Looking through the account books in my hand, there are now a number of cattle and horses, a number of sheep, how many males and females there are, how many have been laid in March, how many have been laid at the age of one year, and how many have been laid at the age of two, all of which are clear and classified. Cattle and horses are even separated from those over ten years old and those over twenty years old.

Du Zhongxiao looked at it twice, put down the account book, and said to Chen Qin, who was standing in front of him: "You have been in charge of the ranch for a few months, and you can list the number of livestock so clearly. This ability to do accounts alone shows that I am not looking at the wrong person. ”

Chen Qin scratched his head: "Don't hide it from the officials, how many livestock are there in the pasture, the small ones are like mirrors in their hearts, and they must answer their questions." But when it comes to making accounts, the small ones can't be honest, and even the official-printed account books have always been filled in by someone, how can the small ones be distinguished? This time, the account book was made by a small acquaintance, Luo Jing. ”

"Oh, I didn't expect this person to have this kind of ability, I underestimated him a few days ago." Du Zhongxiao patted the account book and muttered for a while. "Go and call him, I have something to ask him. Being able to make the accounts so clearly is better than the old officials of the yamen. ”

Chen Qin's face was overjoyed, he promised with his crossed hands, and turned to leave.

The control of the three divisions of the Song Dynasty over the country's finances reached an unprecedented level, and in the exaggerated words of the people of this era, it is the three divisions that put a penny in and a penny out. The means used are a vast amount of books. In this era, mathematics was not developed, and the abacus was not popularized, so it was an impossible task to make or count such a number of accounts. For the county, the fiscal authority rests with the state, and almost all income and expenses are accounted for. To do this, you can only use formatted printed money and ask the ground to fill in the numbers. The same is true for the number of livestock at the farm, which has a special paper for accounting. Correspondingly, in addition to the total number of various livestock, there is also a sum, that is, one cow is equivalent to the total number of sheep. What Luo Jing made was different, divided into categories, all kinds, all of which were clear.

In order to develop the economy, it is first necessary to have a clear statistics on the current economic situation, and only after a period of time can we understand the effects of various policies. Otherwise, no matter how much you do, you will end up in a fog, and you will not be able to understand the details of the economy or control it at the macro level.

Du Zhongxiao has always wanted to do the economic statistics of Yongcheng, and only in this way can all his reforms be in order. Once this system is established, it will be of infinite benefit to oneself as an official in the future. It's a pity that there has been no suitable talent, and my energy is limited, so I have dragged it out until now.

Pulling Luo Jing out of the restaurant, Chen Qin said, "What am I talking about?" As long as you have the ability, the county governor will definitely be reused! I asked you to count the pasture livestock for me, and the husband saw at a glance that you were extraordinary, and asked me to take you to see you. ”

Luo Jing shook his head again and again: "Do you know that Zhixian thinks the same as you?" If it is not because it is written by me, it does not correspond to the accounts that have been sent before, and you will be called to rebuke. If you don't do this, you don't know, everything in the yamen is classified, how to remember, and it can't be changed easily. ”

Where did Chen Qin believe what Luo Jing said, he just pulled him and hurriedly went to the county office.

After entering the official hall of the Yamen Du Zhongxiao, after seeing the ceremony, Luo Jing arched his hand: "I don't know what the officials have to call the little people to order?" ”

Du Zhongxiao picked up a piece of paper from the table, took the account book in front of him, handed it to the errand officer beside him, and said: "The livestock in the pasture you remember are very organized, and they are much clearer than the previous account books. But there are still some deficiencies, so I will make another notation, and you take it back and fill the rest with me according to the list on this paper. Be cautious and don't go wrong. ”

Luo Jing took a piece of paper handed to him by the officer, and saw that it was a form drawn by Du Zhongxiao, filling in the three good breeding horses he bought this year, successfully mating with several horses, and how many ponies he had born. How many males and females are divided into ponies, each with a number, and each item is added up after it. Different from the previous written descriptions, this paper is divided into grids and filled in separately, so that the results of each count can be seen at a glance.

In addition, Chinese characters are no longer used on the table, but simple drawings are used instead of numbers, like runes. At the bottom of the table, there is a line that explains what the above symbols are, corresponding from zero to eleven.

After looking at it for a while, Luo Jing asked, "Official, I don't know why you use this picture instead of words?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The original text was too complicated, and if there are illiterate people, there may be mistakes and omissions. The above figures originated in India and were introduced to the Central Plains with the Buddha's teachings, but there are not many people who know it. I've changed it a little bit to make it easier to write and use to keep counts. ”

"Oh-" Luo Jing nodded. What these scholars are doing, they can't figure it out, and there is no need to figure it out. "It seems that there is some benefit to the officials keeping accounts like this. It's just that what are the benefits and how to do it, the small ones still have to be carefully pondered. ”

"It's okay, you can just take it back. Give you three days to go through the ranch accounts again. If I do it well, I will use it again. ”

Luo Jing hurriedly thanked him and put it away diligently. His bookkeeping in the restaurant is boring and boring, and his income is far from being comparable to Chen Qin, and he is quite envious of Chen Qin. If you have a similar errand, that's great.

Just as Luo Jing and Chen Qin were about to leave, Du Zhongxiao's heart moved and asked, "Since you can keep accounts, can you use abacus?" ”

Luo Jing arched his hand: "Don't hide from officials, I used to see the usefulness of others, and I roughly knew how to use it, but I was not proficient." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "When I was in the capital, I saw that some stores used it, and it was very easy to use. Sorting out accounts inevitably requires counting numbers, and if you can use an abacus, it will be much more convenient. If it's useful, go back and practice it. ”

Luo Jing was a little embarrassed: "Don't hide from officials, where can you sell that kind of thing in Yongcheng County?" Even if you want to learn, you can't buy a small one. ”

Du Zhongxiao didn't expect that there was nothing for sale in Yongcheng County, so he waved his hand and said, "Then forget it, you can go back and sort out the ranch accounts according to what I wrote." ”

Seeing Luo Jing and Chen Qin leaving, Du Zhongxiao thought in his heart, but he forgot that abacus was not popular in this era. There is an abacus in this era, and Du Zhongxiao did see it in the store in the capital, but he didn't go to his heart at that time. This thing is not difficult to make, and the reason why it is not popular is not because it cannot be made or bought, but because there are not many people who can calculate with an abacus.

Whether it is the development of industry or the development of the economy, a lot of mathematical knowledge will be used. Not to mention those complex mathematical theories, even the simplest four operations, there are not many people who can calculate clearly, and it is even rarer to calculate quickly and well, and there are not many people in the entire Yongcheng County. Du Zhongxiao has taught Tao 174 operations, and it has been a few months, and it is still extremely difficult to calculate multiplication and division with paper and pencil. This is still a gifted person, if it is an ordinary number of years, it will not be ordinary.

In fact, compared with reading and literacy, simple mathematical knowledge is more useful and urgent, but there are no suitable teaching materials and no suitable educational institutions. Naturally, there are books, and there are many kinds of them on the market now. But those arithmetic books must first have a certain amount of cultural knowledge to be able to read and understand, and it will be more difficult to learn. This era will be calculated, first of all, it is the reader.

Education is the foundation of everything, how can there be so many talents in the world for one's own use? Only the right educational institutions can train suitable talents. Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao picked up an official letter on the case, it was Xia Zhu who wanted to build a state in Bozhou and asked Yongcheng to donate some money. Guangjianzhou is the political proposition of Fan Zhongyan and others, and Xia Zhu is fully cooperative.