Chapter 1274 Methodology

Chapter 1274 Methodology

Chapter 1274 Methodology

The sound of "gulp gulp" continued, and the whole room was filled with a strange smell.

Shao Xun frowned and walked in slowly.

The room is not big and there are not many furnishings. The most eye-catching thing is the alchemy furnace, a water and fire cauldron. The lower part is where the raw materials of gold and stone are placed, called the "fire cauldron", and the upper part is a device for collecting condensates after the sublimation of minerals, called the "water cauldron". Together they form the water and fire cauldron, the so-called water and fire complementing each other.

He had never seen this alchemy furnace before.

The most common one is actually a cauldron with a lid on top, which is very similar to a medicine cauldron. After the bottom is heated, cinnabar (the main ingredient is mercuric sulfide) decomposes into sulfur and mercury, called "gold liquid", which then sublimates and condenses inside the lid, and finally drips down and reacts again to become mercury sulfide, which is purer as a whole and is called "returning elixir".

What is being practiced now is the "golden elixir". The raw material is cinnabar bought from the Shaofu and has been heated for a long time.

"Bring it here." Shao Xun pointed to a booklet on the table on the left side of the room.

Wang Danhu, who was refining the elixir, turned his head slightly after hearing the sound, then lowered his head to continue observing the cauldron.

There were two other Wang family members acting as assistants in the room. One of them came over with the booklet, and a personal soldier stepped forward to take it and handed it to Shao Xun.

Shao Xun opened them and took a look, feeling slightly satisfied, as this was in accordance with his request.

The raw material (cinnabar) records a series of information such as origin and weight.

The size, shape and material of the water and fire tripod are also specified.

In addition, there is also the process of alchemy, and each time is recorded.

Besides satisfaction, there are also dissatisfactions.

Shao Xun asked: "Why don't you record the cold and heat?"

No one spoke. After a moment, Wang Danhu turned around and said with his head down, "Just watch the fire."

This is a method of distinguishing temperature by flame color, which is relatively crude and has large errors.

Shao Xun said: "The Huainanzi says 'Looking at the ice in the bottle, you know how cold the world is'. There is also the saying 'Stirring the water to stop it boiling'. You can take these two images and set one end each, calling them 'cold end' and 'hot end'."

At this point, Shao Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Do you know that there is a 'blank space' in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art?"

Wang Danhu nodded.

Shao Xun nodded, saying that educated people are good, and it is impossible to explain these words to a craftsman.

The so-called "empty space", that is, the carry, is zero.

Later, he always saw Indians bragging on the Internet that they invented the concept of "zero", which could only be said to be partially true.

"'Han Duan' is called 'Zero', and 'Re Duan' is called 'Hundred'." Shao Xun said as he searched for a while. After seeing the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, he hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind and said, "There are numbers over in Tianzhu..."

After that, he picked up the pen and wrote the ten Arabic numerals from 0 to 9 on the paper. This was the shape of numbers that he was familiar with in later generations, but it was not the original shape, but it didn't matter.

This number system was introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty, but almost no one used it. There was no demand for it, and no one knew why. Anyway, he wrote it down first, and then briefly explained the concept of carry. It was not complicated, and Wang Danhu understood at a glance how to express and write numbers above 9.

"0 means 'zero', and 100 means 'one hundred', do you understand?" Shao Xun asked.

Wang Danhu nodded.

"In that case, do you know how many cold and hot levels there are when refining the elixir? I think there are hundreds, but I don't know exactly how many. Think of a way to see if you can find out how many there are." Shao Xun said.

Wang Danhu seemed a little unconvinced and blurted out, "Why bother? Alchemy only requires the right temperature."

But she regretted it as soon as she said it, and her body trembled slightly.

Shao Xun was secretly happy when he heard this, and was just waiting for you to ask.

He just sneered and said, "Do you know why you can't make a real pill?"

Wang Danhu shook his head blankly.

"Because the cold and heat are not right. If there is a slight difference, the elixir will fail." Shao Xun said: "Furthermore, the 'air pressure' is not right either."

"What is 'air pressure'?" Wang Danhu asked in surprise.

She had never heard of this word.

Shao Xun racked his brains and thought about it, and said: "Scholars have a sense of bearing. The strong ones make people unable to stand up, as if they were oppressed. This is called 'air pressure'. However, the 'air pressure' I just mentioned is the pressure of the air we breathe."

Wang Danhu was confused again. How could he, as light as a feather, still suppress others?
Shao Xun looked at her and sighed secretly. Was she going to conduct a Magdeburg hemisphere experiment to prove the existence of atmospheric pressure?
"That's all I have to say." Shao Xun said.

After saying that, he looked at the Shaofu Supervisor Cai Cheng who followed him and asked, "Can the Shaofu make glazed water pipes?"

Cai Cheng thought about it and said, "Yes."

Shao Xun nodded, then looked at Wang Danhu and said, "If you don't believe me, you can fill the glass water pipe with water, put one end in the cauldron and the other end outside, and see if the water column will move when you make the elixir."

The glass is translucent and not clear, but you can still barely see the changes in the water column.

Cai Cheng agreed immediately.

He didn't know what the emperor wanted to do, so he just did what he was told.

Shao Xun had a lot of thoughts.

In fact, in a different era, even if he said so much, would it be useful? Maybe it would be a little useful, but not very useful.

Why do people do this? There is no reason.

So we need to give them an internal motivation.

Alchemy is an endogenous motivation, and it is not small, because people really believe in it, and there are still many believers. Rich people can spend all their money to make elixirs, which shows their enthusiasm. Shao Xun now tells them that your alchemy is not successful because of details, that is, the temperature and air pressure are not right, and the failure is caused by a slight difference, so find a way to develop some devices that can simply measure air pressure and temperature, and then make elixirs.

If it still fails, it must be that these devices are not precise enough. Think of another way.

Or if the raw materials have too many impurities, find a way to identify the ingredients and then remove the impurities.

Refining the golden elixir, prolonging life and even achieving enlightenment and ascending to heaven are the internal motivations.

So, is there any external motivation? Of course there is.

I have spent most of my life studying alchemy, but I haven't made any real elixirs. However, I have produced a lot of strange by-products, some of which can make money. This is external motivation.

In addition, court rewards are also an external motivation.

As the saying goes, "When a person dies, his policy ceases to exist." What dies is only part of the external motivation. That is, the court has no interest in scientific research, does not invest money, does not give rewards, and does not grant official positions. But if the by-products can be sold for money, and there is a strong obsession in the author's heart to refine the real elixir, then there is still some motivation to keep scientific research going.

Therefore, Shao Xun did everything he could to let them master the scientific method instead of making elixirs based on their feelings.

Of course, people’s interests and hobbies are also endogenous motivations.

For example, Yu Xi was a member of a Yuyao noble family and lived a wealthy life, but he enjoyed climbing mountains in the middle of the night to observe the stars, record the celestial phenomena, and make calculations for them. I enjoy doing so, so what's it to you?
At this moment, no matter whether his successor will value his father's efforts after taking office, Shao Xun is prepared to walk on two legs, and endogenous motivation is the safety rope.

Even if the second generation of emperors had no interest in scientific research, at least some scholars were doing research. They relied on their enthusiasm, used their own money, and used scientific methods to record the process, summarize and generalize, and put forward theories - this was the focus of the next stage.

Before Shao Xun left, he took something from Cai Cheng and walked towards Wang Danhu.

Wang Danhu subconsciously wanted to retreat, but he didn't dare.

Shao Xun put a crude linen mask on her face and said, "There is a lot of erysipelas in this room. Wearing this can reduce some of it."

Then he asked Cai Cheng to bring a pair of suede gloves and gave them to Wang Danhu, saying, "Wear these when you collect materials in the future. I'll ask the Shaofu to think of a way to make this room more ventilated."

"Now you're not convinced, let's go home now, right?" Shao Xun asked.

Wang Danhu lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "No."

"People should take care of themselves. You are only thirty years old, how many pills have you taken? If you get married in the future, can you still have children?" Shao Xun said: "Your family members have been pardoned by me, do your job well and don't think too much."

After saying that, he smiled at her and turned away.

After leaving the "laboratory", Shao Xun stopped and asked Cai Chengdao: "Do you think it's too much trouble for me to do this?"

Cai Cheng replied: "Your Majesty is a man from heaven who has come down to earth, so you naturally know a lot. If you teach me everything you know, it will surely benefit the world."

"It's available at every meal, or every meal? You don't understand. Besides, I have already taught you a lot." Shao Xun said with a smile.

"Parents who love their children will plan for them in the long run." Cai Cheng sighed.

Shao Xun laughed: "You must have studied, otherwise you wouldn't be able to say that."

The two of them gradually walked away.

Now, it's time to move forward with his next plan.

The goal is to get more educated people to participate in various experiments.

Whether you say he is deceiving people or bribing them, it doesn't matter.

If I can "cheat" someone, that's a method for you. Go "hunt" by yourself. If I can come up with the best hunting theory for "wild boars", "tigers" and "leopards", I will write a book for you to make you famous, and spread it far and wide so that more people can master more scientific and efficient methods.

Wang Danhu looked at Shao Xun's receding back in silence.

After a long time, she came to the "recording area" in the house where documents were placed - roughly divided into three parts: raw material area, reaction area, and recording area.

After opening a booklet, it contains the date, location, materials and ideas.

She was the one who designed the alchemy method, and today she was refining cinnabar.

This substance rises up due to the heat, and seems to have the characteristics of Lie Zi riding the wind in the past, so according to the legend, one can ascend to heaven by obtaining this elixir.

She sat down, frowned slightly, and wrote down her guess on the paper.

Shao Zei - He said that if you have a guess, you should verify it and "seek truth from facts."

Although that man was vicious, the methods he proposed were very clever, which made Wang Danhu understand the process of alchemy more clearly. It was no longer like before when he relied entirely on his feelings and made the alchemy randomly with his father.

She looked at a passage of alchemy tips she had recorded: "…Choose the midnight of the Jiazi day, place the bronze divine room under the three-legged Yang Sui, use the Yang Sui to get the heavenly fire, and use the gentle fire to nourish it at first. Its color gradually turns dark green, and there is purple air lingering like a dragon or snake. At the third turn, use the strong fire to attack fiercely, and the red mercury will turn into a white rainbow, rising to the top of the room as frost and snow, and its quality will flow like mercury. This is the so-called "killing the red to become white, refining the yin to return to the yang". In a moment, the essence will condense at the bottom, and it will look like golden millet. You should use a jade spoon to take it out quickly. If you delay, the two energies will mix again, and poison will be generated."

How hot is "simmering fire"? If boiling water is "100", this is 300? 500? 800?

What about "Wu Huo"? One thousand? Or more?

Is the "air pressure" he mentioned involved in the process?
Cinnabar was originally one thing, but later it turned into the rising "white rainbow" and the "golden millet" remaining at the bottom, as if it had become two things.

Furthermore, if you don't take it in a hurry, and wait for the "two energies to interact again", the two seem to become one thing again. Is this the essence of cinnabar?

She felt that she could write a new one.

This medicine is actually useless. She has tried it before. Now she just wants to write down the process and think about it carefully so that all the previous work will not be in vain.

This kind of life seems pretty good.

The next time he comes, I will have something to say.

(End of this chapter)