Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 114: The Best of the Best (4)

The Tiger Wing Army assesses those who come to join the army on the first and fifteenth day of every Lunar New Year.There are still a few days to spare, Zhao Xingde and Li Ruoxue went to the scholar's mansion to visit Li Rui.

The Bachelor's Mansion is also outside Dunhuang City, located under the cliff at the east foot of Mingsha Mountain, next to the Crescent Moon Spring, and dozens of well-arranged pavilions are hidden in the woods.Adjacent to the scholar's mansion, there is a barracks of the Tiger Wing Army.There is also a private residence of a bachelor at the foot of Mingsha Mountain.It's about the size of a small town.

A huge viewing platform was built on the top of Mingsha Mountain. As the sun was setting, when Zhao Xingde and Li Ruoxue climbed up Mingsha Mountain and appeared behind Li Rui, his eyes were still on the sky-viewing mirror. Zhao Xingde walked over and patted him. shoulders.

Li Rui's expression turned around without hesitation, and turned into surprise in an instant. "Yuanzhi, you're here too." Seeing Li Ruoxue behind Zhao Xingde again, she bowed her hands and said narrowly, "Mrs. Zhao." It can be seen that Li Rui was in a good mood during this time in Dunhuang.

Li Ruoxue returned the gift with a flushed face, and looked curiously at the huge sky-viewing mirror behind Li Rui.

"Are you observing the sun?" Zhao Xingde asked because it was evening.

"Exactly, Yuan Zhi, you don't know," Li Rui said with an excited expression on his face, "there are many black spots on the surface of the sun, flickering and ever-changing." Li Rui pointed to a stack of white paper on the table, Here's the sunspot record he's sketching today.With his self-taught astronomical foundation and comprehension, Li Rui passed the assessment of the Tianji Academy of the Bachelor's Office, worshiped under Zhou Jipu, a scholar of the Tianji Academy, and had a brother named Huang Shang.Because Zhou Jipu spent years observing the stars, the sun, the moon, and calculating the changes in astronomical orbits, he used his eyes too much. Now he is almost blind.

"It's more interesting at night." Seeing Li Ruoxue also approaching the sky-viewing mirror, Li Rui proudly said: "There are uninhabited hills on the surface of the moon. The halos and stripes on the surface of the Sui Xing. Taibai Venus waxes and wanes like the moon. Star morning Zhou Tian moves." He sighed, "There is nothing more interesting in the world than watching the sky." Since entering the Tianji Academy, except for assisting his mentor Zhou Jipu to deduce the sky, Li Rui has almost always spent time next to the sky watching mirror.He declined the mansion that the scholar's mansion had arranged for him alone, and chose to live in a cave in Mingsha Mountain closest to the Guantiantai.

Zhao Xingde also leaned in front of the sky mirror and looked at it. The objective lens in front had been covered by the filter used by the mechanism, and black spots could be seen looming on the surface of the sun. "Such a huge telescope with such a clear lens must have cost a lot of money." Zhao Xingde murmured secretly, "Why does Xia Guo spend so much money on it?"

"Why is the court of the Xia Kingdom so interested in astronomy?" Zhao Xingde was puzzled and asked unconsciously.

Li Rui was taken aback for a moment, he just loved studying astronomy very much, and almost never considered its usefulness to the court.

After a while, Li Rui hesitated and said: "Perhaps it is to fight against the barbarian tribes in Mobei. The Gobi in Mobei is vast and boundless. No matter how the terrain changes, the stars always move steadily. The Ordnance Department specially made a sky viewing positioning Instrument. The military intelligence department uses this instrument to observe the celestial phenomena, and it can accurately describe the graphics of mountains, rivers and rivers in the enemy's territory. Except for the reduced size, it is not bad at all. As long as the conquest army uses this instrument to observe the celestial phenomena, even if it has never been there place, you can know where you are on the map, so you don’t get lost.”

When I came to the simple cave where Li Rui lived, I saw beds, charcoal stoves, simple clothes, books, abacus, and manuscript paper with dense numbers written on it. Fortunately, the toilet was in another place. The cave, this cave is not too smelly.

Zhao Xingde couldn't help being moved, and sighed: "Dong Yan, in terms of self-cultivation, I think you are better than Yan Hui. A basket of food, a ladle of drink, in a back alley. People can't bear their worries, and they will not change their joy when they return."

Li Rui smiled and said: "Do you think this place is simple? Let me tell you, I will not change the house of Grand Master Cai in Bianjing just to get close to this priceless sky-gazing mirror." He was full of satisfaction. With a look on his face, he sighed: "If I live here for a long time, let me watch the sky every day and calculate the secrets of the sky, I will have no regrets in this life." After speaking, he turned around and took out some dried meat, preserved fruit and so on to entertain guests. Seeing him enjoying it, Zhao Xingde He smiled and said nothing.

I had a simple dinner in Li Rui's cave. After the meal, a servant hired by the scholar's mansion delivered fresh fruits and vegetables in a winch basket. Li Rui gave him a shopping list, and the servant cleaned the cave by himself, removing the garbage When Yun went down the mountain, Li Rui took Zhao Xingde and his wife to watch the sky.

The night air in Mingsha Mountain is exceptionally fresh.The stars and the moon on the blue sky seem to be within reach.Li Rui pulled a metal connecting rod attached to the sky-viewing mirror to remove the filter covering the objective lens, and then pointed the sky-viewing mirror at the bright moon in person. After adjusting the focus, he spoke with style. Li Ruoxue please read it first.

"I saw some circle-shaped hills," Li Ruoxue murmured, "Guanghan Palace, where is the Chang'e Jade Rabbit?" She raised her head and said in a confused way: "I still can't see clearly." Seeing Li Rui's disappointed expression, Zhao Xingde almost burst out laughing.Li Rui pointed the sky mirror at Taibai Venus and adjusted the focus, and then let Li Ruoxue watch it. Li Ruoxue was pleasantly surprised: "Oh, why is there a piece of Taibai Venus missing? Is it the same as the moon?"

Zhao Xingde smiled and said nothing, Li Rui then explained with joy on his face, "That's right, the profit and loss of Venus is because it revolves around the sun. The size of Taibai is also constantly changing. This is caused by the change in the distance between Taibai Venus and the earth where we live." He said while using a pencil to draw a schematic diagram of six planets revolving around the sun on white paper, and also specially drew the moon revolving around the earth.Pointing to the picture with one hand and the starry sky in the sky with the other, he explained to Li Ruoxue why Venus has the same profit and loss as the moon.

"Because the five planets Taibai, Suixing, Chenxing, Yinghuo, and Zhenxing are flying non-stop, only because the sun is faintly pulling at the center, they will not fly out, and can only revolve around the sun. Also because They are flying non-stop, so as not to be involved by the sun. In the dual-purpose, the cycle goes back and forth, which is the way of the stars." Li Rui sighed: "The magic of good fortune is breathtaking."

"Sure enough." Li Ruoxue sighed, looked at the sun and planet map drawn by Li Rui, and said in confusion, "Huainanzi said, wearing a round shoe and carrying a watch with a rope. People often think that the sky is round and the place is round." , is this earth really a sphere?"

Zhao Xingde's eyes fell on a thick stack of manuscript paper next to it, densely packed data recorded detailed astronomical data for an unknown number of years, and on the other sheet stood a calculation formula, which seemed to be the cube of the semi-major axes of the ellipses of the major planets. Divided by the planet's orbital period, each planet ends up with a constant value.

This was the eve of the great discovery. Until the time of descending the mountain, with the night wind blowing through his body, Zhao Xingde still felt bursts of scorching heat emanating from his heart.

After that, for two or three consecutive days, Li Ruoxue took Zhao Xingde to watch the celestial phenomena, and she was always amazed.Until the day when the Tiger Wing Army recruited sergeants, Zhao Xingde left the post early in the morning and just arrived at the school ground where the Tiger Wing Army was stationed. There were already more than 500 people standing in the field.

Passing the field where Mo Dao Shou was selected, Zhao Xingde saw more than 30 men lined up in a row, their iron tower-like bodies wrapped in more than 50 kilograms of armor, holding a heavy iron rod more than ten feet long in both hands, swinging it up and down, each hitting a piece continuously A log suspended by a rope, the log is extremely thick, and the impact of swinging back and forth is extremely violent, one after another people retreated due to exhaustion, until there were only a dozen or so people left, which seemed to have reached the standard. Taken aside by the invigilating officers, they were asked to catch each other and fight each other with wooden knives. Each person's vitals were tied with pig and sheep bladders filled with red slurry under the armor. If it is heavy, the red slurry will flow out, and it will be regarded as being killed and eliminated.

Zhao Xingde tiptoed to look for Yu Boyan's figure, but he couldn't find it.Suddenly someone nearby called out: "Are you also here to participate in the selection?" The person looked around a few times, and whispered: "The competition is fierce. What's your name? What kind of weapon can you use?"

Zhao Xingde smiled and nodded, bowed his hands in salute: "I'm Zhao De, 'shooting' skills are not bad." He said politely: "Brother is outstanding, he will definitely stand out."

The man also cupped his hands and returned the salute: "I, Jiancheng, are also here to recruit archers." He sighed, "There are so many masters, there is no chance of winning."