Great Tang princess

Chapter 603 One centimeter
As soon as they heard that the princess had invented something new, a group of ministers raised their heads curiously and stared at the glass box in Zhang Chengxin's hand.

Because it is a bit reflective and the distance is a bit far, there is no way to see what it is.

Zhang Chengxin walked down the steps, came to the courtiers, held up the photo with both hands, and faced the ministers.

The first thing the officials standing in the front saw was a lifelike black and white photo of His Majesty the Emperor sitting on a dragon chair wearing a crown, looking over with a majestic expression.

Even if it's just a small photo of a bust, the majestic demeanor on it surprised all the ministers in front of it.

Sometimes, people's temperament not only exists in seeing with their own eyes, but also can be felt through photos.

The minister standing in the front was quite touched by this at first. When he saw this photo, he was surprised and at the same time subconsciously raised his hands to salute, and even let out a burst of exclamation.

The ministers behind looked at each other, discussing silently with their eyes what they had made that surprised them so much.

Now that Princess Taiping has even made something called a magic weapon like an airship, what is there to be surprised about?

Wu Zetian, who was sitting on the dragon chair, waved his hand slightly: "It's too troublesome to watch one by one, all the lovers in the back, why don't you all come to the front to watch."

Hearing what the emperor said, the ministers behind stood up one after another, came to the front, stood behind the other ministers and looked over with their heads.

Not surprisingly, the moment they saw the photo, they all subconsciously exclaimed.

Nowadays, among these ministers, there are many people with outstanding painting skills, but no one dares to say that they can draw such delicate paintings, which are so detailed that they are incredible.

Many people are even thinking, can this really be drawn by humans?
At this time, Wu Zetian, who was sitting on the dragon chair behind, spoke again: "This object is not a painting, but a novelty researched by Taiping. It's called a photo, and the specific principle..."

The ministers watched and listened to the emperor's explanation. After a few words, although they still didn't understand the seriousness, they at least understood that this thing is not the same thing as a painting.

The most important thing is that they learned that it only takes half a cup of tea to take a photo, which is much faster than painting.

After they had finished reading, Zhang Chengxin turned around and walked up the steps, and continued to stand obediently by the emperor's side.

Wu Zetian leaned lightly on the back of the chair, holding the armrest with one hand and dragging his chin: "It is difficult for people to know the appearance of their ancestors. With this thing, I can keep the picture. I think it is a good thing. What do you all think?"

Hearing the emperor's question, the first reaction of all the officials was to turn their heads and look at Di Renjie, who was now a cabinet boss.

Now that Di Renjie is the chief assistant of the cabinet, a big man with two votes for himself, he is the biggest person present besides the emperor, so the officials naturally have to use his words as the main reference.

Di Renjie, who was being stared at, was not polite. He immediately took two steps forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, I believe that this thing should not appear in the world."

"Oh? Why is this?"

His answer did not exceed Wu Zetian's expectation, she asked softly without changing her posture.

"Return to Your Majesty, once this thing comes out, I am afraid that all the people who study calligraphy and painting in the world will feel fear, if..."

Di Renjie answered the emperor's question respectfully, but was interrupted before he finished speaking.

"If you are afraid because of this, you can only say that it is not suitable for learning painting!" Wu Zetian's voice was not loud, but there was unquestionable majesty in his tone, "This camera has no color, and it cannot take pictures of unseen scenes out of thin air. , this point, no matter what, can’t compare with humans! If you feel afraid because of this, then you should throw down the paintbrush as soon as possible and go home to grow a variety of land!"

"This……"

Listening to the emperor's answer, Di Renjie couldn't help but fell into deep thought, it sounded very reasonable.

The other ministers also nodded, saying that what the emperor said made sense.

Although they didn't necessarily think so in their hearts, they had no choice but to obediently listen to what the emperor said now that the emperor was so powerful.

Yushitai wanted to stand up and spout a few words, but before he could speak, Wu Zetian on the dragon chair spoke again.

"I was thinking that it is a good thing to have this photo. In the future, we can take photos of heroes and capable ministers and put them in Lingyan Pavilion for future generations to admire. In addition, all ministers can also leave photos at home, so that future generations can Knowing the true appearance of the ancestors...why not do it?"

As soon as these words came out, the people at Yushitai who had planned to stand up and say a few words moved their feet, and retreated back calmly.

This small movement did not hide from Wu Zetian's seemingly lazy eyes, but she did not move, just smiled slightly.

Obviously, those trolls at Yushitai were also moved by these words.

The courtiers of this era dream of leaving a name in history. If it was before, it would be too monotonous to only leave a name in the history books.

But now it is different, future generations can not only see the name, but also the appearance, including the direct descendants, can also know the appearance of the ancestors, which will undoubtedly leave a fuller and more obvious image in the vast sea of ​​history.

Such a good thing, why not agree?

Thinking of this, all the courtiers realized their mistakes, and saluted to show His Majesty's sageness.

Di Renjie didn't speak, he just thought about what kind of changes the appearance of this kind of thing would bring to the country. First of all, there is no doubt that the empress will be the first emperor to leave his appearance in history. After thousands of generations, her Not only will the reputation not be lost, but it may become even louder.

But is such a loud reputation really a good thing for this country in the future?Will it trigger a frenzy of women's dictatorship and seizure of power?
But thinking about it carefully, even if there is no camera, this kind of thing seems to be unavoidable. Isn't Princess Taiping running the Royal School just to solve this problem?
Thinking of this, Di Renjie couldn't help sighing. If people in future generations can understand the princess's good intentions, maybe they can restrain themselves a little?

In fact, in Li Yuechen's view, it doesn't matter whether you restrain yourself or not. The key is to have a bottom line. You can not be a good person, but you can't be a bad person.

However, there is no way to fully guarantee this kind of thing, and we can only develop in that direction as much as possible.

……

The court meeting ended later than expected, and it was almost noon when the next court was announced.

But for such a long time, they didn't talk about other important military affairs, just doing various discussions around the camera.

Li Yuechen felt helpless about this. This country has always been like this from the past, to the present and even in the future.

Ninety-ninety percent of this kind of large-scale court meeting is a trivial matter. The real military affairs are often discussed by a few people in the inner hall.

After so many years, Li Yuechen has gotten used to it, so she just listens to the news. If something big happens, even if she is not in the palace, she will receive the news quickly.

After the court, it was almost noon, Wu Zetian announced that he would give the ministers a meal in the porch, and then took Li Yuechen back to Jixian Temple for dinner.

The courtiers who saluted and thanked each other had complicated expressions, and looked at each other helplessly, not knowing how lucky they were today.

In recent years, every time the emperor bestows food on the porch, it feels like gambling.

Sometimes it's so delicious that I want to swallow it with my tongue, but sometimes it makes my stomach feel nauseous.

The key is that the food given by the emperor must not be vomited or thrown away, otherwise the emperor may be in trouble if someone reports it.

So every time I encounter unpalatable food, I can only bear it and eat it.

In this regard, Li Yuechen could only sigh helplessly. The people in the Shangshi Bureau really dared to think that using the ministers as experiments, they could almost be selected as the top few in the list of deadliest people in human history.

Of course, it is impossible to say that there is no mother's instigation. She must have acquiesced in this kind of thing, perhaps with a hint of trickery in it.

In the past, it was because I was busy dealing with military affairs every day and didn't have time to do these pranks. Now that people are not too busy and have a little spare time every day, some weird ideas will naturally be born.

After lunch, Wu Zetian was planning to take a rest, but Zhang Chengxin came to report, and Li Xian came over.

Wu Zetian raised his eyebrows, and immediately knew why he was here, but he still waved his hand to let him in.

Sure enough, after Li Xian came in and saluted his mother, he couldn't wait to ask Li Yuechen: "Yuechen, can someone go to my place to take pictures?"

"Brother, don't worry, this photo shoot will take a while to train, just wait, anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future." Li Yuechen waved his hand helplessly.

Li Xian was not very happy: "Can't Yuechen take pictures for me?"

"I'm very busy, my brother is obedient, wait for a while!" Li Yuechen patted him on the shoulder while perfunctory.

In the end, Li Xian could only sigh helplessly, and nodded in agreement.

Wu Zetian asked, "What's up in the afternoon?"

"Boy, I plan to take a picture of the palace as a souvenir. The other thing is to go to the Engineering Academy... Speaking of which, Auntie gave me your hand. Eunuch Zhang, go get a pencil."

Although brushes are still used in the palace now, there are also pencils, which are more convenient for occasional marking.

Zhang Chengxin agreed and turned to take it, while Wu Zetian stretched out his hand: "What is it for?"

Li Yuechen replied while observing his mother's hand: "It can be regarded as a more refined weight and measure, which will be of great use to the development of the country in the future..."

While talking, she observed her mother's hands, popularized the concepts of millimeters, centimeters and meters, and then said, "Just use the width of A Niang's nails to measure one centimeter!"

There is no ruler in this era, and Li Yuechen has no way to get an accurate length, but when he just saw his mother's hand, he felt that it should be possible to position the width of her index finger nail by one centimeter.

I don't know if it is accurate, but it feels like it is one centimeter, so Li Yuechen plans to make a female ruler based on this, and then let the engineering institute make a tape measure according to this.

But Wu Zetian shook his head: "This was invented by Chen'er, why use my mother's hand?"

"That's right, can't I use mine?" Li Xian raised his chubby hand and asked.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zetian's eyes turned away.

Seeing that she was about to start swearing, Li Yuechen interrupted quickly: "Brother, you don't understand, if this set of weights and measures can be passed down, everyone will know the origin of this size in textbooks after a thousand years. Therefore, my mother can also be famous forever!"

"So that's the case, then A Niang's hands should be used!" Li Xian nodded his approval to his sister.

Wu Zetian opened his mouth, but in the end he still didn't open his mouth to scold him. Anyway, with this daughter, he doesn't care anymore.

After a while, Zhang Chengxin brought a pencil, and Li Yuechen pressed his mother's hand on the table, and carefully traced a length of one centimeter according to the width of her index finger nail.

"Okay, Ma'am, the boy is going to the engineering institute, Ma'am, let's take a lunch break first, and I'll come back in the afternoon."

"Well, let's go."

Li Xian hurriedly followed: "Mother, the boy is also resigning."

……

After walking out of Jixian Temple, Li Xian leaned over and asked, "Yuechen, how about taking pictures with me in the afternoon?"

"No, if my brother is with me right now, I'm afraid it will make the courtiers think too much, so try to avoid it." Li Yuechen shook his head, "Besides, you have to climb to the top of the tower to shoot the foreground of the palace, brother If you go up and slip down, you will be gone!"

"Brother is not that fat!" Li Xian immediately took two steps back, but from his expression, it was obvious that he had given up on climbing the roof with her.

Li Yuechen raised his hand and poked his elastic belly: "Isn't this called fat?"

"Stay! Tickle!"

Li Xian took two steps back as he patted her arm away: "Okay, brother, go back first, let's talk about taking pictures in a few days."

After speaking, without waiting for Li Yuechen to answer, he turned around and left, as if he was afraid of being dragged up by his sister to climb the roof.

Li Yuechen in the back smiled, and after saying hello to his elder brother, he rode to the Engineering Academy.

……

Although many people from the Academy of Engineering are now in Qingdao, the Eastern Capital is not completely deserted, and they even have the ability to build three or four-story buildings.

After Li Yuechen came over, Pei Bishu, who was in charge of the management, came out to greet him immediately: "Your Majesty has seen His Highness!"

"Excuse me, I haven't seen you for a long time, Lao Pei, you seem to have gained a lot of weight." Li Yuechen followed into the engineering academy while joking.

"The days are getting better, so naturally..." Pei Bishu touched his growing waist in embarrassment.

Seeing his embarrassed look, Li Yuechen didn't continue to make fun of him, but asked: "Speaking of which, has the steam engine made any progress in recent years?"

Pei Bishu nodded: "Return to Your Highness, yes, but the problem of air leakage still cannot be solved..."

Speaking of this, it seemed that she was afraid that she would be angry, and said quickly: "But it can be put into use in certain scenarios."

"Go, go and have a look!" Li Yuechen raised his chin, "Lead the way."

"Yes! Your Highness, please follow me!"

Pei Bishu hurriedly made a gesture of invitation, and led her into the innermost laboratory in the yard.

(End of this chapter)