White-robed Minister

Chapter 74 0072 [Xu Sanlang was actually a Scorpio in ancient times]

Chapter 74 0072 [Xu Sanlang was actually a Scorpio in ancient times]

In Guangzhou during the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the weather is hot and humid with frequent rain, making it feel like being in a sauna.

The thunderstorms came in bursts.

The muggy heat persisted both before and after the rain, and might even have intensified, making Xu Lai feel like he was constantly damp.

Taking a shower didn't help.

I had just finished showering, but less than fifteen minutes later, I was sweating again.

Feeling restless and irritable, unable to concentrate on reading, Xu Lai decided to write a math book. This was an assignment given by Yu Jing, who asked Xu Lai to write down his self-created arithmetic methods.

He was too lazy to go to the dining hall, because it was inconvenient to take off his clothes and go shirtless there.

At this moment, Xu Lai was only wearing shorts, the rest of his body was completely naked. He was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan in his left hand and writing mathematics with a pen in his right.

Chapter 1: Numbers and Arithmetic Symbols.

Chapter Two: Four Arithmetic Operations and Vertical Calculation.

Chapter 3: Fractions, Decimals, and Negative Numbers.

Chapter 4: Equations and Systems of Equations

That's enough; there's no need to continue.

Even if other options are ignored by the three departments, zero, O, and 0 will definitely be adopted.

Although the concept of zero existed in ancient China very early on, its development process was quite lengthy.

Take the number 405 as an example. Its written expression has been changing since the Qin and Han dynasties: four hundred (space) five.

Northern and Southern Dynasties: 450. 450 at the beginning.

During the Tang and Northern Song dynasties: 400 people and 5.05. 400 empty and 5.05.

It wasn't until the Southern Song and Jin dynasties that the character 口 was changed to O in order to make writing faster.

The letter "O" was only pronounced as "zero" during the Ming Dynasty. Before that, it was either silent or pronounced as "empty" or "circle".

Once you understand the evolution of 0, you'll realize the power of Xu Lai's math booklet.

It can bring the officials of the Three Departments to a climax!

Wen Zhonghe returned, fanning himself with a bamboo fan. Before even entering the door, he complained, "This weather is so hot! I really want to jump into the river for a bath."

"Back to the dorm so early?" Xu Lai asked with a smile.

Wen Zhonghe threw down his fan and hurriedly took off his clothes: "I can't stay in the dormitory. I'm covered in sweat. I need to come back and fetch some well water to wash myself off."

This guy quickly stripped naked, picked up the wooden bucket, and instead of leaving, he was walking his bird around in the dormitory.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Xu Lai found it annoying.

Wen Zhonghe leaned closer: "What are you writing?"

Xu Lai quickly stepped aside to keep his distance, then said disdainfully, "So tiny, and you dare to flaunt it?"

Wen Zhonghe wrapped a bath towel around his waist and curiously read Xu Lai's mathematical manuscript.

My mind went blank while reading it; it felt like I was reading gibberish.

"Is this mathematics? There was no mathematics department in the Song Dynasty," Wen Zhonghe muttered.

The Ming Suan Ke (明算科) was established during the Tang Dynasty and abolished during the Five Dynasties period.

It wasn't until the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty that a central arithmetic academy was established. Emperor Huizong of Song vigorously promoted arithmetic schools and officially reinstated the Mingsuan (明算) subject. However, the Mingsuan subject during Huizong's reign was part of the national arithmetic school system, with selections made through this system.

Xu Lai said, "If you want to learn, copy it yourself every night. On your day off, I will present it to Master Yu."

Wen Zhonghe shook his head repeatedly: "No interest. Your symbols are too complicated. I'd rather go read the Mathematical Classic. By the way, Professor Chen asked the headmaster to tell you to find some time to explain the study methods of the Great Classic to the students."

"I'm busy. You explain it to me, since you've already learned it anyway." Xu Lai was too lazy to show off.

Wen Zhonghe laughed and said, "I would like to speak up, but I'm afraid Professor Chen won't agree."

Xu Lai said, "He would definitely agree, because it doesn't matter who says it."

"Then I'll give it a try."

Wen Zhonghe happily carried the bucket to take a bath.

Xu Lai grabbed his handkerchief, wiped his face, then his chest and back, before walking outside and wringing it out forcefully.

I wrung out a lot of sweat.

This awful weather, when will it ever end?

Finally, a day off arrived. Xu Lai took a math booklet and went to the Military Affairs Department to deliver it to Yu Jing.

I was already sweating profusely halfway there.

Actually, compared to the Yangtze River basin, the temperature in Guangdong isn't high, but the humidity is ridiculously high. Plus, there are no fans or air conditioning—

Yu Jing was enjoying the cool air in the West Garden. He was sitting under the shade of a tree reading a book, with a servant fanning him.

Wow, it's cool here.

The West Garden is quite large and covered with trees.

As soon as Xu Lai entered the woods, he felt the temperature drop by two or three degrees.

"Student Xu Lai greets your teacher."

"Please sit down."

Xu Lai chose a good angle and sat down on the stone bench next to him, where he could benefit from the residual breeze fanned by the servant.

Yu Jing saw through this little scheme and couldn't help but laugh and scold him for being sly.

Xu Lai quickly presented the math booklet.

Yu Jingzai carefully looked at the table of numbers and Chinese characters, and then looked at the explanations of the multiplication and division symbols, parentheses, and equal signs.

There are also "definitions," etc.

For example, what is the definition of a natural number?

Besides the use of 0, Yu Jing was also surprised by decimals and negative numbers.

As Yu Jing read, he couldn't help but look up and carefully examine his disciple. He saw that the guy had his palms outstretched, pressing them on the stone table to cool them down, and then moving them to the table next to him once they warmed up.

In no time, the smooth stone table surface was covered with handprints from sweaty palms.

He even used palm prints to form patterns.

The servant fanning the other side observed the handprint while suppressing a laugh.

Yu Jing thought to himself: No matter how smart he is, he's still a child.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

A loud cicada chirping came from nearby, and the sound was getting closer and closer, making Yu Jing's ears hurt.

But then Pianpian and Yu'er arrived, carrying cicadas they had just caught.

Yu Jing, annoyed by the cicadas' chirping at such close range, couldn't help but scold, "Release the cicadas immediately! What kind of behavior is this, a young lady being so naughty!"

Pianpian casually released the cicada, gave Xu Lai a curtsy, found a stone bench to sit on, and complained, "It's so boring, so stuffy and hot. It's much better back home, why is Guangzhou so muggy?"

Both girls were dressed very lightly today.

Her light green gauze jacket, as thin as a cicada's wing yet not transparent, was flowing gracefully. The neckline was low, revealing a large expanse of skin below her neck. She wore no undergarment, only a strapless bra.

This attire would have been considered extremely revealing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but it was quite normal in the Song dynasty.

In the summer, they're everywhere.

Yu Jing continued reading the math booklet: "You guys go play." Then she added, to Xu, "You go play too, you don't need to come with me."

How do I play?

At this moment, Xu Lai just wanted to soak in the water.

He accompanied Pianpian on a walk in the West Garden, with Yu'er following closely behind them.

She gracefully waved her round fan and asked, "Did you go out to play during the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"No, I was reading in my dorm," Xu said. "Although it wasn't this hot back then, it was still too sunny to go out." Pianpian continued, "When my father presided over the Dragon Boat Festival ceremony, my mother and I went to worship Buddha. I met a small cat in the temple, just weaned, crying from hunger. I took it to the monks, but they said it wasn't their pet. So I took it home."

Xu Lai thought for a moment before realizing she was referring to a kitten.

To show off, Yu'er quickly said, "I'll go get Ah Li!"

Before long, Xu Lai heard a cat meowing, and Yu'er returned carrying a tabby cat.

Pianfan took the kitten, fiddling with its ears, and turned to Xu Lai, asking, "Do you study astrology?"

"Star Palace?" Xu Lai didn't understand.

Yu'er explained, "It refers to the twelve houses where the stars reside. I'm a Virgo, which means I have many children, good fortune, and am suited to managing domestic affairs—"

As she spoke, she blushed.

"I see." Xu Lai roughly guessed that it referred to the twelve constellations.

How popular was this thing in the Song Dynasty?

They went straight to the officially compiled military treatise!

In order to correct the precession of the calendar, the author of "The Complete Essentials of Military Classics" used the twenty-four solar terms combined with the twelve zodiacal signs to determine the coordinates of the sun's movement.

For example: "Rain Water, in the middle of the first month, the sun is at 15 degrees and 49 minutes of the constellation of Wei. The next day it enters the constellation of Pisces, and its spirit ascends to the heavens."

Used for military divination to predict the fortunes of wars.

Scholars and ladies also enjoyed studying this art, and Pianpian was clearly influenced as well, asking Xu Lai for his birth date to help her divine his fortune.

It's more like playing a game.

Xu Lai had no interest in this, but he didn't say anything else; he just wanted to play with the two girls.

In this awful weather, it's too hot to study at school, so I'm just killing time here at Xiyuan.

Pianfan and Yu'er only half understood this, and they were pondering it aimlessly while holding a book called "The Art of Astrology".

Yu'er flipped through the book and said, "Sanlang is destined to be the master of the Scorpio Palace, endowed with the qualities of being resourceful, cunning, and possessing the potential to become a prime minister or general—"

Fanpian, holding the kitten, recited: "Your natal star is Yinghuo, a fire star by day and an earth star by night, concealing mysteries. If you were born during the day, you will benefit from it; if you were born at night, you will be slightly restrained. But the paths lead to the same destination, and there is a way to resolve them."

Yu'er quickly asked, "Sanlang, were you born during the day or at night? If you were born during the day, your destiny would be even better."

"I forgot," Xu Lai replied.

Next, they helped Xu Lai calculate his fortune.

After flipping through the book for a while, Pianpian said, "The Winged Host's destiny falls in the Year of the Traveling Horse—this year there will be opportunities for travel, long journeys, and changes. You may enter an academy to study or accompany your elders to take up their posts. You can take this opportunity to broaden your horizons and increase your knowledge."

Xu Lai was stunned for a moment, thinking: Damn, how could he be so accurate? He must be just kidding!

Xu Lai couldn't help but look up at the sky, only to see the tree canopy and leaves.

As a time traveler, he seemed to sense a mysterious force in the darkness—self-psychological suggestion, absolutely self-psychological suggestion.

They played until noon, when Xu Lai was asked to stay for lunch.

Compared to last time, Madam Lin was more enthusiastic towards him, occasionally helping Xu Lai pick up food and asking him about his daily life.

Yu Jing didn't say much; he enjoyed studying Yin-Yang and the I Ching. After reading Xu Lai's math booklet, he planned to use it as a calculation method from the I Ching, as it was much easier to calculate than before.

After lunch, Yu Jing immediately returned to his study and said to Xiao Shi, "Make a copy. Not a single word or punctuation mark can be wrong."

He wanted to send Xu Lai's math booklet to Kaifeng.

Xu Lai accompanied Pianpian for a stroll in the West Garden for a while before bidding farewell and leaving the Military Commission.

No matter how hot and humid the weather is, I have to keep studying. I'm almost finished with the "Zuo Zhuan Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals".

As I walked to the school gate, I bumped into Chen Yanhong.

Since pageboys were not allowed to enter the school, Chen Yanhong had to carry his books himself.

The pageboy was waiting at the school gate. The moment Chen Yanhong stepped out of the gate, he quickly handed the book to the pageboy and frantically fanned himself with a round fan. His vest was soaked with sweat.

"Greetings, Brother Xingzhi."

Upon seeing Xu Lai approach, Chen Yanhong immediately put down his fan and politely bowed in greeting.

Xu Lai smiled and returned the greeting, wondering if this guy had really changed or was just pretending.

If you can pretend for a lifetime, then there's no question of pretending or not pretending.

Despite his politeness, his competitive spirit remained unchanged.

Chen Yanhong couldn't help but feel smug, and said with a hint of boasting, "After the quarterly exams, I applied to be promoted to a higher level of fasting. I passed the exam yesterday and officially switched to regular fasting today. Didn't Brother Xingzhi get promoted?"

"Congratulations on your advancement to the vegetarian realm, brother. My knowledge is insufficient, so I cannot advance to it for the time being," Xu Lai said.

Hearing this, Chen Yanhong was quite pleased and very politely encouraged him, saying, "Xingzhi is exceptionally intelligent. As long as you study hard, you will surely be able to advance to the next level after the quarterly exam."

Xu Lai suddenly asked, "Aren't you very hot? This kind of round fan is too small, and the air it produces isn't very strong."

"Huh?" Chen Yanhong was a little confused.

Xu Lai said, "I know of a kind of fan. It's not only elegant, but also has a strong breeze. Once I have a craftsman make one, I'll 'gift' it to you, brother."

Chen Yanhong, unsure of his intentions, instinctively replied, "Brother, you're too kind. The master said that courtesy should be reciprocated, and I will also present you with a valuable gift at that time."

"No need for such formalities. We are all scholars from Qingyuan. As fellow townsmen, we are not different from each other." Xu Lai's smile grew brighter and brighter.

This human-shaped ATM can finally dispense money.

Xu Lai had already decided how to spend the money: buy a copy of "The Correct Meaning of the Book of Rites," a copy of "The Selected Works of Zhaoming," and a copy of "Commentary on the Erya." He would also buy two sets of summer long gowns for changing.

Perfect"

(I haven't been sleeping well these past couple of days, so my mind is a bit foggy. Only two updates today.)

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