CHAPTER 312: CHAPTER 309: LOCUST EXTERMINATION SUCCESS

After discussing the official matters, Lin Wanwan bid farewell to Xiao Chong, and quietly departed with her servants, returning to her residence in Xiaoxi Town.

The furniture in Lin Wanwan’s own courtyard was almost complete, making it quite convenient to live there.

It’s just that after not returning to Lin Family Manor for two consecutive nights, she missed little Qingyu. She wondered how much the little one would cry without her by the side.

Early the next morning, Lin Wanwan and her group set off hastily for Lin Family Manor. She no longer needed to worry about the locusts. As long as the County Government was determined to exterminate the locusts, they wouldn’t cause much trouble.

When Lin Wanwan returned to Lin Family Manor, she discovered that the rumors from Xiaoxi Town about the White Feathered Chickens and the Locust Evil God had already spread here.

In such a remote place like Lin Family Manor, even if rumors were rampant outside, they shouldn’t have reached here so early. The spread of the news, of course, was intentional by someone.

And the ones spreading the news were none other than the clan members who had returned from fishing at sea.

Sun Chuyao was among the first to receive the news, but he did not participate in spreading the gossip.

As someone who had to travel back and forth between South Pier and the small pier of Lin Family Manor daily, Sun Chuyao was quite informed, but he kept his lips sealed tight and did not spread any rumors without Lin Wanwan’s consent.

Sun Chuyao relayed everything to Lin Wanwan as soon as he met her.

Lin Wanwan already knew that Xiao Chong had dispatched people to spread the news and remained calm upon hearing it. She was also quite pleased with Sun Chuyao’s steadiness.

"I am aware of this matter. The locust extermination activities at Lu Family Manor and Dafeng Village have begun, haven’t they?"

"Yes, madam, they have begun. Clan Leader Lin, as the Village Chief, went to supervise their locust catching today. He mentioned that burning them all would be wasteful, so they intend to catch them all to feed the chickens and ducks instead."

Lin Wanwan curiously asked, "Didn’t Clan Leader Uncle tell others that our clan has White Feathered Divine Chickens?"

Sun Chuyao shook his head, "No, Clan Leader Lin had previously instructed the clan members not to gossip about the White Feathered Divine Chickens."

Lin Wanwan thought to herself, "Clan Leader Uncle is indeed as cautious as ever."

After pondering for a moment, she waved Sun Chuyao off, needing to prepare to teach the children a lesson.

Now, in the school, regardless of their age, all the children had memorized the multiplication table and had gained a fundamental understanding of mathematics. Even if they stopped learning now, they could at least handle selling sea goods with some competence.

Lin Wanwan prepared the lessons using modern elementary mathematics textbooks and directly introduced the convenient Arabic numerals.

The children, like blank slates, naturally learned whatever Lin Wanwan taught them.

This type of teaching was not the exam-oriented education of the Great Tang, which would certainly face challenges with imperial examinations, but it was immensely practical.

In the future, at least those in the clan wouldn’t be confused when calculating accounts and wouldn’t get deceived by unscrupulous merchants and nobles like ordinary folks. Nor would their hard-earned fish from relentless efforts get taken advantage of.

After encountering Arabic numerals, Teacher Chen even began to learn them, as they were so convenient. From then on, he had even greater respect for Lin Wanwan’s deceased master.

What an extraordinary individual, a hermit of such profound knowledge.

Lin Wanwan was also quite surprised by Teacher Chen’s acceptance, especially since true acceptance of Arabic numerals by mathematicians in Huaxia only occurred around the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Arabic numerals were not invented by the Arabs; their origin was Ancient India. They were called Arabic numerals because the Europeans at the time mistakenly thought the Arabs who spread this script were the inventors.

Due to their simple strokes, and the use of decimal place value for calculations, Arabic numerals gradually became the universal mathematical script worldwide.

However, their spread in Huaxia was not particularly valued because Huaxia had its own complete mathematical tradition since ancient times.

During the Tang Dynasty, there were introductory works like "The Art of War" and "Five Cao’s Computational Manual"; elementary works like "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" and "Island Calculation Scripture"; and intermediate works like "The Zhou Bi Mathematical Classics" and "Xiahou Yang’s Mathematical Classics" etc.

Mathematics in the Tang Dynasty had not only theoretical mathematics and practical mathematics but also specialized mathematics related to astronomy, geography, and architecture. It can be said that mathematical research reached quite a high level during the Tang Dynasty.

However, Huaxia would lose much of its civilization with each dynastic change, resulting in many mathematical classics being lost to later generations, causing it to fall behind the world only by the Qing Dynasty.

This was also due to the underdeveloped printing technology in ancient times and the nobles’ tendency to monopolize knowledge. Even now in the Great Tang, few professional books circulate in the market, and mathematical books are even rarer.

Not to mention professional books, even leisurely storybooks were scarce, making it incredibly difficult for ordinary people to acquire knowledge!

For nobles, one significant wealth was their collection of books, which was the starting point that distinguished them from commoners.

A fallen scholarly family might still have hope due to their family library, but ordinary commoners barely dare to imagine it.

Lin Wanwan also considered obtaining some Great Tang mathematical books for historical research, but had not found the opportunity yet.

She hadn’t found a single mathematical book in Xiao Chong’s study at the County Government, clearly indicating that his collection hadn’t accompanied him upon assuming office, likely remaining at his old home.

Lin Wanwan was not in a hurry; these things could be pursued when the opportunity arose. Otherwise, so be it.

What she most wanted to do now was to nurture the children.

As she taught batch after batch of children, she would no longer be an eccentric presence in the Great Tang. There would be a group of new Great Tang people sharing her thoughts and worldview. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Under the leadership of Xiao Chong, the locust issue in Mao County was nipped in the bud and never became a disaster.

Thanks to Xiao Chong’s frequent inspections of the agricultural fields under his jurisdiction, the signs were discovered early. Had it been delayed by another half-month, locusts would likely have wreaked havoc.

After all, Mao County previously had no experience in resisting locusts, and the rough agricultural practices of the Tang Dynasty meant few would notice such situations.

Even if discovered, by the time the issue reached the County Government, it might have already been too late.

Thus, having a diligent and people-loving local official was truly a rare blessing for the region.

After this event, Xiao Chong’s prestige in Mao County reached unprecedented levels. Especially since the County Government genuinely began offering credit sales of White Feathered Divine Chicken chicks to the people.

This task was specifically overseen by the County Magistrate and the Chief Clerk; Xiao Chong mainly coordinated the efforts but did not manage them personally. If every matter were handled by him as the County Magistrate, even forty-eight hours in a day wouldn’t suffice for him.

People eagerly awaited to see if the White Feathered Chickens truly took just over forty days to grow till market-ready.

Though the common people believed that if someone as otherworldly as Xiao Mingfu trusted in the White Feathered Divine Chickens, then there couldn’t be any mistake.

However, as the matter was quite extraordinary, without witnessing it with their own eyes, some remained somewhat skeptical.