Mingde Gate is the main gate of Chang'an City.

It is also the busiest gate among the various gates of Chang'an City.

However, starting this morning, there was a team of Nanshan construction workers who set up a shelf at the gate of the city, and it seemed that they were preparing to do something here.

The soldiers defending the city were apparently instructed to do so, so they did not interfere with their work.

"Liu Fang, you said that this time the boss arranged for us to come over to help Guanshishan Academy, what are you trying to do? The walls of this Mingde Gate are very complete, so they don't need to be repaired. ”

The people in charge of setting up the shelf happened to be Liu Fang and Liu Qing and his party.

Although I didn't understand what this task was about, the speed of the work was not delayed at all.

"Liu Qing, the boss arranged for us to come over, so naturally there is something to do. As for what to do, I'll know later, and now I'm so entangled in what to do. ”

Liu Fang's mentality is much better than Liu Qing's, and he is not arrogant or impatient, directing some helpers to work there.

Fortunately, the two of them didn't wait too long, and on the side of Guanshishan Academy, Xu Jingzong personally brought a group of people over.

"Can you build a small attic on top of the wall above the main gate in one day?"

Xu Jingzong did not be polite to Liu Fang and them, and directly began to arrange the task.

"Build an attic above the Mingde Gate?"

Liu Fang was surprised by this task.

"That's right, the drawings for the attic are here, you just need to follow the drawings to build it."

Li Kuan asked Xu Jingzong to build the bell tower on the Mingde Gate as quickly as possible, and Xu Jingzong was naturally not ambiguous at all.

After several corrections, the sample of Langqing's large bell has been able to walk accurately.

Seeing that the Chinese New Year was about to come, Li Kuan naturally hoped to install this Big Ben on the Mingde Gate before the fifteenth year of Zhenguan.

This is the first modern clock in Datang, and it is also one of the most important tools to indicate the time to the people of Chang'an City.

Of course, it is the best advertisement for the watch workshop of the Chu Wangfu.

A few days ago, Li Kuan went to Daming Palace to explain to Li Shimin for a long time before he agreed to build such an attic on the Mingde Gate.

To put it mildly, this bell tower will become a new scene in Chang'an City in the future.

"Xu joins the army, don't worry, this attic is not complicated, and it can definitely be completed before dark today."

Liu Fang took the drawings from Xu Jingzong's hand, quickly glanced at them, and immediately knew what to expect.

As the backbone sent by Nanshan Construction Engineering, Liu Fang's level is naturally not blown.

Whether it is the ability to coordinate management, or the level of knowledge and culture, or the level of building walls by himself, he is very good.

"After this attic is built, someone from our Gewu Academy will come over tomorrow and start installing other things."

After Xu Jingzong had a brief communication with Liu Fang, he personally watched them get busy from the sidelines.

As the main gate of Chang'an City, such a big movement will definitely cause many people to discuss.

And Xu Jingzong's actions here naturally spread quickly.

"Are you saying that Xu Jingzong doesn't know what to toss in Mingdemen now?"

In the Guozi prison, Kong Yingda looked at Lu Xuan standing in front of him.

"Master, it's true, I came back from outside the city, and I happened to pass by the Mingde Gate, where there was already a group of people busy on the city wall, Xu Jingzong was standing there with a few people at the city gate, and from time to time he talked to those construction workers."

Lu Xuan naturally knew that Kong Yingda was very concerned about the affairs of Guanshishan Academy, so after seeing the situation in front of Mingde Gate today, even if he hadn't figured out the situation yet, he also made a special trip to Guozijian.

"Mingdemen is so important, so what kind of reputation can Xu Jingzong make? actually arranged for someone to build something there, isn't he afraid that a bunch of imperial histories will impeach him when the time comes? ”

Kong Yingda felt that he couldn't keep up with the train of people at Guanshishan Academy at all.

"Master, this Mingde Gate is heavily guarded, and in this case, they can still build things there, presumably with the approval of His Majesty, but I don't know what kind of reputation they want to make."

Lu Xuan is naturally very aware of the importance of Mingdemen to Datang.

If the Xuanwu Gate is the most important palace gate in the imperial palace, the Mingde Gate is the most important gate of Chang'an City.

Even the noble children in Chang'an City did not dare to make trouble in this place casually.

Now Guanshishan Academy actually brought a group of people there who didn't know what to toss, attracting a bunch of onlookers.

"Hmph, those people don't do their business as a whole, and they just do some messy things. This time I'm going to see what they're going to do, and if they're messing around there, I'm going to impeach them! ”

With the increasing influence of Guanshishan Academy, as well as the establishment of Qujiang Academy and Weishui Academy, Guozijian's position in Chang'an City is obvious, and Kong Yingda is very dissatisfied with this.

Especially in Guanshishan Academy, most of the students in it are not orthodox to study scriptures, but the evil ways like Gewu are very popular.

How could Kong Yingda accept such a situation?

……

"Lord Wang, just this pile of iron lumps and wooden lumps are assembled together, can you accurately time the time?"

When Lang Qing began to assemble the cumbersome bell on the newly built attic on the Mingde Gate, Li Kuan also personally took Cheng Jingwen and Wu Meiniang to the city wall to witness the birth of a history.

According to Li Kuan's assumption, some parts of this clock, with the passage of time, may be replaced with higher precision.

But this Big Ben has always existed on the Mingde Gate, making it a symbol to witness the prosperity of Zhenguan.

"Jingwen, don't be impatient. The wonder of this machine lies in the fact that when the different parts are assembled together, they will play a wonderful change. What you thought was incredible before will slowly become a reality. ”

"But if this clock is to keep time, the hand must be constantly rotating, how can we ensure that it turns accurately at all times?"

Cheng Jingwen's question is estimated to be a question that many people will have in their minds.

So Li Kuan didn't think it was so strange.

"This Big Ben is equipped with a special clockwork, which rotates the clockwork at regular intervals every day through a key-like thing, ensuring that the clockwork can give uninterrupted power to the gears corresponding to the pendulum and seconds, so as to achieve the purpose of continuous timekeeping."

At this time, it is impossible to achieve a battery, solar energy, or a purely automatic mechanical device.

On the contrary, wall clocks, which were widely used in rural areas in the early years, adopted a relatively primitive structure and could meet the requirements of the current situation.

The Big Ben clock that Li Kuan asked Langqing to be responsible for making is actually a similar wall clock.

Every time he is on time, he will think of the sound of the time, this voice, Li Kuan heard a lot when he was a child.

On the contrary, in the back, this old-fashioned wall clock was slowly eliminated.

"Lord Wang, if this big stupid breed can become a little smaller, it should be bought by many noble and wealthy merchants, and maybe a new industry will be extended. The premise, of course, is that the Big Ben is more accurate than the traditional timekeeping tools such as sundials. ”

Wu Meiniang's focus is obviously not quite the same as Cheng Jingwen.

For her, many things have to be weighed first against its interests and existential value, and then judge the next move.

"That's right, there is a lot to be done in the watch industry, not only in every household, but in everyone's needs. However, it is not possible to make such a small clock in a short period of time, so it can only solve the needs of public places and families first. ”

Li Kuan naturally hopes that delicate things like watches can be launched quickly, but with the current level of metal processing, it is unrealistic.

At the very least, it is necessary to make a simple lathe and make a qualitative leap in the metalworking process, so that it is possible to produce something as tight as a watch.

"Lord Wang, the key parts have been installed. Now, just tighten the mainspring to confirm that the Big Ben is working properly, and then cover the case, and it's done. ”

Soon, Lang Qing personally tightened a screw, and the installation of Big Ben was basically completed.

"Then you go and tighten the clockwork."

Li Kuan didn't talk nonsense, and he didn't mean to tighten the clockwork himself.

This Big Ben is intended to be used as a model to stimulate the students of Guanshishan Academy, so that they can see what can be gained by successfully inventing new objects.

No matter what time it is, talking about big truths and feelings can only play a short-term stimulating role.

To be effective in the long run, in the final analysis, it still depends on the benefits.

This is not the case in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

Otherwise, how can it be said that children only talk about right and wrong, and adults only talk about interests.

"Squeak! Squeak! ”

The sound of the clockwork tightening was a little harsh, but Li Kuan didn't dislike it at all.

Don't underestimate the significance of this bell, in fact, the importance cannot be overemphasized.

The Gewu Academy of Guanshishan Academy has been established for so many years, and now it is basically entering a bottleneck stage.

There are many things that the students are in a feeling that they don't understand, and they are about to kick in the door.

With the accurate timing of the clock, it is definitely of great significance to the development of Gewu Academy.

For example, Li Kuan's previous calculation of the problem of gravity, although everyone put forward some basically correct theories.

However, these theories still lack some accurate parameters.

For example, what is the acceleration of gravity, there has never been a data that everyone agrees on.

People like Kong Yingda definitely don't care about these things, and they don't realize their significance.

But Li Kuan is different.

"Click! Click! Click! ”

When the clock is twisted, the second hand of the dial begins to rotate regularly.

This sound is clearly transmitted to everyone's ears even in a relatively noisy environment.

One, two, three, four......

Li Kuan looked at Big Ben and read silently in his heart.

Now there is a lack of calibration mechanism, so we can only make a rough time classification.

It's like what time it is in the morning, and no one can answer at all.

When the time comes, a rough calibration will be carried out according to the time when the sun reaches the sky, and then it will only evolve slowly.

Anyway, no matter how bad this accuracy is, it is much more accurate than sundials.

At least the unit of time has evolved from a quarter of an hour to a second, which is not as simple as changing a unit.

"Zi Chouyin Maochen, Lord Wang, you mark each hour next to you, but it makes people recognize it a lot."

Cheng Jingwen looked at the constantly rotating second hand, and then looked at the scale of the dial, combined with the principle of the Big Ben that Li Kuan told them today, and immediately understood the dial.

Although Li Kuan divided the twelve hours of the day into twenty-four hours, as in later generations, twelve hours during the day and twelve hours at night.

But considering the acceptance of the people of Datang, he still asked Langqing to put the time division that everyone is accustomed to next to the dial, so that everyone would not be unable to distinguish between day and night.

Of course, after a few years, everyone will get used to the new way of expressing time, and there will be no need for such bells and whistles.

"If the clock is to be accepted by everyone, it is natural to adopt an expression that is easy for everyone to accept. After a few days, I installed a few Big Ben bells in both the palace and the Guanshishan Academy, as well as one in each workshop, so that everyone could feel its benefits. ”

Things have already been invented, and Li Kuan naturally will not leave this technology idle in the warehouse.

Besides, I tried my best to get the Tang Royal Patent Office out, isn't it just for this thing?

……

"Bell! Clang! Bell ......"

Twelve crisp rings rang with the Big Ben of the Middlebury Gate, and many people noticed the change in the Middlebury Gate.

"This Big Ben rings every half hour, and it rings a few times on the hour, which is really a good thing."

The defenders of the Middleburn Gate are the ones who can feel the influence of Big Ben the most.

Xu Jingzong arranged for someone to make such a thing in the city tower, and the city gate guards were naturally the most anxious to understand the situation.

After going back and forth, I also have a general understanding of the situation of this Big Ben.

Now that it had been running for an hour, he stood next to Big Ben and watched for an hour, basically completely understanding the rules of the clock.

"General, when we change guards in the future, we don't have to worry about whether it is the time to hand over, and when we look at this Big Ben, it will be clear at a glance, even if it is cloudy and rainy, you can see it clearly."

"That's true, and we can be more accurate in the future. In the words of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, even this Big Ben will not be bad for a minute. ”

Li Kuan can only say that it will not be bad for a minute, and he does not dare to say that it will not be bad for a second.

Because the time accuracy of this Big Ben has not yet reached the point where the error of a day is less than a second.

Langqing has even thought about it, and in the future, he will come to adjust Big Ben every ten days and eight days, otherwise the error will be big over time.

After all, this is not an electronic clock, and it is naturally error-prone.

Coupled with the accuracy of the parts, it is normal for a day to be a few seconds or even a few minutes off.

Of course, this will not affect its normal use, and even the promotion of subsequent clocks.