Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1174 Epilogue : Academics should also have a sense of ritual

Xie Yan didn't bother to care whether the scholars standing outside the circle could see it clearly.

He simply asked the old president to sit next to him, and then began to explain his own balance.

"This is a balance box. The reason why the balance is placed in a glass box is because human breathing will interfere with the balance. Another reason is to keep the air dry, firstly to reduce the error caused by different air humidity, and secondly to prevent the equipment inside from oxidizing. These two small bags contain charcoal, which can absorb moisture in the air."

Xie Yan didn’t know how to make activated carbon, so he used high-quality ordinary charcoal, and it was enough to place one bag on each inner side of the bottom plate.

Just a few words shocked the scholars present.

Compared with the previous balance, this one looks very advanced. It actually said that human breathing would affect the accuracy, and it even needs to control the air humidity.

Nie Qi was also squeezed in the crowd at this time, and he had a very bad feeling in his heart.

The super-long-arm damping balance he made had no glass cover at all and did not care about air humidity, which made it obvious that it was superior.

Xie Yan continued:

"The balance box has three doors. The front door is opened to install, debug, and repair the balance. The left door is opened to place the object to be weighed. The right door is opened to take out and put in the weights."

"The four legs under the balance box can be adjusted in height. When adjusting, you can observe the level of the balance."

"The balance has three agate knives, and the agate plate is in contact with the blade. The reason why agate is used is that, first, the chemical properties of agate are stable and it is not easy to react with chemical substances; second, agate is hard and wear-resistant."

"When the scale is not in use, you can use the knob at the bottom to raise the agate knife for storage to avoid long-term contact between the agate knife and the agate plate and wear. When using the scale, turn on the lifting knob."

"You should already be familiar with the devices on both sides. They are the air dampers of the balance."

After saying that, Xie Yan smiled and looked up. Nie Qi was standing across the table from him.

Seeing Xie Yan smiling at him, Nie Qi also smiled back, but his smile was quite forced.

The more Xie Yan introduced the agate balance, the heavier Nie Qi's mood became. His super long-arm balance seemed like an antique.

Xie Yan stood up and pointed to the back of the balance beam: "This is the center of gravity weight. It can also be adjusted to change the stability and sensitivity of the balance. When scholars are weighing, they can adjust the center of gravity weight according to different needs and choose the sensitivity that best suits them."

"These two screws on either side of the balance beam can adjust the zero point."

"This is the balance needle."

"This is a miniature ruler with more than a hundred scales. Because it is so tiny, I asked a miniature engraver to carve it. When weighing and reading, it is read through a magnifying glass device."

The reading device Xie Yan saw in the laboratory was too advanced, and it seemed to need electricity. When he tried to imitate it last year, he couldn't make it, so he simply simplified it. Anyway, it was enough for the current stage.

"This box contains weights, all placed in a cotton cover. You cannot use your hands to take them out, you must use tweezers. The smallest ones are flakes. I couldn't find any metal that is not easily oxidized and is lightweight, so I could only use tiny gold foils to make flakes."

Aluminum sheets should be used.

"Above the right end of the balance beam is a ring weight, also made of extremely fine gold wire. Adjusting the knob on the right hand side can automatically lower the ring weight."

"Before weighing, check the lens reading first, adjust it to zero and you can use it."

"The introduction of the agate short-arm damping balance is complete."

The scholars looked at each other, then at Tian Ping and then at Xie Yan.

The scholars standing on the periphery listened to Xie Yan's complicated introduction, but could not see what was going on inside, and they were so anxious that they wanted to pull the people in front away.

"So beautiful!"

Zhu Shirong exclaimed.

This balance is not only of complex structure, but also made of agate, gold wire, gold foil, and even the scale is micro-carved. How noble and gorgeous!
Nothing can be touched directly with hands. Xie Yan wore gloves the whole time and used tweezers to take and put weights. It has to be kept in a glass cover and kept dry with charcoal. It must be put away when not in use to prevent wear and tear. It is as fragile as a newborn baby, making people want to take good care of it.

Such a noble and fragile instrument will surely become a treasure of scientists in the future, and no one except myself can get close to it.

The old president put on his reading glasses, put his head outside the glass cover, and stared at the various components closely.

Nie Qi was very anxious and his mood was complicated.

Out of personal selfishness, he hoped that this scale was just a showpiece and not as powerful as Xie Yan said.

As a scientist, he also hopes that this balance will be really useful!
Nie Qi's mind was buzzing, and he subconsciously said, "Weigh something?"

Of course Xie Yan prepared some weights, but he always felt that it lacked a sense of ceremony.

Not pretentious enough!
He turned his head and looked around, and found that the eldest princess was also lying on the table, observing the various parts of the balance beam.

Xie Yan called out in a low voice: "Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess."

After shouting twice, the eldest princess finally reacted and realized that her head was too close to Xie Yan's face, only about one foot away.

She quickly straightened up and distanced herself: "What's wrong?"

Xie Yan said: "Please lend me a strand of your hair."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this. This was an attempt to flirt with the Grand Princess. Young Scholar Xie was really bold.

Even the old president was stunned. He looked at Xie Yan first, then at the eldest princess, and smiled, revealing a few remaining old teeth. Old people also like to eat melons and talk about couples. They have nothing to do anyway.

The eldest princess didn't think much about it at first, her attention was all on the scale, and at this moment her cheeks turned slightly red. She felt a little shy, and a little annoyed, because Xie Yan's teasing was too blunt.

Xie Yan really wasn't trying to flirt with girls, he just wanted to show off.

The world's first high-precision short-arm balance was first unveiled using a princess' hair to weigh something. This was so impressive that it would be a good story in the history of science even a hundred years later.

The sense of ceremony is full!

Seeing the Grand Princess glaring at him angrily, Xie Yan realized that he had spoken without thinking, and quickly apologized, "I am sorry for being rude. Please forgive me, Princess."

Just as Xie Yan was about to open the bag he brought with him and take out the weighed object inside, the eldest princess suddenly straightened up.

She took off her jewelry one by one and placed them next to the balance box, then took off her gold and jade hairpin. She shook her head slightly, and her hair fell apart, revealing a waterfall of hair.

Xie Yan looked dazed.

No, I was just talking. Princess, are you serious?
The eldest princess asked, "Where are the scissors? You can't ask me to pull out my hair."

Under the gaze of a group of scholars, Xie Yanzhen took out a pair of small scissors. Some were stunned, some were trying not to laugh, and many were just watching the fun.

The eldest princess was about to reach out to take the scissors, but she didn't expect Xie Yan to stand up and grab a strand of her hair. Not only did he grab the hair, he also twisted it with his fingers, as if he was considering which strands to cut.

And you picked it!

The eldest princess was so angry that she wanted to laugh. From her childhood to adulthood, she had never met such a scoundrel.

Xie Yan didn't really think about it. He was considering how many strands to cut and how long to cut... Hair strands are at the microgram level, and it would be hard to weigh them if he didn't cut more.

After picking out a strand of hair and cutting it off, Xie Yan tied a knot with his hair, then sat back, opened the balance box, and placed the hair into the left tray of the balance.

Then he carefully took out and put the weights, adjusted the rings, and observed the scale, without even looking at the eldest princess from beginning to end.

It seemed as if the eldest princess was a tool that could automatically generate objects to be weighed.

The eldest princess was ashamed and angry at first, then she became completely furious, and now she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. If she had the temper of her teenage years, she would have slapped him.

Forget it, many of these academics are mentally ill.

Xie Yan struggled for a long time and finally announced the result: "The weight of this strand of hair of the Grand Princess is 0.615 millimeters."

The scholars all gasped, and even the Grand Princess stopped worrying about anything else and turned her attention entirely to the scale.

After Xie Yan traveled through time, in addition to being troubled by the various symbols, he was also troubled by the Ming Dynasty's ridiculous system of weights and measures.

Since a large amount of currency was issued and metal currency was related to weight, it was difficult to change it for scientific research. In addition, Zhu Guoxiang could not know the conversion of weights and measures between two time and space out of thin air, so he could not change it to modern units even if he wanted to.

北宋末年，1斤=16两=160钱=1600分=16000厘=160000毫。（1斤=625克）
Mixing the decimal and hexadecimal systems is not conducive to scientific calculations, so the units below liang were kept unchanged, and a jin (1 jin = 10 liang) was created on top.
跟另一个时空的重量换算变成这样：1学斤=390.625克，1两=39.0625克，1毫=3.90625毫克。

The scientists of the Ming Dynasty would not find it troublesome because they did not need to convert at all. The two units of grams and milligrams were not in their minds.

Xie Yan weighed a strand of hair as 0.615 millimeters, which should actually be 2.40234375 milligrams. The accuracy is definitely not possible to achieve so many decimal places, it is purely a mathematical conversion of units in two time and space.

The sensitivity of Xie Yan's balance is about 0.025 mg.

It still does not meet the standards of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, when the sensitivity of analytical balances was 0.001 mg.

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Even so, it is enough to amaze today's scholars, because this thing is more than enough to study molecules and atoms.

Xie Yan took out the eldest princess's hair and stuffed it back into his bag along with the scissors. He wanted to keep it as a family heirloom.

And they were very proud of themselves, with a full sense of ceremony!
When the eldest princess saw Xie Yan's behavior, she was ashamed and angry again, but it was not convenient for her to ask for it back in public. She was willful and capricious when she was a girl, and became a people-pleasing person (only to her husband) after marriage. Although she has come out of her unhappy marriage, her character is still very cautious and tolerant.

Some are even timid, fearing that they will be disliked by others.

She looked around and found that the scholars were not paying attention to her. They were completely attracted by the balance. Only then did she feel relieved and glared at Xie Yan.

Xie Yan responded with a straight man's smile.

The old president rubbed his hands repeatedly and exclaimed: "What a good thing."

Xie Yan took the opportunity to express his opinion: "I was awarded the Jade Scholarship at a young age, and I have no way to repay the favor of the Royal Society, so I plan to donate this balance to the society."

"What a good young man!" The old president had a better impression of Xie Yan.

Other scholars were also delighted. They planned to dismantle and study the scale together, and then hire craftsmen to build it for them at a high price.

Only Nie Qi had mixed feelings.

He lost so completely, so completely that he couldn't even hate Xie Yan.

Xie Yan made way for him: "Old President, come and give it a try."

The old president smiled and sat over: "Who can get some hair?"

"mine!"

"Use mine!"

"..."

The scholars took off their hats and asked Xie Yan to borrow scissors.

Xie Yan took the opportunity to retreat away from the crowd, stretch himself and breathe in fresh air.

There was always enough space around the eldest princess because people were not allowed to get too close to her, but now they didn't care about that and the scholars swarmed in, making the eldest princess stagger.

She came out in a disheveled state, even forgetting to take the jewelry that was on the table.

But Xie Yan was standing alone in the distance, as if the scale on the table had nothing to do with him. The craziness of the scholars at this moment made Xie Yan look so majestic.

"You seem quite leisurely." said the eldest princess.

Xie Yan said: "Last year was very tiring. From summer to winter, I spent nearly half a year working on the scale. Even my dreams were of scales and weights."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Give my hair back to me."

"Oh, I wanted to keep it as a souvenir." Xie Yan sighed and rummaged through his bag.

When he turned out the hair, the eldest princess said, "Forget it, it's not worth anything."

Xie Yan chuckled and tucked his hair back.

The eldest princess asked: "Is your hometown in Hebei?"

Xie Yan replied: "Yes."

The eldest princess said, "Do you know Yu Kui, a scholar from Hebei? He was a guest in my house before."

Xie Yan shook his head: "I don't know him. I don't know much about the academic world."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "You are really a wild person. Yu Kui is the most famous chemist in Hebei. He probably has some private matters and did not come to Luoyang this time."

Xie Yan took the opportunity to say, "Then I'll have to ask the princess for help in introducing me."

The eldest princess asked again: "You have achieved so much at a young age. Do you want to study academics or become an official in the future?"

Xie Yan thought about it carefully and said, "It's all right. I don't mind."

The eldest princess stopped talking and called the maids standing outside in, asking them to take the jewelry on the podium.

There were a lot of students lying outside the door and windows.

From the conversation coming out of the room, the students had roughly figured out that young scholar Xie had made an ultra-high-precision balance, which had driven a large group of top scholars inside crazy.

Seeing that the Grand Princess no longer paid attention to him, Xie Yan paced outside.

As soon as he left the house, the students gathered around him, bowed to Xie Yan in unison, and greeted him with an extremely respectful attitude: "Greetings, Mr. Xie!"

At this moment, the old president had finished the weighing and stood up tremblingly, stroking his beard.

He walked towards the door with a cane. The scholars made way for him and two people hurried to support him.

When he came to Xie Yan, the old president said, "The lack of accuracy of the balance has troubled scholars for thirty or forty years, and the theory of His Majesty Taizu cannot be fully verified. On behalf of scholars all over the world, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"

After saying this, he broke free from the person who was supporting him and bowed properly towards Xie Yan.

Xie Yan was startled and quickly reached out to help.

If this old man loses his balance and falls down and gets hurt, he won’t be able to afford the compensation.

The top scholars inside saw the old president's actions, exchanged glances with each other, and bowed to Xie Yan one after another.

The students outside were stunned by the scene.

The eldest princess was tying up her loose hair. She looked up suddenly and found something was wrong. The scene in front of her made her eyes sparkle with surprise.

(End of this chapter)