Chapter 62 Arithmetic Problems
It was lunch time, and the students of Zheng's School squatted on the stone steps with their lunch boxes, chatting.
One of the brothers said, "The math problems you taught today are too difficult. I don't quite understand them."
Another person also said: "Oh, I feel dizzy when I think about math problems. The teacher said that there will be an exam next month, and those who fail will be spanked with a stick."
When he heard about the spanking, De Geer trembled all over, shrank back, and said fearfully, "Shanzi, you must not let the Master spank me. It hurts."
Two days ago, De Ge'er was hit on the palm by the teacher. After the pain, he thought it was fine. But the next day, his palm was swollen like a pig's hand and he was crying in pain.
De Ge'er also ran to Uncle Sun and Aunt Sun for comfort.
As a result, the couple gave us a mixed doubles beating.
The eldest and second oldest were also beaten with a stick. There was no doubt that the redness and swelling were caused by Master Zheng from the school. It must have been because De Ge'er did not study hard, so he was punished.
When they thought about their hard-earned money being wasted, Uncle Sun and Aunt Sun picked up sticks and started fighting without saying a word.
It was not until Sun Shan called De Ge'er to go to school together that he freed him from the devil's clutches.
Sun Shan ignored De Ge'er and only realized that Master Zheng also taught math problems when he heard them discussing math problems.
Then I thought, Master Zheng's goal was not to pass the imperial examination, but to apply knowledge in daily life, so it was not surprising that he taught mathematics.
Curiously asked: "Brother Dingqing, what arithmetic problems did the teacher teach?"
Dingqing from the second uncle's family has the same personality as his second uncle, simple and honest. He told everything: "There is a person who lends 1,000 coins to someone, and the monthly interest is 30. Now there is a person who lends 750 coins to someone, and he will return it in nine days. How much is the interest?"
Sun Shan didn't quite understand it the first time he heard it, but after the second time, he understood that it was a loan question.
Sun Dingqing added: "The Master explained to us the problems in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. He said that we might encounter them when we work in the future. It would be best if we could understand them. Even if someone asks you to borrow money or you borrow money from someone else, you would know how much to collect or how much to pay back."
Sun Shan understood and admired Zheng Tongsheng even more. Whether teaching students how to read notices or how to do arithmetic, these are common and commonly used in life and will definitely be useful in the future.
Master Zheng is a practical and realistic teacher who strives to apply knowledge to practice. He is a rare good teacher.
De Ge'er and Yang Qingbei heard the questions from their senior brothers and whispered, "Shanzi, do you know what they are talking about? What is this about lending money to others and monthly interest?"
Sun Shan explained, "This question is like this. For example, if you are short of money, you want to borrow money from Ziqian's family. Ziqian's family stipulates that if you borrow 1000 coins, you have to pay 30 coins in interest per month. That is to say, after one month, you have to pay back 1030 coins. Now you don't want to borrow 1000 coins, you borrow 750 coins, and promise to pay it back in 9 days. The question is how much interest do you need to pay back to Ziqian's family after 9 days?"
The monthly interest on 1000 wen is 30 wen, which means the monthly interest rate is as high as 3%, and the annual interest rate is 36%, which is clearly usury.
After hearing this, De Ge'er and Yang Qingbei were confused and didn't know how much interest they had to pay.
Yang Qingbei said in a serious tone: "Even if you don't have money, don't borrow money from Ziqian's family. They are usurious and the interest is compounded. You will lose everything and even sell your children."
The Zi Qian family here is a loan shark. Obviously, Yang Qingbei knows the dangers of borrowing money at high interest rates.
De Ge'er also knew that usury was not a good thing. He often heard from villagers that people in the neighboring village or town were addicted to gambling, borrowing money at high interest rates, selling their fields and land, and their wives and children, making their parents angry to death.
The most impressive thing is that Uncle Sun got acquainted with people from the next town and went to the gambling house with them. This was seen by people from the same village, who told the village chief, Huang and Zheng.
The village held a criticism and denunciation meeting. First, Uncle Sun was beaten, and then he was punished to kneel in the ancestral hall. The village clan leaders took turns to give Uncle Sun ideological lessons for several days.
Uncle Sun began to protest his innocence, saying that he only walked into the gambling house out of curiosity and did not gamble.
But the villagers didn't believe him. They clearly saw him hanging out with the number one gambler in the next town, so no one would believe him if he said he didn't gamble.
The villagers don’t care about anything. No matter whether you gamble or not, entering a gambling house is a serious crime and you will be beaten with a stick first.
Finally, it was found that Uncle Sun did not gamble, but just followed people into the gambling house out of curiosity. According to his explanation, he could not gamble even if he wanted to, because he did not have a single copper coin on him, all of which were with Zheng.
The women in the village looked at Zheng with envy. It turned out that the rumors outside were true. Sun Shuwen was a henpecked husband.
In view of the fact that he had not committed any actual fault, the village only punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for one night. At the same time, the village asked Zheng to keep a close watch on him and not allow him to hang out with the gamblers from the next town.
Zheng took the chicken feathers as a token of authority and became even more harsh towards Uncle Sun. In the past, she occasionally rewarded him with a few copper coins, but later on, she became completely stingy and refused to give him a single copper coin.
De Ge'er has always known that usury is not a good thing and good children should not be touched. He agreed and said, "I will not borrow money from Ziqian's family. If I want to borrow, I will borrow from Shanzi. Shanzi has money."
Then he looked at Sun Shan and said, "Shan Zi, you lent me the money, right?" His tone became uncertain.
Sun Shan shook his head and said, "No, I'll lend it to you just to buy firecrackers to play with. Firstly, firecrackers are not fun at all, and secondly, they are dangerous and will blow your hands off."
De Geer looked at Sun Shan in disbelief, covered his chest, and said pitifully: "Shanzi, I treated you as a brother, but you didn't even lend me money."
Yang Qingbei patted Dege'er on the shoulder and said in a serious tone: "Shanzi is right, firecrackers are very dangerous. Last year, a child in our village was blinded by a firecracker. Dege'er, don't play with firecrackers."
Sun Dingming next to him was speechless. How did it end up being a math problem and how did it end up being a loan shark? How did it end up being a problem and leading to borrowing money to buy firecrackers?
But my third sister Xiaoxue said that Shanzi's interest rate money was saved by himself and he didn't have to hand it over to his uncle and aunt.
Xiaoxue also said that Shanzi was quite rich, with at least 50 cents.
As for why Xiaoxue knew, it was because Hanlu told her. Several girls from the Sun family often went to the mountains together to chop firewood and dig wild vegetables. During the chat, they naturally talked about their brothers and sisters at home.
Sun Dingming asked Shanzi: "Shanzi, do you know how to calculate it?"
Sun Shan knew this, but in everyone's impression, he had just started school and should not understand these questions.
Shanzi readily said, "Brother Dingming, I don't know how to do it yet. I will learn it after a while."
When the brothers from Zheng's Academy heard Shanzi's words, they chuckled and said jokingly, "Okay, Shanzi, learn quickly. We are waiting for you to tell us the answer."
The sound of "bang bang bang" of class began. Everyone stopped talking and hurried back to the classroom.
I dare not run away. Master Zheng said that the school is a place for learning, and no fighting or playing is allowed. If anyone is found to be crazy, he will be beaten with a stick.
Well, besides teaching, Master Zheng is the most skilled in hitting people with a stick, and he will hit them without complaint. Parents will only stand on Master Zheng's side and let their students play mixed doubles.