On the star-gazing tower of Yuhuatai.

Zhao Hao placed another chopstick in the half-full crystal glass, allowing the two students to understand that light can be refracted.

"Knowing that light can be refracted and reflected, we can do a lot of things."

As Zhao Hao spoke, he took out a convex lens that he had asked the lens grinder to make specially for him.

"Is this a 叆叇?" Hua Shuyang was indeed knowledgeable. He pointed at the thing and said, "My father now uses this to read books. It can enlarge the words, but it doesn't seem to be this thick."

"The principle is the same." Zhao Hao said, pointing the magnifying glass towards the sunlight, and then asked Wang Wuyang to hold a piece of rice paper and stand opposite him.

Zhao Hao adjusted the angle, allowing the sunlight to pass through the lens and form a dazzling white dot on the paper.

After a while, smoke began to rise from the rice paper.

Zhao Hao raised his hand and shifted the focus away, and the fire did not burn, leaving only a black spot on the rice paper.

The two disciples were surprised again: "It's so convenient to light a fire this way!"

"I didn't expect that 叆叆 has such a wonderful use!"

"Master, what's the logic behind this?" Er Yang asked in unison again.

"It's just that the light is gathered together through refraction." Zhao Hao put away the magnifying glass as if he was talking about a trivial matter. "The heat of the sunlight is also gathered at one point, and the temperature continues to rise until it ignites the rice paper."

"How can the magical use of optics reach this point?" Zhao Hao said, and took out the hairpin-shaped brass tube carefully made by Gao the blacksmith.

He first pointed to the lenses embedded at both ends and introduced them to Eryang: "The big one is the objective lens, which uses a convex lens similar to reading glasses. The small one at the other end is the eyepiece, which uses a concave lens similar to reading glasses."

As he spoke, he handed the copper tube to the two men and said, "Put your eyes on the end of the eyepiece and see what's happening outside."

Wang Wuyang first picked up the copper tube and put his right eye on the eyepiece. Then Zhao Hao guided him to aim the objective lens out of the window.

The window faces the city of Jinling.

"ah!"

Wang Wuyang took one look, screamed, and abruptly looked away.

If Zhao Hao hadn't been prepared, he would have thrown the copper pipe to the ground.

"How could this happen?" Wang Wuyang turned pale and pointed outside the window, shouting, "The Jubaomen just ran towards me!"

After saying that, he rubbed his eyes, took a closer look, and couldn't help but wonder: "Hey, isn't it still there?"

"Let me see, let me see!" Hua Shuyang's curiosity about natural science was stronger than Wang Wuyang's. He pushed his senior brother aside, and then followed his example, looking outside with a copper tube.

"Wow, the Jubao Gate is really here!"

With Wang Wuyang's preparation, Hua Shuyang was not frightened. He just kept exclaiming: "Not only Jubao Gate, but also Fenghuangtai and Changganli are right in front of me. Oh, I can even see the cargo ships on the Yangtze River clearly. Hey, that person is peeing in the river..."

"Let me take another look!" Wang Wuyang felt itchy and started fighting with Hua Shuyang for it.

"Are you not scared now?" Zhao Hao joked, "What if the Jubao Gate hits you in the face?"

"Master, I was frightened just now for the first time." Wang Wuyang looked greedily at the scenery that was getting closer and closer, and smiled awkwardly: Now that I think about it, it must be the two mirrors in the tube that brought the distant scene closer. "

"Yes, it must be the refraction of light!" Hua Shuyang picked up the prism, deflected the light to the wall and said, "Optics is really amazing!"

Zhao Hao nodded with satisfaction. The literati of the Ming Dynasty were indeed as the legend said, studious, intelligent and good at accepting new things.

But it was normal, because just a few decades later, with the introduction of Western science by missionaries such as Matteo Ricci, the Ming Dynasty scholars immediately became enthusiastic about Western learning. Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Fang Yizhi, Mei Wending, Sun Yunqiu and countless other well-read scholars gladly accepted Western learning and devoted themselves to the wave of translating and spreading Western science!

The entire Ming Dynasty had the momentum to catch up, but bad luck, natural disasters and man-made disasters interrupted the process, which led to the decline of the Ming Dynasty and the decline of the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years. Even four hundred years later, the Ming Dynasty was still struggling to catch up...

So after repeated hesitation, Zhao Hao made the decision on the Glazed Tower.

He wanted to spread this scientific knowledge several decades earlier, giving the scholars more time. Let's see what kind of world the Ming Dynasty could give him.

~~

Wang Wuyang and Hua Shuyang were like two children who had gotten a new toy. They watched until the sun set and the sky turned dark before they reluctantly returned the copper tube to Zhao Hao.

"By the way, Master, what is the name of this thing?"

"Just give it a random name." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"This thing can see thousands of miles away. I think we should call it the Thousand-mile Tube." Wang Wuyang suggested.

"I think it should be called a telescope." Hua Shuyang shook his head and said, "Tong is too ugly."

"Master, which one do you think is better?" The two looked at Zhao Hao.

"I think telescope is better." Zhao Hao laughed and thought the original name sounded better.

"Just listen to the master." Er Yang had only blindly worshipped Zhao Hao before. But now they finally realized clearly that the master's knowledge was so profound that no one in this world could match it. I'm afraid only the ancient sages could compare.

"But, Master, we have to go back quickly." Wang Wuyang looked at the sky and reminded Zhao Hao, "Otherwise, the city gate will be closed and we won't be able to go home."

"Who said we're going back tonight?" Zhao Hao smiled and took out a longer and larger monocular telescope from a wooden box, placed it on the windowsill and said, "Let's watch the moon tonight."

"Great! Master is in such a good mood!" Wang Wuyang was delighted when he heard this and said, "It seems that another famous work will be published tonight!"

Hua Shuyang also nodded vigorously. For traditional scholars, the bright moon in the sky is almost their spiritual companion.

From 'I look up at the bright moon' to 'We share this beautiful moonlight from thousands of miles away'; from 'When will the bright moon appear' to 'The moon sets, crows cry, and frost fills the sky'... countless literati and poets have told their thoughts to Chang'e in the Moon Palace, which were transformed into masterpieces that nourish the spiritual world of the Chinese people.

At this time, Gao Wu bought a simple dinner. While Zhao Hao was eating the sweet lotus root porridge, he asked his two disciples to tell Gao Wu about their knowledge about the moon.

Wang Wuyang then talked about the Guanghan Palace on the moon, the osmanthus tree, Chang'e, Wu Gang, the Jade Rabbit, and the toad...

"The Guanghan Palace is a thousand feet high, with jade buildings like mountains and seas. The fairy Chang'e who lives in it was originally Hou Yi's wife..."

"There is a 500-foot-tall laurel tree in the Moon Palace. The immortal Wu Gang holds a huge axe and chops down the tree day after day. But as soon as the axe leaves the tree, the wound heals immediately. Therefore, Wu Gang chops down the laurel tree all year round, but he still cannot chop it down..."

"Then why did Wu Gang cut down the tree?" Gao Wu finally asked after Wang Wuyang finished speaking.

"This..." Wang Wuyang scratched his head and said, "I really don't know."

"I guess the Jade Emperor promised him that as long as he cut down the tree, he could sleep with Chang'e..." Hua Shuyang couldn't help but chuckle. After he said that, he remembered that his master was not yet an adult, so he quickly slapped his mouth.

"I was just kidding!"

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