Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 542: One clock, two systems?
Young Master Jiang had lived in Zhang Garden for several days and had met everyone from top to bottom. He even shamelessly got to know Song Juren and Fang Qing. Of course, this did not help him much in his purpose of going to the capital. With his father around, he had never thought of taking over the family business so early. In just six months, he had grown up rapidly, but his character could grow, but his ability did not grow that fast.
Therefore, Zhang Shou left him alone, but he couldn't find a good solution. Moreover, Zhang Chen and others were also in a state of panic recently, and he couldn't find Zhu Er either - the threshold of Zhaoguo Mansion was much higher than Zhang Yuan. It was rare for Wu, who was in a good mood, to give him such an idea. Although he was not sure whether it was a good idea, he still praised Wu's ingenuity in front of Zhang Shou.
Wu had only been praised by outsiders for her virtues and virtues, and she had never been praised for her vision and ideas. Although she was happy at this moment, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when she saw Zhang Shou's stunned look. But just as she coughed lightly and said unnaturally, "I just mentioned it casually," she found that Zhang Shou suddenly laughed.
"Mom is right. Since water power can be used to irrigate farmland and grind flour, it is definitely feasible to use it to drive looms. However, the turmoil in Cangzhou was caused by many people being unemployed or having no one to collect cotton yarn and making a living. Once water-powered looms are used, the efficiency will certainly double, but I am afraid that there will be more people without jobs."
Seeing that Wu was startled and Young Master Jiang was about to explain, Zhang Shou gestured to them and said calmly, "But it is an inevitable trend for machines to replace human labor. We cannot give up because of fear. However, it will take time for the water-powered loom to be launched, so we might as well prepare for a rainy day now."
"That's true. I heard that when cotton was first introduced, people still used their hands to make cotton threads and even hemp ropes. Now with all kinds of machines, it is indeed much easier." Mrs. Wu nodded quickly.
She saw that Young Master Jiang seemed to have something to say to Zhang Shou, so she immediately found an excuse to go to the kitchen and left. When she left, Young Master Jiang quickly smiled and explained, "I just ran into An Ren at the door, so I casually talked about Cangzhou's textiles..."
"My mother had nothing to do, so I asked her to manage the weaving and dyeing workshop to relieve my boredom. There is nothing wrong with the idea she gave you, but we have to wait." Zhang Shou stood up and said with a smile, "You have lived in my house for so long, even if you have only been to the weaving workshop, you should have seen a lot of things, but you haven't been to the workshop yet, right?"
Young Master Jiang's heart skipped a beat. If there was any "forbidden area" in Zhang Garden that he had not been able to enter, it was the legendary secret workshop that made new spinning wheels and new looms based on Zhang Shou's drawings, thereby dramatically increasing efficiency. These days, he did not even dare to ask about where that place was, let alone secretly looking for it.
He was afraid that if he angered Zhang Shou, all his efforts would be in vain!
But since Zhang Shou had asked him at this moment, he could only laugh dryly and said, "I just heard that there is a famous craftsman in Dr. Zhang's family, but I have never had the chance to meet him..."
"It's a bit of an exaggeration to call him a famous craftsman. After all, although Guan Qiu's ideas are unconventional, his skills are far inferior to those of the famous craftsmen. But now I have recruited a group of young craftsmen with good skills to help him. Under his leadership and inspiration, a group of people are racking their brains to make some new and unique things. They just made a harvest not long ago. Come on, I'll take you to see it."
Young Master Jiang was overjoyed. He had never dreamed that Zhang Shou would be willing to take him to the mysterious workshop built in Zhang Garden just because he happened to meet Wu and chatted with her for a few words! So he immediately agreed, and when he followed her out, he asked curiously and learned that Guan Qiu had indeed made a key contribution to the new spinning and weaving machines. He was full of praise.
"Dr. Zhang said he is not a famous craftsman. Such a craftsman is hard to find. I don't know how much hard work he has put in to achieve this skill. He is nothing like the craftsmen nowadays who only know how to follow the drawings all day long without using their brains at all..."
Young Master Jiang tried his best to flatter the meritorious official whom Zhang Shou must have valued, and criticized the young apprentice for being fickle-minded and the old craftsman for being stubborn and conservative... In short, he tried his best to please him. When he finally came to an inconspicuous courtyard, he suddenly realized that there were no people in this place that should have been heavily guarded!
But the more this happened, the more he suspected that the situation was loose inside and tight outside. When Zhang Shou entered the yard, he looked at the shadows in front of and behind the trees and on the sides of the wall, and instinctively felt that there were people lurking there, always on guard against intrusion by outsiders.
When he saw a young man with a childish face and greasy clothes hurrying out, he could not help thinking that the famous craftsman whom Zhang Shou admired so much was really arrogant. When he saw the master coming in person, he only sent an apprentice to greet him.
However, when he heard the visitor address Zhang Shou, he was dumbfounded.
"Brother Zhang, why are you here? Are you here to see that clock? Although I have improved it, it still has some problems... It would be great if I could have a clock made by a Western craftsman like you mentioned for comparison. Otherwise, I can only rely on the watch of Emperor Taizu..."
When Zhang Shou recruited Guan Qiu, he found that this young man was quick-witted. Although his hands-on ability was far from that of a master craftsman, it was already very valuable. Therefore, after he made a few things, he promised to give Guan Qiu 10% of the shares of the workshop, and then taught him a lot of mathematics and physics principles.
Even the current name was gradually changed by Guan Qiu under his strong request.
At this moment, hearing Guan Qiu talking a lot, he patiently waited for the person to finish speaking, then smiled and said: "Guan Qiu, I specially brought people here today to see your achievements. This is Mr. Jiang from Cangzhou."
Young Master Jiang's jaw almost dropped. Is this Guan Qiu, who Zhang Shou claimed had put forward key ideas on many things?
How old is this person? About twenty years old? He looks about the same age as Zhang Shou at most... No, he still calls Zhang Shou "Big Brother Zhang", but he seems to be younger than Zhang Shou! Isn't this someone Zhang Shou deliberately brought in to fool him?
Guan Qiu looked at Young Master Jiang with some doubt for a moment, then nodded and called him Young Master Jiang. He withdrew his gaze with obvious disinterest, but said to Zhang Shou: "Brother Zhang, you told me before that gravity is actually the primary driving force of vibration. I have been calculating these days..."
Young Master Jiang watched Guan Qiu gesticulating in front of Zhang Shou with his greasy hands, and finally dragging him inside without saying a word. Stunned, he hesitated for a long while before he hurriedly caught up.
When he discovered that Guan Qiu had pressed a mechanism that revealed a hole facing downwards, he confirmed that the so-called secret workshop was actually underground!
Entering the underground workshop, there was a long flight of stairs, and Young Master Jiang was horrified by the height of the underground. It was self-evident which was more difficult, digging a secret room down or building a house up.
Along the way, he saw many huge wooden pillars that served as supporting structures underground. Thinking of the former owner of Zhang Garden, King Lu, his scalp tingled.
It is not surprising that even if it is a prince or a noble, they would dig a secret room to prevent disasters and fires when they have nothing to do. But look at the height and the area it occupies. Who would believe that they did not have ulterior motives or were plotting something bad?
It is said that after Zhang Shou took over the house, he did not fill up the secret rooms, but instead opened a workshop here. Wouldn't that be a taboo?
Young Master Jiang was nervous at first, but as he followed Zhang Shou and Guan Qiu, listening to the two of them discussing structures, drives, laws, and so on in terms he could not understand at all... he found himself back in his student days when he was hit on the head and scolded for being stupid by his teacher every day. Gradually, he had no time to think about those conspiracies and intrigues.
He saw a water-powered fan, a strange machine that Zhang Shou jokingly called a machine that worked by boiling water, and heard Zhang Shou and Guan Qiu discussing rubber and other issues...
What shocked him the most was that wherever Guan Qiu went, craftsmen, young and old, would look up and call him "Master Craftsman". Zhang Shou always smiled at him, and Guan Qiu was used to it, except that he occasionally scratched his head as if he was a little embarrassed.
Young Master Jiang was extremely puzzled. The title of Shaofu in the Qin Dynasty became the title of General Craftsman in the Han Dynasty. After that, the title of General Craftsman was inherited by all dynasties for many years. Although it was incorporated into the Ministry of Works and the Military Equipment Bureau in this dynasty, the title of Grand Craftsman is still the highest honor for craftsmen.
Isn't Zhang Shou afraid that people will accuse him of passing things around in private by calling him that?
Zhang Shou had long experienced Young Master Jiang's personality, where all his emotions were revealed on his face. Just now, when he took people for a tour, he could roughly tell what this rich second-generation from Cangzhou was thinking from his face.
Seeing that the title of "Master Craftsman" had shocked Young Master Jiang even more, he smiled and said, "Guan Qiu's contribution to the spinning wheel was limited before, but he solved the key problem with the loom. So the title of "Master Craftsman" was not given to him by others, but by the emperor when he saw the sample pendulum clock sent to the palace. Of course, it is only called this verbally now, but if..."
He paused, then said with a smile: "If Guan Qiu can really guarantee the accuracy of what he makes this time, then the court may really grant him the title of master craftsman in the future."
Guan Qiu blushed upon hearing this, and quickly said modestly: "It's all because Brother Zhang found a lot of books for me to read, and taught me a lot of things that I never thought of before. Moreover, if it weren't for the "New Instrument and Imagery Method" treasured in the Ancient and Modern Collection Library, I wouldn't have been so inspired. Besides, if it weren't for the formulas he gave me, I wouldn't have been able to adjust the pendulum length for a while..."
Before Guan Qiu, who was a little incoherent, finished speaking, Zhang Shou walked forward and casually lifted the green cloth covering an object in front of him. Young Master Jiang looked at it carefully and saw a round plate with numbers engraved on it placed on a long wooden cabinet. At this time, the short needle of the round plate pointed to the number twelve, and the long needle pointed to the number eight.
There seemed to be something covering the outside of the disc. When he couldn't help but take a step forward, he saw clearly that it seemed to be a crystal cover! He had no idea what such a strange device was, and Young Master Jiang was immediately itching to try it.
Zhang Shou had no intention of keeping the audience in suspense and said straight away: "This is a pendulum clock. Why is it called a pendulum clock? Look at this..." As he spoke, he opened the door of the wooden cabinet below, revealing the pendulum that was swinging back and forth inside. Seeing that Young Master Jiang's eyes widened, he laughed.
"We all know that there are twelve hours in a day, and the clepsydra divides a day into one hundred hours. This pendulum clock divides the day into twelve points, half of each, which means a total of twenty-four points..."
Explaining the digital timekeeping system to someone who has never seen a modern clock is just as hard as explaining the ancient timekeeping system to a modern person who knows nothing about the twelve hours of the day. Zhang Shou had to spend a lot of time to finally make Young Master Jiang understand how to read the clock and what time it was.
Guan Qiu at the side could not help but say: "I think this pendulum clock is just right for twelve hours, each rotation is one hour, but Brother Zhang insisted that I make it twenty-four hours a day."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but twitch his mouth slightly. It was too much to ask a modern man like him to accept the design that the clock rotates once every two hours, the hour hand of the clock rotates only once a day, and eight o'clock in the morning becomes four o'clock in the morning. However, facing the puzzled Jiang Da Shao, he still spoke earnestly and gave the most powerful reason.
"This pendulum clock is made based on the mechanical timer left by Emperor Taizu. The hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are all accurate. Although there is still a certain error between the clock and the old one, it is impossible that the hour hand of the timer left by Emperor Taizu can move two steps while the pendulum clock can only move one step, right? Guan Qiu, you made that set of tools yourself, and you have disassembled and reassembled that timer several times!"
Young Master Jiang was immediately stunned. Zhang Shou actually dared to allow people to dismantle the precious relics left by Emperor Taizu?
Guan Qiu couldn't help but feel unhappy. He sighed helplessly and whispered, "If the minute hand moves one circle in one hour, it would be much more intuitive. Otherwise, it would be like Mr. Jiang seeing this pendulum clock for the first time today, and he would have to spend a lot of time explaining it..."
"Okay, okay." Zhang Shou didn't want to change the 24-hour system to a 12-hour system. This was one of the bottom lines he could still stick to in this world. But what he didn't expect was that Young Master Jiang suddenly made a weak suggestion.
"Although it is made based on the mysterious relic of Emperor Taizu, after all, everyone from the royal family to the common people and farmers in the countryside knows that there are twelve hours in a day. In this case, why not make two types. One is a pendulum clock with twelve hours in a day, and the other is a clock with twenty-four hours in a day? This way, everyone will be happy!"
Young Master Jiang has already figured out that this thing is more convenient than any clepsydra or sundial, and it will surely be all the rage. It is better for him to come up with a good idea now than to have to rack his brains to read the clock himself in the future!
