Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 144: Don't make excuses if you are stupid
Zhang Shou spent some time flipping through the papers that Wang Jie and Deng Xiaodai had sent over before. He had a rough idea of the level of most people. As for the plagiarists who had similar papers, he didn't care. After all, there was an interview, which was a powerful tool that could tell a person's true level in just a few words. Why should he be afraid of plagiarism?
Therefore, on his interview list, those with similar test papers were naturally placed at the front of the interview sequence. So, when the first young man, who was handsome and obviously extremely confident in his appearance, walked in with his head held high, he only nodded gently and calmly in the face of the extremely perfunctory bow.
"Within ten breaths, quickly calculate the sum of all the numbers from one to one hundred."
Without waiting for the other party to object, he read out slowly: "Ten, nine, eight..."
The first person to come in was the handsome scholar, who was stunned. He was well-informed and had a strong memory, and he could recite the Nine Chapters of Mathematics by heart, but now Zhang Shou did not ask him questions such as which chapter of the Nine Chapters of Mathematics he could recite, but directly asked him a difficult question?
This was somewhat similar to the first complex multiplication problem on the test paper. Although it was addition, not multiplication, there were more numbers. If he was given enough time, he could calculate from one to one hundred, but Zhang Shou actually asked for it within ten breaths! Seeing that the countdown was about to approach three, he immediately shouted in a hurry: "This is not fair!"
Seeing that Zhang Shou ignored him and continued to count, he was furious: "How can he calculate such a complicated problem in just ten breaths of time..."
The next moment, Zhang Shou's countdown stopped. Lu Sanlang, who was standing beside Zhang Shou, sneered said, "Ten breaths of effort? It only takes me less than three breaths to calculate the correct answer from one to one thousand! If you are stupid, don't make excuses and don't waste your precious time!"
The handsome scholar was shocked and angry: "How can this problem not be complicated? If you haven't done it before, how can you solve it?"
"Is it interesting to assume that others can't do the same just because you can't do it yourself?" Lu Sanlang had actually long recognized that the other person was Zhao Ying, the talented and handsome assistant minister of the Ministry of War, whom his father often used to attack him. However, he pretended not to know him and smiled nonchalantly, "If you don't believe me, you can try to make a test for me. Within four-digit numbers, no matter from one to a few, I can calculate the answer for you as quickly as possible!"
Zhao Ying refused to believe it and shouted angrily, "From one to two thousand, do you know the answer?"
"2001000. If you don't believe me, just add the numbers up yourself. Don't make excuses if you're stupid!"
Zhao Ying couldn't hold back any longer after being scolded twice by the fat guy whom he used to look down upon, telling him to stop making excuses for being stupid. He was furious: "Lu Sanpang, stop putting on airs. I don't believe you can be a genius after just a few days of studying with him..."
At this moment, Zhang Shou interrupted calmly, "Lu Zhu was praised by the emperor as a prodigal genius. Do you think the emperor has made a mistake in judging him?"
Seeing the other person's face flushed, he sneered and said, "Looking at your test paper, you answered two of the three questions well, but now you can't even answer such an extremely simple question. This is not in line with your test score. Since you think this question is difficult, let me ask you again, 998-33-67-22-78-46-54, what is the result?"
Lu Sanlang gloated over the handsome face opposite him, which was a little distorted because of the intense calculations, and felt relieved. In his father's eyes, this guy was perfect, but he hated that he was not his son. Apart from a pretty good face and those sour poems that could deceive a few girls, what was left now that his true colors were exposed?
Looking at the flustered look now, it is obvious that there was something fishy about the previous test! This guy is obviously a bad person!
After a dozen breaths, seeing that the man's forehead was sweating from calculating, Zhang Shou suddenly tapped the armrest twice and said calmly, " You haven't even touched the simple calculation. I didn't ask you whether you calculated the fifty multiplications one by one or asked someone to calculate for you. Okay, you can leave now."
When Lu Sanlang saw Zhao Ying's sudden change of expression, he immediately seized the opportunity and said smugly: "You can't even answer such a simple question now. You are so stupid and inflexible. Why do you still want to learn mathematics? No need to calculate, 698, I will tell you the answer directly. If you are stupid, don't make excuses. Come on, call the next person in!"
Hearing the door suddenly open, two black-clad officers coughed heavily, and Zhao Ying turned around angrily and left. But as soon as he stepped out of the door, he heard Lu Sanlang shouting from behind.
"If he hadn't come to take the Jiuzhang Hall exam, he could still be a talented scholar. But now that he's here, I can finally see his true face! I'll have to ask my father later, everyone is called a talented scholar, but the talented scholars in the capital are too worthless! What's the point of just having a face and reciting a few sour poems? Can he be more handsome than you, Mr. Xiao? Can his poems be better than Emperor Taizu's?"
The handsome and angry Minister Zhao Ying almost stumbled as he left the house. In his heart, he cursed the elders at home who had urged him to take the Jiuzhangtang exam. If they hadn't hoped to please the emperor, how could he have been humiliated!
After the first one, it was the second, and the third. Zhang Shou met the first three people with the same test papers. They all came in arrogantly, and then retreated under the continuous test of various simple math problems. When they left, they all acted as if they were treated unfairly. It was not until Lu Sanlang mocked them rudely that they left in embarrassment.
After interviewing three people in a row, Zhang Shou glanced at Deng Xiaodai who was taking shorthand in the third hall, and then said, "Xiaodai, ask the officers to take out what you wrote down. If the three people haven't left yet, tell them. If they are not satisfied, I can post their questions and answers at the Shuntian government office, or at the gate of the Imperial College."
"By the way, tell Wang Dayin in the Second Hall as well."
When Wang Jie saw the officer carrying the ink-stained paper back and heard Zhang Shou's words, he glanced at the others who were trying their best to remain calm while waiting for the interview and said coldly, "If you feel that there is any injustice during the interview, you can raise it in person. But if you can't refute it in person talking nonsense behind their backs, don't blame me for being rude, let alone posting the papers."
At the gate of Shuntian Prefecture, the three people who failed the interview were still furious and had not left. However, when the guards from the prefecture came out and relayed Zhang Shou and Wang Jie's words, even Zhao Ying, who was about to curse, shut up immediately after seeing the answer record.
Being called a fool by Lu Sanlang is very hard to bear, but if the matter is publicized to the whole city and known, and then he is called a fool by the emperor or other high-ranking officials, then he will really lose more than he gains!
So, when the other two people were enduring it in silence, even though he was about to explode with anger, he had no choice but to swallow it.
When Zhang Shou saw the fourth person coming in, he couldn't help but sigh when comparing the name on the test paper. The four papers were identical, so it was inevitable that three people copied from one person. Now three of them have been confirmed to be science scumbags, and the remaining one is undoubtedly the one who actually answered two questions. And the Yan Fang in front of him was exactly the one he recognized.
When he first came to Beijing with Zhu Ying, he had seen him in front of Ge Yong Gate and gave him a book. And it was this person who first admitted in tears that he was sent to cause trouble, which forced the rest of the people to retreat with their faces covered, and the door-blocking incident finally came to nothing. According to Chu Kuan, this person worked as an accountant for many businessmen but was driven away, and now makes a living by writing letters.
Unlike the last time he met her, Yan Fang was wearing decent clothes. This time, he was wearing a slightly whitish cloth shirt that had been washed, and his cloth shoes were even patched. At first glance, he looked quite neat. He bowed awkwardly, then stood there without saying anything.
Zhang Shou looked at the man for a moment, then asked directly, "Did you show this paper to others before sending it to the Shuntian government office?"
Yan Fang's face turned pale. After a long while, he lowered his head in pain: "I wanted to send it to the government office immediately after I finished answering, but my neighbor happened to come to visit, so I went out with him to do something, and when I came back, the paper was gone... I had no choice but to answer it again. If it is true that someone stole my paper and copied it, and therefore I am not selected, I can only accept it."
Zhang Shou stared at Yan Fang for a long time, and finally asked Lu Sanlang beside him casually: "Lu Zhu, you are the future head of Jiuzhang Hall, tell me, what should we do?"
Lu Sanlang didn't expect Zhang Shou to ask for his opinion. After a moment of shock, he felt that he was taken seriously and asked without thinking: "I ask you, from one to one thousand, what is the answer?"
Yan Fang didn't expect Lu Sanlang to ask this suddenly. After hesitating for a moment, he answered frankly: "500,500."
After interviewing three idiots in a row, Lu Sanlang finally met someone smart enough. He was immediately very satisfied and asked, "There are ninety-three lamps hanging on the five-story tower. From the top to the bottom, the lights on the next floor are twice as many as the lights on the previous floor. I ask you, how many lights are hung on each floor?"
"There are three lights at the top, followed by six, twelve, twenty-four, and forty-eight lights."
Faced with this almost unthinking answer, Lu Sanlang's satisfaction immediately turned into surprise.
He simply took out the various difficult questions that Zhang Shou had used to test him in the past, such as the pursuit problem and the pool problem, and asked them from the simplest to the most difficult ones, until the other party was finally speechless. Only then did he stop temporarily with a sense of smugness.
"Young sir, I don't know whether this person sold his answers , but his mathematical skills are still very good. For the time being, accept him into the Jiuzhang Hall. If you find that he makes mistakes in other things in the future, it will not be too late to expel him!"
Yan Fang was almost sweating profusely from Lu Sanlang's questions, and he was extremely afraid of this fat nobleman.
It was the first time for him to encounter someone who could come up with more than a dozen bizarre questions in one breath to test others, and many of them were not even in the classic books!
Hearing what Lu Sanlang said, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "Since you, the head monk, have the confidence to manage people, then go ahead! Whether you have talent but no virtue, we will see the truth in the future!"
