The number one sycophant of the Ming Dynasty

Colorful rays of light stretched across the sky, golden rays descended upon the altar, and purple mist rose from the Circular Mound Altar.

Regardless of the type, as long as it catches the eye of the Jiajing Emperor, it is a clear declaration from Heaven:

This son is the one I chose!

Even if Yan Shifan were adept at pandering and writing petitions, he would never have imagined this step!

Because this is not something that can be accomplished with just writing skills; it requires genuinely "inviting" a divinely ordained auspicious event under the watchful eyes of the public!

Chen Han was excited for only two seconds before he instantly calmed down, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.

No.

We absolutely cannot use those cheap street tricks.

The idea of ​​using prisms to create rainbows or using chemical agents to create colored flames is, frankly, just a deceptive illusion.

The Taoist priests who served Emperor Jiajing were all masters of illusion and magic. If you tried to fool him with these things, the chances of being exposed were 100%!

Once exposed, it would be a heinous crime of deceiving the emperor and causing the extermination of his entire family. Not only would he be beheaded, but Prince Yu would also suffer eternal damnation.

He had to come up with a foolproof plan.

A method that even the Jiajing Emperor and his court officials could not find fault with.

A strange phenomenon that appears to be entirely a natural occurrence, a method that, even after being examined thoroughly, leaves no trace of human intervention.

Chen Han closed his eyes tightly and frantically dug into his memories of his past life.

A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

In his previous life, when he worked in the county government office, the county held a cultural and tourism festival and invited a magic troupe.

Their special skill wasn't turning pigeons or playing cards into magic; it was combining ancient magic tricks with physical principles to create a mirage over the county town.

At the time, he was in charge of liaison and had several in-depth conversations with the head of the magic troupe.

The troupe leader said that a real mirage is called a "mirage" in ancient times.

It is a natural phenomenon caused by light passing through layers of air of different densities, resulting in refraction and total internal reflection.

Most commonly found at sea and in the desert, it can reflect scenery from hundreds of miles away into the sky, like a celestial palace descending to earth.

The artificial mirages they created were illusions made using mirrors and water mist.

However, the troupe leader also said that the season when true mirages are most likely to appear is in the dead of winter.

In winter, the ground is cold, and warm air sinks down from the sky.

When cold and warm air come together, a huge difference in air density will occur.

When sunlight passes through, it undergoes precise refraction, effectively "reflecting" the scenery on the ground into the sky.

Chen Han suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze flashing with a sharp light!

winter!

The winter solstice marks the time of year when Yin reaches its extreme and Yang begins to emerge, a time of intense cold!

The Temple of Heaven's Circular Mound Altar is located in the southern suburbs, surrounded by open space, with the white marble ground chilly all night long.

The ground temperature is bone-chillingly low, making it an ideal place to create mirages!

As long as he can create a controllable and precise temperature difference in the air near the altar, he can create a layer of air with a completely different density in the air above the altar!

When light passes through it, it undergoes precise refraction!

As long as the angle is calculated perfectly, objects on the ground can be seen.

For example, the reflection of King Yu on the altar, or the light from the sacrificial vessels and jade, is directly refracted into the air, forming a clear virtual image!

The illusory image hung in the sky, hazy and indistinct in the thin mist of the winter solstice morning, both real and illusory. Who wouldn't think it was a divine manifestation?

When the Jiajing Emperor saw it, he would only believe that it was a divine response and an auspicious omen bestowed by heaven!

When the officials saw this, they could only kneel down and shout "Long live the Emperor!" and kowtow to the auspicious sign!

Even if a few shrewd individuals have some doubts, they simply cannot find the slightest flaw.

Because this is not a man-made magic trick, but a real natural law!

You can't exactly say that the physical laws of the universe are man-made fakes, can you?

The most amazing thing is that he didn't need to set up any fancy devices at all!

No mirrors, no mechanisms, nothing that could be discovered!

All he had to do was borrow the existing rules of the Temple of Heaven and follow the natural order of heaven and earth.

Use the laws of nature itself to create a flawless auspicious omen!

What is in the Temple of Heaven?

The Circular Mound Altar is a three-tiered circular platform made of white marble, conforming to the traditional Chinese concept of a round heaven and a square earth.

The white marble stone at the very center of the top layer is called the Tianxin Stone, also known as the Taiji Stone, and it is the core of the entire Temple of Heaven.

It is also the place where the emperor, in the grand ceremony of worshipping Heaven, takes his seat and prays to Heaven.

These white marble stones have been exposed to wind and sun for over a hundred years and have long since weathered, resulting in slight differences in their reflectivity.

At sunrise on the winter solstice, the sun shines at a very low angle.

If he polishes the surface of the Tianxin Stone to be a few degrees smoother than the surrounding area, he can make its reflective intensity several times stronger than the surrounding area!

This change is so minor that it's practically invisible to the naked eye.

After all, who would lie on the ground for no reason and pick at the Heavenly Heart Stone used by the emperor for sacrificial rites?

What's even more ingenious is that he can also use the fixed rules of the sacrificial ceremony to welcome the gods with firewood!

The first ritual in the grand sacrifice at the Circular Mound Altar of the Ming Dynasty was the burning of firewood.

In the furnace at the southeast corner of the Altar of Heaven, sacrificial animals such as calves and jade and silk are burned, so that the smoke can reach the heavens and invite the gods to descend to the altar.

This is an ironclad rule established by the "Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty," which cannot be altered in the slightest, and no one can find any fault with it!

Once the fire is lit, the air around the furnace will be heated rapidly.

When hot air rises and collides with the frigid air of a deep winter morning, a dramatic density difference is created!

At this moment, the sunlight reflected by the Tianxin Stone passes through this layer of air where hot and cold meet, and undergoes precise refraction and scattering!

If the angle is calculated accurately, the refracted light will form a clear golden spot or even a colorful halo above the altar!

This is the most basic physical principle, and it doesn't need any fancy stuff at all!

The more Chen Han thought about it, the more confident he felt, and his blood started to boil!

He didn't need to bring any prohibited items into the forbidden area of ​​the Temple of Heaven; he only needed to do two things:

First, on the eve of the sacrificial ceremony, take advantage of the shift change of the imperial guards to quietly ascend to the top of the Altar of Heaven.

Use very fine sandpaper to evenly polish the surface of the Tianxin Stone, making it smoother than the surrounding stone surfaces.

Even if someone stares at the stone every day, they won't notice the problem with this change.

The reflectivity of the polished stone surface can increase several times!

Second, adjust the way the firewood is stacked in the furnace.

Concentrate the flames on the side facing the Circular Mound Altar, and align the rising path of the hot air precisely with the direction of the Heavenly Heart Stone and the sunrise!

In this way, when sunlight shines, the reflected light passes through the hot air layer above the furnace.

Right above the altar, a clear spot of golden light refracted!

If all goes well, the light will hang two or three zhang above the altar.

The morning mist enveloped the scene, accompanied by the rising smoke from the burning firewood.

It looks exactly like the divine light descending from the sky, instantly creating a powerful atmosphere!

What would the Jiajing Emperor think if he saw this?

He would only think that this was Heaven's response to Prince Yu's prayers, that it was the will of Heaven, and that it was an auspicious sign for the foundation of the nation!

What would the officials think if they saw this?

Even if someone has doubts, they simply can't find any evidence!

The stones at the Temple of Heaven are original, and so is the original furnace.

Firewood is something that should be burned according to the rules. You can't say that "the Tianxin stone is too smooth" and that it's considered deceiving the emperor and forging something, can you?

A confident smile involuntarily crept onto Chen Han's lips...