Ji Tang

Chapter 886: Loss of interest and spread of arithmetic

"I said you are very capable!"

In the governor's house of Dengzhou, Ji Song was circling Liu Xiancheng. Ji Qing and others were snickering on the sidelines. Ji glared at him and quickly shrank his head!
Although Liu Xiancheng lowered his head at this time, his silly look back then made people angry just looking at him!
"Didn't you ask me to go?"

Liu Xiancheng looked aggrieved and said: "Didn't you say that if you couldn't solve the problem, you wouldn't recognize me as a student? Now that the student has completed the task, you can't blame me!"

Ji Song almost laughed out loud when he heard this.

"You are so capable, you can win the beauty with three strokes, five divided by two, but your teacher, I am in a miserable state. After being yelled at and scolded by Old Man Kong, you almost spit in my face!"

"Also, what should I do with my current wife?"

Ji Song said angrily: "I'm warning you, I have no objection to marrying Kong Wan. She has suffered a lot for you over the years. If you dare to betray her, be careful to clean up the family for your teacher!"

"But your current wife, over the years she has taken care of your mother, raised the children, and has been waiting for you to come back wholeheartedly. If you dare to do anything that is sorry for her, you don't need to say anything as a teacher, your mother will put you in a dilemma of life and death. "

Seeing Liu Xiancheng's indifferent expression, Ji Song stepped forward angrily and slapped him!

Liu Xiancheng covered the back of his head and looked at Ji Song with a puzzled expression. He wondered if the teacher suddenly hit him?

"I said you are short-sighted or have a weak brain?"

Seeing him who was still confused, Ji Song was so angry that he almost went crazy.

"Don't think that I don't know what your plans are? Don't you just want to use your own merit to get your Majesty to grant you a marriage?"

"But think about it with your head? Where will you put your wife by doing this? Will Your Majesty break the ancient custom of polygamy and multiple concubines for you? Will the two of them be able to decide who will be the leader and who will be the assistant in the future?"

As Ji Song talked, he felt that it was too boring. He didn't care about this matter anymore. If he continued to care about it, he would become an enemy!
"Okay, you can solve your own problems!"

"Don't expect His Majesty to treat you differently. The most untrustworthy person in the world is the Emperor. Your teacher and I have been manipulated so hard in my life that I can't move at all! Just you? Do you still want His Majesty to endorse you?"

"Clean up and go to sleep!"

The more he talked, the angrier he became. In the end, he didn't know whether he was angry with Liu Xiancheng or himself. The more he thought about it, he felt that his life was over and he could only work honestly for the Li family.

Still the kind who can't resign, can't fish, can't retire early, even more damn cruel than Jiujiu Lu in his previous life!
Ji Song turned and left, leaving only Liu Xiancheng who was still in a dazed state.

"Get up, the teacher is gone!"

Xue Li is a good old man and cannot bear to see his brother suffer, but what can he do if the teacher punishes him?
Liu Xiancheng, who was being helped up, suddenly said: "Do you think His Majesty will agree to my request for a marriage?"

Ji Qing was stunned for a moment, then began to think deeply!
Wang Xuance curled his lips. Unexpectedly, he thought the corners of his lips were twitching!
"You guys are talking!"

Seeing that several people were silent, Liu Xiancheng became anxious at first. Is it really what the gentleman said?

"If you really want His Majesty to grant you a marriage, then be prepared to serve as an official in the court!"

Ji Qing said with some sympathy.

Liu Xiancheng was stupid. He had just convinced his teacher not to let him become an official, but why did he become the emperor again in the end?
Thinking of the elder who had always been kind to him and others, he really couldn't figure out how such a kind elder could force himself?
Wang Xuance said angrily: "Is your kid going to be stupid on the boat? It's simply fantastic!"

This time Liu Xiancheng, who always liked to quarrel with Wang Xuance, did not get angry. Instead, he bowed and clasped his fists and said, "Please enlighten me!"

Wang Xuance raised his head and looked invincible, with a cowardly look on his face that made Liu Xiancheng so angry that his teeth itched, but he had something to ask for, so this time it would be easier for him!

Wang Xuance also knew that the heat was almost over, and if it continued, this kid would take action.

“Think about it, if you want something but can’t take it by force for various reasons, but just when you are about to give up, this thing suddenly runs up to you and asks for something from you. "

"What will you do at this time?"

Liu Xiancheng said without hesitation: "Of course."

But when he blurted it out, he suddenly got stuck.

No matter how stupid he is at this time, he still understands what Wang Xuance means. People are worried now for no reason, but you get on the pole and climb up by yourself. It is still necessary.

There is no need to force yourself, this is an exchange and a compromise!
"How could this be?"

He sat down on the chair. He thought of everything, but he didn't expect that there would be a problem in front of the elder!

No wonder the teacher was so angry, because from the beginning he saw that he was walking into His Majesty's trap step by step.

Perhaps there was His Majesty's encouragement behind this matter. Old Man Kong didn't look at him and looked like he was going to kill him. However, other than ignoring him from beginning to end, he didn't do anything to him at all. He just made sarcastic remarks. Just a teacher!

"Anyway, you should be mentally prepared! In fact, there is nothing wrong with being an official. The best thing you can do is to be an official."

I am idle, what will happen then?Your Majesty won't be chasing you behind with a whip, right?

Xue Li still didn't understand the dangers in the world. As soon as he said these words, both Ji Qing and Wang Xuance rolled their eyes.

"Ah Li!"

Wang Xuance patted Xue Li on the shoulder and said earnestly: "From now on, you should concentrate on fighting. Don't worry about things in the court. We will be fine."

"Don't be fooled by others and you won't even know what's going on!"

Ji Qing also nodded in agreement, which made Xue Li's head full of black lines. Am I so stupid for talking?
"That's it, you guys!"

Liu Xiancheng shouted angrily: "Can you just concentrate? We're talking about my business. Come up with something!"

"no way!"

"This is a conspiracy. You want it, and His Majesty wants it. You two just hit it off. You are truly a model of a monarch and his ministers getting along well with each other!"

"Unless..." Liu Xiancheng's eyes lit up and he looked at Ji Qing blankly, thinking he had some good idea!

"Unless what? You're telling me, didn't you see that I was so anxious?"

Ji Song glanced at him and said, "Unless you don't want His Majesty's marriage, then there's nothing you can ask for. Even if Your Majesty gets angry, there's nothing he can do to you."

"I have no choice but to offend the little girl of the Kong family. My wife has no other choice. Otherwise, neither the teacher nor your mother will let you go. Your reputation as a heartless person has been confirmed."

Liu Xiancheng suddenly lost his energy and energy. If he said this, he would not say it!
"Okay, okay! What a big deal, the teacher is under His Majesty's control, and you still want to make an exception? Go to sleep!"

Liu Xiancheng was speechless and choked. Ji Qing and others also expressed sympathy. For a while, everyone was silent.
Ji Song walked out of the room and went to the backyard of the government office, where Yao Chang lived. As soon as he entered, he heard the sound of children reading, which surprised him!
Turning around a rockery, I saw Yao Chang teaching children to read.

A dozen children, ranging in age from eight or nine to twelve or thirteen, were listening to the elementary arithmetic compiled by Ji Song. Yao Chang was writing something on the blackboard while explaining it. The children all listened attentively. , from time to time, children would get up and ask questions, and Yao Chang would patiently answer them. He looked like he was having fun and teaching, which made people unbearable to disturb him!

"Sir, what is the use of studying these things? Students have heard that other children are studying "Spring and Autumn", "The Analects of Confucius", "Zuo Zhuan" and other ancient classics. Why should we study this?"

Ji Song, who was about to leave, suddenly heard a student's question, which made him interested, so he stood aside and listened!

Yao Chang smiled when he heard this and said patiently: "This is a good question. Compared with ancient classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics, these numbers seem much boring."

“But have you ever thought about what it would be like if everyone didn’t learn arithmetic?”

Yao Chang said with a smile: "At that time, people bought and sold things based on what the merchants said. They had no idea how much money they had. Even if they were cheated, they didn't know what was wrong."

"Do you know the almanac?"

The student nods.

"If there was no arithmetic, where would the almanac come from? How would time be determined?"

"Without arithmetic, bridges cannot be built, and houses are in a mess without rules. As an official, you cannot calculate taxes, count the population and acres of land under your rule. In war, you cannot calculate grain and grass, and the number of soldiers cannot be determined. All these are related to arithmetic."

"Have you heard about Taoist Master Li Chunfeng's prediction of the timing of solar and lunar eclipses a few years ago?"

A student raised his hand and said: "Sir, I know. The student saw it with his own eyes back then. It's amazing. Lunar and solar eclipses can be predicted? How is this possible?"

Other students also know more or less about it, and some have even seen it in person.

Yao Chang nodded and said with a smile: "Then do you know how Taoist Li Chunfeng predicted? And how he determined the time?"

After hearing this, most of the people shook their heads, but the student who first asked the question stood up and asked uncertainly: "Is it arithmetic?"

"Not bad!"

Yao Chang said happily: "It's just arithmetic, by observing the laws of things, and then after a lot of calculations, Daozhang Li knows the exact time of the lunar and solar eclipses, and has determined their approximate periods."

Yao Chang was very satisfied with the way the students were stunned after hearing this!

He finally said with seductive words: "Do you want to know the distance between the sun, moon, stars and the earth? Do you want to know the movement patterns of the stars in the sky? Or do you want to measure the height of the mountains or the depth of the sea?"

After hearing Yao Chang's words, many students were fascinated and wished they could travel among the stars and control the laws of the world!
"Then learn arithmetic well. Arithmetic is the basis of studying objects. If you want to make achievements in studying objects, you must learn arithmetic well."

"Okay, let's stay here today. Remember to review what you said today when you go back, and then write down each of your opinions on arithmetic and hand it in tomorrow."

"Let's go, school is over!"

Yao Chang didn't take it seriously when he saw the students running out in droves. He was just a playful age, so there was no need to be harsh!
While clearing away the books on the desk, Ji Song came out!
Yao Chang quickly stepped forward and saluted: "Master Hou, why are you here?"

"What? Can't I come? If I don't come, how can I see such an interesting side? A dignified fourth-rank official of the imperial court is teaching in the backyard? If you say this, someone must believe it!"

Ji Song also did not expect that Yao Chang would teach children arithmetic. Although his elementary arithmetic has been spread throughout the Tang Dynasty in recent years, not many people can actually learn it. Most of them are collected by aristocratic families and teach their younger generations in their own clans.

It's not that others don't want to learn. After all, there are several subjects in the Imperial Examinations of the Tang Dynasty. Although they are not as prestigious as the other subjects, it is after all the official way to get an official position in the imperial court.

What's more, arithmetic is very practical. Even if you don't become an official, you can still work as a local official, or be hired by a businessman as a shopkeeper, and you can also manage your family. It can be said to be of many uses!
However, there are too few professors or people who understand arithmetic. Even if they want to learn, there is no place to learn. Many people are groping alone. Those who are talented can still get a glimpse of the true meaning, while those who are not talented are unable to learn. Specious!

Ji Song had thought that this would happen, so he made a lot of annotations in the book when compiling it to make it easier for students to learn!
But arithmetic is a course that tests students' talents so much that not everyone can learn the essence. If you are interested, it's okay, at least it's still possible.

If you don't have the interest to learn hard, it will be miserable. Being forced to doubt life is nothing, and even more so, you almost become obsessed.

Hearing Ji Song's words, Yao Chang said with emotion: "These children are all from small aristocratic families or poor families in Dengzhou or the surrounding areas. Some of them were taken by me because I saw some talent. After all, a sheep is being herded, and a group of sheep are also being herded." , just treat it as training the younger generations.”

"Although these people have scholars in their families, the subject of arithmetic used to be the exclusive preserve of aristocratic families, and they have no way to learn it!"

"They heard that Xiaguan was at Sinong Temple with Lord Marquis, and they thought that Xiaguan should have made great achievements in arithmetic. Otherwise, they gave Xiaguan their own children through all kinds of hard and soft tactics."

"We are all colleagues and have some contacts with each other. It's really hard for me to refuse, so I agreed after thinking about it. Anyway, all the industries in Dengzhou are prosperous now, and the lowly people have been trained, so I usually have Got some free time.”

Ji Song nodded. He was happy to hear about such things. After all, if he wanted to carry forward his own study of physics, chemistry, and biology in future generations, he could not rely solely on the students of the academy.Arithmetic is the foundation of the investigation of things. If you learn arithmetic well, you will get twice the result with half the effort. But if you are not good at arithmetic, you will not go far in the investigation of things!
"This is good. You have made some achievements in arithmetic. It is enough to teach children, but it is not easy to learn more deeply!"

Yao Chang smiled bitterly: "The lower officials also know this, but isn't this a rush of money? Fortunately, I still have some basics, but I'm afraid it won't be long before I'll be hollowed out by these kids, and that won't be possible then!"

Ji Song smiled when he heard this and said: "Since you spread arithmetic for me, it can be considered a meritorious service. If you don't worry about it, I will help you solve it. It's no big deal."

"so!"

Ji Song thought for a while and said, "After the children show their talents, send these talented children to Chang'an. I will arrange for them to study in the academy and see if we can catch a few talented students."

He sighed: "After all, there are too few students like this. If we let nature take its course, by the time I die of old age, I don't know if I will be able to see a flourishing academic field?"

Yao Chang was overjoyed when he heard it and said quickly: "It's a good relationship. If their family knew about it, they would go crazy with joy? You know, not everyone can enter the academy."

Speaking unintentionally, the listener intends!
Thinking of the current situation in the academy, Ji Song felt a layer of gloom in his heart, and his face turned gloomy for a moment!

(End of this chapter)