Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1194 Postscript : Xie Xueshi’s value is still increasing

(The postscript was not originally intended to be long. It was originally planned to be finished within 30 chapters. It mainly uses Xie Yan's perspective to show the Ming Dynasty and the world more than 130 years later. The content of the previous chapter was determined long ago, and similar chapters are inserted from time to time. But it is difficult to satisfy everyone. Some people say that the previous chapter is better than the love story, and some people say that they regret subscribing to that chapter. Whether you like it or not, just read it.)
Luoyang, southern suburbs.

Li Minqiu stood outside the door, not daring to go in and disturb them, but just observed secretly out of curiosity.

Inside the room, Xie Yan was crouching in front of a microscope, with Li Dunshi standing beside him as his assistant. Even Xie Yan's four male followers and two maids were called in to help.

Xie Yan said, "A1, particle size range is less than 1.5 centimeters long, specific surface area..."

Li Dunshi immediately picked up the small notebook and used a pen to help record the data.

After recording everything, Xie Yan said, "Come and take a look too."

As soon as Xie Yan left the microscope, Li Dunshi hurried over happily.

Although Li Minqiu didn't understand what was going on, she was secretly happy because she felt her son was learning real things.

Xie Yan actually felt very uncomfortable because the Ming Dynasty's weights and measures were too ridiculous.

The units of length are yin, zhang, cun, fen, li, hao, si, and hu. Since some unit names are the same as weight units, the word "long" is added at the end to distinguish them.

There is a missing mathematical connection between length and weight!
Xie Yan had already decided that once he had achieved some results and had enough reputation and status, he would apply to the Royal Society to reform the academic measurement units.

Take the meridian of the earth passing through Luoyang, and take one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole as "1 meter". Then take the mass of 1 cubic decimeter of pure water at a certain normal temperature as "1 kilogram".

In this way, length and weight have a mathematical connection, and it becomes more standardized and easy to use.

There is still time to make changes slowly. In another time and space, the international unit was determined at the end of the Qianlong period.

The man followed Xie Changshou, carrying the finely ground and sieved cement clinker, and walked behind Li Minqiu and said, "Please make way."

"Sorry, sorry." Li Minqiu hurriedly moved aside, fearing that the experiment would be delayed.

The room was still busy and Li Minqiu didn't leave.

He stood outside for a long time and finally saw his son coming out with Master Xie.

A shed was built not far away to block the sun and wind. There were several piles of cement mixed with river sand and water and left to dry. There were also clocks and thermometers next to them, and the male servants and maids were always watching.

Li Minqiu shouted in a low voice: "Dungshi, come here!"

Li Dunshi turned around and asked, "Dad, what's wrong?"

"Did you learn anything?" Li Minqiu asked.

Li Dunshi's tone was a little excited: "It was only after doing experiments with Master Xie that I realized that cement also has so many principles. From now on, even if I am alone, I can also start to improve cement."

Li Minqiu said, "Then you should catch up quickly and don't delay your studies."

Seeing his son following Xie Yan again, Li Minqiu went home with a smile on his face.

As soon as he entered the yard, Li Minqiu shouted, "Cook some appetizers and bring out the good wine I hid!"

His wife Guan Xiuniang came out of the house and said, "It's still early for dinner."

"So much nonsense." Li Minqiu scolded with a smile.

Guan Xiuniang asked, "What's the good news? You look so happy."

Li Minqiu said: "I went to see Mr. Xie's cement kiln today and watched them do experiments."

Guan Xiuniang asked curiously, "Are there any clues?"

Li Minqiu said: "Two days ago, the structures of the three cement kilns were slightly modified. I heard that the feed materials during firing were also changed. One of them fired very well, but Xie Xueshi still wants to make further improvements, saying that the firing is not uniform enough."

"That's indeed a happy event," said Guan Xiuniang.

Li Minqiu smiled and waved her hands: "You woman don't understand. Improving cement is certainly worth celebrating, but we should be more happy that our son has learned something. You didn't see that they even used a microscope to do the experiment!"

"The kind that can see small insects?" Guan Xiuniang asked.

Li Minqiu nodded, "Yes, that's the type. He studied hard, but never did well. He was just an average person. His only advantage was that he worked hard. Even when he was studying at the Imperial College, I used my connections to send him there as a self-funded student. I'm afraid he won't have the hope of passing the imperial examination and becoming an official in this lifetime. But it's different with Master Xie. Maybe he can achieve something in the future."

Guan Xiuniang was overjoyed when she heard this.

Although Li Dunshi was born to a concubine, the concubine died of illness a few years ago. Guan Xiuniang's biological son was not at home all year round, so Li Dunshi was no different from her biological son.

"Master, someone is here to deliver a letter. It's a private letter from Master Xie!"

Li Minqiu had just taken two sips of wine when someone brought a letter. He hurried out to help sign for it in person.

The Ming Dynasty's postal system became more developed as transportation improved, especially in places connected by railways and rivers.

For example, in the city or suburbs, as long as you pay extra money when sending a letter, there is even door-to-door delivery service.

The postman had become familiar with the Li family. As Xie Yan had more and more pen pals, one or two letters would arrive every few days.

In the evening, Xie Yan came back with a group of followers.

Li Minqiu personally delivered the letter: "Thank you for your hard work, Scholar. I specially asked the chef to add two dishes today."

Xie Yan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much."

I was exhausted during the day and covered in dust.

Xie Yan and several servants went to take a bath one after another, and then the master and servants had dinner together at the same table.

There are not so many rules for renting a house as a single person.

Even Daiyu and Baochai have been helping out these days, helping to keep an eye on the time and cement changes. They are equivalent to the coolies of Xie Yan's cement project team, and eating together is also considered a daily gathering.

The two little girls were very hardworking, especially Baochai. If you asked her to read or write, she might be lazy, but she worked very hard in the experimental group. As soon as Xie Yan sat down, Baochai brought him rice, and Daiyu never grabbed it.

"My dear, doing experiments is so interesting..." Baochai began to talk a lot.

Xie Yan smiled and said, "You can't delay your studies. After dinner, go and practice calligraphy. Daiyu can already write more than a hundred characters. How many characters can you tell me?"

Baochai wilted instantly, pouted her lips and stopped talking.

Daiyu happily picked up the bowl of rice, thinking to herself, my husband praises me again, I must practice calligraphy twice as much tonight!
After dinner, Xie Yan began to read the letter.

This letter was sent by Zhu Shirong. He said that he couldn't wait in line, so he went back to Kaifeng to hire a skilled craftsman and built the scale himself according to the scale drawing.

He also said that according to an older scholar he knew, the chemists in Luoyang who lined up to use the balance had already conducted dozens or even hundreds of experiments.

These experiments were mostly conducted according to the previous atomic and molecular theories, and the experimental data obtained were very confusing. Two groups of chemists proposed to use Xie Yan's molecular theory to conduct the experiments again, and they are currently waiting in line to use the balance.

Many scholars speculate that Xie Yan's molecular hypothesis may be correct. Some of them are using previous experimental results to make mathematical calculations.

After reading the letter, Xie Yan picked up his pen and wrote a reply, asking his male assistant Wang Xing to mail it the next day.

Wang Xing's parents gave him such a name, wouldn't it be a waste if he doesn't use it to run errands and deliver letters?
The next day, Xie Yan came to the experimental site and called the craftsmen who built the cement kiln: "For kiln No. 1, expand the feeding bell mouth by half a foot. For kiln No. 2..."

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Like Zhu Shirong, many scholars could not wait to line up to use the balance and had already left Beijing with the balance drawings.

One hundred skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry were divided into several groups and worked overtime. In just a few days, four scales were built one after another.

All of them are more sophisticated than Xie Yan’s “Unit-01”!

With the five balances, the progress of the scholars' experiments increased dramatically. Different groups of chemists even agreed to do different experiments and then verify each other's results.

The Royal Society's best balance was left here for use.

An old man stared at the experimental calculation data in a daze. He was Wei Renfu, the vice president of the Chemical Society. He had rejected Xie Yan's molecular paper at first, but later took the initiative to approve it.

Xie Yan's pen pal Cao An said with a dry mouth: "Teacher, Mr. Xie is right, we are all wrong. Multiple atoms of the same element can indeed form a single molecule. The oxygen molecule is composed of two oxygen atoms."

There were several chemists in the room, and they all looked at Wei Renfu at this moment.

Wei Renfu said, "You guys go ahead and do your work. I'll be leaving first."

Everyone was hesitant to speak and watched Wei Renfu leave.

As he walked out of the building, the sunlight was so bright that Wei Renfu could not open his eyes.

The old man felt dizzy and was about to fall. The followers around him hurriedly supported him.

After a while, Wei Renfu came under the shade of the tree, his mind was blank and he couldn't think. At least 80% of his academic achievements in his life had been overturned by Xie Yan!

If he were still young, he could naturally start over.

But he was old and no longer had the energy, and his academic life was almost dead.

"Teacher, teacher..."

A shout brought Wei Renfu back to his senses. He turned to look at his student and asked, "Has my life been a joke?"

Cao An said: "Teacher has many other achievements and has trained so many students. If the teacher is a joke, then as a student, wouldn't I also become a joke?"

Wei Renfu was slightly relieved and said with a wry smile: "Yes, I still have many students. You are still young, and you can make a lot of achievements with this opportunity. I am old, and it is time for me to go home and hug my grandchildren."

"Why should you be discouraged, teacher? You can still lead us to continue our research." Cao An said.

Wei Renfu waved his hand and said, "I have thought it through. Our era has passed, and your era has just begun. Let's go, let's go. I will return to Suzhou in a few days. When you have time, please help me sell my property in Luoyang. I will leave a house sale power of attorney for you."

Cao An tried to persuade him to stay, "Teacher..."

Wei Renfu interrupted and said, "No need to say more. I'm going to go to the old chairman's house and I'll leave this place to you. When I leave Beijing, don't come to see me off. Hurry up and do the experiments and get the results."

Cao An sighed.

Two days later, relying on the five balances, more and more experiments were conducted, and Xie Yan's molecular hypothesis was basically confirmed.

Wei Renfu formally submitted his resignation letter and stepped down from his position as vice president of the Chemistry Branch.

Some people sighed, some people were secretly happy.

In any case, Xie Yan's reputation in the academic circle rose like a rocket.

This is different from building a precision balance. His hypothesis was confirmed. In the future, as long as the research continues along this path, the achievements made by scholars will be related to him!

Enough to establish a school of thought.

As the old president received more and more experimental results, he said to himself with a sad face, "We can't give him a bachelor's degree this year. We have to postpone it until next year. Four levels in three years, how can we get promoted in the future?"

Vice President Lu Gai said: "It is better to reform the bachelor's degree system."

The old president asked, “How do we change it?”

Lu Gai said: "Now, no matter what kind of scholars, they all have the same title of Bachelor. In the future, they can be divided according to the research content, first into two major categories: liberal arts and science. Bachelor of science can be further divided into academic and technical. Xie Yan previously had a bachelor of technology, and his current achievements can be regarded as an academic bachelor."

The old president didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Just because of him, the bachelor's degree system was changed?"

"I really can't think of a better way." Lu Gai said.

The old president sighed: "What a young genius!"

(End of this chapter)