BSI Chapter 94 0092 [The Audacious Eunuch]
Chapter 94 0092 [The Audacious Eunuch]
Chapter 94 0092 [The Audacious Eunuch]
The lanterns, which have been painstakingly made, cannot be exhibited for only one or two nights.
The lantern festival lasts at least five days, and there are seven statutory holidays.
Shen Kuo did not go outside again, and began conducting buoyancy experiments the day after he went to see the lanterns.
The initial experimental approach was quite correct; they directly used the displacement method to measure the volume. They even used force analysis to determine the specific values of the buoyant force acting on some objects.
Then he didn't know how to continue, staring blankly at buoyancy, volume, and weight, as if trying to find some connection.
"Do you really not want me to remind you?" Xu Lai asked.
Shen Kuo waved his hand and said, "No need."
"How much longer are you going to hold out?" Xu Lai asked again.
Shen Kuo stared intently at the experimental data and said, "Two or three months. By the month the list of successful candidates for the imperial examinations is announced last year, my term of service will have been completed."
"Then take your time reading. Just call me whenever you want to know the answer." Xu Lai strolled back to his room to read.
I hadn't read more than a few pages when it became lively outside.
Xu Anshi, who had moved in, bought two donkeys and kept them at the Yu family's house, saying they would be used by his companions for transportation. He also hired a cook to prepare meals for everyone, so as not to waste Xu Lai's time.
Xu Lai asked curiously, "How much does a donkey cost?"
Xu Anshi said, "It's a little more expensive than an ox, but slightly cheaper than a horse."
A donkey is more expensive than a cow?
This was unexpected for Xu Lai.
On that day, Xu Lai and Xu Anshi continued their studies, while Shen Kuo devoted himself to buoyancy experiments.
Yu Shuying and Yu Sigong, along with Lu Zhiyuan and several of their friends, wandered around from day to night. They attended a poetry gathering for the Lantern Festival at noon, and in the evening, a group of scholars went to see the lanterns.
Xu Lai was also invited, but declined, citing the need to study.
The next morning, Shen Kuo continued his experiments without making any progress. He refused to ask Xu Lai for help, determined to figure it out himself.
"We're riding the donkey away!" Xu Anshi shouted into the inner room.
While eating breakfast, Yu Shuying asked, "Where are you going to have fun?"
Xu Lai replied, "I'm going to Ouyang Xiangong's house to attend his lessons."
During the Lantern Festival holiday, Ouyang Xiu didn't have to go to work. He spent two days playing with his family before officially resuming his teaching duties.
Actually, they didn't talk about classics or history. They just assigned essay topics on the spot, and after the younger generation finished writing them, they gave them one-on-one guidance.
Xu Lai and Xu Anshi rode donkeys and soon arrived at Ouyang Xiu's house. About ten steps away, he saw a familiar face.
Shi Xun, the Vice Prefect of Guangzhou!
Xu Lai suppressed a laugh, dismounted from the donkey, stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Xu Lai, a student of the Imperial Academy, greets Prefect Shi."
Shi Xun paused for a moment, then reluctantly returned the greeting with a cupped-hand salute.
As Xu Lai led the donkey toward the gate of the house, Shi Xun couldn't help but ask, "Do you often come to Master Ouyang's house?"
"Occasionally," Xu Lai replied.
After saying this, Xu Lai started chatting with the doorman. Without needing to announce their arrival, he and Xu Anshi led the donkey inside.
Shi Xun, however, was stopped outside.
He was not as good as Xu Lai, and not even as good as those two donkeys.
Shi Xun has been in Kaifeng for a month.
He first went to visit Cai Xiang, but couldn't even get into Cai Xiang's house. Now he came to see Ouyang Xiu, but Ouyang Xiu also refused to see him.
Yu Jing's letter worked!
His father, Shi Changyan, had approached Cai Xiang, who then recommended Shi Xun for the position of Vice Prefect. If Shi Xun made a mistake in office, Cai Xiang, as the recommender, would inevitably be implicated.
Last year, Cai Xiang was impeached severely. After receiving a letter from Yu Jing, he was afraid that Shi Xun would cause him trouble, so he sought out Han Qi to handle the matter.
Han Qi was particularly ruthless. He didn't even bother to transfer Shi Xun elsewhere, and instead used Shi Changyan's illness as an excuse to send Shi Xun home to take care of his elderly father.
Next, Shi Xun will be in a state of waiting for his official appointment; who knows when he will be reinstated?
Shi Xun, however, did not want to be idle, so he went to the capital to ask someone to intercede on his behalf, but he could not find anyone no matter how hard he looked.
"I implore my father-in-law to inform them again," Shi Xun said, taking out some silver.
The doorman coldly refused, "I've told you countless times, my husband doesn't want to see you. Sending me money won't help."
Shi Xun was completely speechless, but at the same time, he was furious.
He already regretted it; he shouldn't have listened to Han Qi's arrangements and should have stubbornly stayed in Guangzhou. As long as he didn't apply for leave himself, no one could force him to "retire due to old age."
At worst, I can fall out with Han Qi and be transferred around aimlessly. That's better than being subservient to a doorman!
"Haha, Brother Xingzhi."
The devoted admirer, Ouyang Bian, greeted Xu Lai warmly, taking his hand and saying, "I specially copied down your poems and historical essays, and showed them to many friends between New Year's Day and the Lantern Festival. They all praised them highly!"
"Xingzhi's talent and reputation have already spread throughout Tokyo," Ouyang Fei said with a smile.
Xu Lai quickly replied, "It was just luck."
The four men went into the study to chat, talking about their New Year experiences, while waiting for Ouyang Xiu to come and give them a lesson.
Before long, Ouyang Xiu arrived with a smile and said to Xu, "Xingzhi's mulberry shears will be promoted in various places this year. Scholar Zeng highly praised you."
Zeng Xueshi was none other than Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang, a native of Fujian.
Zeng Gongliang ordered the promotion of mulberry shears, thinking that there were many tea gardens in Fujian, and that the elders in his hometown could use shears to prune tea trees.
Of the inventions Xu Lai came up with, one was eventually promoted nationwide by the imperial court.
After saying a few more words, Ouyang Xiu assigned essay topics to the four younger men, and then sat down to read leisurely.
About 15 minutes later, his eldest son, Ouyang Fa, rushed in and whispered a few words in Ouyang Xiu's ear.
Ouyang Xiu's expression changed immediately, and he left the study without saying a word.
Ouyang Fa said to Xu Lai and the other three, "You will study on your own today."
Meanwhile, Ouyang Xiu rode in a carriage straight to Han Qi's house.
Upon meeting, before any pleasantries could be exchanged, Ouyang Xiu asked, "Is the news true?"
Han Qi handed Ouyang Xiu a piece of paper: "This is a summary of information from all sides."
Ouyang Xiu glanced through it, but before he finished, he slammed his fist on the table in anger: "How dare this eunuch!"
Last December, the Empress Dowager wrote a letter to Han Qi, which was full of the Emperor's absurd words and deeds.
Han Qi immediately sensed something was wrong and burned the letter in front of the eunuch who delivered it.
The next day, Han Qi went to the palace to persuade the Empress Dowager, hoping to ease the conflict between her and the Emperor.
But the results were not good.
Han Qi then secretly contacted Sima Guang, Wang Gui, and others, and together they gathered information about the palace.
Now, I've finally found out the truth.
It was a eunuch named Ren Shouzhong who was behind this.
Ren Shouzhong had already been in charge of the close eunuchs during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, and his cronies were spread throughout the harem.
This guy had a bad relationship with Zhao Shu, and once ordered the eunuchs and palace maids not to give Zhao Shu food, almost causing Zhao Shu to starve to death in the palace.
During the mourning period for Prince Pu (Zhao Shu's biological father), he took the opportunity to extort money.
With Emperor Renzong on his deathbed, Ren Shouzhong continued to speak ill of Zhao Shu and urged Renzong to appoint a member of the imperial clan as crown prince. This caused Emperor Renzong to waver, and he did not determine a successor until his death.
If Han Qi hadn't reacted quickly, fabricating a decree to force Zhao Shu to ascend the throne, who knows what kind of trouble Ren Shouzhong would have caused.
After Zhao Shu succeeded to the throne, Ren Shouzhong was naturally terrified.
He constantly spoke ill of Zhao Shu to the Empress Dowager. He also arranged for eunuchs and palace maids to secretly speak ill of the Empress Dowager, deliberately letting Zhao Shu overhear.
After all this, the relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor deteriorated to an extreme degree!
"Does the Empress Dowager know about this?" Ouyang Xiu asked.
Han Qi said, "Although the information we found before wasn't this detailed, it was clear that Ren Shouzhong was the one doing the evil. I hinted at it many times, almost saying it outright. But the Empress Dowager didn't believe me at all, and instead showed even more favor to Ren Shouzhong."
Ouyang Xiu frowned deeply.
The eunuchs favored by the Empress Dowager had their cronies throughout the inner palace, and the officials outside the palace had no way to deal with them.
Ouyang Xiu said in a low voice, "The most urgent task is to save the Emperor's life and prevent Ren Shouzhong from resorting to desperate measures."
"I've already made the arrangements."
Han Qi said, "I have advised the Empress Dowager many times. If the soft approach doesn't work, we have to take a hard one. We can't handle this personally, otherwise there will be no room for maneuver."
"Should we get the Censorate to handle this?" Ouyang Xiu asked.
Han Qi nodded and said, "On the premise of ensuring the Emperor's life is not in danger, let Sima Junshi (Sima Guang) impeach Ren Shouzhong first. Sima Junshi has already agreed to cooperate. If the Empress Dowager still does not realize the error of her ways, let Gong Fuzhi (Gong Dingchen) lead the remonstrating officials to submit a memorial requesting the Empress Dowager to return power to the new emperor."
"What if the Empress Dowager is unwilling to return power?" Ouyang Xiu pressed.
Han Qi said, "Then force her to relinquish power! Otherwise, if we let that eunuch continue to cause trouble, something unspeakable will happen in the palace sooner or later."
A eunuch successfully united the ministers who were at odds with each other.
Over the next few months, no matter how fiercely Han Qi, Sima Guang, and others argued, they were actually cooperating with each other.
Let's get rid of the rebellious eunuchs first!
Xu Lai, of course, knew nothing of such palace secrets.
He ate lunch at Ouyang Xiu's house and read until mid-afternoon before leaving with Xu Anshi on a donkey.
When he returned home, the Yu family uncle and nephew were not there; only Xu Anshi's pageboy was assisting Shen Kuo in his experiments.
"Do it—"
Shen Kuo hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help asking, "Can buoyancy be calculated using a formula?"
Xu Lai replied, "Okay."
Shen Kuo then asked, "Is it related to volume?"
"Yes."
"Is it related to weight?"
"That's true."
"and then?"
-
"For objects of the same volume, some are heavier and some are lighter. The mass per unit volume of a substance is called density. This involves some conceptual definitions, such as what matter is."
"6
Shen Kuo, who had only wanted a hint, knew that things were not simple once he heard these words.
Something new again!
Shen Kuo, who was already in his early thirties and whose son was five or six years old, bowed respectfully to Xu Lai and said, "Please give me your guidance."
"Don't do that."
Xu Lai quickly went over to explain.
Xu Anshi, who was focused on the imperial examination, couldn't resist his curiosity and went over to listen to the question about buoyancy.
As soon as Xu finished explaining the concept of density, Shen Kuo suddenly understood. He didn't need Xu to continue explaining; he already knew how to proceed with the experiment.
A few days later, Shen Kuo, thinking of sky lanterns, actually said to Xu, "If we make sky lanterns big enough and the buoyancy is strong enough, could we take people up into the sky?"
Xu Lai looked at Shen Kuo and thought: This guy wouldn't be thinking of building a hot air balloon, would he?
At the same time, Zhao Xu was promoted from Prince of Huaiyang to Prince of Ying.
With his revised copy of "The Great Learning" and Xu Lai's Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Principles, Han Wei was just waiting for the Lantern Festival holiday to end so he could go to the Prince's Palace to give a lecture to Zhao Xu.
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