The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

Three days.

Three whole days.

Jiang Lin felt like he was about to mold in his study.

The official documents on the table were piled up like a small mound. From Ouyang Xiu's private letters to the bills for pork purchased by the academy's canteen, he had to review them all.

He now sees everyone as a walking ledger.

"What a tragedy..."

Jiang Lin slumped in the chair, his eyes glazed over, bloodshot.

The teacup beside me had long since gone cold, with an awkward layer of tea oil floating on top.

The mung bean cakes on the plate next to it were so hard they could be used as bricks to hit someone.

Who was it that confidently declared they would just be a hands-off manager?

How come people are more tired than officials who attend court every morning?

Jiang Lin grabbed a memorial in frustration, and without even reading it, drew a circle on it with his pen.

I only realized after I finished drawing that it was a letter of self-criticism written by Su Shi, admitting that he had secretly drunk the white wine used for disinfection in the laboratory last night.

"I can't live like this anymore."

Jiang Lin threw his pen on the table and rubbed his temples in pain.

I've been staying up too late these past few days, and my eyes are so dry that I can't see anything clearly, even the tiny characters in the calligraphy.

The words grew legs and danced disco in front of him.

He picked up an account book at random, squinted, and leaned closer to look at it.

It's still blurry.

"Couldn't the ancients have written larger characters? There's no way to save paper like this."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door was flung open with a bang.

Shen Kuo, with his messy, unkempt hair and carrying a pile of blueprints and several gleaming pieces of glass, rushed in like a thief.

His eyes were shining, and he looked as if he had just taken five pounds of sedatives.

"Headmaster! My mentor! It's done! It's really done!"

Shen Kuo threw the things he was carrying onto the table, his spittle flying as he excitedly spoke:

"Following the 'magnifying glass' principle you 'accidentally' mentioned the other day, I've been working day and night these past few days, and finally, I've polished a convex lens with extremely high purity!"

He picked up a round piece of glass, about the size of his palm, and presented it to Jiang Lin like a treasure:

"Look! When you look at the account books with this, the characters are as big as a bushel! You can even see the fibers on the paper clearly!"

Jiang Lin took the simple magnifying glass and pressed it onto the ledger.

really.

The previously blurry small print instantly appeared clearly before my eyes. Although the edges were still a bit distorted, it was already a true "reading artifact".

"Hmm, not bad." Jiang Lin finally felt a bit better in his eyes and, unusually, offered a compliment, "You've got some talent, kid."

However, Shen Kuo was not satisfied with this; instead, he frowned and looked constipated.

"But dear teacher, I have encountered a new bottleneck."

"This 'magnifying glass' is good, but it can only see things that are close at hand. Once you move it away, the image becomes upside down and blurry."

Shen Kuo pointed to the sky outside the window, his tone anxious:

"I wanted to use it to see the stars in the sky and the distant mountains, but I couldn't see them clearly no matter what I tried. Is the way of 'investigating things and observing light' only suitable for observing ants, but not for peering into the heavens?"

Jiang Lin listened to his complaints, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Good guy.

You've only just learned to walk, and you already want to fly?

A single convex lens can only magnify virtual images; if you use it to look at stars, there's no way you'll see anything clearly.

Seeing Shen Kuo's thirst for knowledge (almost to the point of obsession), Jiang Lin sighed.

If I don't give him something new, this kid will probably stay here all day, and I won't be able to get any sleep.

"It's in storage."

Jiang Lin put down the magnifying glass, slumped back into his chair, and said casually:

"Who told you that you can only use one mirror?"

Shen Kuo was taken aback: "Huh? Not one piece... then how many pieces?"

"One begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things."

Jiang Lin casually uttered a classic Taoist phrase to show off, then grabbed a piece of scrap paper, picked up a pen, and quickly drew a cylinder.

I drew a convex lens at the front end of the cylinder and a concave lens at the rear end. After thinking for a moment, I also drew a double convex lens structure next to it.

"Light is a bully that preys on the weak. If you use one mirror, it will scatter; but if you use two mirrors to sandwich it, you can tame it."

Jiang Lin added a line of small print next to the drawing: "Protruding front and concave back, adjust the distance and bring the distant view closer."

"This thing is called a telescope."

Jiang Lin shoved the blueprints into Shen Kuo's arms and yawned.

"If you do it well, you'll be able to count the pockmarks on a girl's face from miles away, let alone see the stars."

"Take it and play with it, don't bother me, I need to catch up on my sleep."

Shen Kuo held the hastily drawn drawing in his hands, which were trembling.

His gaze was fixed on the double-lens structure, as if a lightning bolt had struck his mind, instantly cleaving away the previous fog.

Two lenses... stacked... distance adjusted...

"telescope?"

Shen Kuo muttered to himself, then suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with unprecedented fervor:

"See how many miles away?! This isn't about looking at the pockmarks on a girl's face!"

"This is a telescope!"

Countless thoughts flashed through Shen Kuo's mind in an instant.

If the border scouts had this, wouldn't they be able to see all the movements of the Liao army?

If we had this tool for observing the stars at night, wouldn't the mysteries of celestial movements be within our reach?

This is not a toy at all; it is a weapon of militarism!

"My dear teacher! Your student... has understood!"

Shen Kuo bowed deeply to Jiang Lin, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice trembling:

"It turns out that my mentor's 'cold shoulder' these past few days was to allow me to explore on my own first, and then give me a wake-up call when I reached a bottleneck... I am deeply grateful for my mentor's painstaking efforts!"

"The students will go and build this 'all-seeing eye' right now!"

After saying that, he grabbed the blueprints and the pile of glass shards, and flew away like a gust of wind.

They even forgot to close the door.

Jiang Lin looked at the empty doorway and listened to the sound of running in the distance, his lips twitching.

Jiang Lin looked at the empty doorway and his lips twitched.

"...I haven't neglected you, I've just been really busy."

"Also, can you stop thinking of everything as 'military weaponry'? I just want to get a telescope to watch a show..."

He shook his head, too lazy to bother with this imaginative weirdo.

The study fell silent again.

Jiang Lin rubbed his slightly swollen temples, preparing to tidy up the mess on the table.

Suddenly, he stopped moving.

His gaze lingered on the spot where Zhao Lingjun had just been sitting.

Beneath the still-warm celadon teacup, there was a very thin folded piece of paper.

The note was pressed very well, with only a small, inconspicuous white edge showing. If you didn't pick up the teacup, you wouldn't notice it at all.

Jiang Lin was somewhat surprised.

The two of them had just been drinking tea and chatting at this table, and he hadn't even noticed when she had put this thing at the bottom of the cup.

With that hand speed, it's a shame she's not practicing hidden weapon techniques.

Jiang Lin reached out and moved the teacup aside, then casually unfolded the note.

With just one glance, his previously languid gaze instantly froze, and his entire being transformed into a sharp sword, radiating a chilling aura.

The note was unsigned, containing only a few lines of delicate small regular script, yet each word was piercing to the heart:

[Last night at midnight, Censor-in-Chief Wang secretly met with the Liao Kingdom's deputy envoy at the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" teahouse in the east of the city.]

The two spoke privately for half an hour, then dismissed all attendants.

As he left, Lord Wang carried a scroll in his sleeve, which appeared to be an authentic work by a renowned artist from a previous dynasty.

Jiang Lin tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Heh...that's interesting."

Jiang Lin looked at the note and a playful, cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He had previously only thought that this "Zhao Ling" came from a wealthy and powerful family and was a top-tier second-generation official.

Now it seems I underestimated her.

She actually managed to obtain top-secret information about the Imperial Censor's secret meeting with an envoy from an enemy country—information that could cost her her head—and then casually slipped it into a sum of money to give to me.

"Is this telling me that she got a great deal on this 'protection fee'?"

"Is this a reminder that someone is planning to target the academy?"

Regardless of which one.

As the Imperial Censor of the Song Dynasty, the head of the censors responsible for supervising officials and impeaching treacherous officials, he secretly colluded with envoys from an enemy country.

This is no longer a partisan struggle.

This is treason.

In order to bring down Jiang Lin and Jing Shi Academy, these people have gone to any lengths.

"Since you're so eager to die, and someone's handed me a knife..."

Jiang Lin spread out a brand new sheet of Xuan paper, picked up his brush, and dipped it in ink.

The ink is rich and full, and the brushstrokes are sharp as knives.

He only writes the facts.

Write down the time, the place, and the people involved.

Write that scroll of an unknown "masterpiece".

Once this secret memorial is submitted, the officialdom of Bianjing (Kaifeng) will likely be turned upside down.

Just as Jiang Lin had written the first two characters, "臣闻" (I have heard).

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard, accompanied by the high-pitched voice characteristic of eunuchs.

"Imperial edict has arrived!"

Jiang Lin paused, the tip of his pen touching the ground.

A drop of ink fell and spread across the pure white rice paper, resembling a black spider lily.

Qian Duoduo stumbled and scrambled into the study, her face pale and breathless.

"Mountain... Mountain Chief!"

"Someone from the palace has arrived!"

"The Emperor urgently summons you to the palace immediately!"

Jiang Lin put down his pen, staring at the ink stain that had spread, his expression eerily calm.

He slowly stood up, straightened his slightly wrinkled long robe, and calmly picked up the palm-leaf fan from the table.

"What's the panic?"

Jiang Lin's lips curled into a mocking smile, his eyes as cold as ice in the dead of winter.

"The show's about to begin!"