Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 168 Acting Abbot in Charge of the Project
If Lu Sanlang further awakened his mathematical talent in Cuiyun, and transformed from a vagrant to a genius praised by the emperor, then Zhang Chen's years in the mountains were full of torture and unbearable to look back on. When he followed the crowd and attended a class in Jiuzhang Hall, he was more certain of that conclusion.
That thing called arithmetic is incompatible with me!
At this moment, when Zhang Chen stepped into Jiuzhang Hall, he was ready to be ridiculed by those low-born students. He heard that since taking office, Lu Sanlang, the head of the hall, had accepted many challenges, both open and covert, and finally secured his position. If he, the head of Banshan Hall, suddenly came here, even if it was Zhang Shou's order, it would be strange if people didn't keep an eye on him!
However, when he entered the room, he found that no one looked up, let alone noticed him as an uninvited guest. Everyone was concentrating on writing, some were fiddling with abacus, some were counting their fingers, and some were mumbling to themselves... The quiet scene caught his eyes, and compared with the noisy and lazy crowd at the end of class in Banshan Hall in the past, he couldn't help but feel a little glaring.
He subconsciously cleared his throat, but even so, no one looked up and paid attention to him. Being ignored, he finally couldn't help it and moved to the side of a student sitting in the first row, intending to see what the person was writing. However, when he found that the paper was full of symbols that he didn't understand at all, as well as a long string of numbers, his scalp went numb.
The first person was like this, and the second, third, and fourth were all like this... After walking around more than 20 people in the huge room, Zhang Chen couldn't understand how these people were trying to crack the 14-ring text lock, but his head hurt. He couldn't help but rub his temples gently, feeling indescribably complicated.
He was not interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, and he was not good at arithmetic. He could not compare with his grandfather who was an outstanding strategist, nor with his father who was obsessed with reading. Was he going to be a Duke of Qin who lived a life of idleness and waiting for death? At this moment, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Shou had said to the traitor Ding Hai that he had an excessive sense of justice, and just now he said that he had the potential to be a leader. He couldn't help but blush.
Since he found nothing to do, the bored Zhang Chen simply found an empty seat in the back and sat down, his eyes sweeping over the shabby-dressed students in front of him one by one. Of course, there are also talented people among the children of famous families, and these people either entered the officialdom through favor or through the imperial examination. Now many of them have established a firm foothold in the court. Among them, the children of officials are much stronger than the children of nobles.
Take Lu Sanlang's two elder brothers for example. Regardless of their personalities, they are both very good at studying. One of them is only thirty years old and passed the imperial examination last year, and the other is said to be a hot candidate for the provincial examination next year... In comparison, as long as they are a little outstanding, the children of famous families do have many opportunities, while the children of poor families can still take the imperial examination if they are outstanding in literary talent, but if they are only proficient in mathematics...
Maybe Jiuzhangtang is the last hope for these people?
While he was daydreaming, Zhang Chen suddenly heard a surprised shout: "The first three words of this sentence match the thirty-fourth set of numbers in the sixty-four groups!"
In an instant, he saw the group of people who had just been calculating with their heads down all looked up. He also looked towards the source of the voice unconsciously, and saw that the person who was shouting was a middle-aged student, with a face full of vicissitudes. He couldn't even tell his age at a glance!
It could be thirty, it could be forty... it could be fifty or sixty, and people would actually believe it!
Zhang Chen didn't know the exact algorithm, but he knew that Zhang Shou would not interrupt a class to check unless he was taking an exam. Therefore, after the initial surprise, he immediately said, "Give the sentence you think matches to someone else and have them calculate it first!"
He was not the abbot of Jiuzhang Hall, so his words did not have much power. However, what surprised him was that no one questioned his qualification to give orders at this moment. The middle-aged student who spoke hesitated for a moment, then sat down and wrote a note quickly. Then, the note was circulated among more than 20 people, and then the room became quiet again.
Unsure whether he should stay here or go to Banshan Hall to report to Zhang Shou, Zhang Chen hesitated again and again, but in the end he did not move. He did not know how long it had been before he heard a voice: "I have verified it, and this sentence does match!"
"The calculation is correct!"
"The calculation is correct!"
As the voices rang out, even if Zhang Chen was a fool, he knew that there might be a result. He was not Qi Liang and Lu Sanlang, and he did not know the specific algorithm, but he did know what the fourteen-ring text lock was, so after a moment of hesitation, he said directly: "Since we have found that poem, then, let's deduce it accordingly?"
After these words came out, Yan Fang, who was surprised and reported the victory at the beginning, couldn't help but look at Zhang Chen again. Unlike those classmates who at least tried to make friends with students from other halls and planned to expand their network, he was really in the dark and didn't know anyone outside the Jiuzhang Hall, so he didn't know who Zhang Chen was.
But at this time, he agreed: "Then let's reverse the deduction. Everyone should have deduced the function. In this way, the deduction of the remaining four words is easy!"
Thinking of what he had said to Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu before, that this fourteen-ring text lock could not be easily opened, Zhang Chen couldn't help but feel guilty. But then, he suddenly thought of a key point, and couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked, "Why can we only reverse four words?"
"This sentence is a seven-character poem, and the next sentence is not written with words from the Thousand Character Classic, so only seven words can be deduced."
Zhang Chen realized that he had made a fool of himself, and nodded quickly, saying, "Okay, let's deduce it according to this seven-character poem."
When he saw the others looking at each other without any ridicule or opposition, and really starting to deduce according to his instructions, he hesitated for a moment and still did not leave.
He wanted to see if Suanjing was really that powerful, and if these people were really that outstanding that they could easily unlock the fourteen-ring text lock that no one else could do anything with... But from what he just said, maybe they could only deduce the text of the first seven rings?
Zhang Chen didn't wait too long. He even felt that not much time had passed. He only heard the middle-aged student who had just spoken in the corner and then agreed with his decision hurriedly stood up and handed the paper in his hand to him solemnly. After this start, people stood up and handed him pieces of paper with words written on them.
He couldn't quite understand the formulas on every piece of paper, but he would understand the first sentence no matter what.
That is the famous line from Li Bai's "To Li Yong" - Xuanfu is still able to fear the younger generation. Of course, the latter line "A man should not despise the young" is more famous, but it is not on paper.
Zhang Chen didn't have time to think too much, and said directly: "Wait for a moment, I will go and report to the teacher!"
After he left, the quiet Jiuzhang Hall suddenly became noisy. Yan Fang, feeling relieved, rubbed his swollen forehead and suddenly said, "He wouldn't take the things and pretend that they were his own achievements, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a sneer came from the side: "Brother Yan, it's a good thing you didn't say this in front of others, otherwise you would be drowned by the spit of the eldest son of Qin State! He is the head of Banshan Hall, a famous top nobleman in the capital, and he used to be the most unruly person! Only our teacher can suppress him, no one else can. Would such a noble man covet this little credit?"
Yan Fang saw that some of the people around him were smiling in good faith, some were pouting in sarcasm, and some were glad for him that he had not said it out loud just now. He had been the luckiest before and happened to be assigned this line of poetry. So, as he was the first to match it with a certain number, his face suddenly turned red and he was embarrassed and unable to speak.
I think back to when he was working as an accountant, because of his quick-witted yet suspicious temper, he offended so many people...
Zhang Chen didn't know that he was actually considered to be stealing the credit. He trotted all the way to the Banshan Hall and saw Zhang Shou instructing a group of students to do a friction electrification experiment. The third and fourth princes were having a lot of fun, while Zhang Shou was watching with a smile on his face. He was free at the time, so he quickly walked past.
When he reached Zhang Shou's side, he found that the man turned his head and looked at him as if he had sensed something.
"Teacher, they said this sentence can match..."
Before Zhang Chen finished explaining, Zhang Shou waved his hand to signal him to stop, took the note and quickly scanned it. However, unlike Zhang Chen who only noticed the sentence "Xuan Fu is still afraid of the young people", he saw the nonlinear quadratic function at the end.
f(x)=x^2+3x+3.
The original text was "Xuan Fu is still afraid of the younger generations", and the corresponding numbers are 601, 242, 349, 174, 788, 866, and 42.
After the shift, the intervals are 7, 13, 21, 31, 43, 57, and 73. The corresponding first seven characters are qing, jin, ci, ke, wei, lun, and li.
He had long remembered the fifty-six characters on the fourteen-ring text lock. Just by looking at it now, he knew that these seven characters were indeed the characters on the one to seven ring text turntables.
Therefore, he narrowed his eyes slightly, took out another piece of paper from his sleeve, and handed it to Zhang Chen casually: "Go to Jiuzhang Hall, use a brush dipped in water to write these sixty-four groups of numbers according to the format I gave you, and let them use the same method to try to deduce the second half of the sentence."
After Zhang Chen was stunned for a moment and immediately ran out, Zhang Shou glanced at everyone in Banshan Hall and saw that except for the third and fourth princes who were young and ignorant, most people were looking at him. However, he deliberately acted as if nothing had happened and said nothing.
If you can solve all fourteen words, then you are successful, otherwise it is just empty talk.
Having said that, when they heard that the "project" at Jiuzhang Hall had made progress, all the more than one hundred noble children were surprised. And unlike the previous legend that Zhang Shou personally opened the so-called secret letter at Shuntian Prefecture, this time Zhang Shou did not do it himself, but only relied on a group of rookie students who had just been admitted to Jiuzhang Hall not long ago!
