Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 596: Different Paths, Different Plans
It was Zhang Shou who wanted to leave the Imperial College on his own initiative. We never forced him to stop recruiting students the next year!
Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye were furious about the rumors that suddenly spread in the Imperial College, so they immediately came out to make a statement. However, the academic officials in the Doctoral Hall were willing to believe them. After all, Zhang Shou had risen to prominence, and his rank was much higher than theirs, so no one was convinced. But they did not expect that the students in the other six halls would react extremely strongly.
As for the Jiuzhang Hall, which was completely different from the other six halls in terms of curriculum, teachers and students, the rest of the students were already repulsed by it. Therefore, when the news spread to the other six halls of the Imperial College, before Zhang Shou's class was over, the noise from outside completely disrupted the originally stable classroom order in Jiuzhang Hall.
"Jiuzhangtang get out of the Imperial College!"
"The Imperial College does not require mathematics!"
Zhang Shou's class was difficult to begin with - to use a popular phrase from later generations, cubic equations were completely beyond the syllabus - he didn't expect everyone to understand it, but today two classes of students were in the same class, so he brought up this topic on a whim. At this moment, hearing the voice from outside, he couldn't help but frown as his smooth thinking was interrupted.
The one who reacted faster and more fiercely than him was Lu Sanlang. The little fat guy was never easy to mess with, and the little fat guy who had already been crowned and given a name, and thought he had entered the sequence of court officials, and was not on the same level as these ordinary students, was even harder to mess with. He pushed the table and stood up, rushed to the door with a round and chubby step, and shouted thunderously.
"You are shouting in class and disrupting order. Do you want to skin the supervisors like you?"
His full-throated roar actually suppressed dozens of people outside in an instant. After the roar, the little fat man rebuked him mercilessly: "The Jiuzhang Hall was established by the emperor in accordance with the will of the Taizu emperor. You are ignorant and do not know mathematics, but you are still making trouble here. Do you take the Taizu emperor and the emperor seriously?"
This big hat was heavily put on them, and the timid ones among the troublemakers unconsciously retreated a few steps. However, the real troublemakers were aroused by the fat man's scolding words to rebel.
"Lu Sanpang, you are just relying on the emperor's praise to act like a tyrant! Jiuzhangtang was established by Emperor Taizu, but it has been closed for so many years. Does that mean that all the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty were wrong? Besides, wasn't it your teacher who said that he wanted to move Jiuzhangtang out of the Imperial College? Since you want to move it, don't dawdle and get out of here!"
Although the little fat guy didn't care about his nickname - he thought his real name, Lu Zhu, was more unpleasant - it depended on who called him. Whether it was Zhu Ying who often mentioned it as a joke, or Zhang Chen and other "enemies" who used it to attack him, he could tolerate it, but it didn't mean that someone who was not familiar with him could say it with disgust.
So, the little fat man narrowed his eyes for a moment. If someone was familiar with him, they would immediately know that this former third son of the Shangshu Mansion, who always liked to talk to people with a smile and always imitated Zhang Shou's gentle and elegant style, and now the head of Jiuzhang Hall, was furious.
"My teacher is the Doctor of the Imperial College in charge of Jiuzhang Hall, Zuo Yude of the Zhanshi Palace, Bachelor of the Imperial Academy, and a fifth-rank lecturer in the Eastern Palace! I am a seventh-rank lecturer in the Eastern Palace! Who the hell are you? How dare you speak ill of my teacher in such a tone? How dare you say hurtful things in public!"
"You are such a person who doesn't know the difference between superiors and subordinates, and you are actually a student of the Imperial College. Did the doctoral assistant of the Imperial College fail to teach you etiquette, or did you lack family education since you were a child, so you don't even know the most basic etiquette!"
Seeing that Lu Sanlang was so imposing, Ji Jiu, the head of the second term, did not want to fall behind, so he got up and followed him out. At this time, when he heard Lu Sanlang's repeated questioning, first he used Emperor Taizu and the current emperor to scold the other party for ignoring the monarch, and then he seized on the other party's grammatical errors to scold the other party for having no respect for the inferior, he immediately thought to himself that it was amazing.
Ji Jiu had always regarded Lu Sanlang's success as his greatest role model, so he immediately said, "Jiuzhang Hall has been closed for so many years. How do you know that it was because the emperors of previous dynasties did not want to open it, rather than being deceived by treacherous ministers? You came here to cause trouble because of hearsay. It's unfortunate that you are still hanging around in Ruxing Hall... Ruxing Hall is really not as good as it used to be!"
Since Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu, two students of noble birth and good at handling things, had gone out to deal with it, why would Zhang Shou go into battle himself? Although he was still far from having students all over the world, he still had a full classroom of students.
It is said that when the teacher is busy, the disciples do the hard work, and now he is enjoying the fruits of his labor.
So, he casually glanced at the students, who all had different expressions on their faces. Seeing that some seemed to be hesitating whether to stay in the hall or go out to help, he said calmly, as if he was unaware of the dispute outside: "Just now we talked about a special type of cubic equation Y^3+pY+q=0 that can be transformed into a directly solution-friendly equation. Next, let's talk about solving this equation."
Outside, the students were arguing again, but Zhang Shou actually said that the class would continue. The students' eyes widened immediately. However, as Zhang Shou continued to write on the blackboard quickly, no one cared about the dispute outside for a while, and they hurriedly took notes to prevent being left behind by this teacher.
Even if they copied it, most of them had no idea what they were recording. In their opinion, Lu Sanlang would probably understand it, but Ji Jiu, who had good talent, couldn't say for sure. Besides, weren't these two monks out debating with others? Among the rest, some people only understood the basics and thought they were quite capable.
Compared to the first and second term students of Jiuzhangtang who at least had desks and chairs and had a solid foundation, Ye Mengqiu and his three senior brothers were already starry-eyed just by watching. They had only just started to really get in touch with those symbol systems in the past few days in Zhangyuan, so how could they possibly keep up with this complicated derivation process?
However, after Zhang Shou finished writing on seven or eight blackboards in one breath, he listened to the debate outside the door and heard Ji Jiu starting to make indirect accusations.
However, rather than being a veiled criticism, it is better to say that Ji Jiu is using the past to satirize the present. He mainly recalls the celebrities who came out of the Ratexing Hall of the Imperial College throughout the ages, including Zhu Tingfang, and then criticizes the current Ratexing Hall for not living up to its name, with a lack of talent, and for occupying the spacious classrooms vacated by the former Banshan Hall but not knowing how to cherish it, and instead causing trouble at the Jiuzhang Hall.
After listening for a while, Zhang Shou knew that this debate would not end for a while, so he smiled and said, "What I just talked about is the general solution of the cubic equation using my symbol system."
"In fact, there is a similar expression in Qin Jiushao's "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" during the Song Dynasty, and it is even more commonly used. Just as Master Xiaoye said before that it is difficult to find a complete copy of "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", I think even fewer people are interested in "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art."
"So, next we will use the counting rod method in the "Nine Chapters of Mathematics" to briefly talk about this section. However, counting rods are not the first thing I have learned, so if there are any mistakes, you can figure it out by yourselves." Zhang Shou had to say this in advance. After all, his application of counting rods was just over the level of proficiency, and it was all because of Ge Yong's urging.
Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu outside the door had been working together to beat the troublemaker from Ruexing Hall. However, they all had an ear and an eye on all sides, and they noticed that Zhang Shou in Jiuzhang Hall ignored the noise outside and continued to lecture on his own. They thought something was wrong and wondered if their rashness in joining the fight had made Zhang Shou unhappy.
Even if they defeated this group of scum, if they missed this class, it would be a loss! Based on their understanding of the Mathematical Classics, since the content of this class was not in the "New Edition of Ge's Mathematics" and it also involved the "Nine Chapters on Mathematics" by Qin Jiushao, a great mathematician in the Southern Song Dynasty, if they missed this opportunity, they would never get it again!
Ji Jiu had a wide circle of friends in Banshan Hall before - after all, Lu Sanlang was a man of character if you put it nicely, but a bad-tempered guy if you put it bluntly, and he was totally inferior to him who was good at dealing with people. So, while Lu Sanlang was insulting people in a rage, Ji Jiu saw that there was a former classmate of Banshan Hall in the crowd, and he quickly rushed over to grab the person and asked what was going on.
When he learned that someone had come to Jiuzhang Hall to make trouble, it turned out to be because of a sudden rumor that Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye had teamed up to force Zhang Shou to promise not to recruit new members next year. Zhang Shou angrily stated that he wanted to move Jiuzhang Hall out of the Imperial College.
Ji Jiu clearly remembered that this was not something that happened today, but something that happened a while ago. When they learned that Zhang Shou wanted to move Jiuzhangtang out of the Imperial College, many people were at a loss. It was Lu Sanlang who stood up and used the Third Prince's tiger skin to calm everyone's emotions. As the Third Prince was about to become the newly-minted Crown Prince, everyone's worries had long since disappeared.
For a mere insignificant student with no future to speak of, compared to the chance to become a tutor in the Eastern Palace, everyone knows what to choose!
Therefore, seeing that Lu Sanlang had already defeated the troublemaker from Ruxing Hall and that he was about to flee in disgrace, he immediately shouted, "I was wondering why so many people suddenly came to Jiuzhang Hall, but it turned out to be a bunch of fabricated rumors! What do you mean by the Grand Secretary and the Junior Secretary jointly forcing the emperor to abdicate? The teacher has been teaching since he came back from the palace today!"
He raised his voice, his face showing just the right amount of indignation: "In order to take care of his fellow students, the teacher let bygones be bygones and brought them back to sit in on the class. Just look at the blackboard , and you'll know that he doesn't have the time to argue with others!"
Upon learning that a large number of students had gathered in front of Jiuzhang Hall, Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye did not want to come at all, but thinking of the serious consequences of a riot, they came anyway. However, they felt bad when they saw that Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu had squeezed people to the point where they could not leave the stage, and the other onlookers had made a few noises at first but did not stand up in the end.
Although Ji Jiu seemed to have spoken a fair word for them, he immediately went on to explain Zhang Shou's diligence in teaching, and even said that he had no time to argue with others. The two of them were so angry when they heard this.
But at this moment, Lu Sanlang said sinisterly: "Ji Jiu, you don't have to speak for Da Sicheng and Shao Sicheng. They came to the teacher together and asked the teacher to concentrate on teaching the third prince and do his Donggong lectures well, and give up Jiuzhang Hall. I can still recite those words word for word!"
Lu Sanlang was very angry because he couldn't hear the solution of the cubic equation that he was very interested in. Therefore, he was not like Ji Jiu who was still thinking about the proper measure in his words.
"As for the teacher's plan to move Jiuzhang Hall out of the Imperial College, rumors are still rife... Haha, who knows if someone spread the rumor to trick some idiots into coming here to cause trouble! Do you really want Jiuzhang Hall to move out of the Imperial College? That's great, my father's public school has just begun to expand, and he's worried about not having enough important subjects. I'll go talk to the teacher and move it over!"
Seeing Lu Sanlang turn around and leave after saying this, Ji Jiu was completely stunned.
He had gone to such lengths to let people know that Zhang Shou had never said such a thing, and to whitewash Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye and suppress the matter... But Lu Sanlang was so eager to create chaos that he directly shouted to move Jiuzhang Hall to the Outer City Public School! In that case, wasn't he arguing with people for nothing?
Knowing that Lu Sanlang had stepped in, the matter was set in stone. Feeling aggrieved, Ji Jiu was too lazy to waste time on this. He sneered and said, "Isn't this what you all wanted? Without the Jiuzhang Hall in the Imperial College, you can have a bright future? Humph, that's wishful thinking!"
The troublemakers who were originally at the forefront were already covered in dust, but when they heard what Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu said, they seemed to feel that they had won the battle. When they saw the two men turning back, they immediately started shouting.
But before they could show off their power, they heard an extremely angry shout: "All those who caused trouble in Jiuzhang Hall today will be recorded and punished for gathering a crowd to cause trouble! All the students in the six halls will be demoted to the next level. If you are in Guangye Hall, the last one, you will be expelled directly!"
"The Imperial College is a place for studying, not a place for you to cause trouble!"
Luo Siye was really furious at this sudden turn of events. If he didn't come out and reprimand them, the whole capital would surely spread the news that they had failed to force Zhang Shou to abdicate, and then instructed the students of the Imperial College to cause trouble in front of the Jiuzhang Hall, and finally forced all the teachers and students of the Jiuzhang Hall out of the Imperial College!
By then, all the blame will be on him and Zhou Jijiu!
Zhou Jijiu did not blame Luo Siye for interfering in his duties, because he was also shocked and angry at this moment. After hearing Luo Siye decisively use the big stick, he found that the students watching in front of Jiuzhang Hall did not disperse, so he shouted: "Where is Xu Jiancheng of Shengqian Hall? If there are any more students gathered here within ten breaths, they will be severely punished!"
In Jiuzhang Hall, Zhang Shou, who was being persuaded by Lu Sanlang, threw down his pen when he heard Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye's statements. He clapped his hands indifferently and said, "People with different ideals cannot work together. Since we can't be of the same mind, let's go our separate ways!"
