This will was expected by Zhang Yifan, but it was also unexpected by many people.

First of all, the conclusion is obvious, in this battle with the colt, everyone, including Yongjiahou, was defeated.

This will declares to the world that the emperor absolutely supports the new policy in Xiangshan County, and will not be shaken by any opposition.

Yongjiahou's father and son were escorted to Jingshi, and the three divisions were tried.

The other captured squires from all over the country, that is the crime of colluding with pirates, will be dealt with by King Yan.

Zhu Di is very similar to Zhu Yuanzhang, for outsiders, he will definitely be hard when he can be hard, and he cut these people in Guangzhou!

The bandit leader among the pirates, if Ma Rujiang and others are handed over to Xiangshan County for the Ming Zheng punishment, which is also the death penalty.

Lan Yu replaced Yongjiahou to guard Guangdong, which can be regarded as a party of the emperor's relatives and relatives, giving Zhang Yifan support, and there will be no more Yongjiahou dragging his feet.

Zhu Xian was not affected, but he wrote to the emperor and asked to fight for the country and go to the northwest to serve.

All this makes everyone optimistic about Xiangshan County. Even if there are still people who resist the new policy in Xiangshan County, they dare not show it, so they can only bury it in their hearts.

As a result, Xiangshan County has become a hot spot in almost the entire Guangdong.

More and more people are going to Xiangshan County to look for opportunities. All kinds of commodities also flow to Xiangshan County, who makes Xiangshan County rich, even reading and literacy can make money!

The population of a county in the Ming Dynasty was about 100,000 on average according to the number of people registered.

Xiangshan County was originally the most remote county in Guangdong, because of the hegemony of Ma Ruhai in the original classics, the people's livelihood in Xiangshan County withered, and the population on the books was only about 50,000.

Later, after Zhang Yifan renovated his household registration and re-registered, there were more than 70,000 people in the entire Xiangshan County.

Xiangshan County is divided into 11 towns, of course, the population distribution is more or less.

Zhang Yifan wanted to fulfill his promise, so he held a literacy contest in the square of the county government with the square of the county government as a unit.

On this day, the people of Xiangshan County talked about this matter. Especially in the turn of the fangdu, every family is dressed in New Year's clothes, and the family, men, women and children go into battle and rush to the square to participate in the competition.

As long as you know a word, it is possible to get a penny, and such an easy thing to make money is naturally regardless of gender, age and age.

Such a rare thing, Zhu Di naturally participated.

The sergeant who maintained order in the square was also sent by him. Because the soldiers of the 100 households in Xiangshan County, as long as it is their turn, they can also participate in the competition.

The sailors and soldiers isolated the passages, divided the area, and there were two parts: the competition area and the audience area.

On the temporary platform, Zhang Yifan introduced Zhu Di: "Look, they line up, first write down their names, get a number, and then go to the competition area to wait, and if you draw a number, you can start the literacy competition." ”

"You're really ...... Not bad! Zhu Di looked at the crowd below, shook his head with a smile and said, "Look over there, those two little dolls are also participating, and there are ...... over there."

The old need someone to help them; The small ones are even held, there are male and female babies, and there are many old men and old women, which makes Zhu Di an eye-opener!

Zhang Yifan listened to it and said with a smile: "The poorer the place, the more positive it will be to use this trick." Because for them, even if they just know a word and get a penny, it is excellent. ”

"Hehe, don't blow it yet, let's see the result." When Zhu Di heard this, he also smiled and said, "You may not be able to spend this thousand yuan of money!" ”

A thousand yuan, theoretically speaking, it takes a thousand people who know all the thousand words to take it. It's just an inferior county, and it is absolutely impossible for so many people to be literate.

In this regard, Zhang Yifan did not refute it, anyway, the result will be revealed soon, and it will be good to watch.

There are ten rows in total, both men and women, all of whom are lined up in a long line, writing their names and receiving numbers.

Zhang Yifan and Zhu Di were bored sitting all the time, so they walked over to see the situation.

Especially Zhu Di, when he saw a little girl about seven or eight years old also lining up, he went over to take a look: Wang Yinu.

Seeing this name, Zhu Di smiled and said to Zhang Yifan: "Why is this name very similar to your name?" ”

Zhang Yifan smiled, didn't answer, he couldn't say, many people who didn't have names, in order to pass the level of writing names, what did Zhang Yi, Wang Yi, Liu Yi, etc., anyway, there is no word better than the word "one".

Only this surname can't be changed, and those with complicated strokes can only complain about their ancestors.

It is also for this reason that Zhang Yifan stipulates that he will add a number to the name to show the difference. Otherwise, the two families surnamed Liu, their children are all like Liu Yi and Liu Er, how can you tell the difference? Not to mention, there are more than two families with the surname Liu.

After seeing these people who came to the competition, after writing their names crookedly on the paper, the scribe would write his name again on another piece of paper, and then mark which column of teams according to A, B, C, D, followed by Arabic numerals, and mark them on both sheets of paper, and then, give the one written by the scribe to the contestant and let him (her) hold it, and the other one will be folded and thrown into the lottery box.

"What's the word?" When Zhu Di saw it, he was a little curious, and asked in a low voice.

The dignified Yan King, how can he not be illiterate? You can't let outsiders hear it!

Zhang Yifan smiled when he heard this, and replied to him in a low voice: "This is a number, it is simple to write, I saw that it was easy to use, so I used it." ”

Arabic numerals, in fact, have long been introduced to China, but they have not been accepted by China, and it will not be accepted by China until the end of the Qing Dynasty, when mathematics is widely used.

Therefore, at this time in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, in fact, Huaxia has this, but it is really hard to say which corner can be seen in it. Zhang Yifan doesn't need to introduce what Arabic numerals or anything.

"Does it work?" Zhu Di listened and asked a little disappreciatively.

Zhang Yifan listened, walked back to the stands, and then asked Zhu Di: "You want to lead an army, you already know that there are 236 people in a thousand households, and they all lead 1,123 troops, how many troops does your army have?" ”

Zhu Di: "......"

Zhang Yifan saw it and smiled: "I'll give you an abacus, let's compare?" ”

Zhu Di: "......"

I don't love this, what is it better than?

Zhang Yifan didn't show him, because there was no quill on the table, and his calligraphy was too poor, at this time, Zhu Di was out of breath, and he could be slapped in the face when he turned around, because Zhu Di's writing was slightly better than his.

I saw him pick up the brush and start the calculation, and then said to Zhu Di at the same time: "I'll show you my method!" ”

It's just a simple multiplication, and the answer is quickly available.

Then he said to Zhu Di: "You see, this kind of number, from 0 to 9, can be written in one stroke, isn't it much faster?" ”

When Zhu Di saw it, he didn't immediately agree, he called a scribe and asked him to use his abacus to calculate it, and after comparing it with Zhang Yifan's answer, he began to seriously look at these strange numeric characters.

After a while, he nodded and said, "It's simpler, but to be honest, it's ugly!" ”

Zhang Yifan: "......"

Seeing his expression, Zhu Di hurriedly explained: "I mean, this kind of symbol is ugly, not that you are ugly." ”

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he asked him: "Then do you think that we humans invented writing for the sake of beauty or to help memory?" ”

"That's to help with memory, of course!" Zhu Di listened, didn't want to answer, and then paused and then said, "It also looks good!" ”

Zhang Yifan listened to him and ignored him, and after a while, he asked him again: "Words are a tool to help memory, and at the same time, they are also a tool for inheritance, which is its main function." For this purpose, the simpler the text, the easier it is to memorize and the easier it is to pass it on. But when I look at the text today, it's too complicated to write one by one. ”

Speaking of this, he pointed to the crowd in the audience, and said to Zhu Di: "Look at them, they all want to name one, two, three, four, just to write simply." Therefore, I think that in order to make more people literate and learn more good things passed down from their ancestors, the threshold of this writing must be lowered. In other words, the text should be simplified and easy to remember, what do you think? ”

Hearing this, Zhu Di turned his head to look at the crowd below, then turned his head to look at Zhang Yifan, and said seriously: "When you say this, it seems to make sense." ”

Zhang Yifan also said seriously: "Look at my Xiangshan County, in order to get enough people who can read and write to be officials and wardens, it took a lot of effort, no way, there are too few people who can read and write." Why do I set up this competition, it's not because there is a lot of money, but because there is a real shortage of people! ”

"Therefore, I am going to promote some simple and easy-to-remember ones in Xiangshan County, not seeking anything aesthetic or aesthetic, I just want to be able to use more useful people."

Zhu Di listened, nodded and said, "This is not bad!" ”

Zhang Yifan knows that it is not so easy to break the tradition. If you take too big a step, it is easy to pull the egg. Therefore, it is certainly not possible to promote simplified Chinese, but Arabic numerals can be used to test the waters first.

He has this idea, and he is currently talking to the good Zhu Di, first influencing him, and then slowly influencing others, hoping that one day in the future, he can influence more people, so as to make it easier to popularize culture, and also pave the way for the promotion of scientific knowledge.

The two of them chatted on the stage, and I don't know how long it took, Zhang San came to the stage and said, "Donkey, Your Highness, you have all prepared and can start the competition!" ”

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he turned his head to look down at the audience, and saw that the competition area was all gathered in a pile of family units, holding a piece of paper in his hand and whispering.

Look at it like this, they are recognizing each other's numbers.

Because the Arabic numerals were realized by Zhang Yifan that there were too many duplicate names, and they were announced temporarily, no one might be able to remember them, so the family helped to remember them.

At this time, after Zhang Yifan heard Zhang San's announcement, he waved his hand, and a team of sergeants carried several baskets from behind the stage, and with a "bang", the contents fell onto the stage at once.

This thing is nothing else, it's all copper coins.

The sound of pouring money is indeed not loud, but the original "buzzing" sound in the square suddenly disappeared. Whether they bowed their heads or chatted with other people, they all turned their heads to look at the stage.

Looking at the mountain-like copper coins, it was really like magic, and it firmly attracted everyone's attention.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Yifan walked to the front of the stage and shouted loudly: "Money, there is; Those who are talented can be taken away. The official announced, the competition begins! ”

With that, he reached out and pulled out a folded piece of paper from a large box in front of him, and opened it.

In this process, everyone's eyes were fixed on the movements of the county order, and they listened with their ears pricked up.

Zhang Yifan opened it and read it out: "Number, A-1342, literate on stage!" ”

There was a row of soldiers at the bottom who were specially used to spread the word, and after hearing the words of the county order, they roared out as they were.

"Number, A-1342, come to the stage to read!"

No way, there is no horn at this time, even if the paper is rolled into a bucket, it will not be transmitted far. Therefore, it can only be done by means of manual communication.

When the sergeant shouted out, it could be seen that most of the people in the competition area immediately looked down at the paper in their hands, and at the same time there was a "buzzing" sound.

"Ahh

"Team A, our family is all here, take a look, how many numbers come?"

“……”

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman excitedly held a piece of paper and shouted: "It's me, it's me, it's me......"

Hearing this, many people regretted it, and then turned their heads to look.

Most of the people in a square know each other.

At this sight, many people suddenly began to whisper again.

"Isn't that the daughter-in-law of the money butcher? As far as she sells meat, it's no wonder she can shout so loudly! ”

"I couldn't even write my own name before, but how many words can I read when I go up?"

"Don't you know? Qian Wangyi, her big name, it is said that the Qian butcher used a pig-killing knife to beat her buttocks and swelled before writing a meeting. ”

"Haha, if you don't recognize a word when you go up, it will be a shame!"

“……”

Those who are close, the villagers, and the middle-aged women are also promising.

This Qian Wang estimated that because of the middle-aged woman, he hadn't heard anything, so he glared and replied: "If the old lady gets the money, you will give you double shares; If you can't get any money, half a pound of pork, will you come to gamble? ”

Hearing this, the surrounding people are laughing, some want to bet, some don't bet, some give analysis of odds, it's very lively.

Zhang Yifan watched this scene on stage and did not stop.

This competition is not an imperial examination, at most it is the kind that guides the people to read and write, and has fun with the people.

The people below are making a fuss, and they are all happy to watch.

But obviously, someone was not happy and shouted: "Don't rub it off, waste time to know no, hurry up!" ”

Each workshop is a day, ready to say, an afternoon, an hour and a half. If it's such an inkblot, I don't know how many people will be drawn in the end.

As soon as they heard this shout, the others followed suit.

As soon as this Qian Wang was watchful of everyone, he walked up to the stands with his head held high.

However, as soon as he arrived in the stands, when he faced the county order, the momentum of killing pigs and selling meat suddenly disappeared, and he became a little uneasy.

I don't know if it's because I'm about to become literate, or because I saw the county order so closely, it made her uneasy.

Zhang Yifan didn't speak, walked to another wooden box, took out a piece of paper from it, unfolded it and faced Qian Wangyi, and asked at the same time: "What is this word?" ”

At this time, everyone was watching, and the original "buzzing" sound had disappeared unconsciously.

Qian Wangyi's hands were clenched, a little uneasy, and when he saw that word, he was immediately overjoyed, and hurriedly shouted: "Day, day, this is the word Japanese!" ”

The joy is beyond words.

This word, simple, just happened to be the word she knew.

Zhang Yifan listened, smiled slightly, and said to the scribe on the side: "Record, know a word!" ”

Then, he folded the word again, put it aside, and then went to the wooden box and took it again.

The people below, after seeing this on the stage, whispered again.

"I know this word too, it's a pity!"

"Who said it wasn't, this word is simple, I guess everyone knows it, it's really shit luck!"

“……”

When Zhang Yifan was at this meeting, he took out another word and unfolded it.

Qian Wangyi may have known the first word just now, but at this time he had confidence and obviously let go a little.

As soon as she saw the second word, she showed ecstasy again, and hurriedly shouted: "Heaven, heaven, this is the word heaven!" ”

It's really a god, and this second word happens to be one of the few words she knows, which is equivalent to earning two pennies!

She didn't actually know that there was a cat in this literacy box.

Zhang Yifan classified the words in the thousand-character text in advance, and divided them into several piles according to the level that is easy to read.

Looking at this middle-aged woman on stage, he picked up the pile of words that were easiest to read and came out for the test.

Of course, this is definitely not because this middle-aged woman who killed pigs is as beautiful as a flower, but because she is the first, if she doesn't recognize a word, she will go down, and the atmosphere will not be warm enough.

That's it, when this Qian Wang recognized the fifth, it was actually quite simple, but she blushed and read it blindly, and the result was wrong, and she lost the qualification to continue to be literate.

Apparently happy, though, she took four copper coins from the pile and lifted them high into the stands. If you don't know, you thought she had won the battle and came back.

Immediately, the atmosphere in the square became even more enthusiastic. Even the daughter-in-law who killed the pig could win four cents, and the confidence of others was even stronger.

So, all kinds of aunts, sisters, uncles and children, called the numbered ones to come to the stage one after another, and began to read and receive money.

After presiding over the first dozen or so, Zhang Yifan went back to sit with Zhu Di, and then watched the literacy and money competition continue.

At the beginning, Zhu Di didn't take it seriously, but as the literacy competition continued, he finally became serious.