"All knowledge is useful, it all depends on how and where the person uses it. You are princes, you need to know more in order to gain the trust of the world. Go in first, and then we will proceed to the next experiment. I will put the glass mirror on the tool shelf in the classroom. You can use it on your own in the future, but you must do so under the supervision of palace servants to prevent any danger from happening."
After watching the first experiment, everyone became even more curious about what would happen next, especially the princes. Although they were usually very composed, even the eldest prince was only ten years old. How could he not have a childlike heart?
In addition, both the Prince's quarters and the Imperial Study were extremely boring places. They had finally seen something interesting today, and they wished the class could last longer.
"For the second experiment, I'd like to talk about the composition of air." She looked at everyone with a smile. "Everyone knows that the nose is used to inhale and exhale, but have you ever thought about whether the air we inhale and the air we exhale are different?"
Upon hearing this, everyone became puzzled again. The eldest prince and the princes sitting side by side, the third prince and the fourth prince, and the fifth prince and the sixth prince all subconsciously looked at each other, and then quickly looked away.
Consort Shu and Consort Zhen found it amusing, and then they looked at each other.
After the last time they sent something to the Empress, the palace maids reported to them that the other party had also sent a gift to the Empress. At that time, they were moved, having been in the harem for so many years, and this was the first time they had come to know the other party's true thoughts. Today, they smiled at each other and became even more certain of their guesses.
Originally, they thought they were the only ones who didn't care, but now that they know there's another person walking the same path as them, Consort Shu and Consort Zhen feel even more at ease.
With the Empress in charge, perhaps they can truly achieve the ending they desire!
"If you've read a lot of travelogues, you should know that when climbing certain high mountains, some people feel short of breath, while people who have lived in high mountains for a long time feel drowsy or even fall into a deep sleep when they come down to the plains. The reason for this is that the content of different substances in the air is different, and their bodies cannot adapt to each other's living environment."
Consort Zhen spoke up: "Is it like how people can't breathe in water, and fish can't live on land?"
Song Xia nodded in praise: "Consort Zhen is very clever to be able to make this connection. The principle is part of it, but more importantly, humans breathe with their lungs, while fish breathe with their gills. Lungs and gills are two completely different organs, so their breathing principles are different. I will talk about these in my future classes. If Consort Zhen is interested, you can come to class often. Today, we will do a small experiment to prove that there are different kinds of air in the air, and their effects are also different."
Consort Zhen was somewhat pleased. Could she attend the classes again in the future?
Honestly, the Empress's lectures are really interesting. I can learn things I've never heard of before. The harem is so boring, there's nothing but scheming and intrigue. Coming here to listen to lectures is a good way to pass the time.
Consort Shu was also eager to make a move. If Consort Zhen could come, then she could come too, right?
Consort Zhuang, Consort Xian, and Consort Li were determined to supervise the Empress's lessons to prevent her from corrupting their sons. They also wanted to see how much knowledge the Empress actually had to teach and to seize any mistakes she made.
Little did they know that what they were thinking was exactly what Song Xia wanted. It was good that they all came to listen to the lecture; education was the most direct way to change a person's mind.
"These tools and materials are what we will use for today's experiment. After this experiment, I will have them placed on the tool rack so that anyone who is interested can operate them on their own."
What Song Xia was going to do was a small experiment that junior high school students in her modern society had to learn: using potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide solution to reduce oxygen. Since the source of the chemicals was hard to explain, she said that she had obtained them by chance from some Taoist priests.
Anyway, ever since Her Majesty embraced Taoism, Taoism has flourished throughout Xuan Kingdom. Some Taoist priests who had previously lived in seclusion have come out of hiding, bringing people a lot of new knowledge and things. It's not surprising that she's bringing them out now.
She hadn't done this experiment in a long time, and if she hadn't reviewed the principles last night, she would have been really worried about failing.
She used the water displacement method to collect oxygen, so everyone saw the glass bottle, which was just full of water, slowly float up in the water tank and gradually become an empty bottle.
Song Xia capped the bottle and looked at everyone with a smile: "Anyone who knows a little about life should have heard that some places can be lit with fire, while others cannot, especially in caves, cellars and secret rooms dug by the people themselves. We often hear of people going in and not being able to come out. I believe this is caused by the different air content inside. Often, fire cannot be lit in these places."
She paused for a moment before continuing to explain: "Therefore, I dare to guess that the air composition required for starting a fire and for human breathing has certain similarities, and the air we just tested has a high concentration of this component, which I call oxygen."
"Oxygen? So, breathing is difficult at high altitudes because there's less oxygen?"
"That's right. Even when you start a fire on a high mountain, the fire will be smaller than on a plain because the oxygen content is higher on a plain. If there were even purer oxygen, do you think something would happen?"
The six princes shook their heads blankly, unable to think of anything.
Song Xia chuckled: "Then let's conduct an experiment. Fire goes out without oxygen, so if there is enough oxygen, will it spontaneously combust even without wind?"
How is that possible?
The Grand Tutor initially denied it, but then thought about it again: tinderboxes always need to be blown on to light, right? Is it because of the wind? That's probably not the case; it might be related to the experiment the Empress just conducted.
"Let's try with this branch. I lit it and then blew it out. Under normal circumstances, it won't burn again. But watch closely, what will happen when we put it into the oxygen tank?"
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the glass bottle. The twig, with only a tiny spark, burst into flames almost instantly after being placed inside.
"hiss……"
"It actually caught fire on its own."
"This is amazing."
But the amazing thing didn't stop there. Song Xia took out a tree branch, heated an iron wire until it was red-hot, and put it into the glass bottle. The iron wire actually started to catch fire. This was iron wire! It had only been heated until it was red-hot before!
Song Xia continued, "Burning consumes oxygen, so if I put in wire and branches now, they won't react."
Everyone wanted to speak, but they didn't know what to ask. Their eyes were burning with a sense of urgency to gain more knowledge.
Song Xia, however, was quite satisfied: "That concludes today's lesson. In the future, I will provide more detailed and in-depth explanations regarding these two small experiments."
Everyone was itching with curiosity, and that was it? Was the Queen going to say nothing more?
Song Xia thought to herself, "What's the point of saying it all at once? I need to pique your curiosity. Take it slow, there's plenty of time."
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