NOVEL NEXT Chapter 289 Flying to the sky
Where is the enemy weakest in terms of public opinion?
Without Zhu Di having to think about it, Jiang Xinghuo gave the answer directly.
"Heavenly principles."
"Your Majesty probably has a certain understanding of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism."
Zhu Di nodded bravely. He did have a certain understanding, but this was definitely not much.
But they probably knew that the theoretical level of Zhu Di and his son should be relatively weak, Yao Guangxiao helped explain.
"Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism believes that everything has a natural principle."
"To pursue this natural principle, we must look at the nature of all things, that is, to study things to gain knowledge (natural principle)."
"Studying things to achieve knowledge comes from the "Book of Rites": Those who want to be sincere in their meanings must first understand them. To achieve knowledge is to investigate things and then understand them. After knowing them, they can sincerely understand them. However, "The Great Learning" itself does not explain the investigation of things to achieve knowledge. , the current explanation is the understanding of later generations.”
In fact, here, some hidden dangers regarding the final right of interpretation have been laid, Yao Guangxiao continued.
"The study of things in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has two meanings."
"The first level is to eliminate the mind and objects. If we use Buddhist terms, it is to eliminate greed, anger and ignorance."
"The second level is to exclude things, that is, to understand the principles of things in this world. This principle can only be learned in specific things, but after learning it, it can be used in everything. It does not stick to one or two things, and it does not require Examine all foreign objects, but after all, a gentleman must examine objects, otherwise he will not be able to know."
"The reason is that Zhizhi, the word 'Zhi' here means the ultimate, and 'Zhi' means not only knowledge, but also understanding and perception."
"The relationship between studying things and attaining knowledge is that studying things is the process of attaining knowledge, and attaining knowledge is the purpose of studying things. The study of things and attaining knowledge are connected together, that is, by eliminating mental objects and external objects, knowledge and perception can be reached to the extreme, which is the same as reading Wanjuan The meaning of "A book travels thousands of miles" is somewhat close."
Yao Guangxiao's explanation of the main contents of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was very simple and easy to understand, and Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu understood it.
But I didn’t understand.
Zhu Gaoxu scratched his beard and asked, "But what does this have to do with the war of public opinion?"
"The relationship lies in." Jiang Xinghuo revealed, "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, whether it is Er Cheng or Zhu Xi, did not tell how this 'Gewu' 'Gewu' was done, nor did they explain clearly what 'Gewu' 'Gewu' did What does the ‘natural principle’ look like?”
"So." Zhu Di suddenly had some guess.
Jiang Xinghuo's calm words confirmed Zhu Di's guess.
“What science cannot do, science can do!”
"Science can 'investigate things' in a way that everyone can understand, and it can also make the fundamental principles of 'natural principles' clear to everyone in the world through experiments and theories."
"And the first truth to be proved is the truth about rain."
Jiang Xinghuo's words fell in Zhu Di's ears, which were quite deafening.
"The high-altitude Cheng Yun Zhi Yu is the celestial being used by the enemy to attack us, isn't it? Is it the 'natural principle' in the literal sense?"
Jiang Xinghuo's eyes suddenly became sharp.
"But Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, can you explain clearly what the natural principles of Cheng Yu are?"
"They can't!"
"The reason why no one can deny this theory is because in the traditional concept, Chengyu is the power of God and cannot be falsified or confirmed."
Zhu Di became slightly excited. For him, the invisible battlefield of public opinion war was a new challenge that was no less than going into battle to kill people.
"The Imperial Master has indeed taught the principle of forming clouds and causing rain, but how can the Imperial Master prove it to the world?"
Jiang Xinghuo smiled lightly and said: "In prison, due to the limited environment, it is naturally impossible to prove it, but this does not mean that it cannot be proved now."
"The greatest characteristic of science is that it can be verified."
"As long as we fly into the sky and artificially cause the clouds to rain, wouldn't we be able to prove it?"
Fly into the sky?
Zhu Gaoxu, who was nearby, didn't even bother stroking his beloved beard, and was stunned on the spot.
How can a mortal fly to the sky?
Zhu Gaoxu had a guess.
"——Mr. Jiang, are you going to use magic?"
Jiang Xinghuo was startled, knowing that the other party was wrong, so he simply said: "You don't need immortal magic, people can fly."
Flying into the sky has been one of mankind's ultimate dreams since ancient times.
The yearning for the sky has also led to the birth of many beautiful myths by humans, such as Chang'e flying to the moon. But those are myths after all, not reality.
Since recorded history, no one has really flown into the sky.
So when the theory of "flying to the sky" appeared in front of Zhu Di, especially when Jiang Xinghuo told him that mortals could fly to the sky without the need for immortal magic, Zhu Di was a little unbelievable.
Is it possible that it can also give wings to people, so that they can control the wind?
"Kongming Lantern, Your Majesty should have seen it before."
Zhu Di nodded.
Jiang Xinghuo continued: "I will make a huge sky lantern, and then use the buoyancy to lift it into the air and carry people to the sky."
Looking at the expressions of several people, Jiang Xinghuo explained: "Actually, the truth here is not difficult to understand. It can also be explained by physics among the six major disciplines of natural science. Everything has its fundamental truth."
Zhu Gaoxu really felt at this time that Mr. Jiang's science was quite magical and could explain everything.
"The reason is that the density, that is, the mass of a certain unit volume, is different in different situations, and the density of the air inside and outside the Kongming Lantern will become different due to heating. Once the Kongming Lantern is heated, part of the air will It expands when heated and flows out of the sphere, making the air inside the air denser than the outside air, so the Kongming Lantern can fly."
Although he didn't quite understand it, Zhu Di knew from experience that Jiang Xinghuo's statement, which could be proven, was most likely correct.
Zhu Di's problem is another aspect that he is most concerned about.
"Then if this large manned sky lantern can take off and land, wouldn't it be used for reconnaissance? Standing high and seeing far away, whether it is a field battle or an siege, you can clearly see the opponent's layout. Clearly.”
"That's right." Jiang Xinghuo nodded, "In the age of firearms, this large sky lantern could also be used as an artillery observation post to correct the impact of artillery shells."
"How did the flying Kongming Lantern land? You can't use it once and someone will die, right?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but ask.
Although it’s not that I can’t afford to die, it still feels a bit wasteful.
"It's the same principle as rising."
Jiang Xinghuo explained: "If there is no new heat added, the density of the air inside will gradually increase and slowly fall. People standing in the large Kongming Lantern can control this process and let the heat released by the combustion Slowly reduce it and it will naturally land slowly."
Since the principle of rising and falling is the same, there is nothing to worry about. Zhu Di felt a little relieved when he thought that the Ming army would have another war weapon in the future.
But Zhu Gaoxu, who was diligent in thinking, asked another question.
"But even if a large Kongming Lantern carries people to the sky, it can land smoothly. How can it make the sky rain?"
"Do you still remember the principle of rainfall that I told you before?"
"Remember."
Zhu Gaoxu nodded and repeated what he said before when he told his father to "believe in science."
Jiang Xinghuo said: "Water vapor forms cloud droplets. When the cloud droplets grow to a certain extent, they will swallow up more small cloud droplets and make themselves stronger. When the air cannot support them, they will fall straight from the clouds to the ground. Become our common rain.”
"The reason for drought is either that there are no clouds at all, or there are not enough cloud droplets in the clouds to form rain. But Jiangnan is not Mobei. It is impossible that there are no clouds at all. The current drought in spring is just because of the clouds in the sky. There aren’t enough cloud drops in it.”
"So." Zhu Gaoxu's eyes lit up, "Mr. Jiang has a way to artificially increase cloud droplets?"
"good!"
Jiang Xinghuo agreed with the eldest disciple's statement and then said.
"People only need to fly to the sky on a large Kongming Lantern, sprinkle rain-inducing agents made through chemical methods into the clouds, and artificially make them become the condensed nuclei of water droplets in the clouds, and the cloud droplets will quickly condense around them to a certain extent. After the volume is increased, rainfall will naturally occur.”
Jiang Xinghuo's words were automatically translated in Zhu Di's ears.
Oh, alchemy, right?
This is easy to say, as there are professional Taoist priests who have been practicing for decades.
Zhu Di said: "I will call Yuan and Zhang to come."
"This is easy, we can talk about it later."
Jiang Xinghuo hurriedly stopped Zhu Di. Although the preparation of silver iodide in ancient times was not easy, it was by no means impossible for the imperial power who could mobilize the resources of the entire Ming Dynasty.
The real difficulty in artificial rainfall is the production and experimentation of hot air balloons.
If this thing is not handled well, it will really kill people.
Jiang Xinghuo said to Zhu Di: "The more difficult thing is the large Kongming Lantern. I would also like to ask your Majesty to allocate the war bureau of the inner court and the craftsmen in the army to me for unified deployment."
Zhu Di thought for a moment and then nodded and agreed: "Okay, I agree with you to give it a try, but if you encounter danger, don't show off."
Jiang Xinghuo saw that the solution had been explained clearly, and then said.
"Therefore, the third aspect of defeating the enemy in the public opinion war is to first provoke a debate about the 'natural principle' of rain and how to observe things, and finally, through the empirical evidence of artificial rainfall, to thoroughly prove Cheng Zhu in front of the world. This part of Neo-Confucianism is wrong and cannot be verified!"
"And whether it rains or not has nothing to do with the reform!"
Zhu Di agreed: "Okay, I have full authority to leave this matter to the National Preceptor."
"According to the order."
Jiang Xinghuo cupped his hands and said: "As for the dispute that provoked the public opinion war and counterattack, it is necessary for the imperial court's "Di Bao" to discuss the 'natural principle of rain'. On this point, His Majesty will instruct the cabinet. After all, the cabinet is the The one who wrote Di Bao."