Unparalleled Fortune in Qing Dynasty

Chapter 144 Arabic Numerals

After Yinzhen finished speaking, seeing his Huang Ama fell silent, he knew what his Huang Ama was thinking.

If he hadn't dreamed of enlightening people's wisdom for a hundred years, he wouldn't have talked about it, but he couldn't talk about it, he had to talk about it.

"Huang Ama, this kind of pencil costs less than a penny, and the refill inside can be replaced, and the cost of the refill is even lower than that of a pencil. Pencils produce smaller handwriting and are not as easy to write as ink. The paper is dyed through, so writing with a pencil, even if you use ordinary bamboo paper, will not hinder you, and writing with a pencil can save a lot of paper..."

After Yinzhen finished speaking, Kangxi nodded, undeniably, what he said was right.

It's just that he still has concerns.

Nowadays, there are many Han people in the world. He is afraid that after enlightening the people's wisdom, the people will be taken advantage of by people with a heart, and then he will cut himself with a knife.

"Do you know what will happen if the people read too much?"

Yinzhen nodded, of course he knew.

He also had an idea about this matter: "I understand, I have another idea."

"You said."

"My son felt that it was necessary to recompile the enlightenment book."

Kangxi was puzzled: "Why?"

"My son, to put it bluntly, I hope Huang Ama will forgive me."

"I forgive you for your innocence."

"Huang Ama advocated the Manchu family, and I feel that the real Manchu family must allow the Han people to accept the Manchus, so that they can understand that whether the Han people or the Manchus, they are all descendants of Yan and Huang."

"People always say that people who are not of our race must have different hearts, but if the book says that the Mongols, Manchus and Hans are of the same kind, then the people will understand that whether Manchus or Mongolians, they all have the same ancestors as the Han people .”

"Furthermore, I believe that if Huang Ama can make the people of the world feel that they can afford to study if they work hard to earn money, then the people will work hard to make a living, and the people will be able to make a living. Naturally, they will be grateful to Huang Ama."

Yinzhen knows his Huang Ama very well, so he has a good reputation.

The gratitude of the peoples.

It is undeniable that Kangxi was a bit dizzy, but he still couldn't make a decision.

Yinzhen continued: "Adults have many ideas and are difficult to control, but children are different. They are a piece of blank paper and need the outside world to add ink to them. My son thinks that the act of enlightening the people's wisdom is to add ink and color. The court can do it." Control what tone you add to them."

Kangxi was even more moved when he heard this.

After a while, Kangxi said: "We'll talk about this later."

Yinzhen understands that his Empress Ama is interested in this matter, but he can't make up his mind, it's not a trivial matter after all.

Kangxi: "Is there anything else?"

I can go now if I have nothing to do. I listened to him talking about it for a long time. Although it was all useful things, my brain hurt a little.

Yinzhen is really serious.

"My son has one more thing to tell Huang Ama."

Kangxi: "Tell me."

He thought, this time it shouldn't be a big deal.

Yinzhen took a pencil and wrote out the Arabic numerals.

Kangxi frowned: "What is this?"

Yinzhen said, "Huihuang Ama, these are Arabic numerals."

Kangxi was puzzled: "Arabic numerals?"

what?

Yinzhen explained: "Huihuang Ama, this Arabic numeral was invented by the ancient Indians and spread by the Arabs. These characters correspond to one, two, three, four, five and six..."

After finishing speaking, Yinzhen also wrote a series of five-digit numbers, using one, two, three... Chinese characters to write, Yinzhen wrote a large series, and only a small series in Arabic numerals, which is very easy to write and easy to read.

Finally, Yinzhen said: "I think this character is very useful and can be widely used. What does the emperor think?"

Kangxi kept listening. Although he also thought that the Arabic numerals were good, they were foreign things after all. He always felt that his own was the best.

So he still hesitated.

Yinzhen:……

Yinzhen saw it, his emperor Ama fell ill again, he thought it was a disease of heaven and a kingdom, a disease of arrogance.

Yinzhen: "Huang Ama, I once heard that there was a village where there were many wealthy families, but there was only one family that kept getting rich. The biggest difference between this family and others is that their family is very good at using what other families know. Learn it, then make it your own, and keep it going.”

This metaphor Yinzhen said was a bit bold, Kangxi only frowned when he heard it, but he was not angry.

After hearing this, Kangxi nodded: "Arabic numerals are acceptable."

Yinzhen asked again: "What about the promotion of the pencil?"

Kangxi hesitated, he asked Yinzhen: "If I agree, what do you think should be?"

"I want the court to do this business of pencils, so that I can earn less. I want the people all over the world to understand that it is Huang Ama's good governance that makes the people read wisely."

When Kangxi heard the words, it was a lie if he wasn't moved.

In the end, Yinzhen left Qianqing Palace, and Kangxi still had to think about it.

Yinzhen is not in a hurry, he believes that he, Huang Ama, cannot refuse the "temptation".

Xu Zhen went back and waited for the news while taking the Arabic numerals to the household department.

If the Arabic numerals are directly stated in public, those old and pedantic officials may start to criticize them as foreign objects and cannot be used before they see their usefulness.

But the household department is different. The household department deals more with money, so compared with other departments, it is a little "vulgar".

Because there are many kinds of data in the household department, after being brought in by Yinzhen, the Arabic numerals were immediately "supported" by everyone after being used, especially the more they used it, the more convenient they felt.

At least it's much faster to write.

The official documents of the Ministry of Households are mostly cumbersome numbers. These numbers are written in Chinese characters, and they need to be written in a long list. Now that there are Arabic numerals, it can save a lot of time.

Recently, officials from the household department have been on errands for half an hour earlier than usual.

In the past, it was good for the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs not to work overtime, and it was rare for them to leave work early, which happened once in a century.

This abnormal behavior of the household department was discovered by colleagues in other departments within two days.

Now that it is discovered, it is inevitable to inquire about the reason, and then the Arabic numerals spread.

Those who can be officials in the capital are not particularly stupid. They can see that the Arabic numerals are indeed very useful. After careful questioning, they found that it is also possible to use Arabic numerals in the counting room of the government.

Then Arabic numerals began to be used by the Ministry of Households, followed by the officials in the capital. The capital is so big, and everyone has some relatives.

It has been passed on and on that wherever numbers can be used in the capital, they are basically replaced with Arabic numerals.

In addition, there are many merchants in the capital, and the merchants are everywhere, and the Arabic numerals are spreading more and more widely. Because they are easy to use, they don't even need to be implemented by the court, and gradually become a kind of common sense.

Of course, this all happened later.

Today, Arabic numerals only cause fluctuations in a small area of ​​the capital.

Kangxi is considering the matter of enlightening people's wisdom that Yinzhen said, of course, no matter what, this pencil must be produced, but at what price this pencil will be sold is also a question.

The harem, where Concubine Yi resides.

Because the concubines of the same rank in the harem are not favored by her, and she has gained face in front of the empress dowager, so her life is very comfortable.

It may be that the comfortable life has passed for a long time, and her son can't stand it anymore, so he finds something for her.

In front of Concubine Yi, Ninth Brother Yinzhen would beg her: "Emiang, even if you beat your son to death, he still wants to start a business."

(End of this chapter)