Zhang Fengxiang, a native of Dengzhou, Shandong, was born in a human being, and finally became the magistrate of Wuyi County after many years of hard work.

There is still one year, and the term of office is about to expire, and Zhang Zhixian just begs not to make trouble again.

Last year, the thieves came three times, but fortunately, they were all to rob Jingzhou. Fucheng County and Wuqiang County next door were also robbed, but they didn't come to visit Wuyi County, probably because this county was too poor, anyway, Zhang Fengxiang survived without danger.

On this day, Zhang Fengxiang had just woken up from his lunch break, and the master came in and said: "County Honor, the imperial court has sent two arithmetic books, requiring all officials in the prefectures and counties of Beizhili to be familiar with them. ”

"It's really weird, what does the imperial court do with arithmetic books?" Zhang Fengxiang sneered, "Do you want officials at all levels to learn the skills of the account room?" ”

The master reminded: "These two books are both written by the master of the Hanlin Academy, and they are the Wang Erlang who beheaded Liu Liu and Liu Qi and captured Qi Yan's name alive!" ”

Zhang Fengxiang doesn't care about Wang Erlang, he can't even be the governor in his life, let alone deal with the Hanlin Academy. He immediately ordered: "Since it is an order of the imperial court, let Cui Xiancheng study these two books carefully, and don't make a mistake in giving grain to this county." ”

According to Wang Yuan's idea, the two books of "Mathematics" and "Geometry" were printed to be distributed all over the world.

But now there are anti-thieves everywhere, the transportation is inconvenient, and the ceremonial supervisor is also short of funds, so he only reluctantly printed a few hundred copies for him. All departments of the central government have already distributed it, and some of this is left, and it is simply thrown to the prefectures and counties of Beizhili.

After Zhang Zhixian got the book, he didn't read it, and threw it directly to Cui Xiancheng.

Cui Xiancheng didn't have any interest, so he simply threw it to the grain department and let the grain department officials study it.

There were several grain clerks, and when they saw the improved Arabic numerals, their heads were immediately incomparably bigger, and only one of them was like a treasure.

This person's name is Du Jin, the word is good, and he is proficient in arithmetic.

Du Jin was originally a student in Wuyi County, but because he liked to study mathematics, he failed the exam for many years and was fined as a grain officer.

There were three major sources of officials in the Ming Dynasty, namely, the filling, the punishment and the demand.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly a full-fledged application, that is, the old squire submitted an application, and the old squire reviewed and examined it layer by layer, and then assessed and filed by the government, so that he could serve as a grassroots civil servant.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it became mainly punished and supplied, with one penalty and one seeking, forming a sharp contrast. The former is reluctant, and the latter sharpens his head and drills in.

At first, Du Jin just opened it and looked at it casually, and after memorizing the Taixi numbers, he quickly indulged in it and sat in the food department office to study all day.

After getting off work, Du Jin took "Mathematics" and "Geometry" and rushed to his friend Bao Chaozhen's house.

"Brother Guide, come and read these two masterpieces!" Du Jin waved the book and shouted.

Bao Chaozhen is also obsessed with mathematics, but unlike Du Jin, who failed exams year after year. He is not only a talent, but also a student, but unfortunately he failed in the two township exams.

Bao Chaozhen smiled and asked, "What kind of masterpiece is it?" ”

"Arithmetic book!" Du Jin said excitedly.

Bao Chaozhen immediately left Du Jin to eat at home, discussing while eating. After the meal, Bao Chaozhen didn't even care about his wife and children, and pulled Du Jin to study overnight, and before he knew it, he had learned that it was dawn.

They already have a solid foundation, and through some familiarity, they quickly skip the basic content and directly study the mathematics equivalent to the junior high school level.

In the morning, the sky was bright.

Two young people who were less than thirty years old, still in good spirits after staying up all night, looked at each other, and suddenly laughed.

Bao Chaozhen said: "Bachelor Wang is really a god! ”

Du Jin sighed: "Yes." The thesis can be the champion, and the martial arts can rehabilitate the thief, and he is even so proficient in arithmetic. ”

Bao Chaozhen's family was not short of money at all, so he suddenly got up and said, "Brother Liangyu, I want to go to the capital and ask for advice from Master Wang!" ”

Du Jin was surprised: "You don't take the township test?" ”

Bao Chaozhen shook his head and said: "I have failed in the township test twice in a row, I am afraid that I will not be able to lift people, so it is better to concentrate on studying arithmetic." ”

Du Jin reminded: "Master Wang is a native of Hanlin, so it may not be easy to see, let alone worship under his door. ”

Bao Chaozhen smiled bitterly: "Bachelor Wang is involved in arithmetic and cultivation, and I am really unwilling to seek 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: "You gave up your fame?" ”

"I didn't even pass the annual exam, what kind of imperial examination did I take? It's okay not to take the test. "Du Jin is quite single.

The annual examination is a routine examination for students, and failure for several consecutive years will be punished. Du Jin's punishment was to be thrown to the county government to be a clerk (for a certain period of time), if he went to the capital to visit Wang Yuan now, it would be tantamount to escaping the punishment of the annual examination without authorization, and in serious cases, he would be directly deprived of his fame.

Bao Chaozhen is different, even if it is delayed for a few years, you can still come back to take the exam, as long as you regularly return to your hometown to take the annual exam.

After the two discussed, they immediately decided to choose a day to enter Beijing, anyway, their family was not short of money, and they didn't have to worry about starving to death one day in the future.

Du Jin went home and slept for a while, and went directly to the county government to resign in the afternoon, and was immediately deprived of his status as a student. Fortunately, he was not beaten to death with a stick, and he could re-examine the exam in the future, all for the sake of his father's face.

In the next few days, Du Jin and Bao Chaozhen were both studying "Mathematics", and no matter how their father beat and scolded them, it was useless.

Seeing that he was going to be confined by his father, Bao Chaozhen actually left his wife and children, left only a letter, and left Wuyi County with Du Jin overnight.

Halfway through, Bao Chaozhen said: "I heard that there is an arithmetic master in a neighboring county, and he has never had the opportunity to visit before, so why not take the opportunity to enter Beijing to see one or two?" ”

"I've heard of it, but I don't know if it's true." Du Jin said.

The two then went to Raoyang County next door, and came to Wang Wensu's house early in the morning to ask for directions.

Wang Wensu is a Jin businessman, but he belongs to the low-level Jin businessman, and his family only does some small business. Even when he came to settle in Raoyang County, the whole family fled to Chenghua, and in the 20 years of drought in Shanxi and Shaanxi, people cannibalized, and even small businessmen could not survive.

Wang Wensu has been in business with his father since he was a child, and his family was quite prosperous at the beginning. Unfortunately, after his father's death, he was busy studying mathematics and did not take care of his business much, and now he only makes a living by opening a small shop.

Now, Wang Wensu simply handed over the shop to his son and spent his days in the house compiling math books.

Wang Wensu thought that mathematics in the Ming Dynasty was lax, and many contents were discontinued, and he wanted to make up a masterpiece by himself. Several famous mathematicians in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Wensu, have studied his works in depth, and feel that these guys' arithmetic books are full of errors and omissions, and they deliberately do not let people get started easily.

Wang Wensu, whose name is Shangbin, was the first mathematician in the true sense of the Ming Dynasty, and his book "Treasure of Arithmetic" is nearly 500,000 words.

It is a pity that this mathematics book, which has been compiled for nearly 30 years, was not engraved because Wang Wensu had no money to engrave it, and only a fragmented manuscript was handed down later. Wang Wensu could only make a living by teaching in his later years, and his family business was lost by him, which can be described as a Jin merchant who completely deviated.

Bao Chaozhen and Du Jin, two young people, soon saw Wang Wensu, and what appeared in front of them was a middle-aged man in his forties.

"After arithmetic, Bao Chaozhen (Du Jin) came to meet Mr." The two of them were respectful.

Wang Wensu was also very happy, because he met a fellow arithmetic scholar, and immediately smiled: "Please come in." ”

Before the tea was served, Du Jin entered the room and took the test: "I heard that Mr. abacus skills are amazing, and the juniors want to see it." ”

Wang Wensu smiled and said, "Yes." ”

Although the abacus has been invented for a long time, it was still used in conjunction with the calculation plan during the Zhengde period. Add and subtract multipliers with an abacus, and more complex calculations can only be done with a chip.

It is precisely because of Wang Wensu's creative research and Cheng Dawei, who was born in another 20 years, that the abacus finally completely overwhelmed the abacus in China. In their hands, the abacus can even be used to open squares, open squares, open power can be done, and the abacus gradually disappears in daily use.

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of crisp sounds, Wang Wensu and Du Jin were calculating at the same time, and their hand speed was so fast that a phantom appeared.

Bao Chaozhen had just finished reading the question, and the two had already come up with the answer, so the question became more and more complicated and difficult, so it was still not easy to distinguish the winner from the loser.

Wang Wensu called his family again and read the question with Bao Chaozhen.

At the same time, the two of them read the question, Wang Wensu was concentrating on two things, and his hands were beating different abacus, which made Du Jin look amazed.

"The skill of the gentleman is amazing!" Du Jin and Bao Chaozhen were completely convinced.

Du Jin took out the book "Mathematics" and said, "Sir, please look at this thing." ”

Wang Wensu is even proficient in Taixi numerals, he opened the preface and said with a smile: "Bachelor Wang has improved Taixi numerals, which is indeed more convenient for writing." ”

The gentleman flipped through it quickly, and behaved very lightly, until he reached the part of the equations and functions, and then his face became serious. In order to verify Wang Yuan's mathematical method, he didn't even need to calculate the chips, he directly picked up the abacus and beat it, and opening the square and the power was as easy as drinking water.

"Good idea!" Wang Wensu let go of the abacus and was amazed.

Bao Chaozhen said: "I want to go to the capital and ask Mr. Wang in person, I don't know if Mr. is willing to accompany him?" ”

"I want it!" Wang Wensu immediately agreed.