Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 2507
For the entire "Pan-Chinese Cultural Circle", the Central Plains Dynasty will always be "the kingdom of heaven", and the Han people will always be a race that needs to be looked up to.

Now with the rise of maritime trade, Datang merchant ships arrived in various countries in the East and Southeast Asia along the sea route, and while bringing unparalleled wealth, they also brought the splendid Datang culture.

Without resistance or hatred, these ignorant aborigines accepted everything brought by the Tang people ecstatically, because the Tang people had greatly improved the local economy, culture and even productivity in a very short period of time. They are all proud to be bathed in Chinese culture.

This is the beginning of colonization, but the current Tang Dynasty, from the rulers of the court to the ordinary merchants, does not have a clear and accurate understanding of this.

Chinese culture is not good at aggression, let alone plunder. The Han people have been silent and hardworking in creating wealth since ancient times. They do as the Romans do, but they still retain their pride in their bones.

Therefore, compared to the barbaric peoples who colonized the world with strong ships and cannons in later generations, the Han people are more likely to be accepted by those primitive and backward natives.

This is the conquest of civilization, moistening things silently, but unstoppable.

*****
Chengnan Academy.

The main buildings of the academy have been completed, and various landmark buildings are scattered on the hillside by the Kunming Pool, hidden among the trees, grand and elegant yet exquisite and beautiful.

Now the entire academy has been brand new, and the courtyards of various disciplines have been decorated with lights and festoons. The busy figures of students are coming in and out, under the command of the teachers of the academy, they are nervously busy, making the final arrangement before the opening ceremony.

His Majesty Li Er was dressed in casual clothes, "White Dragon Fish Clothes", and only the prince and Fang Jun were by his side.

Strolling in the beautiful scenery of the academy, looking at the students running around with great interest from time to time, His Majesty Li Er was very interested, and turned his head to ask: "How is your mysterious opening ceremony going?" ?”

Fang Jun was full of confidence: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, everything is under control."

His Majesty Li Er nodded. At this time, he walked to the gate of a courtyard. Through the wide gate, he saw a magnificent three-story building in the courtyard, and walked in.

Li Chengqian and Fang Jun naturally followed closely behind, and the former couldn't help asking: "What kind of mystery is a ceremony hidden?"

Fang Jun saw His Majesty Li Er walking towards the three-story building with great interest, he raised his foot to follow, and said in a low voice: "His Highness will know tomorrow, and I promise that the whole Tang Dynasty, and even the whole world, will I am deeply shocked by it! Let everyone feel the power of the Great Tang, and all the barbarians will be shocked and kneel under the might of the Great Tang!"

"Ha ha!"

Li Chengqian sneered, with doubts on his face: "Stop talking nonsense! It's just a ceremony. Could it be possible that you can gather all the artillery you've produced and blast towards Chang'an City for an hour? Those barbarians are also Well-informed, not so intimidating."

Fang Jun didn’t take it seriously, and said: “Your Highness, just wait and see. This ceremony is the embodiment of what I have learned all my life. It combines the highest achievements of the Tang Dynasty in physics, geometry, smelting and other subjects. Shock the past and shine the present!"

He was so confident that Li Chengqian's doubts immediately weakened a little, but a little expectation arose.

Everyone knows that Fang Jun's strongest strength lies in his attainments in poetry and his unpredictable way of investigating things. He can study glass, gunpowder and other alchemy techniques. A novelty that shocks the world?

In front, His Majesty Li Er had already stopped, standing in front of the main entrance of the three-story building with his hands behind his back, slightly raised his head, and looked at the plaque on the door.

"Gewuyuan?"

His Majesty Li Er read a sentence, then turned around and asked, "Is this the place you've been talking about all day to study things?"

Fang Jun hurriedly said: "Exactly."

His Majesty Li Er nodded, stepped on the white marble steps in front of the door, stomped on it, and said with a snort, "It's so extravagant, it's no less expensive than my Tai Chi Palace."

After saying that, Fang Jun, who was sweating profusely, was left behind, and went straight into the main entrance.

Li Chengqian looked at the crystal white marble steps under his feet, looked around, saw that the base of the whole building was made of white marble, he couldn't help shaking his head, and said in a low voice: "It's really too extravagant!"

He raised his heel and entered the door behind His Majesty Li Er.

Fang Jun followed closely, not daring to speak...

The cost of the entire academy is indeed an astronomical figure. Because of the huge profits of the Royal Navy and the Eastern Datang Company, as well as the full support of His Majesty Li Er, Fang Jun can draw the construction budget of the academy at will without the approval of the court.

His Majesty Li Er is certainly wise and powerful, but in the end he is a generation of emperors, with a splendid chest and a country, so naturally he would not compare with Fang Jun, let Fang Jun make his own decisions, and never interfered too much in the budget. Don't even ask.

Anyway, the gold and silver in the internal funds are simply endless...

And Fang Jun's ideal is not only to create a prosperous age of natural science in the Tang Dynasty, but also to make Zhenguan Academy a monument that will never collapse in history. Even if the situation changes and the dynasty changes in the years to come, this The academy can still stand by the Kunming Pool on the west side of Chang'an City, resisting the erosion of wind, frost, rain and snow, and let future generations pay homage to the glory.

Therefore, most of the buildings have not adopted the all-wooden structure from ancient times to the present, but are mainly made of stone. Although this will slightly reduce the ornamental value and increase the overall cost, it will not be affected by a natural disaster or The flames of war were completely annihilated.

Ancient Chinese architecture paid too much attention to beautiful forms, so most of them used precious wood, supplemented by exquisite carvings, making them as gorgeous as palaces in the sky.However, no matter how precious the wood is, it is often unable to withstand the ruthless erosion of water and fire. I don’t know how many wonderful buildings were destroyed by natural disasters and wars, leaving only ruins everywhere and a few words on the history books. From above the ruins, imagine out of thin air the great achievements created by the ancestors.

This has to be said to be a pity...

Because of the cement, the masonry of stone buildings is easier, the difficulty is reduced, and the construction period is shortened.

The three of them entered the lobby one at a time, and his Majesty Li Er and his son were immediately shocked by the spacious and bright hall.The entire lobby is extremely spacious, and the feet are polished white marble. Several stone pillars raise the dome high, and the sun pours down from the dome. Dozens of lamps and candles are installed on the stone pillars, which can be brightly lit even at night. .

Looking around from the lobby, there are railings on each floor of the three-story building, surrounding the hollow building to the roof. This kind of construction is extremely rare, and it has a bit of exotic style.

And in the place facing the gate in the lobby, there is a rectangular utensil that is one foot high and three feet wide.

Made of precious red sandalwood, a disc is embedded in the upper half, and the scale is divided into equal rows around it. There are three pointers in the middle of the disc, the thinnest and longest one is rotating visible to the naked eye.

The lower half is a huge... pendulum?
His Majesty Li Er didn't know what this was, but he suddenly remembered that Fang Jun had discussed with Li Chunfeng about the manufacture of timers before, and he had heard about Lao Shizi's "pendulum principle". , it is not difficult to guess what this is.

His Majesty Li Er came closer, observed carefully, and asked, "This is your so-called... clock?"

Li Chengqian also walked over to look up and down curiously.

Fang Jundao: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, with the posture of heaven and man, and he has insight into the mystery and missed nothing... This is exactly the clock that Li Taishi just made. It divides twelve hours a day into 24 parts. Every two hours on the scale A dot represents an hour, and each dot is divided into 60 minutes, and [-] minutes are further divided into [-] seconds... The hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are used to distinguish the time, which can achieve the most accurate level possible.”

His Majesty Li Er took a closer look, listened carefully, and found the sound of "tick tick", which should be the sound of the "escapement", and with the sound of "tick tick", the lower pendulum swings rhythmically, The slow movement of the hour and minute hands is unrealistic, but the second hand is rotating, and the tip of the needle crosses the scale, representing the passage of time.

Li Chengqian was puzzled and said: "This thing is so ingenious, but why is it called a 'clock'?"

Fang Jun explained: "There is a mechanism in this thing, and every hour, it will strike a sound, and it will strike a few times, so Li Taishi named it 'bell'."

The "bell" is a sacrificial vessel, made of metal, hollow, and can sound when struck.

"Zhong Ding" is a general term for ritual utensils, representing "rites and music", symbolizing noble status and heavy authority, the so-called "Zhong Ming Ding Shi" is also true.

(End of this chapter)