Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 150 Patience and Persuasion
Zhang Shou pretended not to see the two little guys who snuck in, even though they did not go to the empty tables and chairs at the back. Instead, they stood directly beside Lu Sanlang's seat, one on the left and one on the right. They ignored Lu Sanlang's helpless expression and kept glancing at the textbooks with their little eyes.
He knew that perhaps the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince could hold on on the first day and the second day, but it would be difficult for them to last long.
Because the people gathered in the class were adults with excellent basics who were selected through three basic math and logic questions. Jiuzhangtang is an adult world. After the introductory math textbook, there is a lot of content that is not very friendly to children.
So, when he found out that the students who chose to take other subjects in Banshan Hall, except for the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and three other children of noble families who had stayed in Cuiyun Room, actually came secretly and sat in the back to listen, he could not help laughing.
Especially when Ge Yong, Qi Jingshan and Chu Ying had quietly left with a group of academic officials after listening for a while, but a few people were still standing there, his smile deepened.
Even if the purpose of learning is utilitarian and not pure, it is at least a very interesting phenomenon.
Therefore, in the first class, he casually picked up the first question used for Jiuzhangtang's enrollment, and casually threw out several basic laws of simple calculations. By the way, he also used the example of the addition of consecutive numbers when Lu Sanlang tested Yan Fang that day.
When he finished speaking, many of the students in the audience felt as if the clouds had cleared and the moon had appeared. Even the Third and Fourth Princes could not help but whisper to each other.
When the class on simple calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division was over, Zhang Shou was just announcing the break when the fourth prince suddenly came up and said, "Teacher, can my third brother and I come to listen every afternoon?"
Zhang Shou saw that the Third Prince wanted to ask but didn't dare to, and Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and others clearly had the same request, so he said to them very reasonably: "If you are interested in the future, you can also come to Jiuzhang Hall to audit the class anytime in the afternoon, just like Lu Sanlang went to Banshan Hall. Of course, the prerequisite is that your teachers of the elective courses will approve your leave."
Although physical education and music are important, if someone is willing to skip these two subjects to study mathematics, almost no teachers in the future will have any objection, and he has no objection now either.
The third and fourth princes looked at each other, and the fourth prince immediately came up to Zhang Shou with a happy expression and asked for books. Zhang Shou shook his head and said, "You came a little late, so you probably didn't hear what I said before. Even Lu Sanlang's textbooks were borrowed from the bookstore. If you are interested, you can buy them, but I don't have any extra ones."
After saying this, he irresponsibly repeated the Huang Sheng borrowing book talk to the two little guys who were not even as big as him. Sure enough, the third and fourth princes, who were still learning the basics of classical Chinese, had stars in their eyes and only understood one thing: if they wanted books, they could either go to the bookstore to buy them themselves or borrow them from the bookstore like everyone else.
Such a small amount of money for buying books, let alone the third and fourth princes, even Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, who were not of high status in the family, did not take it seriously. However, the fourth prince decided without thinking and borrowed it to read like everyone else. Because he didn't understand the other words of Zhang Shou's long speech just now, but he understood these words: books cannot be read without borrowing.
As for Yan Fang and other students, when they learned from Lu Sanlang that the two children who came to study for free were actually princes, they were so shocked that their eyes almost dropped out. Some of the older and more utilitarian ones even wanted to curry favor with him, but they only saw Zhang Shou pulling them out of Jiuzhang Hall one by one.
"It's time for the Third and Fourth Princes to return to the palace."
The fourth prince immediately protested, "But you clearly said before that we can come and listen..."
"I'm talking about them, not you." Zhang Shou touched the Fourth Prince's head and said calmly, "You should know that the next class in Jiuzhang Hall will be one book a day, because those students have the corresponding mathematical foundation, but you don't. If you want, you can buy those books and study hard on your own, just like I did back then."
"Huh?" The fourth prince's eyes suddenly lit up, "Isn't the teacher a student of Grand Tutor Ge?"
"Teacher will tell you two a secret." Zhang Shou squatted down and looked at the two little princes. "When the teacher first came to the village, I was still a weak and sickly child..."
He made up a story about a sick boy who missed Master Ge, but by chance found a letter left by Ge Yong in the bamboo house in Cuiyun, and then taught himself and was accepted as a disciple by Ge Yong. Zhang Shou saw the excitement on the faces of the third and fourth princes, so he whispered, "This is my secret, teacher. I have never told anyone else but you. You must keep it secret."
"Yes, we will keep it a secret!" The fourth prince nodded vigorously, and then the third prince reacted and nodded hurriedly.
After convincing the two princes with a few words, Zhang Shou encouraged them to go back and study hard, and then finally sent them to reunite with the guards. When he returned to Jiuzhang Hall, he found that in addition to Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and the other three, there was another person sitting in the back seat that he had never expected - it was Zhu Er!
Seeing that the man was sitting alone in the corner of the room, not with Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and others, and his expression was quite serious, he finally pretended not to see him and began to talk seriously about the conversion and calculation of decimals and fractions, as well as various unit calculations.
Of course, in this era when the metric system is not popular at all, jin, liang, zhang, chi, cun, sheng, dou... have completely replaced those measurement units that he is familiar with. Although this is quite basic knowledge, after Emperor Taizu promoted Arabic numerals, the counting method of decimals has also been deeply rooted in people's minds, but the conversion between fractions and decimals still makes several noble children look confused.
When the class was over, Lu Sanlang, who was still unsatisfied, felt that today's class was a little too easy. He saw several students surrounding Zhang Shou and asking him questions, and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu also came over. He walked towards the door, but happened to see one of his servants mixed in with the other students who were watching the fun, so he quickly waved and called him over.
When he heard from this guy that he had come here to find him, his brows knitted into a knot, and he was extremely distressed. Zhang Shou had been so busy these past two days that he naturally had no time to meet the craftsmen he had previously decided on, but Weinan Bo was not kidding and actually wanted to invite Zhang Shou to a place like Tingyu Cottage?
Isn’t Zhang Kang afraid that Zhu Ying will hear the news and demolish the garden that is known for its elegance?
But he had received a lot of benefits from Zhang Kang, so after sending his servant away, he patiently waited until the other students gradually dispersed, then he went straight to Zhang Shou and whispered, "Young sir, the Earl of Weinan invites you to have a drink at Tingyu Cottage in the evening, saying that he needs your help with something."
He immediately added without pause: "He also said that if Miss Zhu wants to go with us, that's fine."
Zhang Kang actually wanted to meet him in a place like Tingyu Cottage?
Zhang Shou was indeed somewhat curious about this nobleman of barbarian origin. After thinking about it, he suddenly saw Zhu Er still sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. He was moved and immediately shouted, "Zhu Er, I have to go somewhere tonight . Can you accompany me?"
Zhu Er hadn't been able to go out at night for several days. When faced with Zhang Shou's invitation, he was surprised and delighted at first. He almost forgot the purpose of coming here to listen. Then he quickly coughed and said, "I know the capital best. I can accompany you wherever you go. But if my grandmother and the others ask..."
"It doesn't matter. I'll ask Ah Liu to go to the Duke Zhao's mansion to report the news."
Hearing Zhang Shou's promise, Zhu Er immediately agreed.
Lu Sanlang was also relieved. As long as Zhu Ying didn't go, he would be relieved. As for whether Zhu Er would be beaten into a pig's head for accompanying Zhang Shou, his future brother-in-law, to a place like Tingyu Xiaozhu, what did it have to do with him?
