Section Eleven Everyone

  Lao Cheng has been stunned, he probably can't even dream that there are still people in the world studying these things, Zhang's big mouth is speechless.

  Yun Ruo saw that Old Cheng had become dizzy and hastily shook his arm. Only then did Old Cheng come back to himself, and he couldn't help but ask: "What else was taught?"

  "Arithmetic, physics, geometry, mechanical drawing, map drawing, metal casting, and so on, some elementary questions." Yun Yi recited all the knowledge she had learned in school in one breath.

  What discipline does salt production belong to?

  "Physics, simple dissolution, filtration, detoxification, evaporation, crystallization and salt is made. In short, physics is a subject that studies the laws of heaven and earth, and Xiao Shu will show it to Bo Bo one by one later."

  "Can I watch? Doesn't your school have restrictions on this aspect?"

  "Learning, learning, one must learn and ask questions at the same time. What can a person do? When my teacher taught me, he told me that once I had the opportunity, I must spread our school's learning all over the world. The end of chaos in the world is just the beginning of good governance. For many years, our Han culture has been lost and destroyed, who knows how much? This is the blood and sweat of our ancestors, the wealth of future generations, how can it not be heartbreaking? How dare I hide it for myself?"

  "I'm a rough man, I don't think much of those who are arrogant and lacking in substance. But for those who truly have knowledge and learning, I wouldn't dare show the slightest disrespect. In Chang'an City, there are several such individuals, when we return, I'll bring you to visit them and ask for their guidance, they will surely teach you out of respect for Old Cheng. I'm looking forward to seeing your great accomplishments one day. Since you've studied mathematics, let's invite a few military strategists to test your skills, let's see how far you've progressed."

  Yun Ye saw Old Cheng wanting to test himself, and secretly laughed in his heart. In this "Three Fold Brothel, Chickens and Rabbits in the Same Cage, Han Xin's Troop Deployment", which were considered super difficult problems of the Tang Dynasty, Yun Ye didn't believe there was any problem that could stump him.

  "Uncle may as well call a few more people, prepare a few more difficult questions, and spend some extra effort, it's okay, I haven't eaten yet."

  Yun Ruo's eyes widened, and Cheng Yaojin rarely didn't get angry. He casually took out a jade pendant from his sleeve, a green feitian? Yun Ruo recognized it at a glance as the legendary top-grade sheep fat white jade, which wouldn't be worth asking for in later generations unless you had tens of millions. Swallowing the saliva that was about to drip down, he asked: "Uncle wants to give it to his nephew?" As he spoke, he reached out to take it, but Old Cheng put it back into his sleeve instead. "Want it? Win against three Zan Huai, and it's yours." After saying this, he lifted the curtain and left.

  Yun Yan finally didn't have to kneel anymore, the kneeling from earlier almost took his life, his thighs were sore beyond compare, and his butt was swollen as if it had two large... He carefully spread his legs apart, sat down, and stuffed a piece of braised meat into his mouth, savoring the delicious taste. It turned out to be beef, wasn't killing cows in the Tang Dynasty punishable by law? How could this old guy slaughter cows at will? Thinking back, probably no one would dare to run into the Left Guard's camp to catch cow killers. A few pieces of beef, two pieces of cooked mutton, and half a deer leg, after eating his fill, Yun Yan suddenly felt that life was so wonderful. He hugged the teapot and poured himself half a cup of tea, Tang Dynasty's raw tea, still ground into powder, with a strong grassy smell that rushed straight to his brain. He forced himself to drink it down, just to supplement his vitamins. Old Cheng had not returned yet, and Cheng Chumo was nowhere to be seen. Out of boredom, Yun Yan leaned against his arm on the carpet and fell asleep.

  Yun Yan was lying on the carpet, snoring intermittently, with occasional sobbing sounds mixed in. He didn't know what he was dreaming about, but his face was covered in tears. Cheng Chu Mo quietly walked in and saw Yun Yan like this, shook his head and quietly lifted the curtain to leave. Outside the curtain stood a middle-aged scholar, with his hands clasped together, a proud look on his face. He had always been dissatisfied with General Cheng's order for him to compete with Yun Yan, thinking that after nearly twenty years of studying mathematics, he now had to engage in a contest with a young whippersnapper. If it weren't for the general's orders, he would have long since turned and left. He didn't think that he would have to condescend to instruct this youngster, but Yun Yan was actually sleeping soundly. This was truly unbecoming of a person. Cheng Chu Mo looked at the middle-aged scholar's stern face and felt displeased in his heart. His younger brother had been working day and night for the entire army, rushing to complete tasks, and today he had even traveled over sixty miles. A fourteen or fifteen year old boy sleeping was nothing out of the ordinary, but this period of time had been tough on his younger brother. He hadn't seen him sleep in a long time, and yet he still shed tears. You, sour face, apart from being able to write and calculate, what other skills do you have? The more Cheng Chu Mo thought about it, the darker his expression became.

  "Prefect, this young man is indeed impolite. He pretends to sleep in order to avoid the examination. I originally had a mind to give him some guidance, but it seems that one cannot carve rotten wood. I bid you farewell!" The middle-aged scholar also ignored Cheng's gloomy face and made a big bow with his hands, preparing to leave.

  Cheng Chu Mo reached out and grasped Wen Shi's sleeve: "Mr. Huang, please calm down, since the general has already given the order, it would be better for you to stay."

  "This kid is so rude, his talent and virtue must be limited. A country bumpkin like him dares to discuss mathematics with me? I, Huang Zhi'en, have been studying since I was a child, and after experiencing many setbacks, I finally became a student of Liu Laodong at the Imperial Academy. After seven years of hard study, I only slightly grasped the basics of mathematics. It's not easy to learn, but I'm doing it for the sake of General Cheng. And yet, I suffered such great humiliation! Huang certain bids farewell!" Cheng Chu Mo warned himself, but Huang Zhi'en couldn't hold back his anger anymore and stormed off. Just as he turned around, a lazy voice came from behind."

  "Having studied for seven years, is it easy? Can the nine-grid method be solved? Can the rope measurement of a well be known? Is the Pythagorean theorem known? How high is Mount Tai? How much sand does the Yellow River carry?"

  Huang Zhi'en stared incredulously at Yun Yan, who was leaning against the door of the tent, and trembled as he spoke: "Two-four for shoulders, six-eight for feet, left-seven right-three, wearing nine and treading one, is the correct solution to the Nine Palaces. But I don't know how deep the well is or how long the rope is. Three turns into the well leaves four feet remaining, four turns into the well leaves one foot remaining. The well is eight feet deep, and the rope is thirty-six feet long. The 'Nine Chapters on Arithmetic' says: 'The hypotenuse is three, the leg is four, the unknown is five.' But I know the result without knowing the reason why. How high is Mount Tai? How much sand does the Yellow River carry? Only Heaven knows."

  "There is nothing in the world that cannot be measured. Using the shadow of a mountain to measure its height, using a ladle to measure the Yellow River - doesn't Mr. Huang know this? According to what I know, there are not less than 500 ways to prove the Pythagorean theorem. What one learns should be applied in practice; otherwise, what is the point of learning?"

  "How did you know? How could you have known? The Imperial Academy does not reveal its secrets to outsiders, and I only heard my teacher mention it in passing. Yet you seem to know all about it - what principle is at work here?"

  "There are many masters of mathematics in the world, but you only know about the Imperial Academy. Can you solve the Nine Palaces? The Sixteen Palaces? The Thirty-Two Palaces? You know the One Element, Two Elements, can you know the Three Elements, Multiple Elements? A few interesting questions, you and your kind regard as treasures, keeping them secret and not sharing, how ridiculous! These kinds of problems are just childish games, a frog at the bottom of a well trying to measure the size of the sky, really laughable."

  Huang Zhi'en only felt a buzzing in his ears, and Yun Ye's words were partly rumors and partly unheard of. He was an expert and knew that Yun Ye wasn't speaking nonsense. Not to mention himself, even if his master were here, he probably wouldn't be much better than him.

  Yun Heng arrived in front of Huang Zhi'en, picked up a branch, and casually drew a hook stock round square diagram on the ground. After throwing away the branch, he patted his hands and said indifferently: "Today, I was rude first, Zhao Shuang's hook stock round square diagram, my family's hook stock expansion diagram is cheap for you, just as an apology."

  Huang Zhi'en's mind was already elsewhere, no longer on Yun Ye and his rudeness. He lay on the ground, muttering to himself, writing and drawing with his fingers, not caring what Yun Ye and Cheng Chu Mo were doing.

  Cheng Chu Mo patted Yun Ye heavily on the back: "As expected of my brother, I knew you wouldn't lose to Su Ding. Indeed, drinking is not allowed in the army, otherwise, we brothers would drink until we're drunk."

  Yun Ye rubbed his shoulder, with a resentful face. The father and son, one spanking the buttocks, the other patting the shoulder, didn't care if others could bear it or not. He quickly stopped the hand that was about to slap again, which had already scattered apart.

  "Brother, I've been traveling for half a day and my whole body stinks. It's not right to meet Uncle Cheng like this, let me take a bath and change first." Yun Yan only now felt the pain of being spanked, Old Cheng's slap was not something anyone could endure.

  Yun Yan was rubbing his butt, Cheng Chu Mo had a sympathetic expression on his face, it seemed that he too had suffered from slaps. "Let's go together, I feel uncomfortable if I don't take a bath for a day. It's strange, in the past when I was in the capital my mother would use a feather duster to force me to take a bath, now no one forces me and I'm uncomfortable not taking a bath, what kind of logic is this? Am I a stubborn donkey that doesn't move even when beaten?"

  "This is a matter of habit, a person can develop a habit in fifteen days. Don't believe me? Try this: find a pig and knock on its trough before feeding it every day. After more than ten days, even if you don't feed it, as long as you knock on the trough, the pig will still run over."

  "This is really amazing, I knock on your rice bowl, will you hear the sound and run to me after more than ten days?"

  The two brothers went to the back account to take a bath, not mentioning it. General Cheng sat in the main account on the left, waiting for no one, and on the right, waiting for no one, muttering in his heart, wondering if that little boy really had talent? He didn't go to test him face-to-face, just to save some face for Yun Yan, thinking that this little boy could match up with Huang Zhi'en for so long, how impressive. Huang Zhi'en was also a master of learning in the capital, and to solve the problem of the army's logistics, he had pulled down his old face to find Liu Xin several times, but that old man still gave him a hard time, really couldn't bear it, and only sent Huang Zhi'en to help him. Huang Zhi'en didn't disappoint his reputation, and the logistics in the army were much smoother now. Now Yun Xiaozi could match up with him until now, not easy at all. The old man had misjudged, a 14-year-old boy could already compete with a 40-year-old middle-aged man without falling behind, what kind of monster would he become when he grew up?

  As he thought of this, Old Cheng could no longer sit still and got up to walk towards the tent. From a distance, he saw a group of people surrounding the entrance of the tent, but they were all silent. The soldiers saw the general arrive and dispersed with a loud noise. Only then did he see Huang Zhi'en lying on the ground, muttering to himself, writing and drawing with his hands, covered in dust as if possessed by a demon. However, there was no sign of Yun Yan. Old Cheng's curiosity was piqued. He called over the guard who was guarding the tent and asked what was going on, where Yun Yan had gone. The guard, who had also followed Cheng to the salt mine, had seen the wonders of salt production and heard stories about the Monkey King, and had long been deeply respectful of Yun Yan. With a serious expression, he told Cheng everything that had happened from start to finish, including how Yun Yan had driven Huang Zhi'en mad in just a few words.

  Lao Cheng glanced at Huang Zhi'en, who was still calculating on the ground, and ordered his personal guard to give him an umbrella for shade and prepare a pot of tea. He then turned around and returned to the commander's tent. As soon as he entered the tent, a loud and hearty laugh came out of the big tent.