Chapter 33 It's You who Want to Teach Me the Art of Oral Arithmetic!
Chapter 33 You want to teach me the art of oral arithmetic!
Author: tree on tree
Chapter 33 You want to teach me the art of oral arithmetic!
After reading two books in a row, Zhu Di finally discovered the clue.
When looking at each account book, Guo An muttered a few words every time he turned a page.
"Are you learning from Master Daoyan to recite sutras?"
"..."
Guo An was interrupted and looked up at Zhu Di blankly, "Your Highness, are you talking about a lower official?"
"Is it possible that this king is talking to himself?" Zhu Di said with a look of disgust.
Guo An curled his lips and said with some disdain: "Your Highness is so ignorant, this official is just making calculations!"
Zhu Di's face suddenly darkened, "You thief official, how dare you look down on me?"
Guo An was startled and secretly slapped himself in his heart. He quickly apologized and said with a smile: "Your Highness heard it wrong. Your Majesty is saying that this is an original oral arithmetic method created by your Majesty. Only your Majesty can know it. Naturally, Your Majesty has never seen it!"
Zhu Di's face was full of curiosity, "Oral arithmetic?"
"Go on!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Guo An quickly continued to check the account books. There were still dozens of old men queuing behind him. He had to hurry up!
On the side, looking at Guo An who was murmuring in a low voice again, Zhu Di listened carefully for a long time, but still didn't hear a word clearly, and couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
If you can learn this magical method of oral arithmetic, it will have great effects whether it is counting the army's supplies or arranging troops.
Therefore, after Guo An continued to check the three ledgers, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"It's so slow for me to check it out alone, why don't you call a few more scribes to check it out!"
"..."
Guo An's train of thought was interrupted again, and he couldn't help but frown slightly, "Your Highness, don't make trouble, there are so many old men waiting outside, I have to hurry up and get through it again.
These scribes are extremely slow to calculate one by one, and a low-ranking official can beat several of them, so it is better to let them write IOUs, this is the best use of people!"
Zhu Di said: "It doesn't matter, you can speak louder, so that I can listen to your oral arithmetic process! Maybe, I also learned this oral arithmetic method when I was a child in the main hall!"
"Louder...uh!"
Guo An subconsciously glanced at Zhu Di, but found that Zhu Di was looking at him confidently.
"good!"
Guo An chuckled. He had finally seen how thick-skinned the Yongle Emperor, who was famous in history, was!
"Forty stones, thirty stones, seventy stones, fifteen stones, eighty-five stones, twelve stones, ninety-seven stones... nine stones, one thousand one hundred and eighteen stones!"
Before it was time for a cup of tea, Guo An seemed to have just recited the number.
Then, he wrote down the figures he calculated on the account book in his hand and handed it to the old man waiting aside.
"Take it and get the IOU!"
"Thank you, Lord County!"
After the old man left, Guo An continued to take the account book and read it.
At the same time, do the math aloud.
But in Zhu Di's eyes, Guo An in front of him was still thinking about the number!
When the old man in the public room changed, Zhu Di still didn't understand, and his face couldn't help but get darker and darker.
Fortunately, a scribe on the side moved a chair very thoughtfully, which did not make His Highness King Yan tired.
"I wonder if the oral arithmetic method of the lower official is the same as what His Highness learned in the main hall of Yingtian Palace?"
After all the old men in the public room had gone out, Guo An asked Zhu Di with a half-smile.
"Of course it's different!"
Zhu Di replied calmly, "The verbal arithmetic you use is just like Master Daoyan reciting scriptures. Such a verbal arithmetic method has never appeared in our Ming Dynasty!"
"Then I wonder if Your Highness is interested in this method of oral arithmetic?"
Guo An continued to ask: "With this method, any errors in the account books will be difficult to escape from His Highness's eyes!"
"Um?"
Zhu Di was delighted, "This is your unique technique. Are you willing to teach this technique to me?"
Guo An quickly said: "In the past few months, Your Highness has helped Xiaguan's Wanping County a lot. Xiaguan is not that kind of ungrateful person. Your Highness wants to learn from me, and I can only ask for it!"
"Um?"
Zhu Di's face darkened, "Damn it, don't you want to teach me? Why do you want to learn from me?"
How shameless!
Guo An's face stiffened, "Yes, yes, I want to repay His Highness's kindness and teach His Highness!"
After hearing this, Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction.
"So, why don't you quickly teach me the magical arithmetic method you use?"
"Your Highness, wait a moment!"
After saying that, he walked to one side after finishing.
Ningde You and other housekeepers also had happy faces, and they all hurriedly followed. Under Zhu Di's surprised gaze, they lifted out two wooden shelves of the same size from the corner of the public house.
On each wooden shelf, there is a wooden board the size of a desk. The wooden board has been painted with black paint and is pitch black.
On a wooden board, there is a large list of barbarian numbers written on it.
Seeing this, Zhu Di suddenly realized.
"Are you calculating with Arabic numerals?"
"Your Highness is wise!"
Guo An nodded slightly, straightened the blackboard, and then directly took out several cut limestones as big as a human finger from a wooden box on the side.
"Your Highness, although the strength of those overseas barbarians is not as good as that of Ming Dynasty, the number they invented is a good thing. Not only is it very convenient to write, it is also very convenient to calculate!"
"When adding these numbers, you can add the remaining numbers and write them, one plus two, or twelve plus twenty, or one hundred and ten..."
"This is just addition and subtraction of numbers. If it is paired with the multiplication formula, it can be calculated regardless of the multiplication of several numbers, such as...
The same goes for division..."
Guo An said it very quickly and clearly, but Zhu Di, who was exposed to Arabic numerals for the first time, was confused.
"How is it? I wonder if your highness understands it?"
After telling the last one, Guo An put down the lime pen in his hand, patted it gently, and asked Zhu Di.
Zhu Di said with disdain on his face: "It's just the numbers of the Ming Dynasty that a few barbarians brought to me. How can I not understand it?"
Guo An laughed directly and said, "His Highness is indeed extremely smart! Now that His Highness has learned it, I will go out for lunch. I wonder if Your Highness will come too?"
"When is lunch?" Zhu Di asked.
Guo An quickly replied: "Your Highness, it's late now, aren't you hungry?"
"Not yet?"
Zhu Di was startled and looked up at the door. All the old men outside had already left!
"Have all those old men left too?"
Guo An said, "Your Highness, after they finish lunch in the afternoon, they will continue to come to the Yamen!"
After Zhu Di pondered for a moment, he said: "So, since you kindly invite me, I will taste the food of your county government!"
"..."
Guo An sighed softly, "I would like to thank you very much!"
"Hahaha, you, the county magistrate, are an honest person!"