The story of the ancient "Chinese Boy"

Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant

On one occasion, Sun Quan of the state of Wu gave Cao Cao an elephant, and Cao Cao was very happy. On the day the elephant arrived at Xuchang, Cao Cao went to see it with his civil and military officials and his youngest son, Cao Chong.

None of Cao Cao's men had ever seen an elephant before. The elephant was so tall and large that its legs were as thick as the pillars of the great hall, and when one approached it, one could not reach its belly.

Cao Cao said to everyone, "This elephant is really big, but how much does it weigh? Which one of you has a way to weigh it?" Hey! How can we weigh such a big fellow! The ministers talked about it.

One said, "The only way to weigh it is to build a big, big scale."

Another said, "What a big scale that would be! Besides, the elephant is alive, so there is no way to weigh it! I think the only way to weigh it is to slaughter it and cut it into pieces."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the people burst out laughing. They said, "This is a very stupid way for you to do it! Isn't it a pity to slaughter the elephant alive just to weigh it?"

The ministers thought of many ways, but none of them worked. It was a real dilemma.

At that moment, a child came out of the crowd and said to Cao Cao, "Father, I have a way to weigh the elephant."

Cao Cao took a look at his favorite son, Cao Chong, and said with a smile, "You're so young, what's your idea? Tell me instead, and see if it makes sense."

Cao Chong told the story. When Cao Cao heard this, he shouted "yes" and ordered his men to prepare to weigh the elephants, and then said to his ministers, "Let's go! Let's go to the river to watch the weighing of the elephant!"

The ministers followed Cao Cao to the river. There was a big boat parked in the river, and Cao Chong told the men to take the elephant to the boat, and when the boat had stabilized, he carved a path on the side of the boat where the water was flush. Then he asked people to bring the elephant to the shore, and loaded the boat with small and big stones, one by one, and the boat sank down little by little. When the ship had sunk to the level of the water, Cao Chong told the men to stop loading the stones.

The ministers' eyes were wide open, and at first they couldn't figure out what was going on, but when they saw this, they couldn't help but praise, "Good idea! Good idea!" Now everyone understands that if you weigh all the stones in the ship and add up the weight, you will know how heavy the elephant is.

Naturally, Cao Cao was even happier. He narrowed his eyes at his son and looked triumphantly at his ministers, as if he were saying in his heart, "You are not as smart as this young son of mine!"

Reference:

/chu/yu/cheng99.html

Sima Guang Smashed the Cylinder

On one occasion he was playing with his his buddies were playing in the backyard. There was a big water tank in the yard, and a child climbed up to the edge of the tank to play, and accidentally fell into the tank plant. The tank was so big and deep that the child was about to lose his head. The other children saw what happened, so scared that they cried and shouted, and ran outside to the adults for help. Sima Guang but in a hurry, pick up a big stone from the ground, vigorously to the water tank smashed, "Bang!" The water tank broke, the water in the tank flowed out, and the child who was drowned in the water was saved.

Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant

When Cao Chong grew up to be five or six years old, he reached a level of knowledge and judgment that could be compared to that of an adult (as in a grown man). Once, Sun Quan sent a huge elephant to the Emperor, and when the Emperor wanted to know the weight of the elephant, he asked his subordinates, but none of them could tell him how to weigh the elephant. Cao Chong said, "Put the elephant on a big boat, mark the place where the water reaches, then let the boat load other things (when the water also reaches the mark), weigh those things, then the comparison (the total mass of the things is almost equal to the mass of the elephant) will be known." Taizu was pleased to hear this, and immediately did so

More

/question/40261816.html?si=1