Northern Song Dynasty Revitalization Strategy

Chapter 535 Bianjing Royal Observatory

The content of the conversation between Meng De and Wang Yan was written by Wang Yan into a letter and handed to Zhao Huan.

He closed the book and could only sigh.

I left enough retreats for the generals of the Song Dynasty, but unfortunately the generals of the Song Dynasty never paid attention to the retreats I left for them.

It was like this at the beginning, and it's the same now that it's Wang Yan.

"Officials, tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and Liu Yi has returned to Beijing." Zhao Ying could see that the officials were not in high spirits, so she smiled and told the officials the good news.

"Oh?" Zhao Huan raised his interest.

Liu Yi said that he wanted to measure the vastness of the earth, but no one believed it, but Zhao Huan believed him.

When Zhao Huan saw Liu Yi, Liu Yi held an instrument in his hand.

"The official family is safe. The minister Liu Yi has seen the official family." Liu Yi looked at the heroic Zhao Huan and saluted.

Zhao Huan signaled Zhao Ying to move a stool for Liu Yi, and said, "Please get up quickly. What is this?"

"This is the armillary sphere on the water astronomical platform. It was invented by Li Chunfeng of the former Tang Dynasty. It looks like this when it was disassembled. Do the officials remember it?" Liu Yi said with a smile while looking at the officials.

Zhao Huan nodded, of course he remembered the armillary sphere, and the water transport sphere was now telling the time for the people in Bianjing.

Of course he remembered it.

"Officials, this is the armillary sphere's needle. The armillary sphere can move with the sun from time to time. The armillary needle can point to the sun at any time. Then at night, the armillary sphere still rotates, and the armillary needle points to the ground." Liu Yi smiled and pointed Said with the armillary sphere.

Zhao Huan nodded. The Hun needle could point to the sun, but at night, the Hun needle pointed to the ground.

He knew why this happened, and he had told Li Gang about it at the time, saying that the sun was underground.

Li Gang also said that the sky is bright and bright, but can it be quiet under the nine secluded?
Now it seems that Li Gang probably left this matter to Liu Yi.

Liu Yi said with a smile: "Officials, I have completed what Huntian said on this trip."

"I don't know if the officials have ever heard such a saying that the shadow of the sun is a thousand miles away from the ground? That is to say, at the same time and at the same height, the shadows of poles at the same height are one inch apart, and the ground is a thousand miles apart?"

Zhao Huan pondered for a long time, but he had never heard of this theory.

[Historical Event Reminder: The difference of one inch in the shadow of the sun is thousands of miles. It is two places in the north and south on the same meridian. At noon on the day of the summer solstice, the difference in length of the sun shadow measured by one inch means that the distance between the two places is a thousand miles. 】

Zhao Huan nodded, the system reminded him, he smiled and motioned Liu Yi to continue talking.

"The monks and his party in the former Tang Dynasty have been busy for many years. They used ecliptic instruments and water-transported armillary spheres in about thirteen places in the Tang Dynasty. They measured the shadow of the sun for an inch, and the distance between the north and the south was 350 miles and eighty steps. .”

"I'm counting this when I go out this time. The shadow of the sun is one inch. To be precise, it should be 310 miles and 32 steps."

"Forget about other things."

Liu Yi took out the letter from his sleeve and handed it out.

Zhao Huan opened it and looked, and found that it was not a lot of formulas, or a lot of calculation process, but a simple summary.

But it was this summary that gradually made Zhao Huan's breathing heavier.

[Step from East Pole to West Chui, 75 miles and 75 steps.Also make Shuhai step the south pole and the north end to the north, [-] miles and [-] steps. 】

[Within the four seas, there are eight thousand miles from east to west, six thousand miles from north to south, eight thousand miles from the water, and eight thousand miles from the water. 】

Zhao Huan is not an ignorant person, he still knows that the ancient billion does not refer to the later billion, and the ancient billion refers to one hundred thousand.

To really express the meaning of [-] million, it should be tens of millions.

Zhao Huan counted with his fingers for a long time, and the content of Liu Yi's letter probably said that the length of Chidao was about 46000 kilometers.

[Historical... Mathematics data reminder: the length of the equator is 40076 kilometers. 】

Within the four seas, in fact, it refers to the territory of the Song Dynasty, which is about [-] miles from east to west, north to south.

Zhao Huan finally understood what was counted in Liu Yi's letter!
It's just that Zhao Huan looked at that sentence, and made Shuhai steps to the south pole and the north to the north, 75 miles and [-] steps.

Zhao Huan fell into confusion, what does this mean?
The system did not jump out to translate, it seems that it has entered the blind spot of the system's knowledge again, this system is as good as ever!

Liu Yi looked at the official's confused expression and asked, "The official, that is to say, the land under our feet is actually a sphere with a circumference of 75 miles and [-] steps..."

Zhao Huan nodded. After Liu Yi's translation, he finally understood all the contents of Liu Yi's letter. What he wanted to express was that the earth is a ball.

Zhao Huan looked at Zha Zi with a puzzled face. Although there was a big gap in the data, at least he figured out that the earth is a ball.

Just how do you figure it out?

Liu Yi also knew that his speech was a little bold, the earth is the earth, how could it be a ball?
Liu Yi looked at the puzzled expression of the officials, he knew his business, and he was afraid that it would be a mess.

He is a mathematician, and he is very good at arithmetic, but he is very unfamiliar with this court performance.

Liu Yi was a little bit at a loss and said, "Officials, I'm not talking nonsense. There is a basis for what I said."

"The "Zhang Heng Armillary Sphere Notes" in the former Han Dynasty said that the cloudy sky is like a chicken. The celestial body is round like a bullet, and the earth is like a yellow chicken. It lives alone in the sky. The sky is big and the earth is small. The shell is covered with yellow. The heaven and the earth stand on the strength of each other."

"The "Astronomical Records" of the former Tang Dynasty also mentioned this point of view, saying that the rate is 520 six miles 220 seven steps, and a book left by Su Song also mentioned this point of view. Jia Mingjian."

Zhao Huan watched Liu Yi talk a lot before he understood what Liu Yi wanted to say.

In fact, Zhao Huan probably understood what Liu Yi said.

This involves a controversy in ancient astronomy, the controversy between Gaitian theory and Huntian theory.

Gaitian said that the sky is round like a cover, the place is like a chessboard, the sky is like a cover on the ground, and the earth is like a chessboard, placed on the ground.

Hun Tian said that the sky is an egg, the stars in the sky are distributed on the egg shell, and the earth is the yolk.

Only then did Zhao Huan realize that Liu Yi misunderstood his doubts. He actually wanted to ask Liu Yi how he got this length, not questioning that the earth is a ball.

In the end, what Liu Yi explained to him was the dispute between Huntian theory and Gaitian theory.

As far as the knowledge system accepted by Zhao Huan is concerned, the theory of Huntian is actually closer to the truth.

"I believe what everyone said, the earth is a ball." Zhao Huan replied with a smile.

Liu Yi was about to continue citing scriptures to prove that the earth is a sphere, when he heard Zhao Huan's remarks, he was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Officials, do you really believe that the earth is a sphere?"

Zhao Huan nodded and said, "Master Liu, please tell me how you calculated."

Liu Yi bowed his head and said: "After thinking that the earth is a ball, I was very surprised. Then, on the day of the summer solstice, I measured the two places with the same shadow length, namely Bianjing and Chang'an, which are more than [-] miles north. Once, about one-fiftieth of a week."

"But there is a difference of three inches between the director of Qiongzhou and the director of Bianjing. It is easy to get, 75 miles and [-] steps."

Zhao Huan couldn't help nodding his head, what an easy deal!
He couldn't help but think of the three magic weapons of the math teacher in his high math class back then, easy to get, empathetic, and verifiable.

Looking at Liu Yi's expression, Zhao Huan knew that the speed at which he accepted the earth as a ball was too fast.

After all, in the later generations of the information technology age, there are still a lot of people who believe in the theory of a flat earth!
"I believe the earth is a ball because the moon is also a ball."

"Last year, the Workers' Relief Superintendent made a mock-up, an enlarged version of the bed crossbow, but it still hasn't fired a single arrow. But he grinds the water essence and grinds the telescope out."

"I also burned the glass for half a year in the Military Academy last year. It just so happens that today is the Shangyuan Festival, and the large telescope of the Song Dynasty is ready. Let's go and have a look together."

"The officials promised Concubine Zhu Gui to go to the Shangyuan Lantern Festival and guess lantern riddles together this year. What should we do?" Zhao Ying asked suddenly.

If Liu Yi hadn't come back on the day of Shangyuan Festival, Zhao Huan's itinerary today would be to go to the lantern festival with Zhu Lian and guess the crossword puzzle.

Zhao Huan thought for a while and said, "Tell Concubine Zhu that the Bianjing Lantern Festival will last for three to five days, and it's not too late to go tomorrow. Today, let's make a conclusion that this earth is a ball."

"This..." Zhao Ying hesitated, but looking at the high-spirited officials, it was not easy to spoil the official's elegance.

Looking at Zhao Ying's troubled look, Zhao Huan knew that Zhu Lian had carefully prepared for this trip to the Lantern Festival. Zhao Huan asked with a smile, "Why don't you ask Concubine Zhu Gui whether you want to go to see the big moon?"

"I'm going now, sir." Zhao Ying walked away with a smile all over her face. When she was ready to drive, Zhao Huan finally saw Zhu Lian who was well-dressed.

Zhao Huan asked Liu Yi for advice on the calculation process in the car, but it was actually not complicated. Liu Yi is a master in mathematics, and he explained it very clearly and thoroughly.

Liu Yi looked at Zhao Huan who couldn't stop nodding, and was a little suspicious. Did the officials really understand?

But he is not easy to ask.

"The Military Academy is here, the official." Zhao Ying stopped the car and said to Zhao Huan in the car.

Zhao Huan stepped out of the car, and the military academy in front of him was getting bigger and bigger. Zhao Huan could see the growth of the military academy in the past year.

The invention of new equipment is not a simple process, and it is easy to produce such super-large bed crossbows, but there is not much practical significance in weapons.

After the Jinren were injured in Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Loushi died in battle, there were no generals who took the lead in the charge.

As a result, a super-large bed crossbow was placed in Shanhaiguan, and no arrow was fired.

However, Zhao Huan was not in a hurry, and now Da Song's weapons were sufficiently ahead.

Zhao Huan came to an attic. The attic was built on the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain was modeled on the top of the water transportation instrument platform, which could be closed together or closed.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the buildings in front of the observatory, and the red bricks and blue tiles shone brightly under the setting sun. In the few rooms in front of the attic, there were several busy officials of the Qin Tianjian.

Responsible for the maintenance and data collection of astronomical instruments such as the armillary sphere, fuchen sphere, armillary phase, and chronograph.

【Bianjing Royal Observatory】

In fact, Zhao Huan really wanted to remove the word "Royal", but the various equipments here were funded by domestic funds, and the word "Royal" was engraved on it grandiosely.

It's just that when we got here, Zhao Huan actually heard the time telling from the Water Transport Observatory again, and asked, "Zhao Ying, is this the hour of Xu? Is there an Observatory here?"

Zhao Ying nodded and said, "That's natural. The observatories of all state capitals in the country need to be adjusted here to give the state capital time."

Zhao Huan nodded, looking at the various equipment in the observatory, full of curiosity, the moon has not yet risen, and there is no way to observe it now.

(End of this chapter)