Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1164 Epilogue : Being a Jade Scholar, You Have to Act Like a Tough Guy

What has Xie Yan been doing in the past two or three months?

One is to write a paper, two is to build a balance, and three is to make pen pals.

There are several papers, all related to the balance, but they are deliberately written separately, and only one has been sent out so far.

The reason for doing this is, of course, for insurance purposes.

He is not stupid!

The development of the scale was slow, because the scale made by Xie Yan was much more advanced than the one made by Nie Qi. During the development period, it needed to be constantly debugged, and even a micro-carving craftsman was invited to carve the scale.

I only have six pen pals so far, and more letters to him are on the way.

Among them was Nie Qi from Luoyang. The two of them exchanged letters and had a good chat. Between the lines, Nie Qi wanted to get more information, and Xie Yan took the opportunity to use him as a tool.

Xie Yan said that he liked mathematics, physics and chemistry since he was a child, but he chose liberal arts under the influence of his father and brother, and has been working hard to learn on his own. He also made up a lot of stories about the discovery of the damping phenomenon, anyway, there are all kinds of celebrity stories to copy.

All this information was spread through pen pals such as Nie Qi and Zhu Shirong.

As for creating momentum, who doesn’t know how to do it?
After the various short essays written by Xie Yan were sent to Luoyang and Kaifeng, the academic circles in the two capitals soon had a more specific understanding of him.

The image is particularly full.

A young man born in a gentry family in Hebei, he lacked the environment to study natural sciences since childhood. At the request of his father and brother, he was forced to choose liberal arts, but this could not extinguish his passion for pursuing truth.

After years of diligent self-study, the young man finally revealed his amazing talent and achieved profound attainments in cutting-edge fields of mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Of course, Xie Yiqin helped and gave advice throughout the whole process.

After they got the issue of the physics journal, Xie Yiqin carefully analyzed Nie Qi's papers and letters and said to his son: "This person has bad intentions. He used you as a stepping stone and made you think that it was all a favor."

"It's quite disgusting." Xie Yan commented.

Xie Yiqin asked: "How much influence did it have on you if he invented the damping balance first?"

Xie Yan shook his head: "It has no impact, our ideas are different. His long-armed balance has reached its end. I am walking on another broad road, and I have just started."

"Then there's no need to turn against him. This kind of person can be cooperated with, but remember not to be led by him by the nose." Xie Yiqun warned.

Xie Yan asked: "The Royal Society invited me to go to Luoyang next year. What should I pay attention to then?"

After thinking carefully, Xie Yiqin said, "I will write a letter to your elder brother and ask him to go to Luoyang to stay there in advance. I will also send a few people to escort you along the way. When you arrive in Luoyang, you should discuss anything with your elder brother first."

Xie Yan's eldest brother is twenty-three years old. He has passed the examination and will take part in the provincial examination next autumn.

Although he is not very old, he has a very calm personality. When my grandfather retired and returned to his hometown, my eldest brother lived in his home for three years and I heard that he learned a lot about how to deal with people.

……

In winter, Xie Yan's balance was finally successfully manufactured.

He was almost going crazy at home, thinking about Libra-related issues all day long, eating and sleeping.

He wanted to go out for a walk before it snowed.

"Put on the jade pendant!" Wang Yitong called her son.

This jade pendant, with the main pattern of the mythical beast Bai Ze, is a waist badge symbolizing membership in the Royal Society.

There are five levels in total, made of different materials, and the lowest level badge uses colored glass.

The badge mailed to Xie Yan was a second-level waist badge made of emerald green Xiuyan jade.

After putting the jade pendant on, Wang Yitong took two steps back to observe her son. The more she looked, the more she felt that her son had an extraordinary demeanor.

Xie Wan had heard from her mother that those who wore this kind of badge were all great scholars. She stared at the badge again and again, clapping her hands and laughing: "Sixth brother is so impressive. I told the teachers at school that my brother is a member of the society, and they all respected him very much. The classmates were also very envious and wanted to come to our house to see what Sixth brother looked like. There were also a few older seniors who secretly asked me if Sixth brother had any engagements."

Wang Yitong smiled and said, "Your sixth brother has a promising future, but he is not worthy of an ordinary family."

"So, Sixth Brother, are you going to marry a princess? Or the young lady from the Prime Minister's family?" Xie Wan asked innocently.

Wang Yitong was also very bold and said in a half-joking tone: "Marrying a princess is too troublesome. I don't know if the prime minister has a granddaughter."

Xie Yan stood there with a silly smile, unwilling to get involved in such women's topics.

The mother and daughter dressed up Xie Yan and finally let him go out.

Second brother Xie Kan had been waiting for a long time, and the carriage had already been prepared. Wang Sheng and several servants were also going to follow.

Xie Kan glanced at the jade pendant with an envious look in his eyes: "You are the second sixteen-year-old Jade Scholar since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

Xie Yan asked in surprise: "There's another one ahead?"

Xie Kan nodded and said, "More than 30 years ago, there was a child prodigy named Zhang Pei. He didn't study the Four Books and Six Classics, nor did he study physics and chemistry. He didn't study anything else but was obsessed with mathematics. He published a mathematical paper at the age of fourteen and was specially recruited into Luoyang Imperial College at the age of fifteen. In just one year, he achieved remarkable academic results and was awarded the Jade Scholarship at the age of sixteen."

"The child prodigy from more than 30 years ago should still be alive now, right?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Kan sighed and said, "He died suddenly at the age of 20. God is jealous of his talent. He studied mathematics all day long, turned down all the marriages arranged by his family, and often stayed up all night because of a difficult problem. I heard that he died of exhaustion. You should take this as a warning."

Xie Yan scratched his forehead with his index finger.

Death from overwork. I have experience with this.

The two brothers got on the carriage, and Xie Kan deliberately asked the driver to go to the southeast city area.

Arriving at the cultural and educational area, Xie Kan said to his brother, "Get off the bus and take a walk. Don't walk around in your finery at night." "What?"

Xie Yan didn't understand and was dragged out of the car in a daze.

Today is the ten-day holiday, and many people come to the cultural and educational district to go shopping. Moreover, the literacy rate of passers-by here is very high.

Xie Kan held his head high and led his brother forward, but he was soon disappointed.

Because no one paid attention to my brother's jade pendant!
Even if someone came over to bow and greet them, it was because of their status as Tongpan Gongzi, or they were scholars who had known each other for a long time.

Finally, Xie Kan couldn't bear it anymore.

When they met an acquaintance again, Xie Kan pointed to the jade pendant on his brother's waist and said, "Shi Erlang, Mei Wulang, do you recognize this?"

Shi Erlang took a closer look and nodded, commenting: "Xiuyan Jasper, the quality is good."

"You have no knowledge," Xie Kan said, angrily at his ignorance, and reminded him, "Come closer and see what is carved."

Ishijiro and Meigoro leaned over to take a look.

Meigoro said: "It looks a bit like a lion."

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Shi Erlang retorted: "It is Suanni, there is one on the incense burner at home."

Xie Yan couldn't help laughing.

Xie Kan had no choice but to say: "It is Bai Ze. When the Yellow Emperor was touring the East China Sea, Bai Ze emerged and was able to speak and understand the essence of all things."

Mei Wulang laughed and said, "Who would use Bai Ze to carve a jade pendant? If you tell others about it, they will ridicule you for pretending to be a royal scholar."

"That's right, that's right, take it off quickly." Shi Jilang echoed.

Xie Kan was completely speechless: "My sixth brother is the Royal Scholar, a sixteen-year-old Jade Scholar! Listen carefully, not the lowest-level Medicine Jade Scholar, but a sixteen-year-old Jade Scholar!"

The two friends laughed at the same time.

Although Xie Kan had said long ago that his younger brother had been elected as a member of the society, they still felt that Xie Kan was bragging.

Xie Kan sighed and said, "Oh, forget it. No matter how much I tell you, you won't believe me."

Mei Wulang smiled and said, "Everyone knows that your Liulang studied liberal arts. Last time you brought me that physics journal, although the author of the paper is indeed named Xie Yan, you can't fake a bachelor's badge for your brother just because you have the same name, right?"

Shi Erlang also reminded: "Forging a bachelor's badge is not a crime if you don't use it to cheat, but if it gets out, it will affect the reputation of your Xie family."

Xie Kan just wanted to show off, but his two friends made him become autistic.

No one will believe what you say!
Xie Yan said: "Second brother, let's go for a walk outside the city."

Xie Kan no longer walked on purpose. He said goodbye to his two friends and got into the carriage to calm down.

This was the second time Xie Yan had left the city since traveling through time.

On the streets outside the city, the number of beggars has decreased a lot, and it no longer looks so chaotic at a glance.

Xie Yan pulled up the curtain and looked outside, commenting: "The reform is quite effective. Even the number of beggars has decreased."

Xie Kan explained: "They were all loaded onto the ship and taken away."

"The government pays?" Xie Yan asked.

"What do you think? Those beggars can't afford the boat tickets," Xie Kan said. "There are two immigration gathering points in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Immigrants from provinces along the river are transported there at the expense of local governments. The rest are transported overseas at the expense of the court. Huangzhou Prefecture can just transport the immigrants to Jiujiang."

Xie Yan said: "The immigration fees are mainly paid by the imperial court, so the local government has an easy time."

Xie Kan shook his head repeatedly: "How can it be easy? The prefectures and counties in each province are far from the immigration assembly point, and some are close. Those farther away have to pay more, and those local officials will definitely make a fuss. The province must come forward to make unified arrangements, so that the rich prefectures and counties can give some to the poor prefectures and counties, and the closer prefectures and counties can give some to the farther ones."

Xie Yan understood: "If we do this, the wealthy and closer prefectures and counties will not be happy."

Xie Kan said with a smile: "The officials in the province have been running back and forth to coordinate and arrange the immigration. They are so tired and angry that they don't want to do it anymore. My father is in charge of the money and grain of Huangzhou Prefecture, so he naturally has to speak for Huangzhou Prefecture. He has already quarreled with the special envoys from the province several times."

"The court needs to give clear rules for this," said Xie Yan.

Xie Kan lowered his voice and said, "The court did it on purpose. Most of the current cabinet officials were demoted to remote and impoverished places in their early years, and their roots in the local areas are too shallow. They have to let the local officials at all levels fight each other and have no energy to challenge the court. Only then can they control the overall situation in Luoyang and slowly cultivate their own local power."

"Didn't a lot of local officials get replaced some time ago?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Kan said, "It's not enough to just replace some officials. There are many reasons behind this. And the officials who are replaced are not necessarily their confidants. Take our uncle for example. He is not a confidant of any cabinet minister. He was transferred to Shanxi to serve as an inspector only because of the connections our grandfather had back then and he was recommended by the current Minister of Works. My uncle has nothing to do with the cabinet and is only a member of the Minister of Works' staff for the time being."

Xie Yan stopped talking. This thing was too complicated. It would be easier to be a scientist.

The carriage moved forward slowly, and we enjoyed the street scenes along the way. Before we knew it, we were approaching the riverside pier.

One beggar after another lined up to board the ship.

It was about to snow, and the beggars were willing to go out to sea because they would probably freeze to death if they stayed in Huangzhou.

Xie Kan said: "Those beggar leaders control the beggars and won't let them leave. In the past few months, the government has arrested many evil beggars and uncovered a den that was engaged in human trafficking."

Xie Yan looked at the beggars who were dressed in rags and had dull eyes, like the walking dead, and suddenly felt bored: "Go back."

The master is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the sufferings of the world.

So I won’t watch it anymore.

(End of this chapter)