Chapter 243: Nikola Tesla

In addition to establishing cooperation with France regarding construction, Carlo also planned to introduce a portion of highly educated talent from France to fill the gap in Spain's high-end talent pool.

Of course, Spain's search for talent would not be limited to France, but would extend deep into the whole of Europe.

Spain was particularly focused on the German regions, where education was relatively well-developed. Spain's talent introduction policy had always been quite lenient toward these highly capable scientists, and the rewards offered to them were also quite generous.

For those university students who possessed talent but could not afford their studies, if they were willing to come to Spain and join Spanish nationality, the Spanish government could provide them with a portion of financial aid, and even offer full scholarships and some living subsidies to certain geniuses with strong potential.

This talent introduction policy had been implemented for several years, and Spain had gained a large amount of talent as a result. Although the fiscal expenditure was also huge, compared to the talent introduced, this small amount of funding was nothing.

Currently, Spain had cumulatively absorbed over 2, 00 talents from Europe, nearly 500 of whom were students who could not afford university and ultimately chose to join Spanish nationality.

These were excellent students whom Spain had investigated and confirmed to have a certain talent in physics and chemistry. The reason they could not attend university was that their family conditions were too poor, not because their learning ability was poor.

For these people, Carlo naturally helped whenever he could. Funding their university education did not cost much, but after they joined Spanish nationality, the contributions they would make to Spain in the future could not be exchanged for such a small amount of financial aid.

Even if more than half of these students only reached the level of ordinary university graduates in the end, Carlo's investment would not be a loss.

After all, university students in this era were already a minority, and foreign immigrants with university degrees were already within the scope of Spain's immigrant recruitment. Although there was a little more investment, these people would certainly have a higher degree of recognition for Spain than ordinary immigrants.

To ensure that Spain had the greatest possibility of introducing those top-tier talents, Carlo thought through all the famous scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wrote down every name he could think of on paper, and handed it to the Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, Kadier.

It was a pity that because the current era was still early, some of the world-renowned scientists of later generations had not yet been born, or were still too young.

For example, Einstein, whom most people knew well, was only born in 1879, so he was certainly not to be found at present.

The good news was that some talents who were originally too young had finally grown up with the passage of time, among whom was one of the talents Carlo valued most: the famous genius scientist Nikola Tesla.

As early as when the Spanish talent recruitment plan was first launched, Nikola Tesla's name was already on the list Carlo gave to the Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, Kadier.

But unfortunately, Tesla was only in his teens at the time, and Carlo did not want his interference to disrupt Tesla's growth process.

It was precisely because of this that Tesla was able to complete his high school studies as in history, and in 1875, he entered the Graz University of Technology in Austria to study physics, mathematics, and mechanics.

In 1876, because the Austrian Military Frontier Bureau was abolished, Tesla lost his scholarship and even nearly dropped out of school because of it.

At such an important point in time, intelligence officers from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency found Tesla and proposed a plan to fund Tesla to continue his university studies.

Of course, such funding was not free.

The intelligence officers revealed their identity as Spaniards and stated that this scholarship was provided by His Majesty, King Carlo of Spain.

In return, Tesla would join Spanish nationality after graduating from university and work for Spain. Of course, Tesla would be valued in Spain; he could continue his advanced studies at a Spanish university, or serve as an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, working in some important project research groups.

At this time, Nikola Tesla had just turned 20, and he felt shocked and incredulous at what the Spanish intelligence officer said.

Of course, he had no dissatisfaction with this, but was quite grateful. If not for the scholarship provided by Carlo, he would have been forced to drop out, and if he wanted to continue learning, he could only audit classes at the university.

Sitting in a classroom to attend lectures and auditing classes outside the classroom were naturally two different endings. Tesla desperately needed this scholarship, so he agreed to the intelligence officer's request without hesitation.

Tesla was born into a Serbian family in Austria. His family had been relatively poor since he was young and had suffered discrimination in Austria.

This made Tesla's sense of recognition for Austria not high. Regarding the proposal to join Spanish nationality, not only did Tesla have no objections, but he even expressed anticipation for it.

Spain's development over the past decade was obvious to all. Through the dissemination of Spain's numerous newspapers, many Europeans learned of Spain's revival.

Tesla was naturally one of them. He was very interested in the Royal Academy of Sciences established by Spain and naturally looked forward to becoming one of its academicians.

With both sides willing, Tesla and the intelligence officer signed a financial aid agreement.

During the few years Tesla studied at the Graz University of Technology, Spain would provide sufficient scholarships every year to help Tesla with his studies, which also included funds for purchasing various materials and conducting small-scale experiments.

In return, after Tesla completed his studies, he needed to go to Spain immediately, and after joining Spanish nationality, he could enter the Royal Academy of Sciences and other universities to work or pursue advanced studies.

If Tesla wanted to pursue advanced studies at famous universities in other European countries, Spain could also arrange it. But the premise for everything was that Tesla would join Spanish nationality after completing his university studies; the intelligence officer had explained this in advance, and it had been agreed to by Tesla.

As time reached 1878, Tesla's university career was also coming to an end. He had studied physics, mathematics, and mechanics at the Graz University of Technology and had achieved quite excellent results in all of them.

This fully proved Tesla's ability; after all, not everyone could study three majors in four years of university and achieve excellent grades in all of them.

The physics professor at the Graz University of Technology felt very regretful about this, stating that if Tesla had not been double-majoring in three subjects, perhaps he could have completed his university studies early and then started postgraduate studies.

In May 1878, under the arrangement of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency's intelligence officers, Tesla took a steamship to Spain.

Accompanying Tesla were his family members, who were all eligible to join Spanish nationality because of Tesla.

Of course, the intelligence officers had also investigated in advance. Only after confirming that Tesla's family members were ordinary Serbian civilians without any extreme nationalist or democratic-liberal ideas did they extend the immigration invitation to them.

Tesla's parents and several older brothers would be arranged to work in suitable positions, and Tesla's younger brother would also enter a Spanish university to study.

As for Tesla himself, as long as he was willing, the Royal Academy of Sciences and all of Spain's universities were his to choose from.

Of course, he could also choose both. He could work at the Royal Academy of Sciences while pursuing advanced studies at a Spanish university.

Perhaps through a dual approach of theory and practice, Tesla's learning might be even more effective. After all, this was a talent who could become a great scientist just by auditing classes at a university. Now that he had experienced a complete university education, Carlo believed Tesla's abilities would be even more outstanding, only lacking time and experience.

On the day Tesla's family arrived in Spain, they were arranged to stay in a property near the outskirts of Madrid.

This property was a detached villa, and it was no problem for the Tesla family to live there. It was also relatively close to Spain's university town, which was convenient for Tesla's subsequent work or research at the university.

Of course, the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences was also in the vicinity of the university town, and the distance was not far.

On the second day after Tesla arrived in Spain, Carlo summoned him and invited him to lunch.

The name Nikola Tesla was world-renowned in later generations, and even a famous car company was named after him.

Carlo was also very much looking forward to meeting Tesla. Perhaps with the support of Carlo and Spain, Tesla could achieve even more outstanding scientific contributions than in history, or even realize his crazy ideas.

Tesla's scientific contributions were not limited to alternating current, but also included radio systems, wireless power transmission, ball lightning, turbines, magnifying transmitters, particle beam weapons, solar engines, X-ray equipment, electrical meters, missile science, remote sensing technology, aircraft, cosmic rays, radar systems, and robotics.

From these fields he studied, it could also be seen that Tesla was an all-around talent and had his own unique understanding and ideas about scientific experiments.

Tesla's talent and ability in alternating current alone were enough for Carlo to value him. Not to mention the research on radio and wireless power transmission, which might also allow Spain to enjoy the radio era in advance.

In the banquet hall of the Royal Palace, Carlo met this famous mad scientist for the first time.

At this time, Nikola Tesla was not as crazy as described in history; he looked more like a cultured and ambitious young man.

There was only a faint mustache on his lip, which also indicated that Tesla was actually not very old.

The facts were indeed so. Born on July 10, 1856, Nikola Tesla was only 22 years old at this time.

22 was the age of a university graduate in later generations, and Tesla had already completed his studies in physics, mathematics, and mechanics at the Graz University of Technology, which already showed his extraordinary talent.

"Welcome to Spain, Mr. Tesla." Seeing that Nikola Tesla looked a bit reserved, Carlo took the initiative to speak with a smile.

"It is my honor to receive your invitation, Your Majesty. But I am just an ordinary person who could not afford university; I am afraid I will fail your trust." At this time, Tesla was far from being the mad scientist of the future, just a university graduate who had almost been forced to drop out because he could not pay his tuition.

He felt very honored by Carlo's funding, but was also afraid that he would not be able to complete Carlo's tasks and would fail Carlo's trust.

Hearing Tesla say this, Carlo smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I believe in your ability, Mr. Tesla. Being able to complete the study of three majors in the same amount of time already shows your talent.

If your university studies hadn't been unfinished, I would have wanted to see you long ago. Since you have come to Spain now, do you have any plans for the future?

Will you enter a Spanish university of technology to continue your advanced studies in related majors, or go directly to work at the Royal Academy of Sciences?"

Spain had also attached great importance to the construction of universities in recent years, and a large number of universities in science and engineering had emerged.

The most representative of these was the Royal College of Science established by Carlo, relying on the Royal Academy of Sciences. The Royal College of Science focused on physics, chemistry, and mathematics, and the professors in the college were almost all academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences, all possessing the level of excellent European scientists.

Under the efforts of these academicians, the Royal College of Science had grown into a famous science university in Spain and even the whole of Europe, with hundreds of international students from other parts of Europe coming to the Royal College of Science to study every year.

Although Tesla was a genius with rare talent, Carlo believed that Spain's Royal College of Science also had sufficient ability to cultivate Tesla.

If these academicians at the Royal College of Science were not enough, Carlo could also spend a high price to hire professors and experts in related fields from other European countries, as long as they could cultivate Tesla.

Under such strong support and cultivation, Carlo dared not imagine how outstanding Tesla's abilities would be in the future.

You know, the Tesla in history only completed one year of university studies and could only learn knowledge through auditing classes afterward.

He lived a life between the library and the university, and such a simple learning process made him one of the most outstanding scientists of this era.

Carlo's cultivation of Tesla was far beyond the level of Tesla's self-study in history. As long as Tesla did not lose his motivation to learn, becoming one of the best scientists of this era was almost within reach.

If Tesla could have more luck in scientific research, perhaps reaching the pinnacle as the greatest scientist of this era was not impossible.

Hearing Carlo's inquiry, Tesla did not rush to answer, but considered it carefully for a long time before saying: "Your Majesty, can I choose to work at the Royal Academy of Sciences and continue my advanced studies in a Spanish science university at the same time?

Both can help me improve my professional ability faster, and I believe I have the confidence to complete both work and study at the same time."

While making this proposal, Tesla was also observing Carlo's expression, worried that such a bold proposal would make Carlo dissatisfied.

Working while studying was inherently a very difficult process. Not to mention that the place where Tesla worked was the Royal Academy of Sciences, which was a top-tier scientific research institution in Spain and even the whole of Europe.

The scientific research projects of the Royal Academy of Sciences must be full of difficulties. Tesla wanted to enter these research projects and also wanted to enter a Spanish science university to pursue his major, which inevitably had the suspicion of wanting it all.

To Tesla's surprise, after hearing his proposal, Carlo not only had no dissatisfaction, but instead showed a smile.

"I was thinking the same thing. I have great faith in your ability and believe you can balance both study and work. Of course, this also depends on your own efforts; you must put in 100% of your energy and effort.

If someone reports to me that you are feeling overwhelmed in your work or studies, then I will consider letting you choose between the Royal Academy of Sciences and university studies.

I believe you understand what I mean, right, Mr. Tesla?" Carlo nodded with a smile, saying this to Tesla, who was gradually showing his confidence.

Tesla nodded quickly, promising: "I will devote all my energy and time to work and study, and I will definitely not let you down, Your Majesty."

Tesla was very passionate about learning and very passionate about conducting scientific experiments and research.

When he was forced to drop out because he could not afford tuition, he did not give up learning, but instead engaged in even more arduous auditing and self-study.

Auditing did not give one the qualification to have university professors answer one's questions. When encountering some difficult problems he could not solve, Tesla could only go to the library to look up relevant materials or slowly figure out ways to solve the problems himself.

After receiving Carlo's scholarship, Tesla not only did not slack off in the slightest, but became even more diligent.

He recorded all the difficult problems he encountered while auditing, and after re-entering the university, he pestered the university professors to ask about these problems.

During his four years at university, Tesla became the most hardworking student at the Graz University of Technology, and his talent and level of effort made many professors at the university marvel.

In fact, long before Tesla graduated from the Graz University of Technology, the university had already contacted Tesla, asking if he was willing to continue his advanced studies at the university, and after completing his studies, he could take on a professor position at the university.

Because Tesla had already reached an agreement with Spain at that time, he quickly rejected the proposal from the Graz University of Technology, which also made many professors at the university feel very regretful.

Carlo naturally knew about Tesla's level of effort at the Graz University of Technology, which was also the reason he believed Tesla could balance work and study, and be trained in both the Royal Academy of Sciences and university studies simultaneously.

Although the Tesla in history never won a Nobel Prize, this was actually a regret for the Nobel Prize. In the 30 years since the establishment of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Tesla had been nominated nine times for his scientific contributions and twice together with Edison.

It was just that Tesla chose to decline them all at the time and did not accept the Nobel Prize in Physics. The first nine times were true humility, and the reason for refusing the last two times when he was selected together with Edison was actually from a sentence by Tesla's good friend Mark Twain: "How can one wife be shared by two people, especially with a habitual thief? Isn't that extremely dangerous?"

Although Tesla never won a Nobel Prize, the proportion of those who were directly inspired by Tesla's research and won the Nobel Prize in Physics reached 27%, which was already a quite exaggerated figure.

The proportion of those indirectly inspired exceeded 65%, which also included Röntgen, who helped Tesla prove the dangers of X-rays and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

Tesla's greatness was beyond doubt. When such a great genius scientist was still willing to put in 100% effort to learn and work, who would dare to imagine what kind of crazy scientific contributions such a genius could create?

The scientific contributions Tesla would create in the future could only be understood in the future, but Carlo believed that with Tesla's help, Spain would be able to achieve more scientific results in electricity, radio, and more fields, thereby accelerating the pace of Spain's development in electricity and radio.

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