The other Mohist disciples exchanged a bewildered glance. "Your Highness the King of the Northern Territory? But... Your Highness the King of the Northern Territory has Gongshu Jia by his side. Doesn't this mean he still needs to be suppressed first?"
Mo Shi shook his head. "The Gongshu family surrendered early, and the King of the Northern Territory already trusted them. If you rush in and suppress the Gongshu family now, the King of the Northern Territory will not agree."
The young lady was a little confused: "Then...what should we do?"
Mo Shi smiled and said, "There are many legends about the King of the Northern Territory in Chang'an. Although many of them are unbelievable, if you unravel them, you will find that the King of the Northern Territory values friendship, but he is also very pragmatic. What's the point of gaining the trust of the Gongshu family? They are not easy to use."
Someone said cautiously, "But... Brother, the things Gongshujia has been making lately seem pretty good. The people of the Northern Territory are all praising them."
Mo Shi couldn't help but roll his eyes. "The Mo family has never done anything in the Northern Territory. Who else can the people here praise if not them? But look at what they've made. Do they have any unique characteristics? They all use the most basic mechanical techniques. I originally thought that the Gongshu family was guarding against the King of the Northern Territory, but looking at Gongshu Yi now, there shouldn't be any suspicion between them. This can only mean one thing..."
He turned to glance at his fellow disciples and said, "This shows that the Gongshu family has no way of integrating their strengths. They can only use the most basic mechanical techniques to meet the King of the North's requirements."
Someone laughed and said, "That's normal. They're not good at this anyway."
Mo Shi nodded. "Yes, unless their Ren and Du meridians are suddenly opened up, allowing them to incorporate their own specialties, they will eventually become just like everyone else. And His Majesty the King of the Northern Territory seems to be focusing on improving people's livelihoods, which is exactly what my Mo family specializes in. We should be able to do better than the Gongshu family. So, who would the King of the Northern Territory use in this situation?"
After he said this, his brothers and sisters around him suddenly realized that, yes, they were better at this.
Just when everyone was full of confidence, the young lady suddenly said, "But... we can't even see His Royal Highness the King of the North right now. Even if we want to do anything, it won't be easy. How can we let His Royal Highness the King of the North know that we are stronger than the Gongshu family?"
Yes, no matter how confident they are in themselves, as long as they don't see His Majesty the King of the North, they will never be able to achieve their goals.
Mo Shi nodded. "So, what we need to do is to try our best to see His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory. If we can't see him, then seeing the Prime Minister will also be fine. Prime Minister Huo is a gentle but upright man, and he won't be easily blinded by emotions."
In other words, compared to His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory, who has various legends about him, Huo Guang is more in line with the values of Mohism and is more like-minded.
It’s a pity that the Northern Border Kingdom is different from other vassal states. Here, the princes have the final say.
Mo Shi's junior fellow student asked, "Then, senior brother, what should we do now to attract the attention of the Prime Minister?"
Mo Shi said, "Find a way to buy a harvester."
Mo Shi's fellow apprentice was a little surprised: "Harvester? The Gongshu family is wary of us, probably worried that we might copy it. What a joke! Could it be that the Mo family is still short of a harvester?"
Mo Shi glanced at him lightly without saying anything. His junior brother was just being stubborn. If it was really possible, their Mo family wouldn't be too particular about it. So what if it was a copy? As long as it could gain a higher reputation, it didn't matter.
The Mohist school was indeed not like this originally, but now the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans... the Mohist school has fallen into vulgarity. If it does not adapt, who knows what it will become?
He shook his head and said, "It's not an imitation, but an improvement. How can a simple imitation truly embody the methods of our Mohist school?"
If it was Gongshujia's stuff, they would just take it. There was nothing they wouldn't dare to do to bully Gongshujia. But now, it was not only Gongshujia that people were talking about, but also the King of the North.
And in the mouths of the people, Gongshu Jia was just an assistant to the King of the North, and it was the King of the North who actually did these things.
Mo Shi didn't dare to risk offending the King of the Northern Territory by imitating the product. Not to mention him, even the head of the Mo family didn't dare to do that.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is to try our best to improve the existing agricultural tools and let the King of the North see their value.
Unfortunately, the harvester that is easiest to improve does not seem to be easy to buy.
Mo Shi thought for a moment and said, "If I can't buy a harvester, I'll just buy a Northern Plow."
Which one of these improvements isn't an improvement? The harvester is pretty much in use now, so even if it's improved, we'll have to wait until next year to see the results. The Northern Plow, on the other hand, will be available next spring, or we can test it on any plot of land we have now. Thinking about it this way, the Northern Plow is easier.
Mo Shi said, "We've been strolling around the city with Gongshu Yi for the past two days. If everything goes well, we might have to stay here. I heard that houses in the northern capital aren't very expensive. If we have the chance, we'll buy one first."
Everyone nodded. Although the post house was well built, it was not as comfortable as their own house. Especially for them, the mechanical engineers, they carried some small tools with them, and there were even larger tools in their luggage, which were not convenient to leave in the post house.
While Mo Shi was discussing how to settle down with his fellow junior brothers and sisters, Liu Tan was also discussing them.
However, Liu Tan did not discuss this with Gongshu and his son, but with Jiang Chong.
Not only that, the two of them even started playing chess to show off their elegance.
Liu Tan looked at Jiang Chong and asked, "Do you really want to play chess with me?"
Jiang Chong smiled and said, "It's a rare day off. I couldn't find a chess friend in the whole city. I can only ask Your Highness to play a few games with me."
Liu Tan sneered: "I'm afraid you'll regret it."
Jiang Chong was somewhat surprised: "Your Highness is so proficient in this art? I have never heard of it before!"
Liu Tan raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you really bad at chess, so you want to find someone who can't play chess to bully?"
Jiang Chong waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, how dare I think of Your Highness like that? Come on, Your Highness, play black."
Liu Tan picked up a black chess piece with his index and middle fingers and decisively placed it in the lower right corner closest to him.
Jiang Chong's hand holding the white chess piece suddenly froze there. He looked at Liu Tan suspiciously, then at the chessboard. For a moment, he even doubted whether he had made all the mistakes in his previous chess moves.
He asked hesitantly, "Your Highness... do you want to get off there?"
Liu Tan raised an eyebrow: "Why? No?"
Jiang Chong looked at Liu Tan's confident look and hesitantly placed the white chess piece at the star position.
Liu Tan quickly placed a piece next to the black chess piece. The more Jiang Chong looked at it, the more confused he became. He became more hesitant in his moves and spent more and more time thinking.
Liu Tan didn't rush him. He was so bored waiting that he even started playing with the chess pieces in his hand.
Jiang Chong was in a daze, and suddenly he heard Liu Tan shout, "I won!"
Jiang Chong: ???
He hadn't even made his fifth move yet, so how did he win?
Although Jiang Chong couldn't understand Liu Tan's purpose, he could still tell the winner. How could he tell the winner now?
Jiang Chong looked up at Liu Tan in shock and asked, "Your Highness? How did you win?"
Liu Tan stretched out his hand and swiped the chessboard: "Five in a row, I won, right?"
Jiang Chong: ?????
He took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, please don't joke with me."
Although you are the King in the North, you can't act recklessly!
Liu Tan raised his eyebrows: "Do you have any questions?"
Jiang Chong was about to say something when he saw Liu Tan lean forward slightly, staring at him intently and asking, "Don't you know who my grandfather is?"
Your grandfather? Isn't your grandfather the Emperor Xiaojing? Who wouldn't know that?
Jiang Chong's thoughts were completely messed up after Liu Tan did this to him.
Liu Tan nodded: "It seems that you know, so... do you have any objection to my victory?"
Jiang Chong was not stupid. He immediately thought about the relationship between Emperor Jing and Go. Then a light bulb went off in his head, and he suddenly realized that there was indeed a connection.
Emperor Jing was playing chess with his cousin. One was the son of the emperor and the other was the son of a prince. Both of them had developed spoiled personalities in their families. They started fighting over a disagreement over the moves. Emperor Jing picked up the chessboard and hit his cousin with the head.
The cousin who had his head cut open naturally died, so his father hated Liu Qi deeply. In addition, the princes had considerable power in their fiefdoms at that time, so he rebelled.
After Jiang Chong figured it out, he realized that Liu Tan was talking about the incident where Emperor Jing hit someone with a chessboard. He was a little amused and confused. The threat from his prince was quite subtle.
But they are playing Liubo, not Go!
What should you do if your boss cheats on you while playing chess and threatens to hit you with the chessboard?
Jiang Chong could only reluctantly admit defeat: "I lose."
Liu Tan laughed out loud: "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Gobang also has this way of playing. It's much simpler than Go. I don't know Go, so I can only play Gobang."
Jiang Chong looked unconvinced: "How come I haven't heard of this?"
Liu Tan raised his eyes and glanced at him: "There are many things you haven't heard of."
Jiang Chong thought about it and it seemed to make sense. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Then how do you play Gobang?"
Liu Tan explained the rules of Gobang and said, "Isn't it simple?"
Jiang Chong couldn't help but wonder: "It's really simple." He laughed and said, "Wait until I get back and play a game with the Prime Minister."
"Prime Minister? The Prime Minister would only think you're boring!" Liu Tan finished his rant and said, "Alright, I'll stop arguing with you. How's the interrogation going with those Xiongnu people? Have you found out where Wu Shilu is?"
Jiang Chong's expression turned serious. "Not yet. It is said that they and Wu Shilu split up into two groups. When they encountered the Mo disciples, Wu Shilu was not with them."
Liu Tan knocked on the white jade table and said, "Wu Shilu brought more than a dozen people with him, and he actually split his forces into two groups. What on earth is he planning to do?"
Jiang Chong didn't say anything. At this point, he really couldn't figure out Wu Shilu's purpose.
Liu Tan said helplessly, "Forget it. Let's just keep everyone on guard. By the way, how skilled are the Mo disciples? They only have a few more than the Huns. How did they capture them?"
Jiang Chong said, "According to the Xiongnu, these Mo disciples are indeed quite skilled and good at riding. But the most important thing is that they seem to have some kind of automatic weapon in their hands. There are tiny holes on the wrists and ankles of these Xiongnu, as fine as cow hair, which are invisible unless you look closely."
Liu Tan understood: "No wonder, this makes sense. By the way, what have the Mo disciples been doing recently?"
Jiang Chong said, "A few days ago, they asked Gongshu Yi to take them on a tour of the capital, then bought a northern plow and locked themselves up in the courtyard of the posthouse. They have their meals delivered to them three times a day, and they've been locked up there for several days."
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