Song Ling'er didn't know what etiquette was. After dinner, she pulled Wang Yuan to her boudoir and looked at the maid Wang Yangming had bought with dumbfounded eyes.
"Are you testing me?" Wang Yuan joked.
Song Ling'er said nothing, just stood there and stared, as if Wang Yuan had said the wrong thing.
Wang Yuan immediately changed the subject: "Didn't I say last time that I wanted to teach you a new algorithm? Come on, let's go to the study."
Song Ling'er was even more unhappy and followed Wang Yuan gloomily.
Wang Yangming was doing academic research in his study and continuing to improve his theory of mind. He didn't bother to talk to them when they came in.
Wang Yuan took up his pen and wrote down ten numbers from 0 to 9, letting Song Ling'er gradually become familiar with them.
"This is easy to write, but it's a little inconvenient to remember." Song Ling'er's attention quickly turned to the numbers.
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Write it a few times and you will remember it."
Unknowingly, Song Ling'er had practiced several pages of papyrus and basically mastered the Arabic numerals, but she couldn't tell whether she would be confused when she woke up tomorrow.
Suddenly, Uncle Wang's voice came from behind: "Which country's numbers are you from? 0, 1, and 9 are somewhat similar to Thai and Western numbers."
"Sir, do you also know Thai and Western numerals?" Wang Yuan was a little surprised.
Wang Yangming immediately picked up the brush and wrote out the ancient version of Arabic numerals. 0, 1, and 9 were exactly the same, 2 was written sideways, 3 was written sideways with a tail, 4 and 5 were completely unknown symbols, and 6 was the same as the letter y.
Pretty much, 7 is the same as the letter v, and 8 is the letter v written backwards.
Wang Yuan looked at the ancient numbers in confusion and asked, "Are these the Thai and Western numbers?"
Wang Yangming smiled and said: "I saw someone writing in Yuyao. It is indeed more convenient to write large numbers in the hundreds or thousands."
Wang Yuan felt awkward no matter how he looked at it. For example, "17", the Arabic numeral at this time was written as "1v". "26" looked like "ny", and the n had to be written from left to right, and the one on the right
The vertical drag is very long.
The writing method of single letters from left to right is not consistent with the writing habits of China and Europe, so it was later improved by Europeans into modern writing.
Wang Yangming wrote it again according to Wang Yuan's numbers, and immediately praised: "Your writing method is more convenient and simpler."
Wang Yuan also wrote out symbols such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and taught Song Ling'er to learn the four arithmetic operations.
Song Ling'er soon became happy: "This is much easier to learn than "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic"."
Nonsense, the first question in "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" is to find the area, which is of course more difficult to solve than addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
"Island Arithmetic" and "Five Classics Arithmetic" are more difficult. The former studies trigonometric calculation problems, while the latter is so confusing that it can make beginners dizzy.
Wang Yangming observed for a while and felt that this method was more intuitive and much more convenient than using words and calculations to express. Moreover, the larger the number and the more complex the calculation, the more trouble-free it seemed. He couldn't help asking: "Ruoxu, what are you doing?
This kind of exotic arithmetic you mastered at that time?"
Wang Yuan joked: "During the Yunnan Provincial Examination, I was taught by an elder. The Thai and Western numbers he wrote were very similar to those written by the teacher. I felt it was a little inconvenient, so I made improvements."
Wang Yangming thought for a while and said: "You can write a "New Suan Jing" and I will write the preface, maybe it can be extended."
"Wouldn't this be criticized by scholars?" Wang Yuan asked.
Wang Yangming said with a smile: "It's not that much of a criticism. At most, it's regarded as a trail."
"Then I'll write it down." Wang Yuan instantly lost his worries.
Literati in the Ming Dynasty liked to engage in research, and the specific contents were diverse, among which arithmetic was one of the main directions.
In another twenty years, the Ming Dynasty will give birth to a super genius with outstanding achievements in mathematics, literature, calendar, dance, music, musical instruments, etc. This person is the little Zheng Wang Zhu Zaiyu.
Wang Yuan continued to teach Song Ling'er arithmetic, while Wang Yangming watched from the side, raising some doubts from time to time, but he quickly drew inferences and drew parallels.
It was already dark at this time, and Wang Yuan could not go back despite the curfew, so he simply stayed at Wang Yangming's house.
In the following days, Wang Yuan wrote arithmetic manuscripts during the day and went to teach Song Ling'er after get off work, and he lived a very comfortable life.
In less than half a month, Wang Yuan finished writing the manuscript of "New Calculation Classic". The content is nothing but numbers, calculation formulas, four arithmetic operations, mixed operations, linear equations of one variable and fraction conversion, all of which are elementary school mathematics content.
And it is definitely not as detailed and lengthy as primary school textbooks. You only need to write down each knowledge point clearly and give an example question. It takes more than half of the knowledge points of primary school mathematics in later generations to be compressed into a thin thirty or forty pages of paper.
Researchers will find out for themselves.
After asking Wang Yangming to write the preface, Wang Yuan took it to the printing house.
The owner of the printing shop shook his head: "Sister Wang, your book cannot be printed with movable type. You must spend energy on engraving. And I'm afraid the market is not very good, and you won't be able to sell a few copies after engraving. If you really want to publish a book, it will cost all
Scholar Wang must take care of himself."
It's just a book published at one's own expense, and it still won't sell.
In fact, arithmetic books were very popular in the Ming Dynasty. As early as the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, Hangzhou Qinde Hall had printed a set of "New Issues of Yang Hui's Algorithm", which has been reprinted many times across the country in the past century. Including "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", these arithmetic books
, sales volume is second only to imperial examination textbooks, literary and historical classics, poetry, calligraphy and story books.
The problem is that Wang Yuan's Arabic numerals made the boss of the printing house very upset.
Wang Yuan didn't know how to spend his own money to engrave it, and he would have to worry about sales after printing it. He directly took the manuscript and dedicated it to Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, this is the calculation scripture that I have written recently." Wang Yuan handed it over with a smile.
Zhu Houzhao said: "I didn't expect Wang Erlang to be proficient in arithmetic. I will definitely take a look."
Zhu Houzhao opened the manuscript and saw all kinds of weird symbols. He instantly felt like he had been cheated.
What the hell?
Wang Yuan pointed to Wang Yangming's preface and said: "These are Thai and Western numerals, which are not easy to write and read, so I made some improvements."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked, "What are these things for?"
Wang Yuan replied: "It can make it easier for beginners to practice arithmetic. These are just the basics. I will also write more in-depth arithmetic scriptures, which are useful in fields, taxation, water transportation, grain and grass, calendars, etc."
"
Zhu Houzhao liked all kinds of new things. The "History of the Ming Dynasty" records: "Fo Langji... His fire-maker Ya San was at the emperor's side because Jiang Bin served him, and he learned his language as a joke during the emperor's reign."
Well, there was a Portuguese translator beside Zhengde, and the emperor often learned Portuguese from the translator. This happened in the thirteenth year of Zhengde.
Zhu Houzhao not only spoke Portuguese, but was also proficient in Sanskrit. History records that he was "proficient in all Buddhist scriptures and Sanskrit." In addition, Zhu Houzhao also studied music and drama, and personally composed "Music of the Killing Formation".
This emperor is definitely smart, but his skill tree is wrong.
There was no need for Wang Yuan to teach him. Zhu Houzhao learned the Chinese language and numbers in the manuscript by himself. And the more he learned, the more energetic he became. After becoming familiar with numbers and various symbols, he finished reading dozens of pages of the manuscript in half a day.
.
"They are all very simple things. I learned them when I was young. Is there anything more difficult?" the emperor asked.
Wang Yuan was quite speechless and said: "Yes."
Therefore, Wang Yuan taught the emperor decimal points and decimals in the Leopard Room, and then taught geometry content in elementary and junior high schools.
Zhu Houzhao especially likes geometry. He scratches his head at various figures and gets excited after solving the answers.
"This is a good way to benefit the country!"
After solving a trapezoidal problem, Zhu Houzhao pointed to the question and said: "This can be used to calculate the size of the dam. It is more convenient than the current algorithm. All officials from the Ministry of Industry should learn it."
Wang Yuan flattered him and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Zhu Houzhao threw the manuscript to the accompanying eunuch and said: "I ordered the ceremonial officer to engrave it immediately. When Wang Erlang finished writing "Principles of Geometry", they would print it out together and give it to Huitong Hall for distribution in various places."
The Si Li Supervisor has jurisdiction over the Han Jing Factory, the Dao Jing Factory and the Fan Jing Factory, which are responsible for engraving books. Such books are collectively called "Jing Chang Ben". For example, during the Jiajing period, the Si Li Supervisor published "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
It is the earliest official printed version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Although it is also a famous book, "Water Margin" received a much miserable treatment. It was banned by the imperial court several times, and it was revived every time after the book was banned.
The ceremonial supervisor only serves the emperor, and the ministers have nothing to do with it.
However, once the arithmetic book is distributed across the country, someone will inevitably accuse Wang Yuan of not doing his job properly.
Moreover, the Yanguan would impeach Wang Yuan, accusing Wang Yuan of leading the emperor to delve into arithmetic. After all, Zhu Houzhao's learning of Portuguese was despised by the officials.