Qin Official

The sea at night seems more terrifying than during the day, deep and unknown, with countless dangers lurking. Even the most experienced fishermen seldom sail at night.

But on the first day of May, on the sea near Qingdao Port, there was a large ship plying the sea all night long. It was getting farther and farther away from the land, until it hung alone on the vast sea.

It was a night when the moon was waning, and everyone on the boat raised their heads, only to see that the weather was clear and cloudless, and the field of vision was extremely empty. In the night sky, which was as deep as the sea, without the lights of the city and the human world, the stars and the Milky Way appeared particularly clear.

But looking at it for a long time will make people dazzled. Wei Yang stared for a long time and felt his eyes were sore. The stars were also confused with each other, making it difficult to distinguish them one by one. Under the orders of the county governor, these literate officials followed Xu Fu and learned his "spell of holding stars" when they were not at sea.

Xu Fu will not be confused. To Warlock Fang, although the stars in the sky are extremely vast and the stars are as countless as grains of sand in the eyes of others, in his eyes, they are as familiar as the lines on the palm of his hand.

"That's the Big Dipper."

Xu Fushen pointed at a row of stars in the sky, drew imaginary lines with his fingers, connected them, and called out their names one by one.

"Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, Yaoguang, the seven stars are connected together like a bucket for scooping wine at a banquet."

"It is indeed very similar." The young people nodded, and they were also a little greedy for wine.

Xu Fu also said that if you connect a straight line between Tianxuan and Tianshu on Doukui and extend the distance five times toward Tianshu, you can find a star that is extremely bright and eclipses the stars.

"That is Beichen, who lives in his place and is shared by all the stars!"

The sea is vast, boundless, and you don’t know what is east or west. There is the sun during the day, but at night, you have to rely on the stars. Polaris is the natal star of every navigator. It is located at the North Celestial Pole and its position is almost unchanged. You can rely on it to identify the direction. The "star-pulling technique" that Xu Fu wants to teach everyone is also performed around Beichen.

"There is no moon tonight. It's a good time to catch the stars. Let's test them all."

Each of these building and boat officials holds a "star board", which is made of ebony. There are twelve pieces in total, which look like a fan when put together. The largest one is a twelve-finger board, and the smallest one is a one-finger board.

After more than a month of study, Wei Yang was no stranger to this. He held the center of one end of the star board in his left hand, straightened his arm and looked at the starry sky, making the surface of the star board perpendicular to the sea level, and observing the height of the North Star from the sea level. The heights are different and can be adjusted using twelve wooden boards and four notched ivory blocks.

Next to him, there were two assistants, one holding a fire for lighting, and the other writing down the observed data for him on paper.

It was not easy to complete the measurement on the rickety deck. After the measurement, everyone returned to the cabin. According to the measured height, they used the "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" formula memorized in their hearts to get the distance between Polaris and the ground. Then give the result to Xu Fu.

After Xu Fu checked them one by one, he ridiculed everyone who failed to take the test correctly and asked them to go out and take the test again, but then praised Wei Yang:

“It’s still Weiyang’s measurement that is the most accurate!”

Colleagues looked over with envy and disdain. Wei Yang bit his lip and said nothing. Because he also felt that Xu Fu was deliberately promoting him. Needless to say, the reason was because his father-in-law was the county guard and military supervisor. This time, he arranged for Wei Yang to be the official of the building and ship, which was quite meant to pave the way for him to be gilded.

Xu Fu placed a huge wooden plate on the desk. This is the "Taiyi Nine Palaces Plate". It is a treasure passed down from Xu Fu's family and is the secret to his ability to see the sea as a smooth road. Originally, it was only passed down to his heirs and apprentices, but when he was forced by Hei Fu, Xu Fu could only endure his heartache, take out his best skills, and teach these young military officials who called him "Master Xu".

This occupancy plate is painted on a wooden base, and its structure is divided into two parts, the sky plate and the ground plate. The large square disk on the outside is the earth, and the round disk inside the earth is the sky. Among them, the dou ladle in the sky plate refers to Tiangang. The second time is the twelve chen, which is listed in the twenty-eight constellations and the four-dimensional bureau.

As for the territory, there are twelve stars, eight stems, five elements, thirty-six birds, four corners of heaven, earth, households, people, gates, ghost roads and ends.

At the same time, he taught Wei Yang how to use the previously measured data to compare the scales on the sky and the land one by one to get the orientation. Xu Fu couldn't help but be filled with emotion, because the original purpose of this object was not to measure the direction at all, but to predict good and bad luck!

Back then, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Wei Ping, an expert in Guice, told fortunes for Duke Yuan of the Song Dynasty. He once "looked up to the sky and looked at the light of the moon, observed the points of the battle, determined the day and place in the country, supplemented by rules and weighed. The four dimensions have been determined, and the eight trigrams are related. Hope. Depending on whether it is good or bad, the insects will see it first."

In short, this object is mainly used to tell fortunes and predict good and bad luck. Those who use the turtle to predict the sun travel around the world and divide the world into "twelve areas" according to the distribution of stars. They also found that the distance between Polaris and the ground is different in different regions. For example, the distance between Yandi in the "Weiji" boundary and Chudi in the "Yizhen" boundary is very different.

But in the southern part of Zhao Di in the "Geng Shen" division and in the Qi Di in the "Wei Xu" division, the angles between the North Star and the ground are almost the same!

Therefore, in addition to astrology and fortune-telling, star-pulling has another use, that is, observing the north and south directions. On land, this was actually of little use. It wasn’t until it spread to the land of Yanqi, in the hands of Warlock Fang, that it shined!

Xu Fu used this technique for long voyages, which enabled him to go overseas ten times. By always observing the direction, he could know whether his sailing route deviated from his destination.

This knowledge that alchemists used to keep secret and awe-inspiring was actually quite simple to put it bluntly.

"Feudal superstition and science and technology are actually twins..."

After hearing Xu Fu's story, Heifu was so emotional and decided to save his life.

Nowadays, the astrology of the past has been successfully whitened and turned into "astronomy and navigation".

Heifu also gave a name to this geographical coordinate that differs between north and south.

"latitude!"

Xu Fu admitted that in the past ten years, he had quietly measured the azimuth data of different locations in the north and south along the Yanqi coast. He even measured several points in North Korea on the other side of the coast. Starting from Jiaodong, Xu Fu knew exactly how to sail to the other port accurately!

This is Xu Fuhui's thing, but Warlock Fang's adventurous search for immortals is different from the food shipping that must ensure stability and safety. They also have to solve a big problem: across the sea, in two or three days, if they are unlucky enough to encounter... What should I do if I veer off course on a starry night?

…

After finishing the twice-monthly star-catching exercises, Xu Fu returned to Qingdao Port. The next day, Hei Fu came here for inspection and asked Xu Fu to take him to see those who were good at "making things in the temple" after being "recruited". How is the secret project being hatched by the warlock going?

"The Sheriff, the so-called Sinan, can't guide you at all."

As soon as he entered, Xu Fu told Hei Fu the bad news.

That's right, this secret project is to create a device that can measure the north and south directions even on cloudy and rainy days.

In this era, magnets were already known. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" said that "kindness attracts iron, or leads to it." There is also a legend in the hometown of the Six Kingdoms that Qin Shihuang had a gate made of magnets in Xianyang Palace. Anyone passing by with a weapon would be attracted to it...

This is of course nonsense. Qin's swords are mostly made of copper, so building a magnet door is of no use.

However, Alchemist is very interested in this kind of fun thing. It is a must-have thing for pretending to be a magician and playing ghosts. These guys have a lot of fun with things like retrieving objects from the air.

Heifu had a clear purpose and wanted to use magnets as a compass. However, the alchemists had different opinions.

Some people think it should be the "compass" used by the legendary Yellow Emperor, while some people think it should be the "Sinan" which was seen in ancient books but has been lost in modern times.

After Heifu thought about it, he divided the magicians into three groups, with seven or eight people serving as compasses and the rest serving as sinan and compass.

It is a good idea to have healthy competition among several studios under the same company and the same project. This group of alchemists will still be of great use in the future. Heifu hopes that they can have their own ideas instead of just being yes-men.

"In that case, wouldn't it be more convenient for me to find an illiterate craftsman?"

Even if it is wrong, you can still try it. Who knows that a failed project cannot become a black technology with a little modification?

But it turned out that Sinan and the compass were both ideal things. Those people spent several months and a lot of manpower grinding the magnets shipped from Cishan, Wu'an County, Handan Army into spoons and polishing them smooth. On the copper plate, I hope the handle of the spoon can serve as a guide.

But the embarrassing thing is that after staring for a long time, "Si Nan" just didn't move.

That's right, the weak magnetic force is far inferior to the effects of gravity and friction, so it's strange that it can move!

The Sinan project team failed, and the "Guide Car" next door was even worse. The alchemists and craftsmen tinkered for a long time, but they couldn't make an artifact that could automatically guide the car no matter which direction it turned, so they had to give up in embarrassment.

In the end, it was Heifu's "compass" that had some results.

An ordinary sewing needle can become magnetized by repeated rubbing with a natural magnet. Although the magicians cannot understand the principle, it does not prevent them from using it.

Xu Fu asked Heifu to show him two ways to use it: insert a magnetized fine needle through a few rushes and float it on the wooden plate, or apply some wax, stick a piece of silk, and hang it in a place where there is no wind...

However, I saw that the sharp point of the pointer was guided by some "mysterious force" and rotated slightly. The sharp point always pointed to the north, and some pointed to the north.

Xu Fu explained: "I am afraid that the nature of the stones is different, causing the north and south to be opposite. There should be differences, but I have not examined it deeply..."

"This is probably the difference between n-pole and s-pole?"

Although Heifu was not satisfied with this extremely crude compass and north needle, after all, what they wanted to do was not an ocean voyage spanning thousands of miles, but a short sea voyage spanning hundreds of miles. The compass was only used as an auxiliary for star-finding. in case for need.

Such a compass cannot be compared with later generations, but nothing can be perfect from the beginning.

Of the two methods, Xu Fu prefers the thread suspension method, because the biggest disadvantage of the water floatation method is that the water surface easily shakes, affecting the measurement results, and ships at sea tend to shake a lot.

Xu Fu also said that he specially compared the directions of the sun and Beichen during the day and night, and found that although the compass and north needle were pointing generally north and south, there was still a slight deviation, and no matter how much it was changed, it could not be eliminated.

"A slight deviation is innocuous."

Heifu knew that this was the geomagnetic declination, but he couldn't explain it to Xu Fu for a while. He should leave this theoretical thing to the great scientist Zhang Cang to study.

"That's enough. Prepare more magnetic needles so that each ship has several of them, and then teach the ship's officials how to use them. Compared with the art of pulling stars, this thing is simple and anyone can learn it regardless of whether they are literate or not!"

…

After inspecting the projects of the Alchemists, Heifu went outside. Qingdao Port, which he named himself, no longer looked like a fishing village in the past. Over time, it turned into a prosperous seaport.

“When soil accumulates, a mountain forms, and wind and rain stir up it; when water accumulates, it forms a deep abyss, whereupon dragons and dragons emerge.”

As the sea breeze blew, Heifu couldn't help but sigh. What he was doing now was just a process of piling up soil to form mountains and water to form abysses.

Monsoons, ocean currents, compasses, astronomical navigation, these hidden knowledge of alchemists have now been taken out by Heifu and made public. And the first batch of seafarers with the above knowledge are also receiving training...

The material foundation necessary for ocean navigation is being completed one by one. What is left?

The most critical and core thing is still missing.

"Benefit!"

What is the difference between a voyage that cannot bring benefits to the world, at least the people of Jiaodong, and a magician who spends huge sums of money overseas to seek immortality? Once that momentum has passed, no matter how large the fleet is, it will be stranded and rusty. Wherever they have explored and where they have reached the farthest point, it will be meaningless, leaving only regrets and sighs for future generations.

"If it could go farther, if that exciting voyage to the west could continue forever...if..."

There are no ifs in history, only interests can drive people to continue exploring.

But Heifu really didn't see what profit he could make in the Central Plains besides satisfying Qin Shihuang's vanity and Heifu's bad taste of playing tricks.

"Perhaps we can find it after this cross-sea expedition?"

Now, the navy has been training for a long time, the food has been stocked up, the large wooden ships built in Qingdao are crowding the port, and now the "navigation system" has been completed. Everything is ready, all that is needed is...

While Heifu was thinking, a long flag was flying high on the "wind indicator" beside him, and the wind chimes tied to it jingled, making a nice sound!

"Father Zhong!"

Wei Yang, who was guarding the wind indicator outside, looked happy and shouted to Hei Fu:

"The wind is blowing! It's the monsoon, it's the south wind!"