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Chapter 293 Shen Kuo, the God of the Northern Song Dynasty
When talking about ancient scientists, we have to mention the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was a dynasty with a relatively high sense of presence in Chinese history, with as many historical celebrities as stars.

For example, Su Dongpo, a literary giant of the generation, Yue Fei who served the country loyally, Fan Zhongyan who cared about the country and the people, and Wang Anshi, a great reformer.

There are also Ouyang Xiu, Li Qingzhao, Xin Qiji, etc., there are really too many to count.

But there is a person whose achievements are as brilliant as the bright moon, but he is not known to everyone.

His name is Shen Kuo, and he is an all-rounder, proficient in astronomy, economics, military affairs, literature, music, physics, chemistry, calligraphy and painting...

Later scholars called him the most outstanding figure in the history of Chinese science, and his book "Mengxi Bi Tan" is a milestone in the history of Chinese science.

However, people who have established outstanding merits and made great achievements in this way have been criticized for their moral flaws.

After Shen Kuo died of illness, no one erected a monument or wrote an epitaph for him.

Since ancient times, having both ability and political integrity and putting morality first have been the basic requirements for being an official.

Regardless of civility, martial arts, or natural science, Shen Kuo's achievements are very outstanding.

But he received such a cold reception, all because of Shen Kuo's official behavior, which makes a gentleman feel shameless.

People always have to be responsible for their own actions. In his later years, Shen Kuo began to examine his political career and even felt a trace of regret for his past political experience.

But it was too late, no one took pity on him, and he could only sigh with regret when he fell into this situation.

"Shen Kuo was born in Qiantang, Zhejiang. His father Shen Zhou was a Jinshi during the Zhenzong period of Song Dynasty."

"From the age of eight, Shen Kuo followed his father to travel to Quanzhou, Jinling and other places according to the change of his father's position."

"When I was 17 or 18 years old, I suffered from an eye disease due to studying under the lamp. After I recovered, I became interested in medicine and began to study medicine and collect good prescriptions."

“Because I saw Bi Sheng’s movable type printing, I conducted in-depth research, improvement and promotion.”

"In his youth, Shen Kuo personally experienced the Great Famine in Wuzhong and saw Fan Zhongyan's process of relieving the victims."

"When Shen Kuo was twenty, his father Shen Zhou died."

"In 1053 AD during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, his father Yin served as the chief registrar of Shuyang County."

"Shuyang County relies on the Shu River. Shen Kuo built dikes and dredged canals, diverted and controlled the main tributaries of the Shu River, and managed 7,000 hectares of high-quality farmland."

"The following year, he acted as the magistrate of Donghai County, studied the geographical evolution of the East China Sea, and corrected the errors in the "Illustrated Book"."

"In 1063 AD, he became a Jinshi and was appointed as the collation of the pavilions and pavilions, and deleted the regulations of the three departments."

"It was a common practice in the Northern Song Dynasty that the emperor went to the southern suburbs of Yuanqiu to offer sacrifices once every three years. The officials in charge listed unnecessary items and deliberately extravagantly for personal gain."

"Shen Kuo reviewed the history of sacrifices in the southern suburbs and wrote a "Southern Suburbs Style". The emperor ordered him to take charge of the affairs of the southern suburbs of sacrifices in the future."

"For the first time, we organized it according to the "Southern Suburbs Style" and saved tens of thousands of dollars. Song Shenzong was very satisfied."

"Officials in these departments at that time had almost no understanding of astronomy. Shen Kuo set up an armillary sphere, a landscape table, and five pots and leaks, built a new calendar, and collected books on astronomical observations from all over the country."

"We also recruited literati in Si Tianjian and divided Fang Technique into five categories. All these measures were adopted and implemented."

"At that time, the country was registering large-scale private vehicles for use in combat vehicles. Because the City Council could not prohibit the private sale of Sichuan well salt, it sealed all private wells in Sichuan and replaced them with salt from Jiechi."

"The ministers complained about these two matters, but Song Shenzong did not respond."

"Shen Kuo said that civilian vehicles are heavy and heavy and cannot travel thirty miles a day. Common people call them Taiping vehicles and they can only be used in peacetime."

"There are many private wells in ethnic minority areas in Sichuan, so it is impossible to completely ban them."

"If we have to ban it, we have to invest more in security, which may not be worth the gain."

"Song Shenzong has never heard such words, and both of these things stopped the next day."

Zhu Yuanzhang: Can such a villain as Shen Kuo be respected by future generations? But yes, if you look at it in terms of scientific talent, Shen Kuo really deserves it.

When he first heard Shen Kuo's name, he was a little surprised. How could such a villain be famous throughout the ages.

However, he was relieved when he thought that Shen Kuo was despicable in terms of virtue, but indeed amazing in terms of talent.

After all, according to the requirements of the anchor, as long as you have outstanding achievements in science, you can be famous forever.

He looked down upon Shen Kuo's virtue, but he did admire his talent.

Shen Kuo was born in an official family. Not only was his father knowledgeable and talented, but his mother was also a talented woman.

When he was a child, Shen Kuo was a good boy who loved learning. He read all the books in his family at the age of fourteen.

Shen Kuo had a wide range of interests. He not only read the Four Books and Five Classics, but also extensively read miscellaneous books on medicine, military and other aspects.

Young Shen Kuo traveled to many places with his father. Everywhere he went, Shen Kuo carefully recorded what he saw and heard. Everyone from country folk to well-known scientists came to visit.

Shen Kuo is very curious about all new things, and he must understand things he doesn't understand.

For example, Shen Kuo read Bai Juyi's "Peach Blossoms in Dalin Temple". The poem said that the beauty of April in the world is gone, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temple begin to bloom.

Shen Kuo couldn't help but wonder why the peach blossoms on the mountain began to bloom when all the flowers here failed.

In order to clarify this strange phenomenon, Shen Kuo invited several friends to go to the mountain for field investigation.

In the mountains in April, it suddenly turns warm and cold, and the cool wind blows, making people shiver with cold.

Shen Kuo suddenly realized that the temperature on the mountain was much lower than that at the bottom, so the flowering season came late.

From this point, it is enough to see that it is not surprising that Shen Kuo could have subsequent erudition.

Moreover, Shen Kuo had a small notebook that he carried with him, in which he recorded various questions.

What crops are grown in each place, what people rely on to make a living, and what the mountains and rivers are like in each place are all Shen Kuo's records.

Shen Kuo had been frail and sick since he was a child, and his family often brought him Chinese medicine decoctions.

After Shen Kuo recovered from his illness, he became interested in medical books and looked for some medical books to read when he had time.

Shen Kuo was very knowledgeable. He started his official career at the age of 24 and passed the Jinshi examination at the age of 33.

When Shen Kuo was recommended to Zhaowen Hall to edit books, he came into contact with many books on astronomy.

Throughout the year, the stars change, in order to better record the position of the North Star.

Shen Kuo didn't have a good night's sleep for three months in a row. He got up three times a night to observe the sky and record the positions of the stars.

How much motivation does it take to be able to do a job on time and at the right place every day?
No wonder Shen Kuo was able to draw more than 200 starry sky pictures in three months.

Shen Kuo's talents are numerous and undisputed.

But it is a pity that having only talent but no virtue is doomed to a bad end.

"In the third year of Xining, the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo returned to Beijing after the mourning period for his mother. He was favored by Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty and Prime Minister Wang Anshi, and assisted Wang Anshi in implementing the new law."

"In the sixth year of Xining, Shen Kuo began to participate in Wang Anshi's reform decisions, such as the Huai Salt Law and the reform of the Shaanxi Salt Banknote Law."

"The book "On the Eight Causes of Money Shortage" advocates regulating currency circulation according to market needs."

"In the seventh year of Xining, the imperial court sent Shen Kuo to Huainan to inspect the famine disaster."

"Distribute money and food to the victims, check local water conservancy facilities, and dredge rivers and canals."

"Let the abandoned farmland be turned into fertile farmland again, and relief be turned into solving the fundamental problem."

"I went to Zhejiang and Zhejiang to inspect water conservancy and agricultural production and found many problems in policy implementation."

"In the eighth year of Xining, Shen Kuo was appointed as the inspection envoy of Hebei West Road."

"According to convention, wherever silver is smelted, the transshipment envoy will collect the interest from the silver smelting."

"Shen Kuo believes that people who are close to a country with treasures will become poor. This is inevitable."

"If there are too many people close, it will be impossible to detect the traitors and hypocrites hiding there."

"The imperial court gives the Khitan hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year. If they knew the benefits of digging mines, they would look down upon China's annual coins even more."

"Then we have nothing to send them and there will be another dispute at the border."

"The imperial court requisitioned horses from the people near the capital, and the people were overwhelmed."

"Shen Kuo believes that northerners are good at riding horses, while we are good at crossbows. We cannot sacrifice our strengths to do things we are not good at."

"Shen Kuo reformed the standards for assessing strong crossbows and used the distance of the shot and the degree of penetration into hard objects as the assessment indicators."

"There are more than 30 rationalization suggestions like this that both reduce the burden on the people and are effective, and the emperor has adopted them one by one."

"The following year, Shen Kuo was promoted to the third minister, who became the country's highest financial officer."

"Wang Anshi set up three Regulations Departments specifically for the reform. This agency is responsible for the formulation and promulgation of new laws and is the general hub of fiscal-centered reform activities."

Wang Anshi: Shen Kuo is a villain and should not be approached.

He was appointed by the emperor to be the counselor of political affairs and the abbot of the reform plan.

At this time, he was so powerful that Shen Kuo wanted to rely on him, so he vigorously advocated the benefits of the new law.

At first, he valued Shen Kuo's talents very much.

But it soon became apparent that Shen Kuo's clever words and flattery were not the behavior of a gentleman.

Later, the emperor intended to appoint Shen Kuo to preside over the implementation of the Baojia Law, but he was directly excluded from the core level of the reform.

However, the power behind the DPRK and the Central Committee was very strong to constrain the reform, and he also urgently needed to recruit talents.

For a person like Shen Kuo with obvious advantages and disadvantages, he decided to use his strengths.

Facts have proved that his strategy is very correct.

He put Shen Kuo in charge of Bianhe River water conservancy, and Shen Kuo performed very well.

The Bianhe River water conservancy project consists of two parts: dredging and siltation. Siltation is to cover the saline-alkali land on both sides with Yellow River silt, turning it into fertile farmland.

Shen Kuo personally surveyed more than 840 miles of river sections on both sides of the Bian River and pioneered the new technology of layered weir construction.

A stepped weir was built, water was diverted and poured into it, and more than 17,000 hectares of silted fields were turned into fertile farmland.

He felt very sorry for Shen Kuo.

Obviously his talent is impeccable, but his moral character is disgraceful.

He only hoped that after listening to what the anchor said, Shen Kuo would realize his mistakes and change his ways.

In this way, his reform group can also add a general.

"In the eighth year of Xining, the Liao State sent envoy Xiao Xi to negotiate the division of land in the east of Hedong, claiming that the goal must be achieved."

"Song Shen Zong sent Shen Kuo as an envoy to the Liao Kingdom. Shen Kuo went to the Privy Council to check the archives before departure."

"I found the document on the border between the two countries in the past, which specified the ancient Great Wall as the boundary."

"The boundary requested by Liao envoy Xiao Xi is on the Song side, more than thirty miles away from the Great Wall."

"Shen Kuo reported this to the emperor. Song Shenzong opened Tianzhang Pavilion and summoned Shen Kuo. He said that it was fortunate that Shen Kuo was there, otherwise those ministers who did not explore the origin of the matter would have missed important national events."

"Xiao Xi gave up after seeing the evidence Shen Kuo presented."

"Shen Kuo came to the Khitan palace to negotiate with Yang Yijie, the Khitan prime minister."

"Shen Kuo has found the relevant files in advance and asked his accompanying officials to memorize them in advance. Whenever Yang Yijie raised a question, Shen Kuo would turn around and ask the officials to answer according to the files."

"This is still the case in the second negotiation."

"Yang Yijie had no choice but to complain that the Song Dynasty was reluctant to part with even a few miles of land, which might ruin the friendship between the two countries."

"Shen Kuo retorted that the strength of the army comes from justice, and its weakness comes from injustice." "Now the Khitan has abandoned the credibility of your former emperor and treated the people with violence. This is not a bad thing for us."

"The talks were held six times in total, and the Khitan did not take advantage."

"Shen Kuo returned to his country and drew the mountains and landforms along the way, recorded the customs and people, and compiled a book called "The Envoy of Khitan Illustrations" to the imperial court."

Zhu Di: After the Wutai Poetry Case, Shen Kuo's official career was completely cut off. It can only be said that he brought the blame on himself, retaliation for retaliation.

Although Shen Kuo was admired by later generations for his scientific achievements, he still looked down on such shameless villains.

Wang Anshi implemented the new law, and Shen Kuo was a staunch reformist.

As a result, Shen Kuo gained the respect of Wang Anshi and served as the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to inspect the implementation of the new law.

After Shen Kuo inspected everywhere, his report to Wang Anshi and the emperor only reported the good news but not the bad news.

Su Shi and Wang Anshi, the reform prime minister, had different views, and they were also different from what Shen Kuo reported.

During the period when Wang Anshi's New Deal was in full swing, Su Shi enumerated the pain and disasters the New Deal had brought to the people.

Su Shi, who dared to speak out and tell the truth, had tit-for-tat arguments with the reformists.

Naturally, he was exiled and was sent to Hangzhou to serve as a general judge.

Although Su Shi was released, his status in the hearts of the highest ruling class is still not low.

Therefore, when Shen Kuo was sent to Hangzhou by the Song Shen Sect to supervise the reform affairs, he specifically asked Shen Kuo to pay special attention to Su Shi.

After Shen Kuo met Su Shi in Hangzhou, he exchanged greetings, recalled the past, and asked Su Shi for new works before leaving.

Su Shi, who was immersed in the reunion of old friends in the past, had always been upright in temperament. Without thinking much, he gave Shen Kuo a handwritten copy of many recent poems and poems at that time.

Among them is the poem "Two Junius Trees Where the Scholar Wang Fu Lives" which triggered a serious case of literary inquisition. There is a sentence in it: "The roots are as deep as the nine springs without bends, and only the stinging dragon in the world knows it."

After Shen Kuo returned to the capital with Su Shi's gift, the censor, who always wanted to punish Su Shi to death, found Shen Kuo and asked for Su Shi's gift.

But the censor's writing sensitivity is not very high, and after reading for a long time, he didn't see what they wanted.

Originally, with the political literacy of the censor and the appreciation of Song Shenzong, Su Shi had no major problems.

But Shen Kuo suddenly realized that someone else wanted to mess with Su Shi, so he volunteered to ponder Su Shi's poem.

The emperor paid off, and Shen Kuo really figured it out.

According to what Shen Kuo said, the root reaches the nine springs without a tune, and only the stinging dragon in the world knows it. These two lines of poetry are a hidden stab at the emperor.

The emperor is like a flying dragon in the sky, but Su Shi looks for the stinging dragon under the nine springs. How can there be such a minister?

When Shen Kuo did this, the censor jumped out and misinterpreted Su Shi's "Hangzhou Chronicle Poems" to the anger of gods and ghosts.

For example, in the poem "If the East China Sea knows its purpose, it should be rebuked and turned into mulberry fields." The imperial censor believed that Su Shi was criticizing the water conservancy project as a complete mess.

The poem "How could it be that I forgot to understand the taste after hearing it, and I have eaten without salt in the past three months?" The censor believed that Su Shi was satirizing the ban on people selling salt.

In the end, the censor determined that Su Shi was not only opposed to the New Deal.

Moreover, ridiculing the emperor is a heinous crime and should be punished by death.

In the face of such evidence, Song Shenzong had no reason to protect Su Shi.

As a result, Su Shi was dismissed from office, arrested and imprisoned, and was escorted to the capital for interrogation at Yushitai.

In this way, a major literary inquisition case involving more than 30 relatives and friends of Su Shi and more than 100 poems began.

The Yushitai in the Song Dynasty was also called Wutai, so this case was also called the Wutai Poetry Case.

After the Wutai Poetry Case, Shen Kuo's reputation became infamous and he completely withdrew from the political stage of the Northern Song Dynasty.

"When Shen Kuo visited the two Zhejiang provinces, he discovered shortcomings in the implementation of the new law that harmed ordinary farmers."

"When the Third Secretary took office, Shen Kuo elaborated on some of the shortcomings of the new law and proposed a compromise plan between the draft law and the exemption law."

"Because Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister in October of the ninth year of Xining, and Shen Kuo was appointed minister in November, he was accused of being a villain."

"Prime Minister Wu Chong was a conservative and asked Shen Kuo that if the law of exemption from military service was good, why did the people keep slandering and opposing it."

"Shen Kuo said that there were indeed some shortcomings in the implementation of the new law, so he was impeached by the imperial censor for repeating his words and deeds against the service law."

"Shen Kuo was dismissed as the third envoy and was appointed magistrate of Yanzhou."

"After arriving in Yanzhou, Shen Kuo personally drank wine and asked the innocent people among the people to compete in horseback riding and archery, and rewarded those with outstanding abilities."

"The people were excited and happy, rushing to go for fear of missing the game."

"Shen Kuo also selected more than a thousand people who could shoot through arrow targets and fly onto chariots, and added these people to the central army. The prestige of Yanzhou's army immediately surpassed that of other state capitals."

"The Imperial Guards from the capital were sent to garrison at the border. The imperial court rewarded them twice but did not reward the local troops."

"Shen Kuo believes that the local garrison fights every year, but is treated differently in terms of rewards, which can easily lead to chaos."

"So he hid the reward letter, gave the local army tens of thousands of dollars under the pretense of the imperial court's order, and reported the matter to the imperial court."

"Song Shenzong issued an edict saying that this was a mistake of the Privy Council. If Shen Kuo hadn't seen the crux of the problem, there would have been chaos in the military and political affairs."

"After this incident, if there is no time to ask for instructions and a report needs to be made, Shen Kuo can handle it on his own."

"Shen Kuo has the power to grant additional official positions below the Imperial City Envoy in the name of the imperial court."

"The imperial army encountered heavy snow when they arrived at Wuyuan, and the food and wages were blocked and could not be transported in time."

"Seeing that the troops were about to get into trouble, the general instead of performing his duties to appease the soldiers, instead fled with his own soldiers."

"More than 30,000 soldiers will rush into Yanzhou City at once. If not handled properly, it will lead to military chaos and disaster for the people."

"Shen Kuo made a decision and went out to the city to entertain the returning troops with food and wine, but only got a few thousand people."

"Shen Kuo pretended not to know that they were deserters, and casually asked who their leader was."

"The soldiers returned to camp without any further investigation."

"Just like that, in less than ten days, all the defeated soldiers came back."

Zhang Juzheng: Shen Kuo’s duplicitous political speculation ultimately paid a corresponding price.

Wang Anshi's reform encountered great resistance, and after repeatedly requesting to resign, it was finally approved.

Wu Chong was a Jinshi in the same year as Wang Anshi, and he was also the son and daughter-in-law.

Wang Anshi recommended Wu Chong to replace him and continue to complete the reform cause. Unexpectedly, Wu Chong's political views were not exactly the same as Wang Anshi's.

At this time, Shen Kuo had reached the rank of Third Secretary in charge of the country's finances and wanted to advance to a higher level.

Shen Kuo saw the gap between the new prime minister and the subordinate prime minister and thought it was an opportunity that could be exploited.

So Shen Kuo presented a statement to the new prime minister Wu Chong, enumerating the many inconveniences of the new law.

Wu Chong hid the note in his sleeve and prepared to present it to Song Shenzong.

Originally this was a secret document, but the censor found out about it and gave a memorial to the emperor.

Criticizing Shen Kuo for being capricious, he just said that the new law will definitely not disturb the people, and now he is talking about the many inconveniences of the new law. Isn't it contradictory?

Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty had long been disgusted with Shen Kuo's way of adapting to the wind, so he took the opportunity to remove Shen Kuo from his official position as a Hanlin scholar and demoted him to another place.

One year later, Song Shenzong originally planned to re-appoint Shen Kuo.

However, the censor once again wrote a letter criticizing Shen Kuo as a capricious villain, so the edict issued by Song Shenzong was withdrawn.

Due to Shen Kuo's moral villainy, Shen Kuo completely cut off his official career, which led to his ultimate tragic fate.

Shen Kuo was the most knowledgeable person in the Northern Song Dynasty. He had a thorough understanding of the system, cultural heritage, and people's deeds at that time. He was especially thorough in astronomy, arithmetic, and music.

Although he also admitted that Shen Kuo's talent was indeed undisputed, he could not cover up his moral corruption.

"In 1082 AD, imperial officials came to Yanzhou to build Yongle City and obtained the emperor's approval."

"The Song Dynasty's construction of Yongle City made Xixia feel threatened and attacked Yongle City with heavy troops."

"Shen Kuo suggested a strategy for defending the city, but the court officials despised the enemy and did not listen."

"Xixia suddenly attacked the city in the middle of the night, Yongle City fell, and few soldiers survived."

"Shen Kuo was demoted to Yuanwailang after being held accountable, and was resettled in Suizhou."

"It wasn't until 1089 AD that Shen Kuo completed his meritorious work in compiling the Map of Prefectures and Counties in the World, and was commended by the imperial edict."

"Shen Kuo's ban on free movement was lifted, allowing him to freely choose his place of residence."

"So Shen Kuo went to Runzhou to build Mengxi Garden, and wrote "Mengxi Bi Tan" here. He lived in Runzhou for eight years and died at the age of sixty-five."

""Mengxi Bi Tan" is a summary of Shen Kuo's social and scientific activities throughout his life. It is a comprehensive notebook involving natural science, technology, social phenomena, historical summary, etc."

"The book has thirty volumes, covering astronomy, calendar, meteorology, geography, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, water conservancy, history, literature, architecture, medicine, art, law, military, music, archeology, personnel and many other fields ”

"There are more than 600 entries in total, including more than 200 entries on science and technology, recording Shen Kuo's inventions, discoveries and insights."

""Mengxi Bi Tan" has global influence. Foreign countries had typed and printed this work in the mid-19th century, and it has been translated into French, German, English, Italian and other languages."

"After the 20th century, scholars from all over the world conducted in-depth and systematic research on "Mengxi Bi Tan", which had a great impact."

Xu Guangqi: Shen Kuo was an all-rounder and could be called the most knowledgeable person in Chinese history.

In his short life, Shen Kuo achieved so many achievements and covered such a wide range of fields that they can only be described in four words: breathtaking.

In the field of mathematics, Shen Kuo created two mathematical methods: gap product theory and circle theory.

In the field of astronomy, Shen Kuo improved the armillary sphere for measuring the orientation of celestial bodies and the clepsydra for measuring time, and created a standard for measuring the sun's shadow.

The most amazing thing is that Shen Kuo also created a twelve-year calendar to determine the moon based on the solar terms.

In terms of geography, Shen Kuo first deduced that the North China Plain used to be a seashore and was formed by alluvial rivers.

The Map of Prefectures and Counties in the World compiled by Shen Kuo is a monument in cartography, and he also invented the woodcut three-dimensional topographic map.

In addition, Shen Kuo is involved in ancient climate changes, the principles of tornado generation, the relationship between the moon and tides, etc.

In terms of physics, Shen Kuo studied compasses in depth and discovered the phenomenon of magnetic declination.

Shen Kuo put forward important theoretical explanations for the phenomenon of string resonance and hole effect in acoustics.

In terms of chemistry, Shen Kuo took the lead in using bile water to smelt copper and use petroleum to make ink.

In terms of economics, Shen Kuo reformed the salt banknote method and the copper casting method.

Monetary theory was also proposed, believing that currency needs to circulate, otherwise it is dead money and will become less and less valuable.

In terms of water conservancy projects, Shen Kuo once presided over the management of Shu water and the dredging project of the Bian River.

What is even more rare is that Shen Kuo not only participated in practice, but was also good at summarizing and analyzing, and has written many related works.

In the field of art, Shen Kuo is an expert in music rhythm and has written "Music Theory" and other works.

Shen Kuo is also an expert in collecting and appreciating calligraphy and painting, and once wrote "Picture Song".

In the military field, Shen Kuo once stationed at the border for many years and won a great victory in the Battle of Lingwu, for which he wrote many military works.

In terms of medicine, Shen Kuo collected medical prescriptions and wrote two masterpieces on medicine, "Liangfang" and "Lingyuan Prescription".

As for literature, Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" is itself a good work rich in literary color.

He can say without exaggeration that if Shen Kuo had no moral flaws, he would definitely be highly respected by all dynasties.

(End of this chapter)