Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 541 Chapter 9
Among the 72 sages of Confucius, Gongye Chang is not a particularly noteworthy one. In the Tang Dynasty, he was posthumously conferred the title of Ju Bo, and in the Song Dynasty, he was conferred the title of Gaomi Hou and worshipped with Confucius. Although Taizu of this dynasty was relatively cautious when conferring titles on sages, and even once worshipped Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi and other sages among the Hundred Schools of Thought, after Taizong, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi and other sages were worshipped separately, and Gongye Chang became Gongye Zi.
His greatest ability, apart from his miraculous ability to understand the language of animals, was to devote his life to learning and never serve as an official for the princes. Hundreds of years later, the famous historian Sima Qian also used the courtesy name Zichang.
As for how many people have been given such a courtesy name throughout the long course of history, the number is even more countless.
The two words "Yuanhe", just as Ge Yong explained, are simple, easy to understand and catchy.
No matter which courtesy name it was, it all referred to the Shou character in Zhang Shou's name. However, after repeating these two courtesy names over and over again, Zhang Shou finally looked up at Ge Yong and said frankly, "Both courtesy names are good, but they are not suitable for me. Teacher, I may seem to be a gentleman, but I am actually very stubborn. I may not seek to rise to prominence, but I actually have my own ideals."
"I seek stability, not radicalism, but I am definitely not seeking obedience. I will not offend others unless they offend me. I only seek peace of mind, not recognition from others. But if people like Lu Sanlang and Zhang Chen recognize me, and if ignorant children like the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince trust me, then I will not be afraid of trouble and will do my best to protect them from the wind and rain."
"My father and mother, whom I have never met, gave me this character for longevity. I do hope to live a hundred years and be with my family and friends for a long time, but this is not the most important thing. I am not afraid of being easily broken, nor am I afraid of being criticized by others. Although I do not seek to leave a name in history, I have come to this world with a clear conscience and try my best to leave my mark. Whether the world agrees with me or slanders me, it has nothing to do with me."
When Ge Yong was young, he was also a handsome man pursued by countless women, with fluttering sleeves and unparalleled appearance. Even now that he is old, he is still a handsome old man that Zhu Ying admires very much whenever she sees him.
Although he had a high opinion of himself, when comparing it to Zhang Shou's current rise to prominence, he had to feel that Zhang Shou was stronger than he was in terms of appearance, the momentum of his career, and achievements in mathematics.
However, when he was young, he had a hot temper that could explode at the slightest provocation, so the only thing he was not satisfied with was Zhang Shou's gentle and gentle character.
But now that Zhang Shou said, "It's none of my business," he was so happy that his eyes lit up. Instead of getting angry, he patted Zhang Shou's shoulder vigorously and shouted happily, "Okay, I'm afraid that you will be called a bamboo gentleman all day long, and then become lukewarm and lose the spirit of forging ahead!"
“It’s right for parents to pray for their children and grandchildren to live long and prosperously, but if they become cowards in order to do so, that’s meaningless!”
After he finished speaking, without even looking at Zhang Shou's stunned expression, he paced back and forth for a few steps, and actually chanted in a deep voice: "'The bright sky spreads out the white sun, and the spiritual scenery shines on the divine land. In the purple palace, the flying buildings seem to float like clouds. Inside the majestic high gates, all the people are princes. If you are not a dragon-climbing guest, why do you come here suddenly? Wearing a brown robe, I walk out of the palace, chasing Xu You with high steps. I shake my clothes on the thousand-foot hill and wash my feet in the ten-thousand-mile stream.'"
"When I was young, I liked this poem about history written by Zuo Si very much. At that time, I just thought that people with different ideals could not work together, so I just left and lived in seclusion in the mountains. Why should we force ourselves to be successful in life? When I saw Su Dongpo's poem "A raincoat and a rain cape will let us face the rain in our life", I was even more amazed. But it was only a few years ago that I realized why Zuo Si and Su Dongpo could leave their literary names through the ages."
"Although my career has had some setbacks, both Yingzong and Ruizong were rare wise rulers. Even though I made enemies everywhere because of my personality, they always protected me well. If I hadn't been in a state of mind where I was resentful after being demoted or unused but had to force myself to be open-minded and at peace, I wouldn't have been able to write poems that have been passed down through the ages."
"If you look at my poems that are circulated in the world, you will find that they are all well-balanced and prosperous, and they are in the style of a prosperous age. Can anything better than 'The moon is shining in the courtyard with pear blossoms, and the wind is blowing gently in the pond with catkins'? I can only write something like 'Shengchazi', 'I hope to achieve meritorious service first, and then see the king'. But even so, I think to myself that I have never been a common person in my life!"
Having said this, Ge Yong turned around and looked at Zhang Shou, his face full of relief.
"I am not a great scholar, nor a famous official. To be honest, I am probably the most proficient in mathematics among the officials of this dynasty, and I hold the highest position among those who are proficient in mathematics. As for the unprecedented achievement of seven top scorers in the imperial examination, haha, that was the blessing of my ancestors. The court just wanted to set an example."
"So, I am very selective in accepting students. I don't like those guys who pretend to be gentlemen, nor do I like those guys who talk about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. You have a good talent for mathematics, and you don't forget to enlighten others in the small village, so I couldn't help but accept you. Even for your courtesy name, I hope to think of the most appropriate one for you. The two just mentioned are indeed good, but you said it well, neither of them is suitable for you."
Old Master Ge looked at Zhang Shou with a sharp gaze and said word by word, "I plan to give you the courtesy name Jiuzhang. Zhang Shou, do you think you can afford it?"
Zhang Shou was stunned. Among the ten mathematical books, the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art has always been regarded as the most important one, and even in later generations, various examination papers often used materials from it as test questions.
Besides the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, Qu Yuan's Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art is also a famous work that has been passed down through the ages. Apart from the second Nine Chapters, the emperor's crown and robes are also embroidered with Nine Chapters, and even the most important military flags of the court have Nine Chapters on them.
If these two words were used as a nickname given to oneself, it would be acceptable, but if used as a courtesy name...this teacher really is not afraid of people talking behind his back!
However, thinking about the two neutral and peaceful courtesy names just now, and then thinking about the two meaningful words at this moment, he couldn't help but laugh: "Since the teacher dares to give me such courtesy names, how can I say I can't bear it?"
"Haha, good, I was right about you!"
Ge Yong's face suddenly lit up with smiles, and he was so happy that he looked up at the almost rebuilt building and said in a deep voice, "The late Fengzhi doctor and his wife, your son Zhang Shou has grown up. I will give him the courtesy name Jiuzhang. I hope he can be as fearless as Qu Yuan and push the mathematical classics that have been passed down to this day to a new peak."
"Nine is the number of the utmost, and it has the same meaning as the word longevity. The word Zhang has the same pronunciation as the surname Zhang. I hope your spirits in heaven can bless your good son to carry on the unique knowledge of the ancient sages and bring peace to the world forever."
Seeing Ge Yong actually raised his hand and bowed solemnly to the gate, Zhang Shou was stunned for a moment, but could not help but be extremely moved. Even if the couple he had never met were still alive, they were actually Ge Yong's juniors in age, just like Wu who was overjoyed when she saw Ge Yong. They would probably be respectful to the famous old master Ge.
But now they were dead, and Ge Yong's greeting was a courtesy from the living to the dead, not a courtesy from a teacher to the parents of a student. Therefore, after Ge Yong's greeting, he also bowed solemnly, without any perfunctory attitude towards etiquette in the past.
After all, the widow Zhang in there actually gave him a second chance to start his life over again, and Ge Yong gave him the strongest background - compared to the future son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, the identity of the emperor's teacher's closed disciple really provided him with endless help when he first arrived in the capital.
Not to mention, Ge Yong also blocked a lot of suspicion for him. For this reason alone, it would be hard to find such a teacher even with a lantern.
Ge Yong accepted Zhang Shou's greeting, then stepped forward to help him up, but he held Zhang Shou's shoulders and pressed them hard, then said with a complicated expression: "You have a courtesy name, from now on, I should call you Jiuzhang. You were born in a poor family, but by chance you were involved in the biggest dispute seventeen years ago, and thus became connected with the Zhaoguo Mansion and the royal family."
"I don't know how many times your background has been checked by others. It is clean and spotless. So even if Yingying doesn't like you, I am willing to accept you as my disciple based on your qualifications and knowledge. As for the others, I, Ge Yong, don't care! My other students were at least 20 or 30 years old when they were accepted. Which one of them didn't come to me with skills?"
"What's more, you are not promoting those mysterious things, but you have brought a more systematic and step-by-step mathematics than the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Thanks to you, I, as a teacher, have published a lot of books. Now, whenever I see Old Man Chu, he will mock me and say that I am a thief who plagiarized his students' works."
Zhang Shou was embarrassed. He thought about it again and again, and finally whispered: "In fact, when I was giving a lecture at the Imperial College that day, I mentioned two great mathematicians in the West, Euclid and Archimedes, who lived 1,700 to 1,800 years ago. Euclid once wrote a book called "Elements of Geometry". Many definitions in your "New Edition of Mathematics" come from this book..."
"Oh?" Ge Yong smiled, and stopped mocking Zhang Shou for still claiming that the new edition of mathematics was his. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Then bring me the Elements of Geometry later?"
Zhang Shou was just giving Ge Yong a shot of prevention - after all, even if the butterfly's wings flapped, with the omnipresence of Western missionaries, there might have been missionaries who had read Geometry's Elements arriving in the Ming Dynasty on merchant ships. These people don't speak the same language now, but who knows how long it will take for those missionaries who are proficient in multiple languages to learn Chinese?
Most importantly, the symbol system used in Ge's New Mathematics was the Arabic numerals and Latin symbol system that had been popularized since the reign of Emperor Taizu. The missionaries might not understand Chinese, but they could certainly understand the formulas. Although these missionaries were insignificant in the Ming Dynasty, he still had to prepare for the rainy day.
But now Ge Yong asked him for "The Elements of Geometry"... Where could he find it for this old master? The original version of "The Elements of Geometry" had long been lost, and the book reprinted in later generations was definitely not something that ordinary people would read, because compared with systematic mathematics textbooks, this thing was like "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", and most people would just flip through it at most.
Besides, he actually only turned over a little bit... Of course, at that time, he just wanted to brag in front of the people he disliked, and make them stunned and cover their faces and walk away...
Therefore, Zhang Shou could only bite the bullet and whisper: "I only read it once, and I don't remember many of the contents clearly. As for the book, I don't have it on hand. If the teacher wants to read it, he should probably ask Tianjin, Guangzhou and other trading ports to pay attention to whether there are foreign monks, that is, those Westerners who believe in religion and preach, and whether they have brought it with them. The original Greek version of the book should be called "Στοιχεiα"."
Seeing that Ge Yong frowned at his non-standard Greek pronunciation, Zhang Shou changed his words and said, "It is said that the Hui people employed by the Yuan Dynasty also translated this book, called "Four Seasons Arithmetic Segments", with a total of fifteen volumes, but it is hard to say whether it is really the translation of this book. After all, the world was in chaos at that time, and these things might have been lost..."
Before he could finish his words, Ge Yong clapped his hands in high spirits and said, "That saves us trouble! Emperor Taizu sent people to sneak into the palace long before he conquered Yuan Dadu, which is now the capital, in order to protect the library. The current Gujin Tongji Library contains a very complete collection of Yuan books. Since there is such a name, I will ask someone to check it out later... No, I will check it myself!"
Seeing Ge Yong turn around and leave excitedly after saying this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.
As the saying goes, a lie requires countless lies to cover it up. At that time, English was still a minority language, and even French was not very popular. Even Spain was still far from becoming the first empire on which the sun never set. Latin was the common language of all missionaries and nobles at that time. Therefore, hundreds of years after the Geometry Elements was translated into Arabic, it was translated into Latin.
The problem is that if the Latin version of Geometry was handed to him, he would probably only be able to understand part of the formula at most, and he wouldn't be able to understand the rest!
I just hope that some of the information that was found in the future to fool people can really work. At least if the "Four Seasons Algorithm Sections" is found in the Gujin Tongji Library, and if that is the translated version of Geometry's Elements, Ge Yong probably won't hold on to the original version!
Since Teacher Ge left on his own, Zhang Shou sent Ah Liu to the Duke of Zhao's mansion to tell Zhu Ying about Ge Yongqi's courtesy name. As a result, when Wu returned to Zhang Garden, she was naturally extremely happy. And Master Jiang, who happened to have just returned to the gate of Zhang Garden, took the opportunity to greet Wu and after finding out the whole story, he naturally complimented her repeatedly.
Living in Zhang Garden, she didn't get any benefits, but Young Master Jiang had always been very graceful. Today, he was the first to congratulate her, and Wu was very pleased with him. She was only ten years older than Young Master Jiang, so she naturally showed her elder's caring attitude and said a few words of concern. When Young Master Jiang mentioned the textile business, she was excited and laughed.
She said casually, "I heard from Ah Shou that although the new looms are fast, they are still not as fast as spinning. I have seen water-powered flour mills in the countryside before, and I wonder if water power can also be used to drive weaving?"
When Wu took Young Master Jiang to the study to meet Zhang Shou and mentioned this, Zhang Shou immediately put his hand on his forehead. His fiancée Zhu Ying was already thinking about building a team and a team, and his always honest and kind mother even thought of a water-powered loom!
