How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

"The first stomach has a large capacity and can store what ordinary people cannot store. It can vomit out food from time to time, reviewing the old and learning the new. The second stomach is like a honeycomb sieve, which can take the essence and remove the dregs, and make room for the first stomach to accommodate new things. The third stomach absorbs the water, integrates it, and improves digestion. The fourth stomach digests everything thoroughly, integrates it into the body, and uses it for its own benefit."

"In my eyes, Niu Chu is a person with extraordinary memory. His brain can hold thousands of books. He can always chew on their meanings and learn new things by reviewing the old. But in the eyes of the Third Young Master, Niu Chu has become an unteachable mediocre person. Is it that my interpretation is wrong, or is it that the Third Young Master has a narrow vision and can only see the vulgar meaning, which really embarrasses the reputation of the Su family as a talented person?"

Su Wenhao stood there in a daze, his face flushed, "Your humble servant..."

"Oh." Xie Chengze spread his hands and continued, "Or, of course you know, you just want to humiliate me, and deliberately only take the dregs and ignore the essence. It's really a mean person's style, which makes a shallow person like me laugh and despise."

Su Wenhao was speechless after being criticized.

Everyone at the dinner table covered their faces and laughed, as if they were mocking him, a direct descendant, for losing to the mediocre second prince. His father's disappointed eyes and his elder brother's disdainful shake of his head were like sharp needles piercing his body, making him realize for the first time that Su Qinghe was living under such gazes every day in the mansion.

He couldn't bear it for a moment. How did Su Qinghe endure it?

Is it because Su Qinghe is mediocre, and he claims to be the second most talented person in the Su family?

But he couldn't even argue with the Second Prince.

He had never expected that the Second Prince could be so eloquent. Not only that, he had to admit that Xie Chengze was right.

The Second Prince did have profound insights into the way cattle ruminate, which was refreshing and made him admit defeat.

Even though the Second Prince was usually arrogant and talentless, today he received a heavy blow and understood the profound meaning of the saying "When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher."

Eyes slightly red, Su Wenhao stood up, raised his hands, and bowed deeply, "Your Highness, I have learned from your strict teachings today. I will go back and practice more, and I will not eat anymore."

After saying this, he held back the tears in his eyes and escaped from the main hall despite all the gazes.

Xie Chengze touched his nose, "How come you ran away? I haven't even used up a third of my strength. But I have to say, Mr. Su, your pre-meal communication is quite interesting. This is my first time participating in it, and I really enjoy it."

After saying this, he seemed to be unsatisfied and turned to look at Su Haichao. Su Haichao suddenly shuddered all over and lowered his eyelids, refusing to meet his gaze.

He looked at the other people sitting there again. Everyone else lowered their heads and looked at their noses and hearts, not daring to say a word.

He looked at Su Zhongyue again, and Su Zhongyue quickly looked towards the door, stroking his beard and saying, "Why hasn't breakfast arrived yet? Your Highness is starving, why don't you send someone to hurry up?"

Xie Chengze sighed with a little disappointment.

"Your Highness, would you like to have some snacks to fill your stomach first?" Su Qinghe patted the mahogany food box on his lap, fearing that Xie Chengze would come so early and not have his meal.

"Hey, eat~" Upon hearing that there were pastries, Xie Chengze immediately smiled brightly and lowered his head to look at the mahogany food box.

Seeing the genuine joy on the beautiful young man's face, Su Qinghe's heart softened, and his eyebrows and eyes unconsciously became a little gentle. He put the lid of the food box aside and placed the white jade plates on the dining table one by one. "The Su family does not value the appetite, so the dishes in the kitchen are a bit light and rough. Your Highness may not be used to it. If you come next time, it would be better to fill your appetite first."

Xie Chengze nodded obediently, "Okay."

Su Zhongyue and Su Haichao: ...

What's wrong with being plain and rough? As a scholar, one should make diligent study the most important thing, keep books as companions, and take knowledge as the foundation, so as to live up to the youth and bring honor to the family. How can one be greedy for the pleasure of food?

However, it turns out that the person Su Qinghe invited was the Second Prince?

When did the two of them become so close? Before, the Second Prince always came to deliver letters, but didn't he claim to be sick and refused to go out?

When breakfast was served, the main hall fell silent for a moment. Everyone ate in silence and leisurely. When they were seven-tenths full, they bowed and left, going to the study to continue their studies.

In the end, only Su Zhongyue, Su Qinghe and Xie Chengze were left in the main hall.

After Xie Chengze finished eating, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and asked, "Does Master Su have anything else to do later?"

Su Zhongyue couldn't figure out what Xie Chengze wanted to do, so he said, "There are indeed some things waiting to be dealt with..."

"Well, that's fine. I'm always very eloquent." Xie Chengze said quickly, "I came to the Su Mansion this time to talk to Scholar Su about arithmetic. I heard that the Xiongnu tribe had sophisticated weapons, which almost put the soldiers at the border into a desperate situation. If it weren't for the timely rescue, I'm afraid that Jian'an would have suffered many more tragic events."

He glanced at Su Zhongyue and continued speaking, "The Ministry of Works has been in decline for a long time, and the skilled workers are dwindling. Only a few old officials are left. They are experienced but unable to innovate. As a result, our Jian'an military is declining day by day, and we are completely unable to cope with the threat from the Xiongnu."

Su Zhongyue pondered for a while and understood, "Since Your Highness feels that the study of arithmetic is closely related to the Ministry of Works, you can report it to Your Majesty. What's the point of telling me?"

Xie Chengze smiled and said, "I have always heard that the Su family is a real celebrity family. Since ancient times, they have been sending talents to the court, helping the emperor solve problems and conveying the concept of governing the country."

Su Zhongyue nodded and said, "Indeed."

"I just heard Master Su explain the meaning of 'neutral and impartial'. One of the sentences is 'As a minister, you should consider the interests of all parties and not be tempted by personal gain, and give beneficial policies.'"

"If there is something that will benefit the country and the people, but requires the joint efforts of Mr. Su and the other wise men in the Hanlin Academy to promote it, can Mr. Su, with an impartial heart, plan a good strategy for Your Majesty and join us in this great undertaking?" Xie Chengze asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This..." Su Zhongyue finally understood what was going on. "Your Highness wants me to make a plan to promote the study of arithmetic to the world?"

Xie Chengze smiled faintly, "Yes."

"This..." Su Zhongyue frowned slightly.

Su Zhongyue was unwilling.

If the study of arithmetic is widely promoted, many new noble families will be born in the future. Literature and arithmetic coexist in the world, just like the checks and balances among officials in the court. At that time, the Su family will be controlled by many parties and it will be difficult for them to dominate the Hanlin Academy.

The Su family's power accumulated over generations will gradually decline, and it will be difficult to reproduce the past scene of being able to command the support of hundreds of people.

Thinking of this, Su Zhongyue's heart sank. "Arithmetic is, after all, a minority discipline, and is mostly used to deduce the movement of stars. If the Ministry of Works is short of talent, it can open up more avenues for talent and recruit new talents to study this art. Why force it to be implemented, causing the imperial examination to stir up trouble again and disturb the peace of the government and the people?"

"How can a few people innovate and thoroughly study arithmetic? Moreover, arithmetic has a wide range of applications, not just in military strength." Xie Chengze shook his head and said, "Our Jian'an is a great country with vast wilderness. The people's livelihood is like spring weeds, which are endless and like insect pests in the fields, which take various forms. Today, we may be able to use the light of arithmetic to open up new solutions. We should prepare for the rainy day and avoid repeating the mistakes of the previous dynasty, and we must not let the road to improving people's livelihood stagnate."

His voice gradually rose, and he spoke loudly: "I know how difficult it is to implement this policy, but how can I back down when faced with this difficulty? Scholar Su just agreed with the idea of ​​being neutral and not leaning to one side. We should consider the interests of all parties and not be tempted by personal gain, and provide benefits to the people, right?"

Su Qinghe also advised, "Father, I think what Your Highness said makes sense. As long as it is beneficial to the people, why not give it a try?"

Su Zhongyue waved his hand, frowned deeply, and ordered them to leave. "Let's discuss this matter later. Your Highness, I have something important to do, so I will not see you off."

"Father!" Su Qinghe hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Su Zhongyue's sleeve. Unexpectedly, he was swept by Su Zhongyue's sharp eyes, and his whole body suddenly stiffened.

"Don't you have an appointment with Miss Sheng? It's getting late. Don't make people wait anxiously." Su Zhongyue said with a slight warning tone.

But Su Qinghe didn't make any appointment with Sheng Yiren at all.