Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 818 Tutor
Judging from the behavior of the blond boy, if it was a harsh master, he would have dragged him down and beaten him half to death. A master who would promote a servant because he secretly read books, expel him from the family, or even avenge a family feud would never appear in a serious play, but only in the messy legends of some down-and-out writers.
Even though Emperor Taizu reaffirmed the Song system and there was no longer a rule like the Tang Dynasty that slaves and servants were treated like livestock, even if a non-lifetime contract was signed, slaves hired to work in the home were still not considered human beings in the eyes of most masters.
However, although Zhang Shou had also signed a contract with the blond boy Wu Dawei, he had seen this boy forget himself when reading books many times in the public school. Therefore, when he saw Zhu Ying's angry expression, he smiled and said, "Don't look at him. You will get angry if you see him too much. Just think that this boy is the best candidate to translate those foreign mathematical classics, and you will understand."
Zhu Ying had sharp eyes and noticed that the person was reading a foreign book that looked like a heavenly book. She snorted and said, "What's so great about those foreign books? How can they compare to the "New Edition of Ge's Mathematics" co-authored by you and Grandpa Ge?"
"That's not the case. The so-called Ge's New Compilation of Mathematics contains the wisdom of mathematical masters from past dynasties and foreign sages. How can it be my own achievement? Moreover, it is far from finished. If the students of Jiuzhang Hall are eager to learn and make progress in the future, they may be able to push this mathematical classic to a higher level."
Zhang Shou did not want to take credit for his achievements, but felt that his age and experience were not enough to convince the public, so he borrowed Ge Yong's name and packaged modern mathematics with Ge Yong's mathematics and launched it on the market. Now that he has really seen the Latin version of Euclid's "Elements of Geometry", which also comes with several other Latin text books that he cannot understand, he is glad that he had foresight.
Regardless of whether this book can be translated, it seems that we can only pin our hopes on this blond boy whose reliability is still unknown. However, in the Yuan Dynasty, there was still a translator for "The Elements of Geometry", even if that person was said to be a Semite. So in our dynasty, where merchant ships travel all over the world, if we try our best to find him, and if we can't find him, we will train one ourselves. Is it really possible that there has been no translator who understands Latin?
Besides, Euclid's books may not only have Latin versions, there must be Arabic versions. As his reputation grows, those who are interested can certainly find the source of what he teaches now, and sooner or later they will find fault with this aspect.
How could it be easier for him to reveal clues bit by bit, and have the endorsement of Grand Tutor Ge Yong, and then have the emperor and many rival bosses to fill in the blanks for him that he learned from non-mainstream old gentlemen who had traveled overseas and had overseas heritage himself?
While Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were talking, the blond boy who was reading a book suddenly burst out with joy - of course, it was a foreign language that none of them could understand. After all, Zhang Shou was incapable of speaking any language other than English, except for being able to speak some words and phrases in a serious manner.
But at least his reaction was much faster than Zhu Ying, whose forehead was stiff at this time: "Wu Dawei, what are you talking about?"
This time, the blond boy finally came to his senses and saw that the scholar Zhang who brought him back as a book boy was standing side by side with a gorgeously dressed woman. At this time, the scholar Zhang had a half-smile on his face , but the woman next to him was staring at him with a sullen look on her face, obviously not so happy. This time, he immediately realized that he had made the same mistake again.
His job as a handyman in the public school was in name only. He often muttered to himself while working and was distracted. Several teachers jointly complained about him, so Zhang Xueshi took him back to be a book boy. At this moment, he was afraid that his new arrival would anger this bachelor's sponsor, so he quickly put down his book and bowed in fear.
"I was engrossed in reading just now. It's my fault." As he said this, he lowered his head deeply, looking extremely sincere.
The four words "It's my fault" were learned by David Wu on the ship - it was an unforgettable memory after he was caught making a mistake and was severely beaten. If the lesson he learned in Florence was that he must never admit his mistakes, even if he was caught, he had to make excuses, then what he learned on the ship was that he just had to admit his mistakes and accept the punishment.
Otherwise, he would be even more unlucky! Because he was a stranger with a completely different skin color and hair color from others, he was facing the threat of death all the time. Even though he was very careful on the boat, he was almost thrown into the sea several times!
Although Zhu Ying looked unhappy, she honestly admitted her fault. The young lady's anger came and went just as quickly. Moreover, the boy was brought back by Zhang Shou, known as a book boy, and was also useful in translating those foreign books. Was it worth it for her to punish him just because she didn't like him? She ignored the boy and looked at Zhang Shou and asked, "Ah Shou, will he go to the public school with you every day from now on?"
"Yes, when I was in the public school, he would sit in on the classes at the Jiuzhang Hall. He had some basic knowledge of formulas and diagrams, but he didn't know any of the Ming characters, so I planned to find a teacher to teach him. This is different from teaching an ordinary child. Even if an ordinary teacher has no prejudice, it would be difficult for him to do the job. I don't have time to let him study for ten or eight years."
"Yingying, do you have any good candidates to teach him and shorten the time it takes for him to master the Ming language?"
Wu Dawei pricked up his ears to understand the conversation between Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying. Although he tried his best, he could only understand about 30% to 40% of it. This was all thanks to the fact that neither of them used those extremely difficult idioms, but he could finally understand the general idea.
That is, at least the obviously had no ill will towards him, and were even seriously discussing his education. They seemed to be planning to let him learn something!
Wu Dawei was a little annoyed that he had no autonomy over this issue, but even at home, he was a rebellious teenager, but at this moment he seemed very well-behaved.
In Florence, scholars were willing to tutor nobles and charge high tuition fees to accept the children of wealthy merchants and citizens, but he was the least welcomed as a bastard. In addition, he had a strange temper, so he only stayed under a scholar for less than three months at most, and was finally kicked out.
But in this far east, he discovered that the school he had attended before actually enrolled many students from real civilians, including the sons of farmers and craftsmen!
Not only scholars were teaching them, but also the young official Zhang Xue Shi, who was only a few years older than him.
Seeing Zhang Shou asking for her opinion on this matter, Zhu Ying's face immediately broke into a proud smile. Although teaching and educating people seemed to be Zhang Shou's area of expertise, no one was more familiar with how to teach the barbarians than her.
You know, no matter it was the Imperial College of the Han and Tang Dynasties, or the Imperial College of the Song and Ming Dynasties, there was always one kind of creature... no, it was a person, that is... the international students who have never been absent for thousands of years!
Many young people with different skin colors, accents, backgrounds, and races all appeared in the Imperial Academy, the highest institution of learning in the imperial court, and received education in etiquette, law, classics, and history. Some of them came to Beijing when they were five or six years old, and some were eleven or twelve years old. When they returned home, these people who had received a profound traditional Chinese education would naturally bring Chinese culture back to their country.
However, Zhu Ying had no intention of sending this blond boy to the Imperial College. Not to mention that Zhang Shou and the Imperial College had completely broken off relations, even if they had not, she did not think that the old scholars in the Imperial College had the ability to do so.
Because the princes and nobles of those traditional vassal states, whether it was Goryeo or Annan and Myanmar, could speak fluent Chinese and even write beautiful Chinese characters, so the children were naturally influenced by them. Because Japan was isolated overseas, there were not so many princes and nobles who could speak Chinese, but Chinese characters were always in common use. Therefore, many of the young people sent to the Imperial College had a good foundation in Chinese studies.
After all, Chinese and Chinese characters have been the most common language and writing system in all parts of the world for thousands of years.
Although the Turkic, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolian peoples all have their own languages and scripts, those languages may still be passed down orally, but the scripts are difficult to pass down, and even in the case of the Western Xia, the scripts are almost lost. Therefore, the people who are most proficient in the Khitan, Western Xia, and even Jurchen scripts are definitely not in the northwest, north, or northeast, but in a place that no one would have thought of.
Thinking about the secrets the emperor had told her, Zhu Ying said with a smile, "Leave this matter to me. I will ask a teacher who is best at teaching languages to teach this kid. It won't take ten or eight years, at most one or two years!"
Zhang Shou immediately started to wonder. Chinese has always been called the most difficult language in the world, bar none, and many foreigners have been tortured to death by it in later generations. Zhu Ying actually boasted that it could be mastered quickly?
Moreover, where did this young lady invite the teacher? How come he didn't know that she had such connections before? You know, among the three brothers and sisters of the Zhu family, Zhu Tingfang is outstanding in both literary talent and martial arts, but the other two seem to have nothing to do with being studious and ambitious , and they also have nothing to do with those famous teachers and celebrities... Miss Zhu was once ridiculed for being unlearned.
Zhu Ying pretended not to notice Zhang Shou's suspicion. She raised her chin and nodded at the confused blond boy. Then she said, "You are new here, don't study so hard. Let Ah Liu assign you a place to live. Take a good look around the house first and learn the rules. Otherwise... be careful not to make mistakes and get a beating."
When the eldest lady said the last three words, she showed her little white teeth as if in protest, which immediately frightened Wu Dawei so much that he closed his legs and then nodded rapidly.
He had only seen whips and sticks in the West, and had never seen something as scary as a board... It was really scary that Orientals could think of such a punishment instrument! However, when he left, he saw Zhu Ying smiling brightly, and that smile was really real and vivid, completely different from those noble women he had seen who were always smiling falsely.
That night, Wu Dawei, who had changed his residence, not only had a single room, a solid bed, thick bedding, but also enjoyed a very sumptuous dinner. Although this was not the best treatment he had enjoyed since arriving in Dongfang Mingguo, it was at least the day he slept most peacefully. Moreover, he easily remembered the house rules explained to him by the young man who called himself the butler.
Because there are only two words - listen, listen, listen! As long as you can do this, you won't make a big mistake!
Zhu Ying kept her word. The next day, when Zhang Shou brought his new bookboy to the public school and brought him back, he learned from the gatekeeper An Lu that the teacher his wife had volunteered to invite had arrived. He looked back at the blond boy who followed him closely and looked honest, and said with a smile, "Okay, your teacher has arrived, let's go see him."
He can speak the language a little bit but cannot read at all. This is Wu Dawei's most embarrassing situation now.
It is not to say that he could not read and write at all. Wu Dawei could recognize and write the three simplest characters, one, two, and three. However, when he first started learning, he thought that the characters of the Ming Dynasty were too simple and crude. When he saw that they could not express numbers by adding horizontal strokes, he was confused by the fact. Because from four to ten, there was no pattern at all !
At this time, Wu Dawei also showed his joy after understanding Zhang Shou's meaning. When he followed Zhang Shou to the study, he saw the young lady he met yesterday and another old man without a beard waiting there. When he saw him and Zhang Shou, the other party first bowed to Zhang Shou solemnly, and then looked at him with a very critical look.
"Is that him?"
Wu Dawei was a little scared by the cold gaze, but he still tried to stand up straight. As for Zhang Shou, he was dragged out by Zhu Ying before he could say anything. When he got outside, he wanted to say that it was my study, not the study of the blond boy, why did he want me to leave, but then he heard Zhu Ying's words: "This is Eunuch Liang in the palace."
"Eunuch?" Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel absurd. If it were someone else, he might think that the eldest lady was playing a trick on him. However, he knew that although Zhu Ying often did things against the rules, she was actually very sensible. Therefore, after being surprised, he thought carefully and his eyes lit up. "From the library in the Imperial Household Department? Or from the Ancient and Modern Collections?"
"A Shou, how can you be so smart!" Zhu Ying smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed, feeling quite proud that her efforts had not been in vain. "Eunuch Liang is the eunuch in charge of the Ancient and Modern Collection Library. He is proficient in Xixia, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolian. He even has some knowledge of the Turkic language, which is rarely seen nowadays."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but take a deep breath. Although the Chinese minority characters and Western languages seem to be completely different in dimensions and concepts, it is actually not simple at all, because those leaders who are proficient in Chinese characters order those scholars who are also proficient in Chinese characters to create characters. In order to highlight the national characteristics, they often specifically order people to create characters that are completely different from Chinese characters.
As a result, let alone foreigners, in the late dynasty, many native people could not write their own language! And that eunuch Liang was able to master so many minority languages... He couldn't help but say sincerely: "This eunuch Liang is really a rare talent!"
Zhu Ying smiled even more happily: "When Emperor Taizu led his army to capture Yuan Dadu, he had carefully arranged for internal support in advance, so many books were preserved, which led to the creation of the Ancient and Modern Collection Library. But many of those books were in these languages, so from that time on, the palace trained eunuchs to learn these languages. So when it comes to teaching people languages and characters, no one is better than them!"
