Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 402: Establishment of the Metallurgical Bureau, Zhen's Disaster
The Mohist school began to decline after the Spring and Autumn Period. During the most difficult times, its inheritance was almost cut off and there were only a few disciples.

On the other hand, among other schools of thought, Confucianism has become the mainstream. The vast majority of scholars in the world are disciples of Confucianism. Others, such as Legalism, Taoism, and Military Science, also have many disciples. Even the most inconspicuous novelist is very popular among the people.

Only the Mohist school had an extremely difficult time surviving.

Therefore, after becoming a leader of the Mohist school, Meng Yang has been thinking about the reasons for the decline of the Mohist school, because as a leader, he has the responsibility and obligation to make the Mohist school prosperous again.

After studying for so long, he finally discovered why Mohism declined - it was because there were too few people who could accept their ideas.

The rites, laws and morals advocated by Confucianism can restrain the people; the strict laws and punishments advocated by Legalism are indispensable to the country; and the military strategy of the military strategists is the source of a country's military power.

Taoist thought is of no benefit to the country, but the pursuit of immortality and longevity attracts countless people; medicine and farming are inseparable from our life.

Each family played a vital role in the imperial court and the people, so they were able to develop and never be cut off.

And the most important point is that their concepts and functions are separate.

Take the Legalists as an example. The Legalists hoped that the court would enforce strict laws and use torture to scare the people so that they would not dare to commit crimes.

But the imperial court would not adopt such an idea because it was too cruel. The imperial court would only employ the children of the Legalists to formulate the laws needed by the court.

If that’s the case, then why can’t they, the Mohists, do the same?

His Mohist school mastered various technologies and had profound attainments in smelting, machinery, mathematics, etc. They were also very useful to the court.

As long as they do not blindly promote the ideas of "universal love" and "non-aggression", but give full play to the areas in which Mohism excels, they, the Mohists, can also be reused.

Although this approach is inconsistent with the philosophy that his Mohist school has always upheld, the most important thing is to keep the Mohist school going.

This is also the reason why Meng Yang chose to agree rather than refuse when he knew that the emperor was interested in their Mohist technology.

After listening to Meng Yang's words, Liu Xie looked at him deeply, nodded and said: "Master, you are indeed an extraordinary person. The Mohist School will surely be revived because of you!"

"I want to establish a metallurgical bureau and recruit a group of skilled craftsmen to specialize in technical research. Would you be willing to bring the disciples of the Mohist School to join us?"

This generation of Mohist masters was not as pedantic as previous generations, which surprised Liu Xie a little, but it was a good thing.

The Mohist school’s sophisticated mechanical techniques are one thing, but more importantly, the Mohist school has a unique spirit of innovation and research. These two things are the most important.

This is the gap between ordinary craftsmen and Mo Men's disciples.

Meng Yang bowed slightly. He did not rush to agree, but asked first: "May I ask your Majesty, what are the main responsibilities of the Metallurgical Bureau?"

Liu Xie said bluntly: "The main task is to study smelting and machinery, train craftsmen, and build military equipment. It is not under the jurisdiction of anyone other than me."

"In addition, you can also invent and research some tools on your own, whether for the army or for the people. As long as they are useful, I will reward you handsomely."

"You can even be crowned a marquis for your invention."

Liu Xie made a big promise to Meng Yang on the spot.

Of course, this is not a big deal. As long as these Mohist disciples can really come up with inventions that satisfy him, rewards and titles are inevitable.

"A, a title of nobility?"

The Mohist disciples behind Meng Yang were stunned when they heard this. Since ancient times, there were only three ways to obtain a title: either through inheritance from ancestors, by becoming an official, or by military merit.

But the emperor actually allowed them to obtain titles based on their inventions?
And he was even given a title of nobility!
Even Meng Yang did not expect that the emperor would make such a generous promise. Not only did he give them great autonomy, but he also gave them a way to obtain the title!

This was something we would never have dared to think about before!

Meng Yang felt that any hesitation on his part would be disrespectful to the emperor, so he leaned forward and said, "I, the Mo family, am willing to join the Metallurgical Bureau!"

His intuition told him that if he did not join the Metallurgical Bureau, he would definitely regret it for the rest of his life.

The Mohist School will also lose its best opportunity to prosper!
Those Mohist disciples were originally somewhat dissatisfied with Meng Yang's willingness to accept the imperial court's mission, but at this moment all these dissatisfactions disappeared completely.

Well, there is no shame in making a living by your own ability.

I don’t think the ancestors would blame them.

Besides, there is no conflict between making a living and promoting Mohist ideas. There is nothing that can be done if the emperor does not accept their ideas.

"good."

Liu Xie smiled and said, "Then the Metallurgical Bureau will be handed over to you, Master. I will also select a group of skilled craftsmen to join us. Please don't be stingy with your teachings."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Meng Yang said with a firm look.

The techniques of their Mohist school have always been regarded as strange and unorthodox skills and unorthodox practices, but the emperor attaches so much importance to these techniques that he has specially selected people for him to teach. This is the perfect opportunity for their Mohist school to develop disciples!
So how could he not want to?

After successfully recruiting Meng Yang, a great figure in the Mohist school, Liu Xie asked him to withdraw and went back early to gather the other Mohist disciples together.

"This way, the Metallurgical Bureau's manpower problem will be solved."

A stone in Liu Xie's heart finally fell to the ground.

Because the Metallurgical Bureau is not only used to replace Zhen's functions, but his planning is also related to various future research and development.

He had the idea of ​​setting up a smelting bureau a long time ago, and this time it just happened to be possible to complete the task.

Next, we just have to wait for Fa Zheng to come back from Wuji County after checking the Zhen family’s accounts. Then we can start to take back the financial power.

……

After returning from the palace, Meng Yang summoned all the Mohist disciples to Yecheng, about several hundred people.

To be honest, this number is not that large. Unlike other schools of thought that have disciples all over the world, the Mohist school only has these few disciples left.

Of course, talent is more valuable in terms of quality rather than quantity, and these hundreds of Mohist disciples are enough.

Liu Xie ordered a piece of land to be specially designated in the southern suburbs of Yecheng as the temporary headquarters of the Metallurgical Bureau, and selected a group of skilled old craftsmen and talented young craftsmen to join the Metallurgical Bureau to learn.

The Metallurgical Bureau was not under the jurisdiction of any department, but was directly responsible to the emperor by Meng Yang, in order to ensure its independence and autonomy to the greatest extent possible.

The Ordnance Inspectorate was quite dissatisfied with this. They felt that the Metallurgical Bureau had taken away their jobs and that it would be better if they were left to the research and development of technology.

In fact, this is not the case. As the Ordnance Inspectorate has developed to this day, their thinking patterns and systems have been established, and it is difficult to innovate on the original technology.

It's okay to let them be responsible for mass production, but forget about research and development.

The Metallurgical Bureau is newly established, with the participation of Mohist disciples and its independence guaranteed, so its development potential will be much higher than that of the Ordnance Inspectorate.

At the same time, the imperial envoy team sent by Liu Xie to thoroughly investigate the accounts of the Zhen family also arrived in Wuji County.

Due to the heavy snow during this period, the journey was very difficult and it took more than half a month to get there.

The Zhen family had already learned about the arrival of the imperial envoys, so they sent their clansmen out of the city to welcome them early.

Ten miles outside Wuji County.

The elders of the Zhen family stood in the snow, and when they saw the carriage approaching not far away, they all perked up.

The carriage stopped in front of the welcoming team. The curtain of one of the carriages was lifted, and Zhen Yi walked out of it. He walked to the middle carriage and said with a smile: "Censor Fa, you must have worked hard on this journey."

"It's still early now, why don't you go to my Zhen's house and have a seat, so that I can show my hospitality as a host?"

This time he followed the imperial envoy's team back to Wuji County on the pretext of assisting in the audit, and he was also the one who informed the clan of the news in advance, so the Zhen family sent people to wait here.

But the curtain of the carriage was not opened. Only Fa Zheng's indifferent voice was heard from inside: "Thank you for your kindness, Master, but I have an imperial decree to follow and I'm sorry I can't obey your order."

"Master, you should go back to your house and have a rest. I will visit you tomorrow. I hope Master Zhen can prepare all the accounts so that I can check them."

After saying this, the team continued to move forward towards the post station.

Looking at the black carriage slowly passing by in front of him, Zhen Yi still kept a smile on his face, and the smile slowly disappeared after the carriage went away.

Then a gloomy look appeared.

The elder of the third family came forward and asked, "Master, what happened? Why did the emperor suddenly send someone to check the accounts?"

They were all shocked when they heard the news.

Auditing is no small matter.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"Let's talk about it when we get back."

Zhen Yi said this in a deep voice, then boarded the carriage and headed towards Wuji County with a group of Zhen clan members.

The carriage went its separate ways from Fa Zheng's.

……

After returning to the mansion, Zhen Yi dismissed all the servants and discussed matters with the elders of the Zhen family in the hall. The topic of discussion was naturally the matter of the emperor sending people to check the accounts.

Everyone in the hall focused their attention on Zhen Yi, who took a sip of tea and then said slowly, "Something happened."

This one sentence shocked everyone.

The second clan elder asked first: "Something happened? What happened? Is it that His Majesty does not agree to let you stay in Wuji County?"

"But what does this have to do with sending an imperial envoy to check the accounts?"

He couldn't figure out the connection between the two, let alone what the emperor of Yecheng was thinking.

Zhen Yi sighed and said, "It has nothing to do with this matter. His Majesty also agreed to let you return to Yecheng after giving birth to the dragon heir in Wuji County."

"The problem lies with the batch of relief supplies we intercepted."

On the second day after he left the palace, he received news that the emperor was going to send someone to check his Zhen family's accounts, and he certainly understood what this order meant.

The emperor is unhappy.

Their deliberate act of withholding relief supplies caused the emperor's dissatisfaction, so he sent people to check the accounts.

But it is not known whether the investigation is specifically into the accounts of this disaster relief supplies or all the accounts of the Zhen family.

"I just said this won't work!"

The elder of the fourth clan was shocked upon hearing this, and angrily said to the elder of the second clan: "Disaster relief is something that your majesty attaches great importance to. How can you tamper with this matter?"

"Now that something's wrong, okay? Look at the good idea you came up with!"

It was the elders of the second branch who originally proposed this suggestion, so that His Majesty could see the "importance" of the Zhen family and choose to intercept this batch of supplies.

As a result, this matter has become a big deal now!
The second clan elder's face turned pale when he heard this: "When I first proposed this solution, you agreed to it. Now that something went wrong, you blame me alone?"

"Do you still have any shame?"

The elder of the Third House said, "If you hadn't proposed this idea, would we have agreed? And putting aside the facts, aren't you right?"

The second clan elder was speechless after hearing this and almost fainted from anger.

"Okay, stop arguing!"

Zhen Yi couldn't stand it any longer, and slammed the table to stop the quarrel among the elders. Then he sighed and said, "This matter can be big or small. It's not as serious as you think."

"Your Majesty is simply dissatisfied with what we did this time, so he sent people to warn us. We just need to honestly admit our guilt, hand over the supplies, and make up any excuse to live in peace. Your Majesty will not pursue the matter too much."

"My main concern is your Majesty's attitude. If your Majesty is not only investigating the intercepted relief supplies, but all the accounts, this matter will be very serious."

"That means His Majesty may no longer want us, the Zhen family, to continue to control the finances."

"So we must handle this matter properly and carefully, and not offend His Majesty again."

"Where is that batch of disaster relief supplies now?"

The Zhen family has controlled the financial power for such a long time, and I don't know how much benefit they have gained from it. It can be said that they have made a fortune.

If the emperor doesn't care about it, then everything will be fine. But if he does, then the crime will be shockingly serious!
After the words fell, the hall suddenly became quiet.

Seeing this, Zhen Yi frowned and said, "Why are you all silent? Now we have to find a way to calm His Majesty and hand over the supplies quickly."

The elders' eyes flickered, and they all remained silent.

Zhen Yi was slightly stunned when he saw this, then he reacted instantly, his eyes widened and he asked, "Have you, have you already swallowed up that batch of supplies?!"

The elder of the Third Branch coughed lightly and said, "We didn't swallow it all, just a little bit... By the way, we also gave a portion to your First Branch."

"You guys are crazy!!"

Zhen Yi was so angry that he threw the fine porcelain tea bowl in his hand, slammed the table and said, "This batch of disaster relief supplies will be handed over in the end no matter what. We are just temporarily intercepting them. How dare you embezzle them!"

"Have you forgotten His Majesty's attitude towards land occupation during the last land reclamation policy? Do you know what the consequences of doing so are?!"

"You idiots!"

Zhen Yi almost wanted to curse at this moment. It took two months to prepare this batch of relief supplies, and now it had been swallowed up!
What can he hand over?

Zhen Yi was so angry that his face turned blue, and he shouted angrily: "I don't care what you do, you must get this batch of supplies back to me as soon as possible!"

"That's too late."

The Second House Elder shook his head and said, "This batch of materials has already been resold and distributed to businesses in various states."

"Now that it is winter, these supplies are in short supply everywhere, especially woolen clothes, shoes and hats, which are extremely popular and sell very quickly."

“It’s impossible to get it back.”

After hearing this, Zhen Yi felt his eyes go dark and he fainted.

"Master! Master, what's wrong with you?!"

"Call someone! Call a doctor!"

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(End of this chapter)