Chapter 242: Su's New Regulations on Weights and Measures
ps: Who said I don’t want to pay off my debt? The problem is that these two chapters are quite difficult to write. It took about three chapters just to search for information, let alone perfect the idea. It is no exaggeration to say that this
The amount of work in one chapter is at least equivalent to four or five chapters. If it weren't for the sake of reality, I really wouldn't want to write such a chapter that requires clear numerical values.
The following text
The so-called weights and measures refer to the general standards used to measure the length, volume, and weight of objects. Among them, the instruments used to measure length are called degrees, the instruments used to measure and calculate volumes are called quantities, and the tools used to measure the weight of objects are called
, is called balance.
Yesterday, Zhao Hongrun first determined the standard of the degree. Although the old rule of 1 feet = 10 feet = 100 inches = 1000 points was still used, in fact, because the standard of one foot is accurate, it is not the same as the standard of one foot.
There are certain differences in the old ruler system originally adopted by Wei Dynasty.
After standardizing the standard for measuring volume, Zhao Hongrun did not follow the trend to standardize the amount for calculating volume. Instead, he chose to determine the measure first, that is, weight, because in his opinion, the standard for standardizing the amount for calculating volume was the most important thing in weights and measures.
Headache.
As for the standard unit of weight, Zhao Hongrun would naturally not choose the kilogram or gram in his memory. Firstly, it was an imported product. Secondly, the Wei people could not understand what a gram was at all. Therefore, he still planned to use the old system of liang and jin as the unit of weight.
The basic unit of weight, and all he has to do is standardize it on this basis.
As far as Zhao Hongrun knows, the ancients first adopted the standard of yellow rice as a physical object, stipulating that ten bamboos are one baht, twenty-four bahts are two, and sixteen taels are a catty. Simply put, one catty is approximately equal to 3840 grains of yellow rice.
The weight of meters.
But this time, Zhao Hongrun did not intend to adopt the old rules. The reason was that the old weight unit conversion was too complicated and cumbersome, which was not conducive to calculations.
Therefore, after thinking about it for a while, Zhao Hongrun chose rice, which was becoming more and more common in the Wei Dynasty, as the constant standard for physical objects.
First, he asked the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau to make a wooden pallet balance scale using the simplest principle of lever balance. Then he took a small cloth bag enough to hold 240 grains of rice and weighed it with a balance scale.
The weight of a small cloth bag is measured in rice.
Then, from the 240 grains of rice, the number of rice grains equal to the weight of the small cloth bag was subtracted to obtain the weight of 䡡.
After that, Zhao Hongrun did not choose the conversion method of one pound to sixteen taels, because in his opinion, this complicated calculation method would not be conducive to the calculation of the weight of large quantities of objects in the future, nor would it be conducive to his future launch.
Multiplication and division of decimal places, therefore, Zhao Hongrun decided to keep the weight of one pound constant at ten taels.
This new jin system was the first jin system adopted by the Smelting Bureau in the future. Since the rice selected was about twice as heavy as yellow rice, one liter was almost equivalent to two old liang. However, because of the
The Jin system uses the decimal system, so one Sujin is not twice as much as one old Jin.
But it is undeniable that under the new regulations of the Jin Liang system, both Su Jin and Su Liang are much heavier than the old Jin Liang system.
Unfortunately, most of the people present could not understand why Zhao Hongrun used rice as a measure, nor why he set the conversion of kilograms to ten times instead of sixteen times the original amount.
After that, Zhao Hongrun standardized the weight of jun and stones. It was stipulated that 1 stone = 10 jun = 100 catties = 1,000 taels = 10,000 qian = 100,000 baht. Under this new regulation, one shu liang was approximately equal to the old one tael. 2 times of the old one, one sujun is approximately equal to 2/3 of the old one, but one sushi is approximately equal to 5/3 of the old one.
Note: Attached is a comparison of the old and new weight systems. Note that these are approximate values!
Original: baht 0.65g, money 3.7g, two 15.6g, catty 250g, jun 7500g, stone 30000g
In general, there is a significant difference in the conversion between the Sujin system and the old Jin system. However, the decimal conversion is obviously much easier than the old Jinliang system. It can be said to be clear at a glance, but unfortunately, it is still Many people are doubtful about this.
No, after the cryptic persuasion failed, Wang Fu, the Bureau Chief of the Smelting Bureau, said cautiously: "Your Highness, otherwise, the new Jin system will be used in our Smelting Bureau first, and will not be introduced to the six ministries of the Central Government for the time being?"
"Is Wang Jucheng worried about the reaction of the Ministry of Revenue?" Zhao Hongrun obviously saw through Wang Fu's thoughts.
Think about it, you must know that the Ministry of Households is in charge of the economic system of the entire Wei Dynasty, and the original system used the old rule of one pound and sixteen taels, and the people in the Wei Dynasty are generally accustomed to this method, and now , Zhao Hongrun suddenly withdrew from the new regulation of one pound and ten liang. I don’t know whether it will be opposed by many people. What’s even worse is that once the new regulation enters the market, it will inevitably cause chaos in the Wei market.
It is even very possible that some unscrupulous businessmen will use both the old and new regulations to seek ill-gotten gains, and in the end, the most disadvantaged people are often the powerless common people.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun said to Wang Fu and the surrounding craftsmen: "Perhaps you can't understand why I made such a rule, just think it is my willfulness. From today on, our Smelting Bureau will abandon the original However, as Wang Jucheng said, because the new regulations may cause chaos in the domestic market, the new Jinliang regulations will not be implemented in the six departments and twenty-four for the time being. They will only be implemented in our country. The Smelting Bureau is put into use."
Saying that, Zhao Hongrun immediately went to the blacksmiths of the Smelting Bureau to make accurate weights (weights) of two, three kilograms, and jun. He asked for one liang, two liang, five liang, one catty, two catties, five catties, and one jun. The iron weights of Erjun, Wujun and other units are properly kept in the Smelting Bureau after they are made, as a basis for future use.
After that, Zhao Hongrun went back and formulated the quantitative standard, that is, the volume standard.
In the Wei Dynasty, there was a certain confusion in the determination of volume. For example, the stone (dan) was obviously a unit of weight, but the ancients stipulated that 10 buckets = 1 stone, and the stone became a unit of volume again. This made the ancients At that time, there was varying degrees of confusion in the units of volume and weight.
And this is what Zhao Hongrun hopes to eradicate. He wants a more clear list of volume measurement units.
As for the actual measurement of volume, the ancients have always used rice as the standard of measurement, but Zhao Hongrun did not use it. He was still accustomed to using water. After all, using rice or yellow rice as the physical object to measure volume is prone to errors, while water It can ensure the reduction of errors to the greatest extent.
Of course, the water mentioned here refers to pure water at room temperature.
Following the method of formulating the density of water in memory, Zhao Hongrun also intends to connect the conversion of weight and volume using pure water: the unit volume that can hold one pound of pure water is defined as liters. Note: Approximately 0.5l.
At the same time, it is stipulated that 1 bell (cauldron) = 10 dendrobium = 100 buckets = 1,000 liters = 10,000 hehe.
Note: Since the ancients used to use rice to measure volume, and the density of rice is 1.8 and the density of water is 1, it can be regarded as being about half of the original old volume.
But the difficulty is that it is not that easy to create a vessel that can accurately hold one liter of water. For such a question, it is necessary to accurately create a vessel that represents the bell, dendrobium, bucket, sheng, and he, which represent the solemn system.
Reference unit containers are not that simple. Even Zhao Hongrun had to go through some complicated calculations to design those containers.
Fortunately, the volume of the Susheng system is almost half that of the old Sheng system, so the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau can use this as a basis to create the precise utensils required by Zhao Hongrun.
But by the same token, the liter system is not suitable to be introduced at present. After all, the liter system is most commonly used to sell rice grains in the market. The sales of rice grains on the market are still not calculated by weight. Instead, they are calculated by liters, buckets, and dendrobium.
As a standard, there are unscrupulous businessmen who secretly create substandard Dendrobium and use it to sell rice grains to make huge profits.
In order to put an end to this phenomenon, Zhao Hongrun plans to find ways to change Wei Min's habits in the market in the future, abandoning the volume unit and using weight as the basis for buying and selling rice, meat and other daily necessities. Simply put, when he is ready in the future, he will use the new
When weights and measures are introduced to the market, the first thing to do is to launch a new scale.
At present, neither Sujin nor Susheng is suitable for the market at present and can only be temporarily circulated within the Smelting Bureau. However, Zhao Hongrun can foresee that the standards he set will gradually be accepted and gradually replace the original ones.
Old weights and measures.
However, this process requires a certain amount of time and patience and can only be done step by step. If it is forcibly introduced, it will cause chaos in the economic market of Wei.
But no matter what, the new weights and measures formulated by Zhao Hongrun, which the craftsmen of the Metallurgical Bureau called Su's new weights and measures, were also submitted to the Emperor Wei's Dragon Case at the first opportunity.
Looking at the many iron weights and utensils placed on the Dragon Table, I believe Zhao Hongrun would be surprised if he were here. Although he created several sets of first-generation weights and measures, he ordered people from the Smelting Bureau to keep a close watch on them.
I thought about it, but the person who was the supervisor was still given a set.
Moreover, these are the Sujin and Susheng system utensils that Zhao Hongrun does not plan to launch for the time being.
Humph, it’s quite smart and it’s not pushed to the ruling and opposition parties, but...why do we need to set standards like this?
Emperor Wei held up a one-tael iron weight with great interest, and then looked at the other weights on the dragon table, thinking deeply in his heart.
"This doesn't seem like a weight used on a scale..."
Three Zhongshu ministers also gathered around. Zhongshu Ling Lin Yuyang picked up an iron weight with small characters engraved on it with great interest. He was secretly surprised by the exquisite workmanship of this weight.
From the side, Yu Ziqi looked at the many iron weights of different specifications on the dragon table in surprise, and murmured: "One tael, two taels, five taels... Huh?"
He was surprised to find that these three specifications of iron weights could be easily combined to calculate all the weights within ten taels: "One or two is three, two and two is four, one and five is six, two and five is seven, and one is seven."
Two-five is eight, two-two-five is nine, five-five is ten... interesting."
Hearing Yu Ziqi's muttering, Emperor Wei, Lin Yuyang and others also realized it and calculated it in their hearts with great interest. The result was exactly as Yu Ziqi said. Look at those inconspicuous iron weights. After being combined, they actually wrapped up a kilogram.
All weights within.
This made Emperor Wei, who originally did not agree with the Su family's new weights and measures, gradually realize the profound meaning contained in it.
It is undeniable that even the Emperor of Wei gradually felt that the new regulations were far more convenient than the old regulations. However, the problem was that the old regulations had been circulated in the Wei Dynasty for hundreds of years, so how could they be replaced by the new regulations overnight?
.
However, even so, Emperor Wei was still full of expectations for the Metallurgical Bureau. He had a hunch that after his son Zhao Hongrun took charge of the Metallurgical Bureau, the Metallurgical Bureau might actually undergo huge changes that would make the world look at him. (To be completed.)