Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1254 Epilogue . Promulgation of New Laws and Measures

The emperor and his ministers readily agreed to the scientific community's request to change the measurement units.

Because the solution proposed by Xie Yan is very consistent with nature.

One twentieth of the meridian passing through Luoyang is 1 meter.

Based on this standard, decimeters, centimeters, and millimeters were then divided.

The weight of 1 cubic decimeter of water is determined to be 1 kilogram, and thus grams and milligrams are divided.

What a perfect unity between man and nature!
Although Taizu and Taizong repeatedly emphasized the importance of not pursuing the unity of heaven and man, people still pursue "harmony between heaven and man", which is a deeply rooted philosophical idea.

At the meeting in front of the emperor, important officials from the cabinet and the government spoke enthusiastically.

"Since ancient times, a ruler has been made of millet. A seven-foot-tall man in the Qin and Han dynasties would only be five feet tall today. But the length of the earth's meridian will not change."

"That's right. Once these length and weight units are established, the weights and measures of our Ming Dynasty will last for thousands of years without changing."

"Has the meridian length been measured?"

"Haha, Mr. Zhang is a civil servant, so it's normal that he doesn't know this. A group of eminent monks in the Tang Dynasty had already measured the length of the meridian. When the Ming Dynasty was first founded, Emperor Taizong sent people to draw a map of the world and measured it at 27 observation points across the country."

"Are the measurement results of the Ming Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty the same?"

"No. The longitude calculated by the Tang Dynasty differs from that of the Ming Dynasty by more than 40 miles per degree."

"I think my Ming Dynasty is more accurate."

"Because the measurements of the two dynasties were quite different, Emperor Taizong sent people to measure again in his later years. That time, the number of observation points increased to 50. The northernmost point was Beihai, and the southernmost point was Champa. The easternmost observation point was set up in Heian-kyo, Japan. The westernmost observation point was set up in Suiye City in Qihe."

"The results are the same twice?"

"They are all different. They are different from those in the Tang Dynasty and also different from the first measurement in the Ming Dynasty."

"Ah? How could this be?"

"There are always errors in measurements. The two measurements made by the Ming Dynasty differed by less than 10 miles per degree of meridian. In the decades that followed, two more large-scale measurements were conducted. The meridian length selected now is the average of the two closest sets of data."

"So, not entirely accurate?"

"It's already very accurate. The longitude connecting the North and South Poles of the Earth is about 40,000 miles. What does a difference of a few miles per degree mean? Divide it by 20 million as a unit of length, and the error is negligible."

"Why did Prince Consort Xie use meters and grams as new scientific units?"

"It is to distinguish it from the traditional names of weights and measures. After all, the old weights and measures are still in use by the people."

"Ke means limitation. The name of the prince consort should come from this."

"Since ancient times, millet has been used as a ruler. Haha, the prince consort just uses rice to express length."

"..."

With the invention of the twelve-tone equal temperament, it was now very easy for ministers to talk about weights and measures.

Anyway, the two units run in parallel.

The musical scale has changed, so the weights and measures can also change.

Because ancient Chinese weights and measures were originally derived based on the lü lü system.

First, make a standard pitch pipe through music.

And because the Gong tone is the monarch, the central Huangzhong pitch pipe belonging to the Gong is chosen as the standard instrument.

Select 90 medium-sized millet grains and arrange them in a line, roughly the length of the Huangzhong pipe.

According to the length of millet, one grain of millet is 1 fen, ten grains of millet are 1 cun, and one hundred grains of millet are 1 chi.

The units of volume and weight are similar.

The volume of a Huangzhong pipe is 1 he, 1 he equals 1 liter, and liters equals dou.

The weight of millet (1200 grains) for one Huangzhong Lvzhu pipe is 12 zhu, which is 2 liang if multiplied by 1.

The 90-grain and 1200-grain millet here are the standards during the Han Dynasty.

Although the sound of Huangzhong Lvtong remained unchanged, the length and diameter ratio of the instrument changed. When the imperial court formulated the measurement system, the length, weight and volume units also changed according to the Huangzhong Lvtong.

The musical lülü is the mother of Chinese weights and measures.

In terms of weights and measures, "weights and measures" always comes before "law".

So it is not difficult to understand why some ministers reacted so strongly when Empress Dowager Ye adopted the twelve-tone equal temperament, right?

The music has been decided, and no one needs to take the blame. So now it doesn't matter, on the contrary, everyone has political achievements, and maybe they can even leave their names in history.

……

Summer came in a flash, and public schools across the country began their summer vacation.

Scholars have been coming to Luoyang one after another to attend the scientific conference held every few years and to select the gold, silver and bronze awards of the Royal Society. Last year's conference was initiated on an ad hoc basis, while this year's conference is held regularly.

The discussion on the revision of scientific measurement units was passed in just one day.

It was passed almost unanimously.

This thing is so useful, and we are not fools.

Soon after, a group of top mathematicians and physicists quickly produced standards for length, weight, and volume based on the length of the prime meridian measured by Daming.

For this purpose, Empress Dowager Ye convened a grand court meeting temporarily.

In front of the civil and military officials, the standard instruments were laid out one by one. The ceremonial officer pointed to the twelve pitch pipes and said, "This set of pitch pipes is made according to the twelve-tone equal temperament. From now on, the traditional twelve-tone temperament will coexist with the twelve-tone equal temperament. The traditional twelve-tone temperament will continue to be used in ceremonies such as coronation, wedding, sacrifice, court meeting, oath-taking, captive presentation, and announcement of the royal family. There will be no restrictions on other occasions."

Another ceremonial officer, carrying a tray covered with yellow cloth and holding twelve newly made pipes, walked slowly past the civil and military officials.

Then, the ceremonial officer pointed to a set of standard rulers and said, "This set of rulers is obtained by dividing the prime meridian. From now on, all scientific research, experiments, records, teaching, and applications in the Ming Dynasty must use this set of rulers."

There was also a ceremonial officer who walked past the civil and military officials holding a ruler.

Then there was a set of weights and a measuring cup: "This set of copper rules (weights) is calculated with the new ruler and water. From now on, the scientific research of the Ming Dynasty..."

After all the displays were completed, all the ministers cheered.

Queen Mother Ye smiled and felt quite pleased with herself.

Although all the ministers cheered for the little emperor, all these new musical instruments and weights were developed by her.

A queen mother who does not much oppose the cabinet's opinions must show her presence from time to time.

Otherwise, people would only know about the cabinet and would gradually forget about the empress dowager.

All the officials in the palace looked towards the Queen Mother, and when she glanced at them, they quickly lowered their heads to avoid her.

They had a good impression of Empress Dowager Ye. After all, she never messed around and respected the opinions of officials. She occasionally got a little irritable, but everyone understood.

Even though many ministers did not support the promulgation of the new system of weights and measures, as long as the original system was not abolished, everyone would think that the empress dowager was just throwing a tantrum again.

It's normal for women to have temper tantrums. Just coax them and they'll be fine.

However, there were also some upright ministers who turned their attention to Xie Yan who was attending the grand court meeting.

This Prince Consort Xie is very restless.

Whether it was the production of the twelve-tone equal temperament pitch pipe or the development of this set of scientific weights and measures, it was all related to Prince Consort Xie.

Although he did not participate in politics, he flattered Empress Dowager Ye.

A typical flatterer!
We must keep an eye on this person at all times. If he dares to interfere in government affairs in the future, he should be impeached immediately. Otherwise, if this continues, he might even encourage the Queen Mother to do something absurd.

Since it is a grand court meeting, envoys from vassal states must also attend. At this moment, they are all standing in the square outside the palace.

The envoys from the vassal states were all informed by the ritual officials that they would soon receive a new set of standard instruments for weights and measures.

Because the suzerain state makes changes, the vassal states must also change accordingly.

For example, the Ming Dynasty would produce a calendar for the following year every year, and would generally send samples to vassal states half a year in advance. The vassal states would receive the samples, print them out, and wait for use the following year.

The Japanese student who served as the guest envoy watched the ceremonial officer carrying the temperament pipe and made up his mind to learn the twelve-tone equal temperament and its instruments.

Then quickly return to your country and immediately become the master of Japanese Shinraku.

Maya is not a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty for the time being, but Coco Kaba is very curious.

He has already learned Chinese and has been studying Ming Dynasty mathematics and astronomy. He will have to wait another two or three months before boarding the ship back to America.

This guy was standing at the back of the square, and the ceremonial officer would complete his mission when he walked up to him.

Keke Kaba stopped the ceremonial officer and asked him what was going on. He then asked in surprise, "Can the Ming scholars also measure the north-south length of the earth?"

The ceremonial officer laughed and said, "You actually know about the Earth."

Coco Kaba said: "I have studied Ming Dynasty literature in Sifang Pavilion for half a year."

The ceremonial officer said: "The length of the longitude was measured hundreds of years ago, but the error was still quite large at that time."

"The Ming people were so wise." Koko Kaba exclaimed.

When he returns to Maya, he will also spread this more advanced astronomy.

Of course, Mayan mythology also needs to be fine-tuned, otherwise the heliocentric theory and the geocentric theory will easily go wrong.

After a while, the grand court meeting ended.

All the ministers lined up to leave the court one by one, and only Xie Yan was left behind, following Empress Dowager Ye to the Chuigong Hall.

When they came to the Chuigong Hall and sat down, Empress Dowager Ye said, "This is the safety lock I asked the craftsman to make. Take it back and put it on the child."

A female official walked up to Xie Yan holding a safety lock.

Xie Yan quickly bowed to express his gratitude.

This peace lock is made of gold and jade, and looks very beautiful.

Empress Dowager Ye was becoming more and more optimistic about Xie Yan. She chatted with him about family matters and suddenly asked, "The old president said that you should let him take the title of Yaoyu Bachelor and give up the promotion to Bachelor this time?"

Xie Yan was no longer afraid of the Queen Mother, and said with a joking smile: "After the reform of the bachelor's degree system, there will be multiple types of five-level bachelor's degrees. I plan to obtain all types and levels of bachelor's degrees in science. After obtaining the bachelor's degree in science, I will try to obtain the bachelor's degree in liberal arts."

Queen Mother Ye didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "He is really ambitious and his ideas are different from those of ordinary people."

The attendant had just sat down and was still fiddling with his pencil case. Upon hearing this, he looked at Xie Yan in surprise.

He was somewhat impressed.

At the same time, I also think that Xie Yan is a psychopath.

Moreover, he began to like this lunatic and planned to write a biography for Prince Consort Xie in the future.

The private biographies left by historians are important materials for revising history.

(End of this chapter)