Chapter 1261: As You Like It Again

Chapter 1261: As You Like It Again

Shao Xun invited Lu Wan to have lunch with him and they talked about people in Jiangnan.

"If Your Majesty wants to search for talents who are interested in all things in nature, Ge Zhichuan from the Ge family in Jurong should not be missed." Lu Wan said.

After the meal, one needs tea to rinse the mouth. Shang Shi looked at Shi with pity, picked up the tea and brought it in.

Shi heaved a sigh of relief, her heart pounding.

If Lu Fujun saw her serving others here, he would really want to die.

"Ge Hong?" Shao Xun asked.

After asking, he picked up the tea bowl and rinsed his mouth.

"It's this person." Lu Wan followed suit and put down the tea bowl.

"He is not in Jurong, so where is he now?" Shao Xun asked.

The Ge clan of Jurong once raised an army to resist, but was defeated. The remaining people fled back to Jurong, surrendered, and were exiled together.

Shao Xun also asked at that time whether there was a person named Ge Hong, but later learned that he had gone to Jiaozhi, so he gave up the question.

"In Luofu Mountain in Guangzhou." Lu Wan said, "Hong was old, and in order to live longer, he made elixirs. Hearing that cinnabar was produced in Jiaozhi, he asked for the order of Julou, and took his sons and nephews south to Guangzhou, where they were detained by the governor and stopped at Luofu Mountain to make elixirs. This mountain also produces cinnabar."

Shao Xun nodded. This was similar to what he knew, or even more.

In addition to refining elixirs, Ge Hong was also improving medical books. However, the money he brought with him must have been almost spent, right? After all, he had been in the south for more than three years. Even if there were gifts from the governor, now that the Jin Dynasty was gone, would he still have money?

Alchemy can not only make a rich man go bankrupt, it can also make you lose everything.

"Apart from Ge Zhichuan, are there any other talented people?" Shao Xun asked again.

Lu Wan's heart moved, thinking that he could only help you this time, so he said: "Now there is a man in Bianliang, his surname is Yu Xi, he is a direct descendant of Yuyao Yu family, he is known for his high moral character and excellent talent."

Shao Xun remembered it as soon as he heard it. Isn't this the criminal that Shan Xia once "wanted"?
When Shan Xia was the magistrate of Yuyao, he cleared out more than 10,000 hidden households in 80 days. When he was about to make further efforts to deal with the Yu family, which had the most hidden households, he ran into a wall.

At that time, he specifically named Yu Xi for arrest, but Yu Xi was not a pushover. He immediately mobilized a group of lackeys and had them report to Jianye over the chain of command, saying that "(Yu) Xi has high moral integrity and should not be humiliated." Then he found Shan Xia's faults and got rid of him.

All that "high moral integrity" is fake. The real reason is that you have already cleared out 10,000 people. That's enough. Stop while you're ahead. If you continue, I, Master Yu, will be "humiliated". Once I am humiliated, you can just wait for chaos in Kuaiji.

The final result was that Shan Xia was dismissed from his post, and Yu Xi was fine. He probably laughed out loud in private.

"What talents does this person have?" Shao Xun asked.

Judging from these things alone, Yu Xi is a typical local tyrant who can get rid of the royal relatives who want to arrest him, giving people the impression of being arrogant and domineering.

But Shao Xun knew that judging a person by just one or two things was not a complete picture, so he asked.

"This man is well-read and fond of ancient things. He is particularly fond of astronomy and calendar calculations, and often goes up the mountain to observe the stars." Lu Wan said, "He has an anecdote."

"Tell me quickly." Shao Xun said immediately.

"A few years ago, he said, 'During the reign of Emperor Yao, the winter solstice was short and the Pleiades were bright. Now, more than 2,700 years later, it is in the middle of the eastern wall. This shows why the day is getting shorter every year.'"

This sentence means that during the reign of Emperor Yao, the dusk star on the winter solstice was located in the Pleiades. Now, more than 2,700 years have passed, and the position of the dusk star on the winter solstice has moved to the middle of the Dongbi constellation. From this, we can know that the winter solstice point shifts every year, which is called "precession of the equinoxes."

"How did you know?" Shao Xun asked.

"This matter was discussed at the gathering." Lu Wan said: "Yu Xi wrote down his calculations on the spot based on the deviation of more than 71 years, saying that 'according to the calculation, it is less than 8 years, and the difference is two degrees' or 'one degree in years' (actually years and months)."

Shao Xun was well versed in Cao Pi, but he really didn't understand this, so he was in awe after listening to it.

This is not something that can be calculated simply by looking at historical records. Yu Xi must have observed the stars for many years, as it was one of his personal hobbies.

This overturned Yu Xi's personal image. If we only look at the battle between him and Shan Xia, he is just a local tyrant and evil gentry - of course, as the descendants of Yu Fan of the Eastern Wu, the Yu family has been officials for generations, and they are a proper aristocratic family, not a local tyrant.

But he also had personal hobbies, such as observing the stars and making calculations for them.

Perhaps the phenomenon of precession has been discovered long ago, but proposing the concept and calculating its motion trajectory has risen to a theoretical level.

Astrology is actually a part of discussing metaphysics.

Nowadays, when scholars discuss metaphysics, there are two main topics. One is based on the theories of "Zhuangzi", "Laozi" and "Yi", and they are expounded on all things in nature and then sublimated from there. For example, the "School of Noble Nothingness" in metaphysics believes that there must be an "ontology" behind all things in the universe, otherwise the world would not operate in this way and would be chaotic. They call this law that supports the operation of all things "nothingness".

Another major category is the exploration of the nature of life, which may be due to the influence of various factors such as epidemics and wars since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the fact that human life is too short;

There are also some other branches such as stories about gods, ghosts, and strange things.

After listening to this, Shao Xun pondered for a long time, called the female official, and ordered: "Ask Yu Xi to come to see me tomorrow."

"Yes."

Shao Xun looked at Lu Wan again and said, "The Yu family's land and houses have been confiscated by the court, but it is difficult to return them. However, if Yu Xi is really talented, he can enter the Wanxiang Academy, and I will give him another manor."

"The Bianliang residence is not easy to obtain." Lu joked.

Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "I said that you can live anywhere. It is not appropriate to grant you a manor in the north now, but you can find a place in the south. You can live at home on weekdays, and the letters will be delivered by the post. I will also give you money and goods every year as an encouragement."

The money is used for no other reason than to support their lives.

Some of the gentry were rich, but some of the poor gentry were not necessarily so. For example, Sun Jue of the Taiyuan Sun family once farmed his own land.

Furthermore, if someone was originally rich and lived a happy life, but suddenly became penniless - this usually happens to the business community.

To put it bluntly, we want to make their lives worry-free.

"Ge Zhichuan..." Shao Xun paused and said, "Luofu Mountain is a bit far after all. Let's find a cinnabar producing area a little closer."

If Yu Xi lived near the Yangtze River, he would send his letter to the Wanxiang Academy, which would print it and send it to all scholars for reading. Luofu Mountain was too far away.

If Ge Hong published a medical article or a prescription, it would be sent to Bianliang first, and then sent by a messenger on horseback to the residence of Yu Xi and others after printing. The distance was even longer and it was easy for accidents to happen on the way. But it was not realistic for all of them to live in one place.

It is okay for people like Yu Xi who are engaged in observation and calculation, but people like Ge Hong who need to collect herbs and make elixirs are not suitable.

Furthermore, these people generally have industries, and many of them value them very much. For example, Wang Rong and his wife both calculated the family property day and night, and opened up multiple sources of income for the family, such as fruits and bamboo products. He would not feel at ease if you asked him to hand it over to outsiders to manage, and he had to do it himself.

I can only say that we have to make do with it for now.

As for scientific research led by the court, to be honest, so far, Shao Xun has not seen an official with subjective initiative who takes the initiative to apply for a certain research direction and then applies for human, material and financial resources. They are all just trying to get by.

He can only bring it up by himself, but he himself doesn't quite understand it.

For example, when there was no glass for the telescope, I went to look for transparent crystal. It took me a long time to find it, but I spent a long time grinding the convex lens and concave lens but to no avail.

This is actually because neither Shao Xun nor the craftsmen knew the details of the craftsmanship.

How to grind the lens? To what extent can the curvature be controlled? To what extent can the error be controlled?
After grinding the lens, you need to align and focus it, otherwise it cannot be used. How to do it?
The pinhole imaging phenomenon was discovered in the pre-Qin period, and was also discovered earlier or later in West Asia and Europe. But why did it take until very late to develop a telescope? The process and materials are partly the reason, and the lack of systematic optical theory (such as the law of refraction) is also partly the reason - this is the most regrettable thing. The Mohists discovered this phenomenon, so why didn't they do more experiments and sublimate and summarize it into a theory?

The emergence of a certain invention must be the result of the accumulation of related knowledge from many previous generations; it is not achieved overnight.

But we can’t abandon this system. What if there’s a surprise someday? What if?
Overall, the scientific research system planned by Shao Xun is divided into three categories.

The first is private enthusiasts, who are spontaneous, such as Yu Xi;
The second is the imperial court, which is mainly composed of the Shaofu and other institutions. This is the reward for promotion within the system, such as the craftsman who was just promoted to the ninth rank.

The third type is members of wealthy families who mainly manage estates and engage in business, such as the Wang family of Langya who cultivates good varieties of fruits. This is stimulated by economic interests.

Whether there are dates or not, just hit them.

To a certain extent, the third type of people are the same as Shao Xun, except that they are driven by economic interests and take the initiative to propose research directions, such as breeding good varieties, etc., and invest manpower and material resources in research.

Since we cannot eliminate the gentry, we should try to reform them as much as possible.

Even if it's just a small change, it's progress.

Social trends and mainstream theories will change. Material determines consciousness. Even if the second generation begins to pay less attention to these things, they have left behind a lot for the world and there has still been progress.

Especially in the era when metaphysics was popular, people were more flexible and began to explore the universe and everything in it.

Later, we will have to combine the progress and continue to hold discussions to change the direction of what these people are discussing.

******
Shao Xun met Yu Xi in the afternoon. After a conversation, he was very satisfied and immediately appointed him as a scholar of the Wanxiang Academy and awarded him 100 pieces of silk.

Yu Xi's brothers, his wife and children were pardoned, but other members of the Yu clan were not included (such as Yu Tan's family).

Before leaving, Shao Xun asked him a question: "During the reign of Emperor Yao, when the dusk star was in the Pleiades, was it really more than 2,700 years ago?"

Yu Xi was stunned. If the year was wrong, then there would be an error in his calculation.

After sending Yu Xi away, Shao Xun asked the others to leave, then took Shi in his arms and asked softly, "Why didn't you want to see Lu Wan just now?"

Shi covered her face and said, "I am worried..."

Shao Xun unbuttoned Shi's collar, kneaded it hard, and said, "Are you worried that Lu Wan will see me treat you like this?"

"Your Majesty." Shi's breathing was a little heavy.

She hated herself even more for not living up to her expectations. The emperor's words provoked her and she got goose bumps all over her body. When she was rubbed, she felt very uncomfortable.

"Sima Jingwen really likes you. I heard he almost made you the queen." Shao Xun said, "You don't want Lu Wan to see you here. Do you feel guilty towards Sima Rui?"

Shi whimpered and her body shook a little.

"Sima Rui is right, you are a beauty, and now you belong to me." Shao Xun gently moved away Shi's hand covering her face and said, "If your belly gets big, how can you face people? You have always been dignified and virtuous in front of the younger generations. You have also scolded the younger generations, right? If they see you like this-"

Shi buried her face in Shao Xun's arms again, her face flushed with anger from those words, and begged, "I am willing to serve Your Majesty, please stop talking."

"Why can't you say it?" Shao Xun chuckled.

Shi stammered for a while and said, "Your Majesty, you were very kind to Shan Yinan and Zhuge Wenbiao, just like a gentleman. Why do you humiliate me in every way?"

After saying that, perhaps because she was really sad, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Don't you like it too?" Shao Xun asked casually, gently rubbing and picking.

The blood color on Shi's face, which had just faded away, surged up again, and became extremely red.

"Love between men and women is common." Shao Xun said softly, "Don't worry, the private things between you and me will not be seen by outsiders. Do you mean that anything is fine in private?"

Shi said nothing, but just trembled.

Shao Xun gently stroked Shi's face and sighed, "This face has attended court meetings countless times, representing the face of the Jin Dynasty. When officials and scholars in Jianye saw this face, they all stood in awe. The younger generations were trembling with fear when they saw this face. Beautiful, majestic, noble... My concubines are too old-fashioned. If I do something out of line, they will never agree."

Shi looked at Shao Xun in confusion.

……

After a long time, the emperor had already left. Shi stumbled to her feet, fetched some water and washed herself.

It took her a long time to wash, and her hair was wet. She seemed a little worried, and looked at herself carefully in the bronze mirror, frowning slightly, as if some smell was still lingering in her nose.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but dry heaving, and then - she paused.

"Noble Concubine Shi." Ying's voice sounded outside the door.

Shi came back to her senses and her expression reflexively returned to its usual calm and kind look. After tying her hair up, she took a deep breath and stood up.

When she walked over to open the door, her steps were steady, but she felt a little panicked.

(End of this chapter)