My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 473 The Contemporary Mo Juzi?
Liu Rong still clearly remembers the scene when he first met the Grand Craftsman of the Imperial Household: Old Craftsman Qin.

At that time, Liu Rong handed a stack of equipment drawings that did not exist in this era to Qin the craftsman.

Seeing the pile of 'drawings' made of silk cloth, Old Craftsman Qin even criticized Liu Rong in his heart, saying that he was just like every other playboy who lived a life of luxury - extremely extravagant and had no idea of ​​being frugal!

But after seeing the contents on the drawing, Craftsman Qin was astonished.

Afterwards, Liu Rong began to gradually build up his prestige within the Shaofu with one blueprint after another.

——So much so that when he was named the crown prince, there were even rumors in Chang'an that Liu Rong was "not doing his job properly" and would definitely be a carpenter emperor in the future!
Nowadays, times have changed and the world has undergone tremendous changes.

It has only been five years since Liu Rong was appointed as the crown prince.

However, earth-shaking changes had already taken place inside the Shaofu.

In the beginning, it was ceramics that not only opened up a new source of income for the Shaofu, but also gained initial recognition from the Shaofu officials.

Later, the salt and iron production processes such as the salt drying method and blast furnace steelmaking method, as well as various instruments such as water wheels and triangular arrows, made the Shaofu completely impressed by Liu Rong's scientific and instrumental talents that "surpassed his time."

During this period, the Han Dynasty first government-managed rice, which completely stabilized the grain prices throughout the country - at least in Guanzhong, and there was almost no possibility of large fluctuations.

Food prices are stable, neither expensive nor cheap, and the basic lives of the grassroots people are guaranteed in the most solid and powerful way.

Then, there was the splitting of the Shaofu some time ago, which forced the originally huge and complicated Han Shaofu to be forcibly dismantled into several major parts.

——Chang'an Taicang was assigned by Liu Rong to the newly established Nine Ministers: Da Nong.

As the largest and most important strategic granary in Chang'an and even in Guanzhong, with the highest grain storage capacity, the fact that Taicang was assigned to Dayong undoubtedly made the Shaofu and his staff shudder with fear.

Next, the official grain camp that was supporting Taicang, together with the official salt and iron camps, were packaged and given to another newly established Nine Ministers' Office: the Chief of the Imperial Court.

At this point, the Shaofu completely lost the three major state-owned monopoly industries and markets of salt, iron, and grain.

Not finished yet.

The Shaofu also lost its East and West Weaving Rooms, and lost its most solid and reliable money printing machine in the past few decades.

That's right.

In this era when cloth is scarce and precious, weaving is equivalent to printing money.

As it lost one input item after another, the remaining part of the Shaofu became a relatively more professional central savings institution and light industrial production institution.

Among them, the most outstanding contribution was the unofficial equipment research institution established by Liu Rong in his own private garden: Bowang Garden.

——Lu Ban Garden.

"Back then, when I wanted to build the Luban Garden, everyone in and outside the court was excited."

Outside Luban Garden, not far from the Yulin Army camp in Bowang Garden.

Standing on a mound with his hands behind his back, overlooking the Bowang Garden which has changed a lot since its inception, Liu Rongru sighed, causing Kurikara beside him to hurriedly step forward.

Then Liu Rong continued, "All the ministers and officials in the court are calling on father: Don't let the crown prince get close to Mozi's teachings, don't let strange and lewd tricks pollute the mind of the crown prince of the Han Dynasty."

"Does Longli Hou still remember how my father dealt with the officials and ministers and how he warned me?"

Hearing this, Kurikara immediately bowed his head with a smile and responded, "The former Emperor Xiaojing told all the officials and ministers: Strange and lewd skills are the words of Confucianism."

"Since Emperor Taizu Gao established the Han Dynasty, our Han family has never used Confucianism to govern the country."

"Then, the late emperor warned Your Majesty: Mo Di's teachings dig into the foundations of the ancestral temple and the country, so you must be cautious!"

"Even if it is to be used, it can only be used for craftsmanship, not for governing a country..."

After he finished speaking, Kurikara did not forget to look up at Liu Rong, and then bowed again, quietly waiting for Liu Rong's next words.

——After Liu Rong was established as the crown prince, Li Cang, who was a relative of Liu Rong's mother, was first appointed as the magistrate of Bowang Garden.

Soon after, the Yulin and Huben schools were established, and Liu Rong appointed Li Cang as the captain of the Yulin school.

Later, the two schools of Yulin and Huben were promoted to Duwei, and were named Yulin Army and Huben Army.

At the same time, the Southern Army only retained its theoretical organization and was actually separated from the Imperial Guards. The Yulin Army and the Huben Army, together with the remaining Northern Army of the two Imperial Guards, were listed as the three Imperial Guards in Chang'an.

Compared with the Northern Army, which has eight colonels and a total of 16,000 excess staff, the two colonels of Yulin and Huben are undoubtedly still extremely immature in terms of personnel configuration, organization, combat experience, and military history.

Today, the Yulin Army, also known as the Yulin Duwei Department, has five schools under its jurisdiction: the Archery School, the Strong Crossbow School, the Giant Shield School, the Light Cavalry School, and the Suiying School.

The Huben Army was composed of five schools: Modao, Jiadun, Jiaqi, Youqi, and Suiying.

Like the Northern Army, they all had oversized colonels, each with four teams of Simas forming an extra-large colonel of 2,000 people.

And Kurikura was the former theoretical commander of the Yulin and Huben armies.

Last year, in the Hetao-Mayi War between the Han and the Xiongnu, Li Cang took up his post and went to the battlefield.

At the same time, the Huben and Yulin divisions under the name of Kurikara also each sent out Suiying school lieutenants to participate in the war, and made extremely outstanding contributions during the opening of the Hetao battlefield.

After the war, the captain of Suiying of the Yulin Army and the captain of Suiying of the Huben Army were both awarded first-class collective merit.

The two colonels were each granted the title of marquis, with a fief of 800 households; the deputy general and the Sima were granted the title of marquis of Guannei, with a fief of 100 households.

The two divisions had a total of 4,000 captains and lieutenants. They were first granted a unified first-level rank, and then the ranks were granted from one to three levels based on their individual contributions.

Starting with the soldiers, everyone received a reward starting from 50,000 coins, a considerable portion of which was discounted into various farm tools and cloth produced by the Shaofu.

Just for the post-war rewards for these two captains, the Shaofu allocated money and goods worth up to 120 million coins.

As the theoretical chief commander of these two colonels, the relative of the emperor, Li Cang, was also awarded the title of Marquis of Longli for his military merits and the title of relative of the emperor, with a fief of 4,126 households.

Now, Kurikara is even more honored as the chief duke of the dynasty, among the nine ministers!
Although he was no longer the commander of the Yulin Army and the Huben Army, nor was he the commander or person in charge of Shanglin Bowang Garden, when Liu Rong expressed his intention to inspect Bowang Garden, Li Cang volunteered to accompany him.

——Kurikura’s eventful life began in Bowang Garden.

Kurikara doesn't know what the future holds.

But at least now, looking at Bowang Garden in front of him, Kurikara felt that all his current wealth and glory came from here.

In the future, Kurikara may return to Bowangyuan.

It doesn't matter whether you are a minor official or just idle and enjoy a good life.

In short, Shanglin Bowang Garden has long been inextricably bound to the fate of Longli Hou Li Cang...

"Your Majesty, it has been a while since I last visited Old Qin."

“If he is still in such an impatient mood, I’m afraid that old Qin will act like a naughty boy when he sees Your Majesty today.” Hearing this, Liu Rong’s gaze was still on the vast and boundless Bowang Garden that stretched as far as the eye could see.

But he said jokingly: "That old man always has to say something to me."

"It's as if I have nothing to do all day, and I can come to Shanglin anytime I want."

"But then again - since the establishment of Luban Garden, Old Qin first served as the garden director, and then followed my imperial edict to recruit Mohists from all over the world to join Shanglin. It has been more than two years."

"Old Qin, the 'Han Mo giant', probably doesn't have time to spare, so he blames me for not visiting more often, right?"

Hearing this, Kurikara shook his head and laughed uncontrollably.

After a long while, he continued, "It is said that after becoming Mo Juzi, Old Qin seldom came home."

"I lock myself up in Luban Garden all day long, making earth-shattering noises at every turn, but no one is seen."

"Even those ink masters in Luban Garden, if they want to see this ink master, they have to wait for days and have good luck."

"I wonder what Old Qin has come up with in these days?"

Listening to Li Cang's complaints and grumblings about Old Qin, Liu Rong couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth in genuine joy.

——After the establishment of Lu Ban Garden, Liu Rong was the first to visit with gifts and asked the then old craftsman Qin to serve as the director of Lu Ban Garden.

The first time he visited, he was politely rejected by the old craftsman Qin, saying, "I am a craftsman in the Shaofu family, and I dare not refuse to serve you."

When he visited him for the second time, Liu Rong made it clear that Qin Laojiang could take on the position of Luban Garden Manager and it would not affect his original position. However, Qin Laojiang declined again on the grounds that he was "too old and weak to take care of both."

It was not until the third visit that Liu Rong revealed his true intentions. He said that he put forward his own guess, but in fact, he revealed Qin Laojiang's slash identity.

The successor of Qin Mo, the descendant of Xiangli's ink craftsmanship!

After Liu Rong revealed his identity, Qin Laojiang no longer concealed it and told the story of his past.

It was similar to Liu Rong's guess: During the Warring States Period, the Mohist School was divided into three parts. Xiang Liqin entered the Qin Shaofu as a chief architect;
A hundred years later, the ink of Qin Xiangli gradually integrated into the Qin Shaofu.

When the First Emperor unified the world, the Qin Mo branch of the Xiangli clan believed that "the great way had been achieved" and that there would be no more wars and conflicts in the world, so they resigned one after another and wanted to go around the world to help poor people.

But in the end, Emperor Qin Shi Huang used coercion and bribery to keep all these people in Qin Shaofu.

It was not until then that Mozi of Xiangli finally understood: no matter whether the world was unified or not, no matter whether the war was over or not, Mozi's theories and ideas would never be accepted by those in power.

Therefore, when the Second Emperor Hu Hai came to power, war broke out again and the Qin court fell into unprecedented chaos, a group of Xiangli clan painters, including Qin Laojiang, unanimously decided to leave Qin Shaofu and retire to the mountains.

It's just that the particularity of Mohist doctrine makes their "retreat" almost like walking naked on the street - they are afraid that others will not be able to recognize their origins.

Because according to the Mohist philosophy, Mohists should wear coarse linen and brown clothes, go barefoot or wear self-woven straw sandals, in order to "share the suffering of the world";
At the same time, as the only highly organized and disciplined academic organization among the Hundred Schools of Thought, the Mohist School does not allow any member, namely the Mohists, to own any private wealth.

Whether it was the surplus from farming or the copper coins picked up on the road, the Mohists had to and were willing to give them to the poor people to improve their difficult lives.

In addition, the Mohists would also set aside half a month to a month every year to live, eat, work and rest with the poorest and most miserable people they could meet.

Helping others to farm and carrying water for them are all part of the story.

What makes these Mohists "unable to hide" the most is that in the next half month to a month, they will do their best to solve the people's livelihood problems in this village or this mile.

For example, if the canal water is silted up, the people are organized to clear it;
For example, if someone is sick, they will raise money to buy medicine, find a doctor, or even treat the disease themselves.

When someone passes away, people are organized to mourn and hold the funeral together.

In a nutshell: inject the gene of "unity" into this village and this mile.

Such a group of people - such a group of people who cannot sit still, are independent and have highly recognizable behavior, no matter how remote and poor the place they hide in, it is difficult not to be picked out and recognized as "Mohists".

Therefore, after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, these Mohists of the Xiangli clan who had 'retired' came out again, either voluntarily or passively, either innocently or helplessly.

But not all of them entered the Han Shaofu.

Most of those who did not want to stay in Guanzhong or did not trust the Liu family went to Guandong.

It’s a pity that the saying is true: Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while oranges grown in the north of the Huai River are sour.

——The Mohists who went to Qi, even though no one taught or influenced them, somehow became "eloquent men", and continued the Qi school's tradition of Mohist debate by Xiangfu.

The Mohists who entered Wu and Chu also adapted to the local customs and soon became friends with the local heroes, calling themselves "heroes traveling the world". However, they soon indulged themselves in burning, killing, looting, and living a life of drunkenness and debauchery.

By the time Liu Rong met Master Qin, there were only fourteen craftsmen left in the Han Shaofu whose identities were clearly defined as "Xiangli's ink", including Master Qin.

Among them, twelve were descendants of Xiangli Zhimo, who served as Shaofu of the Han Dynasty in the early Han Dynasty.

Without exception, these people, like Mr. Qin, have the surname "Qin".

It is not to wear mourning for Qin, but to highlight the origin of "Qin Mo".

After laying all these secrets out, Master Qin rejected Liu Rong for the third time.

Because in Qin Laojiang's view, the fact that those in power cannot accept Mohist teachings has long been verified by history.

Therefore, instead of provoking these Mohists - the last remaining fragments of Xiangli's Mohism, Liu Rong might as well let them fend for themselves in the torrent of history.

But Liu Rong made it clear: Mohism cannot be destroyed.

Without my permission, the Mohist School cannot perish.

After that, since the establishment of Lu Ban Garden, Qin Laojiang became the director of Lu Ban Garden in public, and the "Prince's personal assistant Qin Moju" in secret.

Taking into account that among the three branches of Mohism, the remaining Qi and Chu branches have virtually disappeared, it is natural for Liu Rong to regard Qin Laojiang as the great master of the contemporary Mohist school.

Then, magical things began to happen.

——To date, in just five years, the number of Mohists in Lu Ban Garden has increased dramatically from the original fourteen to two hundred and seventeen!
In addition, there are several times more apprentices, that is, the "quasi-Mohists" who are in the probation period, and have become the reserve force of the Mohist School!

In the past five years, all of these people, without exception, have been immersed in Luban Garden, promoting one national top-secret project after another for Liu Rong.

Liu Rong couldn’t count how many projects there were;

Liu Rong couldn't remember how much had been completed and how much had been put on hold.

Today, Liu Rong came to Luban Garden in order to take away a project from the countless projects in Luban Garden that may not be mature but will definitely amaze the world.

Of course, before "taking away" the project, Liu Rong still needs to carefully examine the progress of the project.

(End of this chapter)