Future library

10,000 taels of silver is a lot of money no matter where you put it. Regardless of the reason proposed by the third prince, this is a large bribe equivalent to 300,000 US dollars, which is enough to deal with any rich man.

It was easy for Cheng Jinzhou to get money, so naturally he would not accept money from the royal family. Zuo Gu said, What's the surname Wei?

The third prince was stunned. Judging from the information he collected, the new star warlock seemed to be quite greedy for money and reluctant to leave the secular world, but he did not expect to refuse so simply.

He then laughed and explained in person without being affected: The surname Wei is to guess the surname of the candidates who passed the imperial examination. For example, in the provincial examination, before the examination, the banker will prepare many slips of paper with the surname written on them according to the price. , such as Zhao Sun, Wu Wang, etc., people with betting surnames buy according to the price. On the day when the list is opened, they will be divided into first, second and third ranks according to the number of surnames in the list. In addition, you can also guess the name, guess the top three surnames, or Specialize in guessing the surnames of various people with high status.

The Wei surname can be said to be the oldest lottery in China. Although Cheng Jinzhou has never been exposed to it, he can imagine that the more you buy, the greater the chance of winning. But on the other hand, the more you buy, the more you spend. You must be like Zhang Wang and Li Common surnames such as Zhao will cost more, while rare surnames will cost less. But normally, no matter how much you buy, the banker will have a profit rate.

The third prince may have bought Cheng Jinzhou to win, but no matter how much money he paid, in the final analysis, it had little to do with Cheng Jinzhou's performance, let alone the profit of ten thousand taels of silver. It also proved that the third prince in front of him just wanted to lend him money in the name of others.

Cheng Jinzhou couldn't help but evade: Third Prince, you are very polite. I have received a lot of help from you when I first came here, so I don't need to pay you any more. I really want to know who is this banker named Wei? Who can come up with this method and gain your trust? , I’m afraid there aren’t many.”

His tone seemed to be teasing the banker. A person behind the third prince coughed twice and said with a smile: Mr. Cheng is thoughtful. The banker surnamed Wei has always been the banker from the Holy Church. This kind of gameplay was also thought up by them. of.

Missionary from the far west? was Cheng Jinzhou's first reaction. In his mind, church and gambling were unrelated.

Yes, it soon became popular in Great Xia. I heard that some people in other countries also enjoyed it and even invented various other interesting ways to play it... The third prince laughed, and it seemed that he was not at all because of some people using the imperial examination to gamble. And angry.

In fact, just like the Chinese people like to gamble with European football, the imperial examination, which was regarded as a ceremony by the Xia Dynasty people, was the best gambling platform in an era when consultation was inconvenient - relatively strict notarization, accurate and timely announcement of results, Official credibility and public attention are all there. The number is not small. Hundreds of states, counties, and dozens of provinces across the country have hundreds of rural examinations every year. Although the number of provincial, municipal, and conference examinations is small, they are more gambleable.

Cheng Jinzhou was quite impressed by the design of the Wei surname, but he was a little bit dumbfounded by the idea of ​​having the Holy Church preside over the throne. He touched his chin and smiled: I thought the Holy Church would not participate in such...activities.

Gambling, right? The third prince said with a smile without hesitation: The Holy Church's favorite thing is gambling.

how come?

Cao Feng laughed out loud when he heard this. Perhaps he was worried that Cheng Jinzhou would make another fool of himself, so he interjected: The gambling in the Holy Church is supported by mathematics, and they use it to promote astrology.

Mathematics? Probability? Cheng Jinzhou immediately thought of three people: Huygens, Pascal and Fermat.

All three of them are famous people.

Mr. Fermat was an unavoidable mathematician in the 17th century. He liked to get involved in basically everything. Huygens was similar. He was involved in physics, mathematics, and astronomy. Like Newton and others, he achieved achievements in several fields that others could not match. He was the first foreign member of the Royal Society. In addition to being a bachelor all his life, , lived a very comfortable life. Pascal's reputation is easier to remember because of the atmospheric pressure. His name became the unit of pressure. The kilopascals and hectopascals in the weather forecast all refer to Pascal.

In the history that Cheng Jinzhou is familiar with, it was these three people who laid the foundation of classical probability. And the reason why they study probability is because of gambling.

Cao Feng turned his head strangely and said: You know the probability? Then how can you not know about gambling in the temple? They have a special place to do this business, and they also teach many people about mathematics in this area. With this point , but it recruits a lot of Holy Cult members every year.

Cheng Jinzhou was dumbfounded and could only answer honestly: I guessed.

Cao Feng looked at the outsiders and didn't say much. He only said: The Holy Cult is quite unique in terms of probability, but it is not liked by ordinary star warlocks.

The third prince in front chuckled twice and said: The policy of this dynasty has always been to suppress foreign temples and support the country's astromancers and astromancer associations. The probability you mentioned was introduced by them later. It is said that it is The impact of the Star Formation is not great, but it has greatly increased the interest of those of us who have not had the opportunity to enter the Star Path.

Warlock Jiang Huangxing focuses on algebra, warlocks Liu Kuang and An Fengxing focus on geometry, and the Holy Temple focuses on probability - such a picture almost immediately appeared in Cheng Jinzhou's mind, and his posture really looked a bit scientific back then. The taste of controversy.

The difference is that the scientific debate back then was limited to a small group of people, no matter whether they won or failed. The scientific debates of the astrologers can easily affect the livelihood of millions of people.

Regarding mathematics itself, the third prince really had nothing to say, so he still extended his earnest invitation: There is a teacher in my house who is very knowledgeable about the probabilities you are talking about. Why don't you two come together if I am hosting a party today? .”

Refusal was not an option. The third prince had the title of Prince of Yanping County and was deeply loved by his father. Since Cheng Jinzhou wanted to rely on his family, he couldn't act like a rock star, as if I was the best in the world.

What's more, he is indeed quite interested in probability.

In fact, any student who studies mathematics can't help but study probability-even without taking a test.

Think about it, if you could win every bet and kill everyone in Las Vegas, Macau or other places, how powerful would that be? If you can learn probability well, this is indeed easy to achieve.

It’s just that most people don’t learn well.

Seeing that Cheng Jinzhou agreed, the third prince came over happily and took his hand: Xiao Wang likes to make friends with people like Mr. Cheng. Let's ride in the car together.

He seemed to regard Cheng Jinzhou as a child with superior intelligence, and his behavior was a bit like a sports agent.

Prince Yanping's carriage is a powerful thing pulled by four horses. It is like a land-based private plane. It can walk on the streets of the capital without the driver whipping it. People wherever it goes get out of the way. It is naturally quite comfortable to ride in this kind of carriage. But Lu Anping was also sitting in the car, which made Cheng Jinzhou a little unhappy.

The huge carriage still felt spacious even with five people in it. Lu Anping took over the task of pouring water with a smile on his face, trying his best to chat and laugh with the third prince.

When they arrived near the church, the third prince took Cheng Jinzhou's hand when he got out of the car and said with a smile: I heard that during the New Year's Day, it snowed heavily in Shaonan. Thanks to Jinzhou's father, we were able to avoid the chaos?

Where. Cheng Jinzhou thought to himself, the prince indeed has the temperament of an official and a leader.

The third prince took Lu Anping with his other hand and said with a smile: Everyone is studying in Hongwen Hall. It is necessary to understand each other and help each other. Little brother Lu told me that the Cheng family is the real pillar of the country.

I also told my father this. Lu Anping said quickly. That attitude no longer shows the arrogance of claiming that he had two contribution points.

From what Lu Anping meant, it sounded like an apology.

Cheng Jinzhou secretly said: Even the extravagant things you tell Prince Dongshan of the outer vassal can't change anything about the Cheng family.

However, there seemed to be no conflict of interest between him and Lu Anping. There was also the third prince standing in the middle. Thinking about it, he said with a smile: Thank you so much, Brother Lu.

The third prince laughed loudly, held the two people's hands together and said: We are all classmates, no need to thank you, come and go, let's go and see the project of the Holy Church today, Mr. Cheng, play whatever you want, you will win. Yes, if I lose, it’s mine.”

Cheng Jinzhou rolled his eyelids in disgust and let him drag him in.

Cao Feng followed obediently, while Lu Xu showed a slightly excited look, then stretched out a paw to dig around his chest, and came out with an authentication stone and a stack of flying tickets.

The church with its priests, priests and star warlocks looked like a splendid gambling house before Cheng Jinzhou's eyes.

The dome is equipped with stained glass, allowing colorful sunlight to shine in the middle of the steps. The priest bathed in the holy light sang Hallelujah. A row of six tall Roman columns are carved with the past glory of the Holy Church. Beneath the flat marble table stand priests in white clothes. Some are playing dice, some are distributing playing cards, and some are controlling. Roulette, some have unknown odds written on the whiteboard...

The third prince pointed at the priest in the center of the church and smiled: That is Father Li Zhong. He came to Xia Jing from the far west for 10 years, and he also lived in Shaonan for a while.

Shaonan is a must pass through the Southwest Corridor, and many priests from the far west stayed there first. Classmate Xiao Cheng smiled indifferently. His main spirit was attracted by the warm atmosphere around him.

The smaller casinos in Macau are just like this.

Moreover, the casino with the priest and priest will probably never be seen again in future generations. Not to mention that in this era, priests and pastors hold very high-level positions. Having them as dealers is really reassuring.

If you lose too badly, you might even get free psychological counseling.

The third prince laughed unnoticeably and clapped his hands gently. Naturally, someone brought a plate of chips. He handed it to Cheng Jinzhou and said with a smile, Let's see how powerful Mr. Cheng is.

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