Chapter 57 Heavenly Magic

Wang Jinghui stopped, peeked at Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu with the corner of his eyes, and found that they both had their ears upright and listened to him, and then continued to say: "Of course, my Song Dynasty is Qingming, and the emperor and ministers of the Han Ling emperor at that time are not comparable to those of Zhang Jiao's Han Ling emperors and ministers at that time, but if a plague occurs within a certain range, it will inevitably be used by people with ulterior motives. This kind of 'superative person' in the wild is Zhang Jiao's first-class heretic cult. If he is in the court... he will take advantage of the plague epidemic to serve as a responsibility for the deviant power of the emperor and the ministers in a certain matter, which will cause unnecessary disputes!"

Wang Jinghui clearly remembers that in history, someone took advantage of the opportunity of being invaded by the rain and flood disasters of Kaifeng, Biandu, to attack the "Imperial Examination faction" such as Yingzong Zhao Shu and Han Qi, which brought great trouble to the "Imperial Examination faction" who was still at the disadvantage of Puyi at that time. Although the Puyi debate that lasted for 18 months in history has been settled by the "Imperial Examination faction" in advance, if the rain and flood disasters in August came as scheduled, then the supporters of the "Huangbo faction" would also take advantage of the "God's Will" name.

Let’s torture Yingzong Zhao Shu and Han Qi a little bit. If the plague is over, it will be even more wonderful for the remaining opposition parties. So Wang Jinghui intentionally or unintentionally revealed a message in what he said to Han Qi: You and Zhao Shu work hard quickly. If there is a plague really happening, you can rely on the epidemic prevention system to control the scale of the plague to a tolerable range. Otherwise, you will be prepared to accept the impeachment memorial from the bosses of the Censorate!

At this time, Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu were both prime ministers and political leaders. After reading Wang Jinghui's argument, they were not as relaxed as Wang Jinghui. Not to mention anything else, they were the key figures in the Puyi debate. If it was really as Wang Jinghui said that a plague broke out at the beginning of the Puyi decision, then all the comments would go to the two of them. If they were not handled properly, they would inevitably end up being dismissed.

Prime Minister Han Qi said: "Well, this policy is corrected and well-written! I will write another memorial to the emperor and ask to speed up the construction of the urban epidemic prevention system!"

Wang Jinghui said: "Han Xiangmingjian, in fact, the first time he built an urban epidemic prevention system in Kaifeng, the world's largest city in Biandu, does encounter many problems, and it is also difficult to implement it. However, it is also a model. Building a working epidemic prevention system before the rainy season this year will also accumulate a lot of experience. It will also be a reference when it expands and implements it throughout the Song Dynasty."

The prime minister Han Qi still looked at the argument Wang Jinghui gave him, frowned, but he had not forgotten to ask other questions: "To be corrected, the officials below reported that many doctors were very puzzled by some of the contents after reading your book "Plague". The biggest question is what you mentioned in the book: Plague is caused by some small insects that cannot be seen by people, which is very different from the works of famous doctors in the past..."

Wang Jinghui asked the butler to send the gift he brought to him. Soon, butler Han Qi brought a small package to the study. Wang Jinghui opened the package and contained a set of glass tea sets. This set of glass tea sets is not something that can be bought on the market. The transparency is almost comparable to the one that Wang Jinghui sold to Xiao Yuanfeng. Since the strategy set by Wang Jinghui and Xu is to take the high-end route instead of expanding production and popularizing it, even Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu next to him were moved by it when they saw such tea sets.

Wang Jinghui poured the warm water on the table into a cup, then took the paper of Ce Lu from Han Qi and placed it flat on the table, and said to Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu: "Please look, two sirs!" They looked down at the glass cup filled with water. The small font on Ce Lu magnified a lot in their eyes. After reading it, they were a little confused, and they didn't know what Wang Jinghui meant.

Wang Jinghui explained: "Two adults, there are all kinds of wonders in this world. Only things we can't see and imagine. The plague-causing bugs I wrote in the book "Plague" can only be seen with the help of tools. The two adults just saw that the fonts will become larger under the glass cup containing water, but this level of magnification is far from enough. Wansheng is making a glass lens that can magnify sand and dust countless times, so naturally you can see the plague-causing bugs, but this takes time! Now I have made lenses that can magnify objects six or seven times. If the elderly people don't look at things well, they can use this lens to read the documents. If the two adults are interested, you might as well try it."

Since Wang Jinghui assigned the task of making convex lenses and concave lenses to Uncle Hong in the glass workshop, Uncle Hong has achieved another surprising result with his endless financial resources and the jewelry processing technology accumulated by the Xu era. Although it is still far from the lenses required for the microscope and telescope, he has been able to make magnifying glasses with a magnification of about ten times. After receiving this news, the wisdom of these craftsmen really made Wang Jinghui look at him with admiration. He immediately wrote to Uncle Hong and asked Uncle Hong to deduct 400 guan from his dividends to reward these craftsmen related to making magnifying glasses, and also made a promise: Whoever can make a lens that he is satisfied with will receive a reward of 1,000 guan!

Although Wang Jinghui's promise has not been fulfilled yet, the craftsmen in the glass workshop who have experience in making magnifying glasses have been improving the process of grinding glass blanks day and night under the stimulation of the rewards, and began to test the addition of trace amounts of lead powder to the glass melt according to Wang Jinghui's instructions. After seeing the magnifying glass, Wang Jinghui had every reason to believe that these smart craftsmen would make the microscope and telescope lenses in the short term. A reward of 1,000 yuan is enough to make a family of three live a well-off life, but for Wang Jinghui, who has a million yuan worth, it is just a drop in the bucket. However, in terms of the revolutionary role of microscopes and telescopes in military, medicine and astronomy, it is a price that makes him pay ten thousand yuan, and he is also very happy.

After Wang Jinghui explained this, Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu immediately understood what he meant. Han Qi smiled and said to Ouyang Xiu: "There are many novel things here, Brother Yong, with this lens that can enlarge the font, you won't have to work so hard to read the article in the future!"

Wang Jinghui also smiled and said, "The two adults are important officials of the court. They have to read countless memorials every day. Although the magnifying glass is small, it can indeed relieve the pain of adults reading memorials. After the reading glasses designed by the late child can be made, they will be better than magnifying glasses because they are specially designed for the elderly to see things."

Magnifying glass is still a very novel thing for people of this era. The topic of the three people is gradually talking about these lenses that can enlarge objects. However, Wang Jinghui's mind is still on the upcoming rain and flood disasters. He said to the prime minister Han Qi: "Secret Han, this epidemic prevention work is a very complicated thing. In addition to the key points I mentioned in the memorial, there are many work waiting for us to do. The ditch in the city has been obscured for a long time. The high temperature in summer is the breeding place of mosquitoes and flies. In the "Plague", he once said that this kind of place is most likely to cause epidemics. If there is a lot of rain this year, it is likely that a plague will occur in the Bian Capital City, and the consequences are worrying. Please give a clear look to the problem of Han Xiang and Ouyang!"

Now Wang Jinghui can only try to give Han Qi and the others more vaccinations so that they can take the situation of the rainy season this summer seriously. Sure enough, Han Qi said: "It's good to change it. These ditches are silted and must be cleaned up. But now the summer is half over, and the weather is very good. There will be no big changes, right?"

After hearing this, Wang Jinghui said, "Han Xiang should not be paralyzed by the current weather. Can we know that 'there are unexpected storms in the sky'? Evening Sheng had learned some astrological techniques with his master, but he could also watch the stars to understand the general weather changes. Until now, the rain is still normal, but after watching the celestial phenomena, he learned that heavy rain would fall to Biandu in August, so he dared to ask Han Xiang to prepare early!"

Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu were both stunned after hearing this, and the three people who were very excited in the study just now kept silent. Wang Jinghui was waiting for Han Qi's reaction, while Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu were stunned after listening to Wang Jinghui's astrological viewing and knowing the weather. Wang Jinghui did this out of helplessness. The progress of the urban epidemic prevention system now really made him not very satisfied. The heavy rain recorded in historical books even flooded the emperor's palace.

, wouldn't the losses suffered by civilians be even greater? After thinking about it, he thought that in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang watched the celestial phenomena and commanded Lu Su's straw boat to borrow arrows when he burned the Red Cliff. He didn't know if Zhuge Liang was really capable of predicting the weather forecast, but it was not too much to use this title? He could only inform Han Qi on the grounds of watching astrological signs. As for whether Han Qi believed it or not, he had no choice but to leave it to fate.

Although the prime minister Han Qi was a famous prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, he did not receive modern education and training like Wang Jinghui. Confucianism said that "the way of heaven is far away" is not credible, but Confucius also said: "Zi did not speak of strange powers and chaos in the gods." Although the reason Wang Jinghui said was "watching astrological signs at night", in his eyes, this is somewhat different from the saying of "ghosts and gods". He could not deny that there are really talented people in this world who can measure the wind and clouds by observing the celestial phenomena. After all, there are such people in various classics of Chinese history, and he could not deny that, but he was very suspicious of this, but Han Qi still asked hesitantly: "Change it, this is true?"

Wang Jinghui had already reached such a field at this time, and there was no way out. His current thoughts were very contradictory: First, he hoped that the old man would really change in this time and space, and there would be no scene of rain pouring into Kaifeng; another idea was to expect the heavy rain in August to fall as scheduled, so that only in this way could he maintain his usual favorable feelings for him among the people around him. Once Han Qi believed what he said, in the remaining month, he would definitely recommend that the court do his best to prevent disasters. When the heavy rain did not come, not only would Wang Jinghui not have the chance to marry the princess of Shu to be his wife, but he would probably have to take his own life to calm the anger of the ministers in the court.

"This is really a dilemma!" Wang Jinghui lamented in his heart at this moment, but since he has come to this point, even if the heavy rain has not come, his head is twisted off by the ministers to vent his anger, he can't care. In such a city with a population of more than one million, once a rain and flood disaster occurs, not only will countless people drown, but the plague that follows will also take more lives.

Wang Jinghui calmed down the turmoil in his heart and solemnly said to Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu: "The two masters, the stargazing technique I have learned is a secret method passed down by my master, especially the prediction of the situation that causes major disasters. However, it is extremely short of life and cannot be used lightly. Recently, I was extremely uneasy in my heart. I know that heavy rain will come to Biandu in August. I also know that this matter is extremely shocking, but for the lives of millions of people in Biandu, I am willing to protect my neck and heads. I hope Han Xiang and Lord Ouyang will prepare early!"

Wang Jinghui had no other choice at this time. Even if he was talking about it, Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu might not take this matter seriously, so he would seal his retreat and use his head as a guarantee. After all, as soon as the disaster came, the corpse would be everywhere in the city.

However, the prime minister Han Qi is a figure who has been rising and falling in the officialdom for decades. Although Wang Jinghui said so resolutely, it is still difficult to make up his mind. Although Han Qi and Wang Jinghui don’t have much contact, Wang Jinghui, who he knows, will never joke about this matter, especially because he also used his head to guarantee that heavy rain will definitely come to Biandu next month, but this alone is far from enough. Han Qi walked back and forth in the study, and suddenly he stopped and shouted outside the house: "Who is on duty outside the house?"

Han Qi's old housekeeper opened the door and came in and bowed and said, "My husband's study is in service. I am afraid that the servants will not serve well, so I am the only one on duty. What are the instructions for my husband?"

When the prime minister Han Qi saw the butler bent in front of him, his sharp eyes immediately eased a lot and said to the butler: "Han An, you grew up in the Han family and have followed me as a butler for twenty years. You should live alone in the courtyard of the back hall for a month, and prepare rice and grain there. If something is heard from the Han family, I don't want to hear, you don't have to come out! In addition, people outside prepare sedan chairs, and I want to go to the palace to meet the saint!"

Han An said calmly, "I have served the Prime Minister for decades and should know the Prime Minister's rules. I will pack up my things and go to the backyard!" After that, I turned around and went out.

Han Qi said nothing, but waved his hand to signal the butler Han An to go down. After Han An walked out of the study, Han Qi said to Ouyang Xiu and Wang Jinghui who were still a little stunned: "This matter is of great importance. You must not let go of the news. You should go to the palace with me to meet the saint and ask for the saint!"

Wang Jinghui bowed and said, "It's because of this matter that I'm not a secret, so no one around me knows it. Today, it's all up to the prince of Han!" After that, he heard Ouyang Xiu's promise that the matter would not be leaked.

After hearing this, Han Qi nodded, and then the three of them headed straight to the palace to meet Yingzong Zhao Shu. Because Wang Jinghui's official position was too low, he could not go to the palace to discuss matters with the emperor like Prime Minister Han Qi and Political Consultant Ouyang Xiu, so he was arranged to listen to Xuan and summon him outside.

In the Funing Hall of the Imperial Palace, Yingzong Zhao Shu was sitting behind the imperial case in the hall, while the prime minister Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and Ying King Zhao Xu, who happened to be here, were standing in front of the imperial case. After hearing Han Qi's statement, Yingzong looked gloomy and thought for a while and said to Han Qi: "Han Gong, do this matter seriously?"

The prime minister Han Qi can be said to be the person who Yingzong Zhao Shu trusted the most among the officials of the court. When Emperor Renzong passed away, Empress Cao said that Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu and others discussed the prince's ascension. When Zhao Shu, who was still a prince, heard that Empress Cao asked him to succeed to the throne, he changed his color and said, "Shu dared not do it!" Han Qi grabbed his arm and said, "If you inherit your ambition, you must be filial. The Holy Mother must obey!" Then he put the yellow robe on him. In this way, Emperor Yingzong became the second emperor in the Song Dynasty with yellow robe. During this period, Yingzong's trust in Han Qi was not something that could be settled in one sentence.

Prime Minister Han Qi stepped forward and bowed and said, "This fact is incredible, but you must believe it!"

Yingzong Zhao Shu asked curiously: "What does Mr. Han mean?"

Han Qi replied: "Master, first of all, this star-watching constellation has been around since ancient times, but it is hard to find such people. Therefore, it is not impossible to say that Wang Jinghui is proficient in this way. Secondly, whether it is accurate or not, it is harmless to him or not. Although he is also an official in the court, the editor of the seventh-rank correction medical bookstore is not as good as the ninth-rank official. He repeatedly refused to be appointed to the court and planned to take the imperial examination by himself, so even if things are done, it will not be of any benefit to him.

On the contrary, he still protects his life, and with his civilian clinics' style of helping the poor and helping the poor, it is not uncommon to do this; in the end, once Wang Jinghui's words come true, his life is the wealth of millions of people in Xiaobian Capital, and he must be guarded against! The old minister thinks that the people of the world are just for profit, and this matter is not beneficial to Wang Jinghui. On the contrary, he has to save his life. No one will do such a fool unless... unless what he said will come true!"
Chapter completed!