Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 290: Learn from One Example and Apply It to Other Cases
Zhang Shou had always suspected that the emperor gave him the Prince Lu Villa for three reasons: firstly, because of his relationship with Zhu Ying, secondly, because his talent in mathematics was indeed in line with the emperor who admired Taizu; thirdly, it was to save the huge annual expenses for house repairs; and fourthly... this garden was right in the middle of the Imperial College and the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, and was very suitable for the Imperial College officials.
If he had been in the Imperial Academy, this would have been a perfect residence. I'm afraid the emperor believed his attitude that he had no interest in the future and was only interested in education.
After class, after knocking on Zhu Er, Zhang Shou went out of the Imperial College Archway, but met Brother Zhu who had obviously been waiting here for a while... However, this time, the guards behind him did not hold food boxes. When Zhu Tingfang saw Zhang Shou approaching quickly, he nodded slightly and said, "I wanted to help with the housewarming, but Yingying insisted that I didn't need it."
"So, I'm coming over right now to pick you up and go over there to have a look. That girl won't tell you what to do and she'll just do what she wants."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile. "There's nothing wrong with just following her preferences. I heard that Yingying had a lot of insights into gardens. Even in Zhaoguogong Mansion and Zhao Garden, many places were changed because of her suggestions. It's enough to show that she is very good at this. Zhang Garden has her to worry about it, and I think she will live in it in the future. Why should I worry about it?"
He never thought he was omniscient and omnipotent, so he knew very well what he should and should not be involved in. He was even more relaxed at this moment: "Anyway, I only need three study rooms and a nursery, and she can do whatever she wants with the rest. Mother also said that she wished Yingying could arrange everything for her, so she could save herself a lot of trouble and effort."
Although Zhu Tingfang had already made some judgments about Zhang Shou's attitude, he still felt relieved when he heard it in person. As he spoke, he completely forgot that he had a brother who was born to the same mother and was studying at the Imperial College. When the guards came up with horses and asked Zhang Shou to get on them, he nodded and said, "Let's go."
When the group arrived at Zhang Garden, the street in front of Zhang Garden was no longer crowded with carriages as when Zhu Ying brought Wu and Xie Wanquan and their group to the garden in the morning. The entire street had been swept clean. Although Zhang Garden was very large, just like the Duke Zhao's Mansion, there was more than one mansion on the street. Although the neighbors were not the most wealthy families, they were also officials.
Not only did Zhu Tingfang escort him personally, he also instructed the guards to put up a flag with the word "Zhang" in front of the horses. Zhang Shou was speechless at the ostentation. But what he did not expect was that when he turned into the street in front of Zhang Garden, all the neighbors sent people to pay their respects at the door, bowing and saying that they had sent a thank-you note to the door and would visit him some other day and so on.
When the confused Zhang Shou dismounted in front of the gate of Zhang Garden, Old Liu rushed up and grabbed the reins. He helped him dismount and whispered a few words to him. Only then did he understand why those neighbors, whom he had never met in his previous visits, were so polite.
"The eldest lady sent Madam Li who came with her to deliver cakes and fruits for the housewarming ceremony, as well as your visiting card, to each of the neighbors."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but look back at Zhu Tingfang, only to see that the eldest son of Zhu smiled nonchalantly and said, "Grandmother and mother didn't say anything. Although Yingying has been arrogant and eccentric since she was a child, as long as she is really willing to do something, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao will be thoughtful and considerate. She will never let anyone pick on her etiquette."
Zhang Shou couldn't help laughing when he learned that it was Zhu Ying's own idea and not the family's order. When he entered the gate, he saw no servants running around. The large courtyard in front of the untitled hall was clean and quiet, just like the scene when he first came to the garden with Ah Liu.
Walking along the corridor to the lobby, he suddenly noticed that the huge untitled plaque was gone. He was a little surprised - although he always felt that the two words that the emperor had personally written for Prince Lu were really a bad taste, now that Prince Lu's villa had become Zhang Garden, these two words were even more inappropriate, but was it inappropriate to casually remove the plaque written by the emperor?
You know, when he was in the Imperial College, Zhou Jijiu was almost framed because he put the Jiuzhangtang plaque inscribed by Taizu himself into the warehouse!
Just as he was thinking this, he heard a familiar cheerful voice: "A Shou, big brother!"
Zhu Tingfang had already spotted Zhu Ying tiptoeing over to scare them. But when Zhu Ying really called for help, it was Zhang Shou who came first, and he, the eldest brother, was behind. He couldn't help but feel depressed. However, seeing Zhu Ying's joy from the inside out, his mood gradually improved again. His sister was about to get married, and he still expected her to be the same as before?
Zhu Ying, who was like a phoenix descending from the sky, saw Zhu Tingfang's calm face, and Zhang Shou was also looking at her with a smile, not frightened at all, so she snorted with some regret. However, when she saw Zhang Shou looking at the main hall, she knew what he was thinking, and immediately blinked with a smile.
"I didn't take down the plaque privately. The emperor sent Eunuch Lu from the Imperial Household Department to take it down. He said it was an old thing of Prince Lu and he wanted to keep it in the inner treasury, but he couldn't give it to outsiders casually. As for the inscription of the main hall... Ah Shou, you can do it yourself or ask others for help. But today is an auspicious day for moving to a new house, but it's not your day off, so it's not easy to invite anyone."
Zhang Shou thought about the emperor's eccentric personality and couldn't help but laugh. Although he felt that the people who could paint for this main hall, not to mention Ge Yong, Qi Jingshan and Chu Ying were all qualified, but after thinking about it, he said indifferently: "Then this main hall will be left as it is. I am not a particular person. Although the untitled plaque has been removed, it is not necessary to replace it with an inscribed plaque."
Zhu Ying frowned at the difficult words, while Zhu Tingfang was only slightly stunned and then nodded approvingly.
"That's right. There's nothing wrong with leaving it empty."
Since the eldest brother agreed with Zhang Shou, Zhu Ying didn't bother to think too much. She looked up at the sun and said with a smile, "It's getting late. Aunt Wu has already asked Aunt Liu and the others to prepare lunch to thank Xie Wanquan for helping, and Guan Qiu and the others for their hard work over the past few days. Ah Shou, you and the eldest brother came at the right time. But today is the day of moving to a new house. Do you want to set up two tables here to celebrate in the evening?"
Holding a banquet at a new house is one of the old customs in the capital. However, Zhang Shou had several respected teachers and some interesting students in the capital, but he could not really call them friends. For example, he should call the Minister of Revenue Chen Shang a senior brother, but he did not dare to really regard him as his friend, because in terms of status, qualifications and age, the latter was definitely his elder.
Therefore, Zhang Shou did not take the housewarming event seriously. In addition, the house was already very ostentatious, and he did not have a day off today, so he did not send invitations in advance. When Zhu Ying asked him about this, he counted his acquaintances in the capital. Apart from the elders in his school, the largest group was the students of Banshan Hall and Jiuzhang Hall. He immediately shook his head.
"No need, let's get together in two days. Then tell your second brother, and Brother Zhu, I'll bring Xiao Cheng with me, and if Lu Sanlang wants to join in the fun, he can bring him along, and there's no need to disturb the others. Otherwise, a bunch of students will come, some with gifts and some with little money, and it will be a lively night. If any of them miss classes or take a nap during the day, it will be boring."
Without waiting for Zhu Tingfang and Zhu Ying to express their support or opposition, Zhang Shou said nonchalantly, "Moving to a new house is just a small matter. If we want to have a big event, we will wait until I get married someday. That will be the real big event."
"Yeah, that's true. If you want to have a lively occasion, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. It will be lively when you get married..." Zhu Ying habitually agreed with Zhang Shou, but when she said the word "get married", she suddenly realized the key point! What do you mean by "get married"... That was clearly a reference to the lively scene of their wedding!
At that moment, no matter how generous and cheerful she was, her cheeks flushed red, and she glared at Zhang Shou angrily: "How can you say such things so casually? Aren't you afraid that my eldest brother will beat you up?"
Zhu Tingfang couldn't help but smile. Seeing Zhang Shou talking to him again, Zhu Ying's anger turned into joy, and they followed the two of them, one in front of the other, but left him behind. He no longer had the initial depression that he felt when his sister was getting older and was about to get married, and just shook his head and followed slowly behind.
It was already late, and when Zhu Tingfang saw Wu, he only glanced at Xie Wanquan, who had woken up early to help Zhang Shou move, and did not raise any objections to Guan Qiu, who was sitting at the end of the table. After a hearty but not luxurious lunch, he was about to send Zhang Shou back to the Imperial College, but a report came in that there was news about the teacher, so he immediately stood up and said goodbye.
By picking up and dropping off Zhang Shou these past few days, he had already given a warning to people from all walks of life in the capital. If anyone else had evil intentions, they should think twice! But he had to deal with the matter of his teacher Liu Zhiyuan first!
As soon as Zhu Tingfang left, the atmosphere in the Zhang family immediately became relaxed - not to mention Wu, who was always a little nervous when facing this eldest son of her family; Zhang Shou, who always had to be more serious in front of Big Brother Zhu, and had to be careful when being unserious; even Zhu Ying, although she dared to act coquettishly in front of Big Brother, but did not dare to be too presumptuous, otherwise Big Brother's stern face would be really scary.
As for Xie Wanquan, let alone. Not to mention Zhu Tingfang's genuine noble birth and genuine military exploits, just say that this eldest son Zhu had left a uniformly A-grade score in the monthly examinations of the Ratexing Hall, and from Guangye to Ratexing Hall, he ranked first in every hall examination and was the head of every hall, which was almost unprecedented in the Imperial College.
Of course, before him, most of the outstanding students in the world gathered in various private schools and academies, and rarely chose the Imperial College as their first choice. This was also a major reason. However, since Zhu Tingfang dominated the Imperial College, as if there were no more outstanding people in the world, young people like him were mostly sent to the Imperial College by teachers and leaders of private schools and academies under various names such as special tribute and selection tribute.
Who among the literati in the world would like to see the sons of meritorious officials dominate the Imperial College? But when he arrived in the capital, the eldest son Zhu, who left a legend in the Imperial College, had already left, just as Emperor Taizu said, waving his sleeves without leaving a trace of cloud...
Xie Wanquan thought so in his heart, but he soon forgot about Zhu Tingfang, the senior whose back he could only see. What he cared more about were the strange things he saw with Guan Qiu today!
"Dr. Zhang, I saw something in the secret room today... no, in the workshop..." After recounting what he had seen and heard in a somewhat incoherent manner, Xie Wanquan stared at Zhang Shou and asked, "In the past, Emperor Taizu also advocated the study of things, but he was dismissive of Zhu Xi's study of things and the pursuit of principles. He also said that the so-called study of things to gain knowledge is not just to close your eyes and daydream, but to do experiments..."
Zhang Shou listened to Xie Wanquan's description of the extremely simple prototype of Guan Qiu's escapement structure in almost disorganized content , and then he laboriously described the principle of the pendulum in classical Chinese, and then he began to use Emperor Taizu as an example. He couldn't help but feel a little headache. He never wanted Xie Wanquan, a pure liberal arts student, to switch to science!
He only hoped that Xie Wanquan could develop a little interest in science, and then help Lu Wan to popularize elementary mathematics and science education.
Although Ge Yong has agreed to help promote physics textbooks, he must admit that even after the baptism of Emperor Taizu, there is still a long way to go to promote mathematics and physics.
However, if a group of talented young saplings can be carefully selected, then he only needs to be the beginning, and naturally someone will grow up to take over the baton... His current ability is probably only enough to last until advanced mathematics. Complex functions, integrals and transformations are already difficult enough, and as for profound mathematical analysis - in fact, he has only seen the textbooks and is completely beyond his ability!
However, he still had to answer Xie Wanquan's question. Because Lu Wan was not easy to deal with, Xie Wanquan, a hapless man who had been frustrated again and again, was easy to fool and had to be fooled - of course, fooling was not a nice word, so a nice way to put it was to reshape him.
So, he thought about it, and stood up and motioned Xie Wanquan to follow him to the study. When he arrived at the study, he saw a shelf full of books neatly arranged, with the original labels on the bookcases. He walked up and flipped through a few books. Seeing that they were indeed good, he smiled and turned back to Xie Wanquan and said, "You should have helped me organize this, right? No one else is so careful. Thank you."
Without waiting for Xie Wanquan to be humble, he once again found two books on the bookshelf. When he walked up to Xie Wanquan, he handed them over. Seeing that he quickly took them, he smiled and said, "In this world, some people are like you, born to be proficient in classics and poetry, but there are also some people, like Lu Sanlang, who finds it almost impossible to read classics and history articles, but he can draw inferences from one example of mathematics."
Seeing Xie Wanquan's thoughtful expression, Zhang Shou continued to persuade him, "For example, can the mathematical classics only be used in the Imperial Observatory? Water control requires calculations, road construction and embankment construction also require calculations, and navigation also requires calculations. And the things you saw from Guan Qiu before are the practical application of various natural laws."
He once again cited his previous example of measuring density with buoyancy, which was used to test the purity of precious metals such as gold, silver, and brass. Zhang Shou also briefly explained how the principle of the simple pendulum can be applied to the field of timekeeping, etc. When he was about to continue, Xie Wanquan suddenly asked, "Guan Qiu said that Dr. Zhang also asked him to study how to use the power of boiling water?"
Uh... Zhang Shou didn't expect Guan Qiulian to tell Xie Wanquan this. He hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded calmly: "Yes, but that's just a concept. Not only do we need to design equipment, we also need materials."
He had no idea that the problem with the machine tool was still at the prototype level, and the escapement structure of the watch was only just beginning to take shape. However, Guan Qiu had remembered the power of boiling water that he had mentioned casually, and even caused a small-scale disaster a few days ago. He had to strictly forbid him to continue the experiment to avoid causing a big mess. Not to mention the difficulty, there was no natural rubber yet!
