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Chapter 809 I Proved the Pressure of Air

At the bustling central intersection of the Gao Family Village Business District, in the heart of Gao Family Village itself.

This place was usually teeming with people, a lively hub, but today, it was even more vibrant than usual.

It turned out that a truly unique experiment was scheduled to take place here today.

Ji Menghan, the son of the lantern maker in Gao Family Village, had announced through the Thirty-Two Middle School that he would be conducting a fascinating experiment here, inviting everyone to witness it.

Most people didn't know Ji Menghan personally.

But with the Thirty-Two Middle School publicly promoting his event, everyone grew curious. Generally, why would the school bother to publicize something unless it was exceptionally important and interesting?

And so, the entire Gao Family Village buzzed with excitement!

It was just after dinner, and all the workers had finished their shifts, with only a handful of industries still operating. This was when the people of Gao Family Village were at their most leisurely...

Large crowds of workers, farmers, and merchants poured into the intersection of the Gao Family Village Business District, scrambling for the best viewing spots.

Soon, everyone noticed that San Shier, Gao Family Village's highest administrative official, was also among the spectators, ready to enjoy the show. Alongside him were a lineup of scientists, including Song Yingxing, Young Master Bai, and Wang Zheng, accompanied by a host of graduate students.

And the elder statesmen of Gao Family Village—Gao Yiye, the Village Chief, and Gao Laba—were all present too.

It was truly an extraordinary gathering...

The ordinary villagers were even more puzzled. What on earth were they going to witness?

Amidst the expectant crowd, the lantern maker made his appearance!

The lantern maker, past his fiftieth year, was a little stooped, but today his face glowed with excitement. He began to stammer as soon as he appeared: "Ev... everyone... just a moment... my son will be here right away, right away..."

"Hahahaha! Master Ji, what exactly has your son cooked up?"

"Still keeping us in suspense?"

The lantern maker, both delighted and embarrassed, replied, "I... I can't even explain it myself... It's young people's stuff; I don't understand it. I only know my son has made something of himself, hahahaha, my son has made something of himself..."

He was so overjoyed that he nearly couldn't catch his breath. Xu Dafu, the head of the Ordnance Bureau, sprang from the crowd, extending his hands to support the lantern maker, patting his back to help him breathe. "Old friend, you need to be careful."

Both men were originally from Xi'an, but their statuses were now worlds apart. The splendor of their clothing clearly showed this. In the past, the lantern maker would feel inferior upon seeing Xu Dafu, feeling unworthy of his old friend. But today, the lantern maker felt he could stand shoulder to shoulder with his old pal again.

"Xu brother, watch my son's performance today, hahahaha. His invention was praised by the Heavenly Lord himself this time. Hahahaha, even though I don't understand it, it feels incredibly amazing, hahahaha."

This piqued Xu Dafu's interest even further.

The crowd parted, and the lantern maker's son, Ji Menghan, emerged leading a fine steed. Behind him followed several graduate students, his contemporaries, each leading a horse, bringing out a total of sixteen large, magnificent horses.

Ji Menghan walked into the crowd, a mysterious smile on his face. "Hello everyone, my name is Ji Menghan, and I am my father's son."

The crowd burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, if you weren't your father's son, that would be a huge problem!"

Ji Menghan looked utterly mortified. "Apologies, I was too excited and misspoke. *Ahem*... As the son of a lantern maker, I've aspired since childhood to be a lantern maker. I want to create even better lamps than my father."

He reached out, holding up two hemispherical copper covers for everyone to see. "Look, these are two hemispherical copper covers. If we put them together like this, they form a hollow copper sphere."

The crowd murmured: "What's that for?"

Ji Menghan declared proudly, "Today, I'm going to prove to everyone that air has pressure."

The crowd scoffed: "Nonsense! Utter rubbish!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ji Menghan placed the two copper covers together, forming a copper sphere. Then, through a small hole in the sphere, he began to inject water.

Soon, the copper sphere was completely filled with water.

No one understood what he was doing.

Then he produced another strange machine: "This is my invention, a vacuum creating machine!"

He connected the machine to the copper sphere, using a peculiar tube to connect to the small hole where he had just injected water...

Then he started the vacuum creating machine and began pumping water out furiously.

The onlookers watched as the water was drawn out of the copper sphere. Ji Menghan pressed a mechanism on the small hole, which moved a rubber stopper to seal it. Only then did he remove the vacuum creating machine.

Ji Menghan held up the copper sphere and smiled. "Now, there's no water inside... and no air either. There's nothing at all. The Heavenly Lord calls this kind of space a 'vacuum'."

The crowd reacted: "Huh? We don't understand it, but it sounds really impressive."

"The sphere was originally full of water, now the water's gone, and it really seems empty, even without air."

Ji Menghan gestured in the air with his hand, smiling. "Air has pressure. Originally, there was air pressure inside the sphere, and air pressure outside. The two forces canceled each other out, which is why we could easily open these two covers. But now there's no air inside the sphere, while the air outside still exerts pressure. It's pressing the two hemispheres together tightly. This force is much greater than human strength, so we can no longer open it."

"Utter rubbish, I'll open it!" A burly man leaped out from the crowd, grabbing the pre-installed rings on both sides of the copper sphere. He pulled with all his might, but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't open it at all.

His face flushed crimson. "Impossible, how can my strength be inferior to air?"

Ji Menghan laughed heartily. "The truth is, no human strength can surpass the pressure of air. Not even horses."

With a wave of his hand, the graduate students led the sixteen prepared steeds forward. They tied ropes to the rings on the copper sphere, then divided the sixteen horses into two groups, eight horses in each, and had them pull in opposite directions simultaneously.

The entire audience watched, stunned into silence.

One horse could pull a thousand catties of weight; eight horses on one side amounted to eight thousand catties of pulling force. Sixteen horses pulling in opposite directions at once—wouldn't that be sixteen thousand catties of force?

The sixteen horses strained until they were dripping with sweat. Finally, with a loud *thump*, the copper sphere was pulled apart.

The crowd froze for a brief second, then erupted in cheers: "Incredible!"

Ji Menghan laughed with delight. "This is air pressure! Hahahaha! I've proven the pressure of air."

Only then did the crowd suddenly realize: "Huh? Wait a minute, didn't you go on and on about making better lamps than your dad? What's with all this air pressure business? Where are your lamps?"

Free reading.

In the bustling central intersection of the Gao Family Village Business District, in the heart of Gao Family Village itself.