Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Final Lesson

Though Merton’s five-day vacation had been difficult, when it finally ended, he still felt a deep reluctance to part ways. It seemed the days of idly waiting for death were still far off.

When Merton returned once more to the Imperial Academy, he immediately noticed the unusual glances from the other students, leaving him utterly puzzled.

Zuming Jun circled around Merton, clicking his tongue as if they had just met. He himself had only recently been dragged back to the family estate in Fanyang by the elders of the Zu clan, where they held grand ancestral rites. After paying respects to Zu Chongzhi, they announced that another prodigy had appeared among the clan's descendants, and only then was Zuming Jun allowed to return.

“Speak if you have something to say!” Merton, feeling both embarrassed and angry under their scrutiny, snapped.

“I never expected you to possess such peerless painting skills! I was only away from Chang’an for a few days, and you’ve already caused another stir,” Zu Chongzhi murmured in amazement. When he had previously challenged Merton in arithmetic, it was already an unconventional move. He hadn’t realized Merton had hidden so much talent, still holding back his trump cards.

“What’s that? I have many more skills, young master here boasts,” Merton said arrogantly.

“Truly worthy of the versatile Merton clan scion,” Zuming Jun gave a thumbs-up, but his expression betrayed no genuine admiration.

At first, the label “Merton clan scion” carried a derogatory tone in Chang’an, implying Merton was just a spoiled kid. But now, after Merton repeatedly worked miracles, the term no longer held any disparagement.

“Get lost!”

The two bantered as they entered the classroom, where today’s lesson was arithmetic, taught by Doctor Shen Hongcai.

During Merton’s absence, though he believed his vacation was tough, one person had it even harder: Doctor Shen Hongcai.

Throughout the Tang Empire, very few thought their arithmetic skills surpassed Shen Hongcai’s — except for a prodigy like Merton, and perhaps someday Zuming Jun.

However, ever since Kong Huisuo took over the arithmetic notes from Zuming Jun, everything had fallen into chaos.

Kong Huisuo seemed to have taken some kind of medicine; his arithmetic skills skyrocketed, naturally drawing the attention of other academy students. Arithmetic was now crucial for graduation from the Imperial Academy, and suddenly, those poor at arithmetic were far from calm.

Learning that Merton had little interest in promoting his new arithmetic methods, overnight every student in Merton’s dormitory, Section C, had a handwritten copy of Zuming Jun’s notes.

Though Merton wasn’t personally teaching, do not underestimate the caliber of the Imperial Academy students. Except for a few like Cheng Chumo who had connections, the rest were comparable to the finest scholars of future eras.

They were naturally intelligent, with solid arithmetic foundations, and Arabic numerals combined with rapid addition, subtraction, multiplication, and squares were hardly insurmountable problems. So, in one night, the overall arithmetic level of Section C students soared.

By all accounts, better student performance should have pleased the teacher. But what if the students’ achievements far surpassed the teacher’s?

Some problems took Shen Hongcai a long time to ponder and calculate before reaching the correct answers, yet the students in Section C answered instantly.

And it wasn’t just one student — the entire class was like this. Given time, Shen Hongcai feared he might be the weakest scholar in the class, which deeply troubled him.

Fortunately, the cause of the students’ improvement was easy to discern. When Shen Hongcai examined the Arabic numerals and various mathematical formulas in hand, he was at a loss for words.

“Truly the versatile Merton clan scion, truly the numerals of Tianzhu!” Shen Hongcai’s thoughts swirled, deeply impressed.

Outside the Section C classroom, Shen Hongcai hesitated, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. Today, he would make a decision that would affect his entire life.

Standing before the brand-new blackboard, Shen Hongcai looked at Merton sitting in the back row and felt a sudden clarity. Without realizing it, the Imperial Academy had been deeply marked by the Merton family — the blackboard, the chalk — and now, what he was about to do would be as well.

“Greetings, professor!” all the Section C students rose in unison.

“Please sit!” Shen Hongcai felt a slight comfort. Even though these students had surpassed him in calculation, they still showed profound respect for their teacher.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Hongcai turned to the blackboard and wrote the digits zero through nine — the nine numerals of Tianzhu — from left to right.

Today, not only was he formally adopting the Tianzhu numerals, but also their method of calculation — from left to right — overturning the age-old tradition of right-to-left writing.

At the moment Shen Hongcai wrote these ten digits, he deeply understood what Merton meant about writing conventions. It was not about hierarchy but mere habit.

Previously, when Shen Hongcai wrote on the blackboard, he wrote from top to bottom, right to left, straining his wrist each time, exhausted. By the end of a lesson, his sleeve was covered in chalk dust.

Not only was it unsightly, but sometimes the writing blurred, causing great inconvenience. But writing from left to right eliminated these problems entirely.

“Professor, you are wise!” the Section C students cheered, fully grasping the significance of the digits written.

Merton, stunned, watched the visibly exhilarated Shen Hongcai and felt a newfound respect. This was a true scholar, one who valued knowledge above all and was willing to overcome all worldly obstacles for the sake of learning.

After doing this, Shen Hongcai felt a sudden clarity of mind. He knew well that this choice might ruin his future at the Imperial Academy, yet he had no regrets.

“I suppose I am the last in this class to embrace these numerals,” Shen Hongcai declared. “Perhaps you think me an old stubborn fool, but today even this old fool has been conquered by these elegant digits. I will lead all the students here in gratitude to Merton for imparting such secret arithmetic skills.”

Finishing his words, Shen Hongcai bowed deeply to Merton.

Startled, Merton quickly stood and returned the salute. “You flatter me, professor. These numerals are not a Merton secret but the digits of Tianzhu. The Merton family cannot claim credit.”

Shen Hongcai smiled wryly, fully understanding Merton’s implication. Since these were not Merton family secrets, it would avoid embroiling them in disputes between Confucian and Mohist schools. This would give Shen Hongcai a defense if later questioned.

But the world rarely heeds reason. Having decided to adopt the Tianzhu numerals, he was prepared to face the coming storm.

He nodded inwardly and turned to write the multiplication table and various methods of numerical operations on the blackboard.

All the students noticed Shen Hongcai’s hurried teaching. This knowledge could not possibly be covered in a single lesson, yet he threw everything out there at once.

Everyone in Section C shared a premonition: this might be Shen Hongcai’s final lecture!

Though they already knew much of the material, each listened attentively, not missing a single detail.

Soon, the class ended.

Shen Hongcai set down his chalk, looking fondly at all the students in Section C.

“Class dismissed!” he opened his mouth to say more but only two words came forth.