The Tang dynasty emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and agriculture was the foundation of the country. The biggest reason was that the grain yield in this era was too low, and the ability to resist natural disasters was weak. A slight fluctuation of the God could cause a large-scale grain yield reduction, or even a total loss.
Agriculture was the national policy that was unswervingly carried out in that dynasty. Without carriages, people could walk. Without silk, they could still use linen. But without grain, they could only starve.
Businessmen had always been hated. They didn't produce, but they could earn a lot of profits. What's more, they even hoarded and drove up prices, which had always been disliked by the rulers.
But people couldn't find any fault with the Mo Family Village selling curved plows and plows, because this kind of commercial behavior not only didn't harm the foundation of agriculture, but also strongly promoted the development of agriculture.
"This kid?"
Qin Qiong looked kind. Meton didn't let him down.
It turned out that when Meton borrowed his hand to write a letter to Li Shimin, asking the Mo Family Village to do business instead of being a lowly citizen, Qin Qiong was worried that this kid had gone astray. Now it seemed that this decision was right.
Li Shimin's face showed a satisfied expression. Meton, this little catfish, had made a lot of good things, and surprised him again and again.
Even Li Chengqian looked proud. As a friend, seeing Meton's achievements, he couldn't help but feel that he shared the honor and disgrace.
"This silly boy actually made a good friend!" Yuchi Jingde looked at Meton, who was beside his son, with satisfaction. He knew his son, who was usually dull, would definitely be at a disadvantage when he was with those smart playboys in Chang 'an. But with Meton, he couldn't be more relieved.
"Three hundred coins is not expensive!"
The people under the stage couldn't help calculating. The average price of the old-style plowing pear was about four hundred coins. The curved plows were more advanced, which saved labor and material resources, and could also be used for deep plowing. Not to mention that three hundred coins could buy a plows that could sow 600 acres a day.
After Meton announced that all the curved shaft plows produced by the Mo Family Village would be guaranteed for three years, people couldn't help but be tempted.
Everyone at the exhibition was excited. In the Imperial College, Kong Yingda and a group of doctorate assistants were present. They were paying close attention to the progress of the exhibition.
After all, the School of Mohism was one of the Hundred Schools of Thought that had existed for thousands of years. As the holy land of Confucianism, they naturally had to pay close attention to it.
"Hmph! Could it be that the Mo Family has been reduced to relying on acrobatics for a living? " When Liu Yinian heard the messenger say that Mo Jiazi had used pulleys to pull up the cauldron, his face was filled with disdain.
The other professors also burst into laughter. It turned out that the Mo Family had actually fallen to such a state. To think that they were still on guard.
"Reporting!" At this moment, a messenger dashed over!
"Reporting to Lord Chancellor, Mo Jiazi has demonstrated a new type of pear plowing and barrow cart!"
When the messenger explained the advanced features of the curved plow and the new type of carriage, everyone could not help but be shocked.
As great scholars, they naturally knew the importance of agriculture and the importance of these new farming tools.
"Who would have thought that Mo Jiazi would actually come up with something amazing!" Shen Hongcai said with a long sigh.
"Could it be that Mo Jiazi is faking it?" Liu Yinian said in disbelief.
"Impossible?" Kong Yingda shook his head and said, "That stubborn old man Su Lingnong can't tolerate sand in his eyes. If he didn't verify it himself, he wouldn't have come out to testify."
Everyone from the Imperial College fell silent. They couldn't believe that the little catfish that usually jumped up and down under their hands could actually do such a shocking thing.
The exhibition was ongoing.
"I believe that everyone is once again calculating how much land we can reclaim and how much food we can produce this year!" Meton said with a smile.
Everyone below the stage was tempted and couldn't help but snicker softly.
"But are you satisfied with this?" Meton suddenly raised his voice.
Everyone was stunned. If this wasn't enough, what else did he want? It was not easy to feed the whole family.
"I have said before that if the prosperity of the Tang dynasty is coming, how can it be called a prosperous era if everyone can only feed themselves?" Meton shook his head and said.
"Uh, uh!" Everyone was stunned. If this wasn't a prosperous era, how could it be?
Li Shimin also looked at Meton in astonishment. He turned to Master Yu and asked, "The Village Mo has bought so much food, but it's still not enough."
Master Yu was not surprised that Li Shimin knew about the food in the Village Mo. He nodded and said, "The food in the Village Mo is enough to feed the whole village for a year. But our young master said that this is only enough to solve the problem of food and clothing. It's still far from being well-off!"
"Well-off?" Cheng Yaojin listened to this new word in confusion.
Li Chengqian explained, "Replying to High Duke Lu, the word 'well-off' has been around for a long time. There is a saying in 'Da Ya Min Lao' in the 'Book of Songs', 'Even if the people work hard, they can still be well-off.'
At the same time, there is also a record in the 'Book of Rites', 'Now that the great Dao is hidden, the world is home. Each family has its own relatives, each son has its own son, goods are for themselves. The nobility's hereditary rule is for etiquette, the city's gutters are for stability. Etiquette and righteousness are for discipline, the ruler and his minister, the father and the son, the brother and the wife, the system, and the land … This is called 'well-off'. “
Li Chengqian explained the origin of the word 'well-off' to everyone. He smiled and said, "The well-off that Brother Mo is talking about is probably referring to this kind of stable and rich life!"
"Your Highness is very talented!" Master Yu said respectfully.
"Oh! So it was mentioned in the Imperial Precepts. It seems that it was right for me to send this little catfish to the Imperial College. "Li Shimin could only smile and said.
Cheng Yaojin couldn't help but reveal his big front teeth! They all laughed loudly. They all knew about Mo Jiazi's deeds in the Imperial College.
"Old Man knows what 'well-off' is!" Su Lingnong directly interrupted Meton's promotion of his concept of 'well-off' and said, "Then tell me, how can we achieve the 'well-off' that you speak of?
Everyone below the stage burst into laughter.
Meton smiled awkwardly and said, "This kid thinks that the minimum standard to achieve 'well-off' is for everyone to be able to eat meat every day!"
"Eat meat!"
The audience was in an uproar.
One had to know that even the rich didn't eat meat every day. Everyone was only lucky enough to eat meat during festivals. Usually, it was rare to see a little bit of oily smell.
Being able to enjoy a delicious meal of meat was something that everyone could only dream of, let alone being able to eat meat every day.
In this era, cows and horses were all strategic positions. If someone ate them, he or she would go to jail. Pork was also smelly, so there wasn't much to eat on normal days. Therefore, the price of meat was relatively high. Otherwise, how could the Mo Family gain so much wealth in just a few months by using the secret skill of live fish?
"This kid really dares to say that?" Cheng Yaojin said in surprise. Of course, he knew how precious it was to be able to eat meat.
"Is the Mo Family already so rich?" Li Shimin looked at Master Yu unkindly. If the Mo Family was already so rich and still wanted to do business, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.
"Your Majesty, the Mo Family has just been out of poverty for two months!" Master Yu said hurriedly.
"What gives that Mo Family disciple the confidence to say that! Does he want everyone in the world to eat fish meat? "Li Shimin said with a little dissatisfaction.
In his opinion, even if the method of artificial fish farming was fully promoted in the Tang dynasty, it was still a drop in the bucket.
"I'm not only responsible for the secret skill of live fish and artificial fish farming, I'm not involved in anything else. But according to the rumors in the Mo Family, the young master has provided a new secret skill, which has been tested successfully. It's expected that everyone in the Mo Family will be able to eat meat by the end of the year." Master Yu said while gritting his teeth.
Although he didn't know why the young master was so confident, he knew that the experiment in the Mo Family had been successful according to the words of others. Now he could only grit his teeth and stick to it. Everything depended on the young master, who had never let them down.
"Maybe everyone thinks it's impossible, but this is the magic of the Mo Family's skill. It's pioneering and innovative, making the impossible possible!" Meton roared.
Meton waved his hand and Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Chumo, and Yuchi Baolin each carried a cage that was as tall as a person and was tightly wrapped with black cloth.
The three cages were placed in the center of the platform. Everyone stared at the three cages. Was this the secret skill that the Mo Family said could make everyone eat meat every day?
Meton waved his hand and the black cloth of the three cages fell down slowly, revealing the dense fluffy things inside.
"It's impossible!"
Su Lingnong stood up abruptly and exclaimed.
"It's impossible!"
Li Shimin rushed to the window again, his face full of shock.
Everyone under the platform was in disbelief.
These fluffy things were the chicks of chickens, ducks, and geese. Each cage was divided into more than ten layers, and each layer was filled with chicks. The three familiar cries filled the whole place.
"How did he do it?" Everyone exclaimed.
It was known that hens only hatched chicks after autumn. Now it was just after the first lunar month, which was the cold time. Hens didn't want to hatch chicks at all, and even if hens wanted to, they couldn't hatch chicks in this weather.
"Is this the magic of the Mo Skill? It can make the impossible possible?" Meton said with a smile.
"How did you do it? Hens can't hatch chicks at this time." Su Lingnong was shocked and went to the platform again to verify the three cages full of chicks.
Soon he gave up, because there were chickens, ducks, and geese in the cages. Could it be that the nature of these three animals changed at the same time and they could hatch chicks in winter?
Cheng Yaojin looked at the chicks in the three cages as if he was looking at a monster and asked Master Yu, "Could it be that the chickens, ducks, and geese in the Mo Family Village are different from the rest?"
"Replying to High Duke Lu! As far as the Old Man knows, the chickens, ducks, and geese in the Mo Family Village also don't hatch chicks in winter. "Master Yu replied with a bitter smile.
"Then what's going on? Could it be that they are incubated by humans and kept warm in their beds every day? "Yuchi Jingde was rarely humorous and said with a laugh.
Li Shimin also couldn't help but smile! Suddenly he saw Master Yu's serious expression and was stunned and asked in disbelief.
"Could it be that they are really incubated by humans?"
"Of course they are not incubated by humans!" Meton answered Li Shimin's question on behalf of Master Yu.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
