There is a strange aroma in Zhang E's study. I can't tell what it is. It's a mixed aroma. Zhang E likes the new and dislikes the old. He also changes the incense in the room frequently. Yesterday, it was chicken tongue, today it is Jianan, and tomorrow it may be replaced by sandalwood.
, although Zhang E is extravagant, he is far less tasteful than Zhang Dai. He only knows how to seek novelty, wonder and expensiveness——
Zhang Yuan's nose twitched, he adjusted his blindfold and asked: "Third brother, do you have anything new that you can let me see, no, let me touch?"
Hearing the sound of the cabinet being moved and opened, Zhang E said proudly: "I got two new treasures. If you know what they are, I will obey you." He took out an object and walked over to the torreya chessboard in front of Zhang Yuan.
Above: "If you touch it and guess what it is for, I will give it to you."
Zhang Yuan reached over and gently pressed the object. After groping for a while, he suddenly laughed. The thing he touched was cold, thin and round, divided into two pieces, connected by silk in the middle——
"Why are you laughing?" Zhang E said: "Don't underestimate this thing, it is extremely magical and cannot be sold in the market."
Zhang Yuan gently stroked the thin, round thing and said, "I know what this thing is used for, but I don't know what its name is here."
Zhang E said: "There are many names for this thing. Some call it this or that. Anyway, it is a novel thing. It has never been seen before. Anyone can give it a name. As long as you tell me what it is used for, I will obey you. This thing
I’ll give it to you. You know, I spent five taels of silver to buy it. Let me tell you, Shaoxing Prefecture doesn’t have to buy it.”
Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "Third brother, this is exactly what I want. Thank you very much."
"You tell me, tell me what it's for, and I'll give it to you." Zhang E said loudly. He didn't believe that Zhang Yuan had seen this thing before. Even he had only seen it the day before yesterday.
Zhang Yuan wrapped the silk ribbon of the object around his left index finger and said: "I call these glasses. They are worn on the eyes, just like the eyepatch I am wearing now. Of course, they are transparent. Reading too much
, you can’t see clearly if you put it on, right? - Third brother, why don’t you say anything?”
Zhang E rolled his eyes and shouted: "Zhang Jiezi, how come you even know this? This is what you have seen in your dream? How long have you been dreaming? How come you have seen everything? It's really weird!"
Zhang Yuan thought to himself: "It's not good to think about everything in the past life or in dreams." Then he laughed and said: "Three brothers have made some mistakes when they have studied all kinds of things. This kind of glasses was used in Suzhou a few years ago."
Yes, my sister Guining told me about it at the beginning of the year. There are people in Songjiang Prefecture who wear these glasses, so I can tell by touching them."
Suzhou is a place where all the wonderful skills and rare things from the north and south of the Yangtze River gather together, and as far as Zhang Yuan knows, glasses seem to have been around in the middle of Wanli period, so the theory that Suzhou has them is completely defensible.
Zhang E scolded: "Then I was deceived. The profiteer who sold it to me said that this thing is from the West——"
Zhang E shut up in time and changed his words: "Hearing what you said, these glasses are no longer worth five taels of silver. That profiteer, I had to destroy his shop. He also said that he brought them to me specially."
Zhang Yuandao: "These glasses are still very rare. I think they are worth five taels of silver." Five taels of silver is equivalent to more than 3,000 yuan. Well, famous brand glasses in later generations must also cost this price.
Zhang E felt a little relieved after hearing what Zhang Yuan said, and said, "Okay, I'll give you these glasses. You can try them on. I tried them, and I felt dizzy."
Zhang Yuan took off his eye patch and looked carefully at the glasses, which were rare items in the Ming Dynasty. The lenses seemed to be made of crystal stone. They were cold to the touch with his fingers. The glass was not that cold. He put on the glasses and looked out through the lenses. The whole world was bright.
His eyes became clearer and there was no discomfort. It was as if they were customized for his optometry. He praised: "Wonderful, it's really a good thing. Now I don't have to worry about seeing in the distance."
——Half of young Zhang Yuan’s eye disease is due to excessive liver fire and eating too much sweets, and the other half is due to genetic myopia. In the past, Zhang Yuan did not like to read, and reading day and night did not cause bad eyesight, but he was short-sighted.
This is of course hereditary. Zhang Yuan's father, Zhang Ruiyang, failed to pass the exam, but his eyesight was so bad that he couldn't clearly see other people's faces ten steps away. Although Zhang Yuan's myopia is not that serious, it is estimated to be more than 300 degrees.
Myopia has no impact on daily life, but wouldn't it be better to see more clearly, so a pair of glasses like this is needed.
Seeing that Zhang Yuan liked it, Zhang E said, "Since you like it, it's worth five taels of silver. Here, here is the glasses case."
Zhang Yuan took the glasses box and took a look. The box was beautifully carved and made of precious wenge wood. It was exquisite and compact and easy to carry around. He took off his glasses and put them away carefully. He said thank you: "Thank you, third brother. My eyes are not very good.
It comes in handy."
Although Zhang E has a bad temper, he has always been forthright. He waved his hand and said: "My brother, what does this mean?" But he said with a mysterious face: "I have one more thing. No matter how you can guess what it is for, then I - then
I--"
Zhang E didn't know what he would do if Zhang Yuan guessed it, and said: "You can't guess it anyway. The person who sold this thing to me said that this thing was the only one in the Ming Dynasty and would never be found in Suzhou.
"
Zhang Yuan's appetite was also whetted, and he said: "Okay, then I want to see something. Do you want to be blindfolded?"
Zhang E said: "This - no need, I will hold it in my hand and show it to you to see if you can tell what it is used for?" He took out something from a small suitcase and presented it to Zhang E proudly.
In front of Yuan: "Look, what is this?"
Zhang Yuan was not wearing glasses at this time, and his eyes were bright. He was surprised and happy, and thought to himself: "Did this thing exist during the Wanli period? It only appeared in Europe a few years ago, and now it has come across the ocean.
I’m in the Ming Dynasty!”
Zhang E became even more proud when he saw the look of surprise on Zhang Yuan's face. He gently rotated the round brass tube in his hand and pulled out a slightly thinner copper tube. He twisted it again, pulled out another section, and connected the three sections.
It is about one foot and two inches long. The afternoon sunlight shines into the study and shines on this extremely finely polished brass tube. The color of the metal is bright and bright——
"It's amazing, it can be stretched or contracted, thick or thin, just like a penis." Zhang E used such a metaphor, which made him laugh out loud.
Zhang Yuan did not smile. He squinted and took a closer look at the three pieces of copper pipe in Zhang E's hand. Yes, this was a telescope. It was called a telescope at this time. It was definitely brought by Europeans. In the late Ming Dynasty, cultural exchanges between China and the West were extremely frequent. Those
Almost all the missionaries who came to the East were scientists. The Chinese respected Buddha, gods and immortals, and Confucius. It was difficult for Catholics to intervene. Therefore, the missionaries used roundabout ways to preach, using their advanced mathematics, astronomy, geography, and physics.
The exchange of knowledge with enlightened scholar-officials has achieved remarkable results and developed a group of believers. Matteo Ricci is a representative figure among these missionaries and is known as the "Taishi Confucian". Taixi refers to the West, but Matteo Ricci has now passed away. Zhang Yuan
I remember very clearly that Matteo Ricci died of illness in Beijing in the 38th year of Wanli's reign. The gift Ricci presented to Emperor Shenzong included a chiming clock but no telescope -
Zhang Yuan asked casually: "Third brother, where did you buy this telescope?" As far as he knew, the telescope seemed to have been brought to China by the German missionary Tang Ruowang in the late Wanli years. How come it is available now?
Something that Zhang Yuan never expected suddenly happened——
Zhang E was feeling very proud. When he heard Zhang Yuan's words, his demeanor suddenly changed. His face turned livid. He looked down at the telescope in his hand, breathed heavily, and suddenly shouted: "Thief and profiteer, you deceived me so hard!"
, smashed the brass telescope on the corner of the rosewood table, and broke it into two pieces.
Zhang Yuan jumped up with a "Ah" sound and said with great regret: "Third brother, what are you doing, why bother!"
Zhang E was so angry that he ran around the room and said angrily: "The traitor and profiteer lied to me and said that this telescope was the only one in the Ming Dynasty. It was also very rare in the European and Western countries. The profiteer said that it was owned by a Spanish captain in Haojing Macau."
I bought it here and asked for one hundred and eighty taels of silver from me. The profiteers are disgusting. The profiteers are disgusting. They really piss me off!"
Zhang E went crazy and started smashing objects in the study.
————————————————————————
Smash the tickets, smash the tickets, smash them all.