"Prince Jin, are you serious?" Qin Huan, the Minister of Revenue, stepped forward and asked Li Han anxiously.
"Yes, sir."
Li Han casually put the blame on Li Yi. With his current mathematics level, he couldn't handle such a terrible number. A granary as high as the sun was frightening.
"Professor Han, are you serious?"
"It's only 64 squares. Are there really so many?"
"Where are the people from the Imperial College? Come out and say something!"
…
…
After a moment of silence, the officials finally reacted when they saw the expressions of several important people, but they still couldn't believe what Prince Jin had just said.
A granary as high as the sun was 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. Who was he bluffing? The sun was very far away from here. How did Prince Jin calculate this number?
The only mathematics professor from the Imperial College in the court immediately became the focus of everyone's attention. Professor Han trembled and said, "Since … since it's Li Xianzi's words, then, then it should be correct."
"Fortunately, I brought it with me …" Li Han patted his butt and took out a tattered booklet from his arms. He dipped his saliva in it and quickly flipped through it.
This booklet was specially made for him. There were not only strange problems in it, but also interesting stories interspersed every few pages. For Prince Jin, who often struggled in the sea of problems, this was undoubtedly a small island for him to temporarily rest on. Therefore, he still remembered the stories in the booklet.
"Found it!" Prince Jin finally turned to a page and presented it to Emperor Jing. "Father, look, it's here."
Emperor Jing looked at the page that Prince Jin had turned to. After a moment, he flicked his sleeves and said, "Since it's a competition, there should be a beginning and an end. If your country's envoys can't gather enough food for the return trip, I will give you travel expenses. Tomorrow's competition will continue as usual. Don't be late!"
After that, Emperor Jing walked out surrounded by several eunuchs.
The officials who finally knew the truth felt their faces burn. They wanted to skin the Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom alive.
Shameful, this was a great disgrace!
All the civil and military officials in the court were not as good as the nine-year-old Prince Jin. They almost made a big mistake.
It was hard to imagine that if His Majesty and them agreed to the Third Prince's request, the ruler and ministers of the Jing Kingdom would become the laughingstock of all the other countries …
They naturally wouldn't take out those rations. Not to mention the fact that they didn't have that much rations, even if they did, they couldn't possibly give it to the Qi Kingdom for free. If you want rations, you can just give it to a few Tian Fa Heavenly Kings.
But if he didn't give it to Prince Jin, as the king of a country, how could he go back on his words? Otherwise, how could he stay in other countries in the future? It could be said that if Prince Jin was a moment late, the Jing Kingdom would lose its face …
The Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom and the envoys walked out of the golden palace under the baptism of the gazes of the officials. There was a hint of disappointment on the face of the young man who was walking in front. If they had succeeded in what they had just done, they could have spread the news before the Jing Kingdom reacted. By then, they would have achieved their ultimate goal without having to compete with each other.
"It seems that I have underestimated the heroes of the world," the young man sighed and said in a regretful tone.
One of the envoys behind him said, "So what if they find out? The result will be the same. If they lose another round tomorrow, there will be no need to compete in the written exam. As for the martial arts battle, we are not afraid at all. Why is the Third Prince sighing?"
The young man shook his head and didn't continue this topic. He said, "Find out who the teacher of Prince Jin is. That difficult calculation problem was solved by Grand Scholar Chen. It took more than ten accountants three days and three nights to calculate the result. I didn't expect there to be such a capable person in the Jing Kingdom who knew the secret of it. Otherwise … It's a pity."
Seeing the envoy of the Qi Kingdom walk out of the grand palace, the anger of the officials because they were fooled by the envoys subsided a little.
They had thought that the Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom was a fool, but they didn't expect that they were the real fools. They had almost fallen into his trap. He was so insidious and cunning at such a young age; he wouldn't live long …
When he shifted his gaze to Prince Jin, his expression immediately became gentle.
Very good. Like father, like son. The nine-year-old Prince Jin had seen through the conspiracy of the envoy of another kingdom in the imperial court and saved the face of His Majesty and the officials. His deed was worthy of being recorded in the annals of history …
The officials' joy didn't last long. They realized a serious problem.
Though the conspiracy of the envoy of the Qi Kingdom had been exposed by Prince Jin, they had already lost the first round of the written examination today. If they lost again tomorrow, there would be no need to compete in the third round. Therefore, the match tomorrow was very important. They couldn't afford to lose. Otherwise, they would lose face sooner or later …
The Imperial Academy Guard Siye's face darkened. It was his turn to compete tomorrow. In fact, he wasn't sure whether he could win or not …
"The Greatest Poet in a Thousand Years." This name alone was a bit frightening …
…
…
Because of the announcement of the envoy of the Qi Kingdom, the populace in the capital had already received the news before the officials left the palace.
They had lost. They had lost to the Qi Kingdom in the first round of the written examination.
In the gambling house, countless people were cursing at Ma Zhongcheng. This defeat was not a big deal, but many of them would have to bear a huge loss. Many of them would go bankrupt.
Who would have thought that the countless capable people in the capital would lose to a nameless old man from the Qi Kingdom at their own doorstep? How ironic was this?
The enthusiasm of the common people was greatly dampened, and the entire capital was filled with a gloomy atmosphere. Quite a few people blamed this failure on Ma Zhongcheng. Rumors spread everywhere, directly labeling Ma Zhongcheng as a sinner of the country. No one knew how many rotten eggs and vegetables were thrown over the wall into the Ma manor.
The dignified Deputy Imperial Censor was hit in the forehead by a stone thrown by a naughty child on his way home. After hearing the rumors, he fainted on the spot …
Not only that, the populace also had a lot of complaints about the current Emperor. Although they weren't as blatant as they were against Ma Zhongcheng, they were secretly criticizing His Majesty the Emperor …
As Li Yi listened to Li Xuan, he reminded the two tailors of the details that they needed to pay attention to.
"I heard that the Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom had set up a trap for the Emperor and the officials in the court. If it weren't for Prince Jin's reminder, we would have lost a lot of face this time …" Li Xuan's face was full of resentment. "If we lose another round tomorrow, we'll lose completely to the Qi Kingdom in the written examination."
After listening to Li Xuan's narration a few times, Li Yi had a general understanding of the so-called contest.
It was nothing more than a few high-level players who had played the game to the highest level, pretending to be newbies to bully a group of newbies. Of course, those who could represent the Jing Kingdom were not newbies, but it was obvious that there was still a long way to go before they could reach the highest level. The Qi Kingdom seemed to be more powerful than the Jing Kingdom in terms of economy, culture, and military. It was impossible for the Qi Kingdom to win this contest unless someone had cheated.
"Poor Deputy Imperial Censor Ma …"
Li Yi sighed. As a dignified Deputy Imperial Censor, what he cared about the most was his own reputation. This time, he was directly called a sinner of the country. It was hard to say if he could get over this hurdle …
Judging from the situation, Wei Siye and Grand Scholar Zhou were in danger. Fortunately, the old Emperor didn't remember him; otherwise, he would be scolded to death by those ignorant onlookers …
"Summon County Magistrate Li to the palace tomorrow morning!"
As Li Yi was thinking of this, the Jing Emperor said this while waving his hand in the Hall of Diligent Government while holding a book of poems titled "The Collection of Bright Moon" in his hand.
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