In the back garden of the Great Inner Palace, Ouyang Xiu held his breath and concentrated, and he didn't dare to raise his head, but just kept scanning his surroundings with the corner of his eye. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info his days in the pavilion are still short, this is the first time he has come here, and it is inevitable that he will be a little nervous.

Xu Ping walked first, and saw Zhao Zhen and the two prime ministers and Hanlin scholars Yan Shu and Mei Xun sitting in the pavilion by the pond from a distance, hurriedly quickened their pace, and walked up.

As a courtesy, Zhao Zhen instructed Xiao Huang to give a seat.

Xu Ping pointed at Ouyang Xiu and Yang Weide and said, "Your Majesty, a few days ago, I asked these two people to go to Luoyang Si Tianjian with a pendulum, that is, the two of them discovered that the time of the capital and Luoyang was different. ”

Zhao Zhen looked at the two of them and said to Ouyang Xiu: "You don't need to be restrained, the back garden is not the main hall, here is just our monarchs and ministers chatting, just relax." How different the two places are at the same time, you can tell me about it. ”

Ouyang Xiu hurriedly thanked him, sorted out his thoughts and replied: "Your Majesty, Weichen and Si Tianjian Young Eunuch Yang Weide and the minister Dongtou worship official Shi Quanbin were ordered to escort the new engraving to Luoyang Si Tianjian. When I arrived at the ground, it was the morning, and I didn't expect the two to match the time before placing it with the original carving and proofreading there. In order to avoid accidents, we waited until noon, checked with the original storage table of Si Tianjian, and found that the carving pendulum was indeed fast, about five-ninths of a quarter. ”

Lu Yijian said: "Why do you think that the time is different between the two places, rather than that there is a problem with the pendulum itself?" ”

"At that time, Young Eunuch Yang checked again and again, and the pendulum was intact and there was no problem. Moreover, after returning to the capital, we also went to the Xuande Gate to see, and the engraved pendulum there was completely consistent with the moment of the lotus leakage. ”

Lu Yijian asked Xu Ping again: "Xu is waiting to be made, could it be that one is going fast?" ”

Xu Ping replied, "No." It has been a few days since those two engravings were made, and after a long period of testing, they have never gone fast or slow. It doesn't match the Luoyang time, it should be because the time of the two places is different. ”

"Different places, different moments? Is there such a thing? ”

Lu Yijian said, looked at Wang Zeng, Yan Shu and the others beside him, and felt incredible.

Zhao Zhen also felt strange and said to Xu Ping: "Since ancient times, I haven't heard that places are different, and the time of day will be different. Is there such a thing in the world? It can't be something wrong, right? ”

Xu Ping held the wat: "Your Majesty, this is nothing unusual, it's just that ordinary people don't pay attention to it." Since I was an official when I went abroad, I have been accustomed to being familiar with the local geography and recording the changes of the days and the four seasons. According to my memory, compared with the Central Plains, Yongzhou not only has a long summer and no winter, but also the length of day and night is roughly the same in a year. Unlike here in the capital, the length of the day and the night are short in the summer, and the reverse is the case in the winter, and the length of the day and night there also varies, but it is very small. That's why there will be these differences when the days are different and where they are different. ”

Yan Shu frowned when he heard this: "It's hot in the south, and it's bitter cold in the north, everyone knows it." The hot weather is like the summer here, and the length of the day and night there is not related to the weather? ”

"Bachelor, how can the length of day and night have anything to do with the weather? To the west of Yongzhou, there are many high mountains in the land of barbarians, and I heard that there are places where snow is covered all year round. The length of day and night there is the same as in the hot part of the mountain. When the sun is in the sky, it is day, and day and night are of course related to the sun. ”

"Then why is Luoyang's time later than in Beijing? Could it be that there is another sun there? ”

Hearing Mei ask about this, Xu Ping couldn't wait to sew his mouth shut. There is no other day, how can you lead the topic to this direction indiscriminately? Ask if there is another sun, who dares to pick up this topic!

Xu Ping thought about it again and again, according to the knowledge of his previous life, of course, he could start from the difference between stars and satellites, the earth is just a satellite of the sun, and so on. However, this span is too large, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for others to understand, and those knowledge must be slowly popularized with astronomical observations, otherwise it will be like telling myths and stories.

In the end, Xu Ping decided to use the knowledge of this era to explain: "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, everyone knows it." That is, in one day, the sun travels one lap in the canopy. And the noon time in each place is when the sun is directly above the locality, and only at that time will the shadow be the shortest. The capital is in the east of Luoyang, the sun arrives first, and the time is naturally earlier than Luoyang, which is the principle of nature and is not bizarre. ”

Because of the movement of the sun, the noon time varies from place to place, so it seems to make sense to say that there is a difference in time. Motion is inherently relative, thinking that if the earth does not move, the sun will naturally move.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while, and said to Lu Yijian beside him: "In this way, it seems to make sense. But is it really because the sun passes through the canopy that the time is different everywhere? In other words, the time of Luoyang is slightly later than that of the capital, so the place in the east is not even earlier than the time of the capital? ”

Lu Yijian said: "What Xu Beizhi said seems to be reasonable, whether it is right or not, you will know if you try it." Anyway, there are still a lot of carved pendulums, so let people take them, go to the east and west, and take a walk in Texas County. ”

Mei Xun suddenly said: "If this is the case, then if someone runs fast on the ground, won't they be able to catch up with the sun?" Running westward, can it always be daylight? It seems ridiculous to think about it! ”

Xu Ping said: "What is ridiculous? It's just that people can't catch up with the sun, and if they do, it's normal to be daytime all the time. The ancients said that the universe is like a chicken, and if people are in the middle, the earth under our feet may be like the center of the chicken, which is a round ball. Run all the way forward, and one day you will return to the same place, and the day will always be the day. ”

The Chinese view of the universe is quite confusing, there are all kinds of theories, and there are no official rules on how to say it. As long as what you say makes sense, someone will believe you. Moreover, Song Ru no longer believes in the Mandate of Heaven, and is much more enlightened than his predecessors in this knowledge, so he can think wildly.

Listening to Xu Ping's words, everyone couldn't help laughing.

Zhao Zhen said: "Heaven and earth are like chickens, the ancients really had this kind of saying." Although it sounds a bit nonsense, but the world is so big, who can say death in one sentence? It's better to use two more carved pendulums, one to the east to Qingzhou, and one to the west to Jingzhaofu, to see if the time is different in various places. If it is different, how much is the difference with the capital. ”

Lu Yijian praised the wat and said: "What Your Majesty said is right, and this matter is feasible." The so-called sitting and talking about the Tao, it is better to really go on a thousand miles, and the results are clear at a glance. Otherwise, if we talk about it for a few more days, we still can't tell. ”

Looking at Ouyang Xiu and Yang Weide, who were standing on the side, Zhao Zhen said: "This matter will be handed over to you, and when I go back to Luoyang and settle down at that moment, I will bring two more sets and go east and west respectively to see how it goes." ”

Ouyang Xiu and Yang Weide took the order.

Zhao Zhen asked again: "How to deal with the pendulum of the Luoyang Division Heavenly Prison?" Do you want to make the moment the same as the moment there, or do you not make it? ”

"Naturally, you have to tune it, otherwise it will be too troublesome to compare every day. However, how many moments are missing, you must remember clearly and accurately before adjusting. Later, it was determined that the time of each place was different, and it was necessary to know how much difference between each place and the capital was, just like the four solstice on the map. ”

Wang Zeng had not spoken, and then suddenly asked: "The time is different in different places, so where should the world prevail?" ”

Xu Ping said: "Naturally, it's the capital!" Where the Son of Heaven lives, in the midst of the world! ”

"Why not Luoyang? There is the place in the world, the place where the ancestor dragon was born! ”

Ouyang Xiu, who was a little uncomfortable, suddenly came to his senses when he heard this, and said: "The lower officials think that what Wang Xianggong said is reasonable, Luoyang is the middle of the world!" This matter has long been written in the books. And not only geography, but even the accent of speech is based on Luoyang. This dynasty rhyme book has always been based on the Luoyang accent, why is it not like this at all times? ”

Xu Ping looked at the people present, and at this time, their expressions became serious. This is not the same as discussing the time difference between different places, it is a purely academic issue, and an academic question is not valuable. The timing of the matter is a political issue, and there is no room for sloppiness in political issues.

Kaifeng's status is rising year by year, and the gap with Luoyang is getting bigger and bigger, but there are still some people who want to move the capital to Luoyang. In their eyes, Kaifeng City does not have the same heavy history as the thousand-year-old capital of Luoyang, and it is surrounded by plains, there is no danger to defend, and it is not as good as Luoyang's eight passes, and it can be garrisoned by passes. Kaifeng is stronger than Luoyang, and the most important thing is that the river transportation is developed, and it is convenient for Jianghuai grain and rice to be transported here.

At this time, most of the etiquette in the imperial court was still based on Luoyang, and Kaifeng was not the capital of course. It's just the capital, but it's the first place in the capital, and it's not the only one.

Xu Ping had no position on this topic, and in his previous life, he had long been accustomed to stripping away the sacred meaning of the capital, and everything was given priority to practicality. In the world, it only exists in the concept, and there is no scientific significance. At this time, the world's economic center of gravity is in the east and south, from the perspective of convenient management, of course, Kaifeng is stronger than Luoyang. Of course, militarily, Luoyang does have an advantage over Kaifeng, there are eight passes to defend, and the Luoyang Plain itself can support a lot of people.

Seeing that a simple scientific question was about to turn to a political topic, Zhao Zhen hurriedly said: "This matter will be discussed later, whether the time is different in different places now, and how much worse it is still inconclusive, let's determine where to prevail after figuring it out." ”

After speaking, he instructed Ouyang Xiu and Yang Weide to leave the palace first, return to Luoyang on a fast horse, and arrange the carving in Luoyang Si Tianjian according to the original instructions. After that, he returned to the capital and received the order again, preparing to take the pendulum to various places for actual measurement.

When the figures of the two disappeared among the flowers and trees, Zhao Zhen said: "Let's go here first for the topic of carving, and take advantage of the free time today to talk about the cotton cloth a few days ago." (To be continued.) )