The boat soon sailed away from Bailu Island. The beautiful woman playing the piano among the reeds was no longer seen. Only the plaintive sound of the piano was still carried intermittently by the river breeze to the ears of the people on the boat.

Seeing Young Master Zhao standing at the stern of the boat, the candidates then realized that the two beauties had come to see him off again.

However, this poem is not included in the "Chushi Jian Ji", so it must have been a private gift given by Young Master Zhao to the beautiful lady who played the piano.

"He is still a child, but he has so many female confidantes. What will happen when he grows up..."

"Comparing yourself to others is really frustrating..."

"What's there to be angry about? Young Master Zhao's talent is probably second to none in this dynasty. If you can write a poem like him, you will also have many female confidants..."

"Can we do it? No, so it's normal that we can't do it."

"I'd better study hard to pass the imperial examination. This is not a path that ordinary people like me can take..."

The words of the candidates were full of self-mockery and confidence.

~~

The fleet with yellow flags left Jinling City at noon, entered the Yangtze River from the Jiangdongmen waterway, and then went downstream, arriving at the surface of Dantu County, Zhenjiang Prefecture at dusk.

After sailing for 160 to 170 miles, the fleet, which was originally in dense formation, was now scattered and could no longer be seen from each other.

The double-decker passenger ship that Zhao Hao and his companions were on was more than ten meters long. There were more than thirty cabins above the water, and it could carry more than sixty people, most of whom were Zhao Hao and his companions.

In addition to his father, son, master and apprentice, there were Gao Wu, Fang Wen, and more than ten strong men from Caijia Lane. In addition to Wang Wuyang and Hua Shuyang's respective servants, attendants, and guards, there were about thirty people in total, and Wu Kangyuan and his followers were also invited by Zhao Hao to join him.

Therefore, most of Zhao Shouzheng's classmates were on the other two ships. Only Tang Hezheng and Shi Jinchen, who were closer to him, boarded this ship with their respective entourages.

The beginning of winter had passed and it was almost snowing. The wind on the river was already biting. Zhao Hao was afraid of both cold and heat, so he naturally hid in the warm cabin a long time ago and lay on the bed reading the "Mengxi Bitan" given to him by the Hua family.

This book was almost lost after the Yuan Dynasty. Zhao Hao had never seen it in a bookstore. Only the Hua family, who had a rich collection of books, could find the printed version of the previous dynasty.

Of course, this is not the original version from the Song Dynasty, but a modern version printed by the Hua family. However, both the paper and the layout are impeccable, and it is pleasing to the eye, and is actually much more comfortable than reading the ancient version from the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, Hua Shuyang also told Zhao Hao that this was printed using the copper movable type that his family collected, which was much more high-end than woodblock printing.

Zhao Hao was marveling at the strength of the Wuxi Hua family when Hua Shuyang suddenly pushed the door open.

Zhao Hao glanced at him, and Hua Shuyang's face changed. He quickly retreated, closed the door, and knocked on the door again, saying, "Master, can I come in?"

"What do you think?" Zhao Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this reckless second disciple.

Hua Shuyang then came in with a shameless face, and after greeting his master, he couldn't help but beaming with joy again.

"Master, I found a way to prove that the earth is round!"

"Oh?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but stand up curiously and followed Hua Shuyang to see what was going on.

Wang Wuyang lived in the same room with his master. When he saw Zhao Hao go out, he quickly got him a hooded cloak and then followed him to the top floor of the cabin.

Zhao Hao put on his cape and fastened his hood. He looked at Hua Shuyang, who was pointing at the river in the distance with excitement and said, "I was just using a telescope to appreciate the scenery in the distance. I wanted to see if I could see Jinshan Temple. But I saw an amazing scene!"

"What's so shocking?" Wang Wuyang urged, "Stop keeping us in suspense!"

"I saw a sailboat approaching from a distance, and I could see the top of the mast first, then the entire sail gradually appeared, and finally I could see the entire ship."

Hua Shuyang waved his arm, handed the monocular to Wang Wuyang, and said loudly: "If you don't believe me, take a look now."

"Oh?" Wang Wuyang took it and looked towards the river in the distance. There happened to be a large sailing ship heading east. He followed the ship with his eyes and saw that the hull disappeared first, then the sail, and finally the top of the mast.

“It’s like going downhill!”

"Right, the river surface should be flat, so how can it have ups and downs?" Hua Shuyang clapped his hands and said, "This can only prove that the ground beneath our feet is round!"

"Is that so, Master?" Wang Wuyang looked at Zhao Hao for confirmation.

Zhao Hao smiled and stretched out his hand. Wang Wuyang immediately took out a special piece of chalk from the treasure bag he carried with him and handed it to his master.

Zhao Hao drew an arc on the deck and then explained the principle behind it to his two disciples.

The two disciples were very quick to understand, and they understood Zhao Hao's simple words clearly.

Zhao Hao threw the chalk back to Wang Wuyang, patted the white ash on his hands, and said with a smile: "In fact, there is another simple method that has the same effect."

He pointed to the setting sun in the west and said, "Think about it, how can you see two sunsets in a short period of time?"

Seeing the dazzling setting sun, Wang Wuyang quickly took out a mother-of-pearl glasses case from his treasure bag, took out a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses and handed them to his master.

It was a pair of sunglasses that Zhao Hao had custom-made. They had small oval plain lenses and slender gold wire temples. They looked no different from the sunglasses of later generations.

Of course, compared to resin lenses and titanium alloy frames, these crystal lenses and pure gold frames are still a bit heavy.

"But I like it..." Zhao Hao put it on his nose happily. What he felt was not weight, but the weight of money.

The two students looked at their teacher with envy, and felt that the sunglasses were very cool. They secretly decided that when they got to Beijing, they would also order a pair of sunglasses...

But now was not the time to be envious. The two of them quickly calmed down and began to think hard about the teacher's questions.

After a while, Wang Wuyang slapped his thigh and said, "I know!"

"I thought of that too..." Hua Shuyang also slapped his forehead.

Then the two of them lay down on the deck at the same time, and saw that the red sun that had just intersected the horizon was now only half left.

After a while, the red sun completely disappeared from the eyes of the two.

Eryang quickly jumped up from the ground and saw that the setting sun, which had already set, had risen halfway again!

I saw the sunset twice!

When the sun set again, the afterglow illuminated the sky into a gorgeous purple-gold color, and the two finally withdrew their gazes.

"If I climb up the mast, I should be able to see the sunset again!" Hua Shuyang looked up and saw the sail fluttering in the evening breeze, and he really wanted to climb up to take a look.

"You know this without even looking." Zhao Hao was afraid that he would be clumsy and fall down accidentally, so he hurriedly called Hua Shuyang and said:

"But this only proves that the ground is curved, and it is not enough to convince others that the earth is round."

"That's right. The land is so vast, covering tens of millions of miles. How can an ant get a full picture?" Hua Shuyang smiled bitterly.

"Besides traveling around the world, there are other ways to prove it." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Of course, this is not something you should be thinking about right now. Study hard and get the top score in the exam first!"

"Yes, Master..." The two disciples obeyed respectfully, but in order to avoid criticism, the master kept it a secret again...

[End of this volume]

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