Zhang Fengxiang, a native of Dengzhou, Shandong Province, was born in Juren County. After many years of hard work, he finally became the magistrate of Wuyi County.
There is still one year left, and the term of office is about to expire. Magistrate Zhang just wants to stop causing trouble.
The rebels came three times last year, but fortunately they all went to rob Jingzhou. The neighboring Fucheng County and Wuqiang County were also robbed, but they did not visit Wuyi County. Maybe it was because this county was too poor. Anyway, Zhang
Fengxiang made it through without any danger.
On this day, Zhang Fengxiang had just woken up from his lunch break when his master came in and said: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has sent two arithmetic books and requires all officials in all prefectures and counties in Northern Zhili to read them thoroughly."
"It's really strange. What's the purpose of the imperial court issuing accounting books?" Zhang Fengxiang sneered, "Should officials at all levels learn accounting skills?"
The master reminded: "Both these two books were written by Wang, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, the same Wang Erlang who killed Liu Liu and Liu Qi and captured Qi Yanming alive!"
Zhang Fengxiang didn't care about Wang Erlang. He could never even be a magistrate of the state in his life, let alone deal with the Hanlin Academy. He immediately ordered: "Since it is an imperial decree, let Cui Xiancheng study these two books carefully.
It was a mistake to give grain to this county."
According to Wang Yuan's idea, the two books "Mathematics" and "Geometry" were printed and distributed throughout the world.
But now that rebels are everywhere, transportation is inconvenient, and the Si Li Supervisory Factory has insufficient funds, so it can only print a few hundred copies for him. All departments in the central government have distributed them, and there are still some left, so they simply throw them to Beizhili
Prefectures and counties.
After Zhang Zhixian got the book, he threw it directly to Cui Xiancheng without even reading it.
Cui Xiancheng didn't have much interest, so he simply left it to the grain department and let the grain department officials study hard.
There were several officials in the grain department. When they saw the improved Arabic numerals, they immediately felt dizzy. Only one of them felt like he had found a treasure.
This person's name is Du Jin, whose courtesy name is Liangyu, and he is proficient in arithmetic.
Du Jin was originally a student member of Wuyi County. Because he liked to study mathematics, he failed the exam for many years and was fined as a clerk in the grain department.
There were three major sources of officialdom in the Ming Dynasty, namely, qian's charge, punishment's charge and beg's charge.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the main practice was to serve as a civil servant, that is, you submitted your application, the local gentry reviewed it at all levels, and then the government reviewed and filed it, so that you could serve as a grassroots civil servant.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the main points were punishment and charging, with one punishment and one asking for compensation, forming a sharp contrast. When a member of the staff became an official, he was punished, while when a commoner became an official, he was asked for compensation. The former was reluctant, while the latter was sharpened.
He dug his head in.
At first, Du Jin just opened it and looked at it casually. After memorizing the Thai and Western numbers, he quickly became obsessed with it and sat in the Grain Science Office to study it all day long.
After get off work, Du Jin took "Mathematics" and "Geometry" and rushed to the home of his friend Bao Chaozhen.
"Brother Guide, come and read these two masterpieces!" Du Jin shouted wildly, waving the books.
Bao Chaozhen was also obsessed with mathematics, but unlike Du Jin who failed the exams for many years. Not only was he a scholar, but he was also a junior student. Unfortunately, he failed in both provincial exams.
Bao Chaozhen asked with a smile: "What masterpiece is it?"
"Arithmetic book!" Du Jin said excitedly.
Bao Chaozhen immediately left Du Jin at home to eat, and discussed while eating. After the meal, Bao Chaozhen didn't even care about his wife and children, and took Du Jin to study all night. Unknowingly, he had already studied until dawn.
They have a solid foundation to begin with, and through some familiarity, they quickly skip the basic content and directly study the mathematics knowledge equivalent to the junior high school level.
In the morning, the sky is bright.
Two young people under thirty years old, still in high spirits after a long night, looked at each other and suddenly laughed.
Bao Chaozhen said: "Xueshi Wang is a true god and man!"
Du Jin sighed: "That's right. He can win the first prize in essays, he can defeat thieves in martial arts, and he is even so proficient in arithmetic."
Bao Chaozhen's family was not short of money at all, so he suddenly stood up and said: "Brother Liangyu, I want to go to the capital to seek advice from Master Wang!"
Du Jin was surprised and said: "You don't want to take the provincial examination?"
Bao Chaozhen shook his head and said: "If I fail the provincial examination twice in a row, I'm afraid I won't be able to pass the examination. I might as well concentrate on studying arithmetic."
Du Jin reminded: "Xueshi Wang is a member of the Imperial Academy. It may not be easy to see him, let alone become his disciple."
Bao Chaozhen said with a wry smile: "I am really unwilling to accept the fact that Bachelor Wang has learned a lot about calculations and participated in creation. I don't want to ask for advice in person!"
"Then let's go to the capital together!" Du Jin suddenly gritted his teeth and said.
Bao Chaozhen was even more surprised: "Have you given up your fame?"
"I didn't even pass the annual examination, so why should I take the imperial examination? It doesn't matter if I don't take the examination." Du Jin was quite a bachelor.
The annual examination is a routine examination for students. If you fail to pass the exam for several consecutive years, you will be punished. The punishment Du Jin suffered was to be thrown into the county government as an official (with a certain period of time). If he went to the capital to visit Wang Yuan now,
, which is tantamount to escaping the punishment of the annual examination without authorization. In serious cases, you will be directly deprived of your honors.
Bao Chaozhen is different. Even if he is delayed for a few years, he can still come back to take the examination. He just needs to return to his hometown regularly to take the annual examination.
After the discussion, the two people immediately decided to choose a day to go to Beijing. Anyway, their family was not short of money, and they did not have to worry about starving to death one day in the future.
Du Jin went home and took a nap. In the afternoon, he went directly to the county government to resign, and was immediately deprived of his status as a student member. Fortunately, he was not beaten to death with a stick. He can take the exam again in the future. This is all for the sake of his father.
superior.
In the following days, Du Jin and Bao Chaozhen were studying "Mathematics", no matter how much their father beat and scolded them, it was of no avail.
Seeing that he was about to be imprisoned by his father, Bao Chaozhen actually abandoned his wife and children, leaving only a letter, and left Wuyi County with Du Jin overnight.
Halfway through, Bao Chaozhen said: "I heard that there is a master of mathematics in the neighboring county. I have never had the opportunity to visit him before. Why not take the opportunity of going to Beijing to see him?"
"I've heard of it too, but I don't know if it's worthy of the name." Du Jin said.
The two immediately went to Raoyang County next door and asked for directions to Wang Wensu's home early in the morning.
Wang Wensu was a Shanxi merchant, but he was a low-level Shanxi merchant. His family only did small business. Even when he came to settle in Raoyang County, his family fled. In the 20th year of Chenghua, there was a severe drought in Shanxi and Shaanxi. People ate each other, and even small businessmen
Can't survive.
Wang Wensu has been doing business with his father since he was a child. At the beginning, his family was relatively prosperous. Unfortunately, after his father died, he was busy studying mathematics and did not take care of business. Now he only makes a living by opening a small shop.
Now, Wang Wensu simply handed over the shop to his son and stayed at home all day compiling mathematics books.
Wang Wensu believed that mathematics in the Ming Dynasty was weak and many contents were discontinued. He wanted to compile a work that would be handed down by himself. Wang Wensu had studied the works of several famous mathematicians in the Ming Dynasty in depth. He felt that their arithmetic books were full of errors and omissions, and they deliberately concealed the truth and revealed the truth.
It doesn’t make it easy for people to get started.
Wang Wensu, also known as Shangbin, was the first true mathematician in the Ming Dynasty. He wrote "A Book of Mathematics" of nearly 500,000 words.
It is a pity that this mathematics book, which was compiled nearly 30 years ago, was only handed down in incomplete manuscripts because Wang Wensu did not have the money to print it. In his later years, Wang Wensu could only make a living by teaching, and his family fortune was ruined by him. It can be said that he completely went astray.
Shanxi merchants.
Two young men, Bao Chaozhen and Du Jin, soon saw Wang Wensu. What appeared in front of them was a clear middle-aged man in his forties.
"Jin Bao Chaozhen (Du Jin), a math graduate, is here to pay homage to you sir!" The two of them behaved respectfully.
Wang Wensu was also very happy because when he met a fellow mathematician, he immediately smiled and said: "Please come in."
Before the tea was even served, Du Jin entered the room to give a test: "I heard that Mr. abacus is amazing, and I would like to see it."
Wang Wensu smiled and said: "Okay."
Although the abacus has been invented for a long time, during the Zhengde period, it was still used together with abacus. Abacus was used for addition, subtraction and multiplication, and more complex calculations could only use abacus.
It is precisely because of Wang Wensu's creative research and Cheng Dawei, who was born twenty years later, that the abacus finally completely overwhelmed the calculation in China. In their hands, the abacus can even be used to prescribe squares, squares, and powers.
If you can do it, calculations will gradually disappear in daily use.
"Snap, snap, snap!"
There was a series of crisp sounds. Wang Wensu and Du Jin were calculating at the same time, and their hands were so fast that ghosts appeared.
As soon as Bao Chaozhen finished reading the question, the two of them had already figured out the answer. As a result, the questions became more and more complex and difficult, and it was still difficult to tell the winner.
Wang Wensu called his family again and recited the topic with Bao Chaozhen.
At the same time, the two of them read the question, and Wang Wensu was doing two things at once, tapping different abacus with both hands, which amazed Du Jin.
"Sir's skills are amazing!" Du Jin and Bao Chaozhen were completely impressed.
Du Jin took out the book "Mathematics" and said, "Sir, please take a look at this thing."
Wang Wensu was even proficient in Thai and Western numerals. He opened the preface and said with a smile: "Scholar Wang's improved Thai and Western numerals are indeed more convenient for writing."
This gentleman flipped through the pages quickly and acted very relaxedly until he reached the equations and functions section, and then his face became serious. In order to verify Wang Yuan's mathematical method, he didn't even need to do calculations, he just picked up the abacus and started tapping.
Squares and powers are as easy as drinking water.
"What a great idea!" Wang Wensu let go of her calculations and exclaimed.
Bao Chaozhen said: "We want to go to the capital and ask Academician Wang in person. I wonder if you would like to accompany us?"
"That's what I wish for!" Wang Wensu agreed immediately.