It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng mumbled, "It's nothing, it's nothing..."

"What a joke!" Annie blurted out in a fit of rage. "Do you even know how badly you've hurt me? You have to take responsibility! Hurry up and figure something out!"

At this moment, the servants around had all dispersed in disappointment, indicating that this was it?

Li Cheng said, sweating profusely, "Let me ask you first, how would you like me to help?"

Anne's eyes darted around, finally revealing her scheme: "I was upstairs just now, and I think I heard you talking about getting Newton as a professor—tell me the truth, do you know someone really influential at the school? Could you ask him to talk to my advisor and get this paper waived?"

Although the guy guessed wrong, Li Cheng was even more embarrassed: "Don't you think this is a bit of a waste of talent?"

"Then just let me graduate!" Annie shouted defiantly. "I trusted you so much back then because of Isaac, and you made me get scolded by my advisor for no reason. Besides, I helped you out, you have to..."

Li Cheng couldn't help but interrupt, "You just don't want to do your homework, right?"

Annie, whose secret had been exposed, didn't feel embarrassed at all. She nodded confidently and said, "Yes! So you can give me a paper that won't be discovered by my advisor."

Li Cheng countered, "Why don't you just let me write one for you?"

Anne exclaimed happily, "Is that alright?"

Surely not! Aren't you worried about the characters being different?

He was instantly furious. He was now the lackey of the Third Princess and the dignified Principal of Cambridge—was it appropriate for the Principal to do students' homework?

Li Cheng took a deep breath and said, "Calm down first, don't be so anxious, there might be other possibilities..." As he spoke, he released Annie's wrist, trying to end the current situation first.

This time, Annie reacted quickly, grabbing his hand and showing no sign of letting him off the hook.

Li Cheng had a toothache and asked, "Aren't you afraid that my thesis will be discovered by the supervisor again?"

Annie shook her head and said, "It's too late for me to write it myself. You have to help me write one that won't give me away."

Seeing her attitude of "I'll keep bothering you until you help me," Li Cheng felt really uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do.

The situation has reached a stalemate.

Just as Li Cheng's mind was racing, he heard a servant's greeting coming from outside.

"Master Stoller, you're back?"

"Ah."

As they talked, Stoller, dressed in a suit and leaning on a cane, walked into the living room from outside.

Then, the first thing he saw was Li Cheng and Annie standing close together in the center of the living room.

The two locked eyes and clasped hands tightly. Annie, like a long-lost friend, was excited and kept saying something. Although Li Cheng couldn't see her expression, he could guess what she was saying from her trembling shoulders.

"You two have a really good relationship. Back in the day, Amy and I..." Stoller smiled and said to Li Cheng, "You've already returned from Princess Veronica's place? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"what?!"

Annie, who was having a heated discussion about having someone else do her homework, screamed in surprise when she heard her father's voice. Then, like a mouse seeing a cat, she hurriedly pulled her hand back, not daring to utter a word.

"Oh my god, my savior has finally arrived..." Li Cheng's spirits lifted, and he quickly turned 120 degrees and bowed to the other party: "Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Stoller. His Highness did not harm me."

"Hehe, I didn't actually do anything."

Stoller spoke the truth, and then, seeing that Anne was standing quietly to the side without asking any questions, he asked curiously, "What were you two talking about just now?"

Don't tell!

Annie tapped Li Cheng on the back as a subtle hint, which Stoller noticed, making him smile even more.

That's practically screaming "I have a problem" on her face... Li Cheng sighed inwardly and said helplessly, "It's nothing, Miss Annie just encountered... a little trouble."

Stoller didn't press for details: "Is it a matter for young people?"

Copying homework should be considered something young people do, right...? Li Cheng vaguely replied, "Yeah."

"You two can continue your conversation. I'll be going now."

Having obtained an answer that roughly matched his guess, Stoller nodded in satisfaction and walked towards the inner room with his cane... Although he still had some things to say, he decided not to disturb the young people's reunion.

Just then, Li Cheng caught up with him and stopped him, saying, "Wait a minute, Mr. Stoller, I have something to discuss with you..."

Stoller stopped and looked at Li Cheng with a puzzled expression, waiting for him to continue speaking.

Li Cheng thought about it. Since Stole had treated him with sincerity and tried to rescue him after he was taken away by the Third Princess, he could also be more honest. After all, he didn't have any allies in this world.

He said seriously, "It's related to Princess Veronica."

“Veronica…”

The name made Stoller frown, because so many things were related to the other person, which made him have to treat it with caution.

He pointed into the room with his cane: "Let's go to the study."

......

After entering the study, Stoller first placed a wooden stool opposite him before sitting down behind the desk.

"Sit down," he gestured.

There are seats available! This is an improvement in treatment... Li Cheng thanked them and sat down on the wooden stool.

“Now we can talk about Veronique,” ​​Stoller said in a deep voice.

"Ah."

Li Cheng responded and recounted everything that had happened in the small dark room to Stoller, including Veronique's purpose, his appointment and upcoming tasks, as well as supporting the new nobles and merchants.

However, he reserved his stance on the church, not saying he wanted to support Protestants or abolish bishops, but only that he wanted to suppress the church and consolidate some of its power—after all, in the West, faith is unpredictable, and what if Stoller was a staunch believer in the state church?

Little do people know that many upheavals in British history were caused by faith, and James II is specifically criticized as a famously hypocritical figure in Britain.

On the one hand, this guy demanded freedom of religion for Catholics in the name of "freedom of religion" and forced bishops of the state church to read from the altars of various dioceses, thus offending the state church; on the other hand, he cruelly persecuted Puritans, thus offending the new aristocracy and the bourgeoisie.

He offended both the established church and the Puritan church, and the Glorious Revolution was inextricably linked to this mess he made; at the very least, it was a major catalyst for it.

Chapter 41 Working Overtime Together

The conversation with Stoller wasn't very informative; it was more of an expression of an attitude.

However, Li Cheng still managed to glean some information from the conversation.

For example, Carter, the president of the Merchants' Guild, had a good relationship with Stoller. However, the Merchants' Guild had a loose structure and insufficient control over the merchants. Minor issues could be resolved through discussion, but when it came to matters of fundamental interest, there weren't many options.

This caused Li Cheng's initial plan to cooperate directly with the business guild leader to fail, forcing him to find another way.

In addition, Stoller also subtly expressed his wish that Li Cheng not be too involved.

Li Cheng himself strongly agrees with this, believing that going with the tide of the times is undoubtedly a safer and simpler approach than getting embroiled in complex political struggles.

Meanwhile, Li Cheng agreed to help Annie write her thesis, but with some conditions attached.

------

Several days later.

221 Baker Street.

The lilac blossoms on the tree exude a delicate fragrance, trying their best to attract the swarms of bees and butterflies to ravage them.

Sunlight streamed easily through the gaps in the leaves, into the open window, and onto the desk.

Li Cheng was sitting at his desk. After spending several days and nights alone in his room, he had finally completed one of his preparations...

"Hmm~"

He put down the quill pen in his hand and stretched wearily.

From its invention in the 6th century until the 19th century, Europe used the quill pen, an inexpensive writing tool, to record every stage of civilization's progress.

However, while writing with a quill pen looks quite elegant, the actual writing experience is really not good. There is a noticeable friction at the tip; it's okay for rounded letters, but writing square characters is simply torture.

As a result, after several days of intensive writing, Li Cheng felt his hands were going to go numb.

"No, this won't do. How did it suddenly become a ten-hour workday for me? I've been trying so hard to be a hands-off manager, how come I'm so ridiculously busy?"

Li Cheng first looked at the large pile of drafts and completed manuscripts on the table in front of him, accumulated from his days of writing, then turned to look at Elizabeth, who had somehow wandered in and was now leisurely dozing in the sun, before finally lowering his head and falling into deep thought.

Did the 996 work schedule after time travel go wrong?

Moreover, others work 996 to earn money, but he doesn't lack money. Isn't there something wrong with working 996 and so on? Is it wrong to work so hard to meet deadlines?

By the way, Elizabeth is the little white kitten, named by Newton, and Li Cheng has no right to interfere.

After reflecting for a moment, Li Cheng took out a few sheets of paper from the drawer: "I need to get a few people to work overtime with me. I can't be the only one working 996... Let me think about who to ask. Roy will do."

"I heard he's planning to take leave recently to travel to Poole in the southwest."

Thinking of this, Li Cheng's lips twitched involuntarily, and his eyes turned sinister: "As the boss, I'm forced to work overtime here, and he actually wants to go to the beach to sunbathe. Even if he was sent by Stoller, it won't work."

Having identified his target, he picked up his quill pen again, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

【Dear Roy Sanchez】

[It's been a few days. How have you been? I've recently developed some interest in the British textile industry, but I've been too busy preparing for my new position to get away. So I remembered Mr. Stoller saying that I could ask you for any help I might need, and thus I'm taking the liberty of asking you for two favors.]

[My first request is for you to help me gather information about the textile industry, focusing primarily on key figures and the attitudes of textile unions.]

[My second request is that you help me find a few trustworthy blacksmiths, the kind who can speak their mind. Technically, I'd prefer them to be skilled in fine craftsmanship, as I have a few sudden ideas that I'd like them to forge privately.]

These two things aren't urgent; they can be completed within a month.

Aber Lee

After finishing the letter, Li Cheng nodded in satisfaction.

Clothing is a basic necessity, and the Industrial Revolution, which began with the textile industry, was not without reason.

Sheep farming and wool textiles were originally two main sources of revenue for the British government, providing a solid foundation for this.

Secondly, with the improvement of textile equipment and the increase in production efficiency, the demand for wool will increase. The high profits will then attract some nobles to convert land originally used for farming into sheep farming.

Farmers who lose their land and have no means of livelihood can only become wage laborers, flowing into cities and joining the production process of the wool textile industry, further increasing the demand for wool, thus creating a negative feedback mechanism.

In this process, the new aristocracy and the bourgeoisie become increasingly powerful, while the old aristocracy becomes increasingly weak.

But everything needs to be done slowly, there's no rush.

After packing the letter to Roy, Li Cheng suddenly felt something was missing, as if he had forgotten someone. It wasn't until a moment later, when he saw Elizabeth again, that he realized what was going on.

Oh, and we can't forget Veronica, the culprit. We need to find her something to do too...

He thought for a moment and then pulled out another sheet of paper, picked up a quill pen, and dipped it in ink.