"You must have heard the answer I just said, or you have seen this question before!" Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, and then he said with certainty.
If Li Yi gave the answer after the time it took to burn a stick of incense, he would also feel surprised, but it was within his tolerance.
After all, in his eyes, even if Li Yi was not the smartest person in the Jing Kingdom, he was not far from it.
However, Li Yi could give the correct answer as soon as he said the question. He was not a human, but a demon.
This time, Li Xuan really guessed wrong. Just now, he suddenly jumped up, which scared Li Yi. He was not in the mood to listen to what this guy said.
Although he had seen a similar question before, the answer would be different if the number was changed. There was no second possibility.
In the future, as long as a primary school student had learned Olympiad mathematics, he or she would be able to say the answer without cheating.
Using such a difficult question to test him, wasn't it asking to be humiliated?
"Hehe, if you want to renege on your debt, just say it. Why do you need to find such an excuse?" Li Yi said disdainfully, curling his lips and looking at him.
Li Xuan's handsome face turned red. As a dignified prince, it was not good to say that he reneged on his debt. However, he was more eager to know how Li Yi got the answer.
"As long as you tell me how you solved this question, I will give you another 100 taels in addition to the 100 taels we agreed on." Money was just a number to Li Xuan. He was more interested in the novel methods that Li Yi used every time.
Even Li Mingzhu's gaze landed on Li Yi. She also knew how to solve this question, but she did not know the reason. If she tried it one by one, she would naturally be able to find out the answer after spending some time. However, for him to be able to solve it so quickly, either he knew the answer beforehand, or he used a method that they had never seen before.
To Li Xuan, money was just a number, but to Li Yi, it wasn't. It was like a brick, a tile, or a room in a large mansion …
"You just said — there are 35 heads and 94 legs?" His words indicated that he agreed with Li Xuan's action of giving money.
Li Xuan nodded repeatedly.
"Let's assume, just assume …" Li Yi stretched out his hand and gestured. "Let's assume that these chickens and rabbits are well-trained."
Li Xuan was confused. Solving a question was solving a question. What did it have to do with these chickens and rabbits being well-trained?
However, since Li Yi had always taken the unusual path, he felt that he should listen to him first.
MIngzhu frowned when she heard that, but she quickly relaxed. Obviously, she had the same idea as Li Xuan.
"If these chickens and rabbits are very obedient, they will raise one leg when I clap my hands …"
"How can there be such a solution?" Li Xuan could not bear to listen anymore. How could there be such obedient chickens and rabbits? If such a bizarre method could work, then he might as well let those chickens and rabbits speak the human language and tell them the number of their own kind.
Li Yi glared at him. "Do you still want to know the solution?"
"If you continue to talk nonsense like this, the money will be gone." Although Li Xuan was stupid, he was not that stupid.
"Continue." MIngzhu seemed to understand something. She urged him with a strange look in her eyes.
Li Yi looked at Li Xuan with a complicated look. Li Xuan understood what he meant.
He was laughing at himself for being inferior to MIngzhu.
However, MIngzhu had been intelligent since she was young. When she was young and was taught by a teacher in the palace, Li Xuan discovered this.
Although this was an indisputable fact, why did he feel so upset in his heart?
"When you clap your hands once, a total of thirty-five legs are raised. When you clap your hands twice, a total of seventy legs are raised. At this moment, all the chickens are sitting in the cages. There are no legs to count. Each rabbit is left with two legs. There are twenty and four legs left in the cages. The number of rabbits is twelve and the chickens is twenty-three."
As Li Yi spoke slowly, MIngzhu's eyes shone brightly. Li Xuan was stunned.
At this moment, perhaps only the words "ten thousand horses galloping" could describe his true feelings.
How could this be possible?
The problem that had been bothering him for a whole day could be solved with just two claps of his hands?
That was not what the old man said yesterday.
He said that this was a problem passed down from ancient times. Even if he could not solve it, it did not matter. Because the Headmaster only knew the answer, but did not know the specific solution.
He looked back at Li Yi. He was indeed a demon!
Li Yi saw Li Xuan's expression, but he was not surprised.
There were no Arabic numerals or quadratic equations in this world. Mathematics could only be called arithmetic at best. It was still in the stage of ignorance. Only in a few hundred years would there be a great mathematician who was an astronomer or a Taoist priest …
After all, the imperial examinations did not test these things. Mathematics was not highly valued. It was not unusual for a Doctor of Mathematics from the Imperial Academy to be stumped by a problem of chickens and rabbits in the same cage.
The method he used just now was called "Leg Raising Method". It was not a joke on the internet in the future. In the ancient classic of arithmetic, "Sun Tzu's Arithmetical Classic", this was indeed how to solve this problem.
From the reactions of Li Xuan and MIngzhu, it could be inferred that "Sun Tzu's Arithmetical Classic" either did not exist in this world, or it had been too long and this method of solving problems had been lost.
"There is actually such a method of solving problems. It is really incredible." Li Xuan could not help but exclaim.
He was actually not that interested in mathematics. He only wanted to solve this problem and impress the Headmaster who taught him. After thinking for a whole day, he finally managed to figure out the correct answer in his mind. Using Li Yi's unconventional method, it only took him two breaths of time.
"Unbelievable, isn't it? That's fine, we can try another method." Li Yi was quite generous. At the very least, he wanted to make Li Xuan feel that the loss of 200 silver taels was worth it.
"There is actually another method?" Li Xuan exclaimed and moved his head closer.
"First, you need to remember a new method of counting …"
MIngzhu and Li Xuan watched as Li Yi used a brush to write and draw on the Xuan paper. Those strange and simple patterns were something they had never seen before. When put together, it turned out to be a new method of counting.
Both of them had received aristocratic education and had a deep foundation. Although this method looked novel, it was not difficult to understand. After a simple explanation from Li Yi, they spent a little time digesting this set of rules.
In their hearts, they were amazed. This method was undoubtedly much better than the current method of counting in the Jing Kingdom. It was much more convenient and simple …
"This is called the equal sign, this is the plus sign, this is the minus sign, and this is the cross. You can understand it as the number that we don't know yet …" Li Yi did not think too much at first. When he started to explain, he realized that it was not much easier to teach them this knowledge than to teach two children who had just entered elementary school.
However, since he had already said it, he naturally could not give up halfway. He could only be patient and push forward bit by bit.
After an hour.
"Just like this, solve the two unknown numbers, and you will get the number of the chicken and the number of the rabbit." Li Yi let out a long sigh of relief. He had finally taught them from the beginning to the end, and he felt a little exhausted.
It was so easy to teach naughty children. He could just make up a story to fool them. If Li Xuan asked this kind of question again in the future, he would not do it unless he paid more!
"Do you understand?" He looked at the two of them and asked expectantly.
Although the process was a little complicated, if they understood it, it would be a little comforting.
"No," Li Xuan said without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Li MIngzhu was also puzzled.
"Two pieces of rotten wood." Li Yi sighed in his heart.
"Xiao Huan, send the guests out!"
Looking at the little servant girl who had walked to the door, Li Yi said decisively.
"Young master, it's time to eat …" The little servant girl stood at the door and said weakly.
"No rush, no rush. Eat first. After eating, you can explain it to me a few more times and I should understand." Li Xuan patted his shoulder and stood up. He looked at the little servant girl with a smile and asked, "Miss Xiao Huan, where do you want to eat?"
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