Qianqing Palace, inside the east warm room.

Emperor Longqing looked at Zhao Hao's demonstration and asked in disbelief, "You said that Venus conjuncts the moon every month?"

"That's right." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "This is a very common astronomical phenomenon. Whenever the moon catches up with Venus, Venus and the moon will conjunct each other."

"But in fact, it is not often seen?" Emperor Longqing asked puzzledly.

"There are two reasons. First, Venus and the sun are sometimes very close, and because of the strong sunlight, we cannot see Venus. Second, the conjunction of Venus and the moon usually occurs just after dark, but at this time the positions of the moon and Venus are close to the horizon and can be easily blocked by mountains and city walls. Therefore, with the naked eye, it may not be observed once a year." Zhao Hao explained without hesitation.

"Nature eyes?" Long Qing couldn't help but wonder, "Is there an eye that is not flesh?"

"That's the telescope." Zhao Hao said calmly: "If your majesty uses a telescope to look at the night sky, you can often see this astronomical phenomenon."

After a pause, Zhao Hao added with a smile: "And you will find that Venus is like the moon, with phases of waxing and waning."

"Oh, really? Why haven't I thought of looking at the sky with a telescope?" Long Qing couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.

To be honest, he found it very difficult to understand what Zhao Hao was saying, and he seemed to understand it only vaguely.

But it is much easier to observe with your eyes, just set up a telescope and look.

"But your majesty's binoculars are not specifically used for observing the sky." Zhao Hao added: "I brought a special astronomical telescope today to present to your majesty for observing the sky."

After obtaining permission from Emperor Longqing, Eunuch Ji and Teng Xiang came in carrying a pair of long binoculars with a beautiful tripod.

This is a Kepler telescope that Gao Tiejiang carefully improved based on the schematic diagram drawn by Zhao Hao before he left Nanjing.

It also has a built-in turning prism with a magnification factor of up to forty times, which is more than enough to observe celestial bodies in the solar system.

Emperor Longqing fondly stroked this work of art-like astronomical telescope and suddenly said to Zhao Hao, "Do you dare to speak about this publicly at the imperial lecture?"

"Why not?" Zhao Hao said proudly, "Since I dare to tell Your Majesty, I will naturally not be afraid to tell the world."

"Well done, your spirit is commendable!" Emperor Longqing could not help but praise him: "You will explain science to me and the ministers at the lecture the day after tomorrow!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhao Hao responded respectfully.

Teng Xiang felt a headache after hearing this, thinking that His Majesty was really persistent, and hurriedly reminded him: "Your Majesty, the lecturer of the imperial lecture must be a Hanlin..."

"Then give him a Hanlin." Emperor Longqing had already made up his mind, and ordered Teng Xiang, "Draft an edict for me - considering Zhao Hao's profound learning, and five of his disciples passing the imperial examination, he is indeed a rare talent, so he is appointed as a Hanlin attendant, and serves as a lecturer in the imperial lecture hall."

The emperor smiled and said, "Go to the cabinet later and tell Lord Xu my decision."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, Teng Xiang reluctantly agreed and said to Zhao Hao, "Zhao Taizhao, why don't you thank me quickly?"

"Your Majesty, I, Zhao Hao, thank you for your grace!"

Zhao Hao kowtowed happily to express his gratitude.

I didn't expect that by entering the palace to save my father, I would get a position as an official. It's not a loss even if I got a broken head.

Then he raised his head and sincerely offered the first flattery in his life to His Majesty the Emperor.

Emperor Longqing was stunned after hearing this, and finally understood who Wang Wuyang and the others learned such flattery from.

Feeling very comfortable, Emperor Longqing smiled and asked: "Do you need to make any preparations in advance for the imperial lecture? Just tell me."

"As for the teaching aids, I will prepare them myself, Your Majesty, so you don't need to worry about it." Zhao Hao said softly, "If we can start the lecture in the evening, we can add an observation session to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Okay." Emperor Longqing nodded and agreed.

~~

Wenyuan Pavilion.

After listening to Teng Xiang's instructions from His Majesty, Lord Xu nodded and said that he would make arrangements.

The young minister beside him frowned as he heard this. As soon as Teng Xiang left, he couldn't help but whispered, "Father, how could you agree to give that kid an official position?!"

"What's a mere Imperial Academy position?" Elder Xu sat back in his armchair, coughed twice and said, "Besides, it's not a proper official position, anyone who writes or paints can be one. How can I object to such a small matter? It's too cheap."

The so-called Hanlin Taizhao is a special position in the Hanlin Academy, which is specially set up for those who are summoned for their artistic skills.

People of all kinds, such as literature, classics, monks, Taoists, calligraphers and painters, chess, yin and yang, etc., waited for the monarch to summon them with their expertise, and were then appointed as "Hanlin Waiting Zhao".

Zhao Hao was naturally good at science, so it was undoubtedly very appropriate for Emperor Longqing to grant him this official position.

"But no matter how high or low his official rank is, he has the qualification to give lectures at the Imperial Lecture Hall!" The young cabinet minister said anxiously, "Father, we have already let him ruin our place twice..."

"That's why I want to get this place back!" Xu Jie suddenly opened his eyes and said fiercely:

"The last two times, he took advantage of my unpreparedness and shamelessly attacked me! I am proud of my status and could only let him do whatever he wanted. But this time, there are still two days, which is enough time for me to make all the preparations and defeat him head-on at the lecture, and sweep him and his science into the trash!"

"Yes, father." The young elder couldn't help but be secretly shocked. He hadn't seen his father so serious since he sent Gao Xinzheng back to his hometown.

Even when Guo Pu was driven out of office, my father acted calmly and nonchalantly, and sent a grand scholar to accompany Gao Gong.

"Besides, it's useless for me to disagree." Xu Jie said gloomily, "As long as His Majesty has this idea, he will let him take the stage sooner or later. It's better to strangle him to death on the podium while I am still in office."

"That's right." Xu Fan nodded, thinking that two years was enough time to strangle the kid named Zhao a few times.

"Call the director of the Imperial Observatory tomorrow," he said in a low voice, "Looking at the time of the lecture, I'm afraid it will be about astronomy."

Xu Fan nodded to show that he understood.

~~

After leaving the palace, Zhao Hao separated from the eldest princess.

He wanted to go to Xingbu Street to wait for his father to come out, and of course the eldest princess also wanted to go very much.

But she had already gone to see the emperor for Zhao Shouzheng today. If she went to pick him up again, wouldn't that make people think of something wrong?

Alas, underground couples still have to avoid suspicion.

While waiting at the gate of the Censorate, Zhao Hao was grinning from ear to ear.

Although Young Master Zhao had no intention of working in the officialdom himself... it would be too hard, with so many chores and rules to deal with every day, and he also had to entertain and see off guests, and he couldn't slack off at all. How could it be as comfortable as being the son of an official?

But when you think about Mr. Liu, Mr. Zhang, and Fatty Tang, you will realize that if you want to live a comfortable life, you'd better have an official position to look more impressive.

Only when you are an official appointed by the court will you be truly qualified to interact with officials on an equal footing.

Zhao Hao had been planning to wait until the next time the imperial court would sell official positions... Oh no, when paying the donation, he would donate a set of official crowns as the maximum amount.

But the officials who donated their money were so undignified. How could they be as glorious as those awarded directly by the emperor?

Zhao Shizhen, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but wonder secretly, it turned out that his uncle was also obsessed with becoming an official, so why didn't he take the exam himself?

Of course, he never dared to ask this question out loud.

ps. Second update, Xiao Zhao finally got an official position, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~