In order to create a peaceful place for himself to easily write a bound volume, a certain prince specially sent people to find a relatively spacious house outside the East Palace as a place for the courtiers to wait for their orders.
It is said to be a place for everyone to rest on call, but it is actually a chess and card room for middle-aged and elderly men. The main business is playing mahjong, otherwise a group of people would have to code the Great Wall in front of a certain prince.
It doesn't matter if they play well, but the problem is that everyone is as stupid as a pig, especially the chief minister and the minister of household affairs, who regard each other as pig teammates.
Feng Quan, the Minister of Rites, is a new member of the hemp-making army, so he is seriously inexperienced. He wanted to give Xue Guoguan a card, but he was not good at playing cards, so he frequently fired shots at Zhang Guowei and Wu Di.
If he hadn't given Xue Guoguan a heavy gift before, he would have thought that this guy was an accomplice of the other party. He looked very smart, but turned out to be a loser. He wanted to kick Feng Quan out of the game.
That is to say, Hong Chengchou and Zuo Maodi were not here. Otherwise, with these two victorious generals holding the battle, some of the people at the table might not even think about playing tricks for two hours.
Ever since he came into contact with this brand-new game, the First Assistant asked a certain prince for a pair of mahjong, which he took home to enjoy with his wife, concubines, and children.
After a few days, mahjong became the first choice entertainment item for everyone in the house. Xue Guoguan could hardly get involved when he got home from get off work, and he watched anxiously from the side.
With fairly good qualifications, I can't say how easy it is for the chief assistant to play Hu Pai now, but he no longer easily fires off his opponents, which is why he can't stand Feng Quan, who is like a newborn calf.
Furthermore, mahjong is a small matter but an official career is a big deal. People who are deeply favored by the saints almost all have extraordinary playing skills. Although Sun Chuanting has never played the game, he is very good at seeing it. If he plays mahjong, he will definitely not be a good person.
Xue Guoguan usually only cares about his daughter's situation and reads the news in the newspaper. He also accepts gifts from his colleagues and how to improve his mahjong level.
He had a strong premonition that he would not be able to play mahjong well and that the first assistant would not be able to sit firmly. Not only would he stand out from the crowd with his card skills, he would also have to be able to not be at the bottom.
Mahjong looks simple and can be learned by ordinary people, but it is very difficult to play well. It involves many abilities such as memory, mental arithmetic, insight, game play, etc. Especially six-player mahjong, it is far from as humble as throwing dice.
No one has ever seen the prince playing mahjong, but everyone agreed that with the prince's amazing brainpower and the guidance of His Majesty Taizu Gao, playing such a game must be easy, so it would be better to invite His Highness to watch the game...
A certain prince was meeting with an old man and four young men. Among them, the prince-in-law Gong Yonggu was a pure trustworthy person, and the editor-in-chief Fang Yizhi and Jie Xuan, who had just come to hug him, were accompanying him.
The real protagonists are Wang Zheng and Bo Jue, who were famous in the late Ming Dynasty. One from the north and one from the south, one old and one young. They are considered to be the highest level in the scientific community of the Great Confrontation Dynasty.
Wang Zheng came from Shandong with his family on orders, while Bo Jue was in Beijing to review Teacher Xu's posthumous work - "Chongzhen Almanac"!
Xu Guangqi can only be regarded as the chief editor of this book. Many magicians, including Tang Ruowang, Long Huamin, Luo Yagu, Deng Yuhan, etc., helped translate the astronomical works of Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler and others.
After Teacher Xu ascended to the throne, the armed warlock was mainly responsible for organizing it. Since the main content of the book was astronomy and calendar, and Xu Guangqi recommended it after recognizing his ability, Bo Jue was fortunate enough to join the review team.
"Getting two geniuses in this palace is like getting a hundred thousand soldiers!"
When Jiexuan heard the prince's comment, he was immediately puzzled, as if he had heard of it somewhere...
"Your Highness is so complimentary!"
Wang Zheng is almost seventy years old. Fortunately, he had a day of rest after arriving in Beijing. Otherwise, if he came directly to see him, his old bones would almost fall apart.
Hearing the prince's praise, the old man with a gray beard hurriedly stood up and saluted with sincerity. It was gratifying to see the Holy Emperor in his lifetime and to be praised like this.
"It is truly worthy of the name, and it is definitely not a false compliment. I have long heard of the talents of the two of you. Although they are very different in age, they are both young and old, regardless of their background in exploring science."
Yao Ji is ten years old this year, Bo Jue is one year old at thirty, and Wang Zheng will soon be laid to rest. It can be regarded as a classic combination of old, middle and young.
"Cao Min comes from a poor background, so he would never dare to associate with His Highness!"
Accompanying a prince is like accompanying a tiger. Bo Jue has heard many "kind deeds" of the prince during these days in the capital.
"I heard that Zhang Guowei recommended Mr. Bo to the court, but he has no intention of pursuing an official career. Is this true?"
Zhang Guowei has a sharp eye, but Bo Jue is a very clumsy person and will not buy into Chief Engineer Zhang's account at all.
"... Bo Jue was born idle and has been idle for a long time. After becoming an official, he is only afraid of violating the rules, but I hope His Highness will show mercy!"
Zhang Guowei had good intentions, and he couldn't offend the prince at this time. Bo Jue could only take the blame on himself.
Yao Ji didn't mind this excuse, but started another line and said: "I plan to establish the Ming Academy of Sciences and recruit two talents with similar talents from all over the world to join, brainstorm, study science, and explore mysteries. I wonder if you two are interested. Join the Academy of Sciences? You can become an academician upon admission, enjoy an annual salary of one thousand taels, and have no less than several thousand taels of scientific research funds at your disposal."
Talents like Wang Zheng and Bo Jue do not need to take exams. They can be admitted directly with a nod.
As the gap between the level of scientific development and that of the West at the same time was widening, the imperial court was in great need of such top talents.
Lao Wangtou is proficient in physics and machinery, and Xiao Xianrou is fond of astronomy and mathematics, which complement each other's strengths and can be used to his own advantage.
The two looked at each other, obviously thinking about it. This was a big deal, and they needed to think carefully before agreeing.
Everyone has read the recruitment information published in the newspaper, but if you really want to join it, you still have some concerns.
Bo Jue has always liked an unfettered life, and does not want to be put under supervision, so he plans to politely decline: "Thanks to His Highness's holy family, Bo Jue is grateful, but..."
Yaoji had already guessed what he wanted to say. Fishing these days requires bait, especially for big fish. He interrupted with a smile: "It doesn't matter. I heard that Mr. likes to study astronomy. Do you know where we are?" What is the distance between the earth and the moon?”
When the prince asked such a question, not only Bo Jue, but also Jie Xuan, Fang Yizhi and others were very curious. However, the prince's knowledge would not raise such questions rashly and he would know the answer in time.
Through communication with Warlock Tang, Bo Jue already understood the general knowledge of Western astronomy, but he didn't think much about how to know the distance between the two planets. He couldn't think of it for the time being: "Your Highness, please forgive Cao Min for being stupid. I really can't." Know!”
Wang Zheng was also confused. This question seemed too profound for them, and it would not be easy to solve it.
When Yaoji saw everyone looking at a loss, he realized that it was time to show his superiority in some aspects: "The ancient Greek scientist Archimedes believed that the distance from the earth to the moon is sixty-two earth radii. The mathematician Hipparchus believed that there were only sixty radii of the earth and gave a calculation formula. And the Asia Minor people, Hipparchus, the current Lumi people, obtained the parallax of the moon by observing the solar eclipse, and then calculated The distance between the earth and the moon is about 370,000 kilometers. The data measured by the fairy world through large astronomical machinery is that the perigee is more than 350,000 kilometers and the apogee is more than 400,000 kilometers. The average of the two is three More than 180,000 kilometers.”
Through careful observation, a certain prince discovered that the expressions of this group of people before and after listening to his story were not much different. They all had a look of dementia.
Or maybe I feel that I spoke too quickly and haven’t understood yet. Or there is no relevant knowledge in the mind at all, and hearing goes in through the left ear and out through the right ear.
"...Your Highness is a great talent!"
After nearly ten seconds, Gong Yonggu was the first to flatter him, while the others were still in a dreamlike state, unable to extricate themselves.
Although Gong Yonggu heard it half-understood, as long as it was something he didn't understand, he would feel unclear when it came from the prince's mouth.
He also gradually understood a truth. In the past, reciting poems and competing with his friends was as ridiculous as ants in front of the advanced knowledge mastered by the prince. From now on, he must be humble and accept the teachings.
Not only Bo Jue and Wang Zheng, but also Jie Xuan and Fang Yizhi were involved in astronomical knowledge. However, the content that Prince Shicai described and wrote was so shocking that even he had difficulty digesting it for a while.
Yaoji didn't intend to stop there yet, so he simply struck while the iron was hot and gave these top talents an enlightenment: "With the help of the transit of Venus, plus the triangular parallax algorithm and related laws, we can get that the distance between the earth and the sun is 140 million. Nineteen million kilometers!”
These young and old talented people were left dumbfounded, looking at the patterns and auxiliary lines drawn with white chalk on the blackboard, and remained petrified in the same posture for nearly a minute.
In comparison, the astronomical knowledge they were proud of was nothing to mention in front of the prince. Even Bo Jue, who had studied astronomy for many years, could not refute it directly, because refuting requires mastering much more relevant knowledge than he currently has. .
Yaoji waved his hand and asked Yang Jinchao to bring a pre-drawn drawing and hang it on the blackboard: "The galaxy we are in has the sun as the center and eight planets orbiting it, including Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars is a rocky solid planet, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are liquefied gas planets. Beyond Neptune on the far side, there are hundreds of planets smaller than the Earth, called dwarf planets. Because they are too far away, they are They cannot reflect strong enough sunlight, so they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Our solar system belongs to the larger Milky Way. There are hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way that are like the sun and are shining and heating every day. Many stars There are planets orbiting around it, and many living things live on them. There are hundreds of millions of galaxies similar to the Milky Way in motion in the entire universe, so we must take a longer view, because the future of mankind is exploring the vast and vast universe. !”
Stop fooling me, otherwise the purple sweet potato essence wearing VVVIP level gloves will come out...
A certain prince very rationally believed that all creatures in the universe have the right to survive and should not be wiped out with a snap of his fingers.
"Of course, at the moment, Ming Dynasty does not have the ability to fly out of the earth. At the appropriate time, I will order the establishment of an observatory, especially the casting of a large-scale astronomical telescope to observe changes in the stars in the universe!"
Yaoji felt that after saying these words, he could basically destroy the understanding of the previous listeners.
Through subtle influences, even eunuchs like Yang Jinchao now know that there are eight planets in the solar system.
In Yang Banban's eyes, playing mahjong cannot reveal one's otherworldly status. One must be capable of bragging.
"These are the research results of the immortal world. I will share some of them with you today!"
It's only a small part of it. If you want to know the rest, you have to work hard for me.
Bo Jue was astonished beyond words after hearing the prince's remarks. It really exceeded his years of hard study, and even all the Western astronomy works he had read had never introduced such content.
If what the prince said is really the research result of the fairy world, then if you serve in the Academy of Sciences, you will be close to the water, first to the moon, and you can easily learn a lot of astronomical knowledge that has not been made public to the world.
Previously, he thought that the prince's methods were too cruel and he disdained to be associated with him. However, after getting in touch with him, he couldn't help but blame himself for his previous evaluation. He said with a slight embarrassment: "Cao Min feels deeply guilty for Shicai's words, and I hope that His Highness will ignore it." Past grudges.”
Bo Jue finally understood the true meaning of the saying that there are people outside the world and there are mountains outside the mountains. Before, he was really a little arrogant and thought he was far ahead of others, but he was really too insignificant in front of the prince.
It seems that this guy is not one-sided, so Yaoji waved his hand very generously: "It's okay, don't blame those who don't know. The original intention of my establishment of the Academy of Sciences is to gather the brightest people in the Ming Dynasty to study how to protect our country. If the world is stable, you can explore the mysteries of the universe! My husband likes astronomy, and I intend to build a giant airship. This thing can carry people to the sky, and it is the beginning of all aircraft. If you are interested, sir, you can join Relevant departments, become one of them and carry out research and development. I think that within three months, I will be able to achieve some success and realize my dream of flying into the sky!"
To trick an astronomer into building an airship shouldn't be considered as neglecting one's job...
"Cao Min is willing to join, and I am extremely grateful for His Highness's care!"
Bo Jue is extremely interested in all flying objects. The prince said that if this object can fly, there must be a secret in it, and he must understand it as soon as possible.
The reason why he was so happy was that through his extremely powerful mental arithmetic ability, Bo Jue had understood the calculation formula written by the prince before and got the same result.
After understanding the astronomical calculation methods, the talented man began to gradually agree with some of the prince's remarks. The remaining content still required relevant experience and calculation.
"Airship" is just as the name suggests. Bo Jue can understand the meaning of the name. After seeing the sketch presented by the prince, he started to make plans. However, he was still a little confused as to how it could fly. But as long as he joined the Academy of Sciences, he would be able to fly as soon as possible. Solve doubts.
"That's very good. Sir, you can write a letter, and I will send someone to take you to your hometown and bring you to the capital, so that you don't have to travel back and forth."
To put it into detail, this guy and his beautiful mother are from the same hometown. They are both from Suzhou. It is true that talented people come from Jiangnan. However, he must either join Donglin or start some kind of society on his own, which is very annoying to the court.
"Cao Min, thank you, Your Highness!"
For no other reason, even if it was just to see the flying airship with his own eyes, Bo Jue decided to stay and watch, and then leave if the prince was lying to him.
