The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Several people got back in the car and continued to drive to Dongyuan. On the way, Wang Wenlong asked Xu Guangqi: "Zixian, how is the operation of the physics club now?"

Xu Guangqi said with a wry smile: "As I said to Jianyang in my previous letter, although our physics club is somewhat famous in Jiangnan, the future is difficult."

He explained: "Many people are interested in the theories taught by our physics club, and many people are curious about our geometric algebra and other methods, but it is not possible to do more experiments and research. Previously established Which of the chemical experiments and equipment manufacturing Yang mentioned are free of charge? Originally, people in the society wanted to spend their own money to do research, but I stopped them. I only collected the funds donated by them to build equipment, but after all, it was not a long-term solution. count."

Chen Yujie on the side said with disapproval: "So many people in our society who are willing to fund experiments have been turned away. My uncle is too unreasonable. I think some money should be taken as it is, and we are not greedy."

Wang Wenlong understood Xu Guangqi's thoughts quite well and explained to him: "Most of the research done by the Physics Society requires a long time investment. Hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver will be used up. Once or twice is enough. Over time, it will inevitably lead to trouble. People gossip, and in the end it sets a bad example for the operation of the physics club.”

"But isn't this a trap?" Chen Yujie said worriedly, "If this continues, we won't be able to do any research."

Wang Wenlong was also a little helpless. He suddenly discovered that it was not all good for him to inspire Xu Guangqi to engage in scientific research.

For example, now he can only teach Xu Guangqi some theoretical knowledge.

And if Xu Guangqi and others studied directly with the Jesuits as they did in the original history, they would not only learn basic knowledge, but also directly come into contact with the industrial technology of Europe at this time.

But for him to inspire people like Xu Guangqi, no matter how brilliant the theory is, there is still a layer between them and being able to actually experiment and make products.

If there is no actual output, the physics community will definitely disappear in the long run.

When Xu Guangqi wrote to Fujian before, he had already stated in his letter that he wanted to focus the Physics Society's research direction mainly on chemical and mechanical research, and Wang Wenlong fully agreed with this.

Research chemistry, create new medicines, new dyes, new explosive formulas, or create new machinery. Under the technological conditions of this era, these are the easiest ways for the physics club to make a name for itself.

In these days, the shock brought by an artifact like the Three Laws of Mechanics is not as strong as the creation of a Hongyi cannon.

However, Wang Wenlong is least able to help with chemical and mechanical research. It is difficult to obtain pure chemical reagents these days. If you want to develop new things, you can only rely on Xu Guangqi and others to try it yourself. The investment must be very large, and It is simply difficult to determine when output will occur.

A few people chatted all the way and finally came to the East Garden again.

The rich man Xu Shupi took a leisurely stroll in the woods and joined clubs in his spare time. Now he is also a member of the physics club, and he even offers his garden to the physics club for meetings.

Xu Guangqi and Chen Yujie also just arrived in Suzhou today. Wang Wenlong and others came to the door of Xu Shupi's house to announce that Xu Shupi came out to welcome them.

When several people walked into the East Garden, Xu Shupi said with a smile: "If our physics club wants to do such experiments, I can actually sponsor one or two..."

Knowing that the thief in Xu Shupi's family was rich, Xu Guangqi nodded and said:

"It's great that Wu Zi has this intention, but it's okay to fund the establishment of a laboratory, but it's still inconvenient to donate money to be responsible for the experiment..."

Hearing Xu Guangqi's skillful reply, Wang Wenlong knew that this was obviously not the first time he had to deal with such a scene.

Relying on private funds to conduct experiments is definitely not a long-term solution for the physics club. It seems that we need to find some way to make the physics club make money.

……

In November of the 29th year of Wanli, the Physics Society held its first serious meeting in Suzhou East Garden.

Participants included Wang Wenlong, Xu Guangqi, Xu Shupi, Chen Yujie, as well as Sun Yuanhua, whose hometown is Jiading County, Suzhou Prefecture, and Li Tianjing and Fan Jingwen, who came from Hebei.

When he saw everyone present, Wang Wenlong took a deep breath in his heart. Only then did he realize that Xu Guangqi was indeed a bit powerful. He probably pulled all his friends into the physics club and became the backbone.

In the original history, this group of people were almost all high-level intellectual followers of the Jesuits who developed in the Ming Dynasty because of their love of science and technology. The Physics Society almost hollowed out the cornerstone of the Jesuits' mission in China in the late Ming Dynasty in the original history.

Among them, the one who attracted Wang Wenlong's attention the most was naturally Sun Yuanhua.

Sun Yuanhua is only nineteen years old this year. His ancestors were also officials, and his family fortune is quite rich. He is "naturally beautiful and sensitive, and curious about strategy." He was able to join the physics club because Sun Yuanhua was a student in Xu Guangqi's private school.

Sun Yuanhua has a rich family. His father, Sun Jiyi, devoted his life to poetry and essays and did not want to be an official. Sun Yuanhua also inherited his father's character. He also did not like being an official, but unlike his father who liked liberal arts - he liked mathematics. , likes to study firearms.

In the original history, after Sun Yuanhua came into contact with Western learning, he gave up the imperial examination and devoted himself to learning Western science and technology with Xu Guangqi. He helped build forts in Liaodong and was appreciated by Yuan Chonghuan, and was recommended by Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Chengzong to become a military attaché. At the beginning of the meeting, Wang Wenlong was pushed to the main seat by everyone. He waved his hands repeatedly: "I just attended the meeting of the Physics Club for the first time today. I just sat in. I have never contributed much to the establishment and operation of the Physics Club. How can I sit here?" In this position?"

Xu Guangqi, the number one contributor to the establishment of the Physics Society, said directly: "Without Professor Jianyang, the Physics Society would not have been established at all. Everyone thinks that Jianyang should be the leader."

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, Xu Guangqi learned most of the physics and mathematics content they discussed from Wang Wenlong.

Wang Wenlong had no choice but to sit down.

He was the appointed host of today's meeting. After Wang Wenlong sat down, he said to everyone:

"Today is the first meeting of our Physics Club. I discussed it with some members first. The main topic should be about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Reducing expenditure is nothing more than setting up a bank and asking members to take turns supervising the use of funds. The main thing is to increase revenue. We have to find a way. Make money, otherwise our physics club won’t be able to do any research experiments.”

Li Tianjing and Fan Jingwen were both from Wuqiao, Hebei Province. When they learned that Wang Wenlong was going to Suzhou, they quickly took the Grand Canal south to attend the meeting. There is also Wang Zheng who is still on the way.

The two of them had just arrived in Suzhou today. They arrived at the venue before they could figure out what was going on. After hearing this, Li Tianjing asked with a smile: "I have always heard that literati have to pay money to set up a club. We are not a boat club or a fisherman's club, so we may not Is there still money that can be earned back?”

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "I have inquired in the past two days and found that our physics society is now somewhat famous in Jiangnan. Nowadays, cultural societies in Fujian also use their reputation to run newspapers and periodicals, such as Fuzhou Cangshan Society and Quanzhou Minhai Society. We are quite successful and can make a lot of money, why don’t we use our fame to run some publications and sell some books?”

Xu Guangqi said: "The Physics Club has printed some things before, but I didn't expect to make money."

The Physics Club has printed some things before, but they were all outsourced. They only printed some formula lecture notes and the like for easy use at conferences. They have never made any money from this thing.

Even Xu Guangqi, who is extremely business-savvy, has never thought about this.

Because just look at what the Physics Club is discussing at this time: plane geometry, algebra, and the three laws of mechanics... Except for the literati in the Physics Club, this stuff is of interest to others. If it is thrown on the road, no one will probably pick it up. Come and see.

Everyone present is very self-aware - they are the weirdos of this era. They are all famous in the countryside and are a bit crazy. They don't think that others will like to delve into the things of the physics club.

Wang Wenlong shook his head and said: "There are also things that our physics club studies that can interest people. For example, I can think of two."

"The first is natural history books. We have great talents in this field in our physics club, and they are familiar with everything in the world, including flowers, birds, fish, and insects."

"For example, which animals in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" are actually visible in reality, and what do the flowers in "The Book of Songs" look like in reality? If we analyze them one by one and compile them into some books, they can be targeted at ordinary people. knowledge and reading habits, written in vernacular, I think whether you are a scribe with leisure time or a trafficker who wants to increase your experience, you will be interested in reading this book."

If you want to sell books on physics, it is natural that the selling point must be academically related.

The first thing Wang Wenlong thought of was natural history books. Such books accounted for the majority of popular science books in later generations, even in the short video era: "Identification of Popular Biology Videos on the Internet" and "The Mystery of the Mariana Trench" in broad terms The natural history content is still the popular science content that audiences like to watch the most.

Both entertaining and educational.

Wang Wenlong glanced at Xu Shupi.

People who study natural history these days must be well-informed, and at least their families must have corresponding financial conditions. For example, Xu Shupi in front of me has money and food, so he naturally knows a lot of things that ordinary people cannot see.

As expected, Xu Shupi was thinking with great interest.

The "Shi Xiao Lu" written by this gentleman contains a lot of natural history content, but he wrote too slowly. As a rich man, there was no pressure to update it at all. According to the original history, this book was not completed until the Tianqi year.

After saying this, Wang Wenlong added: "There is another direction. We can publish some books on games. For example, the "Xun Bao" I chaired in Fuzhou has always had a word game section, including lantern riddles, idioms, and idioms. Sudoku, chess scores, and magic squares can all use your brain, and are very popular among readers."

Wang Wenlong concluded: "Everyone may disdain doing business, but if the physics society wants to develop and grow, it must have funds to conduct research. This amount of money is not small, and it cannot be carried out just by the support of one household. I think Setting up a bookshop is very necessary for the future development of the physics club."

Everyone here was silent after listening. Most of them joined the physics club with the mentality of participating in a literary society. They thought mathematics and physics were fun, but they did not expect to think about the content of running a club and doing business. The key is that none of these literary people did Going about business, everyone is scratching their heads.

(End of this chapter)