According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the month is called the New Year's Day, which is the first day of the new year. On this day, the Moon orbits between the Earth and the Sun, and it appears almost at the same time as the Sun, and it is also the night when the Moon is not visible on Earth. But for stargazers, this is the best night to observe the starry sky, because there is no moonlight to interfere with the faint starlight.

On this day of the month, Ye Xiaoluan will come to the stargazing platform to watch the stars. In 1279 A.D. (the sixteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty), astronomers Wang Sui and Guo Shoujing built a Si Tiantai on the east wall of the Yuan Dadu on the north side of the current stargazing north to observe the celestial phenomena, which is the earliest stargazing platform in Beijing.

In 1442 (the seventh year of Ming orthodoxy), the imperial court built the current stargazing platform on the site of the southeast corner tower of the city wall of the Yuan Dadu, placed the astronomical instruments such as the armillary sphere, the simple instrument, and the armillary image, and also built houses such as the Ziwei Hall under the city wall, and later added the sundial shadow hall. By the time of Chongzhen, the observatory and its outbuildings had become quite large.

After Chongzhen's accession to the throne, the imperial court began to increase its investment in astronomy, not only revising the calendar, but also updating the instruments of the observatory. These new instruments can better observe the starry sky, which is not comparable to the simple instruments that Ye Xiaoluan has at home. Therefore, in addition to obtaining special permission from the emperor, she was qualified to climb the stargazing platform.

The height of the observatory is about 19 meters, and the top of the platform is 204 meters long from north to south and 239 meters long from east to west. Ye Xiaoluan carried a kerosene lantern and slowly walked up to the top of the stargazing platform along the zigzag horse road. Compared with the breathlessness when he first boarded the stargazing platform three years ago, Ye Xiaoluan's current stargazing platform is as usual.

However, when it took her seven or eight minutes to reach the top of the platform, she found that there were several times more people on the stargazing platform today than in the past, and Ye Xiaoluan, who was standing at the entrance, suddenly hesitated. Although her contact with outsiders has become common over the years due to scientific research, she is still not used to staying in overly busy situations, especially with many strangers on such nights.

However, she is reluctant to interrupt her continuous observations, and observing the stars is now not only a hobby of hers, but also a part of her life. Just when she was in a dilemma, Zhu Youzhen, who walked out of the corner tower with Galileo, had already seen Ye Xiaoluan standing at the entrance, so he said hello to her.

Seeing that the teacher and the emperor were here, Ye Xiaoluan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly ran to the two of them in small steps. As long as there are familiar people by his side, Ye Xiaoluan feels that his heart is not so flustered.

Chongzhen came here tonight because of the production of a new instrument, and he came to see what this instrument called the quadrant could be used for.

Galileo, who was in charge of supervising the construction of new astronomical instruments, pressed the new instruments with one hand and introduced to Chongzhen excitedly: "This is the quadrant ring, this is the number axis... It's a voyeur.

This instrument can actually be called a horizon dolite, its main function is to measure the height of the stars in the sky from the horizon, of course, we can also operate in reverse, so that we can measure the angular distance of the stars from the zenith...

This instrument is derived from the rotary horizon quadrant designed by Tycho, but ours is a little more accurate. Of course, if we reduce it to a certain extent, this instrument will become an instrument for checking the aim and angle of the gun..."

Zhu Youzhen actually didn't have much interest in astronomy, so although Galileo tried his best to introduce him to the function of the new instrument, he just yawned and kept nodding his head, as for how much introduction he could listen to, only God knows. But in order to create an atmosphere of love for science, even if he is not interested, he will come to spend an evening.

Whether it is the past or the future, the preferences of the superior will always be paid attention to. In the past, the king of Chu had a thin waist, and he starved to death in the palace. In the future, there will be Qingfeng buns and financial innovation. It can be seen that as long as there is a glimmer of opportunity, there are always people who want to take the shortcut to the south to cater to the superiors, so as to take this opportunity to get the attention of the superiors.

It doesn't really matter how much Zhu Youzhen has attained in astronomy, but the concern he shows for astronomy is very important for the scientific research work of the Ming Dynasty. Even the nouveau riche will come up with a sum of money to fund scientific research, hoping to earn a little fame for themselves, and preferably to reach the ears of the emperor.

It's like in the past, those bureaucrats and gentry held literary meetings and spent money to support scribes and celebrities, so as to save their reputation for cherishing talents. Now it is just a matter of turning the poems and songs of the literary society into scientific research results and various overseas adventures.

However, for Ye Xiaoluan, the allusions and the design principles of the new instrument that the teacher Galileo talked about are all things that she is extremely interested in. If it was the old days, although she was itching, she would not have gathered among a bunch of men to listen to the lecture. But now there is only one emperor between her and the teacher, and for her, Zhu Youzhen is not a familiar stranger.

Since she asked the emperor to solve the trouble of the marriage contract for her second sister, Zhu Youzhen has become a trustworthy person in her heart. Not to mention, when she asked Zhu Youzhen for help in any trouble later, she was never refused.

Therefore, as Galileo's speech became more and more exciting, Ye Xiaoluan leaned towards Zhu Youzhen more and more, and forced the emperor to give up half of his position. Zhu Youzhen just smiled at Ye Xiaoluan's small movements, and he turned his head slightly to look at the woman beside him.

Ye Xiaoluan, who has been in Chongzhen for eleven years, is 23 years old, and her appearance was extremely outstanding when she was a girl, and now she looks even more beautiful. With a body that has grown up, Rao is Zhu Youzhen, who is used to seeing beautiful women in the palace, can't help but look at it for a moment.

Ye Xiaoluan seemed to feel his gaze, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Chongzhen and asked in a nervous whisper, "Is there something on my face?" ”

Seeing Ye Xiaoluan's blinking pair of clear eyes looking at him, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and turned his gaze away with a smile and said, "Xiaoluan has grown up, now you are much more lively than in the past, this is good." ”

Ye Xiaoluan was also stunned when she heard this, and it took a long time to react, she rolled her eyes at Chongzhen's back, and muttered, "What?" You're just five years older than me, and you're talking like you're some kind of elder. ”

was interrupted by Chongzhen, Ye Xiaoluan retreated from the state of attentive listening. At this time, she realized that the distance between herself and the emperor seemed to be too close, but smelling the light aroma with the sweetness of wood coming from Chongzhen's body, she felt inexplicable feelings in her heart, so she stood in place and did not back down.

After introducing the new instrument to the emperor, Galileo and his disciples tested the new instrument, and Zhu Youzhen was finally able to relax a little, and after trying several instruments, he finally sat down in front of a telescope and looked at the vast and unreachable starry sky in the distance.

Although the development of telescopes at this time was good, it was difficult to compare with the astronomical telescopes of later generations. For observing the moon, you can still see some craters, but when you use it to observe the stars in the distance, Chongzhen, who is not familiar with star maps, can only watch a lively one.

Although the personnel on the observatory have dispersed, they have their own observation missions. Although Chongzhen had already run away from the telescope on the side, Ye Xiaoluan still felt that his face was a little hot, and his heart was beating so fast. She hesitated for a while, and decided to go to the emperor's side to verify what was going on with these conditions on her.

Ye Xiaoluan walked to Chongzhen's side and motioned for the observatory officials who had instructed the emperor to observe the starry sky to give way. Before the astronomical official could react, Lu Qi had already pulled him away, leaving a space for Ye Xiaoluan and the emperor to talk.

Sure enough, when Ye Xiaoluan approached the emperor's side, she felt that the strange symptoms on her body began to appear again. Ye Xiaoluan pressed his chest and thought about his thoughts for a while. Suddenly, Zhu Youzhen stood up in front of her, which caught her off guard and let go backwards, and she fell backwards with too much force for a while.

Chongzhen originally wanted to ask Zi Weixing what it was, he wanted to see what Zi Weixing, who represented him, looked like. As a result, no one answered him after asking a few times, so he couldn't help but get up and wanted to see what was going on, but he saw that Ye Xiaoluan could actually fall down on flat ground, and he subconsciously reached out and grabbed the other party.

After feeling the softness in his arms, Zhu Youzhen subconsciously hugged him, but the exclamation of the woman in his arms made him quickly sober up and pushed the other party out of his arms. He also subconsciously glanced around, fortunately no one noticed this, otherwise he would have received a letter of reprimand from the courtiers tomorrow, after all, this is a stargazing platform.

Zhu Youzhen, who was quite weak-hearted, thought of this and wanted to evacuate here. However, looking at Ye Xiaoluan, whose face was crimson under the light, he suddenly thought that it was not good, if the other party walked into the crowd like this, I am afraid that there would be no shortage of gossip.

Zhu Youzhen thought that he should distract the other party so that Ye Xiaoluan could return to normal, and he immediately snorted and said, "What a coincidence, I was just about to ask which one this purple microstar is, but I didn't expect you to stand behind me." ”

Ye Xiaoluan, who was at a loss, heard Chongzhen's question, so he pointed to a star about 40 degrees to the north without thinking and said, "Isn't Zi Wei Xing over there, doesn't Your Majesty know that Zi Wei Xing is the North Star?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked in the direction of Ye Xiaoluan's finger, smiled awkwardly and said, "I really didn't know before, but I didn't expect that Polaris and Ziweixing were the same star." ”

Ye Xiaoluan asked a little strangely, "Didn't Your Majesty claim to have always liked stargazing?" The constellations around this North Star revolve around it all year round, and because of its audience star arch guard form, is it also called Emperor Star Ziwei? ”

Zhu Youzhen quickly changed the topic and said: "It is said that the stars that can be seen in this starry sky are all stars like the sun, because they are too far away from us, so they look so dim. Is that the case? ”

Ye Xiaoluan thought for a while before nodding and saying, "What Your Majesty said should be right." These stars are able to emit light on their own just like the sun, so we can see them at night. ”

The two stood there and watched the starry sky quietly together for a while, Zhu Youzhen suddenly sighed and said, "You said, there are so many stars in the sky, so will there be an earth around a certain star?" We are looking at their stars, and could another human on Earth also be looking at our sun? ”

Ye Xiaoluan was fascinated by Chongzhen's guess, and she couldn't help but fall into deep thought when she looked at the starry sky. Zhu Youzhen, who didn't get a reply, glanced at Ye Xiaoluan sideways, looking at her delicate side face as if they were shining, he smiled slightly and quietly left the stargazing platform with Lu Qi and other entourage.