The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 357

However, his thinking was completely changed after he saw Zhou Chu's hot air balloon and hemispherical experiments.

If he could still understand the hot air balloon, the hemispherical experiment completely overturned his understanding. He had never imagined that two hemispheres connected together would generate such a huge suction force.

Therefore, when Zhou Chu asked that question, Hai Rui was the first to step forward, and he followed suit after only a slight hesitation, choosing the study of natural phenomena.

Even his father, Yang Zhian, tried to stop him in many ways, but he couldn't deter his determination.

"Dad, didn't Grandpa say that I can learn whatever I want? Are you going to go against his wishes?"

When Yang Shengzhai asked that question, Yang Zhian was completely speechless.

"What's the point of Confucianism? Can Confucianism make that sheep fly to the sky?"

Having finally seized the opportunity, Yang Shengzhai naturally wouldn't let it slip away easily, and continued to press his father for answers.

Seeing that Yang Zhian was speechless after being questioned, and was about to hit his son, Yang Shengzhai ran away.

After Yang Shengzhai officially enrolled, Yang Zhian naturally wouldn't stay at the academy. As for greeting Zhou Chu? What a joke! Did he want Zhou Chu to make things difficult for his son?

Of course, Yang Zhian didn't expect to hide his son's identity from Zhou Chu. Who was Zhou Chu? The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. No one knew his identity better than the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He just hoped that Zhou Chu wouldn't focus his attention on his son.

If Yang Yiqing knew his thoughts on this matter, he would probably call him incredibly foolish.

Whether it was Yang Yiqing or Zhou Chu, they were in opposing camps in the court. People like Yang Yiqing, or Yang Tinghe who had retired earlier, often had no choice but to say or do what they wanted.

As the saying goes, "where you sit determines what you think." What you do and what you say depends on where you sit.

Yang Yiqing knew very well that Zhou Chu would not make things difficult for his grandson because of him. He knew Zhou Chu quite well. He had done a detailed investigation into Zhou Chu before. Apart from not knowing Zhou Chu's background and where his family was, he knew everything about what had happened to Zhou Chu after he came to the capital.

Yang Yiqing greatly admired Zhou Chu's character, conduct, and overall vision. He felt very pleased to have such an opponent.

With Zhou Chu's abilities, he will likely be one of the top officials in the Ming Dynasty. Being able to deal with such a person would be a worthwhile experience in my official career.

In reality, these thoughts were just Yang Yiqing's helpless sighs. If he could win, why would he choose to lie down? He would not hesitate to bring down Zhou Chu.

After Yang Shengzhai joined the Gewu Academy, he studied both numerology and the study of natural phenomena. Zhou Chu personally taught him the study of natural phenomena, while others taught him numerology. There were quite a few numerologists in the Ming Dynasty, and with Wang Yangming's reputation, it would not have been difficult to invite a few of them.

After these masters of numerology arrived at the academy, they saw the two books on numerology written by Zhou Chu and treasured them like precious gems. They read them with great enthusiasm and devoted all their free time outside of class to studying the two books.

As Yang Shengzhai studied the science of natural philosophy, he found it to be infinitely mysterious. In particular, after seeing Zhou Chu conduct several more experiments for them, Yang Shengzhai became increasingly grateful for his choice.

When he saw Zhou Chu take out a glass prism and break down transparent sunlight into the colors of a rainbow, Yang Shengzhai's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he had witnessed a miracle.

In fact, not only Yang Shengzhai, but all the students of the Gewu Academy were amazed by this scene.

They had all seen rainbows, but they never imagined that rainbows could be created artificially. When Zhou Chu explained the spectrum and how rainbows are formed, Yang Shengzhai listened with rapt attention.

In his view, this study of things is the truth of the world, containing the principles governing the operation of all things.

While Zhou Chu was teaching at the academy, secret imperial edicts from the capital were constantly being delivered to him.

It contained questions from the Jiajing Emperor regarding the royal bank, which Zhou Chu answered one by one, and then had it sent back to the capital.

Under Zhou Chu's guidance, Emperor Jiajing quickly established one bank after another throughout the Ming Dynasty, and had local governments endorse it, posting notices to let the people of the Ming Dynasty know that the royal bank was about to open.

The emergence of the Royal Bank caused panic among merchants in both Jiangnan and Shanxi.

"What are your thoughts on the emperor wanting to establish money shops?"

In Taiyuan, Shanxi, a group of businessmen gathered together, and the leader spoke with a serious expression.