"Oh? Mr. Yang Huai?"

Inside the room.

Hearing this name mentioned by Mr. Xie, the Old Chief Steward.

Old Jia, who was grinding ink, suddenly put down the ink block, lifted his head, and asked Old Su:

"Brother Zirong, Mr. Yang Huai... Is this the same person as Han Gonglian, Han Wenyi, who calculated the gears and scales in the Yuan You Celestial Sphere?"

"That's correct, it's him."

Old Su nodded, confirming his words.

At the same time, he raised a slight apologetic smile on his face and explained:

"The matter of lenses is of great importance; therefore, I shamelessly invited several mathematics masters to assist us. I kindly ask Mr. Tongyu not to take offense."

Old Jia waved his hand indifferently, saying:

"Brother Zirong, it's a small thing, no need to talk about blame.

It just so happens that I haven't seen Wenyi for many years, so it's a good opportunity to meet him at your residence and see what he's turned into.

Moreover, I can save a few coins and get a free meal from you; isn't that wonderful?"

Old Jia spoke with remarkable frankness, without a hint of falseness.

From this, it was clear.

He indeed found nothing wrong with Old Su's actions.

After all, he was once a Left Palace Attendant and had participated in several engineering designs organized by the prefecture after being transferred to Dai Prefecture.

Thus, he understood clearly.

In some practical projects, an individual's capability is quite limited, and the official won't put all their eggs in one basket.

At most, they would prioritize based on status, but the final calculation result would still prevail.

Although he wasn't clear yet about what grand ambition Old Su, or rather Xu Yun, intended to achieve using lens principles this time.

But judging from the formulas Xu Yun had previously written, it wasn't hard to see that this was evidently an endeavor requiring a large number of tools... ahem, computational power.

Therefore, he wasn't just neutral about the arrival of Han Gonglian and others; he was very, very welcoming.

After a while.

Led by Mr. Xie, the Old Chief Steward.

Six men differing in height, build, and age walked in from outside.

"Mr. Tongyu, come, let me introduce them to you."

After the six entered the room, Old Su pointed at them and said:

"This is An Shisong, courtesy name Yingtong, currently an Assistant Chief of Works at the Ministry of Personnel, known as Mr. Dongping."

An Shisong was a little old man in his fifties, even skinnier than Old Jia, with a tuft of goatee.

However, what caught people's attention the most was not his beard but the fact that he was wearing a black riding jacket in the middle of summer.

After Old Su finished introducing him, this person respectfully saluted Old Jia:

"Junior An Shisong, greetings to Mr. Tongyu."

Although Old Jia seemed to have a bad temper, he was relatively polite toward peers.

After all, mathematicians of this era were as rare as authentic readers in later generations; he simply returned the salute:

"Mr. Dongping is too kind."

Old Su, seeing this, continued introducing:

"This is Xiong Huanzhi...."

"This is Song Ke...."

"This is Lin Huainan....."

And upon reaching the fifth young man, Old Su added a few extra comments:

"This is Liu Yi, courtesy name Le Yi, styled Mr. Jinqu.

He is the youngest mathematics instructor at Jigu Academy, a scholar of vast knowledge with a promising future."

Hearing the name Liu Yi.

Old Jia didn't react much, but Xu Yun, on the side, couldn't help giving him a few more glances.

Liu Yi.

This is the mathematician briefly mentioned in historical records, discussed during the selection process.

However, the historical records of Liu Yi were sparse, merely mentioning him as a late Northern Song figure.

Around the Third Year of Yuanfeng, namely 1080, he completed a work titled "On the Root of the Ancient," proposing a method for solving quadratic equations.

Given that later Yang Hui included him in the "Land Area Comparison and Rapid Calculation Method," his capabilities ought to have been stronger than those of ordinary mathematicians.

After all, Yang Hui was a person who lived in the mid-13th century, only about a hundred years apart from the Northern Song Dynasty.

This is equivalent to studying a figure from the time of the Opium War in modern terms, theoretically not prone to significant mistakes or omissions.

After introducing Liu Yi.

Old Su pointed to the tallest and apparently largest man on the far right:

"Mr. Tongyu, you don't need me to introduce this person, right?"

Old Jia stepped forward, sized up the person a bit, and said with some nostalgia:

"Wenyi, it's been twenty years since we met, right?"

The large man... which is to say, Han Gonglian, cheerfully cupped his fists towards him and said:

"It's been twenty-three years; sir, you look as distinguished as ever despite the time."

Old Jia returned the salute briefly and then curiously asked:

"Wenyi, when I last saw you, it seemed you couldn't even get enough to eat; you had to work odd jobs to make a living after leaving the court.

How is it that you seem to have gained quite a bit of weight over these years?

And those clothes... let me see... ah yes, from the Celestial Fresh Pavilion?"

Celestial Fresh Pavilion.

The name alone indicates this shop isn't ordinary.

After all, in ancient Huaxia, while personal names were understandable, shops with 'Heaven' in their name were not common.

Especially under the nose of the Emperor in Bianjing, such shops were at least owned by regular members of the royal family.

Looking at Old Jia's face full of surprise, Han Gonglian maintained his cheerful demeanor:

"Mr. Tongyu, you might not know, but in the Seventh Year of Yuan You, I won seven hundred coins from a gambling game, bought a few acres of land, and stocked some grain after the fall harvest.

Come the new year, with Qingtang being recovered, grain prices soared unexpectedly, making me quite wealthy...."

Old Jia and Xu Yun:

"...."

Well.

Another little mystery was solved.

Those familiar with Song History know that the Song Dynasty was a period where the gambling industry was exceptionally developed.

The more common activities included betting on coin tosses and a game called "Guan pu," with more advanced ones being Cuju and horse racing.

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