My knowledge of electricity and the national grid has completely changed because of one person， of one city.
The city is Nanjing， where Li Xiangjun's blood splattered the peach-blossom fan[1] and this person is Xue Yusheng.
It was a bloody dusk； the wind blew softly over the Yangtze River； and the setting sun was strong. The China Eastern flight to Nanjing was in the process of landing. Gradually the foot of the Purple Mountains and the Nanjing city walls became larger under the plane's wings and the great Yangtze River appeared right in front of my eyes. The autumn mountain glowed in the setting sun whilst the evening mist settled slowly， hovering， the colour of blood. To the east， the great Yangtze River flowed towards the tragic memories of a nation.
In the memory of a person， a city and a nation， it was the failure of Nanjing that gave rise to its splendor. The splendid sunset and the fall of a nation were as overwhelming as a tide， as smoke， submerging an abandoned capital. Because of the Qinhuai River， because of the 'tender land'， because of the failure of the men in this city the women's sweet charms and lofty spirits are reflected. Therefore there is the eternal farewell of 'the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai'[2] . From this aspect， Nanjing actually belongs to the women.
Passing through the skies， looking down at the vastness， I see blood red and snow white. The separation of colors becomes my first and last impression of the old city of Nanjing.
Lost in thoughts of ancient Nanjing and the women's Nanjing， I caught a condor's wing that floated down and entered the present-day Nanjing， the already completely modernized Nanjing city， to seek the long-lost glory of men which should belong to it.
Academician Xue Yusheng sat opposite me in the morning autumnal sun. A ray spilled onto his writing desk， reflecting his rosy face and revealing the passion and heroic emotions of this noble scientist.
I always believed there was an immense magnetic field influ-encing the feelings and relationships between people. Each's feel-ings and impressions when they first meet always influence the subsequent contact between them.
There is no doubt that Academician Xue Yusheng attracted me like a magnet on that autumn morning. This kind of attraction perhaps is indeed due to his exceptional character. Though he was over 60 years old， his magnificent smile bursting forth on his face was like that of a child. Though every day he visited the kingdom of reason， on his body appeared the fervour and creative passion that only poets could possess. This kind of natural disposition was just right for me to engage in this literary creation. My intuition told me that this man was similar to me. Under a refined and culti-vated outward exterior was a poorly wrapped， proud heart.
An aloof spirit is always silently inquiring.
The Purple Mountain is majestic， but where is the genuine height of innovation？ A thousand mountains I walk alone， gazing into the distance on all sides， who could rule the Kunlun Moun-tains？
It was as if Xue Yusheng had guessed my thoughts. He seemed to want me to know that the frontier for China to build an innova-tive nation was the field of national grid. Looking around， if you want to list the independent innovative brands of China that dared to surpass Western advanced powers， you could count the national grid. But he didn't say it in this way. Instead， he used another way， a way a great man of science would use to speak， a way using the plainest language to articulate the most complex problem. He had a clear understanding of the core of the electric power system and gently narrated all this to me in Mandarin mixed with whispers of Wu dialect， speaking in a kind and informal fashion.
"I know it is you who wrote books about the 'Two Bombs and One Satellite' Project. You might regard electricity as nothing out of the ordinary." The opening remarks of Academician Xue gained the upper hand. "Electricity comes easily. You leave work， go back home， press the power switch and the light is immediately on.You turn on the computer power source， and then you can start to write. Because electricity is so common， the complexity of the electricity grid is often taken lightly or even neglected and disre-garded. Actually the world is so big， every seemingly easy thing is actually diffcult. The electrical grid is responsible for the links between numerous regions and all kinds of power sources distrib-uted around the country. Any disturbance will spread at the speed of light. It seems as if there has not been much change in a hundred years. However， in the simple and easy there are immensely diff-cult problems."
Seeing my astonished expression， Academician Xue changed the topic. He answered my question with another question："Do you know which field many US scientists went to after the success of the Apollo mission in the 1960s？"
I shook my head and confessed I didn't know.
"They went to the US National Grid！"
"Why did they go to the national grid？ It's a completely different job. The Apollo mission aspires to exploring outer space whilst the national grid is firmly planted on earth. The two are miles apart！""The complexity of controlling the electrical grid isn't any easier than space control."
"Eh！" I was immediately shocked.
"Control of the guided missiles and atomic bombs you once wrote about， and the current Shenzhou spacecraft and Chang'e satellite that rotate around the moon aren't that diffcult. A disturbed flight trajectory is relatively easy to grasp."
"Is control of the electric system complicated？"
"Mathematicians have never had a clear quantitative analysis method for the stability of the electric system， one that changes into a nonlinear dynamic system in a high dimension."
"Eh！" I nodded in reply.
"Do you know how many dimensions are in a grid？"
I once again sank into clouds and fog， completely at a loss.
"A grid is so complicated that it has over several thousand dimensions. It can even reach up to tens of thousands of dimen-sions. Mathematicians have no way to analyze it. From this perspective， the complexity of grid by far exceeds the 'Two Bombs and One Satellite' Project. "
"Hasn't the group of US scientists who shifted from the Apollo Mission to the electric network figured it out？"
"They haven't！" Academician Xue suddenly shook his head and said， "After they entered the US electrical network， they didn't produce any valuable achievements. It was hard for them to have another success that could once again surprise the world."
"But do you think Chinese electric experts can surprise the world？"
"I daren't say I have solved this diffcult problem myself， but I can hardly avoid saying that Chinese electric experts are getting there step by step. Today， they can already accurately quantise stable levels and the safety margin. The Nanjing Automation Research Institute of the State Grid (simply known as NARI， or now the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute) developed a large power grid security program. The program can optimise the control of high dimensional large power grids， reaching a very high level. It can instantaneously determine risks of power failures and calculate the most economical response. It acts within a few milliseconds so that it can run safely very close to the limit without oscillating or collapsing."
Wow！ I was abruptly filled with a deep veneration for him， a kind of spontaneous admiration. This is how Academician Xue conquered me and made me become his fan. Despite being a fan， I still had a puzzling question that I wanted to clarify with him.
"I have a question for you. As there are power grid safety control mechanisms， known as Xue's scientific law， how does China's power grid safety ratio compare with that of the world's most advanced countries？"
"The structure of China's power grid is still quite weak， but our operation and control technology has its strengths."
"Why do you say that？"
"Since the mid 1980's， China's power grid hasn't experienced any system-wide crashes. No big cities have had major blackouts. However， Europe， America， Japan and Russia have all experienced major power cuts."
"In which countries did the national grids crash？"
"The US Grid. The US and Canadian grids had a major power cut in 2003. The grid split and it took them three days to restore power."
"Are there any others？"
"In Europe， there was a citywide blackout in Berlin."
"When was the power cut in Russia？"
"Not long after we entered the 21st century. The Moscow power cut was right in the middle of winter when the temperature was -40℃. So there were many losses."
"Did Japan have a power cut？"
"Tokyo had a power cut！"
"Salute！ Academician Xue！" I， a military writer， jumped from my seat and made a standard military salute to Xue and other men working for the state grid.
That morning， we talked until half past twelve. Then Xi Ping， director of the press center of NARI， came in and asked us to have lunch， so our talk temporarily drew to an end. Standing up， I mockingly said to Academician Xue， "I have to hang up. But our talk hasn't finished. We should find a time to continue our conver-sation."
"I am honoured！" Academician Xue gave a hearty laugh.
After going downstairs， we drove to a restaurant for lunch. We had local Hangzhou dishes. Xue broke his principles that day. He drank some wine though he could not bear much.
After several cups of wine， Academician Xue's passion was ignited by the alcohol. He suddenly revealed a childlike and naive side. He said， "Xu Jian， you are such an impressive writer. I've seen a lot of journalists， but none of them reaches the depth and the sensitivity you have in our conversation. This morning， you got everything I wanted to say and didn't."
"Oh， Academician Xue， I am flattered！" I gulped and said， "Actu-ally I have another question. It's about your family background. It's not a trade secret， right？"
"Of course not."
"Your name easily makes people think of the Xue family in Dream of the Red Chamber."
"That's not my family！ That Xue family is an uneducated family of merchants， but my family has good cultural taste， haha！"
"Tell me more about it？"
"There were two great economists under Chairman Mao； they are both from the Xue family."
"Heavens！ Is it true？"
"Xue Muqiao is my father's cousin， and Sun Yefang is my uncle.""Xue Muqiao's surname was Xue. That's no secret. But Sun Yefang's surname definitely isn't Xue."
"His original name was Xue E'guo. In 1925， he was sent to the Soviet Union to study and work. When he returned in 1930 he became Sun Yefang to facilitate his work."
"But Mao liked Xue Muqiao more than Sun Yefang anyway."
"It's only natural. Uncle Xue is the father of the planned economy of New China， and Uncle Sun is the earliest advocator of today's market economy. But they're all pure Bolsheviks."
He is really an academician. His speech is watertight and accu-rate.
"What about your family now？"
"Now three of my generation are academicians."
"I know you are one of them， who are the other two？"
"One is in Zhengzhou University； the other is in Nanjing University."
"How awesome！ Three academicians in one family！ The men of your family are splendors of Nanjing！"
"Hey！" Academician Xue said， "Writers always have pretty words！"
"You're flattering me！ But I'm not tricking you. Actually your charm conquered me."
"You also conquered me." I didn't expect a sixty-year-old man to be so humble.
"Haha！ We appreciate each other， one hero pitying another."
That day I drank so much that my face turned red， but Acade-mician Xue's face was even redder.
Driving back to the NARI， we were a bit tipsy. Half sober and half drunk， I raised the question of creativity to Academician Xue.
"When everyone says something is good， it does not necessarily mean that it is creative. When everyone says something is not good， perhaps it implies innovation. This is because the truth often lies in the hands of the few. I'd rather walk through thousands of mountains alone. Only by 'rebelling against orthodoxy' can I stand out."
"Is this Mr. Xue's law， or Mr. Xue's philosophy？"
"What do you think？"
"Mr. Xue's philosophy， of course."
"You really know me， Xu Jian！"
"Haha！" At that time， we， facing the autumn air of Nanjing， let out a brilliant laugh and childlike smiles.
注 释
[1]. The Peach-Blossom Fan (Chinese：桃花扇) is a musical play and historical drama. The play recounts the death of the Ming Dynasty through the love story of its two main characters， young scholar Hou Fangyu (侯方域) and courtesan Li Xiangjun (李香君)， the Fragrant Princess. The story takes place in Nanjing.
[2]. Seven of the "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" went through turmoil when the Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty. Many of the Ming offcials were corrupt and they betrayed the country for power and wealth. On the contrary， the eight courtesan women showed lofty spirits and patriotism when the country was faced with outside attack.