Chapter 471: Half of the

The change in atmosphere, the speed of the shift in expression.

It was staggering.

Even Situ Kong, an old man accustomed to the ways of the world, could not help but mutter to himself, but in the end, he still said, "Prefect Liu, please!"

"Hahahaha, let's go!"

Liu Zheng waved his hand grandly.

Jie Yu was stunned at this moment. Was it really that simple? The personality of this Prefect Liu was truly...

These people, naturally, could not take that "elevator" up the mountain.

The Academy, for its part, naturally wanted to use this moment to give this Prefect Liu a display of intimidation.

After a young man behind Situ Kong whistled, several boats came speeding from all directions. Although the boats were small, their speed was extremely fast. And it was fast to a degree that was breathtaking; looking closely, the stern of the boat actually had a unique setup, equipped with boat wings, and those wings churned in the water, providing power to the vessel. The design was so ingenious that even Liu Zheng's eyes lit up.

He knew that there were certainly no motors in this era.

But to be able to use wooden mechanisms to create such exquisite boat wings, this person must be a great talent in Mechanism Art.

Likewise, he was also a master of mechanical physics!

Wasn't this the talent he was looking for?

Seeming to sense a trace of surprise in the eyes of this Prefect Liu, the young man behind Situ Kong could not help but snort coldly: "Prefect Liu, how does this boat compare to your Yinzhou Warship?"

"Zhang Yang!"

Situ Kong could not help but shout, his face showing displeasure.

Liu Zheng looked over; the young man was about the same age as himself, looking dashing and stylish, with a lot of flair. There must be many arrogant and outstanding people in this Academy, and Liu Zheng had long been mentally prepared for that.

So, facing the young man's provocative gaze, he just chuckled and said indifferently: "There is no comparison."

Hearing this, Zhang Yang could not help but raise the corner of his mouth: "That's right, this is the masterpiece of our Third Senior Brother! It is known as the fastest boat in the world..."

Liu Zheng, however, shook his head: "I mean, your boat and the Yinzhou Warship are completely incomparable."

"You..."

"What did you say?"

"How arrogant!"

Zhang Yang looked furious.

Situ Kong also watched with a smile, wanting to see how this Prefect Liu would refute him.

At this time, they were already on a boat; this type of fast boat could accommodate nearly ten people. On this boat, naturally, were Liu Zheng, Qin Zhangfeng, Pei Qianyun, Pei Yanran, Situ Kong, Jie Yu, and others; the remaining few, one could imagine, did not have low status in this Academy.

This Zhang Yang's status in the Academy was naturally not ordinary. Unlike others who came to the Academy to escape the world, he was born into a noble family, a young master of a wealthy clan in the Jiangnan region. After arriving at the Academy, he and the Seventh Senior Brother Chen Ran were birds of a feather, both enrolling in the Strategy Xueke. Therefore, how could he not be angry that his favorite senior brother was killed by the person in front of him? It was only natural that he would dare to bombard the Academy today and speak with sarcasm.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "I don't know if your Third Senior Brother has tried using his Mechanism Art to power a larger boat. But I believe a ten-person small boat is already the limit for this mechanism of his. Wooden gears and mechanisms have limited load-bearing capacity. Steel is the direction of future development, so this boat is already finalized and it is difficult to achieve more. The Yinzhou Warship is different; from the beginning of its design, space was left for the power mechanism to be flexibly adapted. As the power mechanism is upgraded, the Yinzhou Warship can still be modified."

"So you tell me, is there any comparison?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Yang's face changed drastically.

Situ Kong's eyes also lit up, and he asked: "Does Prefect Liu mean..."

Liu Zheng laughed: "Gears are only for transmission; the source of power is the key!"

This was the reason why he came to the Academy... For so many years, the Huaxia people have actually had breathtaking achievements in Mechanism Art and mechanics. For example, the application of gears appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The South-Pointing Chariot and the Drum-Carriage that appeared during the Three Kingdoms period already used gear transmission systems. The water-powered mill invented by Du Yu of the Jin Dynasty used gears to transmit the power of a water wheel to a stone mill.

In the Tang and Song dynasties, the use of gear power transmission devices had also reached a peak.

However...

Only in terms of the source of power was the Huaxia nation not in a leading position in the world. Moreover, it could be said to be quite backward... Especially during the First Industrial Revolution, the appearance of the Steam Engine left this former Celestial Empire far behind in terms of technology.

Simply put.

Mechanism Art is the study of physics.

The source of power is the study of chemistry.

But in ancient times, they were collectively called "Investigation of Things"!

Mechanism Art was revered by the Mohist School, and later, repeating crossbows and wooden oxen and flowing horses all applied Mechanism Art to the extreme.

Mohist Mechanism Art influenced Chinese history for many years and is undoubtedly a crystallization of human wisdom.

However...

In Liu Zheng's view, it was precisely because this long-inherited Mechanism Art made people too obsessed with the requirements of wisdom. On the other hand, it affected the "simple and crude" pursuit of the source of power.

This is what caused the Huaxia nation to eventually be beaten passively.

The reason why Western society was able to rise rapidly was that it mastered a more direct source of power; when the Steam Engine, Petroleum, and various simple and crude sources of power appeared, the world landscape began to tilt.

And Liu Zheng?

Coming to Liangshan this time was to do two things.

Chemistry and physics, both must be grasped, and both must be firm!

On one hand, let Rhodes help him recruit Western talent.

On the other hand, he wanted to win over the geniuses of Investigation of Things at the Academy.

When this physics and chemistry were combined, he could imagine that his scientific field was about to take off!

"Source of power?"

Situ Kong was also thoughtful upon hearing this.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly and said no more.

"Hmph, playing mystery!"

Zhang Yang naturally would not let it go and shouted coldly: "My Third Senior Brother is known as half of the 'Mohist Canon'; could it be that he is not as good as you?"

Liu Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Is that so? Then today, I must meet this Third Senior Brother of yours!"

"Mohist Canon"!

This is a hall-of-fame ancient book of Huaxia's Investigation of Things and physics. Among them, the six chapters of "Canon I", "Canon II", "Explanation of Canon I", "Explanation of Canon II", as well as "Greater Selection" and "Lesser Selection", specifically explain logic, time, space, material structure, mechanics, optics, acoustics, Algebra, Geometry, and other contents.

The "Mohist Canon" represents one of the highest peaks in the development of Chinese science.

Regarding mechanics, the "Mohist Canon" puts forward a definition of mechanical motion: "Motion is the displacement of a domain."

This means that the essence of mechanical motion is the change in an object's position, which is completely consistent with the modern definition of mechanical motion.

At the same time, the Mohist School grasped the law of the lever two centuries earlier than Archimedes.

In the field of optics, among the vast sea of classical historical works in our country, the "Mohist Canon" is the only classic that provides a systematic discussion on the development of ancient geometric optics in our country.

The "Mohist Canon" records the world's earliest "pinhole imaging" experiment conducted by Mozi and his students, and provides insightful observations on the experimental results; this was the first scientific explanation of light traveling in a straight line. In mathematics, the "Mohist Canon" proposes several definitions of Geometry, such as the definition of a circle cited in middle school mathematics textbooks: "A circle is that which has one center and equal lengths." This is completely consistent with the definition of a circle in modern mathematics: "the locus of points equidistant from a central point."

Half of the Mohist Canon?

Good heavens!

Liu Zheng was becoming more and more interested in this Academy!