A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Li Yuan's expression changed; he was still young and lacked the shrewdness he would later develop.

He is, after all, Yang Jian's nephew. The Li family of Longxi is a prominent family in the area. Even if they are not among the top families in the entire Daqian Dynasty, they are still among the first-class families.

Li Yuan was destined for an official career, and his visit to the Imperial Academy was merely a means to enhance his resume and expand his network of connections.

But what do you, Yang Jian, mean by sending me to the Mo Sect? Do you want me to become a craftsman?

"Don't misunderstand."

Li Yuan's change in expression naturally did not escape Yang Jian's notice.

"I visited the Prince of Yan's residence a few days ago, and the Prince of Yan took me to see the workshops outside the city."

"After entering, I realized how shallow my knowledge was. In the future, the mechanical arts of the Mo Sect and the Gongshu Sect will definitely be a force that can change the world."

Even someone as noble as the Prince of Yan acknowledged this.

"Therefore, I requested in the court to separate the chief craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department from the chief craftsmen of the Imperial Workshop and establish a separate department called the Directorate of Works."

"The purpose of the future supervisory authority is to control the development of the entire country in terms of mechanical technology."

"This matter is extremely important and will be classified as the tenth of the Nine Ministers."

"Even if one doesn't become one of the Tenth Ministers, the Directorate of Works is still a position with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

"However, generals do not understand governance, and officials who understand governance do not understand technology. If you are willing to learn the mechanical arts of the Mo School, you do not need to be proficient, just understand them."

"You, who are skilled in both governance and mechanical arts, are the best candidate for the new Tenth Minister."

Li Yuan was taken aback; he hadn't expected that the Prince of Yan would be involved.

That's the Prince of Yan, the number one king in the land, even above the emperor.

If you are a citizen, you will see me as a frog in a well looking at the moon in the sky.

If you were an official, you would see me as a mayfly seeing the blue sky.

As for whether Yang Jian would lie to him, he had no doubt about that.

The two families are close relatives after all; it's unlikely that they have any grudges against each other.

To put it bluntly, Yang Jian is destined to reach the pinnacle in the future, and he is not worthy of being schemed against by Yang Jian like this.

This was a huge gamble for him.

If you win the bet, you will rise to the top echelons of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Having lost the gamble, and having received a Mohist education instead of a complete political education, he would almost certainly ruin his career.

In the end, Li Yuan chose to take a gamble.

He was the third son in his family, and even though the eldest son died young, he had an older brother who inherited all the family's political assets.

With the power of their family, it was impossible for both brothers to rise to the central government.

If he wants to achieve something, this olive branch is the best opportunity.

"I do."

"it is good."

Yang Jian smiled and nodded. This department was so important that it naturally needed to be in the hands of a trustworthy person.

Relatives are naturally among them.

"You don't have a place to stay in the capital yet, do you? Just stay at my residence. I'll arrange everything for you at the Imperial Academy. You can go to the Imperial Academy to study without worry tomorrow."

"There's one more thing. The current Crown Prince of Wei is teaching at the Imperial Academy. His name is Wei Hao. You should attend his classes more often."

Li Yuan's eyes lit up. This was big news; not just anyone could meet the Crown Prince of Wei.

Moreover, I had even taken his class, so I could call myself a student.

This will greatly benefit his future political career. Coupled with Yang Jian's promise, he might even rise higher than his second brother in the future without relying on his family.

"Thank you, Uncle. I will follow your arrangements."

The following day, following Yang Jian's instructions, Li Yuan took elective courses on the Mohist and Gongshu schools at the Imperial Academy.

His actions made many people realize that something was amiss, and that his relationship with Yang Jian was no secret in the court.

Yang Jian first changed the title of "Master Craftsman" to "Director of Works," and then sent his nephew to select the doctrines of the Mohist and Gongshu schools.

What exactly is he planning?

Some people also took the opportunity to arrange for some of their second sons or illegitimate sons to also study the Mohist and Gongshu schools.

Although we don't know what Yang Jian's plans are, as long as some of their descendants follow the same path, they will have a share of the spoils in the future.

With such actions taken by the top forces in the entire Great Qian Dynasty, the lower-level forces would naturally follow suit upon learning of it.

As this continues layer by layer, a large number of scholars will emerge in the general populace who practice the doctrines of the Mohist and Gongshu schools.

It will greatly benefit the promotion of future railways, steam cars and other mechanical inventions.

This was Yang Jian's true purpose.

As the saying goes, "What the superiors do, the inferiors follow." King Chu had a fondness for slender waists, and many starved to death in the palace.

He didn't need to make any promises or commitments, nor did he need to give anything, yet a large number of people brought their own food and joined in.

They've made an incredible fortune.

After enrolling in the Imperial Academy, Li Yuan began to inquire about the courses taught by Wei Hao.

Because of Yang Jian's influence, the scholars at the Imperial Academy treated Li Yuan with great respect, which allowed Li Yuan to easily receive instruction from Wei Hao.

The course taught by Wei Hao was naturally the "Investigation of Things" from the Three Classics.

As one of the three classics that all students must study, it teaches the principles of the unity of knowledge and action and the investigation of things to acquire knowledge.

However, the content that Wei Hao has been teaching recently is different from before. It includes more content on personally investigating all things and exploring the truth of all things, as well as some hands-on outdoor courses.

For example, the reasons why rainbows appear, and the working principle of hot air balloons.

Li Yuan, who had been reminded by Yang Jian, immediately realized that this was closely related to the mechanical arts of the Mohist School and the Gongshu School.

This reminded Li Yuan of the information he had been researching. Although the Three Classics were compulsory subjects for all students, different schools of thought had different emphases.

The Xuanmen school leans towards the Tao Te Ching, the Confucian school leans towards the I Ching, and the Mohist and Gongshu schools lean towards the Gewu Jing (a classic text on investigating things).

This made him more certain of his choice, and he borrowed the content that Wei Hao had taught in the previous few classes from others.

After asking Wei Hao when his next class was, he returned to his dormitory at the Imperial Academy and began studying what Wei Hao had taught.

The dormitories at the Imperial Academy were not one person per room. This was not because the school was poor, but because in addition to learning knowledge, expanding one's network of contacts was also extremely important at the Imperial Academy.

Some students, who were not particularly outstanding in their studies, came to the Imperial Academy in order to make more connections with top talents.

Many second-generation rich kids who are specially recruited have this same idea in mind.

Therefore, it is more conducive for them to make friends if they live in the same dormitory. After all, they will live together for several years. As long as they get along well, their feelings will be deeper than those of other students in the Imperial Academy.

Therefore, the dormitories at the Imperial Academy were four people per room. The room where Li Yuan was located was specially arranged. The room he was in, along with the surrounding rooms, was occupied by either the most outstanding geniuses of the Imperial Academy or the descendants of other high-ranking officials and nobles in the palace.