Chapter 122 How to explain this on Earth?
On the morning of the tenth day, Song Jin changed into a jade-colored long gown awarded by Madam Chai, and hung the round purse given by Ji Shubai around his waist. He wore a black square scarf on his head, put a few pieces of paper he had written early in the morning in his pocket, put on a pair of dark blue boots, went out, got on the sedan chair arranged by Ji Shubai, and went to Ji's house.
Only after entering the room did I realize that there were many guests today. In the past, Ji Shubai could at most set up a crescent table in the hall to entertain the guests, but today he actually set up three round tables.
Now it’s either win or lose face.
Song Jin doesn't want to lose.
She calmed herself down, suppressed the nervousness in her heart, and bowed to everyone at Ji Shubai's introduction.
There were many people coming today. Song Jin saw that Chai Heng and Lu Junnian were among them. With Ji Shubai's introduction, she also learned that Professor Zhang Maozhang of the Prefecture School was also there.
It was probably the New Year's Eve, and everyone had some free time, so they all came to join in the fun.
Are you going to treat it as a famous tourist attraction?
It's true, when this group of old teachers saw Song Jin, they were just like the chickens, ducks and geese in the Chai family's kitchen, chattering non-stop. Faced with a bunch of questions, Song Jin didn't know who to answer for a moment.
Fortunately, Ji Shubai was there. He pushed the crowd away for her and led them to sit down so they could talk slowly.
"Manager Lu, you gave the rules of the 81 squares to Lord Lu last time? He didn't even tell us. Lord Lu was so stingy that he didn't even explain it to us. He just taught us to study it ourselves. I'm already old, and I have to stare at those unfamiliar numbers. It makes me dizzy."
This is what Ge Jingtong, the instructor of the provincial school, said.
"Lord Ge, you have misunderstood. The rules can be best understood by figuring them out yourself. I am just considering you, the lords." Lu Junnian defended himself cleverly.
"Don't give me that. You are so proud that you are the only one who knows the answer. You even gave us a harder question. You are so mean. If you had fallen into my hands ten years ago, I would have severely disciplined you."
"Hahaha--"
"Be careful not to offend Lord Ge, or you will lose your fame."
"Well, I am now a disciple of the emperor after all, and Lord Ge can't get rid of me now."
"Just be proud of yourself."
"Master Ge, please allow me to be proud for once."
......
The group of people were chatting animatedly. Ji Shubai sat next to Song Jin and asked her quietly if she was nervous.
Song Jin whispered, "A little bit."
"Don't worry too much. I've checked for you. No one here is good at math."
Song Jin almost laughed out loud when he heard this.
She did know that there were some mathematicians in the Ming Dynasty, such as Xu Guangqi, but he was still a child now. She could not remember any earlier ones. She could only say that it was inevitable to meet a professor who was well versed in Confucianism, but it was difficult to meet a mathematician.
"Manager Lu, do you have any new questions for us to explore today?"
"Of course. I will not let you down today." After saying that, Song Jin took out a few sheets of paper from his arms and spread them on the table as if he had been prepared.
People's momentum is often bluffing. No matter the consequences, just brag first. Whoever can brag the most will look the strongest. And most of the time, as long as you look the strongest, you will become the strongest in the eyes of others.
Song Jinhai boasted. Some people sneered in their hearts, some were curious, but most people focused their attention on those pieces of paper.
Those were the Sudoku puzzles that Song Jin had specially made a few days ago. Some were difficult, some were simple. She sat there explaining the rules to everyone.
Someone was surprised: "Hey, this isn't a calculation, right?"
Song Jin said: "This is indeed not a math problem, but a game."
"game?"
"This is the first time I've seen people playing games with numbers in my entire life, but your numbers are a little hard to recognize." Some people have never seen Arabic numerals.
"I know this." Lu Junnian rushed to say, "This is called Arabic numerals, which are much easier to write than our numbers."
"How do you know?"
"Of course I do."
"Hahaha, it was clearly Shopkeeper Lu who said it himself that day, how could he know? You are just listening to his nonsense."
The room was so lively that sometimes Song Jin almost forgot that they came here today to test him.
Everyone got the questions and learned the rules. Everyone frowned and the discussion never stopped.
Perhaps it was because he was not familiar with the numbers, or maybe there were too many people and it was too noisy for him to concentrate, he was not very good at playing this new game. In the end, he put it aside and asked Song Jin questions.
"Your calculation that day was also like that grid, with a pattern?"
Song Jin said frankly: "Of course there is. For example, when an even number is multiplied by an even number, if the tens digits are the same, the ones digits add up to ten, and there is no one, then you only need to add one to one of the tens digits and multiply them to get the first two digits. Multiply the ones digits again to get the second two digits. The two sets of numbers combined together will be the result."
After saying that, Song Jin demonstrated it to everyone using the pen he had prepared long ago, and it turned out to be true.
"Is it the same when you multiply a multi-digit number by a single-digit number?"
Song Jin said: "The rules are there, they are just different."
Then Song Jin briefly explained the rules of multiplying a multi-digit number by a single-digit number, but everyone couldn't stand it after explaining 3. It was too brain-burning for an elderly Confucian professor to understand mathematical rules, so several elderly people interrupted first.
"Who are you? I've never heard of you before. I asked Master Ji and found out that you are the owner of Lu's Food Store. How come you know these Arabic numerals that we have never seen before?"
Song Jin had been prepared for this question, so he didn't think much about it: "I once met a divine man, and he taught me."
"Who is this person? Do you have a name?"
Song Jin shook his head: "The master didn't leave his name, he just taught me a few things and left."
"When was it? Where was it? What did this person look like?"
"Master said that day that the relationship between master and disciple is fate, and that the fate will end when the knowledge is taught. He told me not to mention him when I go out in the future. Today, the adults mentioned it, and I shouldn't hide it, but I already made a promise that day, and it is inconvenient for me to disclose it."
"Respecting teachers and valuing trust is the character of a scholar. You and I should help this shopkeeper Lu."
It is convenient to talk to literati. As long as you occupy the moral high ground, you are the winner.
Song Jin couldn't help but feel secretly happy, but Ji Shubai knew clearly that this was just another lie of hers. When he turned around to look at her, he saw her smiling. Knowing that she succeeded, he was actually happy for her.
Happy that she had lied successfully?
"Does this divine man have anything else to teach you?"
Song Jin smiled and said, "Of course there is."
"What is it?"
A crowd gathered around, and Song Jin answered, "The place under our feet is round." [1]
"Hahaha--"
"What a joke! If the earth were round, wouldn't the water just flow into the air?"
"That's right, your god must be fooling you."
......
Faced with doubts, Song Jin was not in a hurry. He thought to himself that it would be fine as long as the theory that the earth is round is irrefutable. As for whether to believe it or not, put it aside for now. This is much easier to deduce than pi.
"My Lords, please don't be anxious. Let me explain slowly."
Song Jin first asked a question: "Have you ever seen the sun and the moon?"
“Who hasn’t seen this?”
"Then may I ask, what are the shapes of the sun and the moon?"
"Round."
Someone disagreed: "Manager Lu, you can't say the sun and the moon are round, but we are round."
"My Lord, have you ever wondered how the sun and the moon, without any ropes to hold them or floating on the water, could float so far away and not only not fall but also shine?"
"Hiss - do you know the answer?"
Song Jin said, "My master once told me that the sun and the moon are round, and the ground we stand on is also round. That is to say, if the eunuch Sanbao had gone straight ahead and not turned back when he was ordered to sail to the West, he would have circled the ground under his feet and returned to the starting point."
"It's hard to believe what you said."
"That's right. You said the land under our feet is round. Wouldn't the water fall out? Why does it flow in the river?"
"Yeah, then why wasn't the water poured out?"
Song Jin said slowly, "Didn't I tell you that the moon doesn't have a rope to hold it, and there's no river water to float on, so how come it doesn't fall?"
"Ah, this——"
Everyone looked at each other, this didn't make sense.
"Then why do you think this is the case?"
Song Jin originally wanted to propose the Big Bang theory, but he was worried that this theory was too shocking. What if these people thought that the earth was losing power at any time and was about to fall off? Wouldn't everyone be distracted and worried about the end of the world at any time?
She didn't want to scare them, and this theory was too difficult to explain, so she had to think of another way.
Song Jin glanced at the table. No one was interested in the dishes at the moment. She set her eyes on the bowl of fish ball chicken soup.
"My Lords, please look at this bowl of fish ball soup," she pointed at the fish ball soup, "This fish ball is like the moon and the ground we stand on. It doesn't need a pillar underneath, it can float in the soup."
"What you said is not right," Professor Zhang objected. "You just said that the moon was not floating in the water, why are you using fish soup as an example now?"
"Don't worry, sir. The moon is not immersed in water. It is immersed in air."
"gas?"
A group of people suddenly stretched their necks and looked at Song Jin with wide eyes.
Who could believe that something so heavy under your feet could be lifted up by air?
Song Jin continued to talk nonsense: "Yes, I am angry."
She said it with such certainty, not because the theory was correct, but because she wanted to bluff people.
In this world, the bold ones die of overeating and the timid ones die of starvation. They don't understand anyway, so just bluff them. If you bluff her, you're the winner. Isn't that how the game is played?
"You are talking nonsense. How can air hold up the moon? How can it hold up the land below us?"
"That's right. If we had relied on the air to support us, we would have fallen to our death long ago."
"Your master is so unreliable. He must be trying to scare you."
“That’s right…”
......
There was a wave of objections, but Lu Junnian didn't bother to object. He just stared at Song Jin to see how she would resolve the issue.
Song Jin was so busy covering up his lie that he didn't even look at Ji Shubai.
He was also attracted by this strange theory, and his eyes were fixed on her.
"My Lords, please wait. Have you ever been on a boat?"
“Is there anyone in Suzhou who has never taken a boat?”
"That's good. Let me ask you, is it possible that the boat that the eunuch Sanbao took when he went out to sea was on the river in our Changzhou County?"
"Of course not. That ship has three masts. It's more than enough to sail along the river."
"Well, let me ask again, can this boat be put into this bowl of soup?"
"Are you kidding me?"
Song Jin really laughed: "Sir, this is the answer. A three-masted ship cannot fit into a bowl of soup, but the soup can make fish balls float. This is because the depth of the water can support a large boat. A cup of water can support a large hall, and a mustard seed can be a boat. A small boat can sail on a small river, and the air can support the moon. How can this be a joke?" [2]
"this......"
"You are too mysterious."
"Mysterious, that's right. The Tao Te Ching says 'Mysterious beyond mysterious, the door to all wonders'. The beginning of heaven and earth was nameless. We should seek the Tao, ask about the Tao, and think about the Tao, and then we will find the right way. It is indeed unbelievable to support it with Qi, but who can give a more reasonable explanation?"
Song Jin didn't say anything else, which is that as long as no one can break my way, then I am on the right path.
At this time, a young man stood up and asked, "How do you explain why the moon and the sun sometimes appear and sometimes don't?"
"That's right. Shouldn't it be fixed there? Why is it moving?"
"Exactly. Explain it to me."
How can this be explained?
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