Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 161 Solar Calendar

Weights and measures are not the Qin Tianjian's job. Zhu Youjian asked them to help measure the meridian because he wanted to use the length of the meridian to determine the metric system.

Nowadays, the Jiajing Teeth Ruler exists and the metric system has been established, so there is no need for Qin Tianjian's help.

However, Zhu Youjian still asked them to send people to measure the meridian, preferably 80,000 miles, so that people would accept the new mile system and promote the new weights and measures.

At the same time, during the measurement process, it can also allow Qin Tianyuan officials to improve their level and increase their understanding of astronomy.

In this age of navigation, the measurement of astronomy, stars, longitude and latitude is very important, and its development must be accelerated.

As a small circle passed down by families in the Ming Dynasty, the level of Qin Tian Jian has long lagged behind the times.

According to Zhu Youjian's knowledge, the Lingtai eunuchs in the palace sometimes calculate more accurately than Qintian eunuchs. Not to mention that Western astronomy is advancing by leaps and bounds and needs the Ming Dynasty to catch up.

This made him want to change the official and talent training system of Qintianjian, but he didn't know where to start. Because the Ming Dynasty had strict restrictions on astronomy, it was not easy to find talents who were proficient in astronomy.

So he could only put this matter aside and prepare to talk about it later. He said to the officials of Qintian Prison:
"You can publicize more about measuring meridian, but don't talk casually about weights and measures."

"The new system of weights and measures will be tried out in the inner court first. After it is completely perfected, it will be spread to the outside world."

It is planned to be tried in the inner court for a period of time, and after the entire weights and measures system is perfected, it will be accepted by people outside.

From now on, the construction and measurement of the inner court will completely adopt the new system. Zhu Youjian plans to recall more mathematical formulas and build on this system.

At that time, as long as these formulas were spread, there was no need to worry about people outside not accepting them. Because the new system is much easier to calculate than the old system.

Not to mention that Zhu Youjian plans to include more questions in the calculation of calculation subjects in the future that are easy to calculate using the new system but very complicated using the old system. Let the scholars outside discover it, and then accept the new system——

Scholars in the Ming Dynasty were very down-to-earth, and they would accept it as long as it was related to getting a Jinshi. When they discovered that it took them a long time to reach a conclusion using the old system, but they could calculate it quickly using the new system, they would naturally accept the new system and even ask the court to adopt it.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was overjoyed when the officials of the Qintian Prison requested that their children be allowed to take part in the imperial examination and abolish the rule not to study other professions based on their merits in calculating weights and measures. Because he knew that these disciples of Qin Tianjian would definitely accept the new system, which would be conducive to the promotion of the new weights and measures system.

Moreover, his idea of ​​changing the talent training system of Qintianjian can also be completed through this matter. Zhu Youjian immediately ordered:
"Other officials can have the title of Qin Tianjian, and you Qin Tianjian officials can naturally be transferred to other officials."

"From now on, the descendants of Qintianjian personnel will be the same as other civilian households without any restrictions."

"There are people who are proficient in astronomy among the people, and they can also serve as Imperial Heavenly Supervisors."

"In the future, the ban on astronomy among the people will be lifted. Those who want to learn astronomy can apply to the Qintian Prison and study in the Qintian Prison or study on their own."

While lifting the restrictions on the Qintian Prison, this small closed circle was broken up, and talents were recruited from the entire Ming Dynasty to improve the astronomical level.

Therefore, after hearing this order, the officials of Qin Tianjian were both happy and worried.

The good news is that their children can take the imperial examination and become civil servants, and will not have to study astronomy in the future.

The worry lies here, that is, in addition to their children, there will be outsiders who will enter the Qintian Prison as officials in the future.

But they cannot object to this regulation, because after the ban is lifted, there will definitely be many Qintianjian children who are unwilling to learn astronomy anymore. There are not enough disciples in Qin Tian Jian, so naturally they can only recruit people from outside to serve as officials in Qin Tian Jian.

Therefore, the emperor's decision can be described as logical. It was they who took the initiative to break up this small circle and create communication with the outside world.

This made them realize that they cannot make arbitrary conditions in the future. It is possible that the emperor may put forward another condition while agreeing.

This time Zhu Youjian broke the Qintian Prison's small circle by exchanging two conditions. This made him very happy, and he remembered another purpose of calling Qin Tianjian here.

That is because of the issues of leap months and large and small months, he previously decided to use the solar calendar. To avoid the need to pay an extra month of food and salary during a leap month every two or three years. The food and wages distributed by the court for thirty days sometimes became twenty-nine days in the hands of the soldiers.

This is a major event that can save money and food expenses. Zhu Youjian, the emperor who cannot make ends meet, certainly takes it very seriously. He said to the Qintian Supervisor:

""Shang Shu·Yu Shu·Yao Dian" says: There are six days in a period of three hundred, and the leap month is used to determine the four o'clock and the year will come."

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty says: If there is a leap in five years, the way of heaven will be prepared. One of the three hundred and sixty-five degrees of the Zhou Dynasty."

"The ancients have measured that there are 365 and a quarter days in a year. Why is it that the current calendar has more than 350 days in a year?"

This problem is huge, and Qintianjian officials are very cautious. Supervisor Ye Zhenchun thought about it again and again and replied:
"There are more than three hundred and fifty days in a year, because only in this way can Zhengdan coincide with New Year's Day every year."

"And dividing the sky into three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter degrees is not convenient for calculation."

"So this dynasty is calculated based on the 360 ​​degrees of the week and 60 degrees of each degree, which is more than 350 days per year."

Zhu Youjian was speechless when he heard about Shuori. Because this is a big issue related to Zhengshuo, it might make many people lose their heads. Only when the first day of the first lunar month is no longer relevant can he completely change the calendar and change the Ming calendar to a solar calendar.

However, before that, the solar calendar must be determined for internal use in Qintianjian to facilitate the calculation of solar terms.

The determination of solar terms has nothing to do with the moon and is completely determined by the sun. The shortest day is the winter solstice, the longest day is the summer solstice, and the two equal parts of day and night are the spring and autumn equinoxes. After determining these four seasons, other solar terms can naturally be determined.

Now that we are in the Little Ice Age, the climate is constantly changing, and it is even more necessary to determine the solar terms to guide the farming season. We can no longer let the solar terms jump around so that farmers cannot remember them.

Zhu Youjian thought of this and immediately issued an order:

"People today use the modern calendar, but the ancient calendar cannot be used either."

"You make a solar calendar based on three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days in a year for reference."

"Starting from this year's winter solstice, we will calculate the solar calendar for the next few years." When they heard that it was just for reference, the officials at Qintian Prison breathed a sigh of relief. It’s not just about asking them to change the calendar. If you don’t do that, you’ll lose your head.

Thinking back on this year’s winter solstice, Ye Zhenchun said:

"This year's winter solstice is on November 15th."

"Calculated based on three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days in a year, there are twenty-four solar terms, each solar term is a little more than fifteen days, which is more..."

Still counting on his fingers, Zhu Youjian told him directly:

"An extra five hours and fifteen minutes."

"You can start the winter solstice at six o'clock on November 15th, and then add fifteen days, five hours and fifteen minutes to calculate the following solar terms."

"Starting from the first day of the first lunar month next year, every month will have thirty days. Next year there will be five leap days in the first year, five leap days in the second year, six leap days in the third year, and it will still be leap five days in the following years until the third year. Seven years and six leap days.”

"Use this to calculate the solar calendar for the next few years."

Let them do the calculations right here, on the spot.

The Qintian Supervisor officials had no choice but to get pen and paper and make calculations on the spot.

After calculating in this way, they felt that the hour system was really easy to use. Adding hours and minutes was much more convenient than using time before. There is no need to calculate degrees, just add and subtract time.

Such a simple calculation is very simple for Qintianjian officials, and they quickly calculate the solar terms for the next few years. Then use the solar term time to determine the solar calendar mentioned by the emperor.

The results of the calculation surprised them, because they calculated that in the fifth year, the solar terms completely coincided with those in the first year, and there was no need to calculate the solar terms after five years.

And according to this calendar, the winter solstice will be November 21 every year in the next few years, which will not change.

There are six leap days in the third year and the seventh year, which is also consistent with the theory of "leap days in five years" in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty".

At the same time, they discovered that the three solar terms of Beginning of Spring, Jingzhe, and Qingming fall around the first day of the first lunar month, the second day of February, and the third day of March every year.

This made the officials of the Qintian Prison vaguely feel that the solar calendar proposed by the emperor really conformed to the ancient system:

"The beginning of spring falls on the first lunar month, the second lunar month for the Awakening of Insects, and the third lunar month for the Qingming Festival. 』

"It turns out that the ancients used this kind of calendar. No wonder the saying "on February 2, the dragon raises its head; on March 3, Xuanyuan is born" has been passed down. 』

Faintly feeling that he had found the calendar of the ancients, Dr. Zhou Changgeng, Qin Tianjian, was very excited and loudly requested the emperor:

"Your Majesty, the solar calendar conforms to the ancient system and this calendar should be adopted."

"From now on, the winter solstice will be November 21st, and the fixed date will remain unchanged."

"Qi starts from the winter solstice and comes back again and again. Starting from the winter solstice, other solar terms are determined."

As a major festival on par with Zhengdan, the importance of the Winter Solstice is self-evident.

The imperial court held congratulatory ceremonies for hundreds of officials on Zhengdan and Winter Solstice every year, which illustrates its status.

Therefore, after Zhou Changgeng saw that the winter solstice fell on the same day every year, he immediately suggested that the emperor adopt a solar calendar to replace the old calendar.

Not all other Qintianjian officials have this view. Because according to this solar calendar, the date of the winter solstice is fixed, but the first day of the first lunar month every year is not always the first day of the new moon——

This kind of thing related to Zhengshuo is a big deal that may cause him to lose his head. They did not dare to persuade the emperor to use the solar calendar and change the first day of the first lunar month. What's more, the current calendar is related to metaphysics such as birth dates and horoscopes, so it cannot be changed lightly, otherwise the entire metaphysical system will have to change.

Even Zhu Youjian, although he wanted to switch to the solar calendar in order to eliminate leap months and save money and food, he did not dare to switch directly to the solar calendar before exempting the Zhengdan greetings and separating the first day of the first lunar month from the new moon.

Seeing that except for Zhou Changgeng, no one else in the Qintian Prison had made a clear statement, Zhu Youjian knew that they also had scruples, so he ordered:
"The solar calendar is temporarily used within the Qintian Prison to determine solar terms and other purposes."

"The solar term time just calculated is used as the calendar time and compared with the actual solar term time."

"If it is not much different from the actual measured solar term time, the solar calendar will be added to the almanac in the future and used together with the original calendar."

I plan to let the solar calendar be improved first and then be released to the outside world.

He did not hesitate to promote supporters of the solar calendar. He looked at Zhou Changgeng and said:
"Zhou Changgeng was promoted from a ninth-grade Doctor of Lukeng to a full ninth-grade Wuguansili Li."

"You are responsible for the solar calendar."

Zhou Changgeng was excited and thanked him. He felt that supporting the solar calendar proposed by the emperor was indeed the right decision.

When the solar calendar is perfected in the future and more support is found from ancient books, it is likely to become the mainstream and replace the current calendar.

He, a ninth-level minister, will naturally be promoted and even become a supervisor when the time comes.

Even, because the emperor lifted the restrictions on being an official in Qintianjian, he might transfer to other yamen in the future and become an official with real power.

This made Zhou Changgeng decide that he would support the emperor in the future, support the solar calendar as the new calendar, and let the court adopt this calendar.

(End of this chapter)