From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Zhonghe Yibingshi: One-fourth of a dou (a unit of dry measure)

One bushel of grain: two dou and three-quarters of a dou

Those watching from the sidelines were utterly bewildered and questioned the very nature of life when they saw the clear explanation written by Zhuge Yu.

What is that?

The counting rods were square, each with a number and a long string of words written below them. Those familiar with the "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" could understand them, but for those who hadn't, it was a dizzying experience. Even after watching the whole process, they still wouldn't know how Mingyin had solved the problem.

Let's look at Li Yang again—

It's just some random scribbles again!

The text above reads:

Let the actual quantities of the upper, middle, and lower grains be x, y, and z, respectively, and then set up the equation:

3x + 2y + z = 39(1)

2x + 3y + z = 34(2)

x + 2y + 3z = 26(3)

Eliminating z using (1)-(2) yields:

(3x+2y+z)–(2x+3y+z)=39–34

We get x – y = 5

That is, x = y + 5

Substituting x = y + 5 into equations (2) and (3) to eliminate x, we get:

新(2)变为2(y+5)+3y+z=34，即5y+z=24；

新(3)变为(y+5)+2y+3z=26，即3y+3z=21；

Thus, this problem is not much different from the "chicken and rabbit in the same cage" problem. We can get the following results: one bing of the best grain yields 37/4 dou, one bing of the middle grain yields 17/4 dou, and one bing of the worst grain yields 11/4 dou.

In fact, Li Yang and Mingyin used the same method to solve the second problem: elimination. However, it is obvious that Li Yang's method is simpler. He only needs to know the numbers and understand the meaning of xyz to reduce multiple unknowns to a single unknown through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, thereby completing the calculation.

Although Mingyin's method also involves elimination, it uses the counting rod matrix method. The principle is the same, but the steps are extremely complicated. Just listing those square matrices would take a lot of time.

Indeed.

The method of elimination originated in China more than 500 years earlier than in the West, but the cumbersome listing method is one of the reasons why Chinese mathematics has not developed into a complete system.

In fact, before the establishment of Mingxin Academy, other universities in China at that time had also learned systematic mathematical systems from the West.

But unfortunately—

The Confucius family seems to have fallen behind the times in the field of arithmetic...

Of course, Jiang Liu wasn't surprised. After all, cultivating talent was extremely demanding. For example, Kong Yuru, before developing talent, almost never left her home, focusing solely on studying classical texts…

It's fortunate that he was exceptionally talented and cultivated his talent early on; otherwise, if he had gone out as an adult, he probably wouldn't have understood even basic human relationships!

And so the first round of the "number" comparison came to an end.

Li Yangsheng.

Without him.

Even though the algorithms are essentially the same, Li Yang's calculation process is simpler and more convenient, which further confirms the principle of "the greatest truths are the simplest." Even Zhang Enpu had to admit that Li Yang's solution was more neat and easier to read.

of course.

The handwriting is significantly worse than Mingyin's...

Unfortunately, this is not writing an article; as long as you can recognize the characters, you don't need to be a master of calligraphy.

Upon learning of her defeat, Mingyin was unconvinced. She asked Zhang Enpu for some paper and studied Li Yang's solution. After a long while, she suddenly realized, "It can be done like this?"

digital.

He knows.

English alphabet.

He had seen them before, but they couldn't speak English and didn't know any English words.

But I never imagined that combining English letters and numbers could actually create this equation.

For a moment, he was utterly astonished!

Especially after learning that a small number of academies in China had already introduced the Western mathematical system before the establishment of Mingxin Academy, Mingyin was stunned and at a loss.

Therefore, even though there were already more advanced and systematic arithmetic systems in the world, their Confucian elders were still stubbornly clinging to the arithmetic principles based on the "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art".

And how did they teach these younger generations?

"Although mathematics is one of the six arts of Confucianism, it is ranked last. Only those who have gone astray will keep studying it. It does not bring much benefit to the development of the country and the family."

Kong Yuru comforted Mingyin.

"It's quite unfortunate. I actually think that mathematics is one of the most important foundations, whether in cultivation or in the construction of future high-end industries. It must be systematic. Otherwise, even if the world is at peace, upheaval is only a matter of time."

Jiang Liu chuckled.

Because in the future development and construction, whether it is medical care, education, or military defense, transportation, construction, information technology and other industries, which one will not use mathematics?

The more developed a country is, the deeper its research into mathematics and the more complete its mathematical system becomes!

Even when considering only one's own cultivation, how to construct one's own system of circulating Qi, how to control the circulation of every bit of Qi during internal cultivation, and how to manage the consumption of every wisp of Qi in battle all require the concept of "mathematics" to plan and construct.

Sorcerers, in particular, need to understand mathematics in order to perform corresponding calculations on the information of all things in the world to a greater extent.

If you rely solely on your feelings—

Hey!

That's tens of thousands of times harder than reaching the Heavenly Realm!

"Don't exaggerate!"

Kong Yuru dismissed Jiang Liu's words as nonsense and said directly, "Let's begin the second round of the competition! Poetry! You and I will each take one character as a topic, with no restrictions on the content of the poem, how about that?"

"But, you go first?"

Jiang Liu smiled.

"Among all beasts, only the tiger reigns supreme, capable of swallowing up thousands of miles. So I will suggest the word 'tiger'," Kong Yuru said with a smile after a moment's thought.

"Then I'll choose the character '牛' (niu, meaning 'ox')."

Faced with Kong Yuru's imposing manner, Jiang Liu smiled slightly and said the word "ox," adding, "Let's call the poem 'Tiger and Ox Chant.'"

Why an ox?

Upon hearing the word "cow," Kong Yuru paused, wondering if Jiang Liu had never intended to dwell on the "poetry" aspect, and had deliberately chosen a bizarre title to annoy the Kong family.

“Those who cultivate themselves, whether Taoist or Buddhist, all have a special fondness for the creature ‘ox’. I am also a cultivator, so isn’t it perfect to use ‘ox’ as the theme?” Jiang Liu explained his reasoning.

# Chapter 1059 Why did Tang Sanzang frequently encounter tigers on Journey to the West?

"Whom did you send to compose the poem?"

After hearing Jiang Liu's reasoning, Kong Yuru didn't want to ask him to change his mind, so she decided to have Ding Lu, the one among the remaining five who was best at composing poems, get up.

"Miss Liu, come here."

"what?"

Miss Liu was taken aback, then quickly stood up, said "Oh," and asked, using the light as a springboard: "Aren't we supposed to be recommending each other's members to participate?"

Jiang Liu replied: "When he explained the rules, he only said that the 'number' competition would be a contest where he and I would each choose members from the other side, but he didn't say that the other five rounds had to be the same."

Miss Liu: 【…That makes so much sense! But I can't write poetry! Why did you choose me?】

Jiang Liu said: "Of the six of us, besides me who can write some poems for my own amusement, who among you can?"

Miss Liu: [Then tell me through the Land of Illusion?]

Jiang Liu said: [This is not fair.]

[Damn it! Then why did you choose me?]

You happen to be sitting directly across from him.

The straightforward reason left Miss Liu speechless for a moment, and she could only rack her brains to think of poems about tigers and oxen.

Ding Lu, however, was also deep in thought, his brows furrowed. He paced seven steps in the field, then stopped, as if he had thought of something. He then began to recite: "White-browed cows roar freely in the forest, black oxen turn far away on the country road. Shepherds pant and shout as they drive them, but who knows that every step they take will damage the seedlings."

This poem is simple; just by listening to it, one can easily imagine a simple scene in their mind:

A shepherd boy was herding cattle in the countryside when he suddenly heard a tiger's roar coming from the mountains and forests. This startled the large black water buffalo, causing it to flee in panic.

The shepherd boy shouted as he chased after the cow, panting heavily, but not only did he fail to catch it, he also trampled the rice seedlings in the field...

"Not bad!"

"This poem is quite interesting!"

"Although I don't understand the meaning of a few words, it does make one imagine the process of a shepherd boy herding his cattle well, but then a tiger's roar in the forest startles the cattle, causing them to run away. In the process of chasing after them, the shepherd boy tramples the rice seedlings."

"But why do I always feel a bit sad?"

Although one could imagine the scene depicted in the poem, most people present, except for the wealthy, especially those on Cultural Street, felt that the poem was somewhat sad.

Outside Yuhang City were vast tracts of fertile land, which belonged to landlords before the land was returned to the people.

well known-

The cattle herded by the cowherds generally did not belong to the cowherds' families.

If the cowherd's family lost their cow and ruined their crops, even if his parents were heartless, they would not beat him to death. Instead, they would help the seedlings and look for the cow.

But the landlord's grandfather might not be so forgiving. If such a thing really happened, and the cowherd lost his cow and trampled the seedlings, not only would he not make amends, but in a fit of anger, he would definitely beat the cowherd to death first. And if he was still angry, he might even beat the cowherd's parents and elders to death as well.

How can you laugh like that?

"it is good!"

During the performance, Zhang Enpu exclaimed, "This poem seems simple, merely describing the process of a cowherd being startled by a tiger while herding cattle. In fact, it also contains the principle of spiritual cultivation. It is truly wonderful!"