My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 678 Ulugh Beg’s Travels

"The Han Dynasty has become so powerful that it wants to provide all children with educational opportunities?"

Ulugh Bo was even more shocked when he heard Zhu Zhanhe's explanation. He was a erudite scholar, and no one knew the influence of knowledge on a country better than him!

"It's not as exaggerated as you think. The current public primary school is only being trialled in Xijing City, and has not been implemented in other cities yet. However, even if it is implemented in the future, at most it will only allow Han children to go to school."

Zhu Zhanhe explained again.

There is no racial discrimination in this era. For rulers, their own race is naturally superior to other races, and this is especially true for Timur.

"That's very amazing. Prince, you are so courageous. You actually promote education across the country. When these educated children grow up, the country's national power will definitely grow rapidly. It's amazing to think about it!"

Ulugh Beg praised again.

He was not flattering Zhu Zhanhe, but his true thoughts. As a scholar, he had always attached great importance to education. However, the disputes within Timur's empire were too fierce, and education was all in the hands of the nobles.

In the name of religion, Ulugh Beg had previously opened seminaries in Samarkand and other cities. In addition to studying scriptures and languages, he also opened astronomy, mathematics, history and other subjects.

However, this kind of seminary is mostly for the children of nobles, and the number is much smaller.

Ulugh Beg also once thought of recruiting commoners into the academy, but was opposed by almost all the nobles, because for the nobles, monopolizing education is one of the symbols of their status, and they would never allow their children to interact with those commoners. The children study together.

Zhu Zhanhe also laughed at Ulugh Beg's praise, and then took him into the city. After several major plans in Xijing, except for retaining some more distinctive buildings, other buildings have been completely Chineseized. It is a characteristic Central Plains building with cornices and brackets.

Ulugh Beg looked at the familiar city scenery in front of him, and for a moment he suspected that he had arrived in the Ming Dynasty again.

"Prince, can you take me to your elementary school to have a look?"

At this time, Ulugh Bo suddenly made a request. The children carrying schoolbags just now shocked him a lot, so he also wanted to see with his own eyes what Dahan's primary school was like.
"Yes, our elementary school not only has classes during the day, but also has classes at night. Classes are probably starting now!"

Zhu Zhanhe laughed. It was already getting late, and he should have arranged for Ulugh Beg to rest as soon as possible, but he was so interested, and the primary school was right next to the city gate, so it was a good idea to go there and have a look. No problem.

So Zhu Zhanhe took Ulugh Bo to the primary school. As luck would have it, as soon as he arrived at the door, he heard the bell ringing from inside.

At this time, the sky was getting a little dark, and lights were turned on in each classroom. Some teachers took teaching materials and hurried to their respective classrooms. The students also sat down in the classroom early.

Ulugh Beg was very curious and came to the window of a classroom. There was a mathematics class in this classroom, and a young gentleman was teaching the students multiplication.

Ulugh Beg was an astronomer, and his attainments in mathematics were naturally high. He thought that the mathematics class he taught to children was not difficult, but he was stunned when he saw the content on the blackboard because he could not understand it.

This also aroused Ulugh Beg's interest, so he stood outside the window and listened carefully to the teacher's lecture. It was not until after listening to most of the class that he finally understood the symbols that he could not understand. , actually represents some mathematical operations.

"The arithmetic of the Ming Dynasty doesn't seem to be like this?"

After understanding what was said in it, Ulugh Beg suddenly asked in confusion.

He had communicated with the officials of the Ming Dynasty's Tianjian, and naturally understood the arithmetic of the Ming Dynasty. In his memory, although the arithmetic of the Ming Dynasty had advantages, it also had shortcomings. For example, the calculation process used a large number of Chinese characters, which made it difficult for outsiders to understand.But the mathematics he saw now was completely different from the arithmetic of the Ming Dynasty. Symbols were introduced in various operations, making the operation process much simpler and easier to understand.

"This new type of arithmetic introduces various symbols, so I gave it a name, called symbolic arithmetic."

Zhu Zhanhe explained with a smile at this time.

Just now he saw that Ulugh Beg was listening very seriously, so he waited quietly aside, and only then did he help him answer his doubts.

"So that's it. Did you also invent this kind of symbolic arithmetic?"

Uluru Bo's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he looked at Zhu Zhanhe and asked again.

Among the people he knew, Zhu Zhanhe was probably the only one who had this ability.

"I also learned from the strengths of each family. For example, the numerical symbols used were invented by Tianzhu."

Zhu Zhanhe did not dare to take credit, after all, he copied this thing from later generations.

"That's amazing. It can simplify mathematics into symbolic operations, which greatly saves steps and time. If it is used in our astronomical observations and calculations, it will definitely be very convenient!"

Ulugh Beg praised again.

Astronomy often requires a lot of calculations. If Zhu Zhanhe's set of symbols can be introduced, Ulugh Beg believes that they will definitely achieve greater achievements in astronomy in the future.

After understanding the meaning of the symbols, the math class was no longer difficult for Ulugh Beg, so he went to the classroom next to him, where a Chinese class was being held.

Zhu Zhanhe thought that he would not be interested in the Chinese class, but he did not expect that Ulugh Bo not only listened for a long time, but also memorized the "Silent Night Thoughts" taught by the teacher there.

"The birthplace of Poet Immortal Li Bai is within our Timurid Empire, so he should also be considered a Timurite."

Ulugh Beg finally said with some pride.

"Haha, I think Li Bai would only think that he is from the Tang Dynasty, but not from another country!"

Zhu Zhanhe rolled his eyes at the other party and said.

However, what Ulugh Bo said makes sense. There are two theories about Li Bai's birthplace. One is Sichuan, and the other is Suiye City in the Western Regions. Suiye City is indeed now within the Timur Empire.

Uluru Bo did not argue with Zhu Zhanhe, but walked around other classrooms again. Finally, he suddenly asked Zhu Zhanhe again: "The students we saw during the day were all children. Why are there not only children in the classroom now?" , and there are also some young people and even old people?”

"Night schools are different from day schools. The main purpose of night schools is to eliminate illiteracy and at least let people know how to write their names..."

Zhu Zhanhe briefly explained the purpose of night school literacy. Ulugh Beg was even more impressed after hearing this. He believed that Dahan's education not only took care of children, but even some adults. This was definitely a major pioneering work in history. !
(End of this chapter)