"Water will not burn because water is a product of combustion. Just like the ashes burned by firewood will not burn again...
The essence of fuel is the result of a violent chemical reaction between the oxygen in the fuel air. Water is the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen burning..."
Zhang Changsheng waited for Zhang Yi to finish his answer and fell into deep thought. When Zhang Yi saw his father putting down his pen and thinking, he smiled and stopped talking, waiting for him to think quietly.
The questions in "One Hundred Thousand Whys" are standard childlike questions.
When people grow up, there will always be a stage when they are full of curiosity about the world, and then ask many seemingly naive questions.
Why is the sky blue...?
Where do children come from and so on...
Parents may ask these questions casually, or they may use words to stop them from asking any more questions.
Or, the sages of various schools of thought or religious masters will try to answer these questions with their understanding of the world, but the direction of the answers often leads to philosophy and theology...
Few ancient people would seriously study these issues in the scope of natural science, because most people who study the laws of nature are not of high class.
But there is an exception for one group. They travel outside the mainstream class, but for the goal of "immortality", they have made many unexpected inventions. This group is the alchemists, and later gradually evolved into Taoist priests. They are probably the most powerful among the ancients. One of the groups close to science…
The Zhang family of Longhu Mountain is naturally the leader of this group.
As one of the originators of the origin of outer alchemy, the Zhang family is very concerned about alchemy. Even if time has changed, outer alchemy has long declined and been replaced by the safer inner alchemy.
The research on the longevity of Waidan has long been proven, and now it has no second effect except using it to trick the emperor to death.
The people of the old Zhang family have not lost this skill. After all, the art of external alchemy is the facade left by the ancestor Zhang Daoling. Although in the past years, the heavenly masters in Longhu Mountain have not become immortals because of alchemy, let alone dare to do it. The emperor, like a layman, took the golden elixir desperately and eventually ate himself to death.
But Zhang Yi knew that Zhang Pongli was still an alchemist and would occasionally take these golden elixirs.
Therefore, he would stop thinking about fire and burning.
In order to inspire his father, he decided to change "One Hundred Thousand Whys".
"What is heavy metal poisoning..."
Zhang Changshang stopped thinking and continued to record. The more he wrote, the deeper his frown deepened...
This naughty kid seems to be destroying the faith he has held on to for many years in another way.
Lao Zhang raised his head and looked at Zhang Yi with complicated eyes.
If it were the past, he would have been furious and called Zhang Yi a evil star and a devil.
But at this time, he didn't reply and continued to copy what Zhang Yi said.
From time to time, Zhang Changsheng would ask his own why?
Zhang Yi answered truthfully based on his own understanding.
"According to you, the alchemy skills of our Zhang family have no meaning, and we can't become immortals?"
Zhang Changsheng couldn't bear Zhang Yi's answer, and finally showed his shame and confusion.
Although the heavenly masters of the Zhang family have long stopped using external elixirs as their main way of practice, this is after all the belief of the old Zhang family.
"On the contrary, in the future world, when future generations look back at the past, the things we alchemists tinkered with have had a great impact on the world, just like Patriarch Ge Hong... Just like the sages who tinkered with gunpowder, my son thought that alchemy In essence, it is also a method to explore the origin of the world, and studying the laws of all things is its greatest significance!”
Zhang Yi's words were confusing, but they were in line with Zhang's normal understanding. Anyway, the way people among gods speak is not to speak human words.
Study the origin of things...
Are those recorded in One Hundred Thousand Whys the original laws of the world? Where is the immortal?
Lao Zhang fell into deep thought and soon became very interested.
The art of external alchemy has long been in decline, because no matter whether the Taoist priests admit it or not, from various emperors such as the First Emperor to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, to the alchemists themselves, too many people in history have had accidents due to taking external elixirs. Gradually, except for some alchemists who like to take risks to seek wealth. Taoist priests from wealthy families like the Zhang family are rarely willing to offer longevity prescriptions to the emperor.
The disproportionate risk and benefit is one of the reasons. The core reason is that taking Waidan can lead to longevity, which they themselves do not believe.
For someone like Zhang Zongzhong who is serious about alchemy, it can only be said that he is in true love.
"I see!"
Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his father taking his words seriously.
By admonishing Mr. Zhang to take pills in this indirect way, maybe he can really live a few more years in the future.
"Your book is very interesting. I will write the rest when I have time and send it to Longhu Mountain at any time!"
Lao Zhang went through it carefully, but he still had more to say. Because he disliked Zhang Yi's ugly handwriting, he also copied what Zhang Yi had just written with pencil again.
Zhang Yi looked at Zhang Chenggong silently. The father and son were silent, but the atmosphere was not awkward. He looked at the half pencil left in his hand, took out a piece of paper, and started drawing on the paper.
The next day, morning.
Zhang Changsheng finally finished copying what Zhang Yi had written, but found that his son had fallen asleep. He smiled, put away all the papers on the table, and prepared to enter the palace.
At the fourth watch, noisy sounds began to appear on the streets of Yingtian Mansion.
The people began to be busy with their daily livelihood, and the officials of the imperial court also began to prepare to go to court.
The well-informed court officials heard some shocking news as soon as they got up.
"Zhang family, Kong family..."
Yingtian Mansion is not big, and things within the palace walls are not airtight unless the emperor deliberately conceals them.
Regarding the emperor's meeting with Yan Shenggong yesterday, it reached the ears of officials through various channels.
"Traitor, your Majesty's evaluation of Yan Shenggong is actually like this?"
"The Holy One directly dismissed Kong Kejian? He replaced Kong Xixue as Duke Yan. Also, Kong Kejian was left in Yingtian Mansion, and the emperor also asked..."
Somewhere in Yingtian Mansion, Li Shanchang, the left minister of Zhongshu Province, fell into silence after listening to his subordinates' report. Soon, he laughed:
"Your Majesty is still the same Majesty. Since he left the Zhang family as a hostage, there is no reason why the Kong family should not leave some things. Our Holy One cannot tolerate both snake and mouse..."
"Okay, get ready to go to court!"
Li Shanchang tidied up his appearance and went out!
"Your Majesty, it is very dangerous to do this..."
Another place in Yingtian Mansion is Liu Mansion.
Liu Ji, the imperial censor, was very worried after hearing what his servant said.
"No matter what Kong Kejian is, he is a descendant of the most holy teacher Kong Shengren. His majesty is so impulsive, but it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world...
However, the Kong family did go too far! "
…
When Zhang Changsheng and his son arrived in front of the palace gate, they unexpectedly found someone earlier than him.
Kong Xixue, the newly promoted Yanshenggong, stood alone in the cold wind. Without Kong Kejian, he seemed alone.
Zhang Chengcheng went over to say hello to him, but Kong Xixue looked indifferent.
The two heads of the aristocratic families stood together in front of the palace gate waiting to be received. Not long after, hundreds of officials came to court one after another.
Kong Xixue raised his head and looked at these officials. It was just different from yesterday.
Most of the enthusiastic officials yesterday walked past without squinting.
When they passed by Kong Xixue, they couldn't help but quicken their pace.
This subtle change made Kong Xixue feel more and more that in response to the wind of Tianfu,
So cold!
(End of chapter)
