Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 10: Mathematics and Eight-legged Essay Have Nothing in Common
Inside the room, Zhang Shou was watching the two noisy teenagers with a smile. If it were normal, he would have used a teaching stick to maintain order in the classroom, but at this moment, he did not stop the two happy farm boys. They had been burdened by the burden of life and rarely smiled. At this time, they looked like they were only sixteen years old.
That’s right, the two people in the room at this moment were both from farming families and were the same age as him.
My uncle was a clerk in the household registration office of Shuntian Prefecture. Deng Xiaoai, nicknamed Deng Xiaodai, was a well-connected man who grew up in the village.
The Deng family's ancestors had been farmers for generations, and they owned only ten acres of land. With so many people in their family, it was not enough to make a living, so they were also tenants of the Zhang family - of course, Zhang Shou now knew that the Deng family should probably be considered tenants of the Zhao family.
Seeing the two laughing and joking, he suddenly felt something, and when he turned his head, he found that Ah Liu had appeared at the door without knowing when. This kid had been so elusive in the past, so he just thought that something happened at home, and immediately left everyone and went to the door.
"She just left."
Such simple three words would definitely confuse anyone else, but Zhang Shou had been with him for three years, and after a lot of guessing, he finally understood that Ah Liu was probably talking about the young lady. However, he quickly deduced from Zhu Ying's temper that the so-called leaving should not be returning to the Zhaoguo Mansion in the capital, but that she had just been here and suddenly left.
Thinking of the celebration in the house just now, he thought about it carefully and understood it. He immediately smiled and said, "The young lady will naturally not understand. What's there to be happy about a farmer's family passing the exam to become a minor official? Let her think whatever she wants. Anyway, I didn't ask her to stay in the country. Go after her quietly to prevent her from getting into any trouble."
Seeing that Ah Liu nodded and turned away without saying a word, Zhang Shou, who had become accustomed to this silent servant, turned back, but then he remembered that Zhu Gongquan had revealed one thing before - in addition to the land and houses, even the servants of the Zhang family were given by Duke Zhao.
But looking at Ah Liu's expression just now, it seems that he doesn't regard Zhu Ying, the real eldest lady, as more important than himself?
Zhang Shou never doubted the ethics of his three servants - although she had a disease that caused her to travel through time, Wu, whose husband was unknown, and he, whose father was unknown, had lived peacefully and steadily in this country until now, and the three servants had made great contributions.
So, he quickly put aside this question and returned to a few students of similar age.
The two young men in the room didn't notice what he was talking about with Ah Liu. Deng Xiaodai saw Zhang Shou coming back and hurriedly went up to him and said, "Young Master, my parents said they would host a banquet to thank you in the next two days! In addition, you gave my family a lot of money in the past so that I could study with you. I will definitely pay you back tomorrow!"
"Let's not talk about the repayment for now. Besides, it's not money. I just gave you some food and meat."
"What you said is not right, little master!" Since he was given the nickname Xiaodai, Deng Xiaodai was not only smart, but also a bit pedantic. He shook his head like a rattle, "My uncle has three sons. If I hadn't learned arithmetic and reading and writing from the master, and practiced writing well and handling documents, how could I have passed them and got the opportunity to take the imperial examination? What's more..."
He raised his head, his face full of pride: "In this year's civil servant exam, there are several questions that I have taught before. One is to know the monks by the bowls they hold. It is just slightly different from my original question. It says that there are four monks with one bowl of rice, five monks with one bowl of soup, a total of 297 bowls, and the question is how many monks there are in total."
"In addition to this question, there is a vine wrapped around a dead tree five times. The dead tree is 40 feet high and 6 feet in circumference. The question is how long the vine is. There is also a question about Han Xin counting soldiers. When you count three times three, there are two people left. When you count five times five, there are four people left. When you count seven times seven, there are five people left. The question is how many people there are at least.
After I came on stage, I found that countless people sighed and almost no one could answer the question, but I was confident that I had answered it correctly! So, I have been eating and studying all these years, and now I have passed the civil service examination and become a Lingshi, so I should naturally repay the young master! "
Zhang Shou burst out laughing. This kind of arithmetic problem would only be at the level of elementary school students in the future, and might not even be included in the list of Mathematical Olympiad problems, but now it is considered a top-notch problem. Seeing Qi Liang doing the mental calculation quickly and reporting the correct answer in a short while, he couldn't help but nod, and at the same time he was quite curious about the person who asked the question.
Although it is a civil service examination, it is really rare to encounter an official who gives math questions to make things difficult for the candidates!
However, facing the two people who were too excited, he had to pour a bucket of cold water on them: "Xiao Dai, you passed the exam to become a historian, which is a good thing, but you can't slack off. There are so many petty officials in Shuntian Prefecture, and you are a newcomer. Even with your uncle's help, it is easy for you to be stepped down. You have to work hard to learn skills and learn interpersonal relationships at the same time."
"You also said that the girl you want to marry is a beautiful girl from a humble family. In operas, there are always virtuous wives supporting poor scholars. After the scholar passes the imperial examination, he finds a new love while his wife has no regrets. But that's all made up! As a man, even if you have to study and rely on a woman for support, do you have the dignity to do that? If you really like her, you should let her enjoy life and be proud of you."
At this point, Zhang Shou looked at the skinny boy Qi Liang standing beside him. If you didn't mention his age, no one would be able to tell that Qi Liang was even one year older than him, but he had been severely stunted in the past.
"Xiao Qi, if you want to take the exam for a scholar, there is only so much I can do to help you. The old teacher who taught me secretly in the past taught me the Four Books and Five Classics, and I can recite them. Mathematics... well, even mathematics, I have learned it very well. But for things like contemporary essays, he knows me, but I don't know him. Just like the civil servant exam and the student exam are completely different, mathematics and eight-legged essays really don't go together at all!"
Puff——
Hearing such a clear laugh, Zhang Shou could not help but be stunned. Of course he could tell that the laugh was from Zhu Ying, but didn't Ah Liu say that this young lady had already left?
However, the two people in the house just thought that it was another naughty kid from the village eavesdropping outside and didn't take it seriously.
Qi Liang smiled bitterly and said, "Current affairs essays are indeed too difficult. My father passed the examinations for a lifetime and started teaching me contemporary affairs essays when I was very young. But he himself only learned the Four Books at a mediocre level. What's the point of just understanding the format?"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but sigh. The Ming Dynasty today was different from the Ming Dynasty in history in many ways. But contemporary writing was still a stepping stone for the imperial examination. I didn't know what was going on with that founding emperor.
"What's more, he left me with a pile of debts and a pile of almost worn-out contemporary essays. If it weren't for the young master, I might have been forced to death by my creditors. How could I have studied and passed the county exam? Really, I am already very grateful..."
Before Qi Liang could finish his words of gratitude, Zhang Shou interrupted him and said, "You passed the county exam because of your family's academic background, not me. The prefectural exam will be difficult. Xiaodai, since you have been admitted to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen as a clerk, please help Xiao Qi find out if you can show his essay to a good teacher. If we are lucky enough to exchange letters, we can take correspondence if we can't take classes in person."
"Okay!" Deng Xiaodai agreed readily, "We are brothers, Xiao Qi, don't worry, I will try my best to find you!"
Before the overjoyed Qi Liang could express his gratitude again, Zhang Shou changed the subject.
"By the way, Xiaodai, you went to the household registration office this time, right? If you can check the household registration information of the capital, can you do me a favor and check the marriage certificates of the children of the noble families in the capital? I remember my mother mentioned that according to the system of this dynasty, marriage certificates must be reported to the government. A capable relative of my family in the capital claimed that he found a good marriage for me among the top nobles, which scared me so much that I couldn't even sleep."
Zhu Ying had already left and returned outside the door. She was originally annoyed that Zhang Shou clearly heard her laughter but acted as if he didn't hear it. It was not until she heard these last words that she suddenly realized what was going on.
Zhang Shou had trained a young man to become a minor official in Shuntian Prefecture, and he was definitely doing so to find out his background! But now, for her sake, he had not bothered to check his own background, but instead went to find out about their engagement.
But what does it mean to claim to have found a good marriage, but be so scared that you can't even sleep! It's so infuriating, is she a monster?
