The several days of meetings could truly be described as a gathering of experts, where one side finished its turn and the other took the stage. Western bankers and Eastern accountants engaged in fierce battles.
Zhu Wencong hadn't anticipated the sheer number of mathematical prodigies in the East. It was evident that pursuing the official path was a dead end for them, while the commercial path was a road bathed in sunlight.
As per the plans of the Jin Shang, those who excelled academically pursued official positions, while those less skilled inherited the family business. Put simply, the former were liberal arts students, and the latter were finance students.
The Jin Shang's commercial heritage has a long-standing history, with generation after generation amassing solid family wealth through the use of abacuses. Yet, regrettably, they often chose to become scholastic aristocrats in the end.
