The first rain after entering winter finally fell, and it lasted for two days.
Roland leaned against his desk and looked at the hazy town outside the window. The rain was swept up by the wind and slapped on the glass one after another, causing waves of ripples. Under the refraction of the ripples, the outline of the town becomes distorted. The extension of the house and the street is bent and deformed, no longer as regular as before. Due to the lack of effective drainage measures, the stagnant slate roads are stagnant, and when viewed from a distance, they look like many rippling creeks.
The mountains and forests in the distance are obscured by water mist, looming and visible, like a world in a world.
If such a scenery is put into modern times, it must be a tourist attraction, and now Roland wants to see the steel and concrete jungle more. When it rained, the construction of the city wall had to be stopped, which made him less happy about the success of "persuading" the fortress messenger the day before yesterday.
"You just said that the air around us is made up of many kinds of gases, is that true?"
The clear voice interrupted Roland's thoughts, and Anna asked with her beautiful blue eyes blinking.
"Ahem, Miss Anna, you should use honorifics when addressing Your Highness," the chief knight beside him reminded.
"Don't be so particular," Roland turned around. "She's my student now." Taking advantage of the rain, he called the two witches and Carter to listen to his class—yes, he decided to open a natural science course. Popularize class. The stone artisan Carl's business of running a school inspired him, even a mason can open a school, not to mention his own dignified engineering mechanical dog. Why is there discrimination, isn't it just because of ignorance? Universal education is the most effective means to promote the development of civilization in any era.
He originally wanted to call the Assistant Minister, but the other party was busy with government affairs recently, so he politely declined. For some reason, Roland felt that Barov was particularly motivated after the winter, and almost one person provoked the daily management of Border Town.
Hearing that there was new knowledge to learn, Anna immediately became bright, and her eyes seemed to glow. Nana was also very happy to see that she didn't have to treat all kinds of experimental animals, and Carter came to listen with a look of being idle and idle.
But not long after the class started, the knight's eyes were slack. Nana was also confused, staring at the words nature and science in a daze. Although Anna seemed half-understood, she tried her best to write down everything she heard. Roland had to pause and let the three digest it for a while.
To Anna's question, he nodded with a smile, "Of course, although they look the same."
"His Royal Highness, I don't understand, since they all look the same, how do you know it's a different gas?" Carter questioned this.
"I can prove it to you."
Roland knew that if he just told it in words, most people would be confused by these mysterious and mysterious theories. He decided to pique everyone's interest with a simple experiment.
A candle, a glass, a wooden basin, and a bowl of clarified lime water—this is what he prepared in advance, although the glass at this time is light brown, far less transparent than the beakers of later generations, and it is enough for reluctance to use. . After all, this simple experiment does not require observation of changes.
Roland had done it once before, and the test results proved that although there is magic in this world, the rest of the natural rules are still the same as the earth. He asked Anna to light the candle and set it up in the tub.
"Combustion requires the consumption of a gas, and this gas is also closely related to all life. If we stop breathing, it will be like this candle. Look at it," Roland put the glass on the candle, and the flame shook twice. went out.
"It's running out of air, Your Highness, it's not surprising," the chief knight said disapprovingly. "Of course we would die without air, such as falling into water."
Nana nodded repeatedly.
"So, do you think there is nothing left in the cup?" Roland asked as he poured limewater into the wooden basin. The water line quickly covered the mouth of the cup, and finally stopped at half of the body of the cup.
This experiment is so classic that most elementary school teachers like to use it as an enlightenment experiment in a natural interest class. Roland still remembers the shock that the teacher's demonstrations and explanations on the lecture table brought to him, and he has since embarked on the path of no return in science and engineering.
He gently lifted the cup to a corner, and saw a few bubbles emerge from the mouth of the cup instantly and emerge out of the water.
Then, the clear lime water appeared slightly cloudy, and a little white suspended matter slowly spread from the mouth of the cup.
"If there was nothing in the cup, we wouldn't see the air bubbles and the changes in the water surface. This means that there are at least two different gases in the air. In fact, only part of the air is consumed by the burning of the candle, and the other part cannot be Involved in burning. Although it is as colorless and odorless as the former, the nature is diametrically opposite."
"It seems... that seems to be the case," Carter thought for a long time before trying to figure out the relationship between the two, "but what's the use of knowing this?"
"If we can obtain the former gas, we can make the flame burn longer. Similarly, if we obtain the latter gas, we can quickly extinguish the flame!" Anna said suddenly.
It's a genius. Roland praised in his heart. Although there is a small error, he can immediately associate the separation and purification of the gas from the different properties of the gas. This idea is absolutely genius. Knowing that she has not received any systematic modern education, it is enough to quickly think of this that her logical ability is beyond ordinary people - at least far better than her own chief knight.
"That's right, since humans learned to use fire, they've been separated from animals, and the origin is just an accident. Maybe lightning set the tree on fire, maybe the spark from the impact of the stone caused the fire. But if no one notices This point, no one tries to use it, we are still like beasts," he said perseveringly, "I do this experiment to tell you that curiosity and thinking are the driving force of human progress. There are many such potential forces in nature, only Wait until we find out how to exploit it."
After some words, Carter still had a dubious expression, while Nana was the type of ignorant and stern, staring straight at Roland. Only Anna lowered her head, as if thinking about something.
Well, Roland sighed. Indeed, an idea that is too advanced will not bring shock, but will only make people feel confused. The height of their thinking determines that it is impossible for them to understand the power of that kind of power. Only when the real thing is placed in front of them will they know how amazing the power hidden in nature is.
At this moment, the kettle hanging on the mantelpiece rattled, the sound of steam hitting the lid.
"Ah, the water is boiling," the knight went over to take out the kettle with his fork, and the sound soon ceased. He wrapped the handle with a rag, and filled the jugs with water from the jug.
For example, Roland reached out and held the cup, feeling the temperature from the wall of the cup. Fire's principles have matured from the very first day it was exploited. "Boil water" has been witnessed and practiced by countless people, but they never imagined that the gently rising water vapor could also contain amazing energy.
This motive force, which will not be mastered by humans for hundreds of years, has changed human history in a very short period of time. Although the principle is simple, it is not the first choice for most people to farm due to the limitation of craftsmanship. But he is different, he thought, there are witches in this world. Using magic to kill and fight is just the idea of a barbarian... It is the correct way to use magic to create and replace some key craftsmanship that curb the progress of civilization.
After chatting until the sun went down and having dinner with everyone, Roland returned to his bedroom.
There is no nightlife in this era. If you don't make people, everyone will go to bed earlier. He also considered whether to use the prince's privilege to recruit a maid to do sports, but in the end he was too thin to speak out.
As soon as he lit the candles in the room, he heard several applause from behind him, and then someone said, "It's really a unique class. I didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince is a learned man."
It was the voice of a strange woman. Roland's cold sweat broke out in an instant, and a stranger who could appear in his room without knowing it, could be anything but an assassin! ? He pulled his legs and rushed to the door, and before he could put his hand on the doorknob, a cold wind blew across his ear instantly. When he came back to his senses, a silver-hilted dagger was firmly inserted into the door, and the dagger was only a finger's width away from his cheek.