Zhangtai Palace.
When Ying Zheng said that these items were all made by the Marquis of the Inner Pass, all the courtiers turned to look at Han Qiu, their faces filled with bewilderment.
What was the use of these items?
Why was His Majesty so amazed?
Old General Wang Jian and Right Prime Minister Wang Wan picked up a compass and a leveling ruler. These items looked very ordinary, but this abacus was rather interesting.
Right Prime Minister Wang Wan put down the compass and level ruler and said,""Your Majesty, these items are just craftsmen's tools. There's nothing special about them!”
Wang Wan was the representative of the noble families of the old Qin people. His family had been in Xianyang for more than 300 years and could be considered the oldest Qin people.
His influence in the royal court was not inferior to Li Si's and he had many followers.
Most of the Ying clan was close to Wang Wan and alienated Li Si.
In the eyes of the Ying Clan, Li Si was a scheming and cunning person who could not be befriended.
Ying Zheng did not get angry when he saw that Wang Wan did not care about these items. Instead, he asked,""Minister Wang, I heard that you are skilled in algebra and your ability to calculate is unparalleled in the world!”
Hearing Ying Zheng's praise, Wang Wan raised his head and smiled,""Your Majesty, you praise me too much. I don't deserve it!"
Hearing Wang Wan's modesty, Ying Zheng could not help but laugh.
Wang Wan believed that he was knowledgeable. As the Right Prime Minister, he knew all the money and grain in the world, so he was naturally proficient in algebra…
Seeing how confident Wang Wan was, and how all the officials and ministers in the court were puzzled about the use of compasses and other items, Ying Zheng looked at Right Prime Minister Wang Wan and smiled, then said to the eunuch beside him,""Men, summon the palace carpenter and the chief clerk of the temple to the palace…"
Wang Wan didn't know what His Majesty meant, but when he saw His Majesty's smile, he felt that His Majesty was brewing a conspiracy…
All the officials did not know what the Emperor was thinking. When they looked at Left Prime Minister Li Si, they found that he was pretending to be deaf and dumb. No one could see anything from Li Si's face. A scheming strategist like Li Si could only be described as one who was extremely shrewd…
Before long, the palace carpenter and the chief clerk of the temple came to the palace.
Ying Zheng said," This man is calculating the food and clothing expenses of the concubines in the palace, while this carpenter is fixing them. Minister, I intend to let you compete with this official in calculating the number of people in the palace!”
The officials in the court did not understand the Emperor's meaning. Wang Wan was the Right Prime Minister and was in charge of the world's money and food. No one could surpass him in terms of divination. Now, he actually let a temple official compare divination with the Right Prime Minister. Even if the Right Prime Minister won, it would be an unfair victory…
However, Ying Zheng turned a blind eye to the doubts of the officials.
" For the sake of fairness, I'll let all the civil and military officials in the court come up with two copies of an arithmetic. They'll be given to the chief registrar and the right prime minister respectively…"
Ying Zheng's words made the courtiers even more confused.
What was His Majesty trying to do?
What was His Majesty trying to say by doing all these things?
"That craftsman, look at Zhangtai Palace. You can draw a restoration of the palace to the extent that you can. These tools are for you to use!”
Ying Zheng's words confused the officials.
Draw a restoration map?
"To give each official a piece of paper?”
"Xuan paper?"
Today, the Emperor had repeatedly mentioned surprising things, and soon, a temple staff sent over Xuan paper and a wolf-hair brush…
The Wolf Brush was made by Meng Tian. At first, it was made of wolf hair. Later, it was made of deer hair and rabbit hair, which was why it became a writing brush.
"Eh? What is this?"
Thin and light, yet extremely tough Xuan paper was laid out in front of every official.
These courtiers were all writing on bamboo slips. Now that something called Xuan paper was laid out in front of them, they were very surprised!
"What is this?"
"Good! It's a world-shocking item!"
" So light, so tough, so thin…" Some of the officials looked at the paper that was as thin as a cicada's wing and were pleasantly surprised!
Even the shrewd Li Si was moved.
Ying Zheng didn't explain, but said,"" Write it on paper in duplicate…"
"Yes!"
Although the courtiers were very confused, they did not dare to make a sound and could only do as the Emperor said. The generals in the court did not use algebra and also braced themselves to write five plus five.
For example, Li Si, Yao Jia, and the others were proficient in algebra, so they wrote down very responsible algebra and copied it down in duplicate!
Although Wang Wan didn't know what His Majesty meant, His Majesty was looking down on him a little too much by letting him compete in algebra with a temple official.
Could it be that I, Wang Wan, am not as talented as a temple person?
The courtiers placed the two sets of divination in front of Wang Wan and the chief clerk.
"The two of you can start calculating."
"Yes!"
Wang Wan held a brush and began to calculate.
The chief registrar picked up an abacus and fiddled with the beads.
Balalala, the temple staff fiddled with the beads, and the master bookkeeper turned the page.
Wang Wan turned to look. Was this temple person's algebra ability so brilliant?
Wang Wan hadn't finished calculating on the first page.
Bala! Bala!
The third and fourth pages had already been flipped. Wang Wan had just finished calculating the first page…
"What is that guy doing? How could he be so fast without writing?”
While Wang Wan was exclaiming, the chief registrar of the temple gradually entered a good state. The speed of flipping the Xuan paper became faster and faster, and the way he fiddled with the beads became faster and faster!
When Wang Wan finished calculating the fifth page, a small layer of the paper beside the chief registrar had already fallen off.
Wang Wan's forehead was sweating.
He suddenly discovered something strange about the chief registrar. The abacus in his hand seemed to have some special pattern. He could easily get the answer by flipping a few beads. He did not want to calculate step by step like this!
All the civil and military officials were watching quietly.
When they saw that Prime Minister Wang Wan was actually at a disadvantage, they all held their breaths.
Could it be that His Majesty had found a world-shocking talent?
This monk was a world-shocking talent?
An hour later.
The chief clerk put down the abacus and raised the paper above his head.""Your Majesty, I've already calculated!”
Wang Wan's brows were tightly knitted together. He still had half of his algebra to calculate, but this temple official had already calculated it all. Wang Wan felt ashamed, crushed until there was no skin left.
" Give your calculation to the Minister," Ying Zheng said." Let him examine it."”
"Yes!"
The chief registrar placed the paper in front of Wang Wan."Right Prime Minister, please check!"
Wang Wan took the paper from the temple staff and examined them one by one. After a while, Wang Wan sighed."It's because I'm lacking in talent and learning. I'm inferior!”
After Wang Wan finished speaking, she looked at the abacus on her desk and asked,"Can you tell me how to use it?”
Wang Wan could clearly see that the reason why this official could crush him was mostly because of this abacus!
Right Prime Minister, this abacus..." Just as the official was about to speak, Ying Zheng said,""You may leave!"
"Yes!"
After the chief registrar left, Ying Zheng looked at Wang Wan and said,""Wang Wan, you previously said that there was nothing special about these items. Now, it seems that there is nothing special about these items?”
" That temple person just now wasn't a great talent. He usually only calculated some food and clothing expenses and didn't manage the world's money and grain. But just now, this temple person finished calculating all the algebra, and the Right Prime Minister, who was in charge of the world's money and grain, didn't even finish half of it…"
Ying Zheng's voice wasn't loud, but it made Wang Wan's face flush red, and he slapped his face so hard that he almost lost all face!
"Wang Wan, I just want to tell you that sometimes, if you are too conservative, you will be slapped in public and lose all your face!”
"Is there anyone who still doubts these tools?”
For a time, the court was silent.
All the officials looked at Han Qiu. Before Wang Wan and the temple people competed, the Emperor had already told them that these tools were all made by Han Qiu!
Now that the power of these tools had been verified, the officials 'contempt for the Inner Marquis had been reduced by more than half!
When Han Qiu first entered the court, the courtiers did not think much of him. They thought that Han Qiu's path to becoming a Marquis was too easy!
Ascending to the heavens in one step!
They were not convinced!
They were indignant!
But now, their view of Han Qiu had changed. This Marquis of the Pass had invented the abacus, and he was able to make an ordinary monk crush Right Prime Minister Wang Wan!
This Inner Marquis of the Pass had some skills!
However, to most of the officials, the abacus was only a surprise. What shocked them was the paper on which they were writing!
This was an almost subversive invention!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]