CHAPTER 10
The next morning, Hedy went to find Leonardo to discuss the matter.
What she wanted to create was a bit complicated and would require some help.
Leonardo was sitting at the table, spreading jam on some bread. When he saw his old friend, he waved his hand and said, "Would you like some bread?"
"No, I actually came to talk to you about something," Hedy said, and upon seeing him, her mind instinctively recalled those abandoned city plans and chariot designs.
This was an opportunity to help both of them get more opportunities.
"Mr. Medici will celebrate his birthday on January 1st," she said, gazing at him. "I would like to make a gift for him together with you."
Leonardo noticed the measure word she used and raised an eyebrow. "What? A jeweled time-telling bird?"
"No," Hedy laughed. "Do you remember the 'automatic piano' I mentioned to you before?"
Leonardo's eyes instantly brightened.
"I'll go get some paper and a pen! Tell me all about it!"
That invention carried so many of her memories.
Hedy had grown up in a wealthy family, and after receiving a good education, she entered the film industry. She wasn't really a scientist.
During the time before and after World War II, people held many prejudices and treated women harshly. Even if one had true talent and knowledge, it might not be recognized.
In a way, the frustrations she had faced in her youth were just as many as those of Leonardo.
Hedy had a natural talent for observing various things and was able to think broadly, connecting many different ideas together.
Her beauty attracted many influential people, which in turn gave her access to new things in many fields.
During World War II, a typical problem was the radio signal frequency bands—
The radio frequencies themselves were fixed, and once a signal was intercepted, submarines could evade it quickly, causing even more damage.
The German military frequently won due to their advanced signal interception systems, with battlefields engulfed in smoke and fire. People lived in fear and despair.
At that time, Hedy was only twenty-five years old and had no experience in the military field.
But she felt that she should do something.
And she actually went ahead and did it.
The principle behind the idea was quite simple—
As long as they could use wireless communication technology to allow the launch boats to be controlled more flexibly, they could gain an advantage in the war.
The key was that the enemy could not discover this communication frequency, intercept it, or even cut it off.
Her first thought was a remote control.
In those days, the remote control had just been invented. By turning a circular dial, one could change television and radio channels.
If a piece of information was broadcast in segments on different channels, even if the enemy intercepted a small part of it, they wouldn’t be able to affect the overall plan.
—But that wasn’t a very practical idea.
It was then that she met a brilliant American composer at a friend’s party.
This man played jazz piano brilliantly and was eloquent, with a sharp mind.
More importantly, his brother had been killed by the German army.
—George Antheil.
So, Hedy wrote down her phone number with lipstick on his windshield.
Together, they came up with three inventions. Without any engineering background, they sketched out numerous designs and wrote detailed and clear documentation.
The core component of their work was the automatic piano.
By printing different holes on a paper roll, which could be moved by a bellows, the piano would seem to play itself, with coordination and resonance far beyond ten fingers.
If the launch boat and torpedo each had identical miniature piano rolls, they could start playing the pre-recorded information at the same time, achieving frequency-hopping communication across eighty-eight different bands—
Just like the black and white piano keys being pressed on different parts, communication would jump across different frequencies.
The related documents and ideas were eventually adopted by the American Inventor’s Association and sent to the California Institute of Technology.
Professors at the institute created electronic devices based on these ideas and filed a complete patent for the entire technology.
However, many years later, Hedy was still accused by journalists of using her beauty to steal industry secrets as a female spy.
—The reason was that her first husband was an arms dealer from Austria.
They refused to believe that such a great design could have come from a woman.
The media, of course, relentlessly pursued the story, like hyenas, eager to dig up some dark secrets.
When she gave her last interview, her tone was rather calm.
"I know what I did."
"I don't care what others say."
At this point, Hedy's pen paused for a moment.
Even after all these years, as she recounted the principles behind the piano roll again, her thoughts were still flowing smoothly and clearly.
Different parts and linked structures were drawn in intuitive sketches. Though there were some grammatical and spelling errors in the Italian annotations, they were enough to help others understand the concepts further.
She picked up her pen again and suddenly felt much more at peace.
If it could be created once more, it would be a mechanical design that would change the world.
It wasn’t just a flattery gift.
It was the key to opening the door of ideals.
Medicine, engineering, military, economics—
She would have more influence, using that to transform Florence into a more stable and secure place.
Once the survival problems were completely solved, she could think about enjoying herself on vacations in other countries.
As long as the issues between Italy and France weren’t resolved, she couldn’t afford to relax her vigilance.
What was most impressive about Leonardo da Vinci was his unparalleled understanding and associative thinking abilities.
Even though some of the explanatory text was grammatically messy, he could roughly grasp the overall concept after just a few quick looks.
"Do you mean that we first use a piano to create a paper roll, and then use another piano to have the roll control the keys' movements?"
Hedy nodded in agreement and bent down to annotate a section of text.
"The first thing to make is the striking mechanism."
Medieval pianos came in two types: one struck the strings, and the other plucked them.
The early pianos had heavy keys but weak high notes, which were not as pleasant as later models.
The paper roll itself would be divided into several columns, each with different holes.
The wind would pass through those gaps to trigger air valves, which in turn would drive the wooden fingers to strike the strings.
As long as this mechanism was properly made, the rest would be no problem.
Leonardo and she talked for about two hours before he gathered the stack of drawings and closed the door.
"I'll come back later—let me think for a bit!"
Then, this farewell lasted nearly ten days.
Hedy understood this very well.
After all, to make this invention, one not only needed to understand the mechanical structure of the piano but also needed to figure out how to design the air valves.
She only needed to propose the core idea; the rest was up to fate.
On the other side, Lorenzo stared at the bill his subordinate had brought, his brow furrowed for a long time without speaking.
He had initially thought the young woman's idea was somewhat ridiculous, but he had still sent someone to investigate.
Based on his previous understanding, the Medici family, being a banking family, should have a mature and reliable business system. Occasional mismanagement wouldn’t be a major issue.
But the information Cosimo had gathered from other investigators… was very unsettling.
His genius financial manager was not only pocketing money and extorting bribes but was also secretly transferring multiple properties under his name.
That scoundrel!
As the heir to a massive fortune, he was too busy with official matters to personally sort through hundreds of real estate investments and liquid assets, not to mention the vast and complex businesses.
These matters were originally handed over to trusted individuals or old partners arranged by his grandfather.
But the truth was, if this loophole had been discovered later, the entire vast enterprise could have been hollowed out by these parasites.
He restrained the urge to smash something, and his anger was continually suppressed by reason.
"Scoundrels!!"
Cosimo pretended not to hear anything.
It had been a long time since the lord had cursed anyone, and this situation was indeed hard to clean up.
Before some people could even enjoy a fulfilling and relaxing Christmas, they were all dragged into court.
Those who needed to be prosecuted were, and those who needed to be accused were as well—none were spared!
For those issues that could be resolved legally, they were sued into bankruptcy, with all the assets to be reclaimed, including interest.
For those matters that couldn't be solved legally, private law would have to do.
The incident was so big that it stirred up quite a few people both inside and outside the city.
—The Medici family's mismanagement turned out to be an internal problem?!
—Word is that a few of the main culprits were sent to the gallows!
—This is blasphemy against God! They deserve to be sent straight to the eighteen levels of hell!
Some were whipped, others had their newly bought estates and farms taken away, and some would spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Various rumors and news began to spread, sounding like the bells were ringing in the surrounding city-states.
Not only did many people within the banking industry become more cautious and upright, but many potential clients who had intended to collaborate also breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that the restructuring had finally begun.