Not long after Cao Song and the others received their rewards and left, Mo Shang also came to pay his respects with two Mo family disciples, carrying a piece of equipment that they had worked on overnight.

What is this?

Looking at this unidentified object, one can see that two rows of sharp blades at the bottom are fixed to two wooden boards, interlaced with gaps between them. The wooden gears on the main shafts of the wheels on both sides are connected and intertwined with the gears behind the wooden boards, forming a simple transmission device.

"Your Majesty, this is a product developed by us after observing farmers harvesting. It can greatly improve harvesting efficiency."

As they were talking, at Liu Hong's signal, two Mohist disciples began to push it around in circles in the main hall.

As the wheel turned, the gears on the main shaft began to operate, and the power system also started to work, with the two rows of gears in front swinging left and right!

"Is this a harvester?"

Liu Hong's brow twitched, and he couldn't help but look at Mo Shang and the others with surprise. These people were really something else; they had managed to create something like this in such a short time. They were truly remarkable.

"Harvester? That's a good name. Thank you for bestowing it upon me, Your Majesty."

Mo Shang excitedly complimented them, saying that the fact that Liu Honghei and his team had named the things they had developed meant that they had gained the emperor's approval, which meant they were one step closer to their goal.

"Uh~"

Liu Hong glanced at Mo Shang and the two Mo family disciples, understanding their feelings, and then laughed:

"I am very satisfied with your research. I only hope that you will go back and do your best to study and improve it, so as to put it into use by the people as soon as possible."

"Yes! Your Majesty, we will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Liu Hong smiled, then looked at Zhang Rang, "Go and tell Lü Qiang to reward each of the staff of the Research and Manufacturing Department with a bolt of silk and ten taels of gold."

"promise!"

Zhang Rang bowed and ran out again. At this moment, Zhang Rang couldn't help but sigh. He never expected that His Majesty, who was always frugal, would give away more than 20 million coins in just one day. It was truly unbelievable.

"Your Majesty, we thank you for your divine grace!"

Upon hearing of the emperor's reward, Mo Shang and the others couldn't help but show their joy.

"This is what you all deserve. I have stated beforehand that as long as you can research something useful, I will reward you generously. If you need anything, just come to me, and I will do my best to support you!"

Liu Hong looked at Mo Shang, his words full of trust and reliance.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will do our utmost to live up to Your Majesty's high expectations. Your Majesty has shown us the grace of giving us a second life, and even if we die, we can never repay even a fraction of Your Majesty's kindness!"

Mo Shang was too excited to express his feelings. He felt the emperor's respect and reliance on him and his people. A scholar will die for one who understands him!

"My lords are my reliance, the reliance of the Han Dynasty, and they must not die!"

Liu Hongci was extremely happy. The early appearance of this epoch-making product could not only greatly improve productivity, but also free up surplus labor for workshop processing industries. The commerce and economy of the Han Dynasty would also be greatly improved, which was of great significance to the development of a country.

"Hmm... we've got physics, agriculture, and medicine covered, so it's time to consider chemistry too!"

As Liu Hong watched Mo Shang and the others leave, he couldn't help but think to himself that if these aspects could be combined and utilized, he believed that perhaps he could create something he never dared to imagine in his lifetime.

Liu Hong firmly believes that the wisdom of the people is boundless, and what he needs to do is to provide them with a general direction so that they can work hard, strive, and discover their own value.

Unlike Liu Hong, officials in various prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty were extremely busy at this time, urging their servants to collect taxes while compiling and organizing the revenue of the official granaries.

Anyone could see that this year was a bumper year. The officials in the court and the emperor also attached great importance to this year's fiscal revenue. With the supervision of the inspection team, if they made any mistakes, losing their official position was a small matter, but losing their life and property was not impossible.

As a result, this scene appeared in various prefectures and counties: from the prefect of a prefecture down to the magistrate of a county, almost every day they would lead people to visit the homes of various powerful and wealthy families, closely monitor their income, and then determine the amount to be handed over.

Seeing such a scene, the powerful clans dared not deceive them too much. The local officials might not be able to touch them, but the inspection team would not be polite to them. One wrong move and they would face the fate of having their homes confiscated and their families wiped out.

After receiving the imperial edict, Lu Zhi and Zhang Huan, officials in Youzhou and Bingzhou respectively, dispatched troops to various villages and counties to begin surveying the land.

Although this move provoked a backlash from local powerful families, it was quickly suppressed. The soldiers knew that this was their military rations and funds, so they naturally did not treat them with any courtesy. Anyone who dared to resist was arrested and conscripted into the suicide squad.

The powerful families in these two states were far less influential than the powerful clans in the Central Plains, and they simply couldn't muster the courage to resist the ferocious soldiers.

In Liangzhou, in addition to receiving the official imperial edict, Duan Jiong also received a secret decree from Liu Hong. After reading the contents of the secret decree, Duan Jiong immediately burned it and then personally led the Xiliang troops to collect taxes from the local powerful families.

Fearing the prestige of Duan Jiong and the Xiliang soldiers, most of the small and medium-sized local strongmen did not dare to resist. They all voluntarily registered their land holdings and paid taxes. Duan Jiong's journey was smooth sailing, and he did not encounter any obstacles.

"General, there are hundreds of civilians blocking our way, preventing our men from measuring the land!"

Who is it?

Duan Jiong frowned. Are there really people who aren't afraid of death?

"They are Han Chinese, but we haven't found a leader," the soldier replied.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!