The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 60: The Clever Gongshu Chou
Gongshu Chou said: "Yes, most of the Mo Xia are brave and aggressive. We craftsmen are certainly no match for them."

"But Mozi was a true wise man. In the end, Mozi personally took the murderer to Gongshu's house to apologize, and explained the whole story to the Moxia. The Moxia committed suicide out of shame."

"Afterwards, Mozi summoned all his disciples and told them that his skills in mechanical engineering were not as good as Gongshuzi's. He also strictly ordered that no one should attack Gongshujia, otherwise they would be expelled from the Mohist school. Mozi also passed down the secret of this matter to the great masters from generation to generation, so that before the truth came out, the Mohist knights would be restrained from attacking Gongshujia. Only then did the matter come to an end."

"But even if Mozi admits that he is not as good as the founder Gongshuzi, Mozi's disciples and the people of the world only think that this is Mozi's humble words. The story of Mozi saving Song has long been spread all over the world, and everyone is praising it. The winner and loser are already clear. Everyone recognizes that Mozi is stronger. As long as the truth is not revealed, Mozi's disciples will inevitably show off this matter and belittle the founder. The fight will never stop."

"No one can do anything about this situation. Under the control of the two leaders, we can only tacitly focus on the mechanical arts to reduce casualties."

"After so many years of arguing, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong anymore."

"The important thing is, who is better at mechanical engineering? We have been arguing about it until now, but there is still no consensus."

Gongshu said with hatred: "The most hateful thing is that even if the Mohist disciples can't compare with us in mechanical arts, they will still use the ancestor to make things worse, and we Gongshus can't refute it!"

Ying Zheng sighed and consoled him, "Gongshujia has indeed been wronged for too long. One day, I will definitely restore Gongshujia's reputation for benevolence and righteousness."

Gongshu Chou bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, sir."

"By the way, Zheng heard that Mr. Gongshu's original name was Feiqiu, and he changed his name to Qiu when he took over as the head of the Gongshu family. He vowed to defeat the Mohist school and avenge his ancestors. If this is the case, why did he change his name?"

Gongshu Chou was ashamed when he heard this: "This is the name I changed when I succeeded as the head of the family at the family meeting. I was young and hot-headed. Later, the elders in the family told me about it. But it is not easy to change it back. I can only let it go."

Ying Zheng smiled and said, "I see."

Without further ado, he continued, "Now the time has not come. Although Zheng cannot restore the name of Gongshujia, there is a great merit that will benefit the people of the world. Let Gongshujia do it. If it is spread out, it will surely make Gongshujia praised by the world."

Gongshu Chou was shocked and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Ying Zheng took out a piece of paper and handed it to Gongshu Chou to look at: "Mr. Gongshu, please look at this. If I write with this, what do you think?"

Gongshu Chou took it and examined it carefully, praising it: "This thing is light, white, smooth and clean. It is an excellent medium for writing, even better than bamboo slips or silk."

"I just don't know how much this thing costs? If the cost is low, it will really benefit the world. The world will definitely be inseparable from this thing in the future."

Ying Zheng nodded in satisfaction. As expected, anyone with insight could see how valuable this item was. He said, "Sir, you've hit the point."

"This thing is called 'paper'. The method of making it was given by the black bird in Zheng's dream some time ago. Although the production is complicated, the cost is not high. Zheng has now handed it over to the Mo family to make it. This is the first batch of paper, which has been made. Now the Mo family is improving the process, trying to optimize the process and reduce the cost. It is almost complete."

Gongshu Chou was extremely shocked when he heard this, and could not help asking, "Sir, you said that the method of making this thing was taught by Xuanniao?"

Ying Zheng nodded, "That's right. Zheng practices Taoism every day and never dreams. One day, he suddenly dreamed of a ten-foot-long black bird speaking human words, saying that it was commanded by heaven to offer Zheng a technique to benefit the people of the world, which was this papermaking technique. Zheng woke up from the dream and found that everything in the dream was as fresh as memory. So he asked Mr. Xiangli Sheng of the Mohist Xiangli family to try it. Sure enough, this method can really be achieved." Gongshu Chou knelt down hurriedly and said, "My lord is really a man of heaven. My lord is a man of heaven. I really don't know what to say. I, Gongshu Jia, am willing to serve you. Gongshu Jia can also make this paper."

"Gongshujia is willing to follow you and serve you like a dog or a horse. I beg you to agree to my request."

Ying Zheng admired in his heart: "What a smart man. It's comfortable to deal with smart people. As expected, there are no fools among the heads of the family."

Ying Zheng hurried forward and helped Gongshu Chou up, pretending to be unhappy: "Sir, why do you have to perform such a great ceremony? Get up quickly. Zheng invited you to come here because I trust Gongshu Chou and want Gongshu Chou's help to benefit the people of the world together."

Gongshu Chou's eyes were filled with tears, and he said excitedly: "Thank you, young master! Everyone thinks that Gongshujia is greedy and has no morals, but this is really a misunderstanding of Gongshujia. Gongshujia does not like military fighting, but sometimes he is really helpless. The ancestor Gongshuzi is a very benevolent and righteous person who cares about the people. Gongshujia is carrying on the will of his ancestors. If he can do something for the people of the world now, it would be a great honor!"

"Sir, please grant me this kindness. I will be grateful to you on your behalf!"

Ying Zheng smiled and nodded, asked Gongshu Chou to sit down, and said: "I am relieved that you have this in mind, sir."

"The production of paper has been handed over to the Mo family, and there have been achievements. It is inconvenient to hand it over to others. However, there is something that the government needs the help of Gongshu to make."

Gongshu Chou was anxious, but he still said, "Please tell me, sir. I will do my best."

Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Mr. Gongshu, the Great Qin naturally needs the domineering mechanical art, but it cannot be exchanged for a reputation for benevolence and righteousness. This item can improve the reputation of the Gongshu family in recent years."

"After Zheng learned the art of papermaking from a black bird in his dream, a few days later, the black bird came to him again in his dream, saying that since there was paper to write on, there needed to be books to learn from. Since copying by humans was inconvenient, the black bird came to him to offer him a method of making books, which was the art of printing, called movable type printing."

Gongshu Chou was stunned and asked, "Sir, what is this movable type printing?"

Ying Zheng explained it in detail to Gongshu Chou. The movable type printing technology was not complicated. Gongshu Chou was a talented craftsman and understood it immediately.

Some science and technology are like this, just a layer of window paper, but it takes too many coincidences to break through this layer of paper.

Gongshu Chou now understood what Ying Zheng meant, and asked tentatively, "So, sir, do you mean to let Gongshujia be in charge of the movable type printing technology?"

Ying Zheng nodded: "That's right. In the future, you will be responsible for movable type printing and printing books, and the Mohists will only be responsible for producing paper."

Gongshu Chou replied, "I understand."

Gongshu Chou felt somewhat unwilling in his heart. This printing technology was obviously not as important as paper, and the reputation it would spread would certainly not be as great as that of Mohism. However, it was not bad either. From now on, all books would be produced by Gongshujia, which would be enough to change the world's view of Gongshujia and make Gongshujia's reputation even higher.

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(End of this chapter)