NFBE Chapter 991 Visiting the renowned scholar Song Jiuzhou and inviting him to be a teacher at the women
Chapter 991 Visiting the renowned scholar Song Jiuzhou and inviting him to be a teacher at the women
"How do you open source it?" Bai Siyue immediately asked, as this was the area she was most interested in.
Bai Yiyue looked at her with approval in her eyes: "This will depend on your and Third Sister's talents."
“We can make the academy model completely different from that of Bailudong.”
"For example, we can set up workshops for women to sell the brocades they weave, the embroidery they make, and the rouge and face powder they produce through our trade routes. Part of the profits can be used by the students themselves, and part can be invested in the academy."
“We can also cultivate medicinal herb fields, where my second sister can lead the students to grow herbs and process them into medicinal materials for sale.”
"In this way, the academy will no longer be a bottomless pit that only takes out and never takes in, but a living tree that can take root and bear fruit on its own."
These words were like the sun breaking through the clouds, making everything clear to everyone!
"This method is brilliant!" Bai Sanyue's eyes shone. "In this way, not only is the funding problem solved, but the students also learn practical skills, truly putting their knowledge to practical use!"
"Killing two birds with one stone, no, killing several birds with one stone!"
“That makes sense.” Bai Yiyue nodded, then glanced at her younger sisters and began to assign tasks in an orderly manner.
“Starting tomorrow, we will split up and carry out our tasks separately. This matter must be done in secret, and we must not let the people from Bailudong Academy know about it, lest it cause any complications.”
"First, we need to survey the land and select a site." Her gaze fell on Bai Qiyue. "Seventh Sister, tomorrow morning, you will go to that abandoned tea plantation on the east side of the academy and conduct a thorough survey. You need to find out its size, terrain, whether there is a water source, and what the soil is like. Most importantly, you need to find out who owns this land and who holds the land deed. This matter concerns the foundation of the academy, so it must be done in detail."
Bai Qiyue nodded emphatically, saying succinctly, "Understood."
"Secondly, fundraising and accounting." Bai Yiyue looked at Sanyue and Siyue, "Third sister, fourth sister, you two set off immediately and secretly go to the brokerage firms and building material shops in Qingzhou City to find out the approximate prices for purchasing land, materials, and hiring craftsmen."
"At the same time, we will take stock of all our assets, including cash, bank drafts, jewelry, and treasures, and make a detailed budget for expenses."
"I want to know where every penny of ours can be spent and how much can be accomplished."
"No problem!" the twin sisters said in unison, their faces full of enthusiasm.
"Thirdly, the initial drafting of the regulations." Her gaze turned to Bai Eryue and Bai Wuyue. "Second sister, you are thoughtful and knowledgeable in medicine; fifth sister, you are talented and skilled in poetry and painting. The two of you will be responsible for drafting the academy's teaching syllabus. We do not seek to be comprehensive, but rather refined and practical."
"Which subjects are compulsory, such as literacy, arithmetic, basic medical science, and needlework; and which are elective, such as poetry and painting, music, agriculture and sericulture, and law?"
"What are the standards for student admission? How will conduct be assessed? How will academic performance be evaluated? Please draft a proposal first, and then we can discuss it together."
Bai Eryue and Bai Wuyue exchanged a smile and solemnly replied, "We will obey your command, elder sister."
“As for me…” Bai Yiyue took a deep breath, “I will take charge of the most difficult step—finding a worthy scholar. An academy’s buildings are its form, its rules and regulations are its bones, but its teachers are its soul. Without good teachers, everything is just empty talk.”
“There must be extraordinary people in and around Qingzhou City who are unwilling to be buried in obscurity. I will personally go and invite them out one by one.”
Finally, her gaze fell on the youngest, Bai Liuyue, and she said softly, "Liuyue, your task is the most important. While we are away on our journey... we may not be able to come to Bailudong Academy for the time being. You can stay here and study. Just tell us we are sick."
"If any outsiders come, you will be in charge of dealing with them and providing cover for us."
"At the same time, take good care of the vegetable garden in the backyard so that we can have hot meals when we come back. Is that possible?"
Bai Liuyue puffed out her little chest and nodded vigorously: "Liuyue guarantees to complete the mission! No one will discover the sisters' secret!"
The next day, at the first light of dawn.
Before the morning mist had completely dissipated over Bailu Mountain, a lithe figure, as swift as a cat, silently slipped into the abandoned tea plantation to the east of the academy. It was Bai Qiyue.
This tea plantation had been neglected for a long time, overgrown with weeds and covered with thorns. The guards led the way with machetes in hand, while Bai Qiyue held a simple piece of parchment and quickly sketched the terrain with a charcoal pencil.
“This place is flat, about twenty acres, enough to build a lecture hall and several rows of dormitories,” she said, stopping and pointing to an open area.
He then squatted down, picked up a handful of soil, and sniffed it lightly: "The soil is acceptable, with a little sand and gravel, but it is firm enough."
"Not far away is a mountain hollow... where the vegetation is particularly lush and the morning mist is even thicker, there must be a stream or underground water source below."
She led her people towards the mountain valley and, sure enough, found a clear mountain stream deep in the dense forest, flowing gently from between the rocks and winding its way down.
"There's running water! That's wonderful!" he exclaimed with delight. "Now it will be much easier to fetch water from now on."
They spent the entire morning trekking through the mountains, covering every inch of the tea plantation. Places suitable for building houses, cultivating medicinal herbs, and training grounds were all marked on Bai Qiyue's blueprints.
After descending the mountain, the two did not return to the academy, but went straight to the Fish Scale Register of the Qingzhou Prefecture. With a few taels of silver as a bribe, they successfully found out the ownership of the tea plantation's land deeds.
"So it's the ancestral home of Zhao Wenhe, the former official of the Ministry of Revenue." Looking at the record in the register, Yiyue frowned slightly. "This Vice Minister Zhao, I've heard, is a notoriously stubborn old man who despises women's education. Trying to buy land from him to establish a girls' school is probably as difficult as climbing to heaven..."
Bai Qiyue put away the blueprints. "No matter how difficult it is, we have to try. It's all about human effort."
Meanwhile, Bai Sanyue and Bai Siyue transformed into two curious young ladies from wealthy families, accompanied by a clever little maid (played by Bai Liuyue, who changed her clothes before leaving home), shuttling between the largest building material stores and brokerage firms in Qingzhou City.
"Boss, my master wants to buy a villa outside the city. I wonder what the land price is like now?" Bai Siyue asked, waving a small round fan, looking innocent and carefree.
"Oh my, you two young ladies have come to the right person!" The owner of the building materials store greeted them with a smile as soon as he saw their elegant attire. "These days, land outside the city is divided into different locations. Land near the main road is more expensive, while land at the foot of the mountain is cheaper. May I ask where you'd like to go, young ladies?"
"Let's... let's go near White Deer Mountain, it's quiet there."
"White Deer Mountain... The land around there, apart from that of the government and academies, is mostly the ancestral property of scholars and literati, and they don't sell it easily. However," the shopkeeper's eyes darted around, "I do know that the owner of that barren tea mountain to the east seems to be looking to get rid of it."
"If Miss is truly interested, I can help make the connection. The price will be approximately one thousand taels."
Bai Sanyue quickly calculated in her mind that this was still within their tolerance range.
Next, they went to the timber store and brick kiln, inquiring about the prices of various building materials such as bricks, logs, tiles, and lime. One of them dealt with the shopkeepers while the other silently calculated the prices in their minds; their teamwork was seamless. After an afternoon of running around, a small notebook was filled with all sorts of data.
Back home, they compiled the data, and a detailed budget list, even including how many nails were needed, was already taking shape.
Bai Yiyue, on the other hand, began her search for Chen Xian.
The first person she was to visit today was a well-known eccentric in Qingzhou City named Song Jiuzhou, also known as Song the Madman.
This man was a third-place finisher in the imperial examination fifteen years ago, possessing exceptional talent, particularly in mathematics and the study of natural phenomena. It is said that he once accurately predicted a solar eclipse based on the movement of stars and even designed a dragon-bone waterwheel that could automatically draw water for irrigation. However, these extraordinary skills were considered idleness at the time, and coupled with his arrogant and unassuming nature, he was repeatedly ostracized in officialdom. Ultimately, he resigned in anger and retired to Qingzhou, where he secluded himself, refusing visitors and finding pleasure in reading and tinkering with strange and unusual mechanisms.
Bai Yiyue knew that such a person was exactly the kind of treasure their academy needed most.
She changed into a simple blue cloth dress and went alone to a quiet alley in the south of Qingzhou City. At the end of the alley was an inconspicuous house with no plaque at the entrance, only two mottled wooden doors that were tightly closed.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Bai Yiyue gently knocked on the door knocker.
After waiting for a long time, an old and impatient voice finally came from inside: "Who is it? I've already said, I don't see guests!"
"I am Bai Yiyue, a junior from Bailudong Academy. I have long admired Mr. Song's reputation and have come to ask him for help with a difficult mathematical problem," Bai Yiyue said humbly through the door.
"Arithmetic problems? Hmph, those pedantic scholars from White Deer Cave who only know classical Chinese, they think they understand mathematics?" The voice from inside the door was full of sarcasm. "Let them go back and study the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art! I don't have time!"
“Sir, you misunderstand.” Bai Yiyue’s voice remained calm. “What I asked about was not the Nine Chapters Technique, but rather the methods for improving the Heavenly Origin Technique and the Four Elements Technique.”
"I have heard that there are merchants in the Western Regions who can use an algorithm called expectation to predict the risks and benefits of trade routes. I wonder what this method has to do with the mathematics of the Central Plains?"
She deliberately brought up the expectation algorithm taught by Shen Congyun. Such a novel approach was unheard of by ordinary Confucian scholars, but she was certain that a mathematical enthusiast like Song Jiuzhou would be interested.
As expected, there was a moment of silence inside the door.
"Squeak-"
The wooden door was pulled open a crack, and a disheveled head with graying hair peeked out. It was an old man with a long, unkempt face, but unusually bright eyes. He looked Bai Yiyue up and down suspiciously. How could such a young woman know about the Four Elements Technique and some kind of expectation algorithm?
"Where did you, a little girl, hear such things?" Song Jiuzhou's tone carried a hint of wariness.
Bai Yiyue bowed slightly and said, "An elder in my family once traveled to the Western Regions and I heard a little about it. I was puzzled, and after much inquiry, I heard that you are a great mathematician of our time. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of coming here and hope that you will be kind enough to enlighten me."
Song Jiuzhou stared at her for a long time, seemingly trying to determine the truthfulness of her words. Finally, he snorted and stepped aside: "Come in. Make yourselves clear first. If you dare to talk nonsense and deceive this old man, don't blame me for throwing you out!"
Bai Yiyue was overjoyed, knowing that she had succeeded in the first step.
She stepped into the courtyard and was immediately stunned by what she saw. The courtyard was small, but it was filled with all sorts of parts—wooden gears, bamboo tubes, copper sheets, levers... In the center of the courtyard stood a huge, strange instrument resembling an armillary sphere, covered with complex symbols. This place didn't resemble a scholar's residence at all; rather, it looked like the workshop of a master craftsman.
Song Jiuzhou led her into the study, which was piled high with books and blueprints, leaving almost no room to step. He casually pushed aside a pile of drafts, gestured for Bai Yiyue to sit down, and then eagerly asked, "Tell me, what exactly is this expectation algorithm you mentioned earlier?"
Bai Yiyue then recounted Shen Congyun's example about the Silk Road in detail, including the probabilities, risks, and expected profits involved. She spoke with great care because she knew that in the presence of a true master, any ambiguity would be immediately apparent.
Song Jiuzhou initially had a scrutinizing expression, but as he listened, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Sometimes he would frown in thought, and sometimes he would quickly trace the lines on the table with his fingers, as if he were doing mental arithmetic.
When Bai Yiyue finished speaking, he slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly. He paced back and forth in the small study, muttering to himself, "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! To determine the probable with numbers... This... This has gone beyond the scope of traditional mathematics. This is... This is a practical science! A science of decision-making!"
He stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixed intently on Bai Yiyue: "Young lady, where is that elder you spoke of? I would give anything to see him!"
Bai Yiyue shook her head: "That elder has already traveled west again, and his return date is uncertain."
Song Jiuzhou's face immediately showed extreme disappointment. He sighed deeply and sat back down, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant.
Bai Yiyue seized the opportunity, stood up, and solemnly bowed deeply to Song Jiuzhou.
"gentlemen."
Song Jiuzhou waved his hand weakly: "No need for formalities. I have benefited greatly from your words today, so it was worth it. You may leave."
"Besides seeking your guidance, I have another request to make today," Bai Yiyue said without getting up.
"Beg me? What can you beg from me, a decrepit old man with no official position?" Song Jiuzhou laughed self-deprecatingly.
Bai Yiyue raised her head, her gaze clear and firm, and said, word by word, "This junior wishes to invite you to come out of seclusion and serve as the head instructor of mathematics and physics at a new academy!"
"What?" Song Jiuzhou laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Teach me? Teach who? Teach those idiots from Bailudong who get a headache just looking at an abacus?"
"They only recognize the writings of sages and worthies. In their eyes, my humble skills are nothing more than strange tricks and frivolous crafts, the work of a craftsman, unworthy of being considered refined!"
“No.” Bai Yiyue shook her head. “It’s not Bailudong Academy. It’s a brand new girls’ academy that I and a few sisters are preparing to open.”