The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 311 The Prodigy Arrives
The onlookers immediately began to whisper among themselves.

The official said that those who answer correctly will be richly rewarded!

Whether or not there is a reward is not important. If one can stand up and answer the emperor's question correctly at this time, then one will be favored by the emperor, and a meteoric rise to prominence in the future will be a given.

The problem is, if even the successful candidates in the imperial examinations were stumped by such a difficult question, how could ordinary people possibly answer it?

Several seconds passed, but no one dared to step forward.

Just then, an eight-year-old child in the crowd was trying to push his way to the front with his small, delicate hands. But he was too small and weak to push, and he looked like he was about to cry.

Fortunately, a burly man in the crowd noticed him, bent down and said, "Hey, young man, what are you doing?"

The eight-year-old child looked up and said, "I want to go out and answer the officials' questions, but I can't squeeze through the crowd."

The burly man laughed: "You're so young, yet you dare to go out and answer questions? Even the scholars who passed the imperial examinations couldn't answer them."

Child: "I can!"

The burly man looked closely and realized that although the child was young, his clothes were not cheap, indicating that he was from a wealthy family. He then abandoned his contempt and said, "I'll lend you a hand."

He hoisted the child onto his shoulders, and with his large, strong hands, pushed the people in front of him aside, saying, "Excuse me, excuse me... This young master is going to answer the official's questions, so please make way..."

He pulled the crowd aside with a single gesture, forcing them to give way whether they wanted to or not.

The burly man carried the child to the front, where a circle of guards maintained order. The man dared not go any further, but simply placed the child in front of the guards and said, "Gentlemen, this young master says he can answer the Emperor's questions."

The guards lowered their heads, took a closer look, and actually recognized the child.

Isn't this Ma Congyi, the son of Ma Banzhou?

They dared not neglect this man, so the guards parted to the sides, allowing Ma Congyi to slip inside.

So, under everyone's watchful eyes, the eight-year-old child walked onto the stage, stood in front of Yue Wenxuan, and gave a proper and respectful bow: "Your Majesty, I can solve the problem you just posed."

Upon hearing this, all the scholars turned their gazes toward him.

Yan Chengping, who has already secured the top score, had a strange look in his eyes, but he came from a prominent family and his manners and character were above average, so he did not stand up and act sarcasticly.

On the contrary, some of the lower-ranking scholars muttered under their breath, "Is this kid just out causing trouble?"

"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? You're only a few years old, and you already want to do something big?"

“He definitely won’t do it. He’ll just pretend for a while, act innocent, and try to fool us with his age.”

When Yue Wenxuan saw Ma Congyi come out, a smile appeared on his lips. This kid is definitely good at calculations. He was the first student to "graduate" from Jimo Elementary School. For him alone, Yue Wenxuan even set up a junior high school ahead of time. There were a lot of "divine teachers" in the junior high school, but only Ma Congyi was the student.

It's quite bizarre to see a group of teachers surrounding one student. Luckily, the teachers are all emotionless and don't have feelings, otherwise they would have protested long ago.

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "You can calculate? Okay! You tell me how to calculate it." Although Ma Congyi was only eight years old, he was not intimidated. He had participated in bandit suppression and had experienced many things since childhood. He was poised and generous, and said: "The pool can be filled with water in 20 incense sticks' time and emptied in 40 incense sticks' time. So I boldly assume that the volume of the pool is 40, the speed of the inlet pipe is 2 per incense stick, and the speed of the outlet pipe is 1 per incense stick."

"When two water pipes are turned on at the same time, the water inflow is 4 and the water outflow is 2, with a difference of 2."

"That means there are still 38 left to fill, and the water inlet rate is 2, so it will take 19 incense sticks to fill."

Upon hearing this, the bewildered expressions on the faces of those nearby slowly transformed into expressions of wisdom.

Especially those who passed the imperial examinations, they were already top students, but they hadn't studied mathematics much. However, their ability to apply what they learned to new situations was still very strong. As long as they listened carefully and thought seriously, they would understand it quickly.

Many people showed expressions of admiration for Ma Congyi.

This is still a child! At such a young age, he is already so amazing!

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "Congratulations, you got it right!"

Ma Congyi smiled and bowed: "I was able to answer this question correctly thanks to Your Majesty. It is Your Majesty who established the Jimo Primary School and Jimo Middle School, which enabled me to learn the secrets of mathematics."

Despite his young age, he was extremely clever. He knew that the government had always wanted to promote primary and secondary schools so that more people could attend them. So he simply took this opportunity to bring up the matter. There were so many successful candidates in the imperial examinations here, and all the prominent families from various prefectures and counties were present. By revealing the school's name here, he was sure to attract a large number of children from these families to enroll.

This idea really hit the nail on the head regarding Yue Wenxuan's temperament.

Yue Wenxuan deliberately set a "crazy swimming pool manager" question for this imperial examination, not to torment the candidates, but to promote mathematics.

The fact that "the imperial examinations included mathematics" was enough to motivate scholars to study mathematics.

Ma Congyi cooperated very well! He deserves a reward!
Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "Ma Congyi, you are too young to be an official. I cannot grant you an official position. How about this, I will bestow upon you the title of 'child prodigy'."

He picked up his pen and wrote the words "prodigy" in his own hand.

Although this body is just an empty shell, it has the "basic settings" of a prince, so his calligraphy is quite good, showing some of the inherited skills of Emperor Huizong of Song.

He handed the calligraphy to Ma Congyi and said with a smile, "Take it."

Ma Congyi was overjoyed, and Ma Banzhou and other members of the Ma clan who were watching in the crowd were also overjoyed.

The Ma family was wealthy, possessing the riches of half the state, and they didn't care much for rewards like gold and silver jewelry. A title of "child prodigy," coupled with calligraphy personally written by the emperor, was far more valuable than any gold or silver jewelry.

The other prominent families were all green with envy, but none of their nephews or nieces could solve the problem, so they could only watch helplessly as the Ma family gained an advantage.

The head of the Yan family quickly said to the people behind him, "Immediately find out what Jimo Primary School and Jimo Middle School are. Select outstanding children from your family and do everything you can, even if it costs a lot of money, to get them into school."

The servant went quickly and returned a while later: "Jimo Elementary School was established before the emperor ascended the throne. It does not teach the Four Books and Five Classics, but only basic reading and writing. In addition, it teaches miscellaneous subjects such as 'mathematics,' 'art,' 'music,' and 'physical education.' This school does not charge tuition fees, and anyone who wants to study can enroll for free. Children from poor families even receive free books."

"As for Jimo Middle School, it currently only has Ma Congyi as a student, so we can't find out what they teach from the public..."

(End of this chapter)