Chapter 1524: Calendar System (Part IV)

Baifeng hurriedly stopped the argument: "Alright, alright, everyone be quiet. I let you communicate properly, so how did you end up with a result like this?"

These two groups had both been doing the same work for a long time, and had been isolated from the outside world for a long time; their own mindsets might have already been seriously affected. If their years of work were then to be negated, it would be no wonder they couldn't find a way forward.

"King of Huaxia, then you tell us, what should be done about this? In any case, you cannot destroy the laws of the moon!

If one month is off by one day, then after these twelve months, the laws of the moon will be completely inaccurate!"

Baifeng pressed his hands down to let them calm down first: "That certainly won't happen. Didn't I have you combine the observation results of the sun and the moon precisely to avoid such problems?

Furthermore, because a month of the moon is not a fixed thirty days, but rather twenty-nine and some days, you cannot fix a month at exactly thirty days. You still need to continue to revise this.

The method of revision is also simple. Why not just make some months twenty-nine days and some months thirty days, and average it out? Just divide them into long and short months."

Xihe asked again: "Then, how do we calculate the long and short months? Should we calculate them by alternating intervals?"

"No, you still look at the moon. Look at the moon on the first day of each month; if there is no new moon, then it is a short month. If the moon is full on the fifteenth day, it is also a short month. Conversely, if the moon is full on the sixteenth, then it is a long month. Or, look at the second day of each month—no, you should look at the second day specifically. If there is a moon, it is a long month; if there is none, it is a short month. Looking on the second day is more accurate."

These words of Baifeng were accepted by everyone in the Moon Observation Group, because this completely conformed to the laws of the moon they had observed.

Ta was a bit anxious: "King, then what about the extra eleven days?"

Baifeng could not bear to speak too harshly to his subordinates who had worked hard for several years, so he could only say slowly: "Put these eleven days into the next year. The second year will also have eleven days, and the third year will have them too; add them together and you get thirty-three days.

These thirty-three days will be a Leap Month. If you calculate it according to long months, there will still be three days left. Wouldn't it work to just keep pushing those three days back and save up for another month?"

"Although the time of a year this way is not completely consistent with the time you observed for the sun, as long as the number of years increases, averaging it out will be no problem. The most important thing is still the moon. The moon is a small unit; if there is a slight deviation, it will be off by more than ten days after a year, right?"

Once explained this way, both sides understood, but wanting to create this Leap Month was still a bit difficult, because there were many moon-related issues to consider, and there would be thirteen months in a year.

Xuanyuan understood, but not completely, because he knew almost nothing about the observation of the sun and the moon, and his head was not filled with that much data.

"As for the Leap Month, how it should be arranged, that will have to depend on those special days you in the Sun Group have observed."

When Baifeng said this, the people of the Sun Observation Group straightened their backs again, thinking: although I lost on the issue of the year, the arrangement of your months still has to depend on us, right?

Baifeng said: "Those days with special sun shadows that you observed, such as the Summer Solstice, the Winter Solstice, and the Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox I mentioned, are the standards for arranging the Leap Month, and they are also the most important things in the calendar. If you want to use the calendar to direct agricultural farming, these days are the most important. I call them 'Solar Terms'."

"Solar Terms are basically one every fourteen to sixteen days, averaging one every fifteen days; they are also not fixed."

Baifeng suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh, I forgot one group of people! Xuanyuan, quickly, take us to that person who studies Lulu. What was his name again? He is also key!"

"Linglun," Xuanyuan introduced, "He was originally my music official. I let him establish music theory, the same as your Huaxia's, but he wanted to find the most authentic sound through Nature, and then he discovered this thing. Does this also have to do with the calendar you mentioned?"

Baifeng was exceptionally excited: "That goes without saying! Lulu is the most important step in determining the Solar Terms. With it, not only can you know which day the Solar Term falls on, but you can even know which hour."

Ta's excited heart suddenly turned cold again: "King, didn't you say it had to do with our sun? How is it a matter for a musician again?"

Baifeng comforted them: "Lulu only determines that it has reached this day, but it cannot deduce which day it is. To get specific, it still depends on you, but this is very complicated, and I don't understand it either. Let's go together to see him. You talk to each other, and you will know how to calculate it. Perhaps you already know how to calculate it, you just don't know what it is."

Xihe hurriedly said again: "King of Huaxia! We have also observed that there are a few stars that will appear at specific positions at specific times. You haven't told us about this yet. Could it also be related to this?"

Baifeng felt that he was just one final step away from a basically mature calendar. Perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, the calendar would be born; he couldn't help but be anxious.

He hurriedly said: "I cannot be sure yet. So, bring the relevant documents and data. If you have it memorized in your heads, then forget it. Let's go down the mountain!"

"We remember, we all remember!"

The people of the Moon Observation Group did not bring a single piece of paper, and hurriedly wanted to go down the mountain together. One of them, after stepping out, discovered that there was no one left here and was afraid that the office would be blown by the wind and rained on; if the document data were lost, it would be bad. So, they stayed behind to close the door and blocked it with a door stone, and only then did they feel relieved and follow quickly down the mountain.

Xuanyuan also asked Baifeng with some urgency: "Baifeng, is the calendar going to be finished soon?"

Baifeng's joy was evident: "It's going to be finished, it's going to be finished. As long as these things are combined, it will be a complete calendar, enough to be used for dozens or hundreds of years, and it will be accurate. As long as we continue to observe in the future and keep correcting the precision, one day, we will be able to create a calendar that will remain accurate for tens of thousands of years!

Moreover, I feel it will be in these few days. They already have enough data and have understood enough. I will help a bit more, and in these one or two days, we must get the calendar made.

Xuanyuan, do you know what this means?"

"We will have something that can guide farming, and we will no longer miss the time for planting and harvesting."

Baifeng's expression was almost manic: "No, no! Xuanyuan, it goes beyond that. If the calendar is made, its influence will be greater than you can imagine!

It is not just about life; for military, politics, people's livelihood, and even medicine, it will have a huge boost that you cannot imagine. It will allow us to know exactly what time we are living in, and let future generations also know what time we were living in!

The merit of creating the calendar can be compared to Shennong! Fuxi! This is a more important matter than conquering the Shennong Clan!"