The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 459: Investigating Things and Making Weapons
Zhao Tong told everyone in the audience the origins of Zi Zai Sect and the general level of martial arts, but naturally he did not tell some of the secrets. However, everyone was shocked as they did not expect such an ancient sect to exist.

Zhao Tong said: "This Zizaimen Zhenlun has been around for a long time, and Songshan Temple cannot compare with it. It is just that it has been trapped in Xixia for more than a hundred years, so the Central Plains gradually did not know it."

Bai Zhan said: "Your Majesty, since it is the sect passed down by the ancestor Zhuangzi, it should be returned to our country. How can we stay in Xixia for so long?"

Bai Ba said: "Lao San, what are you talking about!"

Bai Zhan said: "Brother, what did I say wrong?"

Bai Ba hated the iron and said: "In the whole world, is it the land of the king? On the shore of the land, is it the minister of the king? Since the young master wants to change the name of Roulang Mountain and conquer Helan Que, then Xixia will also be in the middle land!"

Bai Zhan was stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, this subordinate is too stupid. I just thought that the ancient inheritance of Zizi Sect is in Xixia, and I said this with anger in my heart."

Zhao Tong said: "It is a good thing to have righteous indignation in your heart, so I want to point my sword at Xixia and destroy this shameless country."

Everyone said yes at this moment. At this moment, Liu Suiyun came in and said politely: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of Xihe have withdrawn and camped far away."

Zhao Tong muttered slightly: "Just be careful and don't worry about anything else for now. It is estimated that these military horses will leave in less than two days."

Liu Suiyun responded: "The arrangements have been made in the city, and scouts have been quietly sent out to the west gate to explore the horses and go around to find out the news."

Zhao Tong nodded, asked a few more questions about the military situation, and suddenly said: "Longyou produces jade. Send someone to the state treasury to check if there are any. If there are any, pick some clear ones and send them to the mansion."

Liu Suiyun was puzzled when he heard this, but he said: "I will ask someone to take care of it immediately."

Water jade is crystal. It was discovered and used for decoration in the ancient wilderness. It has been mentioned in many books since the Spring and Autumn Period.

Crystals are not valuable at the moment because most of them look cloudy and dull. The processing technology at this time was backward and could not achieve perfect cutting and polishing effects, so the appearance was not as attractive as in later generations.

Moreover, the current stock of crystals is quite large, not only on the east coast, but also in the northwest. No matter the dignitaries or ordinary people, they are not very interested in this kind of stone, which is not rare and seems to have a lot of impurities. Except for some special shapes and colors, they are probably of little value.

Then Zhao Tong gave everyone instructions, got up and left the lobby to go back to the mansion.

Not long after, Shi Jin brought someone over with a wooden box and said: "Your Majesty, water jade is not valuable, and there are not many in the state treasury. I picked through it and only brought these, which are barely clear."

Zhao Tong was sitting on a chair in the courtyard listening to Xiao Zhao Xi reciting poems. He nodded when he heard this: "Take them all out and let me take a look."

Shi Jin took the order and opened the wooden box and took out more than a dozen crystals. Xiao Zhao Xi was curious and stopped memorizing the poem. He walked over and said, "Dad, what are these? They are so ugly. There is a lot of filth in them." "

Zhao Tong leaned forward to take a look, and couldn't help but frown slightly. He saw that the crystal that was stored in the state treasury and carefully selected was not as clear as Shi's mouth. It looked very turbid.

He thought about it and realized that this was actually quite good in the world. The ordinary ones were not as good as the one in front of him. Moreover, crystals probably had to be cut and polished, otherwise large ore bodies would not be crystal clear at all.

"This is called Shuiyu." Zhao Tong said to little Zhao Xi.

"Dad, is this also jade?" Xiao Zhao Xi's eyes widened immediately: "It doesn't look like jade at all. It looks like the melting ice in the courtyard in spring. It doesn't look good at all."

Zhao Tong shook his head: "What do you know? I will make something nice for you later."

"Your Majesty, are these still applicable?" Shi Jin couldn't help but mumbled after hearing Xiao Zhao Xi's words.

Zhao Tong touched his chin. In fact, he didn't know whether it was applicable or not, because he had never cut or polished crystal.

He wanted to make a telescope, but to be honest, he could barely burn glass, but he couldn't use ordinary glass to make a telescope.

So he thought of crystal. The first real telescope was made of crystal, and for a long time, telescopes were made of crystal.

He had this idea because he remembered a later man named Sun Yunqiu, who lived in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and came from a declining official family.

This man was smart and studious. When he was young, he went to Hangzhou to learn mirror-making technology. In the late Ming Dynasty, Hangzhou was the center of mirror-making. At this time, not only were there things like glasses, but also chiming clocks. Sun Yunqiu once invented a method for calibrating chiming clocks. method.

At this time, glasses were expensive and beyond the reach of ordinary people, so Sun Yunqiu wondered how to reduce the cost of making mirrors.

Based on the mirror-making skills he learned in Hangzhou, combined with his own mastery of form and physics, after countless practical accumulation and explorations, he finally mastered the "grinding against light" technique and creatively used crystal materials to grind He made lenses and also created a tug-o-wheel for grinding lenses.

After careful research and improvement, he greatly improved the skill of grinding mirrors to focus light, and greatly reduced the cost. On the basis of grinding convex lenses and concave lenses, he also used crystal stones to grind into storage eyepieces and kaleidoscopes. , mandarin duck mirror, magnifying glass, illusion mirror, night mirror, telescope and other types of light mirrors.

This telescope is a telescope. It is easier and cheaper to make it according to Sun Yunqiu's method than according to Xifan's method.

To this end, Sun Yunqiu also wrote a book on mirror production called "History of Mirrors". According to the book, crystals are used as raw materials, and lenses are ground on tug-wheels and made according to people's different needs. Ordinary people can also afford it.

Zhao Tong had read the book "History of Mirrors", which recorded more than seventy kinds of manufacturing methods of mirrors. Most of them were polished with crystals, so he came up with the idea of ​​using crystals as telescopes.

At this time, he heard Shi Jin talking, thought for a moment and said, "Take someone to the market to have a look. If there are more crystal clear jade, buy them back, especially the purple jade."

Amethyst is the best material for making mirrors among crystals. If there is amethyst, he will be more sure.

And once a telescope is made, one or two will definitely not be enough. At least all generals above Weiji must have one, and the leader of the scout team must also have one. Only in this way can we have a better understanding of the enemy's situation and increase the winning rate on the battlefield. Avoid unnecessary casualties as much as possible.

"Dad, what do you want to give Xi'er?" Xiao Zhao Xi asked, blinking at this time.

Zhao Tong stood up, walked around the crystal block in the box a few times, and then said: "You will know in a while."

He wanted to make a pulley, and Sun Yunqiu invented an object for polishing lenses. At that time, almost all lenses were polished by hand, which was very labor-intensive and not necessarily accurate. If you were not careful, the materials would be wasted.

But since the advent of the hand puller, this situation has been completely reversed, because the hand puller can fix the crystal that you want to polish, and even some thin and thick unevenness can be mastered. After polishing, you only need to make fine corrections by hand.

However, this thing needs to be cranked by hand, similar to using a small millstone to grind sesame oil, but it is not laborious. After all, the crystal is not very large when it is polished. Just turn the handle of the tugboat.

There are two major problems in making a telescope, one is cutting and the other is polishing. Both of these problems can be easily solved by Zhao Tong. He has the Moye Sword in his hand, which can cut crystals at will, and he also knows how to make a tug-o-wheel. It can be processed and polished, and as long as the crystal is suitable, it shouldn't be difficult to build a telescope.

"Dad, do you want to make a toy for your child?" Xiao Zhao Xi immediately became happy.

"That's right, let's make a tug-o-cart first." Zhao Tong said with a smile.

"Leading... a tuo car?" Xiao Zhao Xi had never heard of this name. "Dad, is this car fun?"

Zhao Tong said: "It's fun, very fun."

Little Zhao Xi immediately pulled the corner of Zhao Tong's clothes: "Dad, I want to lead the tuo chariot!"

"Okay, daddy will take you to do it now." Zhao Tong touched little Zhao Xi's head and led him to the martial arts field, followed by Zhou Chu and his guards.

The martial arts arena in Xining Residence is far smaller than the Tokyo Palace, and it can barely run away from a horse. On one side of the martial arts arena is a small forest. Most of the leaves are green, but a few have not survived the winter and are still withered branches. .

Mo Xie's sword slipped out of Zhao Tong's sleeve, and "swish, swish, swish" cut down a lot of dead wood in just a moment. Then he thought for a while and said to Zhou Chu: "Go find some copper foil. If not, melt it with copper coins, and then find some big and small ones." Iron nails of different thicknesses were delivered.”

Zhou Chu immediately took people to look for it, and Zhao Tong began to make a pulley cart according to his memory.

Originally, this was considered a carpentry job, but if a carpenter built a dolly according to the drawings, it would still take five or seven days, because it needs sawing, planing, and adze, and finally it has to be assembled with some copper and stone objects. .

But Zhao Tong didn't need it. Mo Xie's sword cut iron like clay. He could just cut whatever he wanted. So it didn't take long for him to get the wooden frame materials needed for the tuo car. Then Zhou Chu sent iron nails, and he "Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding" started to beat.

Normally, the wooden frame of the tug-o cart is embedded with wedges, but since he had never learned carpentry, he was afraid that the inlay would not be good, so he directly used nails to nail it.

The nails of this era did not have flat heads, and were thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom. The nail body was irregular and had a few ribs. Once they were all nailed in, the surface of the wood remained very smooth.

Zhao Tong nailed the frame of the tuo car in place and looked at Zhou Chu. Zhou Chu said, "Your Majesty, the copper foil is being smelted. I'll have someone wait there and send it over as soon as it's done."

Zhao Tong nodded: "Let's look for some more sand, cold water stone, lead essence and thick bamboo. By the way, bring the box of jade in front of us." The cold water stone is gypsum, and the lead essence is mercury. Zhou Chu immediately went to look for it after hearing this.

It didn't take long for Zhou Chu to prepare these things and send them over. Then Zhao Tong began to assemble the pullo cart. When it was almost done, the copper foil came again. He wrapped the soft parts of the pullo cart and smiled. Said: "Done!"

Xiao Zhao Xi was wondering next to him: "Dad, is this a car?"

Zhao Tong said: "It's the tuo chariot."

Xiao Zhao Xi walked around a few times: "Why doesn't the car have wheels? It's still so small?"

The bottom of the tuotuo cart is flat, and it is only half a foot square. It is similar to the shape of a wooden box, with a hollow center and a small door to put things inside. It is not like a cart at all.

Zhao Tong stretched out his hand and pointed. There were four small wooden discs directly above the tug-o-cart. He said, "Aren't these just four wheels?"

Xiao Zhao Xi wondered: "Dad, is this...is this?"

Zhao Tong said: "You can try shaking it."

Xiao Zhao Xi stretched out his hand to grab the joystick and push it. The four small discs actually started to rotate together. He was immediately surprised and said: "Dad, you can really move. All four wheels moved."

Zhao Tong smiled and said, "Wait until daddy makes something fun for you."

After saying that, he picked up the Moye Sword again, picked up a slightly better crystal stone, "swish" a few times, cut a few small slices according to the records in "Mirror History", trimmed the corners, and installed it. Under the four discs on the pullo cart.

Then he mixed sand, cold water stone and lead essence in a certain proportion, poured it into the groove in the gap between the discs, and said to Xiao Zhao Xi: "Come on, shake."

Xiao Zhao Xi asked doubtfully: "Dad, what are you doing?"

Zhao Tong smiled and said: "Just do what daddy says!"

"Okay!" When Xiao Zhao Xi heard that it was fun, his face immediately turned red and he reached out to shake the handle of the tuo car.

Watching him huff and puff, Zhao Tong poured water into the groove little by little, and then said: "Shake slowly, don't rush."

"Okay..." Xiao Zhao Xi was very excited.

Zhao Tong glanced at him, took the bamboo tube sent by Zhou Chu, walked to the side and sat on the leisure chair, and began to peel slowly.

In fact, he is not making a telescope, but a kaleidoscope. He will try his hand at making a kaleidoscope first to see if it works. If it works, he will then make a telescope.

The bamboo tube was the tube of the kaleidoscopic mirror. He used the sword to trim it bit by bit and carved patterns on it. At this time, Xiao Zhao Xi said from the side: "Dad, I'm so tired. I can't shake it anymore."

Zhao Tong went over and took out the crystal piece and looked at it. He frowned. The polishing was far from enough. He added some abrasives and water to the groove and said, "Keep shaking."

"It's...Dad."

Zhao Tong returned to his chair and continued to carve bamboo tubes. He was carving monkeys to learn scriptures and had just finished carving one of the pig monsters.

"Daddy...baby, baby still can't shake..."

Zhao Tong stood up and looked again, then filled in some more ingredients and water: "Shake!"

"it is good……"

"Dad, I, I have no strength..."

Zhao Tong was reaching a critical moment: "Shake it again..."

"Oh……"

"Xi'er, what are you doing?" At this moment, Zhu Xiuniang brought Qingxing over and said with a frown as she walked.

"Mom...wow!" When Xiao Zhao Xi saw Zhu Xiuniang, he immediately sat down on the ground, wiping his tears and said: "Daddy, daddy asked me to rock the wheel. I, I can't shake it anymore, and daddy still asked me to shake it... "

Zhu Xiuniang's face turned a little pale when she heard this, and she walked closer and said, "Your Majesty, Xi'er is so young, how can your Majesty let him do anything? What...are you doing?"

She looked at the chariot and didn't recognize what it was.

After Zhao Tao finished carving the last stroke, he blew on the bamboo tube to blow off all the silk scraps. He stood up and said to Qing Xing: "Go and cut some colored paper and bring it over. I want it in all colors, just the size of a watermelon seed."

Qingxing turned around and trotted away. Zhao Tong went to the front of the handcart and took out the crystal piece to look at it. He frowned slightly and started shaking it.

Zhu Xiuniang asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, what is this?"

Zhao Tao glanced sideways at her: "Ge Wu!"

Zhu Xiuniang bit her lip when she heard this and said nothing. Xiao Zhao Xi got up from the ground and said with a tearful voice: "Mom, daddy said he wanted to give the child something fun, but in the end he let the child rock the wheel."

Zhao Tong said leisurely: "It will be fine soon."

Zhu Xiuniang took Xiao Zhao Xi's hand, looked at Zhao Tong and said, "Are you doing... something clever?"

Zhao Tong said: "I said it was a matter of investigation!"

Zhu Xiuniang was silent, and Zhao Tao polished it for a while, took out the crystal piece from under the wooden plate of the hand puller, looked at the sun carefully for a few breaths, then put it in and continued to shake it.

After a while, Qing Xing came back with pieces of colored paper in a wooden box. Zhao Tao took out the crystal again, and this time his brows relaxed slightly. Although it was still a bit unsatisfactory, it was just a kaleidoscope and not a telescope, so it was still acceptable.

He began to clean the crystal pieces and assemble them in a bamboo tube. He also put colored paper the size of watermelon seeds inside, sealed the edges with copper foil, made the tube firm, shook it a few times, and looked at the sun.

Xiao Zhao Xi stopped crying at this time and stared closely at the bamboo tube: "Daddy, daddy, what are you looking at?"

"Here it is." Zhao Tong took back the bamboo tube and handed it to Xiao Zhao Xi: "Just look at it like dad just did."

Xiao Zhao Xi hurriedly wiped the tears on his face and looked like Zhao Tong just now.

"Ah, it's so beautiful!" He suddenly shouted, and then he jumped up involuntarily: "Mom, mom, take a look, take a look too."

As he spoke, Xiao Zhao Xi gave the bamboo tube in his hand to Zhu Xiuniang.

Zhu Xiuniang glanced at Zhao Tong, silently took the bamboo tube, and then looked inside.

It didn't matter, I just felt that it was colorful and full of flowers, as if it was another world, and I was so frightened that I took a step back.

Zhao Tong laughed and said, "This thing is called a kaleidoscope."

"Dad, this name is also nice. My child likes it very much." Xiao Zhao Xi said happily.

Zhu Xiuniang pursed her lips and returned the bamboo tube to Xiao Zhao Xi, arguing: "It's still a clever thing."

Zhao Tong ignored her and ordered Zhou Chu and others to move the chariot and crystal materials to the study, and he also left the martial arts field.

As he walked around, he thought to himself that since a kaleidoscope can be made, there must be no problem in making a telescope, but the quality of these crystals is a bit poor at the moment. If Shi Jin can buy better crystals, then he will start making them right away...

(End of this chapter)