Chapter 539: A Room, a Very Strange but Very Realistic Unit of Measurement

"A lazy donkey at the mill has many excuses for needing to use the toilet." It is said that a lazy donkey at the mill always has various stories to be lazy. Of course, a donkey at the mill wouldn't use its own rations to buy coffee to refresh itself.

Coffee comes from the Ethiopian Highlands in East Africa. Herdsmen here discovered very early on that sheep became excited after eating these black fruits, so they collected these black fruits to provide to warriors going to war. Later, coffee was introduced to the Arab world, and the Arab world possessed coffee.

Arab merchants brought coffee to the whole world, but they did not bring the seeds out. They ground the roasted coffee into powder and told everyone how to use it, which was to boil it with water. But the seeds were still planted on a small scale in the Arab world. This plant drink was very popular in the West.

According to religious doctrine, drinking alcohol is strictly prohibited. Therefore, this plant drink, coffee, was extremely popular in the Arab world and was also called Arab wine or Islamic wine.

The red-haired barbarians were curious about everything in this world, especially the code of wealth. The Arabs sold the black powder everywhere and earned a lot of silver. The red-haired barbarians also wanted to earn this money. They began to frequently spy on the secrets, but in the end, they did not get the coffee seeds, only knowing it was a black round bean and a necessity for religious rituals.

Zhu Yijun obtained coffee seeds. The Mughal King Akbar sent a special envoy, Shah Muhammad, to send national gifts to the Great Ming. Emperor Akbar hoped to maintain friendship with the Great Ming to obtain ships and Great Ming goods, while selling cotton to the Great Ming. Therefore, Emperor Akbar still gave the Emperor some coffee seeds.

Using Shah Muhammad's original words:

Collecting various strange plants is the Great Ming Emperor's public hobby, so Shah Muhammad catered to his preferences.

Why can opium, coffee, tea, tobacco, and other things refresh the mind? This became a research topic for the Great Ming Jieku Institute. And Fan Yingqi's topic was in this area. He wanted to study why people become addicted to these things, so as to cure himself.

Wang Jiaping talked to Fan Yingqi about things outside. Fan Yingqi didn't have much interest. The topics they could talk about in the past were now too far away from him. When Fan Yingqi talked to Wang Jiaping about his research topic, Wang Jiaping was also confused.

Just like that, the two old friends no longer had common topics.

Fan Yingqi noticed that adding some coffee to the fodder for livestock could effectively increase the livestock's workload, but the only problem was that the livestock would become thin. How much dosage to add needed multiple experiments.

Wang Jiaping left the Jieku Institute and stood in front of the Jieku Institute gate for a long time. He knew that this was about the last time the two would meet. He generally wouldn't come to this place, and Fan Yingqi wouldn't come out. He was already socially dead. He was the mastermind behind the Baoding case of encroaching on official fields. Wang Jiaping coming once to prove he had no ghost in his heart was enough. Maintaining a friendship was not conducive to progress.

Moreover, Fan Yingqi seemed very reluctant to see old friends, because what he had done was not glorious.

This could also be considered a separation between life and death.

Wang Jiaping knew that this meeting would bring him some trouble. Both seeing and not seeing were troubles. Of the two evils, choose the lesser, at least to prove he had no ghost in his heart. But he never expected it to bring so much trouble. Clearly, the censorate officials were prepared, and even two memorials had been written in advance! No matter what Wang Jiaping did, he would have to experience this impeachment.

After realizing that he would inevitably be impeached, Wang Jiaping was too lazy to care. Anyway, if there are many lice, they don't itch. He had done those things in Guangdong, which were indeed worth talking about. Wang Jiaping began his tour of the capital, wandering around while waiting for the Emperor's summons.

Compared to the dull atmosphere when the ruler was young and the country was suspicious, now, as the Emperor gradually grew up, the capital gradually began to become active.

Wang Jiaping saw the roaring steam engine and was scared to death. Although he had long known that the Imperial Institute of Science was tinkering with this thing, seeing the real thing for the first time was still heart-pounding. The movement of this thing was too big—the roaring sound, the rolling smoke, the scorching temperature—all made people excited.

The principle of the steam engine was quite simple; it was a double-sided bellows. It sounded simple, but Wang Jiaping couldn't tinker with this thing. As for the steam turbine tinkered with by the Institute Director Zhu Zaiyu, Wang Jiaping couldn't even understand it.

Watching the sixteen-horsepower steam engine roaring on the imperial road, Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong roared and shouted excitedly.

The dead weight of the sixteen-horsepower steam engine was still too large, and the cost of use was somewhat too expensive. Pulling a thousand catties of goods required two thousand catties of coal. But Wang Jiaping could see that this was the future.

Because the strength of the steam engine was still increasing, and miniaturization, which was weight reduction, was being vigorously promoted. One day, this thing would whistle past, bringing goods from all directions to all directions.

The transformation of the Great Ming's small-scale peasant economy into a commodity economy—the steam engine is an indispensable thing. If silver is the metaphysical canal for department stores, then steam engines and imperial roads are the realistic canals for department stores.

Wang Jiaping watched the steam engine and experienced a rickshaw at the Deshengmen. Only one strong laborer was needed to pull a carriage, and one could go wherever one wanted.

Wang Jiaping and the two disciples circled the rickshaw three times to the left and three times to the right, watching very carefully, until the carter became anxious. Wang Jiaping gave the carter thirty copper coins to let them watch for a while longer.

The rickshaw's wheels were steel frames, and the rest were wood. The seat was not very big, but it was quite comfortable to sit on.

In the past, Great Ming scholars liked to sit in sedan chairs. There were many two-man and four-man sedan chairs in the Great Ming. Later, the Emperor liked to sit in carriages when traveling. What the superior likes, the inferior will surely like even more, so everyone changed to sitting in carriages. But in fact, sitting in carriages was very, very uncomfortable because of the severe bumping. "Boat and carriage fatigue" was not a joke. If one sat in a carriage, after ten or twenty li, one's body would be shaken apart.

The main reason was that the roads were not hardened and not flat enough. But now, as the capital was filled with smoke from burning cement, the roads began to flatten.

Besides the flattening and hardening of the roads, there was also the shock absorption mechanism. The large-scale mass production of spring steel made the shock absorption mechanism used everywhere. This shock absorption mechanism had to be mentioned because of the Emperor's carriage travel. In order not to shake the Emperor to death, and for the sake of the nine-clan bond, the Great Ming craftsmen completed the design of the shock absorption mechanism.

This rickshaw was also installed with this spring shock absorption mechanism. Sitting on it was like sitting on a boat, rocking and swaying.

It was still bumpy, but it was acceptable.

Even if it rained, it could still be used, because there were four wooden brackets on the seat, and there was a cotton-linen canopy on top. If one was afraid of rain, one could open an umbrella while sitting in the carriage.

The reason Wang Jiaping circled three times to the left and three times to the right, and even let the two disciples sit on it, while Wang Jiaping pulled it himself, was that he nodded continuously.

"Teacher, why have you been staring at it?" Wan Wenqing asked somewhat strangely.

"I saw a light and strong carriage body, saw a bearing that wasn't very laborious, saw the shock absorption structure, saw the flat road surface, saw the Great Ming's coal production, saw the steel production, saw the cotton and linen production, saw the department store thoroughfare. Being able to see this kind of rickshaw on the streets and alleys of the capital means that coal is enough for heating and cooking, and there is a surplus to burn cement and steel. At least in the capital, this is the case," Wang Jiaping said with great emotion.

He actually saw the epitome of the Wanli Reform in this seemingly inconspicuous rickshaw, and he even saw the transformation of production relations. Because ten years ago, even if there were rickshaws, carters wouldn't solicit business at the Zhaoyang Gate and Deshengmen, because the Zhaoyang Gate and Deshengmen had the most high-ranking officials.

Would high-ranking officials give you money for sitting in a carriage? Definitely not. These people with official status would take out their waist tablets, and the carter would have to pull them for free. Not only would they have to pull for free, but they might also have to do work, delaying time and not earning money.

In the past, those with station horse tablets were not only those with official status, but also various mountain people who relied on nepotism to get station horse tablets.

Under the teacher-disciple system, there was also the phenomenon of power sharing. At that time, it was called indulgence, shielding, and nepotism. If one really wanted to talk about it, Wang Jiaping could write tens of thousands of words, occupying several pages of the *People's Daily*. It wasn't that the phenomenon of power sharing only existed since the implementation of the Evaluation Method, but that under the high pressure of the Evaluation Method, power sharing became more widespread.

The court made adjustments in time.

"You've been watching for a long time, are you sitting or not! If you don't sit, I still have to solicit business!" The carter finally couldn't watch anymore. He didn't know which country bumpkin this was, who could watch a rickshaw for half a day and comment on it in a serious manner. Isn't it just a rickshaw?! A look of never having seen the world!

"Sit, sit, sit, to the Huitong Hall Station." Wang Jiaping said with a smile, "If I have an official waist tablet, what will you do?"

"You look like a noble, but nobles also have to pay for sitting in carriages. This is the public announcement posted by His Majesty! Look at the notice on the city gate, His Majesty's clear decree: if someone sits in a carriage without paying, go to the Censorate to report him, and the Censorate's censors will impeach him." The carter put the sweat towel on his shoulder and pointed to the large notice board posted on the city gate with the yellow list.

It was truly Zhu Yijun's decree.

"Can you see the censors?" Wang Jiaping asked curiously as he sat in the carriage.

"Yes, the Censorate's censors go to fetch water at the water nest every day. There is no need to write a complaint; just tell the censors about this matter. We don't know who you officials are, but the Censorate knows very clearly," the carter said with a smile, "Sit tight!"

"Slow down, slow down!" Wang Jiaping grabbed the armrests on both sides of the seat. This carter had strength and moved as fast as flying.

Wang Jiaping was originally heart-pounding, but soon he found that the carriage was pulled very steadily, neither bumpy nor tilting. When encountering a turn, he had to shake the bell and shout loudly to prevent a collision. This was a brand-new experience. Wang Jiaping sat in the rickshaw, shuttling through the streets and alleys.

And the fetching water by the censors mentioned by the carter was also an interesting story. Wang Jiaping went to see it, and the censors were really fetching water.

The Censorate censors urgently needed His Majesty's favor to withdraw the order to fetch water, so they were very concerned about the complaints of the chattering common people. They really impeached several officials who relied on their official status to eat "overlord meals," grab things from stalls while passing by, sit in carriages without paying, and other illegal acts.

But the censors were still fetching water.

Wang Jiaping listened to these interesting stories of the capital and got off at the Huitong Hall Station. He counted the money and gave it to the carter.

"Thank you for the reward, official! May you have a bright future and soar to the sky!" The carter shook his sweat towel and left happily. In fact, Wang Jiaping had already paid, giving thirty wen to watch the carriage before. Now this was considered a reward. Giving more money, of course, he was willing to say a few words that the official liked to hear.

"Did you see it?" Wang Jiaping stood in front of the Huitong Hall Station and said.

Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong looked at each other, both confused. They looked at Wang Jiaping and asked, "What did you see?"

"Vibrant and positive. If the common people are like this, why worry that the world won't flourish?" Wang Jiaping held his right hand and said with great excitement.

Compared to farm work, pulling a carriage was still very easy. Although Wang Jiaping wouldn't farm, he still knew the hardship of the common people. One person sitting in the carriage, no matter how fat, how heavy could it be? The harvest in the fields would all be piled on a cart and pulled home. That was the hard labor. In fact, there were not many livestock among the common people. Having a donkey at home was already considered a wealthy farmer.

After the city roads were hardened, they were also easier to walk on than the muddy roads in the countryside.

"So Teacher likes to hear flattery. Ma Pi is vibrant and positive. Let's flatter more in the future," Wan Wenqing suddenly realized.

Wu Weizhong nodded repeatedly and said, "Exactly, exactly. May Teacher have a bright future and soar to the sky!"

"Hmm?!" Wang Jiaping's face was full of black lines, and his expression was cold, almost dripping water. What was all this!

"I was talking about seeing him striding forward, earning money with his own hands, moving forward for a better life in the future, having hope for the future, having direction for the future, having expectations for life, having a goal for the days. Isn't that vibrant and positive! You, you!" Wang Jiaping flicked his sleeves and was too lazy to pay attention to these two living treasures.

These two living treasures were intentional; they had resentment in their hearts.

Wang Jiaping entered the capital. Although he didn't see Wang Chonggu, he happened to meet Wang Qian. Wang Jiaping greeted Wang Qian and didn't let the two disciples fool around in the capital. Wang Qian agreed immediately upon hearing this. This face still had to be given. Soon, Wang Qian greeted the restaurants in the capital.

Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong, these two monks, only ate vegetarian food.

Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong took advantage of Wang Jiaping going to the Jieku Institute to sneak out to the Taibai Tower, and then fiercely ate a few mouthfuls of vegetarian food. It was better not to eat; not eating meant no longing. This eating completely ruined things. On the contrary, they kept thinking about it, so they acted like this.

For new things, Wang Jiaping could still accept them. He was not a rigid and conservative old-fashioned person, let alone a "cheap scholar" who believed in the laws of the three generations and the laws that would remain unchanged for ten thousand generations.

These were all very fresh experiences, making him truly feel the changes in the Great Ming.

"Teacher, the censors of the Censorate have also redressed many grievances for the common people. Then when will this water-fetching matter come to an end?" Wan Wenqing was still relatively concerned about the result of this matter.

"Don't ask me. I am not your teacher. Go, go, go, go to the brothel to listen to music." Wang Jiaping waved his hand impatiently, "Go ask the girls; they know."

"Don't be like that!" Wu Weizhong said happily, "If the teaching is not strict, it is the teacher's laziness. If we go out and lose face, it is also losing the teacher's face!"

"I shouldn't have had that love for talent and accepted you as disciples in the first place!" Wang Jiaping held his forehead. He already regretted it. He just felt that these two people were very capable, but after accepting them as disciples, he found that they had no ambition and liked to visit brothels. Visiting brothels was a lack of self-discipline in life and would be scolded by the "pure" scholars.

Wang Jiaping pondered for a moment and said, "The Censorate censors want to stop fetching water? That will be when the chickens finish eating the rice mountain, the dogs finish licking the flour mountain, and the fire burns through the copper lock."

"Does Teacher mean that it is impossible forever?" Wan Wenqing had read *Journey to the West* and naturally knew the meaning of these words. The prefect of Fengxian County offended the Jade Emperor, so the Jade Emperor did not send rain and set three impossible conditions before it could rain.

Wu Weizhong gloated and said, "It is truly miserable. Fetching water is fun. I went to see it. Fetching, fetching, they can only carry it if they can't fetch it. Two people have to run several times a day to fill it up. Tsk tsk, the local common people are used to it, but those from other places entering the capital all go to watch the fun."

"It is estimated that they will have to keep fetching it. His Majesty doesn't even allow them to resign because of this." Wang Jiaping was also full of smiles.

Wan Wenqing frowned and said, "Then are the censors still willing to redress grievances for the common people? Anyway, whether they redress grievances or not, they have to fetch water."

"You finally opened your mind and saw the key to the problem." Wang Jiaping said with a gratified look of "a child can be taught." He explained, "The more the Censorate censors redress grievances for the common people, the more they have to fetch water. Even if His Majesty is not for the sake of venting anger, for the sake of this grievance matter, His Majesty is also willing to let them run around."

"This is not right. Redressing grievances is for imperial favor. The more imperial favor, the less imperial favor?" Wu Weizhong immediately understood the tricky part. The more imperial favor, the less imperial favor for the censors; it was impossible to get forgiveness.

Wan Wenqing immediately shook his head and said, "But as an individual, a censor can be promoted. Therefore, the more grievances redressed, the faster the escape from the sea of bitterness. It is not that the more imperial favor, the less imperial favor, but that imperial favor is concentrated on the individual."

"Exactly." Wang Jiaping nodded. Imperial favor did not disappear; it was just concentrated on the censors willing to redress grievances for the common people. This was the reason why this fun could be watched all the time.

Wang Jiaping received the summons. He returned to the capital to report on his duties, and the Great Ming Emperor naturally wanted to see him personally. However, the place of meeting was not in the Tonghe Palace, but in the Imperial Institute of Science. Although it was the forbidden garden, it was not the same place.

Wang Jiaping brought Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong to the Imperial Institute of Science. This was also the first time the three of them had come to the Imperial Institute of Science. At the entrance was the shadow wall of "Acting is one, belief is reality."

Zhu Zaiyu had already explained the two words "belief and reality" in detail in the *Science Report*: bold assumptions, careful verification, in line with practice. If it does not conform to practice, then overthrow the assumptions.

Wang Jiaping came to the Scripture Pavilion, which was the highest building on the central axis of the Imperial Institute of Science, six stories high. It was separately divided by a steel-concrete structure, meaning that even if there was a fire, the fire would not spread to the entire Scripture Pavilion.

And the books were all preserved in drawers. These drawers were also made of iron.

"Is this place fireproof unless deliberately set on fire? Looking at this posture, His Majesty's defensive heart is very heavy," Wan Wenqing said with amazement.

Wang Jiaping sighed. On the way to see the Emperor, the leading eunuch was in front, and he dared to talk nonsense like this. It seemed they really didn't want to progress. He shook his head and said, "You can try."

"Forget it, the head is important." Wan Wenqing heard Wang Jiaping talk about the room full of Zhang Siwei, and his feet were trembling. It was a whole room! This was a very strange but very realistic unit of measurement.

The Scripture Pavilion of the Imperial Institute of Science was not a wooden structure and preserved books by classifying them. Who it was guarding against was self-evident; naturally, it was the thousands of Zhang Siwei.

The shooting holes on the walls of the Scripture Pavilion were His Majesty's defensive heart.

Zhu Yijun had already arrived at the Imperial Institute of Science. This time, Uncle Zhu Zaiyu was going to offer auspicious signs again.

Uncle Zhu Zaiyu always brought countless surprises to the Great Ming Emperor, and this time was no exception. Before uncovering the red silk cloth, Zhu Yijun was not very clear about what strange things the Imperial Institute of Science had tinkered with.

The Emperor was busy with ten thousand things, his schedule was very tight, and because Wang Jiaping had entered the capital from Guangzhou to report on his duties, this centripetal force of the extreme south also needed to be maintained, so Zhu Yijun chose the Imperial Institute of Science.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Wang Jiaping led the two disciples and performed the great ceremony of five bows and three kowtows.

"Exempt from ceremony, exempt from ceremony." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Jiaping and said with a smile, "Did Wang Aiqing go to the Jieku Institute the day before yesterday?"

"Yes." Wang Jiaping hurried to bow and said.

"I still remember the appearance of you and Fan Yingqi teaching me back then. Things are different, people have changed. Now you are a Provincial Governor in Guangdong, and he has closed himself off in the Jieku Institute. Wang Aiqing, in a place impacted by sea goods, must always remember Fan Yingqi's lesson," Zhu Yijun said with full regret.

Fan Yingqi was very talented and was a student of Ge Shouli along with Wang Jiaping. He originally had a bright future, but he was ruined by this opium. Even if he had quit now, it was too late. He had already become like that. Creation makes fools of people.

"I will strictly follow the teachings." Wang Jiaping only had anger at his lack of improvement for Fan Yingqi. A good person was ruined by this kind of thing.

"Go if you want to go. Don't worry about the 'cheap scholars' barking wildly. Let's take a look at what treasure Uncle has tinkered with this time," Zhu Yijun signaled for Wang Jiaping to take his seat with his disciples.

Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong did not have the courage to talk nonsense in front of His Majesty.

Zhu Zaiyu, Jiao Hong, Zhang Siwen, Li Kaifang, Huang Zifu, and others solemnly paid their respects. These were the talents of the Imperial Institute of Science, the top talents in the Great Ming's science.

Zhu Zaiyu stood out and said to everyone, "Last time, we said that all things in the world are composed of smaller insects, or molecules. The greater the heat, the more active the molecules. Many objects, after continuous heating, will melt into a liquid state, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and glass. And liquid further heated will become gaseous."

"And after the boiler is sealed, we can get higher temperatures and faster steam, plus a safety pressure relief valve, so that the boiler will not explode due to too much steam. This triggered a thought in us."

"Can these tiny molecules that we cannot see with our eyes be compressed? Forcing them from gaseous to liquid, from liquid to solid?"

"We started experiments, began to pressurize the air, trying to force these gaseous molecules to hold together again, but we failed. Pressurization further heats the gas. In our calculations, it must be lowered to nearly a hundred degrees below zero to complete liquefaction."

"We couldn't achieve pressurization of gas, because we couldn't get lower temperatures or greater pressure. But our experiment was not without results. We found that compared to gas, liquid seems to be more difficult to compress."

"We found that any point in the liquid receiving external force will be uniformly, instantly, and without any loss transmitted to every corner of the liquid."

After Zhu Zaiyu finished speaking, he pulled open the first red silk cloth. Under the red silk cloth was a heavy glass bottle similar to a communicating vessel. The bottle was filled with amber fish oil. The heavy double-headed dragon glass bottle was not filled with water, but oil.

"This is a one-catty weight. We place the weight on the left side. Everyone, please look: the liquid level on the left drops, and the liquid level on the right rises. At this time, we place a weight of the same weight on the right side. The liquid level on the left returns to its original position, and the two sides reach balance."

Zhu Zaiyu performed a very short experiment that could be understood at a glance, proving the transmission of force between liquids.

This can be used for transmission.

Zhu Yijun, who was familiar with Zhu Zaiyu, had already prepared. If it were just such a simple demonstration, Zhu Zaiyu would at most write a special topic for the *Science Report*, rather than making a big fuss and calling the Emperor to his side.

"Very easy to understand, right." Zhu Zaiyu clapped his hands. This time he was very happy, because everyone present understood what he wanted to express.

Zhu Zaiyu said with a smile, "We knew very early on that the effect of pressure is related to area. For example, one end of a nail is extremely sharp, and all weapons need to be sharpened. There are peddlers walking the streets sharpening scissors, because the knives are not sharp enough to cut things well. When we assigned numbers to cement, we used His Majesty's foot as a unit."

"Stop! Stop it! One foot is one foot, no need to deliberately emphasize my foot!" Zhu Yijun had strongly expressed his opposition back then, and the numbering was changed from the Emperor's foot to a foot.

"Uncle, please continue."

"Using foot as a unit, the area we adopted is the area of His Majesty's shoe," Zhu Zaiyu continued. "What would happen if we expanded the area on the right?"

Zhu Zaiyu pulled open the second red silk cloth and said with a smile, "This is a sealed container. We sealed it. The area on the right is twice that on the left."

"We also used one-catty weights for the experiment."

Zhu Zaiyu placed two one-catty weights on the left and right sides. A magical thing happened: the left side did not return to its original height.

"Very magical, right?" Zhu Zaiyu picked up another weight and placed it on the right side. He said with a smile, "The area on the right is twice that on the left, so it needs two weights to maintain balance. If the area on the right is ten times that on the left, would it need ten weights?" ===== CHAPTER 540 =====