We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 511 Fengguo University (Part 2)

Li Che looked at the person who spoke.

He was a tall, middle-aged official with a serious face, and his shiny black beard trembled when he spoke.

Li Che also recognized this person, he was Hanlin scholar Ouyang Ji.

As the emperor's lecturer, Ouyang Ji was in charge of reading history books, explaining the meaning of scriptures, and preparing advisory responses, making him half the emperor's teacher.

His status and official position destined him to be the most loyal defender of Confucianism. When faced with science, a "heretical" discipline, he would inevitably criticize it with all his might.

"Lord Ou, are you going to teach me?" Li Che looked at Ouyang Ji with a smile. Although his words were respectful and polite, anyone could see the contempt in his eyes.

Ouyang Ji frowned and said, "My last name is Ouyang."

"Understood, Lord Ou."

Ouyang Ji's beard trembled with anger, but he didn't want to argue with Li Che, so he asked, "Your Highness, can science calculate everything in the world?"

"That's right." Li Che said calmly.

"Then I have something to ask you."

"Master Ou, please feel free to ask."

Seeing Li Che's fearless look, Ouyang Ji sneered.

There are so many difficult problems in this world. It is ridiculous to think that science can solve all the problems in the world!

I only need to ask a few questions that have no answers at all, and Li Che will be speechless, and the so-called science will not be worth mentioning.

"May I ask, Your Highness, how far is the sun in the sky from us?"

Li Che looked at Ouyang Ji as if he were a fool: "Two hundred million and nine hundred and twenty thousand miles!"

Ouyang Ji frowned and said, "Your Highness, didn't you just make up a number?"

The ancients never stopped studying the sun, but their understanding was limited to basic principles such as the laws governing the sun's movement. It was not until 1769, when Venus passed by the sun, that astronomers calculated the distance between the earth and the sun for the first time.

Li Che looked at him, his voice gradually becoming colder: "Are you saying that this prince is lying and looking forward to the emperor?"

Ouyang Ji shuddered, and then he remembered that the prince in front of him was not a kind person, but a frontier prince who held the power of life and death.

But after all, he was the orthodox Confucian scholar and did not want to be outdone, so he gritted his teeth and said:

"I dare not, but the number Your Highness mentioned is unheard of by me. How can I know whether the answer is true or not?"

Li Che sneered and said, "You don't even know the answer, yet you dare to ask this king, are you teasing me?"

After these words were spoken, Emperor Qing also frowned and looked at Ouyang Ji.

Asking a question that has no answer is not a test.

Ouyang Ji heard this and immediately broke out in a cold sweat: "I don't mean that, but Your Highness said that mathematics can calculate everything in the world."

Li Che's tone changed: "That's right...I forgive your ignorance. You can ask nonsense, but I don't say anything nonsense."

"The distance between the sun and the earth may seem unattainable, but it's actually quite easy to calculate using scientific methods. There are at least three methods, and I'll explain the simplest one: geometric measurement."

"The so-called geometric measurement method is based on the geometric relationship between the ground and the sun. When the Earth is at perihelion, which is when the ground is closest to the sun, the distance between the Earth and the sun can be calculated by measuring the angular diameter between the Earth and the sun. This angular diameter can be determined by observing the apparent diameter of the sun on the celestial sphere. Using a telescope to observe the apparent diameter of the sun and combining it with the angular relationship between the ground and the sun, the distance between the Earth and the sun can be calculated."

When these words were spoken, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

They understood every word Li Che said, but when they put them together it was like a heavenly book and they had no idea what it meant.

It's geometry, it's angular diameter, it's perihelion...

Although I don’t understand them, these professional terms don’t seem to be made up, giving people a sense of awe.

However, there were also some smart people present.

Zu Liang, the Minister of Works, was one of them. After listening silently, he suddenly said, "Your Highness."

Li Che looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zu Liang's eyes light up slightly:

"I have listened to your highness's profound remarks. Although I do not understand their meaning, I can perceive the logic behind them. However, there is one point that I am puzzled about."

Li Che said gently: "Master Zu, please feel free to speak."

"From your words, I can see a subtle hint. That is... Your Highness seems to believe that the earth beneath our feet is a sphere?"

Li Che nodded slightly: "It's not seeming, but certain that there is a sphere under our feet."

The ministers were in an uproar. Emperor Qing seemed to be lost in thought, but Zu Liang's eyes grew brighter. "Your Highness, do you have any proof?"

Li Che nodded. "This is not difficult to prove. Although the land beneath our feet seems flat, if Master Zu had been to the seashore, he would know. When a ship approaches from afar, you always see the mast first and then the hull. This is enough to prove that the sea surface is a huge curved surface."

"If we stand high enough, we can also see that the ground in the distance is slightly curved, which confirms our conclusion."

"Of course, there is also a most accurate and irrefutable method."

Zu Liang quickly asked, "May I ask what method it is?"

Li Che smiled and said softly, "Let's send a fleet out to sea, without changing direction, and keep sailing into the depths of the ocean. If there is a sphere under our feet, then this fleet will eventually return to its starting point."

Zu Liang was delighted and said, "This method is very wonderful."

Although ancient theories tended to favor the "round sky and square earth" theory, there were also proponents of the earth theory.

For example, Zhang Heng proposed that "the celestial sphere is like an egg. The celestial body is round like a bullet, and the earth is like the yolk of an egg, isolated in the sky. The sky is big and the earth is small."

There is no Zhang Heng in this world, but there are similar theories.

Zu Liang believed in the theory of the earth's roundness, and so did Wang Xi, a subordinate of Li Che. In ancient times when there was no sufficient scientific foundation, the ancients were able to achieve this level, and the wisdom contained therein was truly amazing.

Zu Liang was so surprised when Li Che came up with this conclusion.

It was rare to meet someone as curious as Zu Liang, so Li Che didn't mind saying more:

"In fact, the land we live on, let's call it Earth. The Earth revolves around the sun in the universe, while also rotating on its own axis. That's why we have day and night, and the four seasons. And the moon revolves around the Earth, which is why we have tides."

"There are seven, or maybe eight, planets like Earth, but one of them is so small it can be ignored."

Emperor Qing frowned slightly: "If that's the case, why haven't we fallen off since we live on the sphere?"

Li Che replied: "Father, that's because of gravity."

"gravitational?"

"Yes, gravity."

"What is gravity?"

"This is the content of science." Li Che smiled and said, "There happens to be a class teaching this content. Father, you can go with me to the class to listen in."