Chapter 158: The Weight of the Invitation Letter

It must be said, the number of talented individuals in Europe during this era is still quite high. Although compared to those extremely famous top-tier scientists, these excellent talents are still somewhat lacking in terms of fame.

But what they lack is not necessarily knowledge reserves or ability; it may just be that tiny bit of luck.

This is no exaggeration. Take, for example, the war of currents between alternating current and direct current; people of later generations mostly only know about Edison and Tesla.

But in reality, throughout the long duration of the electrification revolution, a large number of excellent electrical experts emerged in countries all over the world.

Some people may not have the ability to reach the rank of top-tier scientists, but some were truly just lacking that little bit of luck, falling behind others in scientific research.

Only the scientists who first achieved research results are recorded in history; as for the second or third to discover a certain research result, they are often not known to most people.

When Spain set its sights on wooing talent from the many small and medium-sized countries in Europe, it quickly discovered many excellent scientists who had lost their jobs due to the economic crisis.

The abilities of these people might not be top-notch, but they are equally excellent scientific researchers. For Spain, these people are also an extremely important talent reserve, like a backbone, and naturally, they cannot be let go.

Although the treatment given to them is slightly worse than that for top-tier scientists, compared to their current situation of having lost their jobs in the economic crisis, it is clearly already a rare and precious job.

What's more, at the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain, these excellent scientific researchers will gain more opportunities. The Royal Academy of Sciences has sufficient research and development funds; as long as they have the ability, it is not impossible for them to change history and become founders in a certain field of research.

As long as they can complete groundbreaking research, neither the Royal Academy of Sciences nor Gao Da will be stingy with rewards. The most basic rewards are those concerning funds and property; further up, there are rewards concerning titles, directly making them members of the Spanish hereditary nobility.

This point was explained in advance when inviting these scientific researchers to join the Royal Academy of Sciences. As long as these scientists make outstanding contributions to the various research projects at the Royal Academy of Sciences, they are eligible to receive Spanish titles.

Moreover, titles are based on contributions. As long as the contribution is large enough, what would it matter to leap to become a Duke of Spain?

Although the new nobility will not have fiefs, this kind of hereditary title and the huge improvement in status are also things these scientists cannot refuse.

Do not forget that most European countries are currently in the era of monarchical rule. Except for France, which is a relatively special great power, all the great powers in Europe are monarchies.

This also leads to these scientists not being repelled by the monarchy; even many French scientists support the monarchical system.

After all, it has only been a few years since the end of the rule of Napoleon III, and the Royalist forces within France remain the largest power class.

There is another benefit to wooing these foreign experts, and that is that the foreign patents they have access to can be used at will.

Of course, doing so is absolutely an infringement of patent rights. But the problem is, this is not the later era where transportation and the economy are highly developed.

In this era, any random cross-border patent case can cause a company to have a mental breakdown. If others are in a good mood, they might pay some cross-border patent fees; if they are in a bad mood, they just copy the patent directly.

Unless the company holding the patent rights has a certain say in its own country, and this country also has a certain say internationally, it is basically impossible to get any benefits when facing cross-border patent disputes.

Other countries can just drag things out for several years at will. In these several years, they would have long since developed new things based on the original patent, and could even turn around and falsely accuse the other party of copying their own patent.

Of course, cross-border patent cases like this must ultimately be litigated in the infringing country. In Spain, litigating against Spanish enterprises—how could one lose in such a situation?

Although doing so is inevitably somewhat immoral, it is indeed the choice of most countries and enterprises in this era. Rather than counting on those patent fees waiting for the charity of others, it is better to turn research results into huge profits, earning money first to use for subsequent research and development.

Just like the two famous cola brands of later generations. Although the formula for cola seems mysterious, it is actually not that difficult.

Perhaps one cannot achieve 100% imitation, but imitating 90% or more is no problem. But it is precisely because the two major cola brands have already occupied a huge market that it is already very difficult for other brands to enter the cola market.

What's more, the two major brands that entered the factory first expanded their production lines crazily based on the huge profits obtained in the early stages, thereby significantly reducing their product costs.

Enterprises that enter the market later face high costs for small-scale production; the gap in costs alone has already doomed other enterprises to difficulty in competing with the two major enterprises in the cola field.

The fact that cola has maintained a low selling price in later generations is actually a "conspiracy" born based on the above factors. Because of the lower costs brought about by large-scale production, the two major cola brands can naturally obtain income even with lower selling prices.

But those enterprises that enter later find it difficult to maintain low selling prices under high-cost conditions. If the selling price cannot form an advantage, how can they compete with the two major brands that have already occupied most of the market?

Gao Da's conception of the automotive field is the same. If Benz and the others could develop automobiles and mass-produce them ahead of the Ford Company, which pioneered assembly line production in history, they could occupy a certain advantage in the automotive market.

When other brands officially cultivate the automotive market, what they will face is the Benz Company, which has formed a certain brand influence and effectively reduced costs by relying on a higher market share.

It is a pity that Gao Da cannot provide much help in the process of wooing talent.

This is also something that cannot be helped; most of the famous scientists Gao Da is familiar with only became prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and many even only gained a certain reputation during the First and Second World Wars.

Just like the famous Einstein, he has not been born yet. Marie Curie, who discovered radium and is in the textbooks, is still a child at this time. Nikola Tesla, who had the war of currents with Edison, is only 17 years old at this time.

Although these people will achieve huge fame in the future, it is clearly not suitable to have too much contact with them now.

Perhaps because of extra contact and changes in their early lives, they might no longer have the opportunity to become the famous selves they were in history.

For the convenience of digging for talent in the future, Gao Da did not interfere too much with the Royal Security Intelligence Agency and the government's discovery and excavation of talent.

In short, it is one sentence: believe in those excellent talents born in this era, and do not be overly superstitious about famous figures in history.

Although some people are born with talent, it is undeniable that early life experiences are also important factors that allow geniuses to progress and grow.

In fact, as long as these excellent talents who are like backbones are dug from various countries, they can also be relied upon to cultivate Spain's own excellent talents with their knowledge reserves.

Although the Spain in history did not produce Nobel Prize winners in physics and chemistry, who can be sure that the Spain of this world will not produce a few talented and famous scientists under Gao Da's vigorous cultivation?

Returning to Spain's action of wooing talent. There are many scientists in Europe, and the personalities of these scientists are also completely different.

Easier to solve are those scientists who value their own interests and income. These people only need to be moved by money, and they will basically agree to come to Spain.

As for those who pay more attention to scientific research, the Royal Academy of Sciences can also solve it by coming forward. The Royal Academy of Sciences can provide an excellent research environment and sufficient research funds, and at the same time, being an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences is also an affirmation of status.

Finally, for those who not only value scientific research but also value their own status, Gao Da personally invites them to Spain in the capacity of the King of Spain to serve in important university positions, such as vice dean of a college, vice president of a university, and honorary president, etc.

A personal invitation from a king, serving in important positions in colleges and universities, can be said to have given these scientists plenty of face.

Of course, those who have this kind of treatment are basically scientists who already have a certain fame and status. These people have already achieved something in their fields, so they are naturally worth Gao Da coming forward personally to woo them.

Of course, these fields are basically research fields such as physics, chemistry, and biology that Spain attaches great importance to. If it is a literary giant who does literature, sorry, Spain is not very interested.

Although cultural propaganda is also very important, this kind of work is already enough relying on literary workers within Spain. Gao Da has no interest in inviting foreign literary masters; after all, those who do literature are generally very arrogant—simply put, they are very troublesome.

June 22, 1873, Portugal.

"Manuel, have you also received an invitation letter from His Majesty the King of Spain?" Inside a hospital that was clearly already bankrupt, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties said to the friend in front of him.

"Yes." The man named Manuel nodded, without the slightest concealment: "Although I don't want to leave Portugal, there is no work for me in Portugal now."

Although the economic crisis suffered by Portugal was not serious, Portugal itself is not a powerful country. When other countries faced the economic crisis, small and medium-sized countries like Portugal instead became targets for shifting the economic crisis.

How to shift the economic crisis? Of course, it is to dump industrial products in large quantities to countries like Portugal in exchange for a certain income, slowing down the economic pressure suffered by various enterprises.

Portugal's domestic industry simply could not withstand the impact of foreign industrial products. Under the purposeful dumping of other countries, the number of bankrupt enterprises in Portugal was also countless.

This is also the sorrow of weak countries, because weak countries simply cannot choose their own destiny. But Portugal could not say anything, because those dumping industrial products in Portugal were all countries that could not be offended.

This is why Spain did not suffer a serious economic crisis. If Spain had also suffered a serious economic crisis, it would definitely have dumped industrial products to Portugal as well.

Spain, which is also on the Iberian Peninsula, does not have too much transportation burden. If it dumped industrial products to Portugal in large quantities, Portugal might not necessarily be able to withstand it.

The middle-aged man who spoke first nodded without any surprise, a helpless bitter smile appearing on his face: "Buddy, it seems we are going to Spain together."

Manuel was stunned, looked at his friend, who was also his fellow apprentice, and asked with some surprise: "Are you also going to Spain? Egas?"

Egas nodded and said: "Actually, I don't want to leave Portugal either. But there is no way, the conditions offered by the Spanish side are too high. Vice Dean of the Zaragoza Medical College, Second-Class Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Senior Expert of the Medical Research Institute of the Royal Academy of Sciences—who can refuse this?"

Manuel was stunned and looked at his friend with some surprise.

"What's wrong?" Egas was a little surprised; why did his good friend suddenly show such an expression?

"The conditions offered to me by the Spanish side are also Second-Class Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Senior Expert of the Medical Research Institute of the Royal Academy of Sciences, but my work is at the Royal Medical College, also as Vice Dean." Manuel shook his head and said with a bitter smile.

Egas was also stunned, and in the end, he could only blurt out: "It seems that His Majesty the King of Spain is serious about wooing talent this time. But come to think of it, who could refuse such rich conditions?"

It must be said that the conditions offered to Manuel and Egas were indeed promised by Gao Da personally. These two came from the same master, and their teacher was the famous Portuguese medical expert Bernardino António Gomes.

As the first dermatologist in Portugal, Bernardino António Gomes once served the Portuguese royal family and worked on typhoid and infectious diseases for many years.

During his many years of traveling between Portugal and Brazil, he published many reports on plant morphology and medicinal properties, as well as the incidence and treatment methods of infectious diseases, enjoying a high reputation in the Portuguese medical community.

His two disciples, Manuel and Egas, also obtained medical doctoral degrees early and held important positions in private hospitals in Portugal.

But unfortunately, although this private hospital was large in scale, it was also affected by the economic crisis.

There are many other scientists who have had experiences relatively similar to Manuel and Egas, and they are also on the list of talents Spain is wooing.

In order to make these talents feel enough respect, Spain's talent-wooing association will use the name of the royal family and the Royal Academy of Sciences to invite these famous scientists and talents to work in various universities, and serve as academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences and other positions.

In addition to an invitation letter issued in the name of Gao Da, a detailed salary and treatment for various positions were attached under the invitation letter.

The Second-Class Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences alone already has a relatively high income, not to mention that there are important positions in various universities as the main work; the income is even higher than the income these scientists originally worked for.

More importantly, because of the status of an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, they can use the large laboratories of the Royal Academy of Sciences and have their own research funds.

If they do not like to compete with other academicians for the usage time of large laboratories, they can also use the convenience of holding positions in universities to use the research rooms of various universities.

After they grow into Third-Class academicians, they will also have the power to set up their own laboratories. This is also the most attractive place for those talents; after all, who doesn't want to have a laboratory of their own, where they can conduct their research unscrupulously without caring about research funding?

Of course, the Royal Academy of Sciences will also review the research projects submitted by all academicians to ensure that the research is on useful projects.

Even some relatively important projects can enjoy unlimited research funding, provided that all research funding must be used for the right path.

If a scientist puts all the research funding into his own pocket, then the Royal Academy of Sciences is not a pushover.

Gao Da's purpose in establishing the Royal Academy of Sciences is to provide laboratories and research funding for those capable scientists to help them conduct experiments, not for those fake scientists who only seek their own selfish desires, forge experimental results, or even misappropriate research funds.

Spain's action of wooing talent is quite smooth. If nothing else, the way of wooing that gains both fame and fortune is indeed attractive enough.

Within one month of the invitation letter being sent out, hundreds of replies had already been received, most of which were willing to come to Spain.

Of course, it is impossible for all these people to hold important positions. More than half of the ordinary talents can only serve as First-Class academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences and professors at certain universities, or they are simply not qualified to enter the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Gao Da naturally accepts these talents without fail. Even if some people's ability is indeed not very strong, they still have a certain amount of theoretical knowledge, and it is no problem to be a professor at a university.

After all, those excellent scientists mainly focus on their own projects, and it is difficult to have time to cultivate excellent talents.

Although some invitation letters were rejected, the replies from those scientists were quite tactful and also gave Gao Da and the Spanish government enough respect.

After all, it is the recognition of a country's king and government; even if cooperation cannot be reached, at least it is a way to prove one's ability.

The invitation letter printed with the Spanish royal emblem can even become a tool for showing off. After all, doesn't receiving an invitation letter represent whether one is valued in Spain?

Scientists who are not valued, to put it bluntly, don't they have no ability?

It is precisely because of this point that even the scientists who rejected the invitation letter were quite polite in their attitude. Some even collected the invitation letter as if it were an award certificate.

Five-thousand-word two-in-one chapter, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)