North and South groceries

It is said that this young man who scored 59 points in the test was beaten up by his father one night, and went out early the next morning. The gatekeeper helped him to call the man out.

"Why are you so early today?" His buddies asked in a hurry as they ran out halfway through breakfast.

"Come up, I have something to tell you." Said 59 points.

"What?" His buddies got into the carriage as promised.

"Compared to you, you also heard about what happened yesterday." When the other party got into the car, 59 points sighed, and said to him: "Your academic performance is not much better than mine, and it's hard to think about it now."

"Ah..." When this topic was brought up, his buddies also began to sigh. His father and brother had already mentioned this matter to him last night, and today it just happened to be their turn to have arithmetic class again, this time they wanted to hide and hide no.

"It's a bit inappropriate to do this, but..." Na 59 points took out a crumpled test paper from his sleeve and stuffed it into the opponent's hand.

"This..." His buddies still looked a little hesitant.

"Don't rely on full marks, just get eight or nine points, just don't get beaten." 59 Points said to his close buddies.

"Hmm!" His buddies were moved!He accepted the test paper very solemnly, and then on the way to Taixue, the two studied the test paper carefully in the car.

When they started arithmetic class on this day, the buddies saw the young assistant teacher Luo come in with a stack of test papers, and then divided these test papers into several parts for the students in the front row to pass on to the others. .

This buddy's heart was beating like a drum, his palms were sweating, and it was the first time in his life that he cheated, and he felt very, very nervous!

When he finally got the paper, he picked up the pen and was about to answer the question, but found that something was wrong. In the test paper he saw this morning, the first calculation question was clearly 12+7=?Looking at the test paper in his hand at this time, the first calculation question is 19+9=?

no the same? ! ! !

These buddies felt that the drums in their chests were beating more intensely. They barely suppressed their flustered emotions and carefully checked this paper from beginning to end. It was really different, every question was different!

At this time, I went to look at the front of the desk again, and saw that the big characters on it read: The first ten days of the Taixue Arithmetic Examination in November of the 11th year of Zhenguan (2).

(2)!It turned out to be (2)!

That's right, if there is (1), there is (2), otherwise, why is that (1) used?

Woooo...it's over...it's over...

Among the four classes in Taixue, yesterday's class had the worst foundation, so when Luo Yong set the questions for them, the difficulty was also set at the lowest level. Today's test paper is slightly more difficult. A little bit, not much, but enough to make some scumbags howl.

The most difficult part is still the last word problem. Two villages jointly build a canal, and each village pays different labor according to the irrigation area. If one village pays less labor, it will be paid with money. The problem of racing the tortoise and the hare It is also the same way, and many students are blinded when they encounter such a problem.

But even so, there were still two perfect marks in this class. Luo Yong immediately gave them ten bamboo sticks, and each bamboo stick could eat a meal. In the past, consumption was fine, as long as it was something that was in the shop, you could order whatever you wanted.

In addition, you can also bring people there, but only a few people are brought over, and each person consumes a bamboo stick for each meal. If it is said that someone brings nine friends over tomorrow, and he adds ten, then his ten Today's breakfast is equivalent to eating all of it.

"Xie Dalang, let's go to sister's restaurant for breakfast tomorrow?" Xie Dalang is usually very popular, but today he got full marks in the exam, so several students in the class joined him.

"Want to eat?" Xie Dalang said with a smile, "Go for the test yourself."

"Hey... stingy." If the perfect score is really that easy to take the test, they must have taken the test themselves.

Then the next morning, Xie Dalang took his wife and children to Auntie's restaurant for breakfast.

People at this time get married early, getting married in their teens, and many of them are parents before they are twenty, so in their Taixue, many students actually have wives and children, and it is normal to drag their families out for breakfast. But that's all.

"I don't know if Assistant Professor Luo told you about this?" When he first went there, Xie Dalang was a little worried that Luo Yong hadn't communicated well with the shop, and he thought in his heart that if he couldn't do it, he should pay for the meal himself.

"Hey, I told you, how many of you are there?" The eldest son of Xu Dalang hurried over to greet him when he heard about it. Mrs. Luo has been telling them a lot these days, and they should be extra careful about those who came from the Imperial Academy. Saburo pulled the hind legs.

"Me, my wife and children, there are four people in total." Xie Dalang said and handed over four bamboo sticks.

Xu Dalang's eldest son looked out of the window and saw his wife standing not far away holding a baby girl in her hand, and beside her was an old woman holding a small baby in her arms, looking at the girl who hadn't Looks like one year old.

"My lord said that children under the age of one don't need bamboo sticks, and children under three feet tall are only half sticks. If the old woman over there doesn't eat, the four of you only need two and a half sticks." Xu Dalang's eldest son speak.

"It's so." Xie Dalang smiled. He originally thought that if Luo Sanlang could provide him with a few breakfasts according to what he said, it would be considered good. He didn't expect that the other party did better than he expected In this way, the ten bamboo sticks in his hand are enough for four meals for the family of four.Looking back at his wife, he was really happy to see her at this time.

They didn't order much at the beginning, so they ordered two plates of dice, a bowl of jujube soy milk drink, a bowl of soy milk, a bowl of canned pears, a bowl of canned peaches, and two skewers of fish balls.

The eldest son of Xu Dalang helped them carry the things to an empty seat in the hall, and said that if he needed anything else, he could go to the counter to order anytime.

"It's really good." After Xu Dalang's eldest son left, Xie Dalang's wife said with a smile.

"Then you can eat more, it won't be in vain for your husband's hard exam." Xie Dalang said with a smile.

The family of four had breakfast together. Their eldest daughter was a little older and could eat by herself under the care of her parents. The youngest daughter was held in the arms of the servant woman, and she was fed some jujube soymilk drink one mouthful at a time.

The little girl ate a few mouthfuls, then yelled to eat her mother's canned food, her mother also fed her a few mouthfuls of pear juice, and then ate a whole piece of jujube bean cake, then burped and refused. Eat again.

On this side, the eldest daughter sat face to face with her, Aye, playing slots, and they ate up both sets of slots, and there was still something to be desired.

So the little girl went to the counter and ordered a plate of dumplings, and another bowl of canned peaches.She couldn't finish the second bowl of canned food, so Aye brought it over and cleaned it up in a few mouthfuls.

After breakfast, Xie Dalang still had to go to school, his wife let him go first, since he had just had a full meal, he sat here before leaving.

"The next answer is to choose to eat when Dalang is not in school." After Xie Dalang left, his wife said to her servant, the breakfast today was really good, but it was a little rushed.

"Then you can tell him next time." The maid smiled.

"I want it." Xie Dalang's wife smiled, then pushed the half bowl of canned food in front of her to the servant woman, and said: "I can't eat the half bowl, so why don't you just eat it for me. "

"This..." The maid looked left and right. When they just came in, Mr. Lang said that she, the servant, would not eat it. If she ate it again now, in case someone took it and said...

"No problem, you can eat it." The young woman reached out and took her little daughter over: "No one else would eat the things I have eaten. It would be a pity to throw them away for nothing. You can eat them and eat them up." We went back."

"Hey." The servant woman responded, picked up the bowl of canned pears and started eating.

She is a servant brought by Xie Dalang's wife from her natal family, and she is also an old servant who has watched this little lady grow up. When she got married, she followed her to her husband's house, and she was quite close emotionally.

Their little lady has a good appetite recently, so there's nothing she can't eat with such a bowl of canned food, and she didn't specially keep it for her old servant.

Pears are not uncommon in their Chang'an City, and there are quite a lot of them in autumn, but after winter, they become rare, and it is difficult for ordinary people to eat them. It will be a little dry, but eating this half bowl of canned pears can moisten the heart and lungs to some extent.

On their side, a family of four had breakfast together, and the servants at home followed suit.

I heard that in the past two days because of the exam, many young gentlemen were beaten in Chang'an City. It's really joyful and sad for some families.

Luo used these four class exams for Taixue, and each class had different test papers, divided into (1), (2), (3), and (4), a total of four.

These four test papers were the ones he had been preparing since he came to Chang'an City.

The test questions were written by him himself, and part of the information was extracted from some old books in the space. It was about when he bought second-hand books in the university town, and the nearby residents also sold the old books of their own children. It is enough to extract some excerpts for these Tang Dynasty students to use.

As for the engraving, it is naturally Siniang and Wulang. These two people have carved the Book of Songs before, and these few papers are not difficult for them.

Luo Yong said that after the exams in those classes of Taixue were over, they could print some papers and sell them for money, and then the two siblings, who almost got into the eyes of the money, went to work. .

My elder brother said, this time this paper, it doesn’t matter if we can print more papers, there must be no worries about sales, so on the few days when the students of Taixue took the exam, the two brothers and sisters printed the papers at home with their shoulders thrown away.

In order to ensure the printing quality, they chose a relatively finer paper and cut it to the same size as the engraving block. The cost of each paper was about half a penny, plus the cost of ink, which was less than a penny. Four pieces, priced at eight fen, were sold on consignment at Ma's guest house, and the price Siniang and the others gave to Ma's guest house was seven fen per piece.

For Ma's guest house, although this business is not very lucrative, they are very willing to do it. Those who open guest houses like them, especially if they want to do literati business, naturally want to make the guest house more profitable. It's more cultural.

Luo Sanlang is willing to put this paper on consignment in their store, not to mention selling a copy and earn a penny, even if they don't make money, they are willing to sell it.

Recently, many scholars in Chang'an City are discussing the ten-day exam papers of Taixue, especially the last few math problems, such as the tortoise and the hare race, two village road construction, three people walking on the road, three people going around the pond, each question has its own meaning. Make them feel very new.

Once upon a time, in the "Sun Tzu's Suan Jing", there was a question about chicken and rabbit in the same cage. It has been talked about for 200 years. Now Luo Sanlang's four questions are similar to chicken and rabbit in the cage A bit of a similarity, but it still makes people feel bright.

"In my opinion, the most wonderful thing lies in the way he writes the paper. The whole paper is [-] points, the questions are deep and shallow, and the questions are scored. In the end, just look at the scores of these students. For their arithmetic The level is clear at a glance.”

While many people were talking about those few application questions, there were also some people who were sober. At this time, they had begun to realize the advanced nature of the scoring system test method. It is more detailed and transparent than the original test method. The number of points for a question is clear, and it is less affected by human factors, so it is naturally more fair.

These days, the upper and lower halls of Ma's Commercial House are full every day, and even the occupancy rate of the rooms at the back is particularly high.

These big men and young men in Chang'an City, after buying a test paper, often have to read and discuss it in their store. First, it is convenient, and second, it is because there is more atmosphere here. Recently, Chang'an City is concerned about this test paper. Most of the people who took the test papers were concentrated in the Ma's guest house.

"Is the pen and ink ready?"

On this day, in a guest room on the second floor of Ma's guest house, several young gentlemen asked their servants to buy some test papers, and each of them shared a share, and then they each found a comfortable place in the room. , I plan to take the exam like that Taixue student.

"What number are we going to make?" One person opened the paper that was folded in half in his hand, and flipped through it one by one.

"Of course it's the fourth one." Someone said.They also heard that the difficulty of these four papers is increasing, the first is the easiest, and the fourth is the most difficult.

"I think it's better to be the first one." An older man said.

"I also think it's more appropriate to do the first copy first. We haven't studied this kind of arithmetic specifically, so why don't we do the first copy first to get familiar with it." Others in the room echoed.

"It's just that the numbers and symbols are slightly different, and the arithmetic methods are almost always the same." Some people disagree.

"Let's make the first one first." At this time, a young man in luxurious clothes sitting by the window said lightly, and then the other people in the room had no more objections.

When they actually start to do the questions, these people will know that it is completely wise to do the first one first.

Although these people are studying in Guozixue, one level higher than Taixue, and enjoying better educational conditions than Taixue, they themselves are not because their qualifications are better than those of Taixue. Because of superiority, I went to a better school, but because I was born better than those people.

The last topic of the tortoise and the hare race, some people even racked their brains and couldn't solve it.

"Tsk, don't do it, we don't have to compete with them for grades anyway." Some people were really discouraged by doing it, so they simply threw the goose feather bamboo pen on the table and didn't do it.

"It's convenient for your father and brother at home to mention this matter these two days, don't let those people from Taixue leave us behind." The young man by the window also closed the paper in his hand at this time, and said .

This is still the easiest test paper. After doing it this time, he won't even get a full score, let alone a full score, because he can't do the last question either.He heard that there were several students who got full marks in Taixue, and this fact made him feel a crisis.

Although their father and brother are ahead of those in Taixue, their generation is not necessarily. Those seemingly indestructible families always rise and fall. It is impossible for a family to develop and prosper. Always relying on the accumulation of the ancestors, if the descendants have no future, decline will become inevitable.

These people enjoy the convenience and benefits that the family brings to them, but at the same time, they must also have the awareness to undertake and promote the development of a huge family.

A few days later, it was November [-]th.Small officials like Luo Yong and the others have two big dynasties on the lunar new moon day of each month, that is, the first day and the fifteenth day of the lunar new year.

Luo Yong has never experienced this kind of thing before, but he did go to the court once when he was a saint. This time he went to the court with Hou Lin. Anyway, they live in the same courtyard now, together It is also convenient to go out.

A few days ago, Qiao Junlin got a full score in the exam and got ten bamboo sticks from Luo Yong, and then he gave these bamboo sticks to Hou Lin.

Hou Lin was very happy. He felt that this nephew was not in vain. He invited a few colleagues to have breakfast at the Ma's guest house. Those colleagues also gave him a special face. When he was in court today, some people deliberately made a detour to Feng'an Square to pick him up. .

It's not like Hou Lin didn't feel that since Luo Sanlang came to Chang'an City and lived in the same courtyard with them, the colleagues around him had faintly warmed up to him.

Just like this colleague today, he said he came to pick him up, but in fact it should be for Luo Sanlang, but it doesn’t matter, it’s also good to be able to ride the carriage for a while. In this cold weather, riding in a carriage is better than riding Yan’erfei too much.

Luo Yong's rank is from the seventh rank. At this time, he was wearing a green official robe and black cloth boots. He was not very tall, but his figure was slender and straight. He still looked like a young man , with a little smile on his face, and a little bit of shyness.

Just looking at this person's appearance, how could one guess that he would have a nickname like Coffin Baner?

"But how long have you been waiting?"

Hou Lin and Luo Yong came out of the yard together, but his colleague saw that Luo Yong was gone. It was not until Hou Lin talked to him that he noticed that he had also come out. He coughed lightly and said with a smile, "Me too." Just arrived, it's cold outside, hurry up and get in the car."

His carriage was spacious enough for the three of them to sit in the same carriage, and it didn't look crowded. There was a heater in the carriage, and I don't know what kind of charcoal was used, and there was still a faint fragrance.

The three of them talked along the way, and the atmosphere along the way was not bad, but I don't know if it was Luo Yong's illusion, the other party seemed to want to poach someone.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Luo Yong just pretended that he didn't hear it, and pretended to be deaf and dumb all the way to the palace gate. He just liked the place of Taixue just now, and had no intention of changing jobs.

As for the morning court of this day, Luo Yong felt that he was just doing soy sauce, and at most he would be asked a few questions about the recent exam, and nothing else happened to him, but he did not expect that he was still very big this day. He made a splash.

The reason is that a few Ph. D. students from Guozixue proposed that they hope that Luo Yong can spare a day or two to teach arithmetic at their side.

Then several doctors from Taixue quit, especially Dr. Chen who jumped the highest, saying that they made it clear that they wanted to poach the wall. When Luo Sanlang was still staying in Xipo Village, why didn't they think of inviting him? Going to Guozi Academy to teach, now they are too learned to invite people to Chang'an City, and they want to rob people, it's really deceiving!

Afterwards, the emperor asked Luo Yong what he thought: "What does Luo Aiqing think?"

"I'm afraid that I'm not slack in my strength." Luo Yong said.

"One or two days every ten days will not delay your teaching at Taixue." Another doctor at Guozixue spoke.

"No." Luo said concisely.

Someone in the court hall laughed lightly, this coffin board is a coffin board, he looks like a young man with delicate skin and tender flesh, but in fact he is a first-class stubble.

When this matter developed to the end, the emperor proposed a solution for them: "I heard that Dr. Chen and arithmetic have achieved something together. If not, let Dr. Chen go."

Dr. Chen also taught arithmetic to several other doctors and doctoral teaching assistants in Taixue before, and was also seconded to teach arithmetic for a period of time. His arithmetic level is indeed good.

"I don't know how many lovers would like it?" The emperor asked Guozi to learn from those people.

"I think it's feasible." A doctor with a white beard from Guozixue cupped his hands. Apart from Na Luo Sanlang, Dr. Chen is indeed the best candidate.

"..." Dr. Chen never expected that things would develop like this. If he had known this would happen, he would have stopped scolding a few words during the quarrel.

"What does Chen Aiqing think?" The emperor, a peacemaker, asked Dr. Chen's opinion again at this time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your love!" Dr. Chen, an old guy, agreed without thinking about it.

Luo Yong also found it funny watching from the sidelines, this old guy changed his face very quickly.

But he is also an old fritter, and he should be very clear about the situation at Guozixue, and he obviously has the will to go further.

Luo Yong is different from him. First of all, he has no idea of ​​continuing to climb up. Secondly, he doesn't know much about the situation of Guozixue, and he doesn't want to be led by the nose and get involved in some complicated interest relations. among.

Whether it is Luo Yong's rejection or Dr. Chen's acceptance, they seem to have nothing to do with each other, and their attitudes are also diametrically opposed, but they actually have a very essential thing in common, that is, they clearly know what they really want. What is it.