Not only were the schools of Confucianism and Daoism keeping an eye on the School of Mo, even the other schools of thought were keeping an eye on the School of Mo. However, the School of Mo did not move at all.
"What's going on? Why hasn't Mo Jiazi done anything? Has he admitted defeat? "The Sorcerer from the School of Yin-Yang frowned.
"Never underestimate Mo Jiazi. I've used the Aura Observation Technique to observe him from afar. He's unfathomable. He's the strangest person I've ever seen in my life. Coupled with the fact that he's turned the tables several times, I'm afraid that even the schools of Confucianism and Daoism don't think that Mo Jiazi has admitted defeat," Yin-yang Zi said solemnly.
"Then why hasn't the School of Mo done anything?" The Sorcerer was unconvinced.
Yin-yang Zi shook his head, "Since it was Mo Jiazi who came up with the idea of a day, Mo Jiazi must be confident. In my opinion, Mo Jiazi must be waiting for an opportunity or facing some difficulties. "
…
"Master, the schools of Taoism and Confucianism have already made their move. Chang 'an City is filled with rumors that the School of Mo has admitted defeat. Why haven't you made your move yet?" Wu Meiniang asked Meton worriedly in the Mo Estate.
Meton took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "What are you panicking for? Although the schools of Taoism and Confucianism have made some progress, they haven't overcome the shortcomings of their time tools. If the School of Mo wants to defeat them, it'll be easy.
"Really? Master, don't lie to me! " Wu Meiniang said with some disbelief. In her opinion, the schools of Taoism and Confucianism had already reached the limit. It would be very difficult for them to make any more progress.
"Oh! I'd also like to see the great Mo Jiazi's latest time masterpiece. " Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. Li Chengqian actually walked over with Li Zhi behind him.
"His majesty has gone to Mount Tai for a pilgrimage, while your highness is busy. How do you have time to come to the Mo clan?" Meton stood up and bowed in surprise.
"Since Imperial Father left the capital, all the government affairs will naturally be taken care of by the officials. How could this crown prince have any government affairs? It just so happened that Ninth Brother missed Changle, so this crown prince brought Ninth Brother to see Changle." Li Chengqian said with a smile. Actually, Li Chengqian was not completely fine. Last time, he had worked together with Meton to reform the relay station, which could be described as a great achievement. Now that he was regent again, he wanted to show off his abilities as well, but he discovered that everything had been arranged by Li Shimin. He was only a person with the official seal. Li Zhi just happened to want to come to the Mo clan, so Li Chengqian thought of Meton. He wanted to ask for some advice, but he just happened to hear what Meton said.
Very quickly, Princess Changle, having heard the news, arrived. The siblings met in harmony.
"By the way, Brother-in-law said that there was a way to defeat Taoism and Confucianism. I wonder if you can let Slave Zhi see it." Suddenly, Li Zhi asked curiously.
Immediately, everyone looked at him. Meton said helplessly, "It's very simple. Confucianism's method of breaking the time is to let the people of Chang 'an hear the time, while Taoism's sundial is to let people see the time. Mohists only need to combine these two methods."
"They can hear the time and see the time?" Everyone frowned and looked at Meton with some puzzlement.
Meton raised his head slightly and looked up.
Wu Meiniang was instantly enlightened. She said, "Master, you're talking about the sky! No, it should be on the top of a tall building. "
Everyone suddenly understood. If the sundial was placed on a high place, they could naturally see it easily and hear it further.
"But the sundial is so heavy. How can it be moved to the top of a tall building, let alone let people see it? You can't hear it even if you hit the gong! "Princess Changle questioned.
Meton shook his head and said, "The principle of the sundial is to use the shadow of the sun to represent the time, and it can't be used on cloudy days and nights. I'm going to replace the shadow with a huge pointer. Wherever it points to the hollow sundial, it represents the time. Only one person can easily solve the shortcomings of the sundial."
"Wonderful!" Li Chengqian slapped the table and exclaimed.
"It's better to build a hollow sundial with four sides. In this way, everyone can see the most accurate time as long as they raise their heads," Meton added.
Wu Meiniang's eyes suddenly lit up and she quickly wrote it down.
"As for the method of night watch, it's even easier. The sound of the gong is too soft. It can be heard by the neighbors, but it can't be heard across the street. I'm going to replace it with a Buddhist bell. Every morning, the sound of the bell in the temple can be heard by half of Chang 'an City. I'm going to put the bell in the hollow sundial. It will be struck once at midnight, twice at night, and thrice at night …. In this way, the people can know what time it is just by hearing the sound."
As soon as Modun finished speaking, everyone instantly understood Modun's idea. They couldn't help but praise Modun's wisdom for coming up with such a wonderful idea. Not only did it perfectly solve the shortcomings of the sundial and the night watchman, it also perfectly combined the essence of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
"I'm going to call this method the Four-faced Clock!" Meton said with a knowing smile.
"The Four-faced Clock is really appropriate. Once the Four-faced Clock is built, it will definitely suppress all other schools. It will also greatly facilitate the life of Chang 'an City." Li Chengqian repeatedly praised.
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and build it! The Mo family is the best at building tall buildings. "Wu Meiniang immediately rubbed her hands together and said eagerly.
However, Meton sighed and said, "It's not difficult to build a Four-faced Clock. But if you want the whole city to see it, it needs to be very, very tall. But there's a problem involved, and that's overstepping the limit."
"Overstepping the limit?" Wu Meiniang suddenly froze. According to the imperial court's regulations, civilian buildings can't be taller than the imperial palace. A Four-faced Clock that can be seen by the whole city is undoubtedly overstepping the limit. You should know that the Mo family strictly adhered to this bottom line when they built the Women's and Children's Hospital building. "
"That's not right. Buddhist pagodas are dozens of feet tall. The Wild Goose Pagoda built for Empress Zhangsun has seven floors. How can it not be overstepping the limit?" Wu Meiniang asked.
"That's where the gods are worshiped. Naturally, it can be overstepping the limit." Li Zhi explained.
"But the Four-faced Clock built by the Mo family, although it's not for worshiping the gods, it's still beneficial to the country and the people. Isn't it more meaningful than praying for the gods?" Wu Meiniang said indignantly.
Meton reached out to stop his disciple's complaints and said, "So the reason why I haven't done anything is that I want to wait for His Majesty to return from the pilgrimage to Mount Tai. I want to ask His Majesty to pardon the Four-faced Clock overstepping the limit."
Li Chengqian had an idea and laughed loudly. "It's easy to do. There's no need to wait for His Majesty to return. Father will definitely agree to such a matter that benefits the country and the people. I happen to be in charge of the country, so I'll agree to it tomorrow morning. If Brother Mo can finish the construction before His Majesty returns, you'll definitely give His Majesty a big surprise."
The Four-faced Clock was not a place where people lived, so it didn't matter whether it was overstepping the limit or not, not to mention that the Four-faced Clock was very useful. Li Shimin was almost certain to pass the test. Li Chengqian could take the opportunity to ask Meton for a favor.
"That's easy. We just need to build the Four-faced Clock on the Mechanical City of the Mo family. With the five-story Mechanical City as the foundation, we can finish the construction before His Majesty returns." Wu Meiniang said confidently.
Everyone nodded. According to Meton's description, the Four-faced Clock was not difficult to build and would not be a problem for the highly skilled Mo family. If it was built on the Mechanical City of the Mo family, it would save a lot of time. They believed that Chang 'an City would have another landmark soon.
However, Meton shook his head and said, "I haven't started the construction of the Four-faced Clock. Besides overstepping the limit, there's another problem."
"Another problem?" Everyone frowned. In their opinion, the Four-faced Clock was perfect. Once it was released, it would be enough to crush the Corona and the Night Watch, and improve the reputation of the Mo family.
Meton shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Indeed, once the Four-faced Clock is released, the Mo family will easily defeat the Taoist and Confucian schools. However, in this way, the schools of thought will only compete with each other and lose the real meaning of the competition, which is to study more profound knowledge."
When Meton said this, everyone fell silent. They had to admit that Mo Jiazi's breadth of mind had indeed shocked them.
"This time, the schools of thought are fighting to redefine the time of day. Whether it's the Night Watch, the Sundial, or even the Four-faced Clock, they all seem to have improved the concept of time, but they have not touched on the essence of time."
"The essence of time?" Li Chengqian could not help but be stunned. He looked at Meton in confusion.
Everyone else was also confused. They did not understand what Meton meant.
"What is time? Time is like flowing water. It has eternal movement, continuity, and order of change." Meton spoke of the Mo family's terminology. Everyone was confused.
"It's also what Confucius said. The passing of time is like a spring, and we can't let go of day and night!" Meton said helplessly.
Everyone suddenly understood what Meton meant.
Meton sighed inwardly. Although he was Mo Jiazi's younger brother, he could not help but sigh at Confucius's wisdom. A simple sentence had summarized the essence of time. Moreover, it was easy to understand.
"The most common unit of time for us is the year, month, day, and hour, as well as the Daoist's newest addition, the word and second. However, a year has twelve months, a month has thirty days, and a day has twenty-four hours. Two hours and eight quarters are equal to three words. However, do you know how many seconds a word is equal to, and how many seconds there are in a day? "Meton continued.
Everyone shook their heads. The Daoist's definition of a second was a breath. However, a person's breath was long and short. It was impossible to be precise.
"Although the Four Faced Clock was created by gathering the essence of the various schools of thought, it was just an empty act. It did not have the slightest bit of the Mo family's ink technique. If it was released rashly, I'm afraid it would be laughed at by the various schools of thought. Therefore, I prepared to create an ink technique that could accurately calculate every second, word, and moment, and even the time of a year. However, I have no clue." Meton said regretfully.
"Master, don't worry. The debate of the various schools of thought is not something that can be done overnight. One day, master will see through the essence of time and create the most accurate time." Wu Meiniang said confidently to her master.
Meton rolled his eyes at Wu Meiniang. As a disciple, she did not share her master's burden. Instead, she wanted to live off her master. He waved his hand and sent her out to take care of his junior sister and junior brother.
When Li Chengqian and Li Zhi came, Princess Changle happened to accompany them. Wu Meiniang was the most suitable person to take care of Mo Sha and Mo Tan.
"I also want to see Mo Sha and Mo Tan!" After Wu Meiniang left, Li Zhi could not sit still. He stood up and walked towards the three-story villa.
Meton looked at Wu Meiniang and Li Zhi's figures as they left. He could not help but frown. Could it be that the wheel of history was about to repeat itself? The two of them were finally going to be together.
"Hahaha, a gentle and graceful woman is a gentleman's dream. Ninth Brother has also grown up!" Li Chengqian's eyes flashed as he laughed.
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