Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 116 The Bad Boys and the Prince Are All Left to You
Multiple measurements are the essence of modern experimental repeatability. After all, a result from an experiment may be just a result of coincidences, but if multiple experiments all point to the same result, then the result can be confirmed.
Of course, the resources wasted during the experiment is a big test for laboratory funding.
As for the Ge Mansion now, there were not many wasted resources - human resources were not a big deal these days, and the mute servants seemed very happy to show off their still strong muscles in front of the emperor and the ministers. As for the overflowing water, it would all flow back to the water tank beside it through the wooden basin and bamboo pipe under the wooden box. It could be said that there was basically no waste.
The final result of ten repeated measurements showed that the plaque inscribed by Taizu was indeed larger in size than the same weight of the leftover wood from the sunken wood.
Ge Yong even said that before this, he had also conducted experiments with the remaining dark wood scraps in the palace storehouse, proving that the displacement of scraps of the same weight was almost the same, and the error was negligible . In other words, the materials of this batch of things that survived from that year were almost the same.
When things came to this point, all the decisions fell on the emperor alone.
In order to prove whether there is a secret scroll hidden in the plaque inscribed by Taizu, should we destroy the plaque that Taizu wrote in person for the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College and then had a skilled craftsman carve?
Facing those mixed looks, the emperor just laughed, and then suddenly turned to Zhang Shou: "Zhang Shou, you are also my junior brother. Thanks to you, a big mystery has been solved this time. However, I want to know the result, but I don't want to destroy the plaque inscribed by Emperor Taizu. When the Jiuzhang Hall is repaired, hang this plaque back."
Zhang Shou had guessed about this result, but he still admired the emperor's decisiveness at the critical moment. He immediately bowed and agreed, but then the emperor suddenly changed the subject.
"At the morning court today, Shuntian Prefecture Prefect Wang Qing deciphered all thirteen secret letters between the traitor in the Ministry of War and the Linhai Camp. I heard that this was the result of you and your students working late into the night at the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen last night?"
"Your Majesty, I only deciphered one letter, not thirteen. Wang Dayin easily deciphered the other twelve letters by himself. He just didn't have enough time. Otherwise, as long as he knew the principle of the shift cipher, he would definitely be able to find the algorithm to decipher the last secret letter without the help of me and my three students."
When Zhang Shou said this, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye that the Minister of War Lu Wan's face turned dark, Ge Yong's face was full of pride, and Shuntian Prefecture Governor Wang Jie was calm and composed, as if he was not proud of his praise, let alone carried away. As for the others, it was obvious that they had an expression of watching the fun.
He didn't know how Wang Jie had won so many hearts at the court meeting today, so he decided... instead of being humble and hiding his achievements and fame, it would be better to be a little more publicized.
After being scolded by ignorant people as witchcraft, he felt that he needed to vindicate science.
"People who don't know mathematics can only try to decipher the shift code word by word, but I was deeply influenced by my teacher, so I know how to figure out other people's calculation ideas and how to use mathematics to solve practical problems. Therefore, I was able to come up with a way to determine whether the plaque inscribed by Taizu was hollow and unlock the mystery behind the secret letter."
"I also think that you are putting your knowledge into practice. You are worthy of being my junior brother!"
As the emperor spoke, he stroked his beautiful mustache with a smile, not noticing how helpless the Grand Secretary Kong, who was also the Minister of Rites, looked at his casual behavior. He then said with finality, "Speaking of which, you have taught the little fat boy of the Lu family very well. Last time at the Imperial College, I couldn't believe how clever he was."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Minister of War Lu Wan, with a face full of envy: "Lu Qing is really lucky. The teacher told me that your little fat boy is very talented, but it's a pity that Zhang Shou got there first. A prodigal who returns is worth more than gold, let alone a prodigal who becomes a genius?"
If the emperor was praising his eldest son or second son, Lu Wan would have been elated and proud. However, the person the emperor specifically mentioned in front of so many people was his youngest son, whom he had always looked down upon. The Minister of War, who had a very high opinion of himself, could not help but feel extremely uncomfortable, but he could only grit his teeth and nod in agreement.
What the emperor said next surprised him even more.
"The Imperial College's chief priest Zhou Qing told me that it will take at least a month to renovate the Jiuzhang Hall. During this period, I don't want you, Zhang Shou, to be idle. According to Zhou Qing, the students in the Imperial College's Banshan Hall are all troublemakers who work hard for three days and rest for two days. Zhang Chen and the fat kid from the Lu family were representatives of this. In that case, Banshan Hall is for you."
Seeing Zhang Shou was stunned, the emperor added: "As the doctor of the Imperial College, you are in charge of Jiuzhang Hall and Banshan Hall. You should take care of those boys in Shengqian Hall who are difficult to teach. Some of them may not even be able to recite the Three Character Classic and Thousand Character Classic for enlightenment. If they can't recite them, then so be it, but if a bunch of blind people are causing trouble, I can't tolerate it!"
Zhang Shou suddenly had a headache. Did he think I was a devilish teacher who only cared about bad boys? Actually, I don't have that much ability!
If Zhu Ying and Lu Sanlang hadn't created such a stir before, the situation would never have turned out like this!
God knows how the Zhulin Farmhouse can become a high-end Zhulin Mathematics Lecture Hall...
Seeing Ge Yong shaking his head desperately at him, as if he agreed with him to quit this troublesome job, Zhang Shou immediately said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, I don't have that much ability. Xu Jiancheng of the Shengqian Hall said before that even Zhang Chen, Lu Sanlang and others have a long history of bad deeds. I can't do anything about it. I can only promise them that I will let bygones be bygones and punish them by making them copy books."
"But they were once my fellow soldiers who fought against the rebels in the bamboo forest, and we had a friendship that shared weal and woe. But the others in Banshan Hall are different. I think I am just an ordinary person and cannot subdue so many troublemakers, so I dare not take on this important task."
"Dr. Zhang, why do you think so little of yourself?" The person who spoke at this time was not the emperor, but Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. Yesterday, Zhang Shou gave him a peach, and today Wang Datou decisively returned the favor.
He said very sincerely: "Dr. Zhang can control Zhang Chen, Lu Zhu and others, so he can naturally control others. But the teacher-student relationship cannot stand up to the father-son relationship . Dr. Zhang is just afraid that being a strict teacher will lead to complaints from their families. Therefore, if the emperor wants him to shoulder such a heavy responsibility, he must naturally give him the corresponding authority. Otherwise, in the future, not to mention Dr. Zhang, even Zhou Dasicheng of the Imperial College will be annoyed."
This made Lu Wan look very unnatural again - he was not complaining about Zhang Shou being strict with his fat son, he hated Zhang Shou for being too lenient with his fat son and praising him too much! Moreover, if Zhang Shou could train all the dandy boys into talented pillars of society like he did with Lu Zhu, wouldn't that mean that all of them as fathers were too bad?
Wang Datou, this cunning guy, could have deciphered one more secret letter than their Ministry of War, which none of them understood, but he also advised the emperor to give Zhang Shou more authority!
Thinking of this, Lu Wan could only signal to Grand Secretary Kong with his eyes, hoping that this cabinet elder could step forward and save the situation. But to his surprise, this cabinet deputy assistant was actually... in a daze, not noticing his hopeful gaze at all.
What happened next was even more surprising. Zhou Xun, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, also stood up!
"If the emperor wants to hand over Banshan Hall to Dr. Zhang and wants those students who are pretending to be good people to change their ways, he really needs to give Dr. Zhang higher authority. Otherwise, does he have to go to each mansion every day and take back all the students who have applied for sick leave, personal leave, bereavement leave, etc.?"
The emperor raised his eyebrows immediately. Seeing Zhang Shou's surprised expression, he suddenly turned to the delighted Zhu Ying and said with a smile, "Little Yingying, you look so happy. Why do you want your ideal husband to work hard and manage those guys who never go to the Imperial College? Do you have such confidence in him?"
"Of course!" Zhu Ying nodded without thinking, and then added, "My grandmother said that she planned to hand my second brother over to Shou for discipline. He deserves to be punished!"
"Haha, Auntie is really..." The emperor smiled with an ambiguous meaning, and then said lightly, "Well, I will give Zhang Shou a ruler. Anyone who is late, absent from class, or disobeys the rules, etc., will have their palms smashed! Speaking of which, the third and fourth children are already of school age, and I will send them to Banshan Hall later!"
Even those who had previously supported Zhang Shou's taking over of Banshan Hall, in an instant, their expressions were frozen like everyone else's.
Zhang Shou felt as if he had seen a ghost. However, when the emperor turned to look at him, he felt heavy in his heart when he thought that there were many familiar things left in this world, but there were more things that seemed powerful and unshakable standing before him.
"Your Majesty, do you want the Third and Fourth Princes to learn the principles of the world that were just denounced as evil by Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Revenue?"
"That's right!" The emperor clapped his hands and sighed, "Emperor Taizu often lamented that I was born with literary talent and martial arts skills, but I only had a superficial understanding of the principles of all things in the world. When I wanted to use them, it was too late to regret. The teacher taught the eldest and second sons for me. Now that he is old, he should enjoy his retirement. You can help me teach the third and fourth sons!"
Zhang Shou didn't pay attention to the second half of the sentence because the emperor's first half contained so much information.
Could it be that Emperor Taizu was a liberal arts student? Maybe... but it is more likely that the predecessor knew a lot of things. There is binary, old maps of Beijing, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. As for basic subjects such as mathematics and physics, maybe the predecessor was away from school for too long and did not have a deep impression. This is actually a common problem for most people after graduation.
Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and bowed deeply again: "In this case, I obey your order!"
