Gao Shishi also learned a few abacus lessons when he was a child, but unfortunately, this thing has never been used since then, and it has already been returned to the teacher, so in terms of abacus, he really has nothing to communicate with Gao Guoyan, but in the next conversation, the two talked about Gao Guoyan, the teacher who refused to accept him as a disciple, had a problem difficult for him, but Gao Guoyan actually solved the problem, so he was able to rank on the door wall.

Gao pragmatic smiled and asked what the topic was, Gao Guoyan said: "The topic is, one hundred monks are divided into one hundred steamed buns, the big monks each eat three, and the three small monks eat one, ask how many big and small monks are each?" ”

Gao Shishi immediately ordered someone to take out a pen and paper, "ghost drawing" on it, and replied: "There are twenty-five big monks and seventy-five small monks." ”

Gao Guoyan was taken aback, and took the completely incomprehensible "ghost drawing talisman" and asked, "What is this thing you wrote?" This...... Seems to be in another language? ”

It turned out that Gao Pragmatic wrote on the rice paper that he used as scratch paper was an extremely common solution in later generations:

100÷(3+1)=25 (servings)

25×3=75 (person)

25×1=25 (person)

Since Gao Shishi himself is a liberal arts student, his mathematical level is average after all, so he doesn't even use a system of equations to express it, but even so, Gao Guoyan is extremely surprised.

Gao pragmatic replied with a smile: "The number on this is...... Well, the big food number, also called Arabic numerals, I heard that some merchants in the south who do maritime trade find it quite convenient, so they use it, and it is probably in this way that it was introduced to my Daming. ”

In fact, Gao Pragmatic is wrong, Arabic numerals are actually invented by the ancient Indians, and after the Arabs introduced them to Europe, the Europeans "modernized" them, but because the Europeans got them from the Arabs, they mistakenly thought they were the inventions of the Arabs, and Gao Pragmatic also misunderstood on these issues like most people.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter who invented it, Gao Guoyan's attention was not there, but stared at it for a while, and then asked: "Although I don't know these people, it is estimated that they are probably numbers, but ...... What does this horizontal point mean, up and down? And what does this 'fork' mean? ”

The rest of the people present were even more like reading the book of heaven, looking at Gao Shishi's eyes changed, and said secretly in their hearts: I have heard that the eldest young master of the Liufang family is a prodigy, it seems that this statement is true, although he has not seen it in astronomy and geography, but he even knows the words of barbarians, how much ability does this have?

But Gao Shishi is really tired at the moment, and he doesn't want to continue to dwell on this problem - Gao Guoyan is obviously a math maniac, how can he talk to him about this stubble? So he put on a sleepy look, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Sanhuai, the two symbols you asked, one is called the division sign, and the other is called the multiplication sign, but these things are not something we will understand for a while, I think otherwise, let's arrange the next things first, and when I go to Sanshen Garden when I have time, let's discuss these academic issues again, how about it?" ”

When Gao Guoyan heard this, the disappointment on his face was overflowing, but fortunately, the matter of accepting apprentices in the process made him feel that anyone with great talent must have a strange temper, and most of them are not persecuted, so although he was so anxious that he seemed to have a cat's paw scratching, he had to agree: "Okay, good, it's all up to you, but pragmatic, you have to agree to be a brother, next time you must take a moment to come out and talk to your brother, this matter is very important, really, very important." ”

Gao pragmatic smiled: "Understood, understood...... So let's get down to business? ”

"Okay, get down to business, get down to business." Although Gao Guoyan said this, his eyes kept staring at Gao Shishi's scratch paper, obviously in his opinion, understanding this number and algorithm is the real business.

Gao Pragmatic didn't bother to pay attention to this kind of math maniac, and said directly: "Brother Sanhuai, this time the junior brother invited you to come, just to borrow your math ...... Oh, I mean a talent in math, do me a favor. ”

Gao Guoyan was stunned and hesitated: "But when I solved this problem, I was much slower than you, although I ...... Alas, although I don't want to admit it, I think your talent in mathematics is only stronger than mine, especially since you can do this...... Uh, this big food algorithm, what other questions can you solve that you can't figure out yourself, and you need my help? ”

"It's not a math problem." Gao pragmatically said that you don't have anything else in your mind except arithmetic? But he could only explain: "Brother, you must know that the number itself is only a method, and the method itself is meaningless, its meaning is to solve problems. ”

"Huh? Method...... What is the meaning of being used to solve problems? Gao Guoyan never seemed to have thought about this kind of question, and he was a little slow to react for a while.

Gao pragmatically nodded, and said very seriously: "Yes, the significance of the method is that people can use it to solve the problems they actually face. It's like...... Well, like why the words of the saints almost never tell you what to do when you are faced with a very specific thing. They will only tell you how to correctly understand this type of thing, so that they can come up with a concrete solution to the problem themselves. ”

Gao Pragmatism's statement is obviously a certain argument of his own when he first studied Ma Zhe: philosophy is a world view and methodology. However, this statement itself is controversial, and he doesn't really understand it, but it's okay to fool Gao Guoyan, after all, Confucianism is a kind of philosophy in the eyes of foreigners, and many foreign scholars always like to say that "Chinese scholars are philosophers" when expressing ancient Chinese talents and academics, and this is the reason.

Gao Guoyan really felt quite reasonable when he heard it, but he didn't seem to fully understand it, so he fell into a situation of "not knowing it", and subconsciously only felt: My little brother is really a prodigy, I can't understand what he says, but I still think it makes sense!

Gao pragmatic saw that Gao Guoyan did not refute, and he didn't want to continue to talk about it, so he quickly pulled the topic back again, and said: "So the younger brother hopes that my brother will go to Sanshenyuan to act for me in part of the power, to be precise, you can arrange a position, called ...... Chief Financial Officer. ”

The financial director is a new word, but whether it is "finance" or "director", it is an old word in Daming, and there is nothing that you can't understand together, and it can even be said that it is clear at a glance, and you can know where the boundaries of power are when you hear it, and it is very clear, even people like Gao Guoyan immediately understand what Gao Shishi asked him to do.

At that moment, Gao Guoyan nodded and said, "If it's just checking the accounts, it's still okay to be confident in my brother." ”

But Gao Pragmatic shook his head: "Not only to audit the accounts, but also to make budgets, and these budgets must have room for adjustment at any time." ”