People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 730: The corrupt scholars have indeed put forward many opinions
As the scholar on the other side of the river said "357 times 624", Xiaotao's hairpin had already drawn a horizontal line on the sand. Madam Liu narrowed her eyes and muttered "the first number positioning method", but the students of the School of Physics fell silent - Xiaotao's hairpin shuttled back and forth like a spinning shuttle, and in the flying sand, she actually listed two sets of new and old formulas at the same time.

"The answer is two hundred and twenty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight!" The girl with the double bun jumped up, holding a half-bitten rose cake in her hand. In the silence of the whole room, the sound of the abacus beads of the scholars on the other side seemed particularly crisp.

Zhu Yunhuan slammed his head and laughed, making the cups and plates clink. "You idiots!"

With drunken eyes he pointed at the river and said, "A ready-made calculator is floating there!" Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw a dozen lotus lanterns floating downstream, with formulas written in cinnabar on each lampshade.

It turned out that someone had already turned today's boat trip into a mobile examination room. The old man selling candy figures took the opportunity to shout: "If you guess the question on the lantern correctly, you will get a free candy painting!" Immediately, even the porters passing by squatted by the river and counted their fingers.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhu Youwei quietly retreated behind the screen.

Looking out from here, the lights of thousands of homes in Jinling City are connected to the stars.

She stroked the draft of the "City Appearance Order" in her sleeve and heard the sound of tiles clacking - a few students from the School of Physics had climbed onto the roof and were skipping coins into the river. In the moonlight, the rotating coins occasionally flashed the words "6" or "9".

"Go ahead!" Zhu Yunhuan took out a glass dice from somewhere and threw it to the female workers under the eaves. The dice fell on the blue brick floor and rolled out a "π" symbol. When Xiaotao bent down to pick it up, the ends of her hair were stained with wine that someone had poured on her, and it sparkled in the moonlight.

When the sound of the night watch drum came from afar, the lanterns of Zuixianlou made everyone's face red.

Matron Liu dozed off at the desk, a handkerchief covered with mathematical formulas still clutched in her hand.

The river breeze blew in a few early-fallen osmanthus petals, gently covering her graying temples.

As the setting sun sank into the bottom of the Qinhuai River, the lanterns on the pleasure boats lit up one by one.

Xiaotao placed the wine bowl heavily on the table, and the porcelain bottom made a crisp sound.

"Sisters, let's toast to the Duke and his wife!" Her voice was trembling, and the wine on her fingertips shone under the lamp. "I was sold to a weaving workshop when I was twelve years old. The owner said, 'A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent.' I was not even allowed to see the amount of my wages."

Under the blue cloth headscarf, the hands, calloused by years of yarn, tightly grasped the corners of the clothes.

Aunt Liu started to cough, and air leaked out of her missing front teeth: "I am a widow at the age of 30, and I have three maids to wash clothes for others. The neighbors say that I have a hard fate and will bring bad luck to my husband. They even forbid me to share the water from the well."

Her skinny fingers stroked the rim of the wine bowl, where there was a crack from age.

The sound of a pipa from a barge across the river drifted over, and the sound of the strings was mixed with the suppressed sobs of the female workers.

Zhu Youwei's silver scissors were placed on the desk at some point, the tip of the scissors reflected the light, like a small flash of lightning.

"My mother." The girl from northern Xinjiang with two buns on her head spoke in Mandarin with an accent from the frontier. "She was abducted by horse bandits and jumped off a cliff after giving birth to me. The grandmother who raised me said that women are born to repay debts."

The old scar on her wrist was particularly glaring when she raised the glass. It was the mark left by being twisted by a loom when she was fourteen.

Chen Han's wine glass turned half a circle on his fingertips.

He looked at the lotus lanterns floating on the side of the boat. One of them was being pushed toward the center of the river by the current. A piece of paper stuck next to the wick read "7×8=56".

The crooked handwriting looked very much like the strokes that the female workers first practiced on the sand table.

"My husband died on the riverbank construction site." The woman in the indigo cloth skirt raised her head and drank the wine in the cup. "The yamen runners came to distribute the pension silver. They said 'three taels' but only gave two taels. I can't read, and when I was pressing my fingerprint, a passing peddler pointed it out."

The wine flowed down her neck, soaking the patch on her collar.

The night wind changed direction, blowing away the scent of powder in Yanzhi Lane.

The young prince Zhu Yunhuan stared at these women in a daze. The light in their eyes was brighter than the golden carp in the Imperial River.

"Respectfully, Lord!" Xiao Tao raised her voice, and the shuttle was put back on her waist without her knowing. "It was you who let us know that a widow's hands can not only weave cloth, but also use an abacus!"

With her fingertips dipped in wine, she drew a crooked but powerful "7" on the table.

The pleasure boat shook violently.

Several female workers crowded around the railing and raised their glasses to their own reflections in the river.

Those nails that had been dyed blue by yarn for years were now holding a gold-painted porcelain cup, the rim of the cup stained with the rouge they had applied for the first time in their lives.

"My daughter," said Aunt Liu, with the sound of the night watchman's clappers, "was beaten by her in-laws last year and had a miscarriage. Now she is learning to keep accounts with me in the workshop."

She pulled out an indigo handkerchief from her bosom, with the words "Third Place in the Monthly Examination for Women" embroidered in gold thread on the corner. "The day before yesterday, her mother-in-law came to ask for reconciliation, and I asked her to use the arithmetic she had just learned to calculate the alimony on the spot!"

The laughter on the whole boat scared away the night herons.

Zhu Youwei's silver scissors snapped shut, and she held out a piece of rose pastry with the tip of the scissors and handed it over: "Mammy, have something sweet. The past is too bitter."

Fireworks exploded on the other side of the river, and the golden and red sparks formed a huge spinning wheel pattern.

The students of the School of Physics cheered in unison. Someone threw abacus beads into the air. The sandalwood beads fell on the water, causing ripples.

"Actually." Chen Han stroked the ice cracks on the wine glass, "You should toast to yourselves."

He pointed to the brightly lit women's workshop in the distance. The newly installed six-spindle spinning wheel was casting a busy silhouette behind the window. "No one is born to be a vassal."

Zhu Yunxun jumped onto the bench, his python-patterned boots making the wooden boards creak as he stepped on them: "To the Weaver Girl of the Ming Dynasty!"

The young man pointed at the starry sky with drunken eyes, "What you weave is not only cloth, but... yes."

"It's the golden shuttle that changes destiny." Zhu Youwei replied softly, the silver hairpin with the shape of π in her hair glowing coldly in the moonlight.

The pleasure boat slowly passed through the Wende Bridge tunnel. The moment the shadows covered the bridge, the female workers fell silent at the same time. The words "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent" engraved on the bridge pier were blurred in the darkness, while on the river surface illuminated by the lanterns on the bow, countless lotus lanterns were carrying formulas down the river.

"I respect this world." Madam Liu stood up tremblingly, her hands like old tree bark tightly grasping the edge of the table, "I respect it for finally giving widows like us." The wine bowl shook in her hand, and the spilled liquid left dark marks on her blue shirt, "A way to survive."

Further away, the lights in the School of Physics were on all night long.

The young students lay on the windowsill, watching the female workers checking calculations with charcoal pencils on the blue brick floor. The shadows were stretched out by the moonlight, like countless fine warp threads weaving an invisible web.

When the sound of clappers was heard in the middle of the night, the pleasure boat had already docked at the pier of the Jinguo Workshop.

Xiaotao was the first to jump ashore, her blue headscarf fluttering in the wind.

She turned around and reached out to help Aunt Liu, but the old woman waved her hand and held on to the side of the boat to land steadily.

"We have to inspect the new loom tomorrow." Zhu Youwei straightened the collar of her drunk husband's clothes and smiled at the female workers, "If anyone is late," she spun the silver scissors around her fingertips, "she will be punished to calculate the proportion of the whole vat of indigo dye."

Amid the laughter, someone started humming a northern Xinjiang tune.

The rough voice mixed with the sound of waves in the Qinhuai River woke up the sparrows sleeping on the willow branches.

As the birds fluttered towards the moon, the human figures on the ground merged into one, and it was impossible to tell who was the prince and who was the Weaver Girl.

Only the lotus lantern with “7×8=56” written on it in the middle of the river was still stubbornly drifting away.

The afterglow of the setting sun sank completely to the bottom of the Qinhuai River, and the last ray of golden red on the river surface was also swallowed up by the night.

Chen Han stood on the deck of the pleasure boat, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the ice cracks on the edge of the wine glass. Behind him came the sound of female workers clearing away the cups and plates.

"Duke..." Li Zhen walked over from the shore quickly, the hemp rope hanging on the mace still dripping with water, "The Five Cities Army just intercepted three groups of people, all of whom were throwing wooden boards covered with sour poems into the river."

Chen Han frowned slightly. He had just seen those wooden boards - on the cypress boards that floated down the river, words like "hens crow at dawn" and "the loss of women's virtues" were written crookedly in cinnabar, and some of them were deliberately carved into spindle shapes.

The lanterns on the shore dimmed. Several figures in long gowns hid behind willow trees, pointing and talking at the female workers who came ashore. An old man with a goatee deliberately raised his voice: "How shameless! A decent woman is drinking with a man on the same boat, it's simply-"

"What?" Xiao Tao turned around, her blue headscarf rustling in the river breeze. She held a glass dice between her fingertips, reflecting a dazzling light under the lantern, "Did you forget? Last month, the old lady of your mansion celebrated her birthday with the brocade with the word Wan Zi woven by our women's workshop!"

There was a commotion in the bushes. Madam Liu took two trembling steps forward and took out a blue booklet from her bosom with her skinny hands: "Sir, I remember that your accountant came to learn the new accounting method last year." She opened the booklet and saw a copy of a deed pasted on a page, with a bright red fingerprint next to the Arabic numerals of "50 taels".

The night wind blew the fishy smell of the river water in my face. Zhu Youwei's silver scissors had been unsheathed at some point, and the tips of the scissors were picking up an indigo handkerchief - the "π" symbol embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief shone with golden thread in the dark. She walked slowly to the shore, and her embroidered shoes rolled over half of a discarded wooden board on the ground, and the "click" sound startled the crickets in the bushes.

"Master Chen!" A scholar wearing a square scarf rushed out from the alley, holding a pile of yellowed books in his arms, "I have compiled seven chapters of "Female Commandments" overnight, and I beg you to control these -" He glanced at the shuttle on Xiaotao's waist, and his Adam's apple rolled as he changed his words, "These heroines... after all, there is a difference between men and women!"

Chen Han chuckled. He took the booklet and flipped through it. The musty smell mixed with the stench of ink hit him. On one page, someone circled the words "A woman wandering at night is not the behavior of a good family" with a red pen, and next to it was a note "Issued by the Ministry of Rites in the fifth year of Hongwu".

"Do you know the latest statistics from the Institute of Physics?" Chen Han placed the book upside down on the stone railing, startling a few night herons. "Since the circulation of the vouchers, the commercial tax in the night market of Jinling City has increased by 40% -" He pointed his finger at the brightly lit women's workshop in the distance, "and 30% of it comes from the purchases made by the female workers after work."

The scholar's face flushed red. Half a piece of manuscript slipped out of his sleeve, and the word "hen" was repeatedly crossed out. Zhu Yunhuan jumped off the pleasure boat, and his python-patterned boots stepped on the paper accurately: "I am curious, since you care so much about women's virtues, have you ever taught Tatar women "Female Commandments" in the northern border?"

The regular clacking of looms could be heard from the other side of the river. A few idle men in shorts were squatting at the back door of the dyeing workshop, whistling at the female workers who had come ashore. One of them, a scarred man, shouted, "Young lady! The dew is heavy at night, why don't you come to my place and warm yourself up!"

"Snapped!"

A piece of wet mud was precisely applied to the man's face. Everyone turned around and saw Zhu Gaochi standing on the grain bags, holding half a piece of mud in his chubby hands. "Liu Ergou!" His voice was unusually cold, "Last month, your mother was seriously ill, and it was the free doctor from the Women's Workshop who saved her life."

The scarred man immediately wilted. He wiped the mud off his face and backed away, but bumped into a fat man in Hangzhou silk - it was the steward sent by the Xu family to follow him. The steward was about to slip away, but was stopped by Li Zhen's mace.

"Manager Xu came here for a night stroll. Could it be that he also wants to learn mathematics?" Li Zhen deliberately shook the "Algorithm Tongzong" hanging on the stick, and half of a voucher was revealed between the pages. The red-ink words "Exclusively for the Women's Workshop" on the voucher were particularly eye-catching in the moonlight.

The night fog gradually spread over the river bank. Chen Han looked at the crowds of people dispersing in twos and threes, and found a hunched figure standing under the willow tree - it was Dr. Zhou from the Imperial College. This old scholar had burned the posters of the Women's Medical Clinic in the street. At this moment, he was using his crutches to fiddle with the abacus paper left by the female workers on the ground, and his fingers, like dead branches, were trembling slightly.

"If Mr. Zhou is curious, why not come to the Physics Department tomorrow to listen to the lecture." Chen Han deliberately raised his voice, startling the old scholar's hat. "The new textile machinery course needs guidance from someone like you who is proficient in the Kaogong Ji."

The old scholar's walking stick thumped into the mud. He stared at the crooked but neat "7" on the abacus paper and started coughing violently. The night wind blew open the half-rolled book in his arms, which turned out to be the handwritten "Production Regulations of the Women's Workshop".

Further away, the sound of suppressed quarreling came from the dark alley.

"Dad! What right do you have to tear up my copy of Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art?" the boy asked with a tearful voice, mixed with the crisp sound of pages being torn, "The sisters in the Women's Workshop said that they will recruit an accountant who knows mathematics next month--"

"You bastard!" The dull sound of the inkstone hitting the ground woke up the night watchman, "How dare you touch the dirty money earned by those widows who show their faces in public?"

The clapper sound suddenly stopped for a moment. Chen Han turned his head and saw Xiao Tao bending down to pick up the torn paper on the ground - it was the spindle ratio table that Liu Ma Ma had checked during the day. The old woman stood quietly at the entrance of the alley, and the moonlight stretched her hunched shadow very long, like a fully drawn bow.

"Let's go back." Zhu Youwei held her husband's arm. The handkerchief on her silver scissors had been replaced by a draft of the "City Appearance Order" with a few abacus beads stuck to the edge of the silk cloth. "We have to inspect the new loom tomorrow."

As the lanterns on the pleasure boats went out one after another, the lotus lantern in the middle of the river with "7×8=56" written on it floated under the Wende Bridge. A bamboo pole stretched out from the shadow of the bridge hole, and a little boy with pigtails secretly picked up the lantern and put it in his arms. The moment he turned and ran into the dark alley, the spots of light leaking from his arms danced on the bluestone slabs, just like the numbers left by the female workers on the sand table.

The lights in the School of Physics were on all night. The students on night duty saw several female workers at the back door of the dyeing factory on the other side of the river using charcoal pencils to calculate the dye formula for tomorrow's use on the wall. Their shadows were cast on the old stele that read "Women's virtue lies in their lack of talent", and the swaying shadows of the numbers even covered the strokes of the stone carvings.

At five o'clock in the morning, Chen Han was awakened by a hurried knock on the door in his study. Li Zhen handed over a secret report with sweat on his face - the Ministry of Rites had drafted the "Night Curfew Regulations for Female Workers" overnight and had already stamped the Shangshu seal.

The moment the morning light penetrated the clouds, Zhu Youwei's silver scissors cut the cord on the desk with a click. On the "Expansion Plan of the Women's Workshop" she unfolded, the Arabic numerals marked the dimensions like a team of soldiers, silently rushing towards the direction of the Ministry of Rites.

"Prepare the sedan chair." Chen Han paused while tying his official robes and chuckled, "Remember to walk along Xuanwu Street. I heard that the ancestral hall of Dr. Zhou's family just had a new curtain woven by the Women's Workshop this morning."

……

(End of this chapter)