Chapter 154: The Moment Inscribed in Human History (6K)
Eighteen days later.
A quiet summer night.
There are no dark clouds in the sky, and the stars are doing their best to blend the little bits of light together.
Although not as brilliant as the sun and not as clear as the moon, they still sprinkle starlight onto the world dreamily.
The little stars shine together, turning the earth into a strange world, stimulating people's desire to explore.
Compared with the vast starry sky in front of us, human beings are as pitifully small as dust.
In the universe, human beings are as insignificant as ants on the ground.
But even ants are different from each other.
For example, right now.
Dark night has arrived.
The 'ants' in Bianjing City have already fallen asleep, are preparing for tomorrow's expenses, or are going to the night market in twos and threes.
Others were lying on their sides on the lap pillows of the painted boat singer, enjoying some special fun.
And outside Bianjing City.
On a short but fairly empty hill, there was another group of 'ants' busy.
Dozens of servants were seen holding torches and surrounding an open space, providing a source of light while on guard.
In the open space, there were also twenty or thirty people standing, assembling and debugging something in an orderly manner. It looked very lively.
"Be careful, be careful, three, two, one, up!"
"Left, left, right, right, right here, right here."
"Hey, put it, put it, put it, put it, put it!"
"Where's the axle? Where's the axle?"
"Yongzhu, take the donkey away first. You'll have to rely on it to pull the goods when you go down the mountain!"
In this hubbub.
Xu Yun stood beside a huge iron cylinder, carefully making final adjustments.
"Master Chen, align the polar axis with the North Celestial Pole! That's right, that's good!"
"Master Guo, look to see if the four hairsprings of the spring are wedged into the heavenly opening."
"Captain Wang, secure the right side a little tighter."
About ten days ago.
Siegfried then officially polished the lens and handed it to Xu Yun.
Xu Yun then spent another day on fine grinding, and finally processed the lens' NA value to between 1.18-1.20, and passed the final verification test.
However, although everything was gathered together, he was not in a hurry to start astronomical observations.
First of all, astronomical observation has certain requirements on the environment, and the visibility must be high.
After all, you can’t observe if the sky is full of dark clouds, right?
Secondly, it is
Xu Yun has to wait for a special day.
Therefore, this wait lasts for ten days.
Of course.
Xu Yun didn't do anything during these ten days.
Not only did I attend class as usual, I also went out many times on a donkey cart to inspect suitable observation points.
After some observation, I finally selected this hillside.
The height of this hill is only about a hundred meters, so it looks a bit low.
But in fact.
The inside of the hill is half empty, and there is an extremely open large platform on the mountainside that can accommodate hundreds of people.
According to what Mr. Xie learned.
This hillside was originally a clay kiln. It was later sealed and abandoned because the original owner was implicated in a corruption case. The shipping platform on the mountainside has been preserved.
Now several years have passed, but Xu Yun has picked up the leak.
About a quarter of an hour passed.
Siegfried quickly walked up to him and said respectfully:
"Master Wang, all aspects have been debugged."
Xu Yun bowed his hands to thank him, took off the water bag from his waist and handed it to him:
"Master Laoqi is here, let's have a drink of water."
Then he walked to the right side of the barrel, put on his gut gloves, and placed the finderscope lens into the barrel on the side.
Mentioned before.
The telescope designed by Xu Yun is one meter in diameter, nearly ten meters in length, and weighs up to five tons.
Therefore, if you want to maintain the steering ability and fix the barrel body at the same time, you can only install it by tilting it upward and applying external fixing equipment.
As for how it was pulled up the mountain?
In short, Brother Donkey is indispensable.
It's only five tons, not heavy.
Actually.
Similar devices also appeared in the 19th century, specifically in 1865.
At that time, the John Bull Royal Society invested heavily in building a large 8.9-ton iron telescope for observation, which is still in the Oxford Museum.
Although the telescope designed by the Royal Society was not the most accurate at the time, its significance was extraordinary:
This is the first officially organized starry sky observation in human history.
This also represents a certain attitude of the British official towards science. Although the fate of industry is full of blood and tears, at least in terms of the attitude towards scientific research, the British royal family still did the right thing.
It's a coincidence.
At the same point in time, the local Emperor Tongzhi was also looking up to the sky.
However, he was not looking at the telescope, but just begging the ghosts and gods. Cholera broke out in the country that year. Naturally, the people were panic-stricken, so they could only turn to the gods and Buddhas, intending to use the stars to determine national policies.
By the way.
In the same year, Nokia was just established.
His eyes returned to reality.
After all debugging is completed.
Xu Yun walked to Lao Su's side and looked at the people around him.
Everyone present today except Lao Su.
The two brothers Wang Zhen, Xiao Zhao, Lao Jia and other six mathematicians, Siegfried, Mr. Xie Duguan, and Xiao Li's father and daughter all came. After all, Lao Li was a little uneasy after going out late at night.
in addition.
There were also several special people present at the scene:
The one on the far left is a civil servant in his seventies, who is an eighth-grade official from the editorial academy.
The so-called compilation institute refers to the compilation institution affiliated to the Song Dynasty History Museum.
It is responsible for the compilation of national history, conference proceedings, records, calendars and other matters. It is not a department in power, but its nature is very special.
What Lao Su is going to conduct today is the first telescopic observation in human history in this time and space, and such a recommendation officer must be present.
But compared to this person’s identity, his name may be louder:
His name is Zhang Huaimin.
That's right.
That's Zhang Huaimin.
He was demoted to Huangzhou four years later than Su Shi, but he was reinstated earlier and returned to Bianjing in July last year.
The promotion officer position in the Editorial Academy was his last known position, and his future career was unknown.
Next to Zhang Huaimin stood two men in Tsing Yi.
One of them was about forty years old, with facial features like a knife and an axe, sharp eyes, and a tall figure. He had the appearance of a good man.
The other one was a burly old man with thick white beard and hair, his aura was relatively restrained, but a scar on the left side of his face added a bit of fierceness to him.
Judging from their standing postures and expressions, they are most likely from the military, and their ranks are not low.
In fact, this is also true.
The old man among them is Wang Hou who was mentioned before.
A few days ago.
Thanks to the efforts of the Wang brothers and the attraction of alcohol and distilled liquor, Xu Yun finally got on the line with the military boss and invited him to the scene through Lao Su's famous post.
As for the other middle-aged man?
It was Zhang Shuye.
He is also the prototype of Lin Chong in "Water Margin". He was one of the few conscientious officials in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Historically, he suppressed the Song Jiang Uprising.
But unfortunately.
According to the normal historical trajectory, Zhang Shuye's fate was similar to that of Wang Zhen, and it was also quite tragic.
In the year of Jingkang, Zhang Shuye also served as the governor of the southern capital. Jin soldiers approached Bianjing, and the royal family was in crisis.
After learning the news, Zhang Shuye led 30,000 people to fight for the king in bloody battles, becoming the only large-scale organization to support Bianjing during the Jingkang Rebellion.
After the Jin soldiers further besieged Kyoto, Zhang Shuye fought with the Jin soldiers for four consecutive days, but in the end he was unable to save himself.
Later, Song Qinzong drove out of the city and prepared to surrender to the Jin camp. Zhang Shu knocked on his horse at night and admonished him, and was escorted by Jin soldiers to go to the northern Jin Kingdom.
The day after crossing the boundary river.
Uncle Zhang looked up to the sky at night and cried bitterly, then hanged himself and died at the age of sixty-three.
Zhang Shuye is now the magistrate of Haizhou, and he just returned to Bianjing to report on his duties a few days ago.
And because his grandfather Zhang Qi had been friends with Su Shen, Su's father for many years, he came to the house to pay a visit, and was led to the mountain by Xu Yun.
After arriving at Lao Su's side, Xu Yun cupped his hands and said:
"Sir, the telescope has been debugged and can start observing the starry sky."
When Lao Su heard this, his pupils shrank slightly, and his body began to tremble faintly.
Do not know why.
This eighty-year-old man, who had looked up at the stars countless times, felt a rare uneasiness in his heart.
To know.
Even when he was waiting for the release of the results next to the old man with spicy soup, he had never been so excited.
But after all, he is a man who has been a prime minister, so he has a gap in his heart.
It lasted less than half a minute.
Lao Su took a deep breath and forced himself to regain his composure.
Then he declined Mr. Xie's support, straightened his sleeves, and walked slowly to the telescope alone.
He first looked up at the starry sky, remained silent for a moment, pointed at the wheel of Wang Yue in the starry sky, and said to Xu Yun with expectation:
"Xiao Wang, can you let me look at the moon first?"
Xu Yun solemnly cupped his hands and nodded:
"no problem."
After speaking, he walked to the operating table, adjusted the star-finding optical axis of the main mirror, and locked it to the area where the moon was.
The base of this telescope can be rotated through a dial, and with the help of rollers and tung oil, it is very easy to push it.
The mercury paraboloid ensures its rotation through another system, and there will be no interference between the two.
Xu Yun then turned the three screws on the finderscope and adjusted the image just at the center of the main mirror to the center of the finderscope's crosshairs.
This step seems simple, but in fact it requires a lot of patience.
The cross must be aligned, and the three screws must be pushed onto the lens barrel, even if they are even slightly off.
At first, a fisherman who did not want to be named made a mistake because of this and was almost hung up and beaten.
Wait until the optical axes of the two lens tubes are parallel.
Xu Yun turned the tripod and reached the final focusing stage.
Ding
Bang
Clang
Gather gently, twist slowly, apply and pick again.
Xu Yun was like an experienced driver, slowly adjusting the telescope that was shipped from the factory for the first time.
A quarter of an hour later.
Xu Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead, gave way, and said to Lao Su:
"Master, fortunately you have lived up to your fate."
Lao Su nodded to him, walked to the eyepiece, and put his eyes on it.
The result comes within a moment.
Lao Su raised his head from the eyepiece with a look of shock on his face, and pointed at the field of view with his index finger trembling:
"Xiao Wang, is that the moon???"
Xiao Li on the side saw this and quickly came over:
"Uncle Su, what did you see?"
Lao Su was silent for a moment, pointed at the eyepiece and said:
"See for yourself, Xiao Wang has already adjusted the focus, just put it in your eyes."
Xiao Li glanced at Lao Li, who was following him, and jumped to the eyepiece.
The result was the same as Lao Su. After just a few glances, Xiao Li took a breath of air:
“There are so many pitfalls”
Then Xiao Zhao, Lao Li, Lao Jia, Wang Hou and even Zhang Huaimin all stepped forward to take a look.
Although everyone at the scene, including Wang Hou and Zhang Shuye, had seen another microscope before coming, they were more or less familiar with certain situations.
But when they saw the dark, dead moon full of holes in the field, they still couldn't help but feel a sense of horror.
There is no other reason.
Because it's the moon!
As we all know.
In ancient China.
Due to the lack of sufficient entertainment items, reciting poems and writing poems has become a mainstream pastime.
And in various poems.
The moon is undoubtedly a very, very common 'part-timer'.
Whether it is "the journey of the sun and the moon, if it comes out of it; the brilliant stars and stars, if it comes out of it".
Or 'raising a glass to invite the bright moon, facing the shadow to become three people'.
Or "The bright moon rises over the sea, and we share this moment at the end of the world", both of which are well-known masterpieces.
At the same time in myths and legends.
The moon is also the residence of Chang'e. She secretly ate elixirs and flew to the moon. She also raised a bunch of jade rabbits so that she could eat spicy rabbit heads whenever she had nothing to do.
Although Lao Su does not believe in the theory of gods and immortals, he still has relatively positive expectations for the moon.
The result was unexpected
In the telescope, neither the heavenly dog Chang'e nor the stars of the Yushu can be seen.
The only thing that can be seen is the gray soil and a lot of potholes.
And opposite him.
Looking at Lao Su with a horrified expression, Xu Yun rarely chose to remain silent.
For the ancients who came into contact with astral manifestations for the first time, horror, even panic, and fear were inevitable emotions.
Galileo, who was the first person on earth to observe the lunar maria, was actually the same.
After seeing the moon sea for the first time, he had a fever for two days before he accepted the fact, and then continued to observe the crater.
This is a level that must be passed independently, and external help is of little significance.
Xu Yun had already instilled a lot of knowledge about the universe into Old Su earlier. If Old Su couldn't figure it out, then there really wouldn't be much to say.
that's all.
The scene suddenly fell into an eerie silence. The donkeys that were munching grass on the side became quiet and looked at the two-legged beast not far away in surprise.
A few minutes later.
Lao Su first took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened and closed it again, his eyes were filled with determination.
"Xiao Wang, the moon is not there, or the moon, although it is far from what I thought, it has solved my problem and proved that the concept of 'planet' you mentioned is correct."
Lao Su was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Zhang Huaimin and said:
"Xi Quan, just write it down like this."
"On the night of August 3rd in the third year of Yuanfu, the prince's Taibao Su Song, a male, was accompanied by Wang Lin, a retainer, Xihe Jinglue to appease Wang Hou, Li Gefei, the minister's official, and his daughter Li Qingzhao, as well as Zhao Si, the king of Jian, and Jia, a gentleman from Tongyu.
Twenty-three people including Xian used the Tiangong telescope to get a first glimpse of the ice wheel at Xiaolianzi Mountain outside Bianjing City."
"See"
"There are countless depressions, the soil is gray, waterless, uninhabited, as quiet as a ruin, and its shape is like an egg, standing in the air."
Zhang Huaimin wrote them down one by one.
After saying these words, Lao Su's expression relaxed.
Then he suddenly thought of something and said to Xu Yun:
"Xiao Wang, more than forty years ago, a guest star appeared in the east in the morning and was still as bright as day after dark.
In the fifth month of the first year of Zhihe, Ji Chou came out a few inches southeast of Tianguan, and it took more than twenty days to disappear.
At that time, I was serving as Tongzhi Taichang Liyuan, and I saw with my own eyes the guest star across the sky, and once even overshadowed Taibai.
Do you know what this star is?"
Xu Yun blinked:
"More than forty years ago?"
It is now 1100 AD, and more than forty years ago it was probably around 1055.
And at that point in time?
There was indeed an extremely spectacular star phenomenon.