Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1110 Advanced Astronomical Theory in the East

"Unfortunately, I don't know anything about trains. Here, trains are also called steam locomotives. The patents are owned by the government and ordinary people cannot touch them. I am currently working in the Astronomical Bureau. I used to be the Qin Tianjian. I have the opportunity to come into contact with the train casting technology, which is regarded as a secret technology. Even if I know its principle, I am an official of the East now, and I cannot disclose it to you." Tang Ruowang said regretfully.

"You have been able to tell us about the changes here, which has helped us a lot." Earl Compton nodded his thanks slightly.

"We used to be able to spread our beliefs with the knowledge of astronomy and artillery, but not anymore. They are no longer interested in the knowledge we missionaries know. I now want to enter their highest institution, the Imperial University, but My identity is restricted, and I can't get a glimpse of it." Tang Ruowang sighed for a while.

When the war was urgent in the late Ming Dynasty, missionaries could come to the capital to find jobs as artillery experts, which was much more prosperous than it is now.But now, Tang Ruowang wants to get in touch with the more advanced technology mastered by the Kyushu Army.

"No wonder the other party has been unwilling to relax the restrictions on us." The bishop of Britain said.

"Since you are here, we might as well drink a few bottles of wine. I have something good to show you, which may subvert your perception." Tang Ruowang said mysteriously to several British nobles.

Tang Ruowang successively served as an official of Qin Tianjian and Astronomical Bureau. Although he was a Qingshui yamen, because Chu Yun attached great importance to talents in mathematics, physics and chemistry, the officials engaged in these jobs were paid a lot of money. Compared with other down-and-out missionaries, Tang Ruowang was treated much better. It is not a problem to invite a few British nobles to hold a banquet at home.

The last time Lord Greenville led a mission to the capital, he did not visit the little-known Tang Ruowang, but this time the Earl of Compton took the initiative to visit, which made Tang Ruowang feel hospitable.

Tang Ruowang took a few jars of Shaoxing Huadiao wine to entertain the guests from Britain. He himself was blushing because of the smell of alcohol, so he went to the backyard and took out a blueprint.

"I work in the Astronomical Bureau, and all I can get in touch with is astronomical matters, because the government does not regard astronomy as a secret, and wants to popularize astronomical knowledge to the public, so what I want to show you does not involve leaking secrets. Astronomical Bureau The main responsibilities are to compile the calendar, observe the celestial phenomena, and spread the principles of astronomy. This is a good thing."

Tang Ruowang unfolded this drawing in front of everyone, and found that it was a map of the universe.

"Here is the sun in the middle, and the planets in turn are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The numbers here are the distances between them. All the planets are revolving around the sun. Among them, we are The earth is 1.496 million kilometers away from the sun. There is also this comet that orbits the sun in an elliptical orbit, and it circles the sun every 76.1 years. It has been clearly recorded in ancient China, ancient Babylon, and medieval Europe. I have done research and it is correct. Isn’t it incredible that the numbers are so accurate?” Tang Ruowang said excitedly pointing to the universe map.

The British bishop saw that Tang Ruowang showed the universe map with the sun in the middle, so he stood up and scolded: "Tang Ruowang, are you supporting Copernicus' heliocentric theory!?"

After Tang Ruowang was drunk like this, the alcohol faded a bit: "Although I know that openly supporting Copernicus' theory in Europe will be punished by the church, this is the East. When I was in Rome before, Galileo published his essay on the four satellites of Jupiter. According to the observation report, he believes that the four planets of Jupiter do not revolve around the earth, thus agreeing with Copernicus' theory. After coming to the East, the Astronomical Bureau where I work has successively released research papers and books on cosmic astronomy. I read them all, and it changed my perspective a lot.”

"Although the sky full of stars we see on the earth is so small, we are actually the ones who are small. According to rigorous calculations, the volume of the sun is 130 million times that of the earth! Such an obvious gap, how can we think that 130 million times The big sun revolves around the earth?"

The British bishop was at a loss for words when he first heard about the ratio of the sun to the earth.If the size of the sun is 130 million times that of the earth, it seems a bit excessive to have such a large sun orbiting the earth.

"Do you know what happened to Galileo who supported Copernicus' heliocentric theory? Before we set off here, Galileo lost the debate in Rome. He could not prove the rotation of the earth, and was arrested and imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition and sentenced to life imprisonment." Britain The bishop was not so excited, but sat down.

In fact, 100 years after Copernicus, many teaching staff have concluded from their observations that Copernicus' heliocentric system has high accuracy and is very useful in predicting the positions of celestial bodies, and the conflict is not so severe.At this time, the Pope is still maintaining the geocentric system, which is actually maintaining feudal rule.

"The advanced oriental theories have found planets that we have not found one by one, such as Uranus and Neptune. The cosmic map they describe is similar to Copernicus' heliocentric theory." Tang Ruo saw the bishop from Britain Without arguing with him fiercely, he continued, "They think that this map of the universe only depicts the scene of the 'solar system', and the solar system is contained by a galaxy called the Milky Way. It is said that there are more than 1000 celestial bodies like the sun in this galaxy. Most of the stars visible to our naked eyes at night are celestial bodies in the Milky Way.”

"How is it possible!" This time, not only the bishop, but also the Earl of Compton and other British nobles stood up in surprise.

They were all shocked by what Tang Ruowang said. If what Tang Ruowang said was correct, then the church, Copernicus, and Galileo were arguing whether it is the sun-centered theory or the earth-centered theory.

If the universe is really that big, what exactly is everything revolving around?There are 1000 billion suns besides the sun? !
"Is there a map?" The bishop asked with a strange expression.

"There is no pictorial record. This statement means that officials from the top and bottom of the Astronomical Bureau dare not make a conclusion lightly, but it was mentioned by the ruler of the East inadvertently. He also said that there are larger units outside the Milky Way, and there are more units outside the Earth. There are countless stars, and there may even be other unknown civilizations." Tang Ruowang carefully put away the universe map of the solar system and sat back in his seat.

"Impossible, how could he know the situation beyond the center of the earth, unless he himself is a god!" The bishop shouted.

Not even the philosophers of ancient Greece would have made such a bold guess!

"This is just a hypothesis made by the military leader as he pleases. There is no evidence, so maybe his conjecture is wrong." Tang Ruowang said.

(End of this chapter)