Chapter 103 Pencil
The first thing Qiao Youyou did when she founded the Mathematics Society was to introduce Arabic numerals to the students of the academy.
The reason is simple: she feels that Chinese characters and numbers have too many strokes, so when making a draft, it is faster to write the simplified version of the numbers.
The arithmetic method promoted by Qiao Youyou also became popular in the academy. In the past, there were occasional students who brought abacus and counting sticks to the academy, but now these two things are almost never seen.
At the same time, arithmetic games also became popular, and students would even give each other questions in their spare time to see who could calculate faster.
But soon, Qiao Youyou discovered new problems.
That is, writing numbers with a brush is still not fast enough.
So she called her classmates to discuss it, and everyone agreed that it was very feasible to make pencils in ancient times.
Qiao Youyou took Zhu Lan's arm and said with a smile:
“If a pencil is invented, Lanlan will never have to use charcoal to draw sketches again!
But where can we find lead?"
Zhou Da smiled and explained:
“Although pencils are called ‘pencils’, they do not actually contain lead. Their main component is graphite, but people previously mistakenly believed that graphite was a form of lead.
Graphite is easy to obtain and can be bought everywhere in the market.”
Qiao Youyou stuck out her tongue and gave a thumbs up: "It turns out that every profession has its specialties!"
They acted immediately. The boys went to look for graphite and the girls went to look for wood.
Soon, the wood was cut into strips of appropriate length. Everyone borrowed tools from the carpenter and drilled small holes in the center of the strips.
The purchased graphite was ground into powder and mixed with the clay.
Qiao Youyou worked hard, using a smooth, thin wooden board to roll the mixture of graphite and clay on the table into thin strips for Zhou Da to see.
Zhou Da nodded, "Well, wait until it dries and hardens, then you can put it in as a pen refill."
Qin Yuwei picked up the wet handkerchief, walked to Qiao Youyou, and helped her wipe the dirty graphite powder off her face while holding back her smile.
"Look at you, you've become a tabby cat."
"Meow~" Qiao Youyou tilted her head and let Qin Yuwei help wipe her face.
After the graphite strips were dried and completely hardened, they were stuffed into the wooden strips with holes drilled in them.
Then cut the wood strips into pieces the length of a normal pencil.
"Haha, that's great!" Qiao Youyou laughed while holding a pile of pencils.
These pencils can be used normally as long as the tips are sharpened with a knife!
However, after everyone counted, they realized that time and manpower were limited, so only ten pencils were made this time.
Qiao Youyou was a little distressed. There were now twenty or thirty people in her mathematics club, and these few pencils were totally not enough!
She shook Zhu Lan's arm pitifully.
"Lanlan, Lanlan baby, please..."
"Okay, okay."
As soon as she started to act coquettishly, Zhu Lan had no choice but to agree to go find Ouyang Ye.
As long as Ouyang Ye agrees, he can find specialized craftsmen in the name of Longchang Academy and put the pencils into mass production.
…
Jiangzhou City, Mingxuan Restaurant.
It was not meal time, so there were not many customers in the restaurant. The shopkeeper and the waiter were sitting idly, craning their necks with some curiosity to look at the table in the corner of the lobby where laughter and joy could be heard from time to time.
Several young men who looked like playboys were sitting around. On the table, besides a few simple side dishes, there were also small square hard pieces of paper.
"Straight Flush! Hey, Brother Liang, you lose!"
A boy threw the cards in his hand onto the table and laughed.
"Sorry." Liang Zhou smiled wickedly and showed the cards in his hand.
It's also a straight flush, but the cards are bigger than the opponent's.
"Ah? You won again... I don't want to play anymore!" The boy's face turned from sunny to cloudy in an instant, and he pushed the cards in his hand away angrily.
Another person comforted him: "It's not about money, why get angry?"
"That's right, come again!" Liang Zhou said with a smile, took the cards on the table and began to shuffle them.
As I was washing, I suddenly felt bored and tired of playing.
Alas, life is boring and it’s so hard to find some fun!
There were a few playboys in the academy who wanted to take him to casinos and brothels, but fortunately Liang Zhou claimed to be a good young man who grew up under the red flag and politely declined their invitation.
Thinking of this, Liang Zhou could only sigh that noble sentiments come at a price.
Liang Zhou was shuffling the cards absentmindedly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a few people walking in from outside the restaurant, heading straight towards him.
"You little brat, you're not studying hard, so you run out to play!"
Mr. Li came up and grabbed the boy next to Liang Zhou by the ear and lifted him up.
"Ouch, Dad, it hurts, please feed me gently--"
"Do you still feel the pain? Go back to the academy and study!" Mr. Li scolded his son harshly.
The boy rubbed his ears and said, "Dad, Liang Zhou is my good brother, he insisted on asking me to come and play.
If I leave, the game will be over!"
Liang Zhou:?
But it was you who put together this game today!
Mr. Li raised his eyebrows and became even more angry, "You little bastard, you still have the nerve to compare yourself with Liang Zhou?
Did Liang Zhou neglect his studies at the academy while he was out having fun?
Others have passed the imperial examination and become scholars. Have you made the list?"
Mr. Li kicked his son on the butt while cursing and dragged him away.
Liang Zhou never had time to say a word from beginning to end.
"Brother Liang, this..." Another boy scratched his head and looked at an empty seat.
The game Liang Zhou taught them to play requires four people. Now that one person is missing, how can they play it?
Liang Zhou was tired of winning and stretched lazily.
"Let's go back to the academy and go to sleep!"
Just as he was about to stand up, a folding fan suddenly pressed lightly on his shoulder.
Liang Zhou paused and looked down. The folding fan was mottled in color and was made of a tortoise shell bone that was extremely valuable.
A clear and handsome voice sounded from behind him, as if with great interest.
"Little brother, this thing you play with is very interesting, can you teach me?"
As he spoke, the man sat down in the vacant seat, and Liang Zhou could then see his appearance clearly.
He had a handsome face, a pair of beautiful fox eyes, and his age must be no more than thirty.
She was dressed in a white brocade robe embroidered with gold, with a jade-green headband beneath her loose hair. There was an indescribable elegance and nobility in her every move.
Liang Zhou boasted that he had seen countless people, and he intuitively felt that this person's identity was definitely not ordinary. At the very least, he definitely did not belong to the class of ordinary people.
When the other two students saw this person, they all felt ashamed of themselves, but Liang Zhou was the only one who remained calm.
"OK."
Liang Zhou smiled and started dealing cards very naturally.
"This is called 'playing cards', and it comes in four suits: clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts..."
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