Yufu asked this question because she intuitively felt that Sangyi Kingdom's intention to come was not simple.
Other countries sent envoys to try to show their country's national strength, but the Minister of the Left expressed his humility by saying that his own country was barren and barren.
Could it be that he was too sincere, or that the king of the Sangyi Kingdom sent so many envoys all the way, but chose a main envoy who had no self-respect
Obviously neither.
Minister Zuo bowed his hands respectfully and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the king of our country has said that learning etiquette and culture from the great powers of the mainland is the most important thing for our subjects in all dynasties. We would rather be short of food and clothing than live like barbarians."
These words are quite shocking.
I don't know if the left minister knows that the three words "Sangyi Kingdom" are a kind of contempt for them, and they contain the meaning of barbarians.
It is said that when the Sangyi people first came to this continent, they claimed to come from the place where the sun rises, and transliterated it as Sang in their own language. People at that time saw that they were still wearing animal fur sandals, and they felt contemptuous, so they translated their country as Sangyi Kingdom.
Now the envoy of the Sangyi Kingdom came again, calling himself a native of the Sangyi Kingdom in the language of the Kyushu mainland, and said that he did not want to live like a barbarian, which is really ironic.
Yu Fu nodded slightly, and Tian Yunpo stood up in time and said: "I am a huge country with strong national strength. Since the king of your country has prepared such a generous gift, our Majesty will naturally return the same gift, and will not cause your country to suffer."
Minister Zuo was overwhelmed by the flattery, and hurriedly bowed to thank him, "Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En."
Yufu had a faint smile on his face and didn't say much.
She still has doubts about the envoys of the Sangyi Kingdom, but the etiquette of exchanges between the two countries should be like this. When those small tribes in the extreme west and extreme north of the Kyushu continent come to Beili to worship, they can still get a lot of rewards to go back .
The envoys of the Sangyi Kingdom came from afar, so naturally they should be generously rewarded.
Minister Zuo raised his head slowly, and Chaoyu supported him: "I heard that there is a saying in Beili, which is called Chaowen Dao, you can die in the evening, I don't know if it is true?"
Yu Fu smiled lightly, "The envoy has really read my Bei Li's classics of poetry and books a lot. Yes, this sentence was said by the ancient sage Confucius. I see that your Sangyi country also has this kind of spirit. In order to come Bei Li would rather go across the ocean and risk danger to study."
Minister Zuo smiled, and his mustache moved, "I have some problems that cannot be solved in the country. I want to come to Beili to ask for advice from the talented talents of your country. Please let your majesty do it. As Confucius said, if you can hear the truth, you will die." That's fine too."
The people in the court listened to his request for advice in a sincere tone, and they were inevitably a little arrogant, and there was no fear on their faces.
Because of his affection, Yu Fu couldn't refuse the envoy of Sangyi Kingdom to ask questions, so he said: "If the envoy has any problems, you can tell them. If you can learn from each other, even if you can't find the answer, there will always be something to gain."
She left something alive in her words, not wanting to embarrass the scene.
Minister Zuo said happily: "The first question is this, please listen carefully. An eminent monk was sitting under a tree and saw a young man running in front of him, followed by a big man with a knife. The big man asked the eminent monk to see Where did the young man go, how should the eminent monk answer?"
"The premise is that monks don't tell lies, and eminent monks can't lie. Furthermore, monks have the virtue of being good at life, and eminent monks can't reveal the traces of young people to big men with knives."
I thought it was a question of human nature, but after hearing Minister Zuo's premise, the officials gradually understood that it was a question of logic.
An eminent monk cannot lie, so naturally he cannot deceive a big man. But the eminent monk has the virtue of loving life, let alone tell the big man the true whereabouts of the young man.
Telling is not not telling, and the minister fell into silence.
They underestimated the envoys of the Sangyi Kingdom too much before, they did not expect them to ask such sharp and tricky questions while being respectful.
Minister Zuo was not in a hurry, and patiently waited for the courtiers' answers, as if he had expected that no one would be able to answer.
After a while he said: "Your Majesty, my lords, who can explain my doubts?"
Tian Yunpo subconsciously glanced at Gu Shubai, who shook his head slightly, indicating that he hadn't thought of a suitable answer either.
It is absolutely impossible to lose the prestige of the great country of Beili in front of the small barbarian country. He quickly thought about the solution to the siege, how to deal with this problem without losing the prestige of Beili...
"Minister Zuo, my dear friends, haven't you already given you the answer?"
What
Minister Zuo frowned for the first time since entering the palace, and looked at his head in surprise, "Your Majesty, when did your lords give me the answer?"
Yu Fu smiled slightly, "All my loves were silent just now, isn't silence the most suitable answer for an eminent monk? Since both answers are wrong, it's better not to answer."
This answer was unexpected, but the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it became.
In this way, it will neither violate the creed of the Buddhists, nor will it make the matter of the big man chasing and killing the boy worse. There is no more reasonable answer than this.
Minister Zuo refused to let it go easily, "But if the eminent monk keeps silent, so that the big man with the knife finally finds the trace of the young man and kills him, wouldn't it be the sin of the eminent monk not to help?"
"Minister Zuo's words are wrong."
Yufu smiled, like Guanyin holding flowers on the altar, "What the eminent monk saw was just a big man chasing the young man with a knife. Who knows whether the young man committed a crime, and whether the big man is a local government servant chasing criminals? If so, the eminent monk Didn't he do something wrong with good intentions to save that young man by speaking nonsense?"
Everyone couldn't help nodding when they heard the words, thinking that this also made sense.
Listening to Minister Zuo's description before, everyone subconsciously felt that the young man was an innocent person, while the big man with a knife was a vicious person. Only now did they realize their own limitations.
Minister Zuo asked: "Buddhas say put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha immediately. Even if this young man commits a crime, seeing him being hunted down, it is better to give him a chance to become a Buddha immediately, isn't it?"
Gu Shubai stood up and said with a smile: "Minister Zuo's remarks are getting more and more inappropriate. Although Buddhism has the virtue of being good at life, it also distinguishes right from wrong, and never becomes an enemy of the court. The court has court rules. How can lies stop it?"
Minister Zuo saw that the court's law was mentioned, so he didn't dare to contend, lest he be questioned that their Sangyi country had a heart of disobedience to Beili.
He said: "But the identity of this young man and the big man is still unclear. How can we conclude that they must be criminals and servants? If it is an innocent and pitiful young man and a vicious bandit, it is unknown!"
"That's the reason."
Yu Fu said: "Since I don't know who the two of them are, and I don't know why they are chasing after them, why do you need to intervene as an eminent monk? There is a saying in Buddhist scriptures, knowing that good causes produce good results, and evil causes produce evil results. Criminals have their own sanctions, and if they are innocent and good, they will not be harmed. Everything is determined by cause and effect, and there is no need to interfere."
She has always loved reading. Although she is not a Buddhist, she has read a few Buddhist scriptures. Now that she is at her fingertips, she frightens Minister Zuo.
Tian Yunpo showed a smile on his face, and Zhang Jiuque said softly beside him: "The Buddhism of Sangyi Kingdom was also learned from Beili, and talking about the cause and effect of Buddhism with a knowledgeable and talented person like His Majesty, it's not that the disciple did not teach before he left the teacher. Want to challenge Master?"
"What the Taibao said is true. You see, Minister Zuo's complexion has turned gray."
Zhang Jiuque looked at the left minister standing in the hall. Behind him, a group of envoys whispered to each other. Although they couldn't understand what they were saying, they all shook their heads and sighed, which was enough to show the defeat.
Minister Zuo stood still, bowed his hands and saluted, "Minister, thank you Your Majesty for solving a century-old problem for our Sangyi Kingdom!"
"It's just small."
Yu Fu smiled lightly, showing the majestic air.
Minister Zuo said: "The second question, please give me your advice. The title is as follows. Today, a rooster is worth five yuan; a hen is worth three yuan; three chickens are worth one yuan. Use one hundred yuan If you buy a hundred chickens, how much are the roosters, hens, and chicks?"
After the question was asked, some ministers couldn't help asking: "What kind of problem is this? Even if you can't figure it out, you can always deduce the number by substituting the numbers one by one. Is this worth asking your Majesty and the officials?"
This is not without reason.
The left minister turned to the minister who spoke, and said respectfully: "What this lord said is that we actually have the answer to this question. It's just that the fastest person in Sangyi Kingdom can calculate this question. It takes a quarter of an hour. I want to see your answer Is there anyone in the country who can count faster."
Yu Tianyunpo snorted softly, "Is Minister Zuo coming to our country to study, or to test His Majesty and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty? Since it is a question that already has an answer, why bother to ask?"
Minister Zuo turned to him again with a smile, "Of course I'm here to study, how dare you test your Majesty and your lords? It's just that if your majesty and your lords can calculate faster, there must be a simpler method. I want to learn this method. In the future The level of arithmetic in middle school is also improving."
It was a good reason.
Everyone was speechless for a while, thinking about the question he just raised.
The most talented people in Sangyi Kingdom spent a quarter of an hour to calculate it, so their calculation time must be less than a quarter of an hour.
Fortunately, civil servants have wat boards and pens in their hands, so they can do calculations while standing in the temple. Military generals have no tools to do calculations, and they are not good at calculations.
Gu Shubai looked up, Yufu seemed to be thinking about this question with his hands on his chin, the imperial case in front of her had paper and pens, but she didn't use it at all.
Gu Shubai smiled, stood up first and said, "There are four roosters, eighteen hens, and seventy-eight chicks. Minister Zuo, am I right?"
It's less than a cup of tea time!
All the ministers did the math according to Shubai's answer, "One rooster is five yuan, four is twenty yuan. One hen is three yuan, eighteen is fifty-four yuan. Three chickens are one yuan, seven Eighteen are twenty-six renminbi, isn’t it worth a hundred renminbi!”
"General Gu is really capable of writing and martial arts, I admire him!"
"That's right, the officer has not yet figured out a shadow, but the general has already figured out the correct answer!"
All the ministers couldn't help admiring, Yu Fu looked amused, and thought to himself who wrote a letter a few days ago to punish Gu Shubai for raising his little wife outside, the trend of these ministers has really changed so quickly.
I'm afraid that Gu Shubai did a useless effort.
It is useless for him to destroy his reputation. As long as he is still around, his talent will always make everyone admire him and support him.
Among the laughing words of all the officials, only Tian Yunpo frowned slightly, as if he was about to speak but stopped.
But Minister Zuo just smiled and said nothing, listening to the ministers with a humble appearance, noncommittal.
Yu Fu looked at Minister Zuo, then at Tian Yunpo, "If Grand Master has something to say, why not just say it, why be bored?"
The eyes of all the ministers immediately turned to Tian Yunpo, Tian Yunpo hesitated for a moment, and finally stood up, "I also figured out the answer, but it's not the same as General Gu's, so I hesitated."
Yu Fu didn't seem surprised at all, he just raised his hand and said: "It's okay for Grand Master to say."
Tian Yunpo said: "What I calculated is that there are eight roosters, eleven hens, and eighty-one chickens."
Zhang Jiuque said: "Eight roosters are 40 renminbi, eleven hens are 33 renminbi, and eighty-one chickens are 27 renminbi. The sum here is exactly 100 renminbi!"
There were actually two completely different answers to one question. After doing the calculations, the officials found that Tian Yunpo's answer was indeed correct, and they couldn't help but look at Minister Zuo in the hall.
"How can there be two answers to this question? It seems that both answers are correct!"
Minister Zuo's smile was not surprising, and when he was about to speak, Yu Fu said, "Actually, both of these answers are correct, and there are far more than two correct answers to this question. I have another answer here, my lords and Minister Zuo can listen."
And the answer
All the ministers couldn't help being surprised, Minister Zuo also raised his head in surprise.
Yu Fu said: "My answer is that there are twelve roosters, four hens, and eighty-four chickens."
After everyone heard what they said, they did the math, and the sum of these numbers was exactly one hundred yuan. It seems that these three answers are indeed correct.
Minister Zuo finally showed his admiration, "Beili has outstanding people, and there are many talents in the court. I admire you! As Your Majesty said, these three answers are all correct. No one in our country has ever been able to answer this question." There are three answers, and even one of them will take a very long time. However, General Gu can quickly calculate the answer without pen and paper, and Grand Master Tian is also very fast in calculation. What I admire most, Still Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, on the premise that you have already got two answers, can still think about the third answer, and you don't use paper and pen. How many people can do so that you are not limited to the ready-made answer? It can be seen that your majesty is quick-witted, very What ordinary people can do, the minister is willing to bow down!"
…
Several problems raised by the Sangyi envoys in the court were finally resolved.
Not only did Bei Li maintain the dignity of the big country, but also made the Sangyi envoys very satisfied, and expressed that their trip was worthwhile for their group who came all the way to study.
The host and guest had a good time, a piece of harmony.
Yufu ordered people to take Sangyi's envoys on a tour of Beijing, and also arranged several places such as the Taixue and the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion, so that they could read books at will, and a great Confucian scholar would explain them to them.
As for the government-run textile workshops, porcelain workshops, and carpentry workshops in the capital, Minister Zuo and others were also very interested, and Yufu naturally allowed them to watch and study everywhere.
"Now you should rest assured. These envoys of the Sangyi Kingdom came to Beijing to present gifts with their blood. It seems that they really came to study. I heard that the reason why their envoys are so large is because they brought people from all aspects of the country. Skilled craftsmen come here to learn more advanced technology.”
After Chen Jingxing reported the recent whereabouts of the Sangyi envoys in detail, Gu Shubai said so.
Yu Fu nodded slightly, "Before I thought too much, it may be because the Sangyi Kingdom is a far away foreign country, and their body shape, appearance and dress are not small from ours, they always look weird, so it is inevitable to call me I feel uncomfortable. Apart from the questions they raised on the first day of the meeting, they are busy learning their skills every day after that, and it seems that they really have no other intentions."
Gu Shubai said with a smile: "Although learning is a good thing, is Beili a country that is self-sufficient and magnanimous? But some things are important to the country, and they still can't let them learn. For example..."
"artillery?"
Gu Shubai nodded, Yu Fu was thoughtful, "You are right. Once a weapon with such a powerful lethal force like artillery is learned to be used in evil deeds, the consequences will be disastrous. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War Everyone needs to be reminded that there are some secret weapons of Bei Li, and they should not be allowed to refer to and study at will."
Speaking of the Ministry of Industry, Yu Fu said again: "Didn't the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry intend to learn from the ships of the Sangyi Kingdom before? Why don't you discuss with Minister Zuo and the others and ask the Ministry of Industry to send people to study on the ship? If you can get more detailed drawings Easier to learn. What do you think?"
Gu Shubai frowned, seeming to have doubts about this.
－－－－－Off Topic－－－－－
Note: The question about the rooster comes from "Zhang Qiu Jian Suan Jing".