When he returned to Shuofang City, he heard Gongshu Yi coming over and asking, "Father, why are you back so soon?"
Gongshu Can said solemnly, "Something happened. We'll talk about it when I get back. I'll go to the palace to pay my respects to His Highness first."
Gongshu Yi said, "It just so happens that His Highness came to my father a couple of days ago, wondering what he wanted to do. I was about to agree, but His Highness said he had no goals of his own."
Gongshu Can breathed a sigh of relief and said, "As long as His Highness can still use us, that's all that matters."
After saying this, he turned around and hurried away. Gongshu Yi did not try to stop him, but could only hold out his hand and said blankly, "Why don't you change your clothes first?"
His father came back from outside, looking dusty and his hair was not very neat. If Gongshu Yi didn't know that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory was not particular about details and would not be picky about this, he would have called everyone to stop his father.
Liu Tan was also a little surprised when he heard that Gongshu Can had returned.
When he saw Gongshu Can, he was even more surprised: "You came here without going home?"
Gongshu Can only then remembered that he had been so anxious that he forgot to change his clothes before coming here. He hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I really have something important to report."
When Liu Tan heard the words "there is something important to report", his expression suddenly became extremely serious. He had already imagined many possibilities, such as the harvester was not easy to use or the harvester had a short service life. He even thought about whether someone would fight for the harvester.
So he immediately asked, "What happened?"
Gongshu Can saw Liu Tan's unusually serious expression and realized he might have been overreacting. He quickly said, "It's nothing serious. I just met someone from the Mohist school while I was traveling."
Liu Tan was slightly stunned. "People from the Mohist School? Their people have reached the Northern Border Kingdom?"
Gongshu Can nodded: "Yes."
Liu Tan asked suspiciously, "Are you seeing things? Is there someone you know over there?"
Gongshu Can explained, "Except for those Mohist disciples who are entering officialdom and need to wear official uniforms, the rest are all wearing the uniform of disciples. I will definitely not make a mistake."
Gongshujia and Mohism had been fighting for so many years, how could they possibly mistake each other's clothing? Not only did they recognize each other, they could even recite the evolution of Mohism's disciples' clothing over the past century in chronological order.
Otherwise, how can we say that the person who understands you may not be your best friend, but may also be your arch-enemy?
After hearing this, Liu Tan asked, "Do you know the leader?"
Gongshu Can shook his head: "There are many disciples of the Mohist school, and I don't know them all."
Speaking of this, Gongshu Can felt a little sad. He wished that the Gongshu family could be like this.
Liu Tan said, "Since we only saw it on the street, there's no need to be too nervous."
It is not strange for Mohist disciples to travel outside. As long as they are not smuggling and have normal passes, they can go wherever they want. Even if Liu Tan is the King of the Northern Territory, he cannot stop them from coming.
Gongshu Can immediately said, "Your Highness, there's more to it than that. They saw a harvester along the way and even asked about it. They even wanted to buy one. Those who can wear the Mohist uniform are inner disciples and won't be sent to farm. So their target is most likely the harvester itself!"
After hearing this, Liu Tan immediately thought of the most important point and couldn't help but look serious: "Are they trying to copy it?"
Gongshu Can hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know, but I can't say for sure."
Liu Tan pondered for a moment and said, "The Mohist School has always followed the rules. They wouldn't do something like this, would they?"
Gongshu Can was a little surprised: "What does this have to do with the rules?"
Liu Tan suddenly realized that there was no such thing as patents these days, so everyone kept their technology extremely secret. This was because if it was really stolen, they would have to blame themselves for their bad luck.
Therefore, the Mohists will not abide by the rules in this regard.
Liu Tan was very anxious when he thought of this: "No, I have to find a way to spread this matter."
Liu Tan didn't care about people imitating his tools. He hadn't originally planned to get rich by selling farm tools, but he was worried that if the Mohists copied his tools and took them to other places, the tools might become the invention of the Mohists.
If that were the case, Liu Tan would probably be furious.
Even if he doesn't care about reputation, it doesn't mean he can just sit there and watch his achievements being taken away by others.
Gongshu Can saw that Liu Tan looked unhappy and said, "Your Highness, there's no need to worry too much. They haven't bought a harvester yet, so there shouldn't be any problems in the short term."
"That's because they haven't spent too much. If they were willing to pay double, triple, or even quadruple or five times the original price, who could resist such temptation?"
Anyway, the people of the Northern Border Country all know that the current shortage of harvesters is entirely due to the low output at the beginning of production, so they can sell the ones they have. At most, they can hire people to collect the grain, and then when there are more harvesters, they can buy another one.
Yan Xingsheng, who was standing by, said, "Your Highness, if that's the case, why not restrict the sale of harvesters? Those who are not registered in the Northern Territory are prohibited from purchasing them."
Liu Tan glanced at Yan Xingsheng and said, "Do you think I haven't thought of this idea? But if we really do this, the Mohists will have an excuse. The Mohists have always advocated universal love and non-aggression, and their ideas are quite popular among the people. Then they will accuse us of not treating the people of other places as human beings, of only caring about the gains and losses of our own country, and even of not taking the other people of the Han Dynasty seriously. What do you say?"
Yan Xingsheng was shocked: "This..."
Although it is reasonable for Liu Tan, as the King of the North, to pay more attention to his own people, it is impossible to explain it once the situation is raised to this level.
The more Yan Xingsheng thought about it, the more frightened he became. He quickly leaned forward and said, "I am narrow-minded. Please punish me, Your Highness."
Liu Tan shook his head: "You haven't seen much, and haven't had much contact with the officials in Chang'an. It's normal that you didn't expect it. It's not a big mistake."
We can't blame people for their lack of experience, right? Who is born knowing everything?
At this time, Liu Tan also discovered that the peace in the Northern Border Kingdom's court also had its disadvantages, that is, these newly promoted officials were very unskilled in intrigue and deception.
However, Liu Tan felt that there was no harm in it.
Gongshu Can said, "Don't worry, Your Highness! Even if they can buy it, they may not be able to replicate it. I have already installed obstacles in some key areas."
Liu Tan was stunned for a moment. "A mechanical barrier? Something to confuse people? You used this on such a simple farm tool?"
Gongshu Can said a little embarrassedly: "This... is mainly because I'm used to it. I can't change it in a short time."
Liu Tan said with a smile, "No need to change it. This is fine. The technology must be kept secret. Since they can't replicate it in a short time, that's easy to do. Gongshu, return the blueprints to me, including the confidential parts." He paused and smiled, "I'm going to present it to my father."
In fact, Liu Tan didn't want to be so anxious. First of all, there were a lot of things going on in the Northern Border Kingdom, and secondly, the autumn harvest in the Central Plains was basically coming to an end.
The climate in the Northern Kingdom always changes a little later than that over there, so now is the time when they can use the harvesters, but they are basically no longer used in the Central Plains. There is no point in offering them now. It is better to wait until next year, or wait until the New Year to offer them, which can be regarded as a big gift.
Unfortunately, the Mohist School has emerged. In order to prevent them from snatching away the merits of the Northern Border Kingdom, Liu Tan had no choice but to offer this up first, and at the same time, he made a note of the Mohist School in his heart.
Gongshu Can felt relieved after hearing this. As long as the court had a record of it, the Mohist school would not take action in this regard again.
It just so happened that Liu Tan had not yet submitted the summary of the previous witchcraft case, because he didn't know how to explain to Liu Che that he had arranged those people to do farm work for waste utilization. He originally wanted to delay it, but now it seems that he can't delay it any longer.
Liu Tan was helpless and took note of the Mohist school in his heart. He then asked Gongshu Can to make a harvester model that could be placed on a table for demonstration and package it with the imperial harvester and send it over.
When Liu Che received Liu Tan's letter, he had already guessed that it must be related to the witchcraft case and could not help but say, "It seems that the result has been announced."
After a pause, he added, "It's still a little slow."
After hearing this, Liu Ju couldn't help but defend his brother, "Perhaps this isn't my fault, my brother. I heard that the Northern Border Kingdom has entered the autumn harvest, but it seems that there is a shortage of manpower. I believe my brother is currently overwhelmed by this matter, so it's possible that he can't take care of it for the time being."
Anyway, all the main culprits in the witchcraft case have been arrested, only the descendants of the Zhao family are still missing. This is not a matter of urgency, so he dared to speak for Liu Tan.
Liu Che suddenly laughed and said, "He was very proud of his invention of the Northern Border Plow. It directly increased the amount of arable land in the Northern Border Kingdom. I still remember that the number he reported surprised even Sang Hongyang. Now... it seems he is suffering the consequences."
After hearing this, Liu Ju didn't know what to say. Not only was the Northern Border Kingdom not able to adapt to the consequences of such rapid technological advancement, even Chang'an was not able to adapt to it.
However, the arable land in the Central Plains is actually very fixed, and not much can be reclaimed. There are only so many places suitable for farming. What's the point of forcing the unsuitable areas to be reclaimed?
Liu Ju said with some worry, "I wonder if my brother has any solution."
Liu Che had already finished reading the letter and said expressionlessly, "You don't need to worry about him."
Liu Ju asked, "Has my brother been dealt with? Ah, he won't cause trouble for the Xiongnu again, will he? I heard that Wu Shilu has been very restless recently. I'm sure he bears a grudge against my brother. My brother must not be impulsive."
Liu Che's mouth twitched: "He didn't set his sights on the Huns, but on the prisoners."
Liu Ju looked at Liu Che in confusion: "What?"
Liu Che gritted his teeth and said, "This little bastard actually spared those prisoners and made them do farm work!"
Liu Ju: ?????
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