Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1174 Postscript 30: Academics should also have a sense of ceremony

Xie Yan didn't bother to care whether the scholars standing outside the circle could see clearly.

He just invited the old president to sit next to him, and then began to explain his balance.

"This is a balance box. The reason why the balance is placed in the glass box is that human breathing will also interfere with the balance. The other is to keep the air dry, first to reduce the error of different air humidity, and second to prevent the equipment inside from oxidizing. These two small bags are filled with charcoal, which can absorb water vapor in the air."

Xie Yan didn't know how to refine activated carbon. He used high-quality ordinary charcoal. It was enough to place one bag on each side of the bottom plate.

Just a few words shocked the scholars present.

Compared with the previous balance, the one in front of him looked tall and majestic. It was said that human breathing would affect the accuracy, and it was even necessary to control the air humidity.

Nie Qi was also squeezed in the crowd at this time, and he had a very bad feeling in his heart.

The super long arm damping balance he made has no glass cover at all and does not care about air humidity, which makes it clear that it is superior.

Xie Yan continued:

"The balance box has three doors. The front door is opened for installing, debugging, and repairing the balance. The left door is opened for placing the object to be weighed. The right door is opened for taking and placing the weights."

"The four legs under the balance box can be adjusted at will. When adjusting, you can observe the level of the balance."

"The balance has three agate knives, and the agate plate is in contact with the blade. The reason why agate is used is that the chemical properties of agate are stable and it is not easy to react with chemical substances; second, agate is hard and wear-resistant."

"When the balance is not in use, the agate knife can be raised and stored through the knob below to avoid long-term contact between the agate knife and the agate plate and wear. When using the balance, turn on this lifting knob."

"Everyone should have recognized the devices on both sides. They are the air dampers of the balance."

After speaking, Xie Yan smiled and looked up, and Nie Qi stood across the table from him.

Seeing Xie Yan smiling at him, Nie Qi also smiled back, but the smile was quite forced.

The more Xie Yan introduced the agate balance, the heavier Nie Qi's mood became. His super-long-arm balance seemed like an antique.

Xie Yan stood up and pointed to the back of the balance beam: "This is the center of gravity weight, which can also be adjusted to change the stability and sensitivity of the balance. When scholars weigh, they can adjust the center of gravity weight according to different needs to choose the sensitivity that best suits them."

"On both sides of the balance beam, these two screws can adjust the zero point."

"This is the balance pointer."

"This is a micro ruler with more than a hundred scales. Because it is too small, I asked a micro-carving craftsman to carve it. When weighing, the reading is read through a magnifying glass device."

The reading device Xie Yan saw in the laboratory was too advanced, and it seemed to be powered on. When he imitated it last year, he really couldn't do it, so he simply simplified it. Anyway, it is enough for the current stage.

"This box contains weights, all placed in a cotton cover. You cannot use your hands to take them out, you must use tweezers. The smallest is the sheet weight. I really can't find a metal that is not easy to oxidize and is light, so I can only use a very small gold foil as the sheet weight."

Aluminum sheets should be used.

"The ring weight is above the right end of the balance beam, which is also made of very small and fine gold wire. Adjust the knob on the right hand side to automatically lower the ring weight."

"Before weighing, look at the lens reading first, adjust it to zero scale and you can use it."

"The introduction of the agate short-arm damping balance is over."

The scholars looked at each other, looking at the balance for a while, and then at Xie Yan.

The scholars standing on the periphery listened to Xie Yan's complicated introduction, but they couldn't see what was going on inside, and they were so anxious that they wanted to pull the people in front away.

"It's so beautiful!"

Zhu Shirong exclaimed.

This balance is not only complex in structure, but also uses agate, gold wire, gold foil, and even the scale needs micro-carving. How noble and gorgeous!

Nothing can be touched directly with hands. Xie Yan wore gloves throughout the process and used tweezers to take and put weights. It must be kept in a glass cover and kept dry with charcoal. It must be put away when not in use to prevent wear. It is as fragile as a newborn baby, making people want to take good care of it.

Such a noble and fragile equipment will definitely become a treasure of scientists in the future. No one except himself can get close to it.

The old president put on reading glasses, put his head outside the glass cover, and stared at various parts closely.

Nie Qi was very anxious and his mood was very complicated.

Out of personal selfishness, he hoped that this balance was just a showpiece, not as powerful as Xie Yan said.

Out of the original intention of a scientist, he hoped that this balance could really be useful!

Nie Qi's mind was buzzing, and he subconsciously said: "Weigh something?"

Xie Yan certainly prepared the weighing object, but he always felt that it lacked a sense of ceremony.

Not pretentious enough!

He turned his head and looked around, and found that the Grand Princess was also lying on the table, observing the various parts of the balance beam.

Xie Yan whispered: "Your Highness, the Grand Princess."

After shouting twice, the Grand Princess finally reacted and found that her head was too close, only about one foot away from Xie Yan's face.

She quickly straightened her back and pulled away: "What's wrong?"

Xie Yan said: "Please lend me a strand of your hair."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. This was a hard teasing of the Grand Princess. Little Scholar Xie was really bold enough.

Even the old chairman was stunned. He looked at Xie Yan first, then at the eldest princess, grinning and revealing a few remaining old teeth. Old people also like to eat melons and CP, anyway, they are free.

The eldest princess didn't think much about it, her attention was all on the scale, and her cheeks were slightly red at this moment. She was a little shy and a little annoyed because Xie Yan was too blunt.

Xie Yan was really not flirting with girls, he just wanted to show off.

The world's first high-precision short-arm balance, when it was first unveiled, weighed with the princess's hair. How impressive it would be if it was spread out, even a hundred years later, it would be a good story in the history of science.

The sense of ceremony was full!

Seeing the eldest princess staring at him angrily, Xie Yan realized that he didn't think before he spoke, and quickly apologized, saying: "I'm abrupt, please forgive me, princess."

Just as Xie Yan was about to open his own bag and take out the weighed object, the eldest princess suddenly straightened up.

She took off her jewelry one by one and placed them next to the balance box, then took off her gold and jade hairpin. Her head swayed slightly, and her hair immediately spread out, leaving a waterfall of hair.

Xie Yan was stunned.

No, I was just talking, princess, are you serious?

The eldest princess asked, "Where are the scissors? You can't ask me to pull out my hair."

Under the gaze of a group of scholars, Xie Yan really took out a pair of small scissors. Some people were stunned, some pursed their lips and held back their laughter, and there were many people who just wanted to watch the fun.

The eldest princess was about to reach out to take the scissors, but she didn't expect Xie Yan to stand up and grab a strand of her hair. Not only did he grab the hair, but he also twisted it with his fingers, as if he was considering which strands to cut.

He even picked them!

The eldest princess was so angry that she wanted to laugh. She had never encountered such a rogue since she was a child.

Xie Yan really didn't think so much. He was considering how many strands to cut and how long to cut... The hair strands were micrograms, and it really couldn't be weighed if he didn't cut more.

After picking a strand of hair and cutting it off, Xie Yan tied a knot with his hair, then sat back and opened the balance box, and put the hair into the left tray of the balance.

Then he carefully took out and put the weights, adjusted the ring weights, and observed the scale. He never looked at the eldest princess from beginning to end.

It seemed that the eldest princess was a tool that could automatically generate objects to be weighed.

The eldest princess was ashamed and angry at first, and then became completely angry. Now she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

If she had the temper of her teenage years, she would have slapped her.

Forget it, many of these academics are mentally abnormal.

Xie Yan tossed around there for a long time, and finally announced the result: "The weight of this strand of hair of the eldest princess is 0.615 millimeter."

The scholars took a breath, and even the eldest princess stopped entangled in other things, and her attention was completely returned to this balance.

After Xie Yan traveled through time, in addition to the headaches of various symbols, the damn measurement system of the Ming Dynasty.

Since a large number of currencies were issued and metal currencies were related to weight, it was difficult to change them for scientific research. Moreover, Zhu Guoxiang could not know the conversion of the two time and space units out of thin air, and he could not change them to modern units even if he wanted to.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, 1 jin = 16 liang = 160 qian = 1600 fen = 16000 li = 160000 milligrams. (1 jin = 625 grams)

Mixing decimal and hexadecimal systems is not conducive to scientific calculations, so the units below liang were not changed, and a jin was created on top (1 jin = 10 liang.)

The weight conversion with another time and space became like this: 1 jin = 390.625 grams, 1 liang = 39.0625 grams, 1 milligram = 3.90625 milligrams.

The scientists of the Ming Dynasty would not feel troubled because they did not need to convert at all, and they did not have the two units of grams and milligrams in their consciousness.

The strand of hair weighed by Xie Yan was 0.615 milligrams, which should actually be 2.40234375 milligrams. The accuracy is definitely not possible to reach so many decimal places, it is purely a mathematical conversion of units in two time and space.

Xie Yan's balance has a sensitivity of about 0.025 milligrams.

It does not meet the standards of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The sensitivity of the analytical balance at that time was 0.001 milligrams.

Even so, it is enough to amaze current scholars, because this thing is more than enough to study molecules and atoms.

Xie Yan took out the strand of hair of the eldest princess and stuffed it back into his bag with the scissors. He wanted to keep it as a family heirloom as a souvenir.

And he was also very proud of it, and the sense of ritual was full!

When the eldest princess saw Xie Yan's behavior, she was ashamed and angry again, but it was not convenient to ask for it back in public. She was willful and willful when she was a girl, and became a pleasing personality after marriage (only to her husband). Although she has now come out of an unhappy marriage, her character is still very cautious and tolerant.

She was even a little timid, afraid that she would be disliked.

She looked around and found that the scholars were not paying attention to her. They were completely attracted by the balance. Then she felt relieved and glared at Xie Yan.

Xie Yan smiled back at her.

The old president rubbed his hands repeatedly and praised: "What a good thing."

Xie Yan took the opportunity to express his opinion: "I was awarded the Jade Scholar at a young age. I have no way to repay the favor of the Royal Society, so I plan to give this balance to the society."

"What a good boy!" The old president had a better impression of Xie Yan.

Other scholars were also delighted. They planned to dismantle and study the balance together, and then hire craftsmen to build it for them at a high price.

Only Nie Qi had mixed feelings.

He lost too thoroughly, so thoroughly that he could not hate Xie Yan.

Xie Yan gave up his seat: "Old president, come and try your hand."

The old president smiled and sat over: "Can anyone get some hair?"

"mine!"

"Use mine!"

"..."

The scholars took off their hats one after another and asked Xie Yan to borrow scissors.

Xie Yan took the opportunity to retreat outside the crowd, stretch and breathe fresh air.

There was always enough space around the eldest princess because it was inconvenient for people to get too close to her. At this moment, there were so many people who couldn't care about it. The scholars crowded in and made the eldest princess stagger.

She came out with disheveled hair and even forgot to take the jewelry on the table.

But he saw Xie Yan standing alone in the distance, as if the scale on the table had nothing to do with him. How crazy the scholars are at the moment makes Xie Yan look great.

"You are quite leisurely." The eldest princess said.

Xie Yan said: "Last year was very tiring. From summer to winter, I spent nearly half a year working on the scale. Even my dreams were about rulers and weights."

The eldest princess pursed her lips and smiled: "Give me your hair back."

"Oh, I still want to keep it as a souvenir." Xie Yan sighed and went to dig through his bag.

When he turned his hair out, the eldest princess said: "Forget it, it's not a valuable thing."

Xie Yan chuckled and tucked his hair back.

The eldest princess asked: "Is your hometown in Hebei?"

Xie Yan replied: "Yes."

The eldest princess said: "Do you know Bachelor Yu Kui from Hebei? He has been a guest in my house before."

Xie Yan shook his head: "I don't know. I don't know much about academia."

The eldest princess smiled and said: "You are really a wild man. Bachelor Yu Kui is the most famous chemist in Hebei. He probably has some personal matters and did not come to Luoyang this time."

Xie Yan took the opportunity to say: "Then I have to ask the princess to help introduce me."

The eldest princess asked again: "You have achieved such success when you were young. In the future, will you focus on academics or become an official?"

Xie Yan thought about it carefully: "It's okay, I don't care."

The eldest princess stopped talking, called the maids standing outside, and asked them to get the jewelry placed on the podium.

There were a lot of Tai students lying outside the door and outside the window.

From the chatter coming out of the room, the Tai students had roughly figured out that Little Bachelor Xie had built an ultra-high-precision balance, which drove a large group of top scholars inside crazy.

Xie Yan saw that the eldest princess no longer paid attention to him, so he paced outside.

As soon as they left the house, those imperial students gathered around, bowed to Xie Yan and saluted, and greeted with great respect: "Greetings, Bachelor Xie!"

At this moment, the old president had finished the weighing and stood up tremblingly, stroking his beard.

He walked toward the door with a cane. The scholars stepped aside one after another, and two people hurriedly helped him.

Walking in front of Xie Yan, the old president said: "The scale is not accurate enough, which has troubled scholars for thirty or forty years, and His Majesty Taizu's theory cannot be fully verified. On behalf of the scholars all over the world, I would like to express my gratitude to my little friend!"

After saying that, he broke away from his supporter and bowed straightly towards Xie Yan.

Xie Yan was startled and quickly reached out to help him.

If the old gentleman loses his footing and falls down and breaks his body, he won't be able to afford the compensation.

The top scholars inside saw the old president's actions, made eye contact with each other, and bowed to Xie Yan one after another.

The students outside were frightened by this scene.

The eldest princess was pulling up her disheveled hair. She suddenly looked up and realized that something was wrong. The sight in front of her made her eyes sparkle.