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In the gazebo, Li Si, He Siping, and Li Ang were sitting at the stone table, drinking tea.

In the evaluation of the court and the people, Li Si is an excellent prince, benevolent, tolerant, and considerate of the people's feelings-for the people, if he does not disturb the people's livelihood and does not condone the reckless behavior of his subordinates, he is considered qualified.

However, there was one point that was not mentioned in the wind review - Li Si was still a complete talker.

Risheng, do you also like to drink Qujiang thin slices? Qujiang is a good place. Although I have never been there, I have a teacher from Qujiang, Tanzhou. He told me that it is cloudy, rainy, and foggy. Often There will be bright sunshine at high altitude, billowing clouds and mist on the top of the mountain, drizzle at the foot of the mountain, and dark and dark indoors, and every spring, the clothes will be moldy.”

Speaking of mold, I heard that there is something called Umi in Hebei Province. It's not rice, it's moldy stuff that grows on sorghum and millet grains. It's edible when it's not grown, and it tastes fresh...but look According to the publication of the Academy, it is harmful to the soil, and once found, it should be eradicated as soon as possible, otherwise the soil fertility will decline and last for several years.

By the way, I just got the news yesterday that the Science Society of Jiangnan Road has invented a device that can thresh grains. It can thresh a thousand catties of grains in an hour, which is more than twice as fast as the previous manual threshing of rice. And The elderly and children can also operate and use it, which is of great benefit to the country and the people. The Neo-Confucian Society plans to issue a reward of 5,000 guan first, and the subsequent court will also reward additional rewards.

Li Siyi couldn't stop talking. The content of the chat ranged from agriculture to mining, from the drop in gold prices to commercial routes in the Western Regions, from horse racing to clothing.

But the subject was careful not to mention the royal family.

Some time ago, the influence of both the father and son of Changxiang County Prince died has not subsided. As the prince, Li Si is really not suitable to express any opinions on this matter.

It's great to have a school. Back in the early days of Yu, the country of Yu was in turmoil. Faced with the sudden invasion of the Turks, the ancestors had no choice but to make an alliance with them. Now, three hundred years later, the territory of the country of Yu has not changed much. But the population has increased by 300 million, and the national power is far greater than that of the Turks.

Li Si shook his head and said with emotion: No wonder many people say that the value of ten Doctors of Science is even higher than that of Brother Zhuxiao. Maybe one day, we can truly understand all the laws of operation of everything, and we don't have to hope for it anymore. The ghosts and gods in the world.

Yo, Prince, what you said is a bit politically incorrect.

Li Ang took a sip of tea calmly,

In the current state of Yu, offering sacrifices to ancestors, gods and Haotian is still the top priority of every year's activities. The Emperor Yu, the Prince, and all civil and military officials still had to pray to the gods and Haotian at the ceremony to protect the Yu Kingdom.

Now is not the time to completely kick the gods off the stage of history.

On the other hand,

The Neo-Confucianism of Xuegong is developing rapidly, especially in agriculture. From what Li Ang saw, they not only promoted mulberry fish ponds, intercropping and crop rotation techniques, but also invented and improved agricultural tools.

Even according to the empiricism of agriculture, some kind of self-generated nitrogen-fixing bacteria fertilizer has been worked out-use a wooden box, fill most of the clean river sand, pour the loam that has been filtered out of impurities, and then add apatite powder, Plant ash, brown sugar and other substances are mixed with water and stirred evenly, and finally stored at room temperature to cultivate nitrogen-fixing bacteria and buried in the soil to increase soil fertility.

Although this kind of technology is known but not why,

But as long as it works.

And when someone grinds out a suitable lens, invents a microscope, and discovers the existence of microorganisms, then agronomy, biology, and hygiene will usher in great development.

Li Ang was looking forward to it.

He Siping, who had been drinking tea calmly, smiled slightly when he heard Li Si's exclamation, and said to Li Ang: By the way, Risheng, I heard that Dr. Su Feng and Tantai Leshan Siye from the academy are developing a new model airplane? how is the progress?

Well, it should be going well, right?

Li Ang thought for a while and replied: The last time I went to see it, they were planning to put a lamb into the model airplane and fly it into the sky.

Can lambs go to heaven?

Li Si's eyes lit up, Then if the model plane is made bigger, will it be able to carry people and cargo? It is also possible to travel thousands of miles a day?

Simple carrying people and goods is estimated to be feasible. But if you want to transport many people or goods, you have to face other more problems.

Li Ang replied: For example, it is necessary to balance the material, weight, center of gravity, thrust, and lift of the model airplane.

There is also the most critical wind of heaven and earth.

Once flying to a high place, the ferocious and violent heaven and earth wind can easily tear apart steel and mortal flesh.

Is that so?

Li Si shook his head regretfully when he heard the words, I still look forward to having a manned aircraft model that can withstand the strong winds of the sky and the earth, so that I can see things in the sky clearly through the strong wind layer.

Maybe there will be more than a hundred years later.

Li Ang smiled, with a lot of thoughts in his heart.

The most precious thing about the model airplane that Su Feng and the others are developing is not the precious metal materials and talismans used, but the seemingly primitive engine itself.

Assuming that a farmer or laborer engaged in physical labor works ten hours a day, the power he can do by relying on his arm strength is only one-fifteenth of a horsepower on average,

One horse-power engine, therefore, can replace the labor of about fifteen men.

One hundred horsepower equals fifteen hundred people.

Once the engine solves the problems of energy and consumables and is officially put into production, it will inevitably cause unprecedented impact and innovation.

Textile, mining, metallurgy, transportation.

It would be a vigorous industrial revolution, and the small-scale peasant economy, where men farm and women weave, is vulnerable to the power of industry.

Li Ang came back to his senses, and glanced across Li Si's face without leaving a trace.

Having experienced the case of Li Shenbin, the son of Changxiang County Prince, he no longer has any trust in Li Yu's royal family and the Emperor Yu who is known as the Holy Lord of Mingjun.

In most of the literary and artistic works of the memory of the foreign world, the emperor is always portrayed as a wise, or at least an image of being deceived by treacherous officials. It seems that as long as the treacherous ministers are dealt with, and the pros and cons are reported to the emperor, the problem can always be resolved.

To a large extent, this is not the laziness of the creators of literary and artistic works, but in that context, the emperor is the source of secular power. Traitors can still be punished for making mistakes, but if the emperor goes astray, there is no simple and clear solution at all.

Emperor Yu, since he was able to let Li Shenbin go because of the ancient Eight Discussions regulations,

Then when he realized the possible horrific impact on the imperial power caused by the engine and industrial innovation,

Will he try to stop him again?

If he and the imperial court are determined to restrict and hinder the development of industry, will the academy stand on the opposite side of the imperial court as Li Ang expected?

Li Ang is not 100% confident about this.

Science and technology are not omnipotent. They need the nourishment and nurturing of social systems and the protection and guidance of secular power.

Facing the future ruler of Yu Kingdom, Li Ang still kept a calm smile.

Is it the position of the head of the mountain?

————

Chatting with Li Si and He Siping was quite enjoyable. Besides confirming that the court of Yu State was aware of the value of the engine, Li Ang also got some gossip—the prince’s gossip, which can basically be regarded as unofficially announced. fact.

The Southern Zhou emperor's physical condition has improved recently. During the Chinese New Year, he was still sick in bed, taking medicine non-stop. Now he can leave the bed, handle government affairs, and even meet with his officials. His complexion also looked no different from ordinary people.

Therefore, the Southern Zhou Mission, which originally accepted the duty of seeking medicine, did not mention the matter of hiring a doctor from the State of Yu to treat the emperor when they came to Chang'an this time.

Instead, they performed normal mission duties, such as greeting Emperor Yu's health and presenting state gifts. In addition, several of the most outstanding disciples of the Southern Zhou Dynasty were sent to the Academy for exchange studies.

As for the other matter, it is even more important.

The head teacher of Haotian Daomen has left the mountain.

If the illness of the Emperor of the Southern Zhou Dynasty affected the safety of the southern border of Yu State. Then the news of the Haotian religion is related to the movements of all countries in the world.

The history of Haotian Daomen can be traced back to the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The earliest Haotian prophets descended from Taihao Mountain and came to the world to spread the teachings of Haotian.

For thousands of years, Haotian Daomen has mastered most of the beliefs in the world. In some kingdoms, the throne changes, and the presence of Haotian priests is required to personally canonize the new king.

Haotian Daomen also relies on its transcendent status and strength to balance the relationship between the nations. Eliminate the war between the two countries, punish the heresy of the evil way, destroy the sect of the demon way, etc.

And when there are problems within Haotian Daomen and it is impossible to interfere with the outside world, the turmoil between countries will often get out of control.

For example, one of the reasons for the demise of the former Sui Dynasty was that the previous Haotian headmasters either disappeared or died of unknown reasons, causing violent conflicts to erupt within the Haotian Daomen, leaving no time to balance external disputes.

The impact of the incident lasted for two hundred years. Up to now, Master Haotian has spent more time in seclusion than out of seclusion. Even if he leaves seclusion, he seldom announces his will to the outside world.

Those devout believers of Haotian may become more devout and fanatical because of the reappearance of the head teacher,

But Leon

I just hope that Master Zhangjiao can worship Haotian devoutly and stop interfering with the world.

————

West of Jingguo.

Taihao Mountain.

The plain at the foot of the mountain stretches as far as the eye can see, with green grass,

Thousands of trees in the mountains compete for glory, and the ancient trees are towering.

A young man with a face like a crown of jade and wearing a black robe walked through the stone road built by pious believers in the forest and walked into a magnificent hall.

The hall was solemn and quiet, only the crisp sound of clogs stepping on the cyan jade floor.

Wherever the young man went, the priests who were discussing matters in a low voice subconsciously lowered their voices and bowed their heads slightly to show respect.

Tread Tread.

The young man walked down the corridor with a gentle smile, crossed the aisle, stopped at the corner, and looked up at the towering dome above the narrow aisle.

Haotian does not have a specific image, so there will not be portraits painted on the dome of the hall like some temples.

Instead, it was a complex pattern made of countless metals and precious stones.

Gemstones of various colors symbolize the heaven, earth and stars,

The metal lines woven with pure gold and mithril represent the orbits of stars.

For any gemstone to spread, it is enough to arouse the madness of collectors and even dignitaries.

And the exquisite system that controls the movement of gemstones and wires is the amazing talent of skilled craftsmen and outstanding astronomers.

This pattern can not only present the starry sky, but also reflect the specific position of the stars in real time.

In the view of Haotian Daomen, it is Haotian who created everything including human beings, and formulated the operating rules of all things in the dark.

Otherwise, there is no other theory that can explain why the movement of the stars is so regular and beautiful.

The young man looked up at the ever-changing patterns on the dome obsessively, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses and step into the door.

call--

It was clearly the summer of July, but the heavy snow was whizzing by.

The young man did not change his face, and walked slowly in the snow. The clogs squeezed the white snow and stepped on the stone slabs carved with complicated patterns.

Haotian Daomen has a head teacher and four cardinal priests. This palace belongs to the priest of Torch Language-responsible for comprehending Haotian's will and making predictions.

Just because the torch language priest came from the northern region and liked wind and snow, he used the formation buried in the palace dome and rock formations to create a world of ice and snow in the scorching heat of July.

Plop——

A carp was pulled by a fishing line, jumped out of the ice cave, fell on the ice, was grabbed by a pair of old and wrinkled palms, and was gently thrown into a wooden bucket filled with water.

You're back.

The old man fishing by the icy lake, or the torch language priest, did not turn around and continued to fish on his own,

The young man tidied up his black robe, knelt down in the snow respectfully, Teacher, the result of my stargazing on the Endless Sea is consistent with that on Mount Taihao.

Constellations such as Sansuke, Anxin, Xusu, Ojuku, and Xusu have all dimmed to varying degrees in the past two years.

.

Priest Juyu paused for a moment when he lowered the hook, and then returned to normal, without turning his head, he said calmly, I see.

teacher

The young man's lips moved slightly. As the first disciple of the honorable Torch Language Priest, he firmly believed that every move of the master had a profound meaning, so he was not dismissed by the light words of the master during his two years of wandering in the endless sea. and angry,

He was just genuinely curious, hesitated for a long time, and then asked softly: The stars are darkening, what does this mean?

It doesn't mean anything, it just confirms one of my unfounded conjectures.

Priest Juyu muttered to himself, then raised his head suddenly, and said with a chuckle, It's rare for the head teacher to come out of the mountain, so he must have seen the same thing as me.

Probably, more than I've seen.

By the way, you are resting on the mountain for a few days, and you are going to go to Yu country together with the mission.

The young man was slightly taken aback, Yu Guo? We are not the same as Xue Gong.

The Academy took advantage of the opportunity to develop when Haotian Daomen fell into internal chaos.

And the country of Yu, which relies on the academy, is not like other countries that show absolute respect and loyalty to Haotian Daomen - they don't need priests to witness the succession of the throne, and the taxes paid to Haotian Daomen every year are pitifully small .

The most critical reason is that the Neo-Confucianism spread by the Academy to a large extent violates the many classics compiled by Haotian Daomen before.

For example, Daomen claims that birds, animals, flowers, birds, insects and fish are all created by Haotian, and they follow the rules and operate perfectly.

However, Xuegong has improved plant varieties and forcibly modified crop traits.

For various complicated reasons, many people on Mount Taihao regard the Academy as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh.

The two sides have fought openly and secretly for hundreds of years.

This is the order of the head teacher. At the invitation of the head of Xuegong Mountain, we will select outstanding young people from various temples to go to Chang'an to exchange experiences with Xuegong and compete on the same stage.

Priest Juyu paused for a moment, and said calmly: Jing Guo, Zhou Guo, Turkic and other countries will also send disciples to participate.

The winners will have the opportunity to enter Zhanquan.