evaluation system and academic circles. Our 'breaking in' like this will only invite ridicule and exclusion."

Li Mingyuan remained calm: "I understand the concerns of you seniors. But may I ask, if we do not break this situation, will the research results of Long Country's scientists forever have to rely on the 'gracious permission' of Western journals to be published? Will our right to speak forever remain in the hands of others?"

"This..." Xu Guohua was momentarily speechless.

"Chief Engineer Li, our starting point is good," another old scholar said earnestly, "We are worried that if the content of the inaugural issue of *Cangjie* cannot withstand the scrutiny of international peers after its release, it will instead damage the scientific image of Long Country."

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly: "Seniors, I understand your misgivings. But please believe me, the content of the inaugural issue of *Cangjie* will not only withstand scrutiny, it will make those Western peers drop their jaws."

Xu Guohua hesitated for a moment, then spoke his mind: "Chief Engineer Li, frankly speaking, we are all very curious... what content do you intend to publish in the inaugural issue? Could you reveal a little?"

Li Mingyuan stood up and straightened his collar: "In three days, you seniors will naturally know. I can only say that this will be a turning point in the history of Long Country's science, and a revolution in the history of world science."

He bowed to the old men: "Thank you all for your concern and advice. But some paths must be walked by someone first."

Having said this, he turned and left, leaving the old scholars looking at each other in dismay, not knowing whether to be angry or to laugh.

"Lao Li, did those old fogies look for you?"

As soon as Li Mingyuan returned to his office, Minister Zhang asked impatiently.

"They did." Li Mingyuan nodded, "Just as expected, well-intentioned admonitions, hoping I would 'rein in at the brink of the precipice'."

"How did you answer?"

"I said that in three days, they will know the answer." Li Mingyuan smiled, "Actually, I can understand them. In their era, Western science was indeed decades ahead of us. They are accustomed to looking up to the Western academic community, accustomed to regarding papers published in *Nature* or *Science* as the highest honor. For them to suddenly accept that *Cangjie* can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these journals, it truly requires a process of psychological adjustment."

Minister Zhang sighed: "It's no wonder; decades of scientific training have formed deeply ingrained cognitive patterns."

"But these patterns must be broken." Li Mingyuan's gaze suddenly turned sharp, "Minister Zhang, do you know? In my view, science has no borders, but scientists have nationalities. The West has held the right to academic discourse for too long, so long that they think it is a matter of course. The emergence of *Cangjie* will break this unequal situation."