Chapter 239 Abacus Class
"Well! This road is really nice!" County Magistrate Hu and his wife sat in the carriage and headed to Huanggou Village.
When we entered the village road from the official road, the carriage was stable and no longer shook or bumped.
"Are the roads leading from the county government office to the outside world also paved with mortar?" asked Mrs. Hu.
There is no harm without comparison. I didn’t think so before, but now when I drive on this hardened road, I suddenly feel that the official road paved with gravel and mud is too bad.
"Well, I haven't considered it for now. It would be satisfactory if we can widen and pave the road in one month!" County Magistrate Hu also thought so.
However, farmers mainly focus on farming, so corvee labor can only be performed during the slack season.
"The county government is not short of money now, so why not recruit laborers? The corvée labor is intermittent, so how long will it take to repair the road?" Mrs. Hu was dissatisfied.
It was poor in the past, and the entire county was poor from top to bottom.
Now that they have made a lot of money, the county government collects taxes from the sugar factory, inns, and foreign merchants, but still cannot afford to build roads. Mrs. Hu is the first one who doesn't believe it!
Mrs. Hu has the account book of how much miscellaneous taxes her grocery store and caravan paid!
"Well, ma'am, the winter wheat harvest is coming up soon, and we're rushing to make threshers that we'll sell and give away to every village and hamlet. This is a significant expense.
"The clerks and runners in all departments are busy as a tumble, and they can't get a raise. Otherwise, who would work so hard? Alas, money is so scarce!" Magistrate Hu cried out in poverty.
"Go away! You come to cry poor again! I won't pay money to subsidize your county government now!" Mrs. Hu scolded with a smile and pushed her husband.
"Let me tell you seriously, if you want to build a road, you might as well build one like this one. Once it's built, it will be more convenient for caravans and ordinary people to travel, and more people will be traveling back and forth." Mrs. Hu proposed seriously.
"I save money, but I have to eat every bite. Now we are in a grain-specialized area, so growing grain is our top priority. The rest can only be done as we can."
County Magistrate Hu also wanted to, but with so few people, he couldn't move fast.
The road was flat, and the carriage journey took half an hour less than usual.
When we entered the village, we saw people cooking noodles in the vermicelli factory, and others working in the fields. The wheat was already golden yellow.
The sun is shining brightly. After about ten days, the wheat will turn golden and can be harvested.
"Look, the Su family's wheat will be harvested in three or four days at most!" Mrs. Hu said excitedly as she looked at the wheat that was obviously full of grains and golden in color.
County Magistrate Hu watched silently with tears in his eyes. All the wheat will be like this next year!
"How much taller do you think this wheat will be than the ones next to it?" Mrs. Hu asked her husband.
"At least 20%!" County Magistrate Hu made a conservative estimate.
Most of the people in the fields were women. When they saw a familiar carriage, they waved to it, knowing that it was the county magistrate or his wife.
When I arrived at Su's house, it was quiet. I could hear the burping of piglets in the corner of the yard, the occasional mooing of a cow, and the neighing of a horse.
A quiet and leisurely farmyard.
County Magistrate Hu took his wife to the old house to see the silkworms.
The yard of the old house was also cleaned up. When I walked to the silkworm room, I saw through the window that the three sisters-in-law were changing the winnowing baskets, adding mulberry leaves, and spraying water on the mulberry leaves. I couldn't help but feel curious.
After pushing the door open and entering, the three sisters-in-law were about to bow, but Mrs. Hu hurriedly stopped them, "You guys are busy! Let me take a look."
The silkworms in the winnowing basket were about an inch long, grayish white, and plump.
"Oh, how many sleeps are these?" Mrs. Hu was surprised. She had only slept three times, but why did it look like she was going to sleep four times?
"Just slept for the third time!" Mrs. Du said softly.
"Why is it so big?" asked Mrs. Hu.
"Here, this!" Mrs. Du pointed to the brown sugar water. "Spray it regularly to help the silkworms absorb nutrients, strengthen their physique, and become stronger than their peers. We don't use sugar water here."
The silkworms on the other rack are obviously smaller and not as energetic as those on this one.
"Could this be Ah Ying's doing again?" Mrs. Hu had an intuition.
"That's right, madam!" Mrs. Du replied.
We need to add paint when we start sleeping for the third time. I wonder if Mrs. Hu has brought it?
"My dear, look at how fat these silkworms are. This is Ah Ying's new silkworm farming method!" Mrs. Hu looked at them with great joy, thinking that feeding them with pigments would surely make them produce colored silk.
"Well, not bad!" County Magistrate Hu had never expected that mulberry silkworms could do so many tricks.
When his wife told him that the Su family wanted to raise natural colored silkworms, he thought it was a joke. How could this be possible?
Looking at the buckets of paint, County Magistrate Hu thought it was impossible, but now he felt it was very likely.
"Where is Aying? Why isn't she here?" asked Mrs. Hu.
"I'm teaching abacus classes, teaching the children how to use an abacus!" Mrs. Du said.
"Using an abacus?" Mrs. Hu seemed to understand. What new thing was this? "Let's go and take a look!"
When she arrived at the school building, she heard the crackling sound of beads and Su Ying muttering to herself.
"One up, one down, five minus four, one minus nine, one up; two up, two down, five minus three, two minus eight, one up..."
I walked to the window and saw some strange formulas written on the blackboard. Su Ying was reciting and fiddling with the formulas at the podium.
The children in the audience were also playing with it, and even Su Boyan and several other teenagers were learning it seriously.
"What is this for?" Mrs. Hu asked her husband, and County Magistrate Hu shook his head in confusion.
"Nine on nine, nine minus one, one on, nine on four minus five, one on! Okay, that's all for today, let's practice." Su Ying saw Mrs. Hu outside the window.
"Greetings, sir and madam!" Su Ying bowed.
"Aying, what are you talking about? Why does it sound like counting chips to me, but not like counting chips?" Mrs. Hu does the accounting every day, and it sounds familiar yet strange to her.
"Abacus is much faster than counting rods!" Su Ying pulled Mrs. Hu to the next classroom. "I was thinking of sending you one, and you're here just in time!"
"Give it to me?" Mrs. Hu was surprised.
"Yes, you have so many businesses, so it must take a lot of time to do the accounting every day. It will be much easier for you to use an abacus!" Su Ying strongly recommended it.
"Is it that good?" Mrs. Hu touched the abacus beads and flicked them gently. They slid up and down with a crisp sound.
"Of course. If you don't believe me, just tell me the number and I'll show you." Su Ying demonstrated on the spot.
"Three seven eight five plus four six seven eight, plus six five nine one, minus nine five seven three, minus two eight six nine, how much is it?" Mrs. Hu casually reported a string of numbers.
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Ying wrote a few numbers on the abacus, "The total is 2612!"
Mrs. Hu stared blankly at Su Ying, then looked at the beads on the abacus, "So fast?"
Her accountants were busy with abacus every day. It was so scary that they could do it with just a few strokes of such a small abacus!
"Aying, can you give me one of your abacus?" County Magistrate Hu thought of his household official, who also needed this thing.
The wheat harvest is coming up soon, and those officials have a lot to do! They're busy for the better part of a month every year. If they could learn how to use an abacus, who knows how much faster their progress would be!
"It's okay to give you one, but your people don't know how to use it!" Su Ying said with a smile.
"I'll send someone to learn!" County Magistrate Hu said decisively.
"It's so troublesome to go back and forth! The winter wheat harvest is coming soon! How about I teach the children, and then I can go with you to the countryside to collect grain and keep accounts. After these busy days are over, I can start classes at the county government office. What do you think?"
Su Ying had a flash of inspiration and came up with this idea: the children could practice in actual combat while also helping the county government collect grain.
"That's great!" County Magistrate Hu was delighted.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
