My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 298 Learned something new
I don’t know what the movie will look like after being polished by the fairy. I’ll wait and see later. Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind and continued watching.

"Finally, in order to support the Ming Dynasty's education reform, I sent you some teaching materials. They are based on the three-level education system that the Ming Dynasty is going to reform, and are divided into elementary, intermediate and advanced levels.

The subjects mainly cover natural sciences, mainly mathematics, which you can also understand as arithmetic, physics and chemistry. There is only arithmetic in the primary education stage, no physics and chemistry. However, I added a basic popularization of natural sciences to lay the foundation for the future teaching of physics and chemistry.

Here, I have to give you some basic knowledge. In fact, a booming industrial society needs to apply knowledge in three categories, namely humanities, natural sciences and formal sciences.

According to the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, the humanities are based on Confucianism, supplemented by traditional culture such as the Book of Songs, Tang poetry and Song lyrics. This does not need to be changed for the time being, but you must remember, Lao Zhu, the main purpose of learning this knowledge is to better inherit Chinese civilization, not just for the purpose of imperial examinations. "

This is a good point. This is how Zhu Yuanzhang understands it. Zhu Yuanzhang gave Li Han a thumbs up in his heart.

In fact, before this, he was a little worried that the teaching materials brought by Li Han would completely deny the current Confucian education. If so, it would once again cause a shock in the entire literary world, causing those literati who originally supported the reform to stand against him again.

And Li Han also has such a broad mind and long-term vision, which is exactly what we, Old Zhu, like.

"As for natural sciences, they mainly include physics, chemistry, and biology."

We know about biology. It was mentioned in the information that Lao Li sent to Lou Ying before. It is the subject that studies living things. Lou Ying is now obsessed with it and no one knows how much he has learned. Anyway, he stays in the Imperial Hospital all day long and is a mysterious person who is hard to find.

But judging from what Old Li meant, he wants to popularize the study of biology in Ming Dynasty!

Do you want everyone in the Ming Dynasty to become a famous doctor? That's a big idea!

But what are physics and chemistry?
"Physics is the science that studies the laws governing the operation of all things. It is also the principle of all things. Why? Give me an example."

Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what it means. Old Zhu likes to hear Old Li give examples the most.

"Old Zhu, you come from a peasant family, so you know that farmers use hoes to till the land. The hoe has a long handle and a short blade. If the handle is shortened, the farmer may not be able to turn over much soil even if he uses all his strength. But if he holds the long handle and gently swings it, the soil will fall to the ground.

Why is this? It is the principle of lever in physics. The longer the lever, the more powerful it can be. "

Leverage principle?

So that's how it is! Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his head. He never expected that these common things could have such profound knowledge!

Digging the ground with a hoe is easier than digging with hands, because it utilizes the principle of leverage.

"It's like why a very heavy ship can float on the water. From a physics perspective, it's because the density of the ship is less than the density of water, so it can float on the water. What is density? This is the basic concept of physics.

Of course, there is a more intuitive example, when you drink soup, is there a layer of fat floating on the surface of the soup, rather than the fat sinking to the bottom of the soup? This is because the density of oil is lighter than that of water. "

After hearing Li Han’s explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang once again felt like he had gained some new knowledge. Why did his scalp start to itch again?
Well, for dinner tonight, I’ll ask the imperial chef to make some chicken soup for me to nourish myself.

"Physics is not just about studying the commonplace things in daily life. That's just the basics. For example, why is the steam from boiling water used to drive a steam engine? Why is there such a strong force to drive large machinery? Why can a bullet exploding in a gun barrel push the warhead so fast and far? Why can a hot air balloon take off? These are all physics knowledge!
How about this, this physics is much more awesome than the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's study of the principles of nature, right? "

Awesome?
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and a little confused. In the context of Lao Li's words, "niubi" should mean very powerful, right?

What Lao Li said is right. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism also studies the way in which the universe works, but compared with physics, it is obviously not on the same level.

This physics is closer to studying the laws of all things, explaining the natural world from the root of things, and investigating the origin of the world. This methodology is amazing!

What is even more fascinating is that physics is closely related to industry and is the theoretical basis of industrial manufacturing. Once the people of the Ming Dynasty have mastered this physics, they will be able to provide factories and research institutes with a continuous supply of highly skilled workers!
Thinking of this, an alarm suddenly rang in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind. No, this knowledge can only be owned by the Ming Dynasty and must not be learned by outsiders!

It should be included in the list of technologies that are prohibited from being rewarded to foreign countries, just like medical skills, gun manufacturing and other technologies.

But I always feel that the word "awesome" is a bit wrong, as if it is not very elegant!

"As for chemistry, it is a discipline that studies the changes in the properties of matter. You, Old Zhu, must also pay attention to this. The configuration of explosives is a typical chemical discipline. For example, the theoretical basis behind the nitrocellulose and fulminate of mercury produced by Daming today is chemistry.

Physics and chemistry can be combined and applied in industry, let’s take guns and ammunition as an example.

The main raw material of bullet primer is fulminate of mercury. After being struck by the hammer, the fulminate of mercury explodes, which is a chemical reaction, further triggering the explosion of the propellant in the cartridge case, which is also a chemical reaction.

The powerful airflow generated by the explosion is violently compressed inside the barrel, which can propel the bullet faster, farther and more accurately. This is physics at work.

Chemistry can further increase the power of the explosion, while physics can create stronger and more sophisticated gun barrels to ensure that the bullets are fired smoothly. Isn't this the combination of chemistry and physics?"

That’s right!
It seems that physics and chemistry are truly valuable knowledge for strengthening a country and a strong army. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang could not wait to reform education and promote physics and chemistry.

"Finally, there are the formal sciences, and mathematics, or you could call it arithmetic, is one of them.

You must be aware of the importance of mathematics. Even when doing business and counting money, you cannot do without arithmetic. But do you know that mathematics is the foundation of all natural sciences!

Therefore, in order to better promote mathematics, I am giving you a new set of numerical expressions and symbols for calculation. I will name it Chinese Numbers. If you like, Lao Zhu, you can also call it Ming Numbers.

Although the Ming Dynasty can currently use counting rods to assist in calculations, the new type of numbers is more suitable for complex large-scale calculations and will help industrial progress and promotion. "

A new type of number?

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly began to look through the textbooks and soon found the basic mathematics. He opened it and saw that, as expected, the first page introduced new types of numbers.

"1 means one, 2 means two, 3 means three, and + is a plus sign. Hmm, it really is much simpler."

Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but take a pen and start learning. 1+1=2, and then he learned to write multiplication and division in vertical form. Then he was surprised to find that using vertical form to perform complex calculations on multi-digit numbers was so easy!
Hehe, when the time comes, I’ll find the accountant from Daming Dynasty to compete with me to see who can calculate faster!
(End of this chapter)