One day, Anxin went into the mountains to hunt and came back, and hunted a big buffalo, but everyone had never seen such a behemoth before, because the people of Lingxin Village had only raised animals such as sheep or horses, but cattle had never been raised, so, out of a momentary curiosity, the men, women and children in the village gathered around the roadside and came to see the excitement.

At this time, some people talked about the weight of the buffalo, and after listening to it, they also thought it was very interesting, but how to weigh it? Peace of mind I can't think of a good way to do it.

So, he temporarily changed his mind about imprisoning the cow and decided to mobilize the whole tribe to find a way to weigh the cow. At this time, they happened to come to the open space in front of the market again, and when they saw this, they ordered the soldiers to stop, and then issued an announcement to the people of Lingxin Village: "Tribesmen, this cow was hunted by me from the mountains, and its size is really not small, but how much does it weigh?" None of us can say anything about this, so please start your muscles and think about whether there is any way to weigh it? If you have a good idea or idea in mind, you may want to be bold and bring it up, and if the idea is feasible, I will reward you with a lot. Then he ordered the guards to put his words in writing and post them on the list.

As soon as they heard that there was a bounty, everyone immediately started to discuss it. One of the people said, "Hey! This guy is so big, what do you call it! ”

Another tribesman immediately chimed in: "If you can make a very large rod scale, won't it be able to weigh it?" ”

Immediately, however, another tribesman retorted, "According to you, how big a scale must be made!" This financial and material resources alone are enough to consume the food tax of the tribesmen for a year. Besides, the big buffalo is alive, and it won't let you weigh it properly! If you struggle casually, the weight will not be accurate. ”

While discussing here, there were people over there who went to Anxin to put forward ideas, only to see him with a fat face and a knife in his hand, and then said to Anxin in a loud voice: "Anxin Patriarch, I have a good idea below, and I will definitely be able to accurately weigh the buffalo." ”

Anxin saw that it was a butcher selling pork in the market, so he would not blame him, so he replied kindly: "If you have any good ideas, you might as well tell me about it." ”

The butcher replied, "Just give this cow to me to deal with, and I will slaughter it by killing a pig, and it will not be long before I can dismantle it in eight pieces, and then we will weigh it separately, and we will not know how much it weighs." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, all the people burst into laughter.

When Anxin heard this, he also felt very ridiculous, and then shook his head and replied: "The butcher is reckless, this idea of yours is really clumsy!" Isn't it a pity to slaughter the big buffalo alive just to weigh it? There are few large and docile animals like the buffalo, and we should keep it for the benefit of future generations in our Lingxin Village. ”

When the butcher heard the words of the patriarch of Anxin, he felt very ashamed, so he had to bow his head and remain silent.

Under the heavy money, there will be brave men. At this time, some of the onlookers came to unveil the list, only to hear him recommend himself: "Qiyu patriarch, his real name is Jixin, he is a carpenter, I have a plan, I can weigh the weight of a big buffalo without killing a cow." ”

Seeing that he was polite, Anxin replied with a smile: "Oh, what is the plan? Let's hear it! ”

I can build a large rocker platform with tree poles and planks, then install the same wooden cages on each of them, and then use the lever principle to adjust the platforms on both sides to balance it like a scale, so that we can drive the big buffalo to one of the wooden cages and imprison it, and then load the other wooden cage with stones until the rocker is balanced again. Finally, let's weigh each stone, and add them all together to equal the weight of the buffalo.

When Anxin heard this, he thought it was a good idea, and asked with interest, "According to what you said, how long will it take to make a rocker platform like this?" ”

Jixin thought for a moment, and didn't dare to slack off and replied: "Patriarch Qiyu, I only need a month to build this rocker platform. ”

When Anxin heard this time, he was immediately disinterested, so he had to send him away: "Skill, your idea is good, but it takes too long." Let's listen to the ideas of other people before making a decision. Come, reward him with ten taels of silver, and let him take up his post in the apparatus department. ”

When I heard this, I was full of joy. The Anxin patriarch not only gave him a bounty, but also showed him a way, which made him so happy that he didn't know what to do. But soon he calmed down, and after receiving the bounty, he bowed with both hands and said, "Thank you for the appreciation of the patriarch." Then he stepped back.

The technical heart is off to a good start. Seeing this, the people put forward their ideas to the clan, but each one of them could not work, and it was really difficult for them to feel at ease.

At this time, a child walked out of the tribe and said to Anxin: "Father, I have a way to weigh a big ox." ”

Anxin saw that it was his righteous son's ambition, so he smiled and said to him: "Ambition, you are young, what can you do?" But it doesn't hurt to say it, let me hear if it makes sense. ”

With his father's permission, he was ambitious and bold enough to speak his mind. "Father, the boy was inspired by the clever carpenter's plan just now, and thought that he could weigh a large buffalo with a wooden boat and a rod scale."

"Oh, how can a wooden boat and a rod scale weigh a great buffalo? So how do you weigh it? You have to tell me carefully, and then where does the ship come from? Anxin asked, puzzled.

In the face of his father's doubts, Ambition calmly replied: "Back to my father, we can borrow the cargo ship used by Uncle Chengxin to transport rice, and drive the oxen to his cargo ship, so that the ship will sink under the action of gravity, and when the ship is stable, we can make a mark at the level where the hull draws water, and then drive the oxen back to the shore; Then we carried bags of rice into the boat until the hull sank to the level that had just been marked, so that the weight of the rice would be the weight of the big buffalo. ”

When he heard this, he gave a thumbs up and praised him repeatedly: "Okay, yes, I think this idea can work." I can't imagine that you have such insight at such a young age, and you will definitely be a pillar of the country in the future. Then he commanded the left and right: "The guards obey the order, and according to what the ambition has just said, prepare the merchant ship and the rice, and a rod and scale." Then let's move on to the Lingxin River to see how ambition weighs the weight of a big cow! ”

Anxin was just about to set off when Ambition added, "Father, I also need a jar full of water. ”

Although Anxin didn't know what he meant, he didn't want to ask more, so he had to follow him and said, "Okay, prepare another wine jar full of water." ”

"Yes!" The guards rode away with an order of ambition.

In this way, the tribesmen also followed Anxin to the Lingxin River. Seeing that a large cargo ship had been prepared in the river, Ambition was instructing the guards to lead the big oxen to the boat, and when the hull was stable, he carved a mark on the horizontal surface of the ship.

Then he ordered the guards to lead the oxen to the shore, and then ordered the soldiers to load the bags of 50 catties of rice into the boat, and the hull sank little by little. When the mark on the hull of the ship was almost the same as the surface of the water, Ambition immediately stopped the soldiers who were carrying rice, and then ordered the guards to bring the wine jar full of water onto the boat, and then waited for the hull to be stable, and then he carefully compared the distance between the mark on the ship and the surface of the water, and poured the water in the jar back into the water little by little, until the mark was level with the water level.

After doing all this, Ambition went ashore and reported to his father: "Back to my father, the weight of the rice on the ship now plus the weight of the jar of water is the weight of the big buffalo." ”

Hearing such a conclusion, An An was overjoyed, and as for the use of the jar of water, An An suddenly realized.

Looking at the onlookers, everyone is talking about it again. At first, they couldn't figure out what was going on, but when they figured out the situation, they couldn't help but praise it repeatedly: "This is really a wonderful way!" Good way! ”

Now it is clear to everyone that ambition is to use the physical principle that the gravity of an object floating on the water is equal to the buoyancy of the water on the object, and he easily weighed the weight of a big ox. So, they all praised the ambition.

Seeing this, An Xin was naturally happy to close his mouth, only to see him smile at Ambition, and deeply proud of his ingenuity, and then, he looked triumphantly at the onlookers, as if to say: "My child can stand out among the crowd, which shows that his intelligence is still far above the people here, and I am proud." ”

In the end, Anxin ordered: "In view of the fact that Ambition has succeeded in weighing the weight of the big cow, it can be regarded as a great achievement, but he is still young now, so he can only wait for him to grow up before he can do the meritorious reward." ”