Chapter 7 The Way of Science
In modern times, the Five Elements are far away from reality. In ancient times, Yin-Yang and the Five Elements were ubiquitous in daily life. The Five Elements could correspond to the four directions, the four seasons, the sky, the earth, the court departments, the five colors, the five tones, etc.
Therefore, there are rules for what colors correspond to a certain department. If it's not mentioned, forget it. When needed, this color is generally used. Almost common sense.
He Xi's actions were obviously uneducated in the eyes of the ancients.
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care much about these things and asked calmly: "Have you eaten?"
He Xi said: "I just ate."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Then let's get to work." Zhu Yuanzhang's breakfast had been eaten in a hurry when he came back from the next court.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat in his seat and asked everyone around him to get out. Ask He Xi to take all the memorials behind the red sign.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the abbreviation above and compared it with the content inside. Suddenly he said: "You talked about eunuchs taking over power yesterday. Is this it?"
He Xi didn't react at first. After thinking about it, I realized that indeed, what He Xi was doing now was actually what the eunuch Si Li had done. He Xi said: "I don't know. From what the literature says, it should be like this."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What should we do according to the cabinet system?"
He Xi said: "These memorials should be sent to the cabinet and let the academicians formulate a handling opinion. Then send them back to Zhu Pi."
Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was slightly louder and he said: "Someone, please send these memorials to the great scholar of the Song Dynasty and let him formulate an opinion."
Xu Zheng came in immediately and took these memorials away with a few young eunuchs.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang did this was that he was a little confused. From meeting He Xi to now. Zhu Yuanzhang seems to have not changed at all. But inside, it was extremely chaotic. Some have no interest in government affairs. On the other hand, he also wanted to see what the cabinet system used by his descendants would look like.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the throne and said, "Tell me what technology is today?"
He Xi couldn't help but yawn. Said: "Technology, in the ancient context, is the investigation of things."
"Gewu?" Zhu Yuanzhang said.
"Yes." He Xi said: "Through research and experiments, we can obtain the basic laws of the real world, and then use these laws to create items that can achieve certain effects. The former is science, and the latter is technology."
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were a little confused. I seem to understand. And he didn’t seem to understand.
He Xi thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you have read Xunzi's works and used them to control the way of heaven."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Of course I have read it."
He Xi said: "Understanding the way of heaven itself is scientific research, and using it to control the way of heaven is specific technology."
Zhu Yuanzhang's heart trembled, and he thought secretly: "Has future generations already reached this point?"
This is caused by different understandings of the way of heaven. In He Xi's view, the way of heaven and the basic laws of physics can be drawn together. But in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, the way of heaven expresses the will of God, and there are too many illusory aspects.
From the way of tomorrow to the way of controlling heaven, what a great power it is. It's simply unbelievable.
Zhu Yuanzhang became serious and said: "How to understand the way of heaven. How to control the way of heaven and use it?"
He Xi said: "First of all, we must determine the premise of science, that is, the world is real, the world is regular, the world is causal, and the world can be understood and recognized. After having these premises, use reason to understand and explain. "
Zhu Yuanzhang listened very hard.
On the one hand, it is difficult because these things are inherently difficult. On the other hand, He Xi's choice of words and sentences are different from this era. Zhu Yuanzhang had obstacles in understanding.
"Does rationality refer to Neo-Confucianism?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
He Xi said: "Of course not, the concept of rationality. It should correspond to logic."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Logic?"
He Xi said: "It is similar to the theories of famous scholars, but it is deeper in deduction. It is also the foundation of all Western theories."
It took a while for He Xi to explain clearly to Zhu Yuanzhang what logic is and what a syllogism is. However, He Xi also found that Zhu Yuanzhang was not happy to hear it.
It was hard on both sides.
Science is something that He Xi has become accustomed to. It is something that can be used at any time and is the premise for many judgments. It’s something that comes without thinking. Now let He Xi explain in detail what science is, what is science? This is a bit difficult for He Xi.
Even some of the premises of science are known to everyone in later generations. But in Zhu Yuanzhang's case, it needs to be reinterpreted.
But it won’t work if you don’t explain it. If you don’t explain the premise clearly, the so-called science behind it will not be established.
After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was fifty years old, and it was no longer time to learn. It is even more difficult to understand these conceptual and abstract things. After all, the various schools of thought that Zhu Yuanzhang had studied before had little in common with science. Zhu Yuanzhang's previous accumulation could not help him understand what He Xi said. On the contrary, it adds many obstacles.
The harder Zhu Yuanzhang thought, the more he came to think of things like logic and syllogism. It's like taking off your pants and farting, it's unnecessary. It's just a word game.
What can it do to help?
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was a little impatient, He Xi immediately omitted the basic scientific premise. Said: "The first element is to have universal significance, the second is to be repeatable, and the third is to have quantitative standards. The most direct scientific method is the experimental method."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What experiment?"
He Xi looked at the paper in hand. Then I saw a tea cup next to it. Fill the tea cup, then cover it with a piece of paper and turn it over. The tea cup does not leak water. This is a very classic elementary school student experiment. He Xi said: "This is a very simple experiment."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's just a cover-up, a little trick."
He Xi said: "No, this experiment actually proves the existence of atmospheric pressure. The world we live in seems to have nothing. But there is this atmosphere. The atmosphere is everywhere. But we are like fish in the water, we can't feel it. Just arrived."
Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to touch the so-called atmosphere. But there is nothing between the touch of fingers.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What's the use of this?"
This is also the pragmatism of the Chinese people. No matter what theory, the first thing to ask is whether it is useful.
He Xi said: "Now that we understand this truth, we can deduce that a ship can sail in the air. Water and the atmosphere are both a medium, and the ship can float on the water. That is because the ship is lighter than water. And looking for A substance lighter than the atmosphere. Can't it rise in the atmosphere?"
Silent, Zhu Yuanzhang was silent again. He seemed to be thinking hard about the ship floating in the air. I thought to myself: "Is it a Xingcha?" A Xingcha is a ship in mythology that can drift into the Milky Way.
"You did it?" Zhu Yuanzhang said.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty said that it is not difficult to make a flying ship. It has been done a long time ago. Even if you give me enough conditions, I can build it in the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his temples. He felt that his brain couldn't keep up with his thoughts when talking to He Xi. He said, "Stop talking about that. Just tell me. What was the most powerful weapon of your time?"
He Xi said: "In terms of weapons, the most powerful weapon is probably a nuclear bomb. It only takes one to destroy the entire city of Nanjing."
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and said: "This is impossible."
He Xi said: "The development of science often exceeds people's imagination. During World War II, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, destroying two cities. A total of hundreds of thousands of people were killed. And In the following decades, the power of nuclear bombs increased rapidly. When I came, the nuclear powers had more than 10,000 nuclear weapons, but they did not dare to use them because once used, it would destroy the world."
"And there are intercontinental missiles. They can hit anywhere on the earth within an hour or two."
The shock on Zhu Yuanzhang's face could no longer be concealed.
Many people think that human imagination can run wild. But for most people, their imagination has real limitations. They may be able to exaggerate, distort, deform, and make analogies to things in reality. So imagine it as something else. But the cornerstone of this imagination is reality.
Zhuang Zhou only dreamed of butterflies when he saw them. Rather than the other way around.
Zhu Yuanzhang could not imagine what a bomb that would destroy the world would look like.
After all, in Zhu Yuanzhang's impression, the so-called firearms and the so-called bombs. Nothing but primitive firearms. The ratio of gunpowder is no better than some firecrackers of later generations.
Not to mention, it could hit anywhere in the world within an hour or two.
The world Zhu Yuanzhang understood was not the earth. Although He Xi had already explained to him what the earth was before. But some concepts in people are deeply ingrained and difficult to change. At this time, the world that Zhu Yuanzhang first thought of was just the world around the Ming Dynasty, plus at most a few vassal states.
But even within two hours, hitting all places within this range is beyond Zhu Yuanzhang's imagination.
Zhu Yuanzhang then looked at He Xi with bright eyes, his eyes full of hope, and said: "Can you build this nuclear bomb and missile?"
He Xi didn't dare to take this job. He said with a bit of laughter and laughter: "This is a state secret. It is not something that an ordinary citizen like me can know." Although there are atomic bomb schematics on the Internet. "Now even if I knew it, it would be impossible to build it. What is needed behind this is the entire national system, tens of thousands of engineers, tens of millions of workers and soldiers. It is not something that one person can do. Unlike before Building a spaceship is not a concept."
