mtl008 Chapter 114 Lin Shiming proudly raised his chin, accepting the compliments from everyone.
Chapter 114 Lin Shiming proudly raised his chin, accepting the compliments from everyone.
King Ping was dumbfounded.
In his eyes, Lin Shiming was just a military man who had never even entered the Imperial Academy. He was lucky if he could even reach the level of a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations). How could he possibly set questions for the palace examination?
Moreover, it wasn't just King Ping; many people actually thought the same way.
Especially after learning about the third question, almost everyone believed that Emperor Longyun wanted to add merit to Lin Shiming, so he had Lin Shiming, a military general, participate in setting the questions for the palace examination. Lin Shiming was also really bad at setting questions, so he came up with such a question to fool people.
This is precisely the reason why they dared to impeach Lin Shih-ming.
These people thought it would be easy to bring down someone who only knew how to take credit and didn't even bother to put on an act.
But they never expected Lin Shiming to give them such a big "surprise".
The first two questions confirmed Lin Shiming's abilities, letting everyone know that he was a learned and erudite scholar. So even if the third question was outrageous, as long as Lin Shiming could explain it in a roundabout way, it would be easily accepted.
Just like when your mother tells you not to stay up late and a professional doctor warns you not to stay up late, you will obviously trust the doctor's warning more.
It seems that King Ping and his men's second move today is going to be a waste of time. But things have come to this point, and they can't just back down whenever they want.
Shen Lin pondered deeply and finally found a breakthrough among his various thoughts.
"No matter how well Her Highness the Crown Princess asked the first two questions, it doesn't change the fact that the third question is completely meaningless."
Prince Ping instantly felt like he had found his pillar of support. "That's right, Father! This third question has no meaning whatsoever; it's just simple arithmetic. It's indeed inappropriate!"
This means we have to stick to it.
Emperor Longyun's gaze, which seemed to be watching a good show, fell on Lin Shiming.
"Crown Princess, what explanation do you have?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Shiming chuckled lightly, but instead of directly addressing Prince Ping, he calmly turned to ask all the ministers present.
"Does anyone else want to second this?"
The ministers kept their eyes down, not one of them stepped forward.
It seems they've become a bit smarter.
Lin Shiming clicked his tongue, somewhat unsatisfied, and finally turned to look at Prince Ping.
How do you know this question is meaningless or inappropriate?
Prince Ping snorted coldly, "Of course, it's up to Her Highness the Crown Princess to say whatever she wants. We can't say anything if you casually say something to test the candidates' mindset and seriousness, can we?"
Is this a case of striking first to gain the upper hand and shutting oneself up?
Lin Shiming raised an eyebrow; Prince Ping was indeed a bit smarter than Prince An.
This trick worked, but it didn't work on Lin Shiming. Because Lin Shiming's question was really not easy.
“You’ve guessed wrong, Prince Ping. This question of mine is not as simple as you think.”
He glanced around smugly and said, "You're all stupid; you can't see the meaning behind my question."
"What a joke! What could possibly be meaningful from such a boring arithmetic problem?"
Lin Shiming did not respond to the Prince of Ping's taunts, but turned to signal to Li An.
"Eunuch Li, prepare paper and ink for me. I want to show our well-read Prince Ping just how ignorant he really is."
Li An immediately stepped forward, "This servant obeys."
Emperor Longyun rolled his eyes. This stupid servant has completely forgotten who his master is! He runs away at the slightest summons from the Crown Princess.
However, he was feeling guilty about betraying Lin Shiming yesterday, which resulted in Lin Shiming being severely beaten, so he didn't say anything sarcastic and instead had Li An quickly prepare the things.
Several eunuchs presented a set of tables, chairs, and writing implements, which were placed in the very center of the front of the Taiji Hall.
"Your Highness, everything is ready."
Prince Ping scoffed disdainfully, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess, you'd better admit your mistake sooner rather than later. Father loves you so much, he certainly won't punish you severely. It's better for you to give up now than to put on a show only to be exposed, lose face, and then get punished!"
Lin Shiming ignored his sarcastic remarks and strode directly to the table.
The table and chairs were the most common wooden ones, looking very hard. Lin Shiming stared at the chair for a moment, then felt the pain in his back, which was still throbbing despite being suppressed by internal force. He swallowed hard and decided to fight while standing.
He cleared his throat, adopting an air of loyalty to the emperor, filial piety, and proper etiquette.
"Remove the chair. Only Father Emperor can sit in the Taiji Hall."
Lin Shihe sneered inwardly.
Emperor Longyun, whose excuse was being used to cover up Lin Shiming's injuries, rolled his eyes again.
This guy is just putting on an act. If he hadn't been injured, he probably would have thrown me out and sat on my dragon throne if he got angry.
After all, Lin Shiming has already treated Xuanzheng Hall as his own home, and he and Lu Yuxi have even taken afternoon naps in the warm pavilion. What's missing is a dragon throne?
Two eunuchs stepped forward and quickly removed the chair.
Lin Shiming then flicked his sleeves and picked up his brush to write. Several senior officials of high rank and deep experience curiously gathered around to watch Lin Shiming demonstrate his "Gaussian algorithm" once again.
Soon, the old ministers who had been watching the spectacle widened their eyes in astonishment as they stared at the paper in front of them. The Minister of Revenue, in particular, was as if he had seen a deity, wishing he could invite the Crown Princess to the Ministry of Revenue the next second so that she could help him sort out the accounts.
"This...we have never seen such an algorithm before..."
"It's so amazing!"
"I wonder what Your Highness thought of this?"
…
Lin Shiming proudly raised his chin, accepting the compliments from everyone.
"So, isn't this question quite valuable?"
The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works were so excited they almost jumped for joy.
"Of course! This problem has opened up a new path in mathematics!"
"Does Your Highness possess any other mathematical skills? My Ministry of Works undertakes numerous projects, all requiring counting rods, and faces many difficulties in calculation and measurement. If Your Highness could help..."
Lin Shiming smiled broadly, "Of course, of course, I'll write one for you later!"
The Minister of Works immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Your Highness, this book can't be..."
"Just go to the Ministry of Works and borrow them to copy!"
A group of people surrounded Lin Shiming, praising and flattering him even more fervently.
Prince Ping and Shen Lin, driven by curiosity, had been holding back for a long time, but they couldn't resist and, not believing in such things, went over to take a look.
Then I was equally amazed by Lin Shiming's algorithm.
"How can this be!"
"Why is it impossible? Just because you haven't seen it and you don't know it doesn't mean no one in the world can. Those candidates couldn't answer my question because they couldn't figure it out themselves, not because my question was wrong."
Prince Ping's thoughts raced. "Fine, even if the Crown Princess's question is insightful and useful, what's the point of asking a question that no one can answer?"
"Don't know how?" Lin Shiming chuckled. "If you don't know this kind of algorithm, you can always add them one by one, right? Although I'm here to select people with mathematical talent and the ability to think comprehensively, I'm not stopping them from taking the path of learning step by step."
As he spoke, Lin Shiming turned around, crossed his arms, and looked at Prince Ping with disdain.
"Besides, Prince Ping, are you out of your mind or hard of hearing? Didn't you hear me say that the third question was an extra question? It's 'extra,' it doesn't affect the overall score. How could an extra question affect the whole situation!"