Seeing that Bai Liyan and Mooney were talking quickly and didn't know what to say, Nuo hurriedly asked Bai Liyan:

"Marquis Yongxing, what did Lord Mooney say?"

"His Excellency Mooney first came to the Central Plains, and he was not familiar with the customs of my Central Plains, so he was anxious to enter the palace to meet my king. I told him that it was not early to-day, and that I would arrange an audience for tomorrow. ”

"Oh, that's true. I also ask Your Excellency Mooney to rest at the pavilion for the night, and my king will summon you to the palace tomorrow. ”

Nuo Yiyan's etiquette is still quite in place, but in Mooney's eyes, he has become a mother-in-law, even though he is extremely unhappy in his heart, he still does not dare to slack off, and the unhappiness in his heart is not reflected on his face. So he said casually:

"Well, I'll see your king tomorrow, but I don't want anything to go wrong."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, you will see my king tomorrow."

Promise promised, and then led the delegation into the city. Mooney turned over and asked as he walked with Gudapa:

"Are all the people in the Central Plains like this?"

"Pretty much. But in their eyes, it was a sign of respect for your guests, and that was the case when I first entered the city. But I entered the city in the morning, and I met King Xian at noon. It is true that you have come a little late, just after noon, and you may arrange to meet their king at once, but it is almost dusk to-day, and according to their rules and arrangements, the large envoys will not be able to meet until the next day. ”

As he spoke, he had entered the south gate, and the oncoming noise surprised Mooney:

"There are so many people!"

"It's all lively, but the population of Shanling is indeed much larger than twelve years ago."

Gudapa elaborated, and Mooney asked:

"Their capital city is not as grand as Posong City, why can they hold so many people."

"Because they are all wooden buildings, with the same land area, there are more people living in wooden buildings. And their municipalities are different from ours. Our municipal administration is usually centered around the town hall and central square, which extends from the center of the city to the periphery.

But they are developing from the north of the city and the east of the city to other directions, so their municipal government needs to plan the roads and markets in advance, and we are planning while expanding, so in the future, our municipal government looks orderly, but the construction roads and markets take up a lot of space, and they can make better use of the land in the city. ”

"This kind of wooden building is so densely packed that a fire in wartime doesn't burn the whole city."

"Yes, a few years before I came, there was a big fire in the city that destroyed a fifth of the buildings, but it took them five years to get back to their original state. If it were us, we would not be able to recover in twenty or thirty years.

Although the stone building is solid, it is also troublesome to move out and rebuild after being destroyed, and in terms of practicality, the wooden building is indeed more suitable for the Central Plains. ”

"What are they, why are the stones stacked so high?" Mooney asked, gesturing to a nearby wind tower.

"Oh...... It was a man-made wind tower in the Central Plains. ”

"What is it for?"

"The summer in the north is very hot, but there is hot air all year round, and the wind tower can lead the high hot air to the ground, and there is a pool of cold water or ice in the wind tower, and the hot air is cooled by the pool and the ice, and it is very cool after being sent to the ground. I have built two of them in my house, and they are very strong. It can also be used to keep an eye out for the enemy in wartime. ”

"Then why is that one different?" Mooney pointed to the bell tower in the distance, and Gudapa looked at it closely, and his expression was immediately a little excited:

"Oh, it's a machine that can know the time, Bailiyan calls it the bell tower, with this thing, the whole city can know the time of day."

"Nonsense, how can there be witchcraft in the world that sees time."

Mooney was highly skeptical, and Gudapa said triumphantly with an eyebrow raised

"That's the way it is, the bell tower does know the time. You may not know that the people of the Central Plains can make ice in the summer. ”

"How is this possible!"

"Don't believe it, I dig a lot of ice cellars at home, and I can also make frozen milk and sell it to the locals, and now not only can I make ice, but you can also see it yourself, they can even make crystals, and the price is very cheap. I won't say much about the rest, you'll have to stay for a few months, and then you'll see for yourself. ”

At the same time as preparing for the construction of the observatory three years ago, in order to solve the problem of time, the Yongxing City Design Department and the Technology Department began to study and tackle the clock technology. A year later, a bell tower was erected in the center of the city, and the Central Plains changed from the days when the sky knew it.

However, the accuracy of the bell tower is a little worse, and it can be more than half an hour in ten days, so it needs to be calibrated with the water clock and sundial every two days. There will be an improvement in the near future, and the theoretical error of the improved gear set will be reduced to fifty days and one hour.

The large bell tower can only solve the problem of daily use, and astronomical timekeeping requires more precise mechanical timing devices.

Conventional water clocks can only be accurate to the quarter of an hour, and after the improvement of the mechanical amplification principle, they are only accurate to the minute. Sundials can be used during the day and are blind at night, and the accuracy is even worse. To this end, the design and technology departments are tackling clocks and watches with higher precision and suitable for carrying.

Last winter, the principle and technical process of the escapement [Note 1] were overcome, and a spring pocket watch was produced, but the mechanical accuracy was unsatisfactory, and it could run for more than ten minutes a day, but it finally had the basic principle that it should have, and on this basis, it was expected to make progress in a few years.

The streets were crowded, all for the people and pedestrians who had a glimpse of the Jin Xuedi mission, Bai Liyan walked in front of the mission, and Su Fangyi said while walking:

"It's been eighteen years since the war started in the South."

"If you count the temptations of the Jin Xuedi people, it should be nineteen years."

"yes...... Who would have thought of it nineteen years ago, it's a dream to think about......"

"How Yongxing Hou plans to trade with Mooney, do you have a detailed strategy?"

"Most of the medicinal materials needed by Mooni were in the northern regions of Xianguo, Changsun, Liang, Yan and Jin, and some of them needed to be purchased from the mainland of Zhiguo, Weiguo, and Jin, and the overall quantity was huge. However, most of the standing herbs are not too expensive, so the total transaction price is not too much.

However, Mooney also knew the truth, and he was worried that our Central Plains would take advantage of their crisis to blackmail them, so he also planned to purchase goods from Central Plains in exchange for our release. Fearing that its gold and silver wealth was too great, it would inevitably cause other countries to covet it, and no matter how the deal was distributed, there would eventually be fewer people and more people, and it might not be impossible to make a big fight for it at that time. ”

The huge Central Plains gold and silver are extremely scarce, and the total amount of gold and silver coins that Mooney brought here may be only a fraction of the Jinxuedi people, and for the Central Plains, it is five million that fell from the sky, and whoever hit it will get rich.

As the saying goes, "people die for money, birds die for food", and the inflow of large amounts of precious metals is bound to exacerbate the already bad situation and accelerate the turbulence of the situation.

While thinking about it, a team of fast horses came forward, and the forbidden army in charge of guarding did not stop them, and it was Zhou Kong who led the way.

He hurriedly rushed into the team and followed the trail to find Bailiyan.

"Why are you here!" Bai Liyan asked in surprise.

"Guangxin Gong is dying, Sister Rong rushed to Guangxin five days ago. And let me tell you, she took the ice velvet flower and asked Du Danlangzhong to go to Guangxin together. ”

Guangxin Gong suddenly became critically ill ten days ago, and Jiang Rong rushed back to Guangxin to see Jiang Min for the last time. Getting this news, Bai Liyan was in a complicated mood.

"I know, you can go home first. When you are done with your business, you will make arrangements. ”

"That's good."

Zhou Kong turned around and left, Su Fangyi said:

"With the Duke of Guangxin gone, I'm afraid your relationship with Jiang Qian and King Xian will be even more delicate, and the Marquis of Yongxing will have to prepare early."

"Well, I know about it."

Jiang Min is sixty-six this year, and with the material basis of the current life, it is equivalent to the eighty years old of modern people, and it is extremely difficult to live a long life. As soon as Jiang Min died, King Xian would inevitably turn his target to Jiang Gan, and Bai Liyan would be forced to choose between his brother-in-law and King Xian.

While thinking about it, the team arrived at the Xuanting Pavilion, in order to accommodate hundreds of people from the Mooney Mission, the only high-end places in the city that could have this reception capacity were the Xuanting Pavilion and the Baicui Building, which were obviously not suitable to be arranged in the post area of the Princes' State Pavilion.

For this reason, five days ago, the Xuan Pavilion was officially closed, the shop was cleaned up, and the furniture and utensils were added, and cooks and utensils were transferred from Gudappa Mansion to meet the customs and habits of the Jinxuedi people.

Of course, the father and son of Xuanting Hou, as Scrooge's professional households, must not lose a huge amount of business money in vain every day, and they are bound to reap some benefits from the mission.

When they arrived at the Xuanting Pavilion, Qiao Lian and Qiao Cheng, father and son, were already waiting outside, and even the façade had been repainted.

"Son-in-law, the mission has arrived."

"It's just two hundred steps away, and everything in the hall is ready."

"Don't worry, brother-in-law. They were all borrowed from Master Gudapa's house, and after getting the news from his brother-in-law, the king asked the inner government to make a batch of utensils in a hurry, which should be enough. ”

Qiao Cheng patted his chest and said, Bailiyan didn't see Princess Lan Yuan, so he asked again:

"Why haven't you seen your mother-in-law?"

"She, it's not suitable for such a big scene, hahaha......"

Qiao Lian smiled heartily, it seemed that his wife had been cured, but in fact, Princess Lan Yuan personally went to Xuanting City to supervise the goods half a month ago, so she didn't show her face, and Qiao Lian only showed her toughness when Princess Lan Yuan couldn't reach her.

When he was young, the Mooney delegation arrived in front of the Xuanting Pavilion and gave an introduction, and the Qiao family and his son arranged for Mooney and his party to stay with hundreds of people. Mooney still has concerns about this arrangement:

"Why does your house always look like it's going to collapse at any moment, can a three-story building made of wood be inhabited?"

"Don't worry, the Xuanting Pavilion has been open for more than 20 years, and thousands of people come in and out every day without collapsing, as long as it is not deliberately destroyed, it will be fine. If I'm worried about a fire, I'll bring in a water dragon team from the palace to put out the fire at any time. ”

"What you say never sounds like a steady, Lord Gudapa, do you say yes?"

Gudapa laughed:

"Hehe, I don't know."

"Well, there will be no change in the king who will see you tomorrow."

"Unless the sky falls, thunder can't strike. Besides, with Mr. Su here, my king doesn't dare to break his trust in the world, Mr. Su, do you say yes. ”

"You enemies have to pull me into it. Okay, I'll make a guarantee, King Xian will meet your Excellency tomorrow, that's all right. ”

Mooney still has lingering fears about Bailiyan's tricks back then, and he easily doesn't dare to trust Bailiyan anymore.

When the sun was setting in the west, Bailiyan was busy returning to the palace to resume his life, so he said:

"This mission has been achieved, please rest here with you for the time being, and leave first."

"Why do you want to leave soon!" Mooney said, wanting to ask something else.

"The mission is in the body, this marquis must return to my king, please forgive me."

"And where can I find you?"

"Go directly to the Yongxing Marquis Mansion, but I have to go out of the city recently, and I will not be able to come back in a few days, so I can discuss with Mr. Su and Master Nuo if there is anything."

After explaining in detail, Bailiyan slowly withdrew from the Xuan Pavilion Pavilion and went to the palace with Gao Xun.

[Note 1] The escapement, the soul of the clock, but most of the time the movement of the clock is regarded as the heart of the clock, in fact, this is a fallacy, the core of the clock is actually the escapement, as for the movement, the essence of the movement is to store mechanical force, and coordinate the mechanical operation, so it can replace the mechanical force and structure of the movement a lot, but without the escapement, there can be no clock.

The escapement was invented by the astronomer, mathematician, engineer monk and his party (Zhang Sui) in the Tang Dynasty, and was used for astronomical timekeeping, and later in the Northern Song Dynasty, by the mathematician and herbalist Su Song, the use of water conservancy machinery instead of the movement and gear meshing, combined with the escapement, made into a water transport instrument elephant platform, used for timekeeping.

Therefore, in theory, clocks and watches should have been invented by China, but only for water conservancy.

Moreover, Su Song invented the water transport instrument elephant platform has another feature, that is, it is linked to longitude and latitude, and under different latitudes and longitudes, it has the function of automatically calibrating the sun and obtaining time zones.

That is to say, the water transport instrument elephant platform resting in Kaifeng is the time of Kaifeng, resting in Beijing real Beijing time, resting in different regions, with the sun as a reference, you can get the local time zone.

And this is an invention of the Northern Song Dynasty a thousand years ago, how great.

In today's Kaifeng Museum, there is a restored water transport instrument elephant platform on display, and it is still in operation.