Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1666 Commemoration of Supreme Glory

On the day before the Persian envoys entered the pilgrimage, Shao Shude had just met Mei Lujue from Zhang Zhung.

"Why are you here so late?" He asked directly, a little annoyed.

The stations along the way made preparations for you, passed on news, and entertained people, but it took a year to get a reply.

"Internal turmoil makes it difficult to make a decision." Wu Lujue was also a little depressed: "Some earth kings objected to this, and my uncle spent a long time persuading them one by one."

"But Jidnimagon got involved?" Shao Shude asked.

"Your Majesty is holy." Wu Lujue said in an admiring tone, "Jidenimagun sent two batches of envoys successively, and several earth kings were a little inconsistent, so my uncle had to find a way to persuade him, which took more than half a year."

Shao Shude nodded slightly, as if he agreed with his statement.

He didn't bother to care about how the Wulu family persuaded the earth king, whether it was threats of force or political collusion, it didn't matter.The important thing is that they unify their opinions and decide to give priority to Brother Tie to complete Shao Shude's vanity of "opening up the map".

"There won't be any more repetitions, right?" He confirmed.

"No more." Wu Lujue replied.

In fact, how dare you guarantee such a thing?But when it comes to this point, how else can you answer?If the Supreme Emperor was angered, he would directly contact other families. Although it might not be possible to shake the status of the Wu Lu family, it would definitely cause trouble.What's more, do you think he would be unwilling to ask Jidnimagun?
"That's good. It's not too late for this matter. Let's leave in a few days." Shao Shude said: "Go directly south from Qingtang, enter Zhongyun, and then go west to Khotan. This is closer."

"Okay." Wu Lujue replied.

He is very obedient, just like Brother Tie.That kid agrees to everything now, even if you ask him to bark like a dog, he will agree, as long as there are no outsiders.But the more this is the case, the more anxious his mood is. It is hard to say what will happen after his wish is fulfilled.

"I'll give the Mulu family an official position for General Xuanwei and General Dingyuan. You can choose who you want, just give your name." Shao Shude said again: "As for you, you can be a court councilor."

Although Wu Lujue didn't think these official positions are useful, but thinking about it, he can always improve his status. If there are major changes in the future, there will be another way out, so he responded obediently: "I obey the order."

Shao Shude laughed, and said: "The Wulu family was a big family in Tubo, and now they can't take advantage of it. It's better to find a way to shrink the power and manage Xiangxiong well. Let's keep a few people there. It's enough to grind your mouth in the court. Are there any enemies on Xiangxiong's side?"

"Return to Your Majesty." Wu Lujue said: "It is reasonable to say that after accepting the descendants of Esong, the descendants of Yundan are enemies. But looking at it from top to bottom, it is a mess, they may not have much interest in the Esong family. It is impossible to kill them all. In this way, Xiangxiong's surroundings will be safe, and only a few border troubles will remain."

"Where is the border problem?" Shao Shude asked.

"In the south." Mei Lujue gave a brief introduction.

After listening for a while, Shao Shude understood.

Tubo has a large territory in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, but its rule is not stable, and the local princes often rebel.In particular, the civil strife in Tubo has been raging for decades. Many princes have seen the weakness of Tubo, and it is possible to break away from the rule.

To deal with these people, we generally start from both military and political aspects at the same time.

The political aspect is to vigorously win over.As for the Tubang system, the princes and princes themselves are in charge of the affairs of various places, as long as the worship of Zanpu is still the main one.

Military means came a little later.Because of the local traffic and environment, there are generally no troops.Only when political means can't solve it, and Zanpu is unwilling to give up certain lands, will he dispatch the army to quell it, and deter other potential careerists by the way.

"In the south, you can figure it out. It's time to win over and conquer. Tubo has been in chaos for so many years, and it's hard to unify. But keeping one side safe can still be done. It's not as good as the Lu family." Shao Shude said: "Zhen I am watching you. If you do well, you will be a good official with ability, and I can promote him to be an official in the Central Plains."

"I will definitely bring this news back," Mei Lujue said sincerely.

Shao Shude smiled again.

People may be sincerely happy, or they may be pretending, but it is more likely to be half-truth and half-false.

Is it attractive to be an official in the Central Plains?some.

Are you willing to come?Not necessarily, it can even be said that most of them are unwilling to come.

But when this gesture was made, it gave them a thought and strengthened their centripetal force a little.

After dismissing Lujue, Brother Tie's departure from Beijing is considered finalized.

Reminiscent of his tentative request to take his eldest son on the road with him a while ago, but Shao Shude refused.

Hehe, what are you thinking?The eldest son is your seed, so you want to take it away?

This also made Shao Shude more vigilant.

This iron brother is definitely not a fuel-efficient lamp. He sent his wife to someone else's bed and gave birth to a child. He can bear the shame. What else can he not do?
In view of this, Shao Shude decided to win over the Lu family further.

He has the whole world in his hands, and the conditions offered are not comparable to Brother Tie.You can just live your whole life honestly and aggrieved. You are just a passerby in this place of Zhangxiong.There may be a fortune, but that's all, as a reward for your obedience.

******
On November 23, Shao Shude summoned the Persian envoy in the Hehuan Hall of Shangyang Palace.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Liu reprimanded the two young palace officials outside the palace.

Adie's two daughters were in tears after being trained, and they left after a long time.

Xie Shi lay lazily on the bed, and only got up to make up after a long while.Sitting in front of the mirror, I felt some stains and lumps on the delicate inner thigh skin, so I went to take a bath again.

She has become accustomed to the comfort, luxury and convenience of the Great Xia court, and has gradually fallen into this rich life.

Liu Shi came in angrily, took a look at Xie's plump body, and then at his small airport, feeling even more annoyed.

"Hu Meizi, with a body of broken flowers and willows, still seduces saints all day long." She muttered in a low voice: "At the beginning, she was dying or living, and she burst into tears, but now her face is not red. If this continues, let's see if the saint will one day I forgot about you."

Mrs. Xie was far away, so naturally she couldn't hear it, but the little palace ladies who followed Mrs. Liu could hear it clearly.

But what can they say?This lady is the adoptive daughter of the empress, and she became a sixth-rank classic of the Shangyi Bureau as soon as she came. She can almost walk sideways in the harem, and ordinary concubines really can't provoke her.

Outside the sleeping hall, Wang Yanfan had already surrounded Shengjia and headed towards the main hall.The canopy is like a cloud, and the guard of honor is like a forest. It is mighty and majestic.

This is the "home life" of Da Xia Zi and the Supreme Emperor's "plain and unpretentious".

After arriving at the main hall of the Hehuan Hall, the Persian envoys Elbrus and Tam had been waiting for a long time.

After seeing Shao Shude, they folded their hands together and bowed in salute.

"Excuse me." Shao Shude said with a smile while sitting on the dragon chair.

There is a reason for setting the meeting place at Hehuan Temple.

This palace has a main hall, several side halls, and pavilions. It is located at the southernmost end of Shangyang Palace and faces other halls across the river.

The Hall of Hehuan did not exist in the Tang Dynasty. It was completed only after Shaoxia was established. Its style is quite different from other ancient Chinese halls.

The whole body is built with stone, brick and big wood, and was designed by the late Master Mani with a group of his students.

The main hall is very open, with a large dome structure, without a colonnade, and the line of sight is unobstructed.

The lighting is also very good, it can be said that it is brighter than any of the palaces of Ziwei and Shangyang Second Palace.

Shao Shude's descendants once visited the Forbidden City, and he was very disappointed by the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the highest standard for holding court ceremonies.

He never thought that the interior space of this palace built in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty was so small and the lighting was so poor.The Siena Cathedral, which was 300 years earlier than it, was larger than this palace and had a wider interior space.

The specifications of the palaces in the Tang Dynasty were slightly larger than those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but they were essentially the same, because even in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, construction technology basically stagnated.In the textbooks of later generations of architecture, only a small part of ancient Chinese architecture is mentioned. After the lecture, it mentions large-scale buildings in the Middle East and Europe in the middle ages, which is very illustrative.

Based on experience, without the guidance of architectural, mathematical, and mechanical theories, things are designed like this.This is also the main reason why he must point out the subject of mathematics. It needs the guidance of scientific theory and does not need to accumulate experience.

"I've read the Guoshu." Shao Shude said, "How about this palace?"

To be honest, Tam was a little shocked, and Elbrus was a little dumbfounded.

The Hehuan Hall is hidden among the green trees and red flowers. When he climbed up and looked into the distance, he really didn't notice this building.Seeing it, the two felt as if they had arrived in Bukhara.

"This palace has cultivated a large number of talents for me." Shao Shude said: "When I first designed it, I told them, don't be afraid of failure, find the reason when it collapses, but there must be something to gain. They didn't let me Disappointed, it took several years, and it was completed. Of course, it may be small compared to Hagia Sophia, and it may not even be as big as the Nestorian Church in Talas, but I am very satisfied."

"Your Majesty knows Hagia Sophia?" Tamm asked numbly.

"Of course I know." Shao Shude smiled.

This building was designed by physicist Isidore and mathematician Antimos 400 years ago. It took five years to complete and then stood for 500 years. It is installed in it, and because of the extensive use of glazed windows, the lighting is good, and it is a symbol of the glorious era of Eastern Rome.

"As a king with wealth all over the world, I think His Majesty the Great Supreme Emperor also needs such a palace to commemorate his golden age." Tam quickly reacted and said immediately.

After the translator finished speaking, Shao Shude laughed loudly and said, "But this kind of building doesn't match our culture. I built the Hall of Hehuan, which has destroyed the overall style of Shangyang Palace. The word style is difficult to explain, you can understand it yourself Bar."

Tam is a smart person. After listening, he said again: "Your Majesty, the style is not a problem at all. We can calculate it when designing, and we don't have to use a dome."

"Oh? How to design?" Shao Shude asked.

"Does Your Majesty know about conic sections?" Tamm asked.

The translator didn't know how to say professional mathematical terms, and he couldn't even find the corresponding Chinese vocabulary.

Shao Shude asked someone to bring paper, and Tam didn't feel frightened, so he started to draw directly.

"It turned out to be this thing." Shao Shude said.

This is mentioned in the Guozijian textbook "Geometry", but it is relatively superficial.After all, Master Mani is not a professional mathematician, and his knowledge is relatively limited.

Shao Shude did not know when the Arabs of later generations began to use this knowledge, but Baghdad published some mathematical works 100 years later. Scholars used conic sections to solve cubic equations. Later, these books were introduced to Europe. Hundreds of years later, Europeans based on this developed the parabolic theory.

Of course, if it's just a parabola, that's all.However, when gunpowder invented in China was introduced to the West——

In the age of great voyages, the mathematical parabola derived ballistics, which is a compulsory subject for every noble naval officer who serves as the captain...

There is no doubt that systematic scientific theories are extremely important.

Without scientific guidance, you can only use experience to fire a cannon, let alone iteratively improve the artillery design.

You can only imitate their gun barrels as they are. For example, the "red cannon" used as a naval gun was copied into an army gun by the Ming Dynasty, but they actually have better light army field artillery.

You can't design because you don't know the principle and can only reverse engineer, which is terrible.

Shao Shude fell silent after reading it.

"Your Majesty..." Tam called softly.

"Building this kind of building will cost me several years of annual income." Shao Shude sighed.

The financial income for several years is a bit exaggerated, but the cost is by no means small.Once the construction starts, the whole country will be greatly affected, and it is really impossible to launch a war in a short period of time.

"Great kings need unique memorials," Tamm said half-truthfully.

"You are the Lord of the Lucky Meeting of the Constellations, you rule the entire East and let everyone live and work in peace and contentment."

"You are the benevolent envoy of heaven, the ruler of the northern kingdom, and you have civilized the rough grassland tribes."

"You are the king of kings, and deserts and oases are also the harvest of your martial arts."

"You are so great that people can't help but worship you. The essence of the ages, the miracles of art, the achievements of genius, as well as the documents and books, all need your protection. Your Majesty, you need a magnificent Even after 1000 years, this palace will not become a majestic monument, but will still be alive for everyone to admire and admire your supreme achievements."

Shao Shude was elated.I saw him standing up, stroking his beard, his expression eager to try.

Elbrus and Tam looked at each other, secretly happy in their hearts.

"But—" Shao Shude frowned, and said again: "I lack talents. To design such a magnificent building, it may be possible to hire mathematicians in Baghdad, right?"

"Does Your Majesty know the city of Harlan?" Tam asked.

"I don't know."

"Two mathematicians were born in Haran, namely Baitani and Taibit." Tam said, "There are students from them in Bukhara, and there are also students from Khwarizmi who came out of Bukhara. Do research locally. If His Majesty needs it, I can ask someone to send some books over, and His Majesty will know it after reading it."

Baitani wrote "Star Tables". During his work at the Baghdad Observatory, he published a book that refuted many mistakes made by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy.He discovered the perihelion of the earth, and believed that the earth moved in an elliptical orbit—obviously, this violated the Creator Scripture, so he had to remedy it by using scientific theory to explain the "fact" that the Creator created all things.

Later, Copernicus repeatedly quoted Baitani's works to refute the church's "earth center theory"-of course, Copernicus was also "guilty".

Baitani's achievements in mathematics are mainly the development of spherical trigonometry, which was later spread to Europe.

Terabit is probably most famous for its "affinity number" (Tabit number).This person translated many ancient Greek works, and at the same time, because of scientific research, he was convicted by the Creator Temple in his hometown, so he fled to Baghdad and continued to engage in research.

Not to mention Khwarizmi, a native of Central Asia, whose algebra textbooks and example collections were all the rage published 100 years ago.

"I can't read the book." Shao Shude asked, "Can someone explain it? I'm very interested."

Elbrus and Tam were a little embarrassed.

Famous mathematicians are usually entourages or advisors of nobles, and it is not an easy task to invite them here.

"If you don't come, how will I build the palace?" Seeing that they were silent, Shao Shude asked: "Or should I send someone to invite them?"

Elbrus and Tam were shocked.

"Send someone to invite" has many meanings. Sending a few people is an invitation, and sending tens of thousands of people is also an invitation.

These barbarians are rude!
"Your Majesty, don't be impatient..." Elbrus said.

"I'm in a hurry to build the palace, so I quickly sent people back to make an interrogation. One person will bring ten horses, and go back quickly. Otherwise, I will send out a large army." Shao Shude said unhappily, tossing his robe sleeves.

(End of this chapter)