Only then did He Zhiyuan understand that there was no word myopia in the Ming Dynasty, and myopia was called eyesight. The guy pulled out a lens and said, "This is the kind of lens you were talking about." ”

He Zhiyuan took the lenses and asked for a pair of reading glasses. Ask the man, "How much silver if I only want this lens?" ”

The guy saw that He Zhiyuan was still a half-grown child younger than him, so he asked with a playful smile: "Fifteen taels of silver." Little guest officer, how can you buy it like this? Are you old with one eye and the other with a staring eye? ”

Wang Zhixue was not happy when he heard this, and immediately scolded: "Hey, I said this guy, can he speak?" Did you ask that? ”

The guy was angry when he saw Wang Zhixue, so he immediately changed his attitude, and said with a smile: "I said the wrong thing, I have never bought glasses like this before, I was just curious." Say the wrong thing, say the wrong thing! ”

The old man who was sitting at the counter grinding the lenses heard that the guest was angry, so he hurriedly stopped the guy in his hand, stood up and scolded the guy a few words, and asked He Zhiyuan: "This little guest officer, I have been making glasses for decades, and I have never bought glasses like this, are you sure that one reading lens and the other eyewear lens?" ”

"Sure." He Zhiyuan took the reading lens and asked, "May I ask the store, can this lens be sharpened to be smaller?" One inch in diameter is enough. ”

"Yes, just wait a while." After saying that, the old man sat down again and went busy.

He Zhiyuan also moved a small stool, sat in front of the old man and chatted with him: "Shopkeeper, how many years have you been making glasses?" ”

"That's a long time, I've been making glasses with my father since I was sixteen. It's been almost forty years now. The old man said as he sharpened his lenses.

He Zhiyuan looked at the glasses without glasses and said, "Shop, you have been making glasses for so many years, have you ever thought about improving your glasses?" ”

"Improvements? How can it be improved? These skills have been passed down from our ancestors. The old man stopped what he was doing and looked at He Zhiyuan suspiciously.

"For example, wouldn't it be easier to wear the ear straps for your glasses with metal legs that can be folded?" He Zhiyuan took a pair of glasses and gestured and said.

After saying this, the old man no longer looked down on the little guest officer in front of him, he took his glasses and gestured to himself. Then he said: "Little guest officer, your idea is very good, if you install folding temples, it is indeed much more convenient. ”

At this time, the young man said: "Grandpa, I have long said that glasses and temples are easy to wear, but you just don't listen!" This time, you won't believe it until the guest officer says it. And the eye-to-eye lenses, as I said earlier, you have to look at the lenses that you want, right? ”

This time, it was He Zhiyuan's turn to look at this young guy differently. It's rare to see that he is not so old and can still have so many ideas. So he asked, "So you've long since discovered that eye-looking lenses can correct myopia?" ”

"When you say myopia, you're looking at it, right?" The young man asked rhetorically, and then said: "I have long found out, I saw that the middle thick, the surrounding thin lenses can correct presbyopia, and the eyes are just the opposite of presbyopia, I wondered if the middle thin and thick lenses around the eyes can correct the eyes, so I grinded two pieces, and found a scholar who looked at the eyes to try it, and it was true." ”

He Zhiyuan immediately became interested in this young man, in this era, there are not many craftsmen who can draw inferences and are good at thinking. Most of them are conformists, and they don't dare or want to think and explore. If this young man can be guided now, after making glass, maybe he will become an optical instrument manufacturer and inventor like Sun Yunqiu, and he can make modern optical instruments such as microscopes and astronomical telescopes in advance.

Thinking of this, He Zhiyuan said to this young man: "Yes, if you can draw inferences from others and be diligent in thinking, you will definitely have a great future in the future." Aren't you wondering why I bought two different lenses? I'm telling you, you can put two lenses in front of your eyes, one behind the other, and look at them from a distance, see what happens, and then we'll talk. ”

After speaking, He Zhiyuan picked up two lenses and showed them to him. The young man took the lens and tried it according to the demonstration.

Then, he exclaimed: "I saw that the house in front of me suddenly came close to me, and I could see it very clearly!" ”

When the old man heard his grandson say this, he also picked up two lenses and tried them, and it was true. He also saw houses in the distance! The old man was surprised by He Zhiyuan and was shocked. Then he asked respectfully: "Dare to ask what this little gentleman does at home?" ”

Wang Zhixue said proudly beside him: "The master is from Hejia Village, have you ever heard that there is a talent who gets a strange book in his dream?" My master is that showman! ”

The grandfather and grandson were even more surprised when they heard Wang Zhixue say this. The book donation in the dream has already spread all over Juzhou, how can they not know? The old man said: "Nowadays, Hejia Village is famous, and the people in the city don't know which one doesn't know. I didn't think you were the Xiucai Gong of the strange book! Oops, disrespectful, disrespectful! ”

He Zhiyuan hurriedly returned the salute and asked the old man: "Dare to ask what the master should be called?" ”

The old man replied, "The little old man's name is Ren Guiqi. Then he pointed to the young man and said miserably: "There is only one grandson named Ren Guocheng under his knees." A few years ago, my son and daughter-in-law passed away due to illness, and only our grandfather and grandson lived in this store. ”

"Oh, these glasses cost more than ten or twenty taels of silver at every turn, and you can live without worry." He Zhiyuan said.

"No, Xiucaigong, what you see is just the appearance. Now there are few people who wear glasses, and there is only one business in ten days and a half months, and the remaining silver is only enough for our grandchildren to barely survive, excluding the rent and merchant tax. The old man said.

"Oh, I see. Has your grandson ever read? He Zhiyuan then asked.

"I've been reading for a few years, but I haven't read it since his parents died."

"Hey, that's a shame. Since Master Ren has opened a shop here and lived a hard life, he is willing to go to my Hejia Village, and my family will give you five taels of silver a month, so that your grandson can worship me as a teacher, and I will teach him some optical knowledge, and he will do something in the future with his qualifications. ”

"Of course it's the best, Xiao Lao'er is grateful, but Xiao Lao'er will only polish the lenses and make glasses, which is useless and does not love Lu, I will ...... after I go"

"Master Ren, don't worry, when you come to our Hejia Village, there will be a lot of things for you to do." He Zhiyuan understood what he meant, and immediately said.

"So, of course the little old man is willing. After we take care of the things in the store, how about going to Hejia Village in a few days? "Such a good treatment, of course their grandchildren will be willing.

At this time, Ren Guocheng, the young man next to him, thought to himself, how good are you? and unashamedly wanted to take me as a disciple. No, I had to ask him, so he asked recklessly, "Hey, you said you want to take me as an apprentice, but what are you capable of?" If I only make glasses, I won't accept it. ”

Wang Zhixue was unwilling, as soon as he entered the door, he saw that this kid was not pleasing to the eye. I thought about how hard I worked to apprentice, you kid doesn't know how to cherish the blessings, and even made disrespectful remarks, and today I will treat it as a disobedient one. So he said: "Don't be unconvinced, you kid, it's your blessing that the master can accept you as an apprentice." The master's knowledge is in its own right, called science. The knowledge of this school of science is unfathomable, and a single subject of mathematics is enough for you to learn for several years. There are also physics, chemistry, and optics that he just talked about today, which is enough for you to learn for a lifetime. ”

"Mathematics, physics, chemistry, optics, are these all sciences? Will he be? Ren Guocheng asked with some confusion.

"These are all sciences, and they are written by the master himself, can the master do it?" Wang Zhixue said disdainfully.

Hearing Wang Zhixue say this, Ren Guocheng said dryly: "Since this is the case, I admire it." I'm going to apprentice! "When you have finished speaking, you should kneel down and salute.

He Zhiyuan hurriedly stopped him and said, "The matter of apprenticeship will be talked about when you arrive in Hejia Village." ”

When He Zhiyuan paid the bill and left, Ren Guiqi insisted on only accepting fifteen taels of silver, and He Zhiyuan could agree and put down twenty taels of silver. repeatedly told them that after the store went out, they would definitely go to Hejia Village to find him, so they said goodbye and left.

After returning home, He Zhiyuan went to Carpenter Wang's house, and Carpenter Wang had already finished the wooden tube. He Zhiyuan took out the lens and asked Carpenter Wang to inlay the lens on the tube.

Carpenter Wang took the lens, gently glued the lens to the wooden tube with wooden glue, took out a wooden ring prepared in advance, and then glued the wooden ring to the lens with wooden glue. He took out another piece of cowhide and wrapped it in a wooden tube with a smaller diameter, and glued it firmly. After a while, wait for the wood glue to dry thoroughly, and then put the two wooden tubes together, so that the first monocular Wangyuan in the Ming Dynasty was born.

He Zhiyuan took the telescope and looked at it carefully, the lens barrel was very smooth, and he stretched it again, and the strength was just right, he couldn't help but admire the exquisite skills of the ancient carpenter. He closed one eye, placed the telescope on the other, adjusted the focus, and the image in the mirror gradually became clearer, and a clear leaf appeared in front of his eyes.

Carpenter Wang asked curiously, "He Gongzi, what do you see?" ”

He Zhiyuan handed him the telescope and said with a smile: "Just look at it." ”

Carpenter Wang took the telescope suspiciously, followed He Zhiyuan's example, looked at it with his eyes, and was so frightened that he hurriedly took it away, and exclaimed, "This thing has a spell?" How can you move something far away to your eyes? ”

He Zhiyuan explained with a smile: "It's not a spell, and it can't move things. It's just that you can see things in the distance, and it's called a telescope. ”

"Telescopes?" Carpenter Wang asked rhetorically, and then said, "Wouldn't it be more convenient if this was made into a double cylinder?" ”

"This is just an experiment, and now that the test is successful, you can make a double-barrel." As he spoke, He Zhiyuan and Carpenter Wang asked for pen and paper, drew a sketch, and asked him to start making binoculars.

Back home, Wang Zhixue saw the monocular in He Zhiyuan's hand and asked eagerly: "Master, this is the telescope you are talking about, right?" How about I try? ”

Wang Zhixue took the telescope and put it on his eyes, stretching it while shouting: "I see the roof in the distance, it is too clear, just like in front of me." ”

When the subordinates and members of the family heard about it, they all gathered around and scrambled to watch. After watching, they all shouted magically. For a while, everyone in the courtyard gathered to watch......