Confucianism under Heaven

Chapter 56 The Holy Temple Shakes, and Withered Trees Come Back to Life!

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Holy Temple Shakes, and Withered Trees Come Back to Life!

During Ye Ru's lecture, an untimely voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention and causing them to frown.

Many people also looked angry. Everyone knows that historically, when teachers were lecturing, one had to listen and it was taboo to interrupt, because that would hinder the teacher's thinking.

They all knew that this person's words and actions were intended to interrupt Ye Ru's train of thought and embarrass him.

"My friend, you are mistaken. History is a process of development. How can you talk about betraying your teacher and ancestors? Arithmetic is a discipline. The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art contains the methods of subtraction, profit and loss, and equations. These are all part of arithmetic. What's wrong with me calling it mathematics?"

Ye Ru was not angry. He glanced around and found Wang Bieqiu, Wang Xiaoyang and others there. He immediately knew who they were.

Ye Ru's actions have undoubtedly earned him praise from many people.

"These are all left by our ancestors. Your actions are disrespectful to our forefathers. Arithmetic is arithmetic. What does it have to do with that bullshit mathematics?"

Wang Ren sneered and launched another attack. Today, he was confident that he could make Ye Ru feel ashamed and lose face in front of everyone.

Chen Sijun and the others also narrowed their eyes slightly. Ye Ru's lecture this time was of great importance. If he could not convince Wang Ren with facts, his literary reputation would be greatly damaged. The Wang family might even say that Ye Ru had made a fool of himself and betrayed his teacher and ancestors.

This will undoubtedly put Ye Ru at the center of negative public opinion.

"Learning has no order of precedence; the accomplished are teachers. Since you say the words of our ancestors are correct, aren't you going against Confucius's saying, 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me'? I think you are the one who seeks fame and fortune, a traitor who betrays his teachers and ancestors."

A cold glint flashed in Ye Ru's eyes, then he slammed his hand on the table and shouted sharply.

"This"

Wang Ren's expression changed; the other party was surprisingly eloquent.

If he were to refute this, he would be contradicting himself, and the punishment would be far more severe.

"There is some merit to renaming arithmetic to mathematics. We should not only respect our predecessors, but also the discipline itself. Renaming it mathematics is not without reason. I will report this to the Guosheng Arbitration Institute."

Chen Sijun glanced at Wang Ren, then said indifferently.

Chen Sijun's words silenced everyone, and even Wang Ren's face turned red.

Others said that Ye Ru could take the opportunity to make things difficult for him, but what this Jinshi Chen said was an authority in arithmetic.

Even some scholars could not necessarily refute his reasoning.

Moreover, it will be reported to the Guosheng Arbitration Institute.

Those who wanted to mock Ye Ru also shut their mouths, looking embarrassed.

"Teacher, please help me."

Wang Ren, his face grim, spoke in a deep voice to the old man beside him.

"If I have the opportunity, I will."

The old man nodded.

"I looked at our calculations, studied several mathematical journals, and found relevant mathematical algorithms. I also helped our ancestors improve some of the multiplication tables. Now I will write them down for you."

Seeing that everyone was silent, Ye Ru picked up his pen and wrote on the blackboard:

"One times one equals one, one times two equals two, two times two equals four."

Ye Ru discovered these multiplication tables in classics such as "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art". Although they were summarized during the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were not complete. Now Ye Ru has supplemented and completed these multiplication tables.

"The multiplication table of 9x9... I never expected Ye Ru to have completed it."

"This is a major advancement for the subject of the Six Arts!"

A look of shock appeared on Song Feng and the others' faces. They then exchanged glances, realizing that this move might allow them to enter the Six Arts of the Holy Journal.

"It's just parroting what others have said."

Some people looked at the multiplication table and scoffed, saying that such a multiplication table was incomplete in the past, only showing numbers from one to nine, and could hardly be considered knowledgeable.

"Nine times nine is eighty-one...ten times eleven is one hundred..."

However, after Ye Ru wrote up to 81, he paused for a moment before continuing, which made everyone's eyes widen.

"What is Master Ye doing? Is he going to keep writing...?"

"I've been writing until the eleventh..."

"Who said that? Twelve times twelve..."

Seeing Ye Ru continue writing below, a look of horror once again appeared on everyone's faces.

Such a calculation speed is simply unheard of!

"No way, is this mental arithmetic...?"

Chen Sijun's face was filled with horror, and her heart was like a stormy sea. Never before in the entire Confucian and Taoist continent had anyone been able to calculate mentally to such a high degree.

Everyone held their breath, watching Ye Ru write downwards. With each stroke, their hearts were filled with even greater awe.

The entire hall was deathly silent, save for the gasps of breath that seemed to spin like windmills in the Xingzhi Hall.

Before long, the multiplication tables from one to one hundred were written all over the blackboard.

As the last stroke was written, the National Temple suddenly began to tremble violently. Then, a beam of light streaked across the sky from the temple and rushed toward Xingzhi Hall where Ye Ru was.

"The temple is shaking? Is this in the direction of Qingyun County?"

The great scholar Chen looked up at the sky, his expression suddenly changed. The temple trembled. This would only happen if there was a great contribution that could increase the national fortune of Yanhuang. Moreover, judging from the size of the pillar of light, it could increase the national fortune of Yanhuang by at least 10%!

Then, the scholar Chen vanished from the spot.

Inside Xingzhi Hall, the beam of light from the temple enveloped the blackboard, causing it to gradually petrify and transform into a stone tablet.

All eyes, after a slight pause, froze, fixed on the stone tablet gleaming with golden light.

Click!

"This is the power of the Holy Temple!"

The sound of dozens of chair armrests shattering echoed throughout the room. Chen Sijun, feeling the oppressive power of the Holy Temple, was dumbfounded, his face filled with disbelief.

They originally only wanted Ye Ru to give lectures so that many students would become interested in the Six Arts.

But the current situation is completely beyond their expectations.

However, just as everyone came to their senses, one person suddenly looked outside and saw that some trees that were about to die were beginning to sprout green buds again.

"Spring comes out of dead trees?"

Some people exclaimed.

As the man finished speaking, some out-of-season flowers began to bloom.

"Not only have withered trees come back to life, but all the flowers have also bloomed!"

Countless people exclaimed, overwhelmed with shock.

"A withered tree comes back to life, and a hundred flowers bloom..."

Fang Zifeng swallowed hard and managed to utter a few words, causing all the scholars to look outside.

"Even when a great Confucian scholar lectures, there is no such extraordinary phenomenon. Only a semi-saint could probably speak eloquently and make all these flowers bloom."

"This can't be, it must be fake!"

Upon seeing this, Wang Ren's face showed deep panic.

As everyone gasped in surprise, a voice, like heavenly music, swept in from all directions like ocean waves, startling everyone. They all looked towards the distant window.

"Who caused the temple to tremble, withered trees to spring back to life, and a hundred flowers to bloom—three extraordinary phenomena?"