[The reason for yesterday's interruption is well known, so I won't explain it much, and I will make up for it today.] 】

Although it was only three days of rest in a month, Shen Kuo was still busy in the study.

It's not a matter in the yamen, Shen Kuo's materials for managing affairs are also first-class among the tens of thousands of officials in the world, and the immutable trivial matters in the yamen can be solved in just one hour a day.

It's not about Fang Chengshan. On the side of Fangcheng Mountain, the progress has been more than halfway through, and the news that comes back every day is that everything is going well. Looking at this situation, unless there is a major accident, the 600,000 Shigang grain will definitely arrive in Beijing in November.

It stands to reason that you can plan how to hold the celebration banquet now, but there is no movement in Xiangzhou. However, Han Gang, the main master, didn't take it to heart, and Shen Kuo wouldn't be too eager.

Today, he is just sorting out fragments of fragments and recording them in an outline. After the Zhishi had time to spare, he made further revisions so that he could complete the book and pass it on to the world—a notebook that carried his life's observations and experiences.

In the past, Shen Kuo was able to sort out his hard work, and by the way, he avoided the continuation of the always bad temper, and he must have been in a good mood.

It's just that today is different from the past, Shen Kuo took a letter with a serious expression, pulled a draft that had been bound into a volume from the shelf, flipped through it a few times, and soon stopped on one of the pages:

'The Fang family grinds the needle with a magnet, and it can be guided, but it is often slightly easterly, not all south, and the water floats and fluctuates. It can be done on the finger claws and bowl lips, and the operation is particularly fast, but it is slippery and easy to fall, and it is not as good as hanging a wisp. Its method is to take the single cocoon wisp in the new silk, with mustard seeds and wax, embellished with the waist of the needle, and hang it in the windless place, then the needle is often guided. Among them are those who grind and point to the north. There are more guides and those in the north. The guide of the magnet, the point of Jubber, can not be excused. ’

Comparing the letter at hand, Shen Kuo smiled bitterly, Han Gang said more clearly about the magnetic needle guide in the letter, and he would never say to himself, he could only say 'no excuse'.

This was sent from Xiangzhou by Han Gang only two days ago. Originally, in the previous letter, the two discussed the difference in angle between the North Star and the North Pole, and Shen Kuo only casually mentioned the direction pointed by Sinan in the letter, which is quite different from the actual South Pole and the North Pole.

When Shen Kuo was still in the capital, Si Tianjian, who was in charge of astronomy, once redesigned the armillary sphere and observed the North Star through the armillary sphere, which lasted for three months.

The astrological matter has always been taboo, since Emperor Taizong, it has been forbidden for the people to study it privately, and even officials rarely study it openly. Shen Kuo was also familiar with Han Gang, so he occasionally mentioned one or two sentences in the letter, and he didn't stick to the astrological judgment at all.

From Han Gang's reply, Shen Kuo found that he even sneered at the astrological horoscope, and also adhered to the Xuanye theory, which relied on Zhang Zaicai to prosper, and opposed the statement of the heavens and the heavens.

Han Gang's view of the stars is different from that of the common people. And he also has a unique opinion on magnets, Sinan and other utensils. It is said that the earth itself is magnetic, north-south, so it can make the magnetic needle compass. Although it is pure speculation, when you think about it, it is not unfounded.

Sinan, Sibei, and Shen Kuo's house have two kinds of magnetic needles. If you put different types of magnetic needles together from tip to needle, they will be sucked at once, but they will repel each other, and if you drop the magnetic needle, the situation is exactly the opposite. It is in line with the sentence that Han Gang said in the letter, "the same sex repels each other, and the opposite sex attracts". If two magnetic needles, one magnetic needle and one steel needle are placed together, the direction of the magnetic needle will also change.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Han Gang to say that the magnet hidden in the ground can attract the magnet in the world to set the direction. Moreover, the north and south magnetic poles are not really north and south poles after all, so Shen Kuo can observe that there is a deviation between the two.

Although there is a lot of speculation, it can be said round after all.

Shen Kuo folded the letter a few times and put it away.

The cause of the magnet guide was only a small matter, but the vast knowledge that Han Gang embodied in it once again surprised Shen Kuo, and he couldn't even figure out where he got this insight. The four words of Gewu Zhizhi can't prevaricate everyone.

Han Gang said that the reason why the Yellow River is yellow is because of soil erosion in the northwest plateau, and the retreat of the Hebei Sea into the land, which is in line with his experience, and Shen Kuo also has the same view. However, the countless shells embedded in the wall of Taihang Mountain prove the vicissitudes of the sea, and they only witnessed it with their own eyes when they were envoys to the Liao State. And Han Gang has not been to Taihang Mountain, he has already made it clear, and said that this is a gradual evolution of millions, tens of millions, and billions of years. Where did the insight come from?

And it's funny to say, Tang Yao is only from three thousand years ago. Shao Yongxiu Emperor is extremely scriptural, and one yuan is only 129,000 years. Han Gang opened his mouth to be millions, trillions, billions, and Shao Kangjie had to retreat in front of him.

In the letter between Shen Kuo and Han Gang once every three or four days, there were many things like shells in Taihang Mountain, which fully experienced Han Gang's own profound knowledge. But on the contrary, since the beginning of autumn, in the correspondence with Han Gang, Shen Kuo can clearly feel that he has not talked about Xianghan Caoyun as often as before.

Han Gang couldn't be regarded as suddenly cold, it just looked like he had entrusted all the work behind him to Fang Xing and Li Jie.

It's like planting, ploughing the field, planting, weeding and fertilizing, and the rest is naturally waiting for the sickle to be harvested. Of course, this analogy is a bit poisonous to link Han Gang's background, and a more appropriate metaphor is a means of ruling affairs, just setting goals, arranging manpower, and letting the person in charge control the specific affairs.

Han Gang has this bearing, and Shen Kuo has a lot of emotion. However, he also eagerly hoped that the Xianghan Caoqu would be effective. After all, his eldest son is there in Han Gang, and Li Nangong's son is also there in Han Gang. Once Han Gang succeeds, both of them will benefit.

Moreover, Shen Kuo and Li Nangong also have to inherit Han Gang's favors. Just for the sake of the two of them's son, Han Gang took a big risk.

Li Nangong's son said that he is a rare talent in construction and machinery, and this time the work service has also made a great contribution, and the sentence 'internal action does not avoid relatives, external actions do not avoid revenge' can block all impeachments back.

But the eldest son of his own family is different. He is a pro-people official, Han Gang is a supervisor official, and Han Gang, the transfer envoy, supervised him Shen Kuo at the same time, but he took his son under his door, which is a matter of words. The situation was urgent, and I had no time to think about it, so I hastily agreed, not to mention that the favors owed are getting bigger and bigger, and once it is turned over in the future, there will be a crime on both sides.

"Sir." Shen Kuo's personal servant entered the study, "Han Longtu sent someone to deliver the letter over there." His voice suddenly lowered a little, "And Da Lang's letter." ”

"Oh...... Let him in. ”

Shen Kuo asked people to bring in the family members sent by Han Gang to deliver letters, and they were used to sending letters to the Shen Mansion. asked if the Han family was okay, so he sent him down to rest, "Come over tomorrow, I still have a reply for you to take back." ”

The son's letter didn't say much, just greetings and peace. Shen Kuo sighed, but he was helpless, and hid the letter and put it away.

This time, Han Gang brought not only a letter, but also a book of up to ten volumes, but only a manuscript. Han Gang said in the letter that it is a record of some observations and experiences in recent years, and there are many omissions in them, so please correct them.

Seeing the four words "Gui Window Cong Talk" written by Han Gang on the cover, Shen Kuo smiled, knowing that he didn't put too much thought into the title.

However, this "Gui Window Cong Talk", the outline alone is very interesting. The materials compiled by Shen Kuo in the notes he was going to write in the future were divided into 17 subjects, including stories, dialectics, music rhythms, elephant numbers, personnel, and official politics, while in the Gui Window Talks, they were arithmetic, geography, biology, physics, chemistry, and medicine. Cataloging is the big joint of a book, and a discerning person can see the author's intentions from the table of contents.

Shen Kuo fell at first sight, and found that the whole book did not involve personnel and official politics at all, if in the eyes of others, it must be that Han Gang's time as an official is too short, and his family has no background in officialdom, unlike ordinary valve reading families and scholarly families, he has been exposed to it since he was a child, and he knows all about the rumors, anecdotes, and allusions in the officialdom. But Shen Kuo understands Han Gang's character, and he knows better the current situation of Han Gang's Qi Studies.

After Zhang Zai's death, Qi Science declined, and Cheng Yi, who created the lineage of Luoyang Taoism, has already entered the Kansai to give lectures. Han Gang's notebook is to maintain the immortality of Qi Learning.

Notes, some of them want to make the Confucian three stands real, some of them are to put gold on their faces, and some of them are basically used to muddy the water, seven truths and three falsehoods to fabricate rumors - in this world, ten miles of different winds, hundreds of miles of different customs, far away, good things can be spread in a thousand strange ways, if you have the intention to spread rumors, it is too easy.

Han Gang wrote this "Gui Window Cong Tan" naturally not to make up rumors, but to promote qi science-just words. Because of his relationship with the Cheng family, coupled with the limitations of his own knowledge, it is inconvenient to compare himself with others in the scriptures and meanings, but he has come up with a different way to thoroughly implement the theory of Gewu that he is best at, and use the means of empirical Taoism.

And the reason why Han Gang gave the manuscript to Shen Kuo first may be because of his reputation in this aspect, and he wants to advocate it himself. Shen Kuo smiled slightly, and it was also good to return Han Gang's favor.

I pulled out a copy of it and flipped through it slowly. Han Gang has been an official for less than ten years, but he has been to places farther than the ends of the earth, and one by one is very interesting, but after turning two pages, he suddenly sat up straight, and the smile on his face also retracted, and he could no longer look away.