After dinner, his father said to He Zhengyuan: "Today, the patriarch came to me and said, what mathematics have you been teaching your children recently?" ”

"Yes, Dad."

"The imperial examination only examines the four books and five classics, not mathematics. Aren't you misleading people when you teach these things? ”

"But mathematics is also one of the "six arts of gentlemen", how can learning mathematics mislead people's children, this is what the patriarch said? ”

"Yes, Patriarch Wang has a lot of criticism about you teaching children math."

"I take very little time to teach math, and I only have one hour a day to learn math. In fact, learning mathematics does not delay the study of the Four Books and Five Classics, on the contrary, it is also conducive to the study of the Four Books and Five Classics. Students read, write, and memorize these articles every day, which is boring and boring, and their heads are dizzy, and they don't like to study anymore over time. That Li Huaicai is very obvious, now after adding mathematics, he can now memorize half of the twenty chapters of the Analects that he hasn't memorized for four years. Others have also made significant improvements. The royal patriarch probably doesn't know this yet. ”

"I know you're doing it for the good of the kids, but it's not me at the point. It's the parents of the children, and you have to let them know it's good for them to be convinced. ”

He Zhiyuan understood. Whether it's studying the Four Books or the Five Classics or mathematics or something else, the key is to make them see the benefits.

As a person of two lifetimes, He Zhiyuan, of course, knew the harm of the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, but the vast majority of the entire society of the Ming Dynasty could not see this harm at all, and even if he did, he did not dare to propose it because of the maintenance of the upper echelons, let alone change it.

And why did the upper echelons defend the imperial examinations? Of course, because of domination and interests. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, if you want to mix in mathematical, physical and chemical sand, you must be careful not to touch their interests. At least not for now, we must not touch their interests, on the contrary, let them see or appropriate interests.

In the Ming Dynasty, a family had to pay a lot of silver taels to support a scholar. Families with more than 50 acres are afraid to provide their children with education. This is still the stage of social studies, that is, private school. If you are admitted to the show, it will cost you more silver taels to study in the county.

Although there are more than 80 households in a small village like He Zhiyuan, there are only about 20 students studying in the school. Among the more than 20 students, it would be very good if there were two or three who were able to pass the exam. If their children do not do well in school, it is impossible for parents to have the luxury of taking the imperial examination. If you can read and write, you will be content not to become illiterate, but if there is hope for academic performance, then the family will do everything possible to provide for him to study.

For example, the little grandson of the royal patriarch's family is ten years old this year, with good academic performance, and the family hopes that after several years of hard study, he can be admitted to the examination. When the patriarch heard that He Zhiyuan was teaching his grandson mathematics, he was of course anxious. But the others were nowhere near as strong as the royal patriarch.

After thinking about this, He Zhiyuan felt that the problem was not serious. As long as they are reasonable, the parents of these children can understand.

Before going to the school the next morning, He Zhiyuan said to his father: "Dad, I would like to invite the parents of the students to visit the school, and then hold a meeting to tell the parents about the benefits of letting the students learn mathematics." ”

"Yes, yes. This matter really should be said, and since the royal patriarch mentioned it to me in person, he should give an answer. ”

In the afternoon of the second day, the classroom of the school hall was crowded with more than 40 students and parents, except for the students, the others were all parents invited by He Zhiyuan to listen to the class. This lesson is to check the recitation and explanation of "Huan Gong Hua Chu" in the "Spring and Autumn Period". He stood in front of everyone and said, "Huan Gong Fa Chu has been teaching everyone to read the chant for three days, and today I will start to check the recitation situation. Who can raise hands on their backs. ”

More than half of the students raised their hands, and Li Huaicai even raised his hands. This was a surprise, including for the parents in the back. So He Zhiyuan deliberately asked Li Huaicai to get up and recite the praise, and he was very confident in Li Huaicai. Since the last test, he has been very active in his studies and very serious. Although it is biased, but with confidence and motivation, the effect will not be bad.

"In the spring of the fourth year, the Marquis of Qi invaded Cai with the army of the princes, Cai collapsed, and then attacked Chu. Chu Zi's envoy and Shi Yanri: "The king is in the North Sea, and the widow is in the South China Sea, but the wind and horses and cattle are not related." Why is it not that the king is involved in my land? "Guan Zhong said ......"

After a while, Li Huaicai memorized the whole article in a suppressed voice. Not only were the parents behind him surprised, but even his classmates were surprised that the former problem students were now able to recite "Huan Gong Hua Chu" smoothly! Especially Li Xiaocheng, who sat in the back and smiled from ear to ear, the corners of his mouth were cracked to the root of his ears.

He Zhiyuan praised Li Huaicai: "Very good, Li Huaicai has made rapid progress these days." Tell me, I used to always be unable to memorize it, why do I memorize it so quickly now. ”

"Mr. Hui, because I don't have to study the Four Books and Five Classics every day, I can still take math classes every day, and my mind doesn't want to be dizzy every day like before. Also, my husband stopped beating me and often complimented me. Li Huaicai replied respectfully and slightly excitedly.

"Then how did you memorize the Analects?"

"Mr. Hui, I've memorized ten articles."

This time, everyone was even more surprised, and everyone in the whole village knew that Li Huai had only been able to memorize the first two articles of the Analects for more than four years. He Zhiyuan has only been teaching for more than ten days, and he has memorized ten articles. Everyone felt that this little gentleman was unusual, and they all wanted to know what method he used to make this problem student, whom the previous gentleman called rotten wood and erections, make such great progress.

He Zhiyuan also checked the recitations of other students, including Wang Jiayue, the grandson of the royal patriarch. All students, without exception, memorized all of them. Next, He Zhiyuan began to slowly explain "Henggong Vachu".

"In the spring of the fourth year, the Marquis of Qi invaded Cai with the army of the princes, Cai collapsed, and then attacked Chu. The four-year spring in the book refers to the spring of the fourth year of the Duke of Lu, and the division of the princes refers to the armies of the vassal states of Lu, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Xu, and Cao......"

Before I knew it, I had been explaining for more than half an hour, and it was time for the end of class. The second period is the first day of math, which is of interest to both students and parents.

"In this lesson, we're going to talk about decimals in numbers. Before we talk about decimals, let's review Arabic numeral counting. In Chinese, if you remember one hundred and fifty-three stones of grain, you need to write 'one hundred and fifty-three stones' on paper, but you can write '153 stones' when writing words in Arabic numerals, you can see that this Arabic numeral has fewer strokes than Chinese characters, it is written quickly, it is short and vivid, and it is also very easy to remember. ”

At this time, the royal patriarch sitting below kept nodding, obviously he also approved of this method of counting.

He Zhiyuan then continued: "Then if we remember one hundred and fifty-three stones, six buckets and two liters, how can we remember them in Arabic numerals?" That's the decimal we're going to talk about today. Because the relationship between the ascending stones is tenfold, and the Arabic numerals are also the decimal relationship, the Arabic numerals are used to remember the words '153.62 stones'......"

Seven or eight of the parents sitting below are literate, and with such a detailed explanation, it is obvious that they all understood. And secretly admire this simple method of counting, which is really intuitive, convenient and fast. Patriarch Wang was interested when he heard this, and listened very carefully, for the first time in more than forty years, he had such a great interest in learning knowledge other than Confucianism. If it weren't for the sake of face, I really wanted to continue learning.

After class, He Zhiyuan asked the students to go to the courtyard for two moments, and asked the parents to stay in the classroom to communicate with everyone.

After the students left the classroom, Li Xiaocheng walked to the front and said a long story to He Zhiyuan: "Mr. has taught well, my child is extremely stubborn, I didn't expect it to grow so much in just ten days, Xiaocheng is very grateful!" Li Xiaocheng went to private school for a few years, and when he spoke excitedly, he began to chew words.

After Li Xiaocheng said this, most parents also echoed it, saying that their children have also made great progress recently.

At this time, the patriarch Wang was a little embarrassed, he personally found He Zhiyuan's door, and expressed concern that his grandson's study of mathematics would delay this year's government exam, and he also had a lot of complaints about He Zhiyuan.

I came to listen to two classes today, and I found that my grandson did not seem to be affected by learning mathematics, but was full of energy.

Still, he said with some concern: "This Arabic numeral notation taught by the gentleman does have its merits. But now the scientific examination is not a test, if you spend an hour every day to study mathematics, will it delay the children's scientific examination studies? ”

In order to deal with this problem, He Zhiyuan thought about it all night last night, and he already had a lot of bamboo in his heart.

He began to say slowly: "Confucius said: Aim at the Tao, according to virtue, rely on benevolence, and play in art. Among them, the art of playing in the art refers to the six arts of ceremony, music, archery, royalty, calligraphy, and mathematics, and number is one of the six arts. ”

"It's just that the mathematics I'm talking about today is a simpler, easier to learn, and faster kind of mathematics. And this kind of math student is more interested in learning. With further explanations in the future, this mathematics will also make it easier to solve complex problems. ”

"In my imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty, only the four books and five classics were examined. In order to pass the examination, many scholars only read the Four Books and the Five Classics, and they do not read any of their books and do not learn any skills, which is very wrong. If you learn some other skills of interest in moderation, you will cultivate your sentiment and enjoy your body and mind, which will reduce the boredom and dismantling of the scriptures, and the natural efficiency of learning the scriptures will increase. This is what Confucius said, 'edutainment is fun, edutainment is fun'"

He Zhiyuan said such a big thing, and his mouth was dry. The more than 20 people below listened to it in a fog, and some places understood, but most of them still didn't understand it.

But there is one thing they all understand, and this learning of mathematics also helps to study the scriptures.

In order to further consolidate the results, He Zhiyuan decided to add another fire. Taking a sip of tea, he continued: "Confucius has always advocated 'teaching students according to their aptitude' for education. The so-called teaching according to aptitude means that different educational methods are used to implement education according to the specific conditions of different students. To do this, we must first understand the strengths, weaknesses, and characteristics of the target audience. This requires a lot of effort to understand, not only to know its strengths, but also to know its shortcomings. ”

For example, Wang Jiayue, his advantage is that he is honest and obedient, never plays with other students, can persevere when encountering difficulties, never slacks off in learning, works hard and diligently, and is unwilling to waste time resting even if he is very tired. But because of this, it also caused his learning efficiency to be not high. In this regard, I advised him to pay attention to the combination of work and rest, and to have tension and relaxation. Since taking a math lesson every day, the strings of his tense study of the scriptures have become less tight, and his efficiency has increased. ”

When the royal patriarch heard his grandson's progress, he nodded happily, and his serious face became kind. After He Zhiyuan's flickering, the royal patriarch finally took it.

He decided to add another handful of firewood so that all the parents would support him. After a pause, he continued: "Li Bai said in his poem, 'I am born to be useful, and I will come back when my daughter is gone.'" Everyone comes into this world with their own value and meaning, and everyone has potential that they can't discover. ”

"Some people like to read and be good at the imperial examination, some people like to socialize with people and be good at business, and some people like to dance with knives and sticks, and are good at marching in the army. There are 360 lines in the world, and the line is the champion, not only the imperial examination. But no matter what line you do, being able to read and write, and being able to count and count is the most basic, and if you don't know these most basic skills, you will naturally not be able to do well. ”

"In fact, the road to the imperial examination is very difficult, for example, there are more than 300,000 students in my Qingzhou Mansion, but in the two examinations in three years, only thirty or forty people can pass the examination. And there are fewer people in the examination, about one out of a hundred, and it is even more difficult to be admitted to the Jinshi, which is completely dependent on luck. ”

"Therefore, many children study just to be able to read and write, not to seek fame. In that case, why not learn more of the other crafts? If you learn mathematics well, it is more than enough to make an account room with this new method of notation. For example, my family's soap workshop was made by studying chemistry and following the explanations in the book. If some students learn chemistry well, they will also be able to make something that they don't have now, not to mention making a fortune, but it is more than enough to keep their family healthy. ”

Most of the parents below are illiterate, and even if some are literate, after He Zhiyuan's flickering, they can only nod their heads in approval. Those heads who didn't have much insight were all crippled by He Zhiyuan. He Zhiyuan said in his heart, haha, I never thought that I could fool better than Uncle Benshan.

When the royal patriarch heard that soap was made by chemical methods, he couldn't help but feel moved. Who doesn't want to learn this rich knowledge? immediately said: "It's not a loss, it's a young man who has a talent in the middle, and the virtuous nephew is really knowledgeable and insightful." I've never heard of this art of chemistry, and I'm going to teach it to my students. ”

"Of course. In the future, not only chemistry but also physics will be taught. ”

"What is physics?"

"Physics is the doctrine that explains the truth of all things in the world, and chemistry is the science that explains the changes between all things in the world. These learnings can stabilize the country and enrich the people, and the small can settle down and prosper the family. However, these studies can only be taught on the basis of good mathematics. ”

The virtuous nephew took a lot of trouble to teach more of these new knowledge, so that when the children grow up, they will have one more way to survive in addition to the imperial examination. If you have any requirements in the future, we will strongly support you. When everyone heard Patriarch Wang's statement, they all agreed.

"Nephew, there is one more thing I have never understood, they are all students taught by a gentleman, why do you know so much, and this doctrine of mathematics, physics, and chemistry is even more unheard of?"

This is a problem that He Zhiyuan has always been unable to avoid, the last time he told his father was to meet a Taoist priest in a dream and get a strange book and get this knowledge. His father immediately thought that it was given by the gods, and at that time his father also told him not to talk about it to outsiders.

In the feudal society, the emperor is also known as the Son of Heaven, and the royal propaganda is "the divine right of the monarch", if he now tells everyone that his knowledge is given by the gods, then if this statement reaches the emperor, it is a big crime of plotting irregularities, and it is not to punish the nine clans.

Before he started his own god operation, he hiccuped, wouldn't it become a joke among the crowd, and it is estimated that they will all laugh like a pig. If I let that big brother of the future know, I will definitely be beaten into a pig's head. So it is necessary to find another reasonable argument that will both make everyone believe and make the royal family happy.

So He Zhiyuan began to flicker again: "This is related to a coincidence I encountered, I went to the county seat to see the lights on the Shangyuan Festival, when there were many people crowded on the bridge to see the lights, I saw an old man in a lamp in front of me, with a strange appearance, the old man kept staring at me, I was horrified, and I was accidentally squeezed under the bridge by everyone and fainted. During this period, I kept dreaming, and in my dream it was the old man, and the old man said to me: 'Look at your young talent, you have a clear appearance, and you will become a loyal and good general of my Ming Dynasty in the future.' I have here a book of antiquity for you, you have to read it carefully, read this book well, you can open up the territory, stabilize the country, prosper the family, and benefit the people. And then I kept reading that book, and it felt like it had been a long time, and when I finished reading it, I woke up. ”

"Strange looks? How peculiar? The royal patriarch asked.

He Zhiyuan was just about to say that the man's chin was narrow and protruding, and his sword eyebrows and phoenix eyes were numerous. I suddenly thought of two completely different portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang before, one handsome and one ugly, the official portrait of the Ming Dynasty was handsome, and the portrait in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" repaired by the Qing Dynasty was extremely ugly. At this time, the Ming Dynasty will definitely not leave that ugly portrait, even if the historical Zhu Yuanzhang is really ugly, the Ming official will not let such a portrait flow out, after more than 100 years, what Zhu Yuanzhang looks like, the common people will not know, only the official portrait shall prevail, so I suddenly woke up in my heart: "The old man has big ears, a straight nose and a square mouth, and his appearance is dignified, and he has the air of an emperor." ”

"Quite an imperial ......" the royal patriarch responded, his heart was awe-inspiring, could it be him? Then this He Zhiyuan is not shallow, he will become a great tool in the future, and if he can become his student, he will definitely make great achievements in the future.