When the fifth watch was struck, fog gradually began to appear under the originally clear night sky, and gradually rose and overflowed, covering the stars and making the entire sky chaotic.

In the slightly cold night wind, Yang Ruchang tightened his coat, closed the observation record in his hand, handed it to his apprentice, and said to him in a hoarse voice: "I am old and I really can't hold on any longer. I still have some left."

The next calculation is all left to you."

The handsome scholar on the side agreed: "Yes, Master."

So Yang Ruchang said goodbye to his apprentice and came down from the high cloud platform. The two sedan bearers knew that he was returning home at this time, and they were already waiting under the stage, rubbing their sleepy eyes. Yang Ruchang sat on the sedan chair, and they carried him along the

The city wall moved quickly, and the light on the cloud platform quickly shrank into a bright spot, flickering lonely in the mist. The great imperial capital was still immersed in sleep, and occasionally there were a few cockcrows, far or near; the courtyards of people on the roadside

There was a slight ticking sound from time to time, which was the sound of dew on the trees hitting the ground. Yang Ruchang heard the sound of the watch getting closer gradually. At the entrance of a market in the imperial capital, he saw the watchman standing with his back hunched and his hands lowered.

Avoid the roadside.

The sedan stopped in front of the house where the paint was peeling off. The maids had been waiting in the courtyard. They welcomed him to the study, lit the oil lamp, helped him change clothes, and made a pot of strong tea according to his instructions. Then he sat at the desk.

He polished ink in front of him, spread out yesterday's unfinished memorial, briefly glanced at the written part, and then wrote quickly. The words were flying and unruly, and were nailed to the paper one by one by his pen. When the sky was just bright, he

Then he stopped writing, sighed, got up, left the study, and went back to the bedroom to rest. He crept into the room, and as usual, he heard that his wife had been asleep in bed for a long time.

He slept until noon before getting up to eat. There were still three bowls of rice on the dining table. One bowl was for him, one was for his wife, and one was for their son who died in infancy. There were only one meat and one vegetable dish, and meat was not his favorite.

Instead of eating oily meat, he ate ordinary leeks and eggs. "Why are the meals getting worse and worse recently?" he muttered.

"This month's money is running out. I can only make do with it." The wife's voice was very calm.

"How come it costs so much? What happened at home?" he asked in surprise.

"You bad old man, you only remember the sky full of stars, but you don't even know that maid Xiaohong left a few days ago. Didn't you tell her to give her ten taels of silver as payment?" The wife slapped her chopsticks on the table resentfully.

He then stopped talking, scratched his head, and remembered something like this. After dinner, he still put on the official coat of the Qintian Prison and the square-top hat. After thinking about it, he put it on and was about to write

After finishing the memorial, he went out. The streets of the Imperial City were bustling with people. When he passed there, two sedan bearers and a sedan were mixed in the sea of ​​people. Several famous shops had their doors closed, so there was no need to go and read the notices on the doors.

I know that they are fumigating the warehouse with rat gas to give more space for food storage. This rat gas is not easy to obtain. It requires red volcanic ash from the border areas and lead refined from calamine to be mixed together to make one.

The gray rice flour is grown and soaked in vinegar to release the rat-suffocating smell. Ma's Rice Shop, which is next to Guo's Rice Shop, also has new rice. The shop owner is placing samples at the door and shouting: "Come and take a look!"

Jinzhou's rice!" He glanced at it and couldn't help but admire it in his heart. Jinzhou has had bumper harvests every year, and indeed the rice is dripping with fat and the corn is white. It's just that he can't stand such good rice for several years.

He walked into the small room under the observatory and saw his apprentice sleeping on the desk. He did not disturb him, but gently took out the manuscript paper with the calculation formula from under his arm. His eyes lit up, and it turned out that the apprentice had already calculated the final calculation.

The result. He only looked at the line that stated the result and whispered:

"The secret has changed."

The handsome scholar on the side suddenly woke up and saw his master with a gloomy face in the small and dark room. He quickly stood up and apologized respectfully: "I'm sorry, master, I just fell asleep!"

"What kind of world is this?" Yang Ruchang said expressionlessly, "The secrets of heaven have changed, and the Tao is impermanent..."

So Yang Ruchang unfolded the memorial filled with densely packed words and solemnly wrote the calculation result at the end. The ink slowly spread and penetrated the back of the paper.

The next day, Yang Ruchang entered the palace in court uniform and respectfully presented a memorial to the emperor, saying:

"After repeated calculations by Wei Chen and his apprentice, the heavenly secrets are no longer the same as before. When the heavenly secrets change, the natural celestial phenomena will also change. Weichen discovered that God's will makes a year equal to approximately 729 days, which naturally contains profound truth; but in reality

The situation is slightly longer than seven hundred and twenty-nine days, perhaps this is a deeper providence."

As soon as he finished speaking, the powerful minister Cui Dan came out to object:

"The books handed down from generation to generation, whether they are the scriptures of saints, the history books of historians, or the works of various schools of thought, have always said that the length of a year is a full seven hundred and twenty-nine days. Seven hundred and twenty-nine days

Numbers have special meaning. Your Majesty, you know that nine is the lord of numbers. Nine multiplied by itself is eighty-one, and nine multiplied by eighty-one is seven hundred and twenty-nine. In other words, seven hundred and twenty-nine is the multiplication of three and nine.

The number is the most honorable. There are seven hundred and twenty-nine days in a year, which is the embodiment of God's will. Therefore, Huang Shengren said: "There are days in the year, just like there are days in the human body." God's will seeks simplicity and advocates perfection.

It is impossible for the length of a year to be anything more than seven hundred and twenty-nine days. Lord Min, who is now the Supervisor of Qintian, has repeatedly spread these heresies and ignored the words of the saints with ulterior motives.

Your Majesty, please take a closer look. It is best to dismiss Mr. Yang from his post and investigate, so as to prevent these heresies from spreading everywhere, causing panic among people and unrest throughout the country."

After hearing this, Yang Ruchang had anger in his eyes. This powerful minister Cui Dan had opposed him not once or twice. He scolded this sycophant in his heart, but said:

"What Mr. Cui said is wrong. Although Huang Shengren is great, he lived in an era where wars and wars continued. The people could not find a stable life, and the country's power was declining. The situation is different now. After the painstaking efforts of the late Emperor and His Majesty for generations,

Only if we manage the business and prosper the country, and the people and our ministers can live a stable life, can we continue to explore the laws of the movement of heaven and earth on the basis of the predecessors. God's will makes a year equal to approximately 729 days, which naturally contains

A profound truth; but the actual situation is slightly longer than 729 days, perhaps this is a more profound providence."

"What nonsense!" Cui Dan said angrily, bowing to the emperor, "Your Majesty, you heard it. Mr. Yang said such ungrateful and unsage words, which is a blatant slander against the way of heaven. I think..."

"Okay, okay, there's no need to argue." The emperor found it funny when he saw the ministers bickering with each other, so he waved his hand impatiently, picked up the corner of the memorial that Min Qian had sent over, and read all the densely written words on it.

He showed it to all the ministers and said: "Look, a small imperial eunuch with a lower official position than you, who is not allowed to go to court in the morning without approval, can write such a long memorial, and who always stands in front of me."

Dear ministers, which one of you has ever written such a long memorial?"

When Cui Dan heard what the emperor said, he apologized repeatedly. Others also bent down and bowed their heads to apologize, and there was a lot of noise in the court. Only Min Qian also lowered his head, but did not bend down or apologize.

"But," the emperor turned his fingers lightly and turned the writing side of the memorial to himself. Facing the densely packed words, he couldn't help but show a look of disgust, and said, "Yang Ruchang, who doesn't know about the equator and the

The ecliptic coincides, and the sun rises from due east every day, passes through the zenith, and sets due west. The temperature remains constant throughout the year, and the west wind blows strongly, and there will be light rain every few days. In this way, the weather is smooth and the harvest is good every year.

My decree spread overseas, and barbarians from all over the world were convinced, and tributes from all directions came in an endless stream. The people also lived and worked in peace and contentment. A year is a full 729 days, but it is still a little longer than this. Is there any difference? Since

There is no difference. Why do you have to worry about this issue for several years, only to make the ministers angry? I have had to ask the officials to reduce your salary several times. Do you not even want an official position?

?Don’t forget what happened to the last Qin Tianjian!”

"Wei Chen doesn't dare," Yang Ruchang said in panic with beads of sweat on his forehead, "It's just that the facts are solid and I can't help but believe it. Now that Wei Chen and his apprentice's observation records are available, I heard that several folk astronomers were captured just a few days ago.

He will be exiled to the north soon. Your Majesty can ask them to check the calculation. If the calculation result is different from that of the humble minister, I would rather behead my head to apologize!"

"Very good," the emperor nodded. "You make a copy of the observation records and give them to me. I will call them to check. If your calculations are correct, I will send a message to all directions to announce the results of your new measurement. Otherwise,
Chapter completed!