Chapter 9 Section IX

Shi Yue walked out of the palace proudly, and hummed a popular song that sounded weird to people at the time as he got on his horse.He absolutely did not dare to hum loudly. The so-called "music" is not immune to the influence of time and space. It sounded pretty good to him. When he tried to sing it to Sang Chongguo and Sang Zier Afterwards, the two immediately frowned and asked, "Where did you learn such an ugly tune?" They seemed to be more accepting of the tunes of Yue Opera and Huangmei Opera, but Shi Yue's knowledge of such things was really limited. Shi Ziming, who is well-known all over the world, rode his horse out of Dong Taishi Lane when he was stopped by a man, who rushed out and almost threw Shi Yue off his frightened horse.Shi Yue got off the horse half-rolled, and was about to get angry, but when he got a closer look at the opponent's appearance, he suddenly lost his temper.

This is obviously a girl disguised as a man.Although many men in the Song Dynasty were more delicate-looking, and some young people liked to do disgusting things like applying powder and make-up-this made it easier for girls in the Song Dynasty to pretend to be men, but for Shi Yue who often deals with girls For modern people, such things as women disguised as men are invalid for him. But seeing the plot in this kind of novel appearing in front of him, and he was still in the time and space of the Song Dynasty, Shi Yue couldn't help feeling a little dramatic. "What's the matter with this little brother?" Shi Yue asked with a smile, this girl is not beautiful, but she is quite proud.

His identity was not recognized by Shi Yue, which obviously gave the girl great confidence.She said in a rough voice: "It's really impolite, my son would like to invite you upstairs to talk about it." She pointed to the drunk fairy tower next to her. Shi Yue couldn't help being startled, his status was getting more and more honorable, and it was becoming rarer and rarer for him to go looking for someone else just by saying a word.But looking at the girl in front of him disguised as a man, Shi Yue couldn't help but feel quite curious about her young master.At that time, although girls were not as strictly suppressed as later generations, after all, they were not allowed to show their faces casually, like Sang Zi'er, who basically didn't leave the door.Immediately smiled and nodded, and said: "Then I will have Brother Lao to lead the way."

The girl shyly led Shi Yue to an elegant seat on the upper floor of Zuixian Tower, where a young man in white robes had already been sitting there. Seeing Shi Yue coming in, the man quickly stood up, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to invite you." , I hope you will be forgiven." The voice was extremely clear, and it was obviously a woman. Shi Yue secretly laughed in his stomach, and looked at the woman opposite, seeing that she was fifteen or sixteen years old, her skin was slightly dark, but her facial features were quite delicate, her brows were lightly drawn, and her dark eyes had a look that was rarely seen in this era.Shi Yue has been in the Song Dynasty for so long, but he doesn't know many women.Chu Yun'er is a gentle flower of interpretation like water, and Sang Zi'er is innocent and kind, like a snow lotus, but the girl opposite, besides the slightly mischievous and bold eyes, is even more aggressive. In this era, she is not only inferior to Chu Yun'er and Sang Zi'er, she may not even be called a beautiful woman, but the self-confidence revealed in that demeanor is far from comparable to Chu Yun'er and Sang Zi'er.Shi Yue already knew that the foot binding of women in the Northern Song Dynasty was not popular, and only some singing girls and daughters of rich families bound their feet to follow the fashion. Judging from the standing posture of this girl, it is obvious that she has a pair of natural feet, which is even more favorable at the moment.

Seeing Shi Yue staring at her up and down for a long time, the woman couldn't help but sarcastically smiled and said, "Why, my lord, is there anything wrong with me?" Shi Yuenu smiled and said: "I have never seen a man who is so beautiful, even the book boy is 12 points handsome, so his mind is distracted. I'm sorry, I dare to ask the son's name, what advice do you have when I come down?" The woman knew that Shi Yue was a little suspicious of herself, her face flushed slightly, and she didn't know where she was showing her feet, so she pretended to be confused, cupped her fists and said: "Wang Fang, the cursive words are correct, just now I saw the young master's appearance upstairs. Therefore, I took the liberty to invite you, and I hope you will forgive me. Don’t you dare to ask the young master’s name?”

Shi Yue said with a smile: "So it's Brother Wang, I'm next to Shi Yue, with the word Ziming Cao." Wang Fang seemed taken aback, and asked, "But Shi Ziming, who wrote "The Analects of Confucius" and founded Baishuitan College, and who is now bestowed as a Jinshi and rank?" Shi Yue smiled lightly, the other party's surprised expression was obviously faked, and he couldn't hide it from him.Having dealt with politicians in the DPRK and China for a year or two, and meeting with counselors like Pan Zhaolin at home every day, his ability to read words and demeanor has improved by leaps and bounds.

"Don't dare, it's just a mere area." Wang Fangxi said: "I've been wanting to meet for a long time, but I didn't expect to meet here." Shi Yue replied casually: "That is really destined." He never wanted to talk to a woman, the word "destiny" cannot be used casually.Wang Fang's face was slightly embarrassed, and it took him a long time to force himself to calm down. He asked Shi Yue to sit down, and said, "Mr. Shi is not only proficient, but also understands historical events. Dozens of good poems are popular in the capital, and he is really a genius who meets once in a thousand years. I am not talented, but I want to ask you something, do you know if you are willing to teach me?" As he spoke, he stared at Shi Yue with a pair of wandering eyes.

Shi Yue sat down and said with a slight smile: "Please tell me, I will know everything and say everything." Wang Fang smiled, and said eloquently: "Young master mentioned in "Elementary Geography" that the earth is round, and there is a north pole in the north, and an south pole in the south. Go out. I heard that this statement can explain the problem of the compass very well, but there is one thing that I don’t understand. How did Mr. Shi know it? I think Mr. Shi is not very old. According to the "Geography Preliminary", The earth is so big that it makes people speechless, and as Mr. Shi said, to the east of Fusang and Wa Kingdom, there is a large continent called Penglaizhou. There is Europe, Mr. Shi can also talk about it one by one, has Mr. Shi actually been to these places in person? This is really unbelievable."

When Shi Yue heard Wang Fang asking such a question, his spirit was lifted.It's not uncommon for people to raise similar doubts about Shi Yue, but it's rare for a woman to say it. Since the publication of "Preliminary Geography", in addition to Chinese geography and the scope of what people saw at the time, about the Antarctic and the North Pole, Shi Yue changed it to the Americas of Penglaizhou——At the beginning, he wanted to attract some people to explore with the charm of the gods—— And so on are all regarded as overseas legends and treated as such.Even in the lectures of Baishuitan College, the teachers and students are far more interested in the theory of the circle of the earth and map drawing than they are in Penglaizhou. On a practical and rigorous path, they are more interested in proving and elucidating theories that can solve practical problems. Even the Mingli Academy has a serious tendency towards pragmatism in philosophical thinking...

Seeing that Shi Yue seemed to be in a trance, Wang Fang couldn't help coughing lightly in dissatisfaction. Shi Yue was startled, quickly calmed down, and replied seriously: "Some of these are hypotheses, some are hearsay, and I can't prove whether they are true or not." Hearing such an answer, Wang Fang couldn't help but wondered: "Isn't this too irresponsible? To write unproven things in books and promote them?" Shi Yue smiled and said: "I don't remember most of the things I did when I was young. I don't know why I have these thoughts in my mind. Whether they are right or wrong, of course, needs to be observed and proven. But it is generally believed that the "Geography" The part about what we know is basically credible, and the hypotheses mentioned in it can also explain many problems we have observed. Therefore, I don’t think the content is completely irresponsible, right?”

Wang Fang shook his head, and said disapprovingly: "I'm sorry to say it bluntly, Mr. Shi's thinking is a bit irresponsible. It's like child's play to leave the proof to others." Shi Yue also shook his head, arguing: "I don't think so. If what I said is completely unreasonable, no one else will come to prove it. Since they come to prove it, no matter it is true or false, it has its value." When Wang Fang heard Shi Yue's "sophistry", he was a little angry, and asked: "Don't Mr. Shi know that some people believe what you say because of your fame? They come to prove that these are true and false, not necessarily true. What is the value of these questions in themselves, maybe it is just because you raised these questions, Mr. Shi? You are deceiving." Hearing such a serious accusation, Shi Yue couldn't help laughing and crying, and quickly argued: "The "Bai Shui Tan Academic Journal" has been published for four or five issues, and it has not stopped. There are so many articles, although a few articles point out that some places are doubtful, but most of them further confirm the correctness of the "Geography Preliminary". Since what I said is correct, how can it be regarded as deception?" "Sophistry!" Wang Fang seemed indignant. Shi Yue smiled bitterly, and sighed in his heart that he didn't know who gave birth to such a daughter. "Your "Preliminary Chemistry" mentioned the existence of dozens of elements, and "Primary Physics" said that everything is made of atoms. These two views, I really wonder why those who advocate the theory of vitality have not refuted you?" Shi Yue now finally understands that this girl is here to find fault.Ordinary people would say a lot of words of admiration when they see themselves. Starting from their best books such as "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Rule of Three Generations", they are quite polite when they occasionally question them. This phenomenon becomes more and more obvious as time goes on.Only the students of Baishuitan College dare to boldly question what they say, and engage in fierce debates for this, but often support the majority.It can be said that it has not been encountered for a long time that one finds one's own weakness and criticizes it from the beginning.At first, Shi Yue was still a bit complacent, thinking that this girl might have taken a fancy to him, but now he realizes that he didn't know when he offended this young lady, and made her disguise herself as a man to find him bad luck, and wanted to refute him Get ashamed.But no matter what Shi Yue thought, he didn't understand where he had offended this Wang Fang. Shi Yue thought in his heart: "If it spreads that Shi Yue was refuted by a girl, his reputation will be discredited." He regained his energy and said, "Why didn't he refute it? Every issue of "Bai Shui Tan Academic Journal" has at least There are five or six articles on this issue. Every time the debate day comes, there are more than hundreds of students debating this matter in the debate hall. If Wang Gongzi is free, just go and see it for yourself. Speaking of it, it’s still mine. The atom says it has the upper hand." Wang Fang didn't catch a cold, and said disdainfully, "It's all things that can't be proved." Shi Yue could only smile wryly. Then Wang Fang pointed out more than ten doubtful points in his Seven Books of Stone Studies—of course, most of these cannot be proved.Then, Wang Fang found him a flaw in "Political Gains and Losses of Past Dynasties"-in fact, it was just a clerical error, but it was enough to embarrass Shi Yue. But he didn't expect that there was something that made him even more stunned. This "little lady" of Wang Fang copied more than ten of his dozens of poems. Circle a lot of circles, with annotations, or say that the words are not in harmony, or that a certain word does not rhyme... The opponent obviously came prepared! If the other party is a man, Shi Yue can still refute plausibly, telling him what is more important in writing lyrics, and he can also tell him that he will not write lyrics at all now.But the other party is obviously a woman, his explanations can be summed up in two words: sophistry. Shi Yue murmured in a low voice: "Only women and villains are hard to raise, what Confucius said is true." Although his voice was very low, Wang Fang's ears were sharp, and he immediately understood that Shi Yue knew she was a girl.She became angry from embarrassment, and was too embarrassed to continue to argue. She spat and cursed: "Huh, it's better to be famous than to meet!" After finishing speaking, she cupped her hands and said, "Mr. Shi, there will be a period later." Hang Shiyue upstairs. It took Shi Yue a while to react, he went downstairs helplessly, and was about to lead his horse, but was stopped by Xiaoer: "Master, you haven't paid the bill yet." "Pay the bill?" Shi Yue asked with wide-eyed eyes in disbelief. Xiao Er nodded seriously. Resignedly, Shi Yue took out his pocket money while secretly swearing that he would never pay any attention to invitations from women disguised as men in the future.He didn't expect that Wang Fang didn't realize that he needed to pay the bill for eating in the restaurant.It is even more impossible for him to know that this "Wang Fang" is Wang Anshi's young child, Wang Fang.Because Wang Fang heard about Shi Yue from his second elder brother Wang Pang, when he saw him come to the house, he wanted to see Shi Yue's knowledge, so he disguised himself as a man and left the house, and asked the girl to invite him halfway. An unconvincing place...