The big man has a living father

Chapter 48 For Dignity
Dong Zhongshu and others took the prince across the river. Before Huo Hai had time to greet the prince, he heard Dong Zhongshu say, "Master Huo, your recent behavior has caused the Confucian scholars of the world to lose their original intentions and indulge in trivial ways."

Huo Hai looked up at Dong Zhongshu: "Me? What did I do?"

Dong Zhongshu: "Of course, idioms, two-part allegorical sayings, and modern poetry."

Huo Hai smiled and said, "I didn't force anyone. They just wanted to do it."

Dong Zhongshu: "This is absolutely not voluntary. Just like more than 10,000 Huns digging coal for you, you can also say that they are willing to dig coal for you. This is not convincing."

Huo Hai retreated tactically: "You said that I cheated scholars, which is fine. I never thought about having a good reputation. But you said that I forced and oppressed the labor force, then I won't admit it!"

If this is written in history books, we will be scolded for who knows how many thousands of years!
Dong Zhongshu: "If we don't admit it, then it's not true?"

Huo Hai: "You said I forced them, okay, then let's go and see!"

Liu Ju looked left and right, not knowing what to do.

You have to know that Liu Ju was almost eight years old, not young anymore. In some poor families, children would become the head of the family at the age of eight.

However, Liu Ju was not that smart, so he was a little stupid.

So I don’t understand the current situation.

But Huo Hai knew what the current situation was.

This guy Dong Zhongshu must be picking on himself because all his disciples who were translating scriptures were busy filling in idioms, which slowed down the translation progress.

But Dong Zhongshu didn't just find fault right away, he found other faults.

This set of skills will be frequently used by future censors, as it is what Confucianism is most proficient in.

Honestly speaking, if a lawyer from later generations were to argue with them under the feudal system, he would most likely be defeated, and might even be attacked to the point of social death.

But Huo Hai is not afraid of criticism.

"Come on, Prince, get in the car."

When Huo Hai came, Xiang Xu had already crossed the river to inform him in advance, and the post station along the way sent a new carriage pulled by a good horse.

They had already lit sandalwood, started a fire, and even put some food there.

This is the current standard package for business receptions in coal mines.

Huo Hai started eating as soon as he got in the car.

When Liu Ju saw there was food, he was very happy and started eating right away.

After Dong Zhongshu got into the car, he began to look at the interior of the car.

It’s a very simple configuration, but the style is completely different from before.

The key point is that what is used here is not a couch, nor a cushion, nor a small seat, nor a backrest, but a very high and flat bridge box to sit on, with armrests and a backrest.

After sitting down, my legs felt much more comfortable.

How can I not feel comfortable? Spread your legs, relax completely, and let yourself go.

Shi Qing sighed: "Indecent, indecent."

There were no crotch-covering pants in this era. If you sat like this, as long as the hem of your skirt slipped a little and your inner skirt slipped a little more, your real thing would be visible, so everyone knelt instead of sitting up.

The purpose is to press the hem of the skirt.

Huo Hai lifted up the hem of her skirt and picked her ears: "What's indecent about that?"

Dong Zhongshu stood up suddenly: "This is it!"

Sewing the crotch? This is a small step for Huo Hai, but a giant leap for human etiquette! An amazing step!

Huo Hai: “These are called pants.”

Pants have actually existed for a long time. It is much more practical for people who ride horses to wear pants than to cover themselves in front and back with two pieces of cloth.

The trousers were also changed when wearing Hu clothing and riding and shooting.

But for ordinary people, pants that are too thin are useless.

What they wore were still skirts and gowns, which were useless in winter. Common people could not compare with the children of rich families. At that time, the children of wealthy families would wear tube socks on their legs, which the ancients called "ku". Even wealthier families would put "wan" on the important part in the middle, which also gave rise to the term "dandy sons".

Dong Zhongshu: "I know you call this pants! I mean, how come your pants are..."

Huo Hai: "Sealed crotch? Is it related to dandy? As long as the textile technology is improved and the fabric does not slip, this is simple and could have been done long ago, but that's because no one has sewed these two pieces of cloth together."

The inertia of thinking is a terrible thing.

At this time, Dong Zhongshu's wrist was bumped, and Dong Zhongshu said, "Brother Shi, stop making trouble."

Shi Qing: "Mr. Dong!"

Dong Zhongshu turned around and found that the carriage was moving at a very fast speed!

Looking back, I realized I was already so far away from the river!

The carriage was running on the ground, but I didn't even feel it?! Is this still a carriage?
Huo Hai: "Don't ask about the carriage. I can tell you that pants can't make money, but carriages can."

Xiang Xu chuckled and said, "Sir, you can actually make money by lifting your crotch."

Huo Hai kicked Xiang Xu and said, "Go sit with Huangfu Hua. Is it okay for us scholars to say such uncivilized words?"

Xiang Xu had no choice but to go out and become the co-pilot.

...Soon, the car arrived at the first mining area.

Dong Zhongshu: "It took less than two hours to get to Tongguan. Although we stopped at your Tongguan Coal Mine's horse farm along the way and changed horses several times, this carriage is too fast."

Huo Hai laughed: "You call this fast? It will be fast only when the wooden tracks for the carriages are laid."

The wooden-track carriage was not fast enough. Only when the steam locomotive was developed could it be fast.

Hearing the words "wooden track carriage", Dong Zhongshu took a deep breath and said, "You still say you are not from the Mohist school."

Dong Zhongshu had a large collection of books at home. If there was any great Confucian scholar's home that had a complete set of Mohist scriptures, it would be Dong Zhongshu's.

The wooden track carriage is the unique skill of Mohism!

Huo Hai's mouth curled up: "Sure enough, the maker of the wooden track carriage is the descendant of Mohist school."

Huo Hai had only seen in a short video that there were wooden-track horse-drawn carriages in the pre-Qin period.

What is counterintuitive is that everyone thinks that rail transit is a thing of the late Qing Dynasty, but in fact it is not, it is a thing of the late Qin Dynasty!
The wooden-track carriage, including the tracks and the carriage, has been unearthed intact and was identified as a product of the Qin Dynasty.

It has not been too long since then, so the original craftsmanship must still be there. That is why when Huo Hai was recruiting customers, he specifically wrote a letter recruiting wooden-track carriage craftsmen.

But when the craftsman came, he didn't show much performance.

Huo Hai felt that the other party might have thought that he was a descendant of the Mohist school, and that was why they came, but ended up giving him a secret code that he didn't match.

Huo Hai: "Give me the book that records the wooden-track carriage."

Dong Zhongshu closed his eyes and did not answer.

Huo Hai: "I'll exchange it with a piece of white paper of equal weight."

Dong Zhongshu opened his eyes and his pupils trembled!
A book is worth a car!
According to the current market price, one cart of white paper would cost five carts of copper coins! That's hundreds of thousands of coins!
Huo Hai came closer: "And I also gave you the ink that matches the white paper and can write words as small as those on bamboo slips."

There is a problem with the ink nowadays. Although Huo Hai's white paper is of high quality, the words must at least be the size of a fingernail.

In fact, the characters on the bamboo slips are only the size of soybeans.

Of course, Huo Hai made new ink and even Chinese ink based on the ink from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Faced with this temptation, Dong Zhongshu opened his mouth and was about to let go.

Because once he gets these two things, he will be able to take the lead in the translation competition!

Win one step at a time, win every step!

Seeing that Dong Zhongshu could no longer bear it, Shi Qing held Dong Zhongshu with his left hand and held the prince's hand with his right hand: "Your Highness, we have arrived. Let's get off the car."

Dong Zhongshu got off the car only after he was interrupted.

After the three got off the car, Shi Qing and Dong Zhongshu stopped thinking about anything else.

Because, a group of people dressed in black with murderous intent in their eyes were staring in this direction.

Even though it is so cold now, these people are shirtless, and they all have magical weapons that shine coldly in their hands!
One person looked over here, two people looked over here, everyone looked over here.

Everyone stared in the direction of the car.

No matter how much of a Gongyang Confucianist Dong Zhongshu and Shi Qing were, they were old men after all, and they hadn't actually seen a murderer for many years.

The last time Dong Zhongshu saw a murderer was when he was taken to the prison cell by his eldest disciple and met his roommate.

At this point, both of them froze.

At this moment, all the black people turned in this direction and raised their pickaxes and shovels.

It turned out that the pickaxes and shovels prevented them from kneeling down.

A group of people gathered together, knelt together and spoke something in the Xiongnu language.

The Yulin Guards stationed here saw this scene and heard what they said, but did not pay much attention to it.

A soldier standing next to him stood up and faced Huo Hai: "Hello, Chairman!"

All the Huns followed his lead and said, "Hello, Chairman!"

Huo Hai got out of the car and brushed off the dust on his clothes: "You should stand up to say hello to the chairman. Who told you to kneel down?"

The soldiers conveyed Huo Hai's words.

Huo Hai took out a large iron loudspeaker and shouted: "In the past, the Xiongnu masters did not treat you as human beings, but you have to treat yourself as human beings. You have to work hard to become a dignified Han Chinese."

All the miners shouted: "Become Han Chinese!"

……

A few miles away, a group of cavalry were galloping.

Cao Xiang: "Your Majesty, there is a noise! ​​In that direction! They are shouting... surrounding the Han people! The Xiongnu are about to launch a general attack, Your Majesty!"

Liu Che's face was blacker than coal and he waved his whip: "Go!"

----

Thanks to book friend apple.pie for the reward.

(End of this chapter)