Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

It’s just a village, what else can we do with literati?

Meng Zhao, who was very ambitious, received a task the next day: to be an accountant!

"Alas, we are at the end of our rope. Let's just keep accounts. We can only work hard every day with paperwork." Meng Zhao sighed secretly.

His wife Yu Sanniang said: "Why do you need to sigh? As soon as you arrive in Daming Village, you can take charge of the account books. Is there any better job? If your husband can manage the account books well, in time, he will become the confidant of Village Chief Zhu. Village Chief Zhu With both civil and military skills, his future prospects are limitless, so what’s the harm in just recommending one or two?”

"Yes!" Meng Zhao suddenly woke up.

Although the Song Dynasty prohibited local officials from hiring staff privately, they still retained a great power, which was recommendation.

For example, to the county magistrate, you can recommend a certain senior official to serve as the chief registrar or county captain of Xixiang County (in such a small place, the chief registrar does not require a Jinshi origin, and the county magistrate recommendation has a high chance of success. But officials who are subordinate officials , rising to the eighth level is already the limit, and it is basically impossible to climb higher).

Another example is Li Tongpan, who can recommend famous friends to serve as assistant ministers in Yangzhou.

As long as Ju Ming becomes a local official in the future, he can recommend Meng Zhao to be a minor official in the state government!

As soon as his wife reminded him, Meng Zhao became very motivated.

Meng Zhao became the accountant, and Tian San was assigned as the cashier. The two were jointly responsible for the money and grain expenditure.

Zhang Guangdao is still running around the mountains in all directions, and if he continues to work hard and recruit more runaway households, he will be rewarded with the mare.

Bai Sheng also sailed back to the county town to recruit people. There were still seven people left before he could be rewarded with another acre of land.

A few days later, outside households were organized to dig weirs and ponds in exchange for work. Aboriginal people in the village can also sign up to dig ponds.

Today there are not many public properties in the village, and Ju Ming pays for water conservancy facilities. Since it is a personal investment, the ownership belongs to the individual, and villagers have to pay water fees for water use.

"I'm not doing it to make a few dollars for water," Ju Ming said to his father. "This is a way to control the village and consolidate the ruling order. After the water conservancy costs are recovered, the private property will be donated to public property. After that, the water collected will All fees will be included in the village’s public account.”

"I know you don't care about money," Zhu Guoxiang flipped through the account book and couldn't help complaining, "It's all a running account, it makes my head hurt!"

Ju Ming asked: "Do you know double-entry accounting?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I used to read it often, but I haven't done my own accounting yet."

"Then you will teach me." Ju Ming began to assign tasks.

More than 300 people dug weirs and ponds together, and the speed was quite fast.

In addition to digging the earth and cutting the rocks, all the excavated earth also had to be transported to the foot of the mountain for stacking.

The stones, in particular, had to be moved further to the river to serve as the foundation for building the high-spin cart. The foundation of a ten-meter-high barrel truck must be solid.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

Deng Chun was temporarily appointed as the head mason, responsible for processing the big stones on the mountain wall.

Zhu Guoxiang divided the workers into five groups, and assigned different tasks to each group. They could get off work after completing their daily workload. You can also take the initiative to work overtime, and you will be paid overtime pay.

After this order was conveyed, the efficiency was greatly improved, and everyone began to work hard. It is estimated that the construction period can be shortened by one-third.

"Alas, the common people are ignorant, so we can only drive them away for profit." While Meng Zhao sighed, he felt that he had learned useful knowledge.

Zhu Guoxiang arranged the tasks for each group today and said to Meng Zhao: "Follow me, Daguang."

Meng Zhao quickly followed and followed Zhu Guoxiang to the village.

Zhu Guoxiang took out a pen and paper and said: "Today I will teach you a method that has nothing to do with the meaning of the sutra. Are you willing to learn it?"

It has nothing to do with the meaning of the scriptures, and it is so solemn, so the secret method must be passed down to the family. Meng Zhao quickly bowed: "Please give me some advice, Mr. Zhu!"

Zhu Guoxiang wrote a string of Arabic numerals and Chinese numerals next to them.

After a brief explanation, Meng Zhao understood and wondered: "We already have written characters, why create new characters?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "For convenience."

After speaking, Zhu Guoxiang wrote the Chinese numerals in capital letters.

Meng Zhao said: "I understand this, it is to prevent traitors from altering it."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I saw that in Daguang's account books, the writing of capital numbers was uncertain, so I decided to write them this way."

One, two, three... This uppercase counting method began to be used in the Tang Dynasty, but it was not standardized and unified until Zhu Yuanzhang.

Before the Ming Dynasty, take "Qian" as an example. It can be written in different forms such as "Qian", "Qian", "Qian", etc., as long as the homophones are easy to understand.

Zhu Guoxiang looked through the account books yesterday. Not only was the running account a headache, but the various capitalized figures were also nonsense.

Today’s lesson is to help Meng Zhao master Arabic numerals and uppercase numerals.

Meng Zhao thought he was going to learn some secret technique, but when he found out that there were only two sets of characters, he instantly lost interest. He could remember this thing after reading it a few times.

Zhu Guoxiang observed the changes in his expression and already knew what he was thinking, so he wrote a series of numbers: "12345678, how much is this?"

Meng Zhao compared the Chinese characters next to him and read: "One..."

After stopping for a while to count, Meng Zhao said: "One thousand two hundred and three hundred and forty-five thousand six hundred and seventy-eight."

Zhu Guoxiang wrote another series of numbers: "88888888, what is the number added to the number just now?"

Meng Zhao was completely confused: "The number is too big, so we have to use calculations."

The form of abacus had matured in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it had not spread to remote areas. Moreover, the advanced use of abacus was not theoretically enriched until the Southern Song Dynasty.

Meng Zhao didn't even know how to do abacus, he only knew how to use calculation chips.

Zhu Guoxiang put two strings of Arabic numerals together in two rows, and gave the answer to the addition in more than ten seconds.

Meng Zhao didn't believe it, so he ran to fold some sticks and arranged them for a long time. The results were consistent with Zhu Guoxiang's every time.

"This...is this Zhu Xianggong's secret arithmetic method?" Meng Zhao was dumbfounded.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said: "This is just the simplest."

Meng Zhao was already astonished and regarded him as a heavenly being. He taught his disciples the courtesy: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, please teach me the secret method of arithmetic."

Zhu Guoxiang thus had an additional student. He did not teach anything else, but only taught him how to use Arabic numerals to perform four arithmetic operations, and then use double-entry accounting to calculate accounts based on this.

Meng Zhao is quite smart, and Zhu Guoxiang taught him easily. He memorized Arabic numerals and standard capital letters on the same day.

We even speed up the teaching process and teach arithmetic symbols, addition expressions and vertical calculations.

Meng Zhao felt like he had found a treasure. After practicing repeatedly, he went home happily.

"What is your husband happy about today?" Yu Sanniang asked.

Meng Zhao said happily: "Today I worshiped Mr. Zhu as my teacher and was given the secret method of arithmetic. I can count tens of millions without counting chips! My wife randomly gives out two numbers, and I can immediately calculate the sum of them."

Yu Sanniang was quite curious, so she asked an addition question, which was probably thousands plus hundreds.

Meng Zhao picked up his pen and listed the vertical positions, and he finished it in a few clicks. He smiled and said: "This question is really easy."

Yu Sanniang hurriedly asked why, and Meng Zhao patiently answered, so the couple studied mathematics together.

After basic understanding, Yu Sanniang asked again: "Addition is like this, what about subtraction of two?"

Meng Zhao said: "Today I only taught addition, and also taught the subtraction symbol. Just write a horizontal line like this."

Yu Sanniang was able to draw inferences from one instance and write out the vertical subtraction formula herself. She really solved a subtraction problem quickly.

Immediately afterwards, the couple discussed multiplication again.

Since the multiplication symbols have not yet been taught, they draw a circle to represent multiplication, and use the nine-nine table to match the multiplication vertical formula - the nine-nine multiplication table of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is exactly the opposite of the multiplication table of later generations. The first one to memorize is the nine-nine eighty-one.

In one night, they figured out division.

The next day, Zhu Guoxiang went to arrange construction site affairs first, while Meng Zhao still used the journal to work.

In the afternoon, teaching continued.

"You master addition, subtraction, multiplication and division?" Zhu Guoxiang was a little surprised.

Meng Zhao was quite proud: "I have learned arithmetic before, and your teacher's method is very good. I can apply it completely. However, I asked you to teach me the multiplication and division symbols. I used circles and circles plus horizontal lines instead."

The terms multiplication and division are found in "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic".

Zhu Guoxiang nodded in approval: "Children can be taught! The multiplication sign is an ×, and the division sign is like this. Today we will learn fractions and decimals."

Meng Zhao hesitated and asked, "Can students pass on the methods taught by the teacher to Zhuo Jing?"

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "You can spread the word. The wider it is, the better. If your wife wants to learn, just come and listen to the class."

"Thank you sir!" Meng Zhao was even more happy.

The next day, there were two students.

Moreover, Zhu Guoxiang discovered that the wife's learning speed was much faster than that of the husband...

After careful inquiry, it turned out that Yu Sanniang was the clan sister of Yu Dayuan, who had been elected as a member of the imperial family. She had learned writing and arithmetic from her father since she was a child. If her family hadn't been in ruins, she wouldn't have married Meng Zhao.

After the lecture, Zhu Guoxiang walked back and saw his son writing furiously: "What are you writing?"

"Journey to the West." Zhu Ming didn't even raise his head.

Zhu Guoxiang said speechlessly: "I arrange the weir and pond project in the morning, teach mathematics in the afternoon, and inspect the construction site in the evening. I am very busy all day long, and you actually hide and write a novel?"

Zhu Ming cried bitterly: "Dean Zhu, do you think I am willing? This "Journey to the West" is written for Fatty Zheng. Not only do I want to get weapons from him for free, but I also want to get closer to the Zheng family. The Zheng family Compared with the richest man in Xixiang, Lu Guanren, our future development cannot be limited to Xixiang County, but we must pave the way in Yangzhou in advance."

"You have a legitimate reason." Zhu Guoxiang sat down.

Ju Ming asked: "How did Meng Zhao learn?"

"She's pretty smart," Zhu Guoxiang said. "His wife is smarter and can talk about everything."

Ju Ming asked curiously: "Is his wife also studying?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have officially become a disciple. This Yu Sanniang's maiden name is Yu Shanwei, and my grandfather's generation is also considered a big family in Yujia'ao. After my grandfather's death, several brothers broke up and heard that there was even a lawsuit. It's been a lot of trouble. , there is not much land left for each family."

The middle and lower-class families in the Song Dynasty were far less stable than those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

If no one in the family is an official, there are thousands of acres of land, which may quickly decline after one or two generations.

Moreover, family division is also extremely common, and the more property is divided, the less property there is.

"You've been here for so long, what should you do if you go to the village school in Bai Village?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Lao Bai found a scholar from outside with a monthly salary of 800 yuan."

Ju Ming joked: "It's higher than your salary."

"If I continue to teach, if he wants to lose face, he will have to take the initiative to give me a salary increase," Zhu Guoxiang said, "I will go back tomorrow to see if you can keep an eye on the construction site."

Ju Ming chuckled and said, "Miss your wife?"

"Get out!"

Dean Zhu's face turned red as his son poked his head in, but he said stubbornly: "I'm going back to transport the wood that has been dried in the shade, and recruit some carpenters to make bobbin carts!"

"Understood." Zhu Ming was still smiling.

At the moment, the father and son were handing over work, and Zhu Ming went to the Yantang construction site to keep an eye on it.

Looking at the busy construction scene, Ju Ming's heart became hot. After digging the weir pond, we went to dig a canal at the foot of the mountain, and then built a high-rotating drum truck to divert water into the canal.

Once these two water conservancy projects are completed and corn and sweet potatoes are planted next year, the villagers will be able to quickly provide for their food and clothing and take a solid step towards the great cause of rebellion.