Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 804: Talking freely
The emperor is coming!
This was the atmosphere that instantly spread throughout the Jiuzhang Hall after a very light conversation was heard from the back - an atmosphere that could only be felt but not expressed in words. After all, although they were not so familiar with the emperor's voice, after the news of the emperor's visit to Jiuzhang Hall spread, they could only think of this one person who would barge in here and speak so brazenly.
As a teacher on the podium, even though he had his back to the crowd, Zhang Shou was not deaf, so he also sensed the atmosphere of the wolf coming—not the feared wolf coming, but the real wolf coming.
He had a good understanding of the emperor's character, so he didn't care about what the emperor said to the blond boy who called himself David Wu, and continued to write on the blackboard. Until he heard the words "Uncle, you are very strong", he couldn't help it anymore. He didn't know who the boy learned this from, especially when he heard the emperor's laughter, he had to warn him.
After giving the warning, he turned around. Seeing that the emperor sitting at the back had a calm expression on his face, and the blond boy wanted to lie on the table to avoid his sight, he knocked on the desk lightly, trying to dispel the low pressure that suddenly filled the Jiuzhang Hall. It must be said that in this monarchical society, the pressure brought by the emperor's arrival is really not small.
"Don't be distracted during class! From points, lines, and planes to triangles is the first level in the geometry branch, and congruent triangles are the foundation of the foundation. These two proof questions..."
The emperor saw Zhang Shou continuing his lecture as if he didn't see him, so he couldn't help but look at the students in front of him, trying to tell from the backs of their heads, who was listening attentively and who was daydreaming. However, this was obviously an impossible task, and even though he had seen countless people, he couldn't accomplish it.
However, this did not prevent him from attending Zhang Shou's class. Although he was the emperor, as a student of Ge Yong, he had also been baptized by mathematics in his childhood, so he insisted on reopening Jiuzhang Hall, appointed Zhang Shou, who had insufficient qualifications and experience at the time, as a doctor of the Imperial College, and obtained the teaching materials of "Ge's New Mathematics" when it was first published, and was able to teach the third prince personally.
As an adult with a good foundation in mathematics, although it is not difficult to self-study the first few volumes of the so-called Ge's Mathematics, it is not too difficult. After all, these are still relatively basic links. What's more, he regards it as a leisure and entertainment parent-child activity outside of government affairs. However, the experience of reading a book and having someone give a systematic lecture is naturally different.
After listening quietly for a long time, and taking the time to observe the distressed expression of the blond boy next to him who tried his best to listen but couldn't keep up at all, the emperor finally laughed again. But this time, he didn't laugh out loud, but waited very patiently until Zhang Shou's class came to an end and said the word "get out of class dismissed", and then he stood up.
"Mr. Zhang, your lecture is good, but it is not very friendly to those who are just auditing the class."
Seeing that all the students turned around, but didn't know whether to stand up and salute or remain seated, Zhang Shou calmly walked to the emperor, bowed and saluted, then said with a smile: "Your Majesty is right, but in my opinion, instead of taking special care of his progress, it is better to find him a teacher as soon as possible so that he can understand the Ming characters."
The emperor was slightly stunned, then he burst out laughing and said, "Is this the reason why you asked the prince to write a letter? Do you think he can read the Ming language, or that the interpreters can translate the foreign scriptures after listening to the Nine Chapters Hall and learning some arithmetic? But I heard that no one in Guangzhou could understand the language in these books, so they were sent to the capital together with the letter to the Earl of Weinan."
"Do you think it's worthwhile to go to such great lengths to select an interpreter to learn a language that no one in the Ming Dynasty understands? Or, in other words, is it worthwhile for a guy like this blond kid to sneak onto a ship and sail across the sea from a small Western country to the Ming Dynasty... or is it worthwhile for a guy who sneaked into the Ming Dynasty to specially hire someone to teach him the Ming language?"
No one understands the language. Haha , after all, it is Latin. People who can understand it would not stay in Guangzhou. They must be taken on merchant ships and treated as treasures...
Of course not necessarily, there are too few ships going to Europe these days, because many European countries and even the royal nobles are poor, poor, poor! The knight class has a lot of illiterate people, not to mention the civilian class.
Before those countries plundered large quantities of precious metals such as gold and silver from the Americas, the West was indeed not synonymous with wealth compared to the East Asian and Southeast Asian countries that were rich in gold, silver, copper and gemstones. It was easy for people to feel that learning Western characters was of no particular value.
Zhang Shou complained in his heart, but his face looked very serious: "In ancient times, there were no water wheels or stone mills, so people had to slash and burn to farm and survived. Now the yield per mu is getting higher, and even in the south, three crops can be harvested a year, and the efficiency of textile production is gradually improving. From water wheels to stone mills to various spinning wheels and looms, these machines are changing the lives of ordinary people."
"Then, if it is really possible as I demonstrated at the Imperial Lecture last time, in the future, steel ships can be powered by machinery, without the need for oars, regardless of wind direction, and can sail unimpeded on the sea all year round. Then all the seas will be accessible, and distance will no longer be an obstacle. We can even lay tracks like in the Qin Dynasty and use powered carriages to travel everywhere."
"At that time, the language barrier is the biggest obstacle. Because of the language barrier, good intentions may be understood as malice, and malice may be understood as good intentions. What you want to express cannot be understood by others. Isn't this a natural barrier?"
"The most important thing is that, unlike Korea and Japan, and also unlike those island countries in Southeast Asia, although there are many small countries in the West today, there are also big countries rising. More importantly, hundreds or even thousands of years ago, there was a big country with a vast territory, powerful military force and profound culture that was not inferior to the Ming Dynasty today, occupying that land, and its legacy benefited many small countries."
"Of course, even so, not long ago, that land was still ignorant and dark."
Anyway, his own experience has been imagined by many people, including the emperor, who is the one who has imagined the most information, so Zhang Shou does not mind revealing that he has a basic knowledge of foreign history. That's right, a basic knowledge, not a thorough knowledge.
He vividly described the dark and ignorant Middle Ages in Europe, the cooperation and struggle between the church and the monarchy, the donation of Pepin, the division of the Frankish Kingdom, and even the witch trials that have already begun. He even wanted to talk about Henry VIII, the wife-killer, and the so-called virgin queen Elizabeth I, but considering the time, they were not born yet...
Even though Zhang Shou only told a few stories in a superficial way and did not go into detail, both the emperor and the other students felt that it was absurd but also had a feeling of having their eyes opened.
It turns out that under the same sky, thousands of miles away, there are such strange countries and systems? Western monks can actually ride on the heads of kings and act tyrannically?
Zhang Shou deliberately avoided the eternal topic of war and chose a unique popular Western history course. Seeing that the blond boy beside the emperor was obviously listening with his ears perked up, but his brows were knotted, it was obvious that he didn't understand, at least not completely. So he said calmly: "You know, knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to be invincible."
Sensing the deep meaning behind Zhang Shou's words, the emperor could not help but tap the table with his knuckles. He then sighed and said, "Our dynasty, and not just our dynasty, including the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, had many exchanges with Goryeo and Japan in the east, and the island countries in the south. Therefore, the characters and languages that the translators understood were mostly from these small countries."
"As for the small countries in the far west, the journey is too long and too far. In the Tang Dynasty, people could travel by land from the Western Regions. In the Yuan Dynasty, the land route was quite convenient because of the vast territory. Therefore, it is said that the most languages were translated and understood at that time. There are still many classics translated from that time in the Gujin Tongjiku. Of course, the translation level varies, and the teacher has complained about it."
"In our dynasty, apart from some ships sent by the imperial court during the reign of Emperor Taizu, there have only been some merchant ships since then. If it weren't for a man with a unique vision like the Earl of Weinan who set up a fleet, the mysterious East would probably only be a distant legend in the eyes of those small countries."
The emperor casually pushed the blame onto Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, and then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Because that route is too risky and too far, even with the sea charts from the reign of Emperor Taizu, it would only be taken once every few years."
The blond boy was listening hard, trying hard to understand, but what Zhang Shou had just said about his hometown was too complicated, and even had many embellishments and metaphors. He only understood a small part of it, and only understood that there were a lot of criticisms and sarcasm... But because he couldn't understand it all, even if he wanted to refute, he couldn't find the right words.
But he understood the emperor's last words, which meant that the sea route was dangerous, so this great Eastern country would only send a fleet to his hometown once every few years!
This means that even if he will not be sent to the mines, he will not be able to go back for at least a few years!
Even a bold man like him couldn't help but turn pale and panic at this moment. He had never thought about leaving home for ten or eight years. By then, would anyone still remember him? Would even his father and other relatives be gone?
The emperor did not notice the expression of the blond boy who called him uncle, but continued to look at Zhang Shou and said meaningfully: "So, these interpretations you mentioned are completely wasted in the eyes of some court officials. They cannot see the changes in per-acre yields of fields, the development of various agricultural tools and machinery, and they cannot see what is worth interacting with those small countries."
"Just like when I wanted to send more ships to sail around the world and communicate with the countries, they also strongly opposed it. They said that a small country is not worth mentioning, that's one thing. It's meaningless to waste money and food, that's another. How do you think we should convince them?"
Zhang Shou laughed and said nonchalantly, "No need to convince. Just like the public school or the girls' school that officially opened today, if they don't have to pay, it won't be considered as the court's intervention, so..."
"What does it have to do with them?"
The emperor was stunned at first after hearing this casual remark, and then he couldn't help laughing, and even laughed so exaggeratedly that he leaned over the table and banged the table with his fists. In response to this, some students of Jiuzhang Hall were shocked, some admired, some smacked their lips, and some were still frightened... Even those who thought they knew Zhang Shou well couldn't help but gasp.
After the emperor laughed without regard for etiquette, he asked with interest: "If that's the case, then why did you encourage the prince to write a letter? It's such a small matter, you can do it yourself, such as setting up a foreign language class in the public school, wouldn't that be very convenient?"
"Isn't that to give the elders a fair opportunity to oppose? The New Year is coming soon, let's make them happy. I asked the prince to submit a petition only because this is not a trivial matter. We can't hide it and not report it to the emperor just to avoid opposition."
These words should obviously be said in a dark room, but Zhang Shou said them calmly at this time and in this situation, as if he had no worries at all about spreading them.
But the emperor was very sure that it would not matter even if it got out, because his desk was already filled with all kinds of fierce or mild oppositions due to the Third Prince's petition. If Zhang Shou's words were spread as they were, at most one or two more old men would be angry to the point of becoming sick or even crazy.
Therefore, he smiled and shook his head, and finally nodded slightly and said: "If you can select students with good qualifications to teach the foreign language, or recruit interpreters who are familiar with the foreign language to learn mathematics, then of course this is possible. I forgot that even the teacher is ready. This kid should be able to teach the foreign language, right?"
The emperor suddenly stood up and looked down at the still dazed blond boy. After studying him for a while, he said decisively, "It's settled!"
Zhang Shou was not surprised to get the emperor's nod. The willful emperor would never care about such a small matter. Moreover, he had successfully delayed a little time by taking advantage of the opportunity to talk about European history, which was another inhumane reason. Seeing that the emperor was about to leave, he tried to change the conversation to another topic.
"Your Majesty just went to Banshan Hall. How was the discussion there?"
"How is it? Haha, those self-righteous brats were scolded by that gentleman. I couldn't help asking them many questions, but they were speechless." The emperor thought of the previous scene and felt both amused and sad. "They haven't even read the history books thoroughly, and haven't mastered all the historical figures. How dare they talk about deduction? The guys who stood on the side of the Jin Kingdom are quite interesting. You can see that they put a lot of effort into it. The maps and sand tables are quite professional."
This was what Zhang Shou had expected, so he did not defend himself, nor did he reveal the support of the Earl of Xiangyang and the Juren Group. Instead, he said with a smile that things would get better after a while, and there would always be progress in the future. Just when he thought it was time to send the emperor away, Chen Yongshou suddenly rushed in and whispered a few words to the emperor. The next moment, he saw that the emperor, who had just looked relaxed, suddenly looked cold: "Pretending to be sick? That's ridiculous!"
