Chapter 26: Between Ice and Fire
Chapter 26: Between Ice and Fire
Yang Xin’s terrestrial globe was finally completed thanks to Fang Tinglan’s exquisite brushwork.
Her painting skills were truly refined.
It was said she had even received guidance from Dong Qichang. Master Dong was still alive, but because his son forcibly seized the daughter of a tenant farmer, which triggered a series of events, the Dong family mansion was burned down by rioters. Master Dong had to flee in a panic, causing a great loss to his reputation.
Even artists could not escape the hands of the mob!
In any case, Fang Tinglan drew the map according to Yang Xin’s instructions. Over there, the hired craftsmen quickly finished the wooden frame and copper sphere and assembled them. Then they covered the copper sphere with white paper. Fang Tinglan still copied the map she had previously drawn onto this white paper. This was extremely demanding on painting skills. First, it was not an exact copy; in fact, the scale needed to be adjusted. Second, it was not on a flat surface but on a sphere. Fortunately, this was not difficult for an expert in detailed, realistic painting. Besides, if it was ruined, she could just replace the paper and start over.
In truth, Yang Xin had greatly underestimated the gentlewomen of that era who were accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
“You actually succeeded on the first try?”
He said in astonishment.
“I can copy flower-and-bird paintings successfully on the first try. What’s so difficult about this?”
Fang Tinglan said.
“Is this what you call a terrestrial globe?”
The voice of Fang Xizhe sounded at the door.
“Lord Jinghan!”
Yang Xin quickly bowed with clasped hands.
Fang Xizhe, sitting in a wheelchair, was then pushed into the room by a household servant. Yang Xin bowed to Xu Guangqi who followed behind. Behind Xu Guangqi was Chen Yujie. To his surprise, behind Chen Yujie was actually Wang Wanqing.
“You, a young girl, running around all over the place every day. Does your grandfather not care?”
Yang Xin said helplessly.
“None of your business? My grandfather is at Shanhai Pass!”
Wang Wanqing said.
Alright, Yang Xin had forgotten that her grandfather was the Supreme Commander of the Great Ming’s Northern Theater. He was still planning strategies at that time.
Ten minutes later.
“This is the sun!”
Yang Xin said, pointing to a lit lantern in front.
Then he rotated the terrestrial globe.
“This means it is daytime. When the capital turns to this side, nightfall arrives. The sunrise and sunset are not the sun rising and falling, but our position changing. Different places on Earth welcome the sunrise at different times. The Earth rotates from west to east, so the east sees the sun earlier than the west. If we take the central axis of the Great Ming Imperial Palace as the starting point, after we see the sun, the people of Chongqing have to wait nearly half a shichen more to see the sun.”
He continued.
“Then why is the sunrise large and the midday sun small?”
Fang Xizhe asked with great interest.
Yang Xin looked at his daughter. The latter silently picked up two sheets of paper from the table, holding one in each hand and unfolding them for the group. The first sheet was completely black, but it retained a white square in the middle. The second sheet was completely white, but it had a black square in the middle.
“Which of the two small squares is larger?”
Yang Xin said with a smile.
“The white one!”
Wang Wanqing shouted eagerly.
Fang Xizhe and Xu Guangqi nodded slightly in agreement.
Without Yang Xin needing to say a word, Fang Tinglan, who had already played this game, smiled and took out scissors. She quickly cut out the two squares, then walked directly to her father and overlapped them.
“They’re the same size?”
Fang Xizhe said in astonishment.
“Lord Jinghan, eyes can deceive.”
Yang Xin said.
“To hear the truth in the morning and die in the evening is acceptable! In my declining years, I have just learned that even what we see with our own eyes may not be real!”
Fang Xizhe sighed, looking at the paper pieces before him.
“The distance between the sun and us is actually greater in the morning and evening and closer at noon. But compared to the distance between the sun and Earth, this difference is negligible. We can say the size of the sun we see remains unchanged. As for why we see the sun as larger in the morning and evening, it’s because the sky behind it is dark, like this white small square against the black. But the midday sun, though closer, is against a much brighter background, like this black small square against a field of white. Thus, our eyes deceive us.”
Yang Xin said.
“Why do you say heliocentrism is closest to the truth? Could it be that heliocentrism is also not the truth?”
Xu Guangqi said.
By this time, he was already inclined to believe Yang Xin. In this regard, Yang Xin had to thank Long Huamin, for without Long Huamin’s behavior, Xu Guangqi would have found it difficult to believe him. But Long Huamin had tested him. After all, what he knew were things the missionaries never spoke of, and Long Huamin admitted what he said were facts. That meant heliocentrism had at least caused a huge impact in Europe, even prompting the church to deal with it using the stake.
Whether this theory was true or false, it was certainly not fabricated by Yang Xin.
“What we can see is only the sun. The universe is boundless. Can what we see be everything?”
Yang Xin said.
“Our lives are limited, but knowledge is limitless! Our eyes cannot see the end of learning, much less the end of the sky. No one can claim to have found the truth. So far, as far as we can see within the universe, the sun is our center. Everything is bestowed by the sun. Sunlight nurtures all things. But can we say our eyes have seen everything? Does the universe have boundaries? Does time have an end? In the face of knowledge, none of us dare claim to have found the truth. We can only continuously move forward, using our limited lifespans to pursue the infinite truth!”
He continued his show.
The two old men were silent. Chen Yujie was in fervent admiration. Fang Tinglan was mesmerized. Wang Wang…
Wang Wang was baffled.
Then the two old men silently left.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’ll get shy.”
Yang Xin said, watching Xu Guangqi’s retreating back.
“I’m looking at what kind of calamity you are, born into this world. Crude and rude, savage and fierce, your hands stained with blood in just over a month, yet you can write elegant and refined poetry, and you understand astronomy and geography. Even someone like Long Huamin, who someone like Xu Zanshan regards as a teacher, was left speechless by you. Yet, you can barely write most characters. You are simply a monster.”
Fang Tinglan said irritably.
“When you put it that way, I also think I’m quite peculiar.”
Yang Xin said.
Beside them, Wang Wanqing coughed.
“Do you have any opinion?”
Yang Xin asked.
Wang Wanqing gave him a glare. Then she took out her small bag, pulled out a folded piece of white paper from inside, and held it up.
“Yang Xin, do you know your crime?”
She cleared her throat and said.
Then she was astonished to find the paper in her hand had ended up in Yang Xin’s hand.
The latter, under her furious glare, quickly opened it and looked at the portrait on it.
“Can any of you tell me, if I quarreled with someone, pushed him over, and he accidentally fell onto a hay cutter that was chopping grass, resulting in his head being cut off, what crime would that be? What punishment should I receive?”
Yang Xin asked in disbelief.
This was the latest version of the wanted notice. There was no mention of river pirates robbing Huang Zhen’s merchant ship, nor of him going to seek revenge on Liu Qi and cutting off his head to kick like a ball, nor even of him taking Chen Yujie hostage to resist arrest or injuring several sailors of the Jiang Family. All of these had simply not happened. He already knew this. Chen Yujie had told him earlier that in Gegu, he had already persuaded the Jiang Family to drop the charges. The local officials also did not want to bear the reputation of incompetence, so the matter was treated as if it never happened. The Jiang Family sailors had only minor injuries; giving each a bit of silver settled it. But Yang Xin killing Liu Qi was transformed into Huang Zhen’s ship buying rice in Gegu. Yang Xin quarreled with Liu Qi on shore over a trivial matter. During their argument, he pushed Liu Qi over. But the place where he fell was special; right beside them were two people chopping grass to feed cows. Caught off guard, they accidentally cut off Liu Qi’s head.
Then, afraid, he fled to escape punishment.
It had to be said, the imagination was quite rich.
Such an exaggerated story could be fabricated, and moreover, with both witnesses and material evidence complete. Even the plaintiff had a unified story. To put it plainly, none of the parties wanted the matter with Liu Qi to escalate.
Escalating would not be good for anyone.
If they accused Yang Xin of intentional murder, then Huang Zhen could just focus on the river pirates. Liu Qi colluding with pirates meant his brothers were definitely not clean either. If the Tianjin Military Defense Circuit did not handle it, they would just appeal higher. Anyway, the illicit salt on his ship had already been thrown into the Hai River. He was a legitimate merchant and was not afraid of escalation. People like He Gong would not come forward to testify that he had trafficked illicit salt.
He could even go directly to find Wang Keshou.
He was the direct superior of the three garrisons of Tianjin. If river pirates appeared locally and attacked, especially attacking the savior of the Governor-General’s granddaughter, then this matter would be a great loss of face for the Governor-General. Subsequently, the Tianjin Military Defense Circuit would have to suppress the pirates, or at least arrest a batch of people to make a show. Otherwise, the Governor-General’s hat of Junior Censor-in-Chief was not to be trifled with; beneath that hat was the Imperial Sword. Then the Liu Family, as the most suitable cannon fodder, could be entirely implicated. In fact, if the Tianjin Military Defense Circuit arrested people to fill the quota, their family would be the prime target. If by then they randomly implicated others under duress, officials of Fengcai Chang and local inspectors could all be dragged in.
Such a person was not worth it. After all, he truly colluded with pirates, something everyone clearly knew.
As for deceiving superiors and fabricating stories, for local officials, this was standard procedure. What they wanted was to avoid the appearance of river pirates. If river pirates appeared, they would be in trouble.
Officials disliked trouble.
Even if they had solutions, solving problems required spending money and connections. Wouldn’t it be better if nothing had happened at all? Moreover, the occurrence of river pirate robbery within their jurisdiction would affect their performance evaluations. These were all troubles, and troubles were best avoided if possible.
So now the question was, how should this crime be dealt with?
“Death by hanging, but redemption is possible. That means paying silver!”
Fang Tinglan said.
“How much?”
Yang Xin asked.
“According to the law, twelve taels, four qian, and two fen!”
Chen Yujie said.
“Where is my purse? I’ll pay this money!”
Yang Xin said magnanimously.
Just this small amount of silver, so cheap!
Then he was met with a round of eye-rolls.
“You fled to escape punishment. The base crime is increased by two degrees!”
Fang Tinglan said irritably.
“Increased by two degrees? What is hanging increased by two degrees?”
Yang Xin asked in astonishment.
“You only have one degree to increase, because above hanging there’s only one left!”
Wang Wanqing said cheerfully, using her finger to draw a line across her neck, then sticking out her cute little tongue.