Grandpa Gao wrote not only about Shen Kuo, but also about the qualifications of a diplomat.

Shen Kuo was born in 1920 in Qiantang, Zhejiang, and was born in Song Renzong for nine years. He has been studious since he was a child. Under the guidance of his mother, he finished reading these books at home at the age of 14. At the age of 24, he started his career. Three years later, he was recommended to the Zhaowen Museum in the capital to edit books, where he began to study astronomy and calendars. In his later years, he summed up his life experience and scientific activities in Meng Xi Park, and created famous scientific masterpieces Meng Qian Bi Tan and Forgotten Chronicle. Shen Kuo died in Song Zhezong, two years younger than him.

Japanese mathematician Jifu Sanshang once said, "People like Shen Kuo can't be found in the history of world mathematics. Only China has such people. " Dr Joseph Needham, a famous British expert on the history of science, said that Shen Kuo's "written talk" in Meng Xi is the coordinate of the history of Chinese science.

For a long time, our evaluation of this versatile talent in history has been positive or negative. In fact, this is our incomplete understanding of history. No one is perfect. As a politician who participated in the reform of the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo himself also had some shortcomings. I know that Shen Anshi and Su Dongpo have different political views. He sided with Wang Anshi, slandered and framed his good friend Su Dongpo, exposing Su Dongpo's tendency to satirize the government in front of the gods. As a cultural master who pays attention to individuality, Wang Anshi attaches great importance to Shen Kuo, and finally draws the conclusion that Shen Kuo is an inaccessible villain. Of course, inaccessible personality does not affect our affirmation of Shen Kuo's scientific achievements.

A scientist with outstanding achievements

Shen Kuo is well-read, and The History of Song Dynasty records: "He is well-read and good at writing, covering astronomy, local chronicles, calligraphy, calendars, music, medical skills and divination." This evaluation is pertinent. Even as far as natural science is concerned, Shen Kuo's contribution is multidisciplinary and covers a wide range of fields.

First of all, Shen Kuo attaches great importance to the development of agricultural production and water conservancy. He is the author of five books, such as On Polder Fields, Wan Xuchun Shu and Other Polder Fields. In addition, Shen Kuo also made important contributions to defending the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhai Xining for seven years, served as the governor and military inspector of Hebei West Road, and compiled military works such as the Treaty of Repairing the French Town and the Frontier Law.

Shen Kuo is also an outstanding astronomer. In the fifth year of Xi Ning, after Shen Kuo presided over the work of this department, he studied and reformed the old astronomical observation instruments such as armillary sphere, floating leak and shadow table. The solar shadow instrument was made and the shadow measurement method was improved. Shen Kuo has written his own research results into three papers, namely, On Hunyi, On Floating and Leaking, and On Fine Table, which are important documents in the history of astronomy in China. In his later years, Shen Kuo put forward the idea of replacing the original calendar with the "twelve-atmosphere calendar", which not only conforms to the reality of celestial bodies' operation, but also facilitates the arrangement of agricultural activities. The solar calendar adopted by countries all over the world is not even as reasonable as Shen Kuo's "Twelve-Qi Calendar".

Shen Kuo also has excellent research in mathematics. He founded "Gap products" and "circular meetings". It not only promotes the development of plane geometry, but also plays an important role in astronomical calculation. Shen Kuo's achievements in physics research are also extremely precious. The viewpoints and achievements recorded by Meng Bitan involve mechanics, optics, magnetism, acoustics and other fields, especially magnetism. Shen Kuo explicitly talked about the deflection angle of the magnetic needle for the first time. He pointed out: "If Fang Jia grinds the front end of the needle with a magnet, he can guide it, but it tends to be slightly east, not all south." This is the earliest declination record in the world. It was not until 1492 that Columbus first sailed to America that he was discovered by the west, which was 400 years later than Shen Kuo's discovery.

In chemistry, Shen Kuo noticed that oil resources are abundant and "born on the earth", and predicted that "this thing will prevail in the world", which was confirmed today. The name "oil" first appeared in Shen Kuo. Shen Kuo also made many outstanding judgments in earth science. He observed and studied all kinds of fossils excavated from underground, clearly pointed out that they were the remains of ancient animals and plants, and inferred the ancient natural environment from fossils. In Europe, it was not until the Renaissance that the Italian Leonardo da Vinci began to discuss the nature of fossils, which was more than 400 years later than Shen Kuo's inference.

In addition to his contribution to natural science, he has also made great achievements in social science and humanities. His achievements involve social, economic, historical, diplomatic, military, archaeological, music, painting, calligraphy, poetry and other academic fields. He was an encyclopedic scholar at that time. These academic achievements fully reflect Shen Kuo's diligent and enterprising academic spirit.

Excellent diplomat

Shen Kuo was an outstanding scientist in ancient China, who worked hard in the field of science and technology, and was also a little-known diplomatic expert.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Liao often made excuses to occupy the territory of the Song Dynasty. In the eighth year of Zong Xining, Liao wanted to attack Song again, and it was at the end of its tether. So he sent the envoy Xiao to Bianjing to meet the Northern Emperor, falsely claiming that the Huangpi area of Hedong Road was the land of Liao, which was occupied by Song, and demanded to be returned. Xiao spoke in an orderly way and took out the relevant treaty texts signed by Liao and Song as evidence. Ministers in charge of negotiations with Liao envoys know in their hearts that since the Song Dynasty and Liao had their own contacts, the territory of the Song Dynasty has only shrunk and never expanded. Huang Wei's territory was definitely not acquired when the Song Dynasty invaded Liao, but now the envoys of Liao have the treaty texts of both sides as evidence, so it seems that these treaties are not fake. If you don't admit it, Liao has his roots; If you admit it, it is obviously the blackmail of Liao to Song Dynasty. The ministers in charge of the negotiations felt that Xiao was particularly embarrassed and wanted to argue with him. As a result, Liao's messengers laughed at him. Although he was very angry, there was no basis for refuting him. Shaw before God? He said very firmly: "You must immediately return the Huang Wei area to my country, or you will bear all the consequences." . Xiao returned to the north angrily and told the emperor of Liao the result of the negotiation. The shadow of war hangs over the Song-Liao border, which is extremely explosive. Emperor Zongshen faced a particularly big problem: if the border dispute is not properly resolved, the Song and Liao wars will be inevitable, and the Northern Song Dynasty will once again face domestic troubles and foreign invasion, and the reform that has just begun may fall short.

Just when God was upset, Shen Kuo offered to send him to Liao to continue negotiations on the territorial ownership of the border. He said to Zongshen, "I have carefully consulted and studied these data." The exact boundary of all treaties signed by China and Liao in recent years should be the ancient Great Wall, and what Ambassador Liao told Huang Wei was a little-known place located 30 miles south of the Great Wall, which should be the territory of China. Liao bullied me, Huang Wei was unknown, and deliberately went out. "I asked the emperor to allow me to go to the Liao country, tell the Liao people right and wrong, and tell the truth." Say that finish, Shen Kuo took out a relevant treaty to god. When Song Shenzong saw it, his face lit up and he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. He said to Shen Kuo: "The ministers in charge of negotiations are all meatless. After several days of negotiations, they didn't even know the details of Huang Wei and almost missed this big event. " So Song Shenzong appointed Shen Kuo as the ambassador to Liaoning to negotiate the ownership of stevie hoang.

After Shen Kuo arrived in Liao country, Yang, the prime minister of Liao country, personally discussed the boundary ownership with him. Before formal negotiations, Shen Kuo first asked his entourage to memorize a treaty and the name and location of the northern border area. During the negotiation, Shen Kuo remained calm. After several consecutive representations, the military attaché s were eloquent and impeccable about the questions raised by Liao people. The two sides talked for six times, but Shen Kuo and his party got the upper hand every time. The contents of the talks were in line with the fair terms of the Song-Liao Treaty, and Liao people didn't feel anything wrong. Yang Yi, the prime minister of Liao Dynasty, became angry from embarrassment and revealed his true colors. "The song dynasty is not willing to give up a few miles. Isn't it obvious that he wants to break off friendly relations with Da Liao? " Shen Kuo didn't give in. He argued that "when the army is fighting, it is vigorously rectifying the morale of the army, but it is selfishly rectifying the morale. Premier Yang Can will not be unaware of this. Although Huang Wei is very small, the treaty clearly stipulates that it should belong to the Song Dynasty. How can you say that we have damaged the relationship between the two countries? This is a betrayal of your ancestors' beliefs, ignoring previous treaties, trying to seize the land of Dasong and threatening to use force. I don't think it is appropriate for you to use this as an excuse to send troops. Liao people may not be willing to fight with Song for several miles. "Although Dasong is weak, it may not be afraid to fight with you in Liao." Yang's words left the arrogant prime minister speechless. He saw Shen Kuo and the members of the mission carrot and stick, so he had to report to the Emperor of Liao, trying to wage war in another way.

Shen Kuo's mission to Liao failed to fulfill his mission, and morally stopped Liao's attempt to wage war on the pretext of territorial issues. In the end, Huang Wei failed to become the fuse of the New Song and Liao Wars, and Shen Kuo's mission was indispensable. On his way to Liao country, Shen Kuo recorded the mountains, rivers, local conditions and customs where he went, and got to know the inner world of northerners. He copied the map of Qidan and reported it to the Northern Song Dynasty court, which played a certain role in handling many northern border affairs in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Shameful side

Shen Kuo and Su Shi are good friends, but they both made outstanding contributions in history, but they finally parted ways. Shen Kuo played a disgraceful role in it. Since ancient times, it is common for scholars to despise each other and hurt each other. When the emperor praised Su Dongpo in front of Shen Kuo, there was a silent contrast in Shen Kuo's heart. He didn't want Su Dongpo's cultural status to be higher than himself, so he exposed Su Dongpo's poems and laughed at the court. Zhang Dun and others took Su Shi's poems as evidence, accused him of "treason" and tried to kill him. A major case involving 39 relatives and friends of Su Shi and more than 100 poems shocked informants in Shen Kuo. This is the famous "Five-character Poetry Case".

At that time, the Emperor of North Song Shenzong appointed Wang Anshi to carry out the political reform, but the old party headed by Sima Guang resolutely opposed it and always blocked the implementation of the New Deal. So at that time, the new party headed by Wang Anshi and the old party headed by Sima Guang were antagonistic. However, Su Shi has always been a mute. He always tells the truth, so both old and new parties hate him. At first, Su Shi opposed the political reform and was rejected by the New Party. Later, after the old party came to power, Su Shi refused to completely deny the new law out of consideration for the actual situation and remained vigilant against the old party. Later, the new party defeated the old party. In order to compete for power and interests, Su Shi belongs to the old party. Shen Kuo is politically inclined to the new party headed by Wang Anshi. Because of his personal enmity with Su Shi, he waited for an opportunity to frame this good friend.

In the third year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was transferred to Huzhou Prefecture. At that time, it was customary to write a "thank you form" for the transferred officials, and then publish it in the official newspaper Dibao in the Northern Song Dynasty. What he wrote on the table disgusted both old and new political parties. There are some words on the table, which mean: "Your Majesty, you know that I am stupid, and it is difficult to keep up with the new dignitaries and can't adapt to the situation; But you see, although I am old, I don't like making trouble, so I was sent to take care of Wang. In his table of thanks, the words "new" and "noisy" make people listen to the meaning. Who is the "new guy"? Who likes "making trouble"? People laughed at the New Party, but Shen Kuo was definitely more dissatisfied with Su Shi. Then, he took this opportunity to write a book to the emperor, saying: "Su Shi's praise satirizes current events, has ulterior motives, resents the emperor, slanders the emperor's mistakes, abuses his dereliction of duty, and shames officials. "Now people are scrambling to report his every move, which really caused a sensation in one's hand and one's hand. This is not enough to thank the emperor for his death. In addition, Shen Kuo also picked out more than 60 sentences from Su Shi's poems as proof that Su Shi was dissatisfied with the imperial court. He slandered Su Shi for "complaining about others" and gave specific examples: "Your Majesty taught officials to study laws and regulations, but said" I don't know how to read thousands of books "; Your majesty donated money to help the poor, but said, "the voice of winning the child is very good." It's better than staying in the city for half a year "; Your Majesty advocated salt method, but he said, "Don't you forget the taste? Haven't eaten salt in the last three months? "..." Shen Kuo first vilified, and then suggested that Ding follow the above table and listed four reasons for killing Su Shi. For a time, Su Shi got into trouble because of a "thank you form". The emperor submitted the case to the censor.

Soon, Su Shi was arrested from Huzhou to Beijing, and a month later, he was put into Yushitai prison.

At first, Su Shi did not admit that he was slandering, but said that some poems did reflect the sufferings of the people. But later, under the command of Shen Kuo, his men interrogated and tortured Su Shi many times. As a Confucian scholar, Su Shi couldn't stand the psychological humiliation and physical pain, so he confessed and wrote a "confession". A poem describing the life of ordinary rural people wrote: "If you are in a hurry, you will change hands at a loss. The award-winning children have a good pronunciation and have been in the city for more than half a year. " Su Shi himself said that he laughed at the young crops legislation of the imperial court. His confession is: "This poem says that people want money to buy fragrant crops. Most bankers' children don't watch it twice in the city, but only learn the pronunciation of the city people. It is not convenient to laugh at the new law and help young crops. "But how far-fetched these words are! Su Shi also said in "Poems from Mountain Villages": "Old people are ashamed of the sweetness of bamboo shoots and ferns in Chunshan. "Is it because he forgot his taste and has been eating salt for the last three months?" It ridiculed that the "salt law" was too urgent to implement the new law, which made the mountain people hungry for several months. In fact, this poem has nothing to do with salt law. Su Shi was completely desperate at that time, waiting for Shen Kuo to weave evidence and confession, and was beheaded with the approval of the emperor.

Fortunately, Song Shenzong thinks that Su Shi is a rare talent. After much deliberation, he became sympathetic. Later, Zongshen saw a poem written by Su Shi in prison and did not intend to kill Su Shi, so he pardoned him. This poem is written like this:

The Lord is like the fountain of all things in the sky, and the little priests are ignorant and forgetful.

Ten tramps are more tired.

This is a green hill where bones can be buried. It always rains at night.

Be your brother in this life and have a successful career in the next.

Su Shi almost died because of poetry, but he was saved because of poetry. Really lucky. However, Shen Kuo's ugly role in Wutai Poetry Case is a stain on his life, which shows us the other side of an outstanding genius.