Chapter 146: Well-Trained Chickens and Rabbits and the Perverted Old Farmer (Please Subscribe and Read)
In the crowded crowd, a ten-year-old child sat in the center, playing Go with eight old men with gray beards.
The children made their moves at a rapid pace, without a single pause, as if they didn't even need to think. Meanwhile, the elderly men, their foreheads sweating, pondered each move over and over again.
"This kid has won three rounds in a row. None of the good Go players around here can match him."
"What does this kid want to do? For three consecutive days, he set up a ring here at noon every day to accept the challenge."
"What for? To make money! The registration fee is ten wen, and if you win, the registration fee is refunded and you get another hundred wen. It's been three days, and the kid hasn't lost a single time. He's already made over two hundred wen from the registration fee."
"From his accent, he doesn't sound like a local."
"Look at you, all you do is eat. Look at other people's children. Well, I just don't play enough."
…
While everyone was discussing, the child had already completed a new round of games and won without a doubt.
The kid took the money and was about to leave when an old man with a white beard said quickly, "Wait a minute."
The child turned around with a questioning look in his eyes: "Grandpa, what's the matter?"
"My last name is Wu, and I'm a doctor of mathematics at the Imperial College. I see that you have extraordinary talent and exceptional physique. I'd like to take you on as a student and bring you to study at the Imperial College. What do you think?"
"Not interested," the child shook his head and turned away.
"Mathematics is a profound and extensive subject with a wide range of uses. If you study with me for ten or eight years, I will recommend you to become a minor official in the Ministry of Finance. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
The old man was not talking nonsense. He was the most senior doctor of mathematics in the Imperial College and a well-known figure in the capital. Whenever the court needed to deploy troops, escort food and fodder, or collect taxes, they would always ask him to solve problems.
Another point is that although the child's clothes were clean, they did have seven or eight patches on them, which showed that the child's family conditions were not very good.
To eat government food, to become an official after excelling in studies, isn’t that everyone’s ideal? It has supreme appeal.
The Duzhi Yamen in the Sansi even regarded him as an idol. However, he did not know that the Duzhi Yamen runners had already secretly worshipped the emperor. The magical Arabic numerals, double-entry bookkeeping, and Benford's law were really convenient, magical, and a great help.
The child turned around and left without any hesitation.
The doctor of mathematics quickly said, "How about we make a bet, kid? I'll give you a math problem. If you can answer it, I'll give you ten taels of silver. If you can't, you can become my disciple."
"Ten taels of silver?" The child swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "My mother said I'm not allowed to gamble for the rest of my life."
"You probably say that because you don't dare!" The doctor of mathematics used the method of provoking the child. Children are always competitive.
"Then tell me, I won't take your money even if I answer. And please stop pestering me. I still have to go home and cook!"
The doctor of mathematics felt a little sad. Children from poor families have to grow up early. It would be a pity if such a good talent was buried. He made up his mind to go to his house to take a look.
"There are three rabbits in a cage. There are thirty-five heads on top and ninety-four legs on the bottom. How many rabbits are there?"
"Ah, this is a math problem. Isn't math problem arithmetic?" This is a completely illiterate person who has no understanding of math.
"I heard that this is something only available in the Imperial College, and it's quite profound." A scholar observing the conversation remarked, "Isn't this topic a bit difficult?"
Zhao Huan, who was watching silently from the side, muttered to himself, "Can you change the pattern? Why do you always come up with the chicken and rabbit problem? The solution is already in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art."
The child was seen frowning and lost in thought, while the doctor of mathematics stood beside him with a smile, and he had already imagined the following plot in his mind: the child felt the charm of mathematics, became his disciple, entered the court as an official, received a salary from the state, and had no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life.
Less than an incense stick's time passed before the child said, "Rabbit is twelve, Rooster is twenty-three. Is this answer correct?"
The joyful look on the mathematics doctor's face suddenly froze.
The correct answer is Rabbit 12 and Rooster 23.
"How did you figure that out?"
The young man replied, "If all thirty-five were chickens, then there should be seventy legs in the cage. Now there are ninety-four legs in the cage, so we are still short of twenty-four."
"Rabbits have two more legs than chickens, so these twenty-four legs belong to twelve rabbits. Is that clear enough?"
The doctor of mathematics was stunned for a moment. The boy's algorithm was correct. Although it was not explained very well, this idea was exactly the leg-lifting method in "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art".
What is the leg lift method? Simply put, it is:
Assuming that these chickens and rabbits are well trained, they will lift a total of 35 legs when clapping once, and a total of 70 legs when clapping twice.
At this time, all the chicks are sitting in the cage with no legs to count. Each rabbit has two legs left, and there are twenty-four legs left in the cage, so the number of rabbits is twelve and the number of chickens is twenty-three.
The onlookers were all numb after hearing this, especially the scholar. This eternal problem, you solved it by clapping twice?
Zhao Huan also found it quite interesting. He knew that the answer was in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, but this leg-lifting method was indeed the first time he had heard of it, and it was quite new.
This kid and the PhD in mathematics are both talented people. We have to find a way to get them to attend classes.
"Mathematics is very simple and boring." The child said and turned away.
"Alas, you haven't received your ten taels of silver yet."
The doctor of mathematics quickly took out a silver ingot and followed the child.
"I don't want the money I won from the bet." The child left a message and quickly ran away.
Zhao Huan motioned Yun Jin'er beside him to follow and see. As a man, if he followed a child, people who didn't know him would think he had some special hobby.
"Hey, Mr. Doctor, please stay."
"Young man, what's the matter?"
Zhao Huan said, "My student, Jia Baoyu, is very fond of mathematics. I just listened to the doctor explain the leg-lifting method for chickens and rabbits in the same cage. I found it very interesting. I also happen to have two math problems. I wonder if the doctor can help me solve them."
Inner thought: Let me test you too.
"Oh, tell me about it."
"Now there is a rooster worth five coins, a hen worth three coins, and three chicks worth one coin. Now I want to buy 100 chickens for free. How many roosters, hens, and chicks are there?"
"A wall is five feet thick. Two rats are crossing it from opposite sides. The older rat digs one foot a day, and the younger rat also digs one foot a day. The older rat doubles its length each day, and the younger rat halves its length each day. When will they meet again? How far have they each dug?"
At first glance, these problems are similar to the chicken and rabbit problem, but the number of unknowns has increased from two to three, and the difficulty is incomparable. The doctor of mathematics tried for a while but had no idea where to start.
When I looked up, I found that the young man had disappeared, and I couldn't help feeling confused.
What about the answer? Give me the answer...
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