Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 529 The World Outside
Zhang Shou's words "It is still a powerful country in the universe" were like a deafening bell and drum, which refreshed every reader. And he quickly used other records to draw everyone's attention back.
"The ship carrying the envoys and merchants drifted in the Western Ocean for five years before returning to the court. Although our dynasty was still unified when he left, and the vast mountains and rivers were in ruins, in the eyes of this envoy, even the tragic wars in the late Yuan Dynasty were not as fierce as the wars among Western countries. Compared with the farmers in our country, the serfs in Western countries live even worse than pigs and dogs."
"Even at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, among a hundred peasants, at least three or five could read. But among the serfs of Western countries, perhaps not one could read among a thousand. They were born in the land, worked indifferently, and died indifferently, as if their entire lives were just to provide labor for their lords."
"He heard that a few years before the ship arrived in the West, a plague that had spread to many countries and cities had just ended. During the six years of the plague, some cities lost 80% of their population. The so-called prosperous cities almost became dead cities."
"However, many countries still have ancient buildings that looked majestic and magnificent hundreds of years ago, such as the Colosseum and churches. There are countless believers from top to bottom, and the pope can even depose the king. Under the majestic surface, the people are living in misery."
"When the envoy finally returned safely with the merchant group, he not only sold the silk, tea and porcelain he brought out for a good price, making up for all the expenses of the trip, but also brought back a lot of gold, silver and gems to use as military funds. But it was no longer necessary at this time, because the king he respected, Emperor Taizu, had already unified the country and became the master of the world."
Having said this in one breath, Zhang Shou finally paused and started talking about the follow-up with a smile.
"After returning to the court, the envoy ordered his crew to stay on board for an extra 30 days to avoid bringing the plague back to the country. He wrote a book called "Journey to the West" and was honored to have the preface written by Emperor Taizu himself. However, because he was old and had even fallen ill while overseas, his health was not as good as before, so he never went out to sea again."
"But twenty years later, when he was already quite old, he met another envoy who had returned from sailing on a voyage. The envoy brought him some very interesting news. Not long after he left, Egypt had a new king. The new king was the slave officer the envoy had met before. However, his reign lasted only a pitiful six years."
"After that, our envoys gradually gave up the troubled and impoverished Western Ocean, and even merchant ships only occasionally went to these poor Western countries."
When Zhang Shou said the words "poor countries in the West" in a serious manner, he couldn't help but smile. You know, before the development of America, those countries in the West were really poor. They couldn't even produce enough gold, silver and spices like the kings and nobles of those small countries in Southeast Asia.
Of course, Western countries have kings and nobles, but the question is, how much money can aristocrats who can only rely on exploiting serfs have? How much money can a king who cannot control aristocrats have? The guys who make money from slaves seem to have a lot of money, but can they make money more easily than Japan, where silver is extremely cheap and abundant? Can they be more popular than spices, gems and wood from Southeast Asia? If you are not careful and get involved in a war, you will be in big trouble!
Seeing that his story had drawn sighs and sighs from the crowd, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "Just now I mentioned Egypt 4,000 years ago. Actually, thousands of years ago, Egypt and the area surrounding it were once rich and prosperous, not inferior to our country."
He explained the ancient Egyptian Sphinx and Pyramids to the crowd; he described the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; he talked about how Alexander the Great built a huge empire from a small country called Macedonia to one that spanned three countries in Asia, Europe and Africa, with lighthouses standing in ports and libraries that were unprecedented in history; he talked about the bravery of the 800 Spartan warriors who defended Thermopylae and defeated the Persian army...
This narration was far better than the historical stories mixed in by the four previous mountain masters - because what they said was well known to everyone. After all, few of the students and candidates who could listen to the lectures here today were as ignorant as those dandies in the Banshan Hall in the past. But what Zhang Shou said was something that could not be found in books at all!
Only Lu Sanlang was fortunate enough to have good relations with Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, so he knew from bits and pieces of talk what kind of land there was outside the Ming Dynasty. He was also Zhang Shou's student, and knew that Zhang Shou was actually an extremely eloquent speaker. So he had time to look around and found that most of the other students were listening with great interest.
You know, most travel notes these days are half true and half false, which is considered very ethical.
Because apart from a few travelers who have actually used themselves or their horses' feet to measure foreign lands, most literati have been making up stories behind closed doors and talking nonsense. Even the envoys who have actually been to foreign countries are not much better... Just look at the official history books that often add ridiculous descriptions when mentioning foreign countries, and you will know how backward the information flow is these days.
Zhang Shou described a world in which the details of life were real, but the system was bizarre. If the audience was a group of old scholars, they would definitely find fault with him, but today's audience was mostly young, with few old people. Moreover, the picture that Zhang Shou slowly unfolded sounded very credible. Who wouldn't be curious?
Therefore, when Zhang Shou talked about Euclid and Archimedes, two extremely famous mathematicians in ancient Greece, most people did not realize that Zhang Shou had turned the topic to mathematics.
It was not until Zhang Shou brought up the old matter again and Taizu told them the story of the envoy, which was the legendary answer given by Euclid to the mystery of the height of the pyramids, that they finally came to their senses.
But then, Zhang Shou's story about Archimedes testing the authenticity of a crown drew a few low gasps. Although many smart people have realized that Zhang Shou's test of whether the Taizu plaque was hollow was based on this, they also realized that Zhang Shou's story might be true.
Therefore, when Zhang Shou talked about the tragic ending of Archimedes being killed by Roman soldiers, even people who had prejudices against Zhang Shou before, such as Yue Shanchang, could not help but sigh.
As for Lu Sanlang, there was an indescribable weirdness on his face.
Zhang Shou did tell him the story of Archimedes, although he didn't tell him the story of measuring the crown, but he did mention the famous saying "Give me a fulcrum, I can move the earth." He dared to guarantee that if Zhang Shou repeated this sentence now, these guys who just shook their heads in regret would definitely be in an uproar.
All kinds of comments like "arrogant and daring" would be directed at that foreign master of mathematics!
But there is no doubt that others did not know and, based on Zhang Shou's description, regarded Archimedes as a typical foreign celebrity - and after his death, he was mourned and mourned by the enemy generals. Not only did they execute the murderer, but they even built a tomb and engraved a stele as a memorial. This legend resonated with many scholars who claimed to be scholars.
If a man is like this, he will not have lived his life in vain!
Therefore, when Zhang Shou finally mentioned Archimedes' several great achievements, although most people, except for the students of Jiuzhang Hall, did not understand, they still wrote them down carefully - not to mention anything else, in case Zhang Shou encountered the problem of whether the Taizu plaque was hollow in the future, he could use it? At that time, the emperor might be the one to receive the praise and countless compliments!
Buoyancy theorem, lever law, spiral, approximation method to find the area of ellipse...
Although Zhang Shou only briefly introduced Archimedes' achievements, gradually, most of the students who were good at literature, history and philosophy but poor at mathematics and chemistry were a little overwhelmed. Among the four heads, Headmaster Hong had already frowned, but the remaining three were still concentrating, and even Headmaster Yue was quietly calculating something with his fingers.
How could they, who are good at agricultural science, water conservancy, and pontoon bridge construction, not understand mathematics?
When Zhang Shou concluded his speech with a famous quote from Euclid to King Ptolemy - Geometry has no kingly way - and then walked off the stage, he found that the audience was completely silent. In Guangye Hall, Zhu Ying, who was also listening with great interest, could not help but complain with her eyebrows raised: "These people have no vision. Ah Shou's speech was so fascinating, and this is how they react!"
Wu was also worried. Just as she was about to cheer up and comfort Zhu Ying, she suddenly heard a sparse applause from outside. She found that the applause was much smaller than the applause from the four headmasters before. She couldn't understand but stubbornly thought that Zhang Shou's speech was very good. She couldn't help but feel a little sour in the corners of her eyes. But in a flash, the sparse applause triggered a huge reaction.
All I could hear was applause coming from all directions. The sound became louder and louder, and finally gathered into a torrent.
Surprised and delighted, Wu didn't care about her previous warning to Zhu Ying not to show up rashly. She rushed to the front of Guangye Hall and looked around. She saw that people were not only clapping loudly, but many of them stood up. Then, she heard Zhu Ying yelling from behind: "I thought they were so short-sighted, but I didn't expect they knew what was good and what was bad!"
Wu felt as if the huge stone that had been pressing on her chest for days had been lifted off, and she felt much more relaxed. While wiping her eyes, she said softly, "Finally, Ah Shou's preparations over the past few days have paid off. I was worried that he was under too much pressure, so I didn't dare to talk to him. You know, he is so young but he is a doctor of the Imperial College, which makes him the most likely to be hated..."
"What are you afraid of? If you don't attract jealousy, you are a mediocre person!"
Zhu Ying, however, seemed nonchalant. She raised her head slightly and said with a smile, "Ah Shou is not afraid of big occasions. Whether it was his first time meeting the empress dowager or the emperor, he was always calm and composed. The emperor also praised him for having the demeanor of a famous minister and general!"
While the prospective mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were praising someone, Zhang Shou had already returned to his seat. He did not expect such an enthusiastic reaction. Seeing the Third Prince's face flushed with excitement and his hands clapping red, he suddenly felt that such a little guy was really cute. If it were not for the fact that this was a public place and not his own Jiuzhang Hall, he would have wanted to touch that round head.
Lu Sanlang was even more delighted. He helped Zhang Shou to sit down in an exaggerated and attentive manner, and then said with a smile: "After today's lecture, the teacher will officially be on an equal footing with those mountain masters!"
The Third Prince nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes, that's who it is. What the teacher said is very interesting... No, it makes sense!"
Although the Third Prince's words were not loud and were only spoken in front of a group of Jiuzhang Hall students, those students, who came from various backgrounds and were mostly used to being coldly treated, were already happy to follow a popular teacher like Zhang Shou. So how could they not spread these words at this time?
So, when Xu Heida, the Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall, returned to the podium and announced the end of the lecture, the third prince's words had already spread like wildfire.
Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye felt complicated and subtle when they learned about this. Zhang Shou, the doctor of the Imperial College, was obviously better than the four presidents. This was to restore face for the Imperial College, but how could Zhang Shou really be a member of the Imperial College?
This is clearly a kid who has always been outside the academic system of the Imperial College, but he just happened to fall into the hands of the emperor!
Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye felt suffocated when they thought that the Third Prince, who had been low-key and seemed like a shy child before, had now turned into a hot candidate for the Eastern Palace; and also that this young prince had at least been in the Banshan Hall of the formal system of the Imperial College before, but was now completely assigned to Zhang Shou. It was impossible for them to show any enthusiasm.
They could still give orders about Banshan Hall, but as for Jiuzhang Hall... they followed Xu Heizi's example and secretly attended a class there, but they really couldn't understand . It was as if they had never read a book before and were completely confused!
When the show was over, Lin Lao Hu, the head of the Shuntian Prefecture's fast squad who came to maintain order, was very busy. Although he felt that this matter should be handled by the Zhuangban, the head of the Zhuangban pretended to be sick and hid, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet. At this time, he was shouting until his throat was hoarse and was guiding the students and candidates to leave in an orderly manner. He smiled until his cheeks hurt, and he heard a voice coming from not far behind.
"Grand Master of Arts, Junior Master of Arts, the Imperial College has a talented young man like Dr. Zhang, who is mature at a young age. This is truly a great honor for this world's best institution of learning!"
Lin Lao Hu looked back quietly and saw that it was Yue Shanzhang who said this, followed by the other three people who were giving lectures today, and Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye on the other side. He instinctively felt that there might be trouble next, so he wanted to hide immediately. However, who knew that he had only slipped out a few steps and had already caused trouble.
Dean Hong suddenly pointed his finger in his direction and said angrily, "Since when did the Imperial College need people from the government to maintain the teaching? Such an important place of learning has been defiled by these menial servants. How shameful!"
Lin Lao Hu felt a surge of anger rushing to his head, and he almost wanted to retort - You are the slave, your whole family are slaves!
