The spring sun makes people drowsy.

Empress Dowager Xiang woke up suddenly in her half-asleep sleep and found that she was still in the Shuixin Hall in the Jinming Pool.

"What time is it?"

Wang Zhongzheng glanced sideways at the table clock on the side, the short hand on the clock face was obliquely upward, and the long hand pointed straight in the direction of his left hand.

"Back to the Queen Mother's words, it's already three quarters. Just now, Zhang Xianggong sent someone to ask, and he went back when he learned that the Queen Mother was still resting. ”

"Zhangdun sent someone to urge?!"

Empress Dowager Xiang woke up all of a sudden.

When she was half-asleep and half-awake, she vaguely felt that she heard the sound of the hour chime, but she didn't want to get up when it was already past ten o'clock.

She turned her head and looked at the giant pendulum clock placed in the hall, and sure enough, the position of the hands on the clock face was indeed close to the beginning of noon and the beginning of the day in black italics.

Two years ago, Su Song invented the clock. With the importance of the imperial court – especially the profit in it – and the ease of making them, clocks became widespread in the Great Song Dynasty.

We need clocks for daily life, clocks for competitions, clocks for classes, and people's daily lives are inseparable from the grasp of time. Perhaps most people do not have an urgent need for this, but after improvement, this machine can not only display the time, but also be able to chime the clock on time and on time, which is really in line with the needs of the rich and noble for luxury.

At the beginning of the design of the clock, the clock face was divided into 24 grids according to the beginning and right of the hour. But Han Gang said that the division was too fine, it was easy to see clearly, and no one would make a mistake during the day and night, so it was changed to the hour hand once every half a day. The sub-positive and noon are placed at the top, and the maozheng and unitary are at the bottom.

Later, Han Gang said that many people are illiterate, and on the same scale of the clock face, the words of the morning and evening times have to be marked, which is not as intuitive as the number, so it was changed to a number, twelve o'clock in the morning and evening. On the clock face, the sketch numbers go around in a circle. Han Gang's authority suppressed all opposition, and most of the clocks on the market now are digital clock faces.

However, the clock in the palace is still marked by the earth branch on the clock face. There are so many skilled craftsmen in the palace, and a dojo can be carved on the snail shell, not to mention such a large clock face.

But in any case, numbers are easier to say and easier to remember than the awkward sexagenary branches, even if this is the timekeeping method that everyone has been using since childhood, once you get used to digital timekeeping, you will immediately feel ugly and awkward.

Empress Dowager Xiang also felt that one, two, three, four was more convenient, in her bedroom, most of the table clocks were still digital clock faces, only the largest two or three, and the skilled craftsmen in the palace made it into a template for twelve hours.

"It's almost time, don't make people wait."

said to the Queen Mother, raised her hand, and the palace maid who was close to her gently helped her up.

A group of people climbed the stairs and came to the third floor of the Water Heart Palace.

Pushing open the door and walking outside the hall, the canopy was raised behind the Queen Mother.

Looking at the railing, the golden pond in spring will show the queen mother's eyes.

The water sparkled with the warm sun, and a glittering golden boat slid across the water, cutting through the shimmering lake, leaving two lines of water that swung wider and wider.

"The official family is still on the imperial boat?" The Queen Mother asked.

Wang Zhongzheng looked at the flag of the Son of Heaven on the ship, nodded and said, "The official family is on the ship." ”

The Water Center Hall is located in the middle of the Jinming Pond and is connected to the shore by an arched bridge through Guò.

On the water, the dragon boat is ready to go, and on the other side, the flag has been planted in the middle of the water.

Seeing the Huang Luo umbrella spread out on the Water Heart Palace, the drum that was originally just ready to go suddenly became excited, and it went straight into the depths of the lake in a high-pitched manner.

The drums of the Jinming Pond bidding for the bid were transmitted from the water of the pond outside the city to the imperial city.

"It's finally begun." Han Gang looked at the clock in the room, it was almost thirty minutes later than the scheduled time, "Zhang Zihou is probably in a hurry over there. ”

On the other side of the hall, Su Song smiled when he heard this: "Wasn't it supposed for you to go to Yukun?" It's all pushed to Zhang Dian. ”

"Zhang Zihou is a hard worker, of course he will do it, I will be relaxed, it's just a collection of virtuous people, big and small things are involved, it's not a mess of the rules."

As the prime minister, Zhang Dian was responsible for the affairs of the Empress Dowager's tour, and Han Gang stayed in the imperial city to deal with the big and small things that Zhang Dian left behind - not a big ceremony like the suburbs and Mingtang, there is a prime minister with most of the ministers, and it is enough to accompany the Empress Dowager to the Son of Heaven, and there is no need for all the Zai Fu to go into battle.

"What's more, it's the same tune every year, and it's like this every time, and it's not too boring."

Han Gang said with some disgust, Jin Mingchi's amusement activities really have no new meaning, and he got tired of watching Han Gang a few times. This time there was a chance to shirk it, so I let Zhang Dian go.

"Since last year, there have been cars and ships."

"Let's wait for the paddle steamer to come out early, manpower can only be used to achieve majesty on the lake, and only by using steam can it enter the sea."

The car and boat are driven forward by pedaling, and then the paddle steamer. This is indeed an improvement, but the steam engine on the ship has not yet landed, and Han Gang is still not very interested.

"It's almost there. Don't rush. Su Song said soothingly.

For the sake of the steam engine, the competition between Song and Liao for bounty did have an effect.

At the end of the previous year, a steam engine that could be used to pump water was finally manufactured, and under the vigorous promotion of Hangang, steam pumping machines were manufactured in large quantities. A large number of pumping machines have been used in the mines of the Great Song Dynasty, especially in coal mines, where coal resources can be used locally. Many pumping machines have been bought by large households and used in their own deep wells.

Because of this progress, the imperial court fulfilled its promise and took out an eight-rank martial arts, and at the same time spent a full 10,000 yuan from the treasury in the name of purchasing patents.

On the Liao side, Yelu Yixin also sealed the first Jiedu envoy, and he was the Jiedu envoy of the military state under the head. The steam engine he got was not yet able to be installed on a ship, but it should be no problem to pump water.

Compared with the two, it is true that Liao is a little more generous. Therefore, the craftsmen of Hebei who have a certain level are now concentrated in Beijing.

But no one cares about the bunch of scholars who plan to smuggle to the Liao State.

Many scholars thought that the great event of Yelu Yixin bouncing the craftsman was for the sake of the golden bones, but unfortunately they were wrong. When they arrived in Liao, Yelu Yixin only asked them to teach Mengxue, and they did not have the scenery of Tianshelang and Tianzitang in their imagination.

On the border, two years ago, someone was caught every day, last year Yelu Yixin sealed the first Jiedu envoy, and it was another frenzy, and this year, the news from the Liao State came back that the situation was a little better. In the past two years, it is not clear how many people escaped, but more than 800 scholars were sent to the Western Regions and Yunnan.

"I hope our hands and feet can be a little faster, so that Yelu Yixin can take out more fat and take away more fools."

Han Gang said with a smile, still a little impetuous.

He has always had an encouraging attitude towards healthy competition, but he felt impatient with the incompetence of the craftsmen of the Great Song Dynasty. How many years has this been?

"Even if Liao has a marine steam engine first, it is useless if the number is too small." Su Song said.

"That's right." Han Gang nodded.

The steam engines on the side of the Great Song Dynasty have been put into use in large quantities, but in the Liao Kingdom, it is reported that they are only big toys in the hands of Yelu Yixin, and they are not manufactured on a large scale like the Great Song Dynasty, let alone put into use. It is also because the cost is too high to afford to use, and it is also possible to wait for a new steam engine with better cost performance to come out.

If it can't be put into practical use, the steam engine is just a big and useless iron guy. It could not be produced on a large scale, and the steam engine was only a delicate toy, let alone a transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country.

The steam engine manufacturing in the Great Song Dynasty has been factory and large-scale, and a large number of workers and engineers have been trained.

Even if the Liao side invented a new steam engine and invented a ship that could be powered by steam, the gap between Song and Liao would only widen. This is a gap in national strength and consciousness.

"I'm more concerned about when someone will come over and get the bounty from the Astronomical Clock than the steam engine."

"One minute a day? It's not easy. ”

"But it's definitely a way to go." Su Song glanced at Han Gang, "It's like a steam engine." ”

Han Gang smiled and nodded, "That's true. ”

The precision of time is of immeasurable significance to the development of industry.

Precise gears are the key to clock manufacturing, and there is no telling how many molds are made. However, after the casting is completed, it still needs to be processed and adjusted by the craftsman. And not all gears can be tuned to perfect accuracy. Only more than 100 expensive goods can get the best parts and the most careful adjustments.

Ordinary grandfather clocks of seven or eight or more than ten times, at the end of the day, it is very normal to miss ten minutes or eight minutes. It must be corrected by a guò sundial at noon every day.

The high-end goods produced by the government-run clock factory, if they exceed five minutes a day, they must be out of order, and there is no big problem with the proofreading time for two or three days.

However, the clock in the Imperial City has an error of about this level, and the best can only reach an error of three minutes. It looks like we've reached the limits of the existing design. In Hangang's view, the only way to further reduce the level of error is to adopt a newer design.

Su Song also agreed with Han Gang's opinion. And the error of the clock is three minutes, and it is far from enough to be used in the astronomical career he likes. Therefore, at Su Song's initiative, the imperial court is offering a reward for the design of a more accurate astronomical clock.

"With a table clock, now there is a furnace of iron, and there is no need for a master craftsman to stand in front of the stove all the time and stare at it. The production schedule of zuò in the factory can also be more refined. With a better astronomical clock, a better catalog can be compiled. Last time, Yu Kun said that as long as the catalog is successfully compiled, the laws of planetary motion can be summarized from it and finally turned into algebraic equations. ”

It has been two years since Su Song stepped down, and in the past two years, he has not left the capital.

The imperial court first used the palace to keep the envoys, and then according to Wang Anshi's old practice, he was reappointed as an important military minister in Pingzhang, so that Su Song continued to stay in the court.

However, after Su Song served as an important military affairs in Pingzhang, he did not interfere in government affairs, and still did what he liked. Mechanical and astronomical developments are all driven by him.

A few days ago, it was said that the Empress Dowager had changed the edict of Emperor Taizong prohibiting the private study of astronomy in the world, and all those who used celestial phenomena to talk about the blame would be exiled for thousands of miles, but it was no longer a crime to study astronomy in private.

This is the happiest time in his life, Su Song feels more and more so.

The official position has reached the extreme of the people's ministers, and the personal interests and hobbies are in line with the country.

What you have to do when you are helping the world and being good to yourself is being done now, is there anything happier than this?