Chapter 570 [Second Update] 570
In fact, if you want to completely dispel Liu Che's idea of seeking immortality, the best way is to shatter all his hopes now.
But Liu Tan hesitated for a moment and felt a little reluctant. Anyway... this is how society is now. The exploration of science cannot allow people to completely abandon the mythological system.
What's more, even if science is so advanced in later generations, it cannot stop people from being superstitious.
Moreover, it is better for Liu Che to set his sights on the starry sky than on the sea - at least he can't go to the sky now.
If you want to go to heaven, you have to develop technology. As long as Liu Che is determined to develop technology, no matter what his purpose is, it will be good.
What's more, what Liu Tan said is not wrong. Those stars that can be seen by the human eye may be many light years away from the earth. Maybe there are living creatures living on them, and aliens may exist.
Liu Che hadn't expected any answer when he asked this question, and although Liu Tan wasn't entirely sure, he had given off some signals. He couldn't help but wonder, "What? Really?"
Liu Tan said, "I haven't seen it either, but it should exist, and it's very likely to be completely different from ours."
Liu Che became interested and asked while looking at the stars: "Oh? How is it different?"
Liu Tan immediately started to talk nonsense. "Maybe there's a creature with a human head but no body, and tentacles all over it. Or maybe it has a human head and body, but the hands and feet are like a mantis' sickle. Or maybe it's completely different from humans, with a large head and a small body, eyes like copper bells, and smooth skin that's blue or purple."
All these nonsense that Liu Tan talked about were what he had seen in science fiction magazines or books before. In fact, this also represents human imagination.
Human imagination has always been based on scientific progress. With the development of science, human imagination has also undergone various changes.
Liu Che was originally looking at the stars seriously, but when he heard Liu Tan say this, he couldn't help but turn around and look at him in surprise, with a look on his face: And you still say you haven't seen this?
If you really have never seen it, how could you know it so clearly?
Liu Tan blinked at Liu Che and said, "This is all my guesses. Actually, even these guesses can be found in various animals. So maybe... ahem, the inhabitants of those stars are beyond my imagination."
In fact, what he listed has a lot to do with the changes in various totems in ancient times. For example, the changes of the dragon, from the snake at the beginning to the addition of four legs, and later the image became more and more specific. Basically, people saw many mysterious animals that they had never seen before, and then decorated the dragon with those things, and it gradually evolved into its final appearance.
So no matter how much you let your imagination run wild, you can still find its shadow in reality.
What Liu Tan said was true, but in Liu Che's view, he felt that he was making excuses.
He asked thoughtfully, "Isn't it... that there is no one?"
The things Liu Tan described were so bizarre. Could it be that the immortal world was made up of all these strange things? If that was the case... then what was his son like before?
Liu Che went over all the images that Liu Tan had just mentioned in his mind, thinking of those he could imagine and throwing aside those he couldn't imagine. In the end, he felt that none of them looked like each other.
Because the things Liu Tan mentioned seemed to be dangerous, whether it was the tentacles or the mantis's sharp sickle, they were all aggressive.
And his son...is the most harmless among ordinary people. How is he like those things?
Liu Tan had no idea that Liu Che had already suspected that he was some other species. He thought for a moment and said, "There should be."
As long as there is a place with a living environment similar to that of the Earth, it is not surprising that carbon-based humans appear.
Liu Che understood when he heard it. If there was such a thing, then his son should be that kind.
As for Liu Tan's uncertain tone, he simply ignored it. After all, his son always left some room for maneuver when doing something and never made big promises.
Liu Che was well aware of his habit and would automatically ignore any uncertain meanings.
Liu Che asked with great interest, "Then how can we get to those stars?"
When they arrived, Liu Tan said calmly, "Going to the stars? This... seems a bit difficult."
When Liu Che heard this, he thought it was a bit difficult, but not extremely difficult, or completely impossible, which meant it was possible.
Come to think of it, going up to the stars does sound much more elegant than going out to sea in search of immortals.
Liu Che gave up going to sea because he had traveled so far but had not seen the fairyland, so it was obvious that the fairyland did not exist.
Luzon Island was very far away for Liu Che, so he really thought that once he arrived in Luzon Island, he had reached the end of the world. He did not even see the fairyland. Either the fairyland had disappeared, or it did not exist.
No matter which one it was, Liu Che was very disappointed.
But now he thought, since this is the fairyland, how could it be the same as where ordinary people live? If he became a fairy with the ability to fly and hide, he would also want to live on the stars and overlook the world, rather than choose to stay in the human world.
Liu Che suddenly ignited a desire for heaven.
It’s just that going up to the sky is harder than going down to the sea.
At least we have a boat to go to the sea. Even if the boat is not advanced enough or there are dangers, we can still go to the sea.
But going to the sky... Now the way humans want to get closer to the sky is to build higher platforms, and the platforms are also built up bit by bit with rammed earth. The manpower and material resources consumed are absolutely unimaginable to future generations.
Liu Che said proudly, "So what if it's a little difficult? What in the world isn't difficult?"
Liu Tan was caught off guard by his father's chicken soup and could only smile bitterly and said, "The difficulty is... it can't be done in a short time because there are not enough people."
Liu Che was shocked: "Not enough people? Not enough people like the Han Dynasty?"
Liu Tan shook his head. "We don't need ordinary people, but people who understand the art of ascending to the heavens. Besides the ability to fly and evade the earth, ordinary people can only rely on other means to ascend to the heavens. You can understand it as magic, but now this 'magic' must be created first."
Liu Che vaguely understood what he meant and asked, "Who do you want?"
Liu Tan said, "I'm already training these people. Father, do you remember how I vigorously promoted the study of things at the Northern Border Academy? The so-called study of things to gain knowledge is about this area of study. Everything is just beginning to get on track, but there are so few people interested in this area. We have to take it slow."
Liu Che pondered: "Is the study of things actually the study of magic?"
Liu Tan almost choked to death on his own saliva, and said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "That's just a metaphor."
However, Liu Che didn't care about all this, he was deeply impressed by this.
He waved his hand and said, "How can you have enough people with just the number you have? I'll find them for you!"
Liu Tan's expression changed instantly. "Thank you very much, Father, for your kindness. I'd rather not trouble you."
Liu Che looked at him sideways: "What are you worried about?"
Liu Tan had no choice but to say, "Studying things requires talent. If you don't have the talent, even if you force yourself to study, you won't achieve anything."
Of course, what Liu Tan was most worried about was that Liu Che would stuff a bunch of alchemists into his arsenal just because of the word "magic".
Even if gunpowder was originally discovered by alchemists, it doesn't mean that they are really good at it.
The most important thing is that those alchemists may not be reliable at all. When the time comes, Liu Tan will have to identify whether they are scammers before hiring them. Isn't he tired?
Liu Che raised his eyebrows, pondered for a moment, and said, "If you say so...why not wait until the next imperial examination and select some people?"
Liu Tan: ...
Is this connected?
Since Liu Che mentioned the imperial examination last time, Liu Tan came up with some ideas, but he never cared about the rest. He even didn't care who was in charge now.
The matter of selecting talents is too sensitive. It should be avoided if possible. There was no other way before. We couldn't let Chang'an copy the routine of the Northern Border Country. Moreover, the Northern Border Country's routine was not very mature, and many things were just stopgap measures.
The limitations of the Northern Border Kingdom are obvious, that is, there are not enough people, and the qualifications of the candidates are not particularly good. Even now, the economy of most parts of the Northern Border Kingdom has been picking up little by little, but studying and educating people is a long-term project, and it has not been very significant so far.
It is said that many people from other places went to the Northern Border to participate in the imperial examination this year. Since the Northern Border has not imposed any restrictions from the beginning to the end, most of the talents are not native to the Northern Border.
Liu Tan heard that there were a lot of troubles at that time. Of course, the local people in the Northern Border Kingdom were not happy. Before the King of the Northern Border came, those scholars basically had no chance to become officials. They could not compete with people from other parts of the country. Chang'an was full of talented people, and it would only be a shame for them to go there.
At most, he could be a minor official in the local area. If he was lucky, he could become the right-hand man of the county magistrate. Even if he caught the eye of the county governor, he would naturally rise to a high position.
But none of these can compare with the imperial examinations organized by the King of the North. As long as you can pass the exam, you will definitely be able to become an official in the future.
Even if you are not in the top three, you can still enter the academy to study for free. Which scholar can refuse this?
As a result, there are candidates from other places coming to compete with them for resources. How could they possibly be willing to do that?
Because Liu Tan was not there, Huo Guang finally chose to keep those people for the sake of the court's prestige, and issued a clear order that people from countries other than the Northern Border were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, and would not be admitted even if they did.
But this time, everyone is a little unwilling. After all, after this time, we still have to wait for three years. How many three years are there in a lifetime?
It would be fine if it was really because they lacked strength, but how could these people be willing to accept it just because others took advantage of them?
Of course, in Liu Tan's opinion, they are still not strong enough, otherwise why would they be afraid of people from other places competing for resources?
However, considering the educational situation in the Northern Border Country, he had to admit that Huo Guang's regulation was timely.
Later, he specially wrote another handwritten edict, asking Huo Guang to temporarily add a ceremony and conduct a strict check of household registration. This was enough to calm the public anger. Otherwise, Liu Tan was really worried that those scholars would cause some trouble. After all, scholars have been difficult to deal with since ancient times.
But he can do whatever he wants in the Northern Border Country, but here in Chang'an... the impact is too huge.
When Liu Che saw Liu Tan pretending to be a coward, he couldn't help but feel itchy, so he reached out and pinched Liu Tan's face, and used more force, but it felt worse than before.
Liu Tan immediately said, "Okay, okay, I'll do it."
Liu Che let go and said, "Go find Sang Hongyang later."
Liu Tan's mouth twitched, feeling that the person Sang Hongyang least wanted to see right now was probably him.
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