Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 95: Gurdjieff's Handbook of Terminology
In the study room of the Ge Mansion, without the emperor in the way, Ge Yong stared at Zhang Shou. The sullen expression on his face just now disappeared without a trace, replaced by a smile. He even touched Zhang Shou's head as if he was teasing his grandson in the past. Seeing that his closed disciple was embarrassed and hurriedly avoided him, he did not take it as an offense.
"You raided the Jiuzhang Hall last night, and the incident offended many people in the Imperial College. But today someone came forward to denounce Zhou Xun, and you did not add insult to injury because of a small grudge. As a result, not only did you clear yourself of any involvement, but you also forced Zhou Xun to remember your favor. Well done, you didn't bring shame to me!"
"And I lied to the emperor out of good intentions, and I also apologized, so I finally made up for it."
Zhang Shou secretly felt lucky. At the Imperial College, he had discovered that the emperor did not seem to have noticed the flaw in his words, but out of caution, he was indeed planning to ask Ge Yong to help him pass on a letter of apology!
He felt that whatever he said at this moment would seem to be showing off, so he could only laugh dryly in response.
Ge Yong obviously had no intention of harping on this matter. After all, it was difficult for him to ask Zhang Shou for help with what the emperor said. But he was very interested in Zhang Shou's method of determining whether the plaque was hollow!
"Since the emperor has asked me to determine whether the Taizu plaque is hollow or has a secret compartment, I must first ask you about the principle of this method. If it is really useful, it is only used to deal with a Taizu plaque, which is making a fuss about nothing. It is most effective to determine whether someone has forged gold and silver ingots when casting. Come, tell me in detail how you came up with this idea?"
Zhang Shou could only laugh dryly. Isn't it said that Archimedes' Principle was derived from the idea that Archimedes came up with after a long period of contemplation when he was trying to determine whether a crown was pure gold ?
He thought about it and decided to explain it in detail: "Teacher, whether it is dark wood or gold and silver, as long as they are of the same material and weight, their sizes should be the same. But because the shapes of these things are not as regular and neat as the Yangma Biebin mentioned in the Nine Chapters of Arithmetic, the actual size cannot be calculated."
Ge Yong, who claimed to be a master of mathematics, of course understood what Zhang Shou meant. After a little thought, he nodded and said, "That makes sense. Go on."
"Since we can't calculate the size, we can only use other methods to calculate and compare. Therefore, water becomes a very convenient criterion. Because objects of the same size put into water should displace the same amount of water. So by marking the edge of the pool, we can easily compare the actual size of the objects..."
As Zhang Shou spoke, he thought that in order to fully explain this principle, mathematics alone was not enough. It was necessary to use simple physics knowledge and even terms such as mass, density, volume, buoyancy, etc. Otherwise, it would undoubtedly be very difficult to explain it to people who were not proficient in mathematics like Ge Yong.
The same goes for the difficult-to-pronounce terms in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. It would be best if Ge Yong could publish a book to popularize related terms such as tetrahedron, triangular pyramid, rectangle, square, and cube. Otherwise, there would be only yangma and bibin, which would be completely unintuitive.
Just like Luo Siye, Xu Heizi and those doctors from the Imperial College, ordinary people would be completely confused when they saw or heard those two words.
Ge Yong suddenly realized: "Very good, I understand. If the plaque is not made of dark wood, but soft wood such as golden nanmu, it will be much more troublesome, and we have to tie a heavy object into the water. Of course, this method cannot guarantee complete accuracy, it can only be said to be roughly accurate, because objects entering the water are likely to splash water, and when they come out of the water, they are likely to bring out water droplets, and the marks may not be accurate."
"Teacher is right." Zhang Shou laughed, then couldn't help yawning again.
"I'll have someone arrange to quickly determine whether there is a hollow compartment on the Taizu tablet... To be honest, I don't think there is."
Zhang Shou thought to himself. I don't think so either. Otherwise, how could Taizu leave a room full of handwriting in the palace, and how could eunuchs like Chu Kuan treasure it and pass it down from generation to generation?
Ge Yong finished talking about the business, and then snorted in dissatisfaction: "By the way, Xiao Yingying also followed the emperor here before, but I drove her back. She placed your mother in Old Man Qi's house last night. Humph, ungrateful little girl!"
Knowing that his mother was not staying at the Duke of Zhao's mansion, Zhang Shou could not help but be grateful to the seemingly carefree Zhu Ying. Having seen a lot of things, he could not care about the wealth of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, but it was difficult for Wu. It was really hard for the eldest lady to be so thoughtful.
With a sudden change of mind, he asked Ge Yong: "Teacher, where are Ah Liu, Xiao Qi and Xiao Dai whom I brought here before?"
Ge Yong then said listlessly, "They are all outside the door. I told them to take them to the guest room, but they insisted on waiting for you outside with Ah Liu. It's obvious that they are worried about you."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Shou hurried out of the house and called the two of them, including Ah Liu, into the house.
Before he could specifically introduce Deng Xiaodai to Ge Yong, he got another cold snort: "Don't try that on me. I've met Xiaoqi before, and I've also met Xiaodai a long time ago. Otherwise, how would I know that Rongshui Village has a closed disciple like you? Last time I was in Qingfeng Xulai Hall, I discovered that the youngest of the Lu family seemed to have some talent for mathematics. I just heard from the emperor that it's more than just a little bit. You're really lucky!"
"I'm so angry. I've accepted so many students in name, but apart from you, Wang Datou, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, who is a half-disciple, I can't find many with talent in mathematics. Even if there are, they are all busy pursuing official positions. But you easily met three of them!"
Zhang Shou had never thought that Teacher Ge, who had many students all over the world, was actually jealous of his student movement. There was nothing he could do but laugh. However, Ge Yong suddenly remembered another thing when he thought of Wang Datou, so he pointed at his unfilial disciple and continued to scold him.
"Shuntian Prefecture Governor Wang Datou sent me a letter this morning, saying that he summoned Xiaodai last night, and Xiaodai presented some kind of bar chart and line chart, saying that they were very intuitive in statistics of taxes, population, income, and expenditure. You came up with that again, right? You didn't show me your teacher any new tricks first. Are you addicted to acting first and reporting later?"
I was too late, didn't I go back to the village last night? I never thought that Deng Xiaodai, a mere official, would meet him for no reason, and I never thought that Deng Xiaodai would act so quickly...
Zhang Shou thought so in his heart, but he could only helplessly glance at Deng Xiaodai who was lowering his head guiltily, and then stood there obediently to be scolded. Finally, he quickly promised that if he had any new ideas in the future, he would discuss them with the teacher first.
With such a guarantee, Ge Yong finally let out a sigh of relief, sighing with satisfaction. When Deng Xiaodai somewhat apprehensively proposed to return to Shuntian Prefecture, and Qi Liang also said that he wanted to go back to see how Wu was settled, he generously waved his hand and let the two leave first. As for Ah Liu, who was standing motionless in the corner like a wooden man, he glanced at him and ignored him.
"A Shou, remember, from now on, stay away from people or things that have anything to do with the words 'Emperor Taizu'. This time, the incident of Emperor Taizu writing the plaque is an exception. After all, you were dragged into it inexplicably."
Zhang Shou had not expected Ge Yong to warn him to stay away from matters related to Emperor Taizu, and he could not help but feel a little suspicious. However, just as he was waiting for Ge Yong to explain further, the imperial teacher of the time coughed and changed the subject.
"If it weren't for Shuntian Prefecture Governor Wang Datou's extremely tough rebuttal in front of the emperor, Xiao Qi's ranking in the prefectural examination might have been slandered. I don't know how long he can last in the prefectural examination. Therefore, it is very important for you to gain a foothold in the Imperial College. That's why I really appreciate what you did in the Imperial College today."
"Wang Datou has a pretty good talent for math, so he's half your senior. When Xiaodai goes back today, he'll definitely tell Wang Datou about your inscription on the plaque. Hey, compared to those line graphs and bar graphs, this method of determining whether something is hollow or impure is more interesting!"
Zhang Shou was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. My teacher, I was waiting for you to talk about Emperor Taizu, but you started to talk nonsense, talking about the imperial examination, gaining a foothold in the Imperial College, and Wang Datou?
Isn't it too abrupt for you to change the subject?
He thought about it and decided not to ask about Emperor Taizu. He said sincerely, "Teacher, last night in the Jiuzhang Hall, Lu Sanlang used the Yang Ma and Bie Bin from the Jiuzhang Suanshu to question Luo Siye, several doctors from the Imperial College, and Xu Jiancheng from the Shengqian Hall, leaving them speechless. Although this was because they did not read the Suanjing, the fact that the terms in the Suanjing were too complicated was also a reason."
He paused, then said with a smile, "Teacher, can you publish a manual of simple terminology and symbolic formulas of Gurdjieff in the name of the master of mathematics?"
Upon hearing this, Teacher Ge's eyes lit up at first, and then he stared at his closed disciple with a subtle look.
If I say I don't want to, you will plan to publish a book in my name without my permission, right?
He snorted and said nonchalantly, "Okay, tell the old man about it first!"
