It's raining. The sky is dark, and the thunder is rolling on the horizon. Qi Ye felt that he had really found a very inappropriate day to talk to the family elders about things. However, there are unforeseen circumstances, at least yesterday when the sun was shining, and there was no sign of a change.

The room was dimly lit, and no one asked for electric lights during the day, and the elders were sitting precariously with unrecognizable faces.

"You're not working in Qianzhuang, what are you going to do?" Qi Ye's uncle asked in a deep voice.

Qi Ye was under a lot of pressure in his heart, he forcibly resisted such pressure, and said loudly: "Zhao Jiaren and Zhao Zhizhou have been invited several times, and I want to go to him to find an errand." ”

"You're going to be a staff member?" Uncle was a little surprised.

"It's not a staff member, Zhao Zhizhou wants to open a money bank, and I'll go to him to be a big shopkeeper." After answering, Qi Ye felt that he had regained his composure.

Qi Ye calmed down, and the elders present were not calm. The uncle's hand tightly grasped the arm of the chair, and instinctively shouted: "No! Qi Ye's eyesight gradually became accustomed to the dim light, and he could barely see the other elders shaking their heads or looking unhappy one by one. None of them supported it anyway.

The reaction of the family elders was not unexpected by Qi Ye, and the reason why he hesitated before was because he knew very well what he would encounter once he agreed to Zhao Jiaren's invitation. Basically, a bank that is in operation will not agree to the secession of its members, let alone agree to the secession of members to other banks.

Qi Ye was in a relatively well-lit position near the door, and seeing his expression as if nothing had happened, the elder asked in a deep voice, "Gorou, depending on what you mean, you have already decided?" ”

"Yes. Zhao Zhizhou is extremely capable and has opened up many new paths. I'm not really looking for money, I want to follow him and see where I can go. Qi Ye replied very sincerely.

Seeing Qi Ye's firm attitude, the uncle said decisively: "If you go, you will be removed from the family tree." ”

Even though he had known that it was very likely to encounter this result, Qi Ye's heart still tightened for a while, and the rolling thunder from the sky made him feel even more upset and dry. If he is removed from the family tree, it means that Qi Ye is no longer a member of the Qi family, and it is no longer possible to get the support of the Qi family. In the Great Song Dynasty, a person with no social connections is probably unable to move an inch, and after the news spreads, he will be poked in the back.

"I will not promise you to remove me from the genealogy. But I will also go to Zhao Zhizhou to be the shopkeeper. Qi Ye withstood the pressure in his heart and said to the elders as calmly as possible.

Qi Ye's uncle didn't continue to speak, and another elder with a low status spoke, "Then you can try it." ”

Since he had said this, Qi Ye got up and saluted the elders, walked outside the door and raised the umbrella leaning against the door, and walked into the summer wind and rain. Qi Ye felt that the elders probably didn't have the courage to remove him, and Zhao Jiaren's eradication of the Pu family shook the entire Quanzhou. A notice of collusion between the Pu family and the Mongols was posted, which explained to the people of Quanzhou what crime the Pu family had committed. But for ordinary people, what everyone cares about is Zhao Jiaren's terrifying means, gathering nearly 10,000 troops to deal a lightning-fast and fatal blow to the Pujia family in Quanzhou.

The layman looks at the excitement, and the people are satisfied with their own curiosity. Insiders, that is, the forces with roots in Quanzhou, are scared enough, if Zhao Jiaren's methods are used to deal with other big families in Quanzhou, they have no chance to resist except for being killed. What did the Qi family want to express by removing Qi Ye from the family tree at this time? Anyway, if the name is removed or not, Qi Ye's status in the family has actually reached the point where there is no future.

The wind mixed with big raindrops crackled the surface of the tarpaulin umbrella, and it also wet Qi Ye's clothes that could not be blocked by the umbrella. However, Qi Ye breathed in the fresh air brought by the energetic wind and felt a great sense of freedom. This is his choice, and whether he will be unlucky or not depends on his judgment.

The closer you get to the yamen of Quanzhou Zhizhou, the brighter the sky becomes. The wind is quickly blowing away the rain clouds. When Qi Ye arrived at the door of the yamen, he put away his umbrella. The rain stopped, and the whole Quanzhou was once again under the bright summer sun, and the world returned to bright colors.

Qi Ye did not enter the front hall, but went straight to the back hall, and Zhao Jiaren really wrote and painted in the back hall. Seeing Qi Ye come in, Zhao Jiaren raised his head and smiled: "Is there any difficulty for your family for you?" ”

"I've made it clear to them. Elders, easy to get angry. Qi Ye gave a relatively light answer.

Zhao Jiaren didn't say much, and handed Qi Ye a page of things. This thing is written in charcoal and has a slender handwriting. Qi Ye picked it up and read it for half a quarter of an hour, then read it twice again before putting the paper down. "Brother Zhao, the main thing to run a money bank is to have a place to invest money. Lend money to others as a book, and repay how much each year. Or lending, this interest rate is high. Brother Zhao, what you write is a method of doing business, and it is not the same thing as a money bank. ”

Zhao Jiaren put down his pen and poured tea while preaching: "What I wrote above is not to do business, but to invest and return." Many people have no courage, patience and ambition, whether it is a natural disaster or something else, they will survive if they can get through it, and they will die if they can't. We can't help it. However, many people have the ability and ambition, but they lack people to invest. ”

"Doesn't this kind of person need help? As the saying goes, noble people help each other. Qi Ye was not used to Zhao Jiaren's statement, so he took out the traditional statement.

Zhao Jiaren asked, "Brother Qi, I have cooperated with you many times. Do you like to be comfortable with the kind of secretive statement, or do you like to come up and talk about what you want to do, how much you can do it, and how much you have done? How do we divide the money in the end? ”

Qi Ye thought for a while, and could only sigh. "It's still a bit raw."

"Brother Qi, you have been a money bank for so many years, do you still believe that there is destiny in the world?" Zhao Jiaren asked.

Qi Ye couldn't help but smile bitterly, the Pu family a month ago gave people the feeling that they would not fall down, and now the Pu family is no longer falling, but being eradicated. The father and son of the Pu family were in different places, and the business was also taken over by Zhao Jiaren. Since Qi Ye joined the money bank, he has seen too many transactions that are impossible to lose money no matter how you look at them, and they have lost a mess for some sudden reasons. Qi Ye felt helpless about the word fate.

But at this moment, Qi Ye suddenly felt as if he understood why he had such a good feeling for Zhao Jiaren. It turns out that this person who seems to others to be smooth sailing, to others seems to be auspicious in everything he does, and in the eyes of others he can do anything at his fingertips, is actually a person who doesn't believe in fate at all.

"I'd love to believe in fate." Qi Ye replied helplessly, "That's so much easier." ”

"What's so bad about knowing that there is no such thing as fate?" Zhao Jiaren moved his body with some effort and changed to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Too tired!" Qi Ye replied wistfully. But after a moment, he picked up the page again and looked at it, and after reading it again, Qi Ye was sure that he had found the point. When he raised his head, he had a surprised expression on his face, "Brother Zhao, you actually want to reflect that you are not destined in the charter?" ”

"Do you think that's wrong?" Zhao Jiaren asked Qian Zhuang expert Qi Ye rhetorically.

Qi Ye smiled bitterly: "I'm just worried that I can't explain it clearly. Everyone likes to be predestined, and many people want to be more serious with you. ”

"Brother Qi now believes that the earth is round?" Zhao Jiaren suddenly changed the subject.

Qi Ye was stunned for a moment, and replied hesitantly: "...... I didn't believe it either. I just feel like even if I don't know, I'm going to do something. ”

"From Fujian to the Ryukyus, it takes seven days to sail. But do you know how far the two places are? Is the sea still on either side, or is it flowing? Zhao Jiaren asked.

Qi Ye was stunned, if there were many ways to measure the distance between the two places on land. How do you determine the distance in the middle of nowhere? Even if he knew that Zhao Jiaren was not a gossip person, Qi Ye had to doubt the authenticity of his words.

Zhao explained: "If you believe that the earth is round, believe that the moon revolves around the earth, and the earth revolves around the sun with the moon. According to this principle, the curvilinear distance between two points on the earth can be measured. ”

"Curve distance?" Qi Ye was a little stunned. He didn't study math or geometry and didn't understand the word at all.

Zhao Jiaren took a purple clay pot and told Qi Ye a little about it, and Qi Ye understood that the straight line between the two points was the closest, and he also understood that human beings were not capable of walking in a straight line between two points on the earth's surface, and they had to walk in a curve. After listening to the formula for calculating the circle, I wondered why it was between 31415926 and 31415927. However, Qi Ye also said that Zhao Jiaren is very knowledgeable, and what he says, Qi Ye will believe it for the time being.

As the shopkeeper of the bank, Qi Ye understood the angle and proportion at a glance, so he understood the formula of how to calculate the distance between two points of the sphere.

Zhao Jiaren's mouth was dry, and he picked up the teacup to quench his thirst. Qi Ye stared at the spherical purple clay pot with a painful face, scratching his head hard. Waiting for Zhao Jiaren to put down the teacup, Qi Ye said distressedly: "Brother Zhao, I can understand what you said." But I don't think I can believe it. ”

"Well said! We really can't easily believe what others say. Zhao Jiaren agreed.

"Ugh!" Qi Ye was extremely surprised by this.

"Brother Qi, you have read the book. I strongly disagree with the current science. Zhao Jiaren told his opinion.

Staring at Zhao Jiaren, Qi Ye felt as if he had never understood Zhao Jiaren.

Zhao Jiaren didn't care about Qi Ye's thoughts at this time, he continued: "Science teaches the knowledge of things. If we are to learn from things, we must first tell everyone that we don't know. But in terms of science, what they say is reason. This attitude is at odds with the knowledge of things. ”

Qi Ye's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he couldn't help but nod slightly. According to Qi Ye's practical experience, many words in science cannot be used in money dealers at all. And Zhao Jiaren's story about the earth is round, even if Qi Ye can't understand it personally, it will not conflict with running a money bank. So Qi Ye asked, "Then what does Brother Zhao think is the right attitude?" ”

"I think the right way to do things has to be able to prove right and wrong. For example, if I think the earth is round, you can prove me wrong by proving that the earth is not round. Zhao Jiaren said bluntly. After saying that, he couldn't help but smile. For in the 21st century, there are indeed religious wise men who have tried to prove that the earth is indeed flat rather than round, as the scriptures say.

But this thought only flickered and passed, at least no doctor in China would do that. Zhao Jiaren continued to say with a straight face: "Truth, if it can't be proven true or false, then it's not called truth. ”

Qi Ye still doesn't believe that the earth is round, but he can't be sure that the earth is not round. However, after listening to Zhao Jiaren's definition of truth, Qi Ye responded: "I agree with this very much!" ”

As long as he thought of the arrogant attitude of the elders in the family, Qi Ye felt how terrible and hateful it was for these people to have the power to determine whether the truth was correct or not!

Zhao Jiaren originally thought that Qi Ye might accept that the earth was round, but he didn't expect that the actual situation was that Qi Ye did not accept that the earth was round, but he could accept the concept of testing the truth in practice, which surprised Zhao Jiaren. But after thinking about it carefully, Zhao Jiaren also felt that this was normal. The world has never existed with Zhao Jiaren's ideas, nor does it exist with anyone's ideas. If you don't communicate with people, it's impossible to know what others think.

"We go fast on sunny days, and slow down on rainy days. Although the plan cannot keep up with the changes, such as whether tomorrow will be sunny or rainy, we don't know. You can know the distance between places, and you can make plans based on what you know. The more basic facts you know, the more prepared you will be. The more experience you have, the more you will be able to prepare for it. Although we are not omniscient, we are more likely to succeed than those who know less. If you look at the charter I wrote, it is based on this attitude. Brother Qi, attitude determines everything. Zhao Jiaren explained as much as he could, in words that Qi Ye could understand.

"We ...... Can you really know that much? Qi Ye asked suspiciously.

"I said you can fly into the sky, do you believe it or not?" Zhao Jiaren asked rhetorically.

"Don't believe it!" Qi Ye replied decisively.

Two days later, leaning on the frame of the bamboo cage, Zhao Jiaren asked Qi Ye, "I said you can fly into the sky, do you believe it or not?" ”

Qi Ye grabbed the edge of the bamboo cage tightly with both hands, and his whole body trembled. He was more than four feet above the ground at this time, and on his head was a huge lantern made of silk with a big belly and a small hole. A strange copper device was whirring and spewing fire into Kong Ming's belly.

"You can fly into the sky with Kong Ming lanterns! Ha ha. Brother Zhao originally said that he would fly into the sky, but I thought it was flying in the day! Qi Ye's voice trembled with excitement and joy.

"Do you want to know the truth of Kong Ming's lantern in the sky?" Zhao Jiaren was very satisfied with the effect of this shocking education.

"Can I really learn?" Qi Ye no longer doubted Zhao Jiaren, but began to doubt himself.

"The craftsmen who make this thing can learn it, so why can't you? When they first came to my staff, many of them couldn't even write their own names. Brother Qi, if we want to make good use of these people, we have to study hard ourselves. Zhao Jiaren said while adjusting the flame of the alcohol blowtorch, and Zhao Jiaren was a little worried about such a trial product.

"I'll do my best!" Qi Ye said from the bottom of his heart.

At this time, a large number of people in Quanzhou City came to watch the experiment of Zhao Jiaren's huge Kong Ming lantern made for the wedding rising into the sky. Before the experiment began, Zhao Jiaren invited everyone to come and see the excitement. The people of the Qi family also came, and seeing from a distance that this huge thing could really drive two big living people to rise together, the people of the Qi family were as amazed as everyone else. However, I saw Zhao Jiaren standing in the bamboo basket with Qi Ye, the scum traitor of the Qi family. The elders of the Qi family had a complicated look in their eyes.

They really wanted to remove Qi Ye, a traitor, from the family tree, but they thought of offending Zhao Jiaren because of this......

Looking at Zhao Jiaren and Qi Ye, who were as high as immortals, the elders no longer had the strong impulse they had before.

The hot air balloon slowly landed on the ground, and Zhao Jiaren's fear finally calmed down. As a toy dedicated to the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, the hot air balloon is still quite reliable. The Great Song Dynasty has always had a very open attitude towards technology, and after this thing is offered, the status of the famous inventor of the Great Song Dynasty will probably be secured. I hope that the Great Song Dynasty officials can think of Zhao Jiaren's shipbuilding ability and don't continue to make things difficult for him in terms of money.

(Battlefield Literature)