The world of film and television starts from the flow of money

As soon as the gong struck at the hour of Xu, the oil lamps in the east wing of the slum in the south of the city lit up.

Liu Wenhuan used the tip of a needle to poke the wick, and the vegetable oil sizzled up along the wick, and the flame suddenly jumped an inch higher. This lamp was bought last month. The white pottery lamp was much better than the broken bowl with a chip on it last year, and the lampshade was stamped with "official made".

He rubbed his frozen fingers, and the white breath he exhaled spread in front of the oil lamp. The three bundles of books piled in the corner were tied neatly with hemp ropes. The title page of the popular version of the "Great Edict" on the top was still stained with ink. After copying each page, he would draw a line on the account book. Now he has drawn seventy-three "correct" characters.

This is a popular version of "The Great Edict" copied for a bookstore. I could get two cents for copying one page.

"Brother Liu! Are you still awake?"

The wooden door was pushed open a crack, and Wang Xiaoer, who was selling pancakes next door, leaned half of his body in. He was holding a piece of yellow paper in his hand, and his cuffs were still stained with flour, obviously he had just returned from the market.

Liu Wenhuan quickly used a paperweight to press down the page he was copying: "What's the matter?"

"Good thing!"

Wang Xiaoer squeezed in, bringing with him the smell of scallion oil. He slapped the yellow paper on the table: "The county school has posted a new notice, saying that there will be new things in the imperial examination next year!"

Liu Wenhuan leaned closer to the oil lamp to take a closer look. The handwriting on the yellow paper was neat, with the words "New Regulations for the Imperial Examination in the Second Year of Zhaowu" circled in cinnabar at the top. His eyes followed the entries down:

"Civil examination: classics, policy essays, practical work; military examination: horse riding and archery, military tactics, weapons; new mathematics examination: land measurement, granary accounting..."

"I heard that the poor boy who passed the imperial examination this year..."

Wang Xiaoer lowered his voice and said, "Six of them relied on the newly added practical policies to turn things around. The county magistrate said that this time they will test the precedents in the Great Edict."

Liu Wenhuan's Adam's apple moved. At this time last year, he was still struggling with eight-part essays, and the "zhihuzheya" he wrote made even himself sleepy. Now on the desk is the newly bought "Collection of Laws and Regulations", and the "Ten Rules to Encourage Farmers" sandwiched between the pages has been turned to the edge. It was distributed by the county school last month, and the smell of ink on the paper has not yet dissipated.

The oil lamp suddenly crackled and burst into sparks.

Liu Wenhuan looked up at the window. The newly pasted mulberry paper was tightly blocking the night wind. Last year, the windows were covered with straw paper, which made a rustling sound when the wind blew, causing him to spend half an hour every day to sort out the messed-up manuscripts.

"Brother Liu, do you want to try the martial arts exam?"

Wang Xiaoer suddenly said, "I heard that those who rank in the top 50 in the riding and archery exam will be directly appointed to the Jinyiwei vacancies!"

"...Martial Arts Examination?"

Liu Wenhuan smiled bitterly and shook his head. He lifted the hem of his washed-out blue shirt, revealing his thin calves. The scars from last winter's frostbite were still on his ankles, a purple-red patch.

Wang Xiaoer scratched his head awkwardly: "What kind of science is that? I heard from the accountant of the grain store that the newly published "Nine Chapters of New Art" is very simple..."

Liu Wenhuan turned around and dragged out a wooden box from under the bed. In the box were more than a dozen handwritten books neatly stacked, and the cover of the top book was inscribed with "Land Calculation Method".

“I’m already learning.”

He flipped open the booklet, which was filled with traces of calculations: "Yesterday I finally figured out the 'decline division method' and was able to calculate how to divide the irrigation channels among five households."

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the window.

The two men leaned over to the window and saw a team of postmen passing by with torches in hand, with bulging briefcases hanging from their saddles. The postman at the front shouted, "The county school is opening a math class. Registration starts tomorrow!"

Wang Xiaoer slapped his thigh suddenly: "I'll tell you! Brother Liu, a scholar like you..."

His words were interrupted by the crying of a baby next door. Liu Wenhuan quickly closed the window, took out a pottery jar from under the table, poured out twenty copper coins and placed them on the table.

"Brother Wang, please bring me a copy of the Construction Methods tomorrow." He counted out ten coins and pushed them over: "The remaining ten coins, buy two of your scallion pancakes."

Wang Xiaoer's eyes widened: "You want to learn craftsmanship too?"

"The newly published Outline of the Imperial Examination says so."

Liu Wenhuan pointed to the paper on the wall and said, "The practical policy may include water conservancy engineering."

He turned around and fetched half a pot of warm water from the stove, poured it into the inkstone to grind ink: "I have inquired, and those who do well in the imperial examination can work as accountants in the Ministry of Revenue."

The ink block spun in circles in the inkstone, making a slight friction sound. Wang Xiaoer looked at Liu Wenhuan's bony fingers, which had calluses from holding the pen and blisters from copying books. He suddenly pulled out an oil-paper bag from his bosom:
"Here, the leftover cake from today. Don't stay up too late."

Under the oil lamp, Liu Wenhuan's shadow was cast on the mulberry paper. The night watchman's call sounded outside the window again, but this time it was mixed with the children's recitation:
"The Great Edict says: Measure the land and establish towns, measure the inhabitants..."

This is an old student at the western end of the compound, teaching his grandson to read.

Liu Wenhuan dipped the brush in ink and wrote "On the Advantages and Disadvantages of the New Grain Transport Law" on the newly cut bamboo paper.

The rustling sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper mixed with the sound of recitation coming from afar.

………………

The third year of Zhaowu, the first day of March.

At the end of the Yin hour, just as the fourth watch was struck at the Drum Tower in the west of Beijing, the deacons of the Imperial Academy were already busy.

Twelve servants held long poles and lit up ninety-nine colored glaze lanterns one by one. The words "Royal Academy" were written in cinnabar on the lanterns, making the bluestone square as bright as day.

Crossing the square, we came across a large lecture hall with a nine-ridged hip roof. In front of the hall stood a bluestone stele more than ten feet high, with the school motto engraved on it: "Practice what you learn, and unite knowledge and action."

These eight characters were written directly on the stone surface by Yi Huawei with the tip of his sword dipped in cinnabar, and then chiseled by craftsmen. Nine pine trees were planted around the base of the stele, symbolizing the nine subjects offered by the academy: classics, mathematics, law, agricultural policy, military strategy, craftsmanship, astronomy, medicine, and water transport.

In the locker room on the east side of the square, 1,080 students were changing into the indigo cotton robes that were uniformly distributed by the college. The robes were made of Songjiang fine cloth, with a green edge sewn on the collar and cuffs, and three bone buttons on the waist.

"The badges are all tied!"

The school supervisor Zhao Deming stood on a bench with a bamboo whip in his hand, and from time to time he pointed at the slow students: "Line up according to the nine subjects, with the Jingyi subject in front and the Canal Transport subject at the back!"

Among the students, those in the Economics and Philosophy Department mostly had fair faces and slender fingers, and they were gentle in their movements when tying their waist badges; those in the Artisan Department had thick palms, and many of them had engine oil on their waist badges; and several students in the Agricultural Policy Department still had mud on the soles of their boots, leaving clear footprints on the floor tiles of the locker room.

The sundial needle in the center of the square pointed to the first quarter of the morning, and the nine teams were lined up in an orderly manner.

There were 120 people in each class, arranged in 12 rows, with 10 people in each row. At the front of the team stood a wooden sign with the name of each class written on it, and small flags of different colors were inserted on top of the sign.

The subjects of classics are purple, those of mathematics are green, those of law are black, those of agricultural policy are green, those of military strategy are red, those of craftsmanship are brown, those of astronomy are blue, those of medicine are white, and those of water transport are yellow.

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from the main gate. Eight guards pushed open the 24-foot-tall black lacquered door. The door hinges were newly painted with tung oil, and there was no noise when they turned. The 81 copper nails on the door leaf shone golden under the lantern. The nine nails in the center formed a Big Dipper shape, and the "Zhaowu" era name was engraved on the nail caps.

The students all held their breath. Deep inside the doorway, the lecture hall with a nine-ridged hip roof gradually revealed its full appearance. There were nine steps in front of the hall, each six inches high and one foot and two inches wide, just enough for two people to walk side by side. On both sides of the steps stood bronze lamp posts, with dragon patterns coiled on the pillars, and the flames in the oil cups held in the dragon's mouths were motionless.

"clang--"

The bronze bell on the bell tower suddenly rang. Before the bell stopped ringing, the main door of the lecture hall opened and Dean Shen Li walked out slowly. This old official, who was over 60 years old, was wearing a red robe of the second rank, with an ivory waist badge hanging on the jade belt around his waist, and the corners on both sides of his black gauze hat trembled slightly.

Shen Li stood in front of the stone tablet, holding a roll of yellow silk in both hands. He was thin, with high cheekbones, but his eyes were bright. When he unfolded the yellow silk, several age spots were clearly visible on his skinny fingers.

"Your Majesty's oral order." Shen Li's voice was not loud, but every word was clear, and one could hear a pin drop in the square.

"I built this academy not to train scholars, but to recruit talents."

"Students of the classics should know that the words of the sages should be verified in the fields; students of mathematics should know that the Pythagorean theorem can be used to measure mountains and rivers; students of law should understand that the three-foot law is not found in bamboo slips but in the folks..."

When Shen Li read each subject, his eyes swept to the corresponding team. When he read the word "craftsmanship", he paused and took out something from his sleeve - it was a newly made caliper, made of fine iron, with clear scales.

"This is the paper drawn by your majesty himself."

Shen Li handed the caliper to the students in the front row of the craftsmanship department: "In the future, when we build palaces and cast weapons, we will need such precision."

Putting away the yellow silk, Shen Li took the oil lamp from the servant. The light reflected his wrinkled face and cast a swaying shadow on the stone tablet.

"This court has three rules."

"First, all students in the nine departments must work in the fields on the first and fifteenth days of each month."

"Second, during the annual examinations, students of classics must be proficient in mathematics, and students of medicine must know farming. If you get one question wrong, you will lose one month's stipend."

"Third..."

Shen Li suddenly raised his voice: "Anyone who has an invention, whether it is an improved agricultural tool or a new calculation method, can present it directly to the emperor!"

The square was filled with suppressed exclamations. Several mathematics students were talking to each other, while those in the agricultural policy department tightly grasped the bags of grain seeds they were carrying.

Shen Li took a shovel from the base of the stele, the shovel head flashing with cold light. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his skinny but strong arms, and suddenly bent down to dig the soil under the pine tree next to the stele.

"First lesson of the day."

Shen Li dug out a pottery jar filled with newly harvested wheat grains: "Three years ago, the yield of crops grown here was less than one dan per mu. Last year, we tried to grow sweet potatoes and the yield was more than eight dan per mu."

He distributed the wheat grains to the students in the front row and said, "You must remember that His Majesty does not want a decadent scholar who has studied the classics all his life, but..."

"A practical talent who can feed the people of the world!"

Before he finished speaking, the bell rang again. The nine teachers stepped forward and led the students to the study room.

When Zhou Xueshi, the dean of the Jingyi Department, passed by Shen Li, he heard the old dean whispered, "From today on, submit the three best candidates every ten days, and His Majesty will personally examine them."

As the morning sun rose, the words "unity of knowledge and action" on the stone tablet gradually became brighter. Shen Li stood alone on the steps, looking at the students who were entering one after another. The hem of his scarlet robe was stained with mud, but he was unaware of it. He just gently stroked the secret book in his sleeve. It was written by Yi Huawei last night, and it wrote the positions of the nine students in three years.

…………

Two quarters of the hour.

The morning light shines through the mulberry paper-covered window panes, casting regular spots of light on the blue brick floor.

When the red sandalwood door of Jingyi Zhai was pushed open, it made a slight creaking sound. Fifty beechwood desks were arranged in five rows and ten columns, and each corner was engraved with "Jingyi Jiazihao" to "Jingyi Guiyouhao" in regular script.

Zhou Mingli stood on the three-foot podium, holding the lecture desk with his left hand. This rosewood desk was three inches higher than the students' desks. On the right side of the desk was a copper pen holder, on which hung three brushes: one wolf-hair brush, one purple-hair brush, and one mixed-hair brush. The ink in the inkstone on the left had just been ground, and the four golden characters "Huizhou Tribute Ink" on the ink stick were still gleaming.

"stand up!"

Following the headmaster's shout, all forty-nine students stood up in unison. Only the tall and thin man in the last row, who was reading "Jingyi Guiyouhao", was a little slow. He was scratching something on the table with his fingernails.

Zhou Mingli squinted his eyes and saw clearly that it was a newly carved pattern of a canal boat.

"The Great Edict says:"

When Zhou Mingli spoke, his right thumb unconsciously rubbed the scale on the ruler: "If a scholar does not understand the classics, he is not useful; if the classics do not understand changes, he is not able to help the world..."

When Zhou Mingli began to lecture, the teaching assistant began to distribute the handouts. The paper was made of mulberry paper made with a new method, which was thicker than the bamboo paper of previous years. When Wang Su, a student in the front row with the title of "Jingyi Jiazihao", took the handout, he found a small "Movable Type Jiashenhao" mark printed on the upper right corner - this was the number of the printing workshop.

"Turn to Chapter 3 of the Encouragement to Study."

Zhou Mingli tapped the lecture desk lightly with a ruler.

Suddenly, the sound of pages turning could be heard in the room. Wang Su noticed that the layout of this chapter was different from usual: the main text was in large Song font, occupying seven tenths of the width; the blank space was divided into three columns with thin lines. The first column was marked "Ancient Notes", the second column was "Modern Interpretation", and the last column was left blank to be filled.

"Today we will talk about 'the study of things to gain knowledge'."

Zhou Mingli suddenly walked down from the podium and walked slowly in the aisle. A copper compass hung on the jade belt around his waist, swaying gently with his steps.

"Your Majesty wrote in his comments—"

He stopped in front of the "Jingyi Wuchen" case and pointed to the blank space in the lecture notes: "The key to studying things is to measure them. For example, a farmer observes the clouds to predict rain, or a craftsman distinguishes materials and understands their nature. They are all studying things."

There was a rustling sound coming from the back row. The tall and thin man, whose student name was Li Yanzong, was drawing something on the blank space. Zhou Mingli deliberately raised his voice: "Mr. Li, would you like to share your experience of studying things?"

Li Yanzong stood up hurriedly, revealing a corner of the lecture notes on the desk. It was a detailed diagram of the structure of a canal boat, and even the knots on the mast were clearly visible.

"Students are just thinking,"

Li Yanzong's throat rolled: "If the method of separating the cabins of the canal boats is applied to the dam..."

There was an uproar in the room.

Zhou Mingli raised his ruler and signaled everyone to be quiet. He walked to Li Yanzong's desk and leaned over to take a closer look at the sketch. In the picture, the canal boat was divided into twelve compartments, and the size of each compartment was marked.

"good."

Zhou Mingli suddenly took out a red pen from his sleeve and wrote the words "Grade A" next to the sketch: "Your Majesty said in the Edict to Encourage Agriculture that managing a river is like managing an army. This is exactly how it should be deduced."

He turned and walked towards the podium, the wind from his scarlet robe fluttering the lecture notes on the table. The sun shone right on the Zhaowu Dagao on the lecture table, making the dragon pattern embroidered with gold thread shine brightly.

"Today's homework."

Zhou Mingli tapped the ruler and said in a deep voice, "The topic is 'Investigation of Things'. The subject of the classics needs to be supplemented with mathematical deductions. It should be submitted in three days."

He paused and looked around at everyone:
"The best one can come with us to present our plan to the emperor."

Wang Su noticed that there was a table printed on the last page of the handout: the left column was the text of the sutra, and the blank space on the right column was marked with the words "actual measurement record".

There was a drumming sound coming from outside the window - it was the craftsman's studio next door testing a newly made hydraulic hammer. Zhou Mingli looked out the window and suddenly said, "Everyone will gather at the agricultural policy experimental field at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow. His Majesty said that before reading the "Encouraging Learning", one must first learn how to distinguish soil."

When the bell rang, the sketch on Li Yanzong's desk had been passed around by his classmates. Zhou Mingli stood at the door, watching the students gathered together to discuss the canal boat drawing, with a slight smile on his face.

(End of this chapter)