Chapter 491: Supervisor

"New mathematics!" Su Ying replied.

"What does it mean? This is one, and this is two?" Li Tai looked at the Arabic numerals. "What special meaning do these numbers have?"

"Niu Xiaobao, you come and tell the Fourth Prince!" Su Ying said to Niu Xiaobao.

"Yes, sir!" Niu Xiaobao stepped forward and explained to the people present how to express Arabic numerals, how to simplify calculations, and the calculation rules.

Li Tai flipped through the pages as the content was being discussed, reading with rapt attention.

He was an extremely intelligent person who understood things immediately. The more Li Tai watched, the more interesting he found it.

"Master Xiao Su, please lend me a copy of this book!" Li Tai couldn't let it go. "Isn't this the latest textbook published by your Lingnan?"

The book was printed by woodblock printing, with clear symbols and horizontal and vertical calculations. The fact that it could be printed indicated that the book was of a certain size.

"The Wuzhou Prefecture government printed it and sent it to the county schools to support the establishment of schools in the counties and respond to the imperial court's order to support education in Lingnan.

This discipline is another new mathematical discipline after abacus calculation. It is a fast calculation on paper and can be widely used in the design and construction of various industries such as architecture, shipbuilding, water conservancy, and road construction.

Su Ying introduces the role of new mathematics.

In the Hongwenguan, the crown prince and the princes not only studied classics and history, but also dabbled in mathematics, calligraphy, painting, riding and archery.

This math book is simple and easy to learn, and the content is easy to understand. Li Tai understood it quickly and still felt unsatisfied.

"I want a copy too!" Prince Li Yuanchang of Lu read with great interest. "Gao Ming, this book is great! You should take it home and read it too!"

"Qingyun, go get some new books!" Su Ying said to Xie Qingyun.

This time when she went to Chang'an, Su Ying specially brought some books with her. The group of children who arrived last year did not have any of them. Each of them was given a copy to study on their own. If they did not understand, they could ask Xie Qingyun and others for help.

"Take two more books!" Li Chengqian thought of his two younger sisters' admiration for Su Ying.

Take it back to please your sisters, they will definitely like it.

"Yes, sir!" Xie Qingyun took a few books and gave them to the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, Prince Lu, and Du He.

"Master Xiao Su, your book is so strange. You use these symbols to make the punctuation clear at a glance. It's really clever!"

Li Tai read a few more pages and understood the meaning of commas, periods, and symbols such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, equal signs, greater than, and less than, opening a new door to knowledge.

"This symbol can also be used in articles to automatically break sentences and make the meaning clear without causing ambiguity."

Su Ying couldn't help but admire that Li Tai was truly a top student with an ability to learn that was incomparable to ordinary people.

"Wow! There is such an algorithm!" Du He was amazed.

"Oh, that's brilliant! Aren't we going to add an engineering school? Master Su also said it's widely used in all walks of life, so it's a perfect time to offer this course!"

"Well! You have a good idea! Send a few copies to the Imperial College and let those doctors learn from them!" Li Chengqian raised his head from the book.

"Master Xiao Su, this is the beginner's book, right? Is there any deeper content?"

"Well, yes, I have it, but I didn't compile it!" Su Ying didn't expect that she would use the math knowledge from junior high and high school so soon.

Yes, the engineering colleges run majors such as architecture, shipbuilding, and water conservancy, all of which are based on mathematical knowledge, and this mathematical system is simply not enough to support them.

"Thank you, Lord Su, for compiling it as soon as possible. I think this subject needs to be popularized!" Li Chengqian said seriously.

From the perspective of the crown prince, and from a big picture and long-term perspective, these are theoretical knowledge that will drive the rapid development of all industries.

"Yes!" Su Ying touched her nose. She was lazy at first, but now she couldn't escape it.

After leaving the inn, Li Chengqian asked Su Ying where she was going.

Su Ying looked at Li Tai and said, "I'll find a kiln that burns charcoal and teach you how to make activated charcoal."

"Well, why don't we go to the Directorate of Works and take a look?" Li Tai said happily.

"Okay, let's go!"

Then a group of carriages and horses went to the Ministry of Works in a mighty procession.

In the smelting workshop of the General Works, the craftsmen were naked, wearing only a pair of cowhide pants, smelting molten iron in front of the blast furnace.

The giant bellows rumbled as they were pulled, and through the gap in the furnace door, one could see the flames inside flashing dazzling golden and golden-orange light as the wind poured in.

The heat was rolling around the blast furnace and everyone was sweating profusely.

Yan Lide was wearing a single layer of clothing, with a wet spot on his back, and was inspecting the smelting plant with his hands on his hips.

"Sir! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince and others will arrive at the Ministry of Works immediately." An official came running to report the news.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Fourth Prince? What are they here for?" Yan Lide was stunned. Why didn't anyone inform them in advance?

He came out in a hurry and didn't even have time to put on his official robe.

The Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, Prince Lu, and the Second Young Master Du have already entered the smelting plant. Beside His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a woman in a green official robe.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince, and His Royal Highness Prince Lu!" Yan Lide bowed.

"No need to be so polite!" Li Chengqian said.

"Greetings, Young Supervisor Yan!" Su Ying saluted Yan Lide.

"You must be Lord Su, who is famous in the capital, right? I have heard of you for a long time! Today is a good day for us to meet and I have a question to ask you!" Yan Lide said with a smile.

"I dare not ask for your advice! I also have some questions to ask Lord Yan!" Su Ying said modestly.

"What brings your Highness the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince here today?" Yan Lide looked at the two people with the most noble status.

"Lord Yan! We want to make activated carbon. Do you have a ready-made charcoal kiln here?" Li Tai asked.

"Yes! What is the activated carbon that Your Highness is talking about?" Yan Lide was a technology fan and was very curious after hearing it.

“Activated carbon is made by grinding charcoal into powder, placing it in a sealed container and re-calcining it.

It is used to filter and absorb foreign matter and odors, achieving the effect of decolorization and deodorization." Su Ying explained.

"As Lord Xiao Su said, the trick is to grind the charcoal into powder, put it into a sealed container and calcine it. Why is that?" Yan Lide found it incredible.

When charcoal is ground into powder and then calcined, doesn't it turn into ash? How can it filter and absorb odors and foreign matter?

“Charcoal is ground into powder and re-calcined to remove the oil from the charcoal texture. After calcination, the texture channels of the charcoal powder are hollow.

Turbid matter is filtered out, and sediment accumulates in the pores of the texture and is absorbed, achieving a filtering effect while also absorbing odors," Su Ying explained.

Yan Lide was silent for a moment, then quickly understood what he meant. "Has this method been verified?"

"Verified and used!" Su Ying said with a smile.

"That's great!" Yan Lide led everyone out of the smelting plant and to the charcoal cave at the foot of the mountain.

Instruct the site manager to do this and that.

The craftsmen found a basket of high-quality charcoal, ground it into powder, put it into a sealed pottery jar, and placed it in a charcoal kiln for calcination.

"Oh, I see!" Li Tai immediately understood why it had to be sealed when he saw the operation reach this step.

Su Ying glanced at Li Tai. After teaching math, physics and chemistry to junior high and high school students, she was basically drained dry and had nothing left to hide.

I don’t remember much about advanced mathematics and calculus.

"Master Xiao Su, the blast furnace method was introduced from Lingnan. I believe it was invented by you. Can we move it to the smelter? I have a few questions that have not been resolved."

While waiting, Yan Lide said politely.

"Lord Yan is too polite! I will tell you everything I know." Su Ying said hurriedly with a bow.