After listening to the speeches of Li Tianjing, Li Biao, Lai Zongdao, Wu Chunfu, Qian Qianyi, and Yang Jingchen in turn, Zhu Youzhen took a sharpened pencil from Wang Chengen, who was on the side, and smeared it on the list.

Li Tianjing was naturally the first to be circled, and after Li Tianjing entered the cabinet, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu was naturally excluded from coming to the sect.

Wu Chunfu has always obeyed his orders, and the Ministry of Industry is the department he is planning to elevate, so he circled the Ministry of Industry for the second time.

After deciding on the two candidates for the cabinet, Zhu Youzhen did not announce his decision, but took a pencil and tapped Qian Qianyi's name on it.

Zhu Youzhen suddenly realized that it was necessary to have a Donglin party member in the cabinet, so that these Donglin party members would not think that they were excluded from the center and start to boycott the cabinet resolution.

He suddenly raised his head at Huang Liji and asked, "If you make up for two people, after making up seven people, will all the cabinet ministers now have their own duties?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Huang Liji said with certainty.

"So what if there is an exception, for example, a certain minister is unable to see things? Or if the cabinet needs to send a person to the local area to inspect the area, how should the work in his hands be arranged? Zhu Youzhen quickly asked.

Huang Liji suddenly opened his mouth a little, he had never thought about this problem. After a while, he said hesitantly: "Maybe you can find a few people to share his work, maybe you can wait for him to come back and deal with it, it shouldn't be so important." ”

"I'm afraid it won't work, right? Previously, the powers of the cabinet were not clear, so even if there was a shortage of people, he could be divided among others. But in the future, each cabinet minister will have his own work to be responsible for, let others share his work, who will be responsible if something goes wrong? Zhu Youzhen said unwillingly.

Huang Liji seemed to hear the meaning of Chongzhen's words, and he immediately followed Chongzhen's meaning and said: "Forgive the ministers for being stupid, and ask Your Majesty to make it clear." ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately smiled and said: "Maybe we should add another cabinet minister, who can take over from others in times of emergency, and usually handle some special affairs as a cabinet minister who is not in charge of specific affairs." ”

"What is a special business?" Huang Li asked curiously.

Zhu Youzhen, who was talking eloquently, suddenly froze, he paused and said: "Special affairs are, you will know what special affairs are when the time comes." But now, I have decided to add an inactive minister to the cabinet.

I have already decided on the candidates, Li Tianjing will be appointed Minister of Education, Qian Qianyi will be appointed Minister of Appointment, and as for the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Agriculture, and Transportation and Construction, Mr. Huang will preside over the adjustment and then report to me.

I just want to say here that when the government is opened after the holiday, each minister must submit an annual plan for the department he is responsible for. When the time comes, I will discuss with the cabinet what the Imperial Court will do in the next year. ”

Huang Liji was a little at a loss, what the imperial court was going to do, did this still have to be discussed. Isn't it clear what the imperial court wants to do since ancient times?

But before he could figure it out, Zhu Youzhen had already gotten up and said, "Since the candidate has been decided, let's stop here today, I still have some things to do next." ”

Immediately, all the officials watched, and after Xu Guangqi and Li Tianjing talked with Chongzhen for a few words, they left with the emperor together.

Exit from Bei'an Gate and walk north along the avenue to the end, there is the towering drum tower. Seeing that the carriage stopped here, Zhu Youzhen poked his head out of the carriage, and asked the priests such as Jinnige who were standing under the carriage waiting a little strangely, "Didn't you say that the bell tower behind the big pendulum?" ”

Jinnige shrugged and said, "Your Majesty, you know that we have not been in Beijing for a long time, and the city is so big that some buildings are not clear at all.

In fact, this is the bell tower I am talking about, and after the real bell tower behind it burned down, the bell of the bell tower was moved here. That's why it's also called the Bell and Drum Tower. ”

"Okay, let's go and see this pendulum together." Zhu Youzhen got out of the carriage and said with interest.

After entering the drum tower, a large round table made of wood appeared in front of everyone.

Deng Yuhan proudly introduced: "This large sand table has a diameter of 17 feet, a pendulum of 44 catties, and the rope is made of iron wire mixed with jute, which is 135 zhang long. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at everything in front of him and couldn't help but admire: "It seems that you have put a lot of thought into it, it must not be easy to complete such a long and strong rope." ”

Deng Yuhan shook his head and said: "Although it is a little troublesome to make ropes, there are enough manpower, and this problem is not difficult to solve." The most troublesome thing is the rope suspension point at the top.

The place where the cycloid is hung must allow the cycloid to move in any direction without too much friction. It took us and the craftsmen sent by His Majesty a week to solve this problem.

Here I have to mention to Your Majesty that a young man named Xu Anchen among His Majesty's craftsmen has been of great help to us. Personally, I think that a smart person like him should not be buried in labor, but should go to school. ”

Zhu Youzhen turned his head to Xu Guangqi and asked, "Who is Xu Anchen?" ”

When Xu Guangqi was trying to remember the name, Wang Zheng beside him couldn't help but remind: "Xu Anchen is the blacksmith who made the suspension device. ”

After Zhu Youzhen finished listening to the story about Xu Anchen, he immediately nodded and said, "Then let him enter Yenching University to study." ”

"Your Majesty, he is just a craftsman, and he has never even been enlightened. Let him go to college, which will call into question the reputation of Yenching University. Li Zhizao immediately objected.

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the silent officials around him, and said gently: "What makes the reputation of Yenching University questionable is not what kind of students she accepts, but what talents she has cultivated.

Okay, I've made up my mind about this. Now let's witness whether this great experiment can tell us whether the earth we are standing on is rotating. ”

Xu Guangqi ordered someone to hook the pendulum to the side, and then said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, are you willing to start this experiment yourself?" ”

Xu Guangqi's words made Zhu Youzhen stunned, it was the first time he had seen this great scientist willing to meet him.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't suppress his excitement and said, "Of course, I'm honored to be able to open it in person." ”

Zhu Youzhen held the pendulum with both hands, took a deep breath, and then let go of his hand. The pendulum swung lightly towards the opposite side, the tip of the pendulum leaving a delicate mark on the fine sand.

Each back and forth swing of the pendulum is not on the same notch, and the spacing of each notch is small, but it can be seen that there is a significant offset.

Although everyone standing around the sand table could clearly feel that the sand table was turning clockwise, no one wanted to say anything at this moment.

According to the design concept of this experiment, if the pendulum does not change direction, then the sand table below must be moving.

And everyone knows that the sand table is fixed to the ground, and it is difficult for even four or five big men to move, which undoubtedly proves that the ground under their feet is indeed moving.

Although Father Jinnige, Deng Yuhan and other priests knew that the purpose of this experiment was to prove that the earth under their feet was a large ball that could rotate.

But when they realized that they had really done it, except for Deng Yuhan, the other priests were all pale and crossed with pale faces.

In their eyes, the constant carving of traces on the sand table, forming a delicately patterned Foucault pendulum, is like a devil manipulating it with his hands.

Compared with these Western missionaries who are good at Ye Gonglong, the eyes of Chinese such as Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao are full of fascination. Presumably, at this moment, there is no beautiful scenery that can compare to the sand table in front of them.

Zhu Youzhen and the others watched for an hour, and the pendulum turned about 20 degrees on the sand table. Deng Yuhan's eyes lit up, and he kept calculating in his heart, he had forgotten the fear of God at this moment.

"If it can keep swinging like this, it can go around in about 36 to 38 hours."

Seeing Deng Yuhan's excited appearance, Jinnige, whose face was a little pale, couldn't help but whisper to him: "Brother Deng Yuhan, please pay attention to your behavior, we should be in awe of the miracle that God has sent down. ”

After hearing Jinnige's reminder, Deng Yuhan turned around and looked behind him, and found that Long Huamin was muttering in a low voice: "... The temptation of the devil, this is heresy. ”

Deng Yuhan suddenly interrupted him expressionlessly and said, "This is a miracle of the Lord, not some temptation of the devil. Do you want His Majesty the Emperor to think that we are a bunch of hypocrites? ”

Long Huamin's sloppy eyes finally returned to normal, and he whispered to Deng Yuhan: "We came to the East to guide these heretics to the right path, not to let them indulge in this kind of devilish tricks.

If the Holy See had known that we had proved the rotation of the earth for the Ming Emperor, we would have been burned at the stake by the Inquisition. ”

Listening to Long Huamin's words, Jinnige was a little hesitant, he came to the East to spread the gospel of God, not to prove that the Bible is wrong.

Deng Yuhan looked at the panicked expressions of the other priests, and suddenly said coldly: "Brother Long Huamin, you voluntarily participated in this experiment, and everyone here is, do you want to regret it now?" ”

Long Huamin suddenly said in shock: "I am willing to participate in this experiment because I have a devout belief in God and believe that it is impossible for the earth to turn, and I want to prove it in front of this pagan emperor, but it is clear that the devil has deceived God's mercy. ”

Several other priests also hesitated to praise at the same time, Deng Yuhan suddenly said: "Don't be stupid, this is a miracle of God, and this is also a great opportunity for us to spread the gospel of the Lord to His Majesty the Emperor, do you want to debunk it yourself?" ”

Jinnige's face suddenly looked a little better and said: "Yes, we have done this experiment in order to spread the gospel of God, and I believe that God will forgive us." As long as everyone is tight-lipped, the Inquisition will not be able to take care of the far East. ”

Long Huamin's face was a little ugly and said: "But the Bible says that the earth is eternal and unmoving, how should we explain it to His Majesty the Emperor?" ”

When the priests were silent, Deng Yuhan suddenly coughed and said, "Your Majesty can't read Latin, we can do some grammatical modifications when translating into Chinese." ”

Luo Yagu immediately said cautiously: "When we revise the Bible when translating, the Inquisition will not let us go." ”

Deng Yuhan replied wittily: "Without us translating back to Latin, the Inquisition would not be able to read Chinese." We should issue an order that students should not be allowed to read the Latin Bible privately, and that no one should be allowed to return to Europe with the Chinese version of the Bible. ”

After exchanging glances, the priests said in unison, "This is really the best of both worlds." ”