Chapter 604 0599 [Astronomy Society]

Zhang family.

The servant quickly ran into the study and panted: "Mr. Lang, the craftsmen who are polishing glasses in the city already have errands to do. I heard that the Prime Minister of the current dynasty wants to polish crystals, and they are willing to do it for us first. Work, but I have to finish polishing the lenses under my eyes before starting work.”

"Where is the craftsman who polished the bronze mirror?" Zhang Yan asked.

The servant replied: "They are all busy."

Zhang Yan lamented: "There are so many people in the city grinding lenses, so we can only wait slowly."

Fan Jun put down the "Tao Yongce" in his hand and couldn't help but ask: "Are so many people studying optics in physics?"

Zhang Xuan explained: "I am not studying optics, but I want to use an astronomical telescope to see the moon."

"Look at the moon?" Fan Jun didn't understand.

Zhang Yan said: "The official today said that the sun is in the middle, and the earth and five stars revolve around the sun. There is also an astronomical telescope that can see the true face of the moon and five stars."

"Is this happening?"

Fan Jun's first reaction was not to question, but to become excited.

He had no interest in becoming an official through the imperial examination and had liked studying messy things since he was a child.

Zhang Xuan said: "In the past two months, officials have been allowed to go to the Astronomical Academy and use astronomical telescopes for observation. They lined up according to official grades. Almost all the officials of the imperial court have gone. Then scholars were allowed to go to see it. Many scholars have already seen it. After returning home, they all wanted to build their own telescopes.”

"Doesn't the imperial court prohibit this?" Fan Jun asked.

Zhang Xuan said: "Not only did the officials not ban it, they also announced the method of making the astronomical telescope. Many officials opposed making it public, thinking it would undermine the dignity of the emperor and the court, but the officials made it public despite all objections."

Fan Jun exclaimed: "Guan Jia is truly a saint in this world!"

"You think you are a saint by doing this, but many officials are going crazy." Zhang Yan smiled bitterly.

Fan Jun asked: "Who made the astronomical telescope?"

Zhang Yan said: "Li Xiang (Li Bangyan) was the quickest to start. He invited several craftsmen home and polished many lenses day and night. I heard that he had successfully built a telescope. Now those who want to see the moon, Either queue up at the Astronomical Academy or go to Li Xiang's house. Li Xiang no longer goes to Fanlou. He holds a banquet every night to entertain guests. After having a good time, he invites the guests to watch the moon together. "

"We might as well go too!" Fan Jun said excitedly.

Zhang Yan shook his head: "I am the son of the Prime Minister. Even if I want to watch the moon, I have to queue up at the Astronomical Academy. How can I go to Li Bangyan's house?"

Fan Jun asked: "Is it easy to enter the Astronomy Institute?"

Zhang Yan said: "The Astronomical Academy thinks that there are too many people and it is too noisy, which affects their observation of astronomical phenomena. Now only five people are allowed to visit every night. Of course, my father is the Prime Minister, so I don't have to queue up."

That night, Fan Jun dragged Zhang Yan to the Astronomical Academy to watch the moon, and at the same time asked for advice on heliocentric theory.

I went there for several nights and became familiar with the astronomical officials, recording hundreds of pages of content.

During this period, Fan Tower took the lead in launching moon viewing services and placed astronomical telescopes on the corridor. VIP customers who spend money on the top two floors can use astronomical telescopes for free. Unfortunately, it was a scrapped lens bought from Li Bangyan. The observation effect was extremely poor, and the moon could not be seen clearly.

Fan Jun studied continuously for half a month, and the day and night were reversed, and his mind was completely confused.

He slept until noon that day and decided to go out to relax and enjoy the Tokyo street scene along the way. Unknowingly, he came near Li Bangyan's mansion.

As a cabinet minister, Li Bangyan usually lived in the official residence next to the imperial city. But his previous residence was not taken back, and all the banquets were held in the old residence. It had no other meaning. It was just that the old residence had a larger area.

Fan Jun saw a lot of people queuing up and couldn't help but stroll over, but he was there to queue up to hand over a medal.

There were not only scholars, but also servants sent by officials.

Standing next to a young man dressed as a scholar, Fan Jun said: "I am a scholar from Zhejiang. Will you all come to Xiang Li's home to watch the moon?"

The scholar said: "It's not just about watching the moon, but also discussing astronomy. With official support and the court no longer prohibiting it, astronomy will definitely be a prominent place in the future."

Fan Jun studied for half a month and wanted to discuss it with someone, so he rushed to queue up.

After queuing for twenty minutes, we finally arrived at the side entrance.

Someone was responsible for the registration and asked: "Whose last name is that, where is your place of origin, and is there anyone in the family who is an official?"

Fan Jun replied: "Fan Jun of Lanxi, twelve of his father's uncles are officials, seven of his brothers are officials, and there are countless brothers from the clan who are officials."

The registrant was in awe: "But after the former Changshe County Duke?"

Fan Jun said: "The Duke of Changshe is our grandfather."

"Please come to the party tonight!" The registrant respectfully handed over an invitation.

Fan Jun took the invitation and left, and others looked at him with envy.

Those who line up here to submit their cards may not necessarily have the chance to be invited. Many of them leave their addresses first, then go home and wait for the news.

Towards evening, Fan Jun arrived again.

After submitting the invitation, he was taken into the house by the servant.

Most of the guests were low-level officials in the capital, or descendants of officials' families, and there were also some Jinshi who stayed in Beijing to observe politics.

There are very few ordinary scholars.

Why did Li Bangyan dare to entertain officials every night without fear of being impeached and forming a party?

This guy is taking pictures of the emperor’s horses!

He knew that he had no other ability but to engage in crooked ways, and the emperor happened to be promoting astronomy.

After some innuendos when he entered the palace, he understood the emperor's intentions, so he kept holding banquets and astronomical gatherings.

Of course, since there are too many guests, we still have to pay attention to the impact.

Li Bangyan didn't dare to invite officials who were qualified to sit in the court, and only dared to receive their descendants.

The guests sat at different tables, and Fan Jun was arranged in the middle front position.

But Li Bangyan came out in casual clothes, and after sitting down, he said: "The current emperor is a scholar of heaven and man, and created the theory of heliocentrism, which is catching up with the three generations of holy kings. Today's banquet is not for anything else, but just to invite you to discuss astronomy. In the past, astronomy was a forbidden subject, but now it is the emperor's study. You don't have to worry about anything, and you can speak freely if you have any ideas."

Li Bangyan pulled his clothes to scratch his itch, revealing the tattoo under his neck, and said with a smile: "I will have someone record the wonderful speech and present it to the emperor after sorting it out. So, what you say may be seen by the emperor."

When these words came out, everyone was excited and wanted to perform well.

"Pa pa!"

Li Bangyan clapped his hands, the band began to play music, and several male and female actors entered the stage, but they first watched the drama created by Li Bangyan.

This guy is a dog that can't change its nature. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he not only insists on writing scripts, but also fills them with a lot of dirty jokes.

When the drama is happy, all kinds of dirty jokes make the guests who are drinking laugh.

Fan Jun doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. This is the first time he has experienced the vulgar taste of Li Xianggong.

After eating and drinking, the actors leave the stage.

Li Bangyan holds a lantern and says, "Gentlemen, follow me to watch the moon."

Most of the guests have not seen the moon with a telescope yet, and they follow Li Bangyan to the courtyard with great interest.

Soon the scene became more lively, and some guests even cried out in regret: "Alas, Guanghan Palace is gone, where can we find the fairy Chang'e?"

"Why are there so many big holes on the moon?"

"It must be that in ancient times, there were immortals fighting on the moon, and those big holes were made by magic!"

"The moon is visible, so can we use an astronomical telescope to see the sun?"

"Haha, someone has seen the sun, and was almost blinded by the strong light."

"..."

Gradually, someone finally discussed the planets in the solar system.

Fan Jun listened for a while and felt disappointed, because it was all superficial, far less than what he learned from the Astronomical Institute.

Suddenly someone said: "There is a poetry club, why don't we also form an astronomy club?"

"That's a good idea!" Someone responded immediately.

Li Bangyan's eyes lit up when he heard it. He had been in the cabinet for more than a year, and his presence in the cabinet was getting less and less.

Sometimes he even had difficulty handling official business and had to rely on Zhongshu Sheren for help.

Many of the officials he had won over and promoted before had changed their allegiance. If this continued, they would be completely marginalized.

The emperor's promotion of astronomy was a great opportunity.

He had to follow the emperor's footsteps closely and make Tokyo's folk astronomy flourish.

Well, he couldn't personally participate in this matter, lest he be impeached for forming a party.

He only needed to guide from the side, give some help secretly, and then report the situation to the emperor, so that he could gain the emperor's appreciation.

"Ahem!"

Li Bangyan coughed twice and said with a smile: "You are keen on astronomy and want to form a society, that's great. But you must remember one thing, don't say anything slanderous about the emperor. I suggest that you discuss and study astronomy in your daily life and write down the results. Just like the poetry society does poetry anthology, you can also make an astronomy collection. Make one collection every six months... Half a year is too long, make one collection every three months, and I will help you submit it to His Majesty for review."

With the support of cabinet ministers and the emperor's article, everyone present was immediately excited.

"Brother Maoming, do you want to join the club?" someone asked. This was a friend Fan Jun had just met, Tang Songnian, this year's third-class Jinshi.

Fan Jun thought about it, nodded and said, "Okay."

After that, Fan Jun went to Li Bangyan again, introduced himself and suggested, "Prime Minister Li, many of you don't understand astronomy, let alone the official heliocentric theory. For the founding collection of the Astronomy Club, why not ask the Astronomical Institute to write some of the most basic articles so that members can study and understand them seriously."

"This is a good idea!" Li Bangyan agreed immediately.

Of course, he wanted to please the emperor. If the first issue of the Astronomy Club's journal published all basic theories, it would be equivalent to popularizing the emperor's knowledge to the public.

The emperor would definitely be very happy!

(Alas, even though I have opened a separate chapter, many brothers still don’t understand.)

(The twelve constellations in China were originally divided along the equator, and only began to be divided along the ecliptic in the Tang Dynasty. Although the celestial sphere is divided into twelve equal parts, one celestial sphere is set to 365.25 degrees. The twelve zodiac constellations from the West are roughly set to 360 degrees. These are completely two different systems.)

(The calendar was formulated in the late Ming Dynasty, and the two were mixed up for the convenience of calculation.)

(These two systems represent different astronomical systems in the East and the West. Concept. Saying that the zodiac was invented by China not only fails to add luster to ancient Chinese astronomy, but instead digs up the roots of ancient Chinese astronomy. )

(The bad consequences began to appear in the late Ming Dynasty. Now many so-called Feng Shui and astrology masters rely on the 28 zodiac mansions mixed with the West and the precession to deduce. They follow the path of 360 degrees of the celestial sphere. This is different from the Chinese astronomical Feng Shui before the late Ming Dynasty, which used the 28 equatorial mansions and followed the path of 365.25 degrees of the celestial sphere.)