"Two defeats and one draw!"
At the east gate of Chang 'an City, Li Yun and the old servant stood against the wind. Recalling their experiences over the past few months, they could not help but sigh.
The first time they cracked the well suppression principle, Li Yun and Mo Jiazi could be said to have cracked it at the same time. However, they were not as detailed and meticulous as Meton.
The second time they worked together to build a bridge was actually a competition between arch bridges and beam bridges. Although the arch bridge Li Yun saw on the Crooked River could be said to be the pinnacle of arch bridges, Li Yun was defeated once again by the monstrous beam bridge. However, this time, it was not because of a lack of battle.
The third time, the folding ruler had reached the limits of the wooden ruler. It made short-distance measurements extremely easy. Only then did it barely match the steel ruler for mid-distance measurements. However, in reality, the folding ruler was still inferior to the steel ruler.
"Chang 'an City, this trip was not in vain!"
Li Yun exhaled a mouthful of hot air. He looked at the scorching sun above his head. Back when he rushed to Chang 'an City, it was still covered in snow and cold. Now that he had left Chang' an City, he did not expect it to be a scorching summer day.
"Young Master, let's go!" The old servant urged. The Xiangfu family had long urged Li Yun to return, but they had been delayed by the bridge construction.
Li Yun nodded heavily and prepared to step onto the carriage to leave.
However, just as they were about to step onto the carriage, they realized that there was no one inside. Only a coachman was waiting. The old servant could not help but be alarmed. He hurriedly stood up and retreated. He glared at the coachman and said, "What? Does the Xiangli family want to wipe us out?"
The Xiangfu family and the Xiangli family had always been at odds. Furthermore, Li Yun's visit this time was clearly to cause trouble for Meton. Could it be that Mo Jiazi was preparing to make a move on him at this time?
"Your Excellency, you have misunderstood! After all, the Xiangfu Family is also a branch of the Mo Family. How can the Mo Family Village lay their hands on a fellow disciple? My Young Master and Young Master Li appreciate each other, but because of some matters, he can't send you off. He specially ordered the Mo Family Team to prepare a special car for Young Master Li to escort you to Luoyang. I didn't expect that it would cause such a misunderstanding. I'm really sorry. "Following the voice, Li Xin's figure appeared in front of the two.
The old servant heaved a sigh of relief. In truth, the old servant could not be blamed for thinking too much. In this era, the competition between the various schools of thought was mostly a competition between gentlemen. However, the competition between the various schools of thought was extremely cruel. Take the Buddhist school, which was known for its benevolence, as an example. In the later generations, the Zen Sect fought intensely for the position of the Sixth Ancestor, and they were unscrupulous. In order to avoid being hunted down, the Sixth Ancestor, Hui Neng, went into seclusion for sixteen years before coming out.
"Uncle Tong, please step down. If the famous Mo Jiazi of Chang 'an City only has this much magnanimity, how can he lead the revival of the Mo Family?" Li Yun waved his hand, indicating for the old servant to step down.
"Young Master Li and my Young Master are indeed close friends!" Li Xin said respectfully.
The corner of Li Yun's mouth could not help but twitch. If the grudges between the two schools of thought were disregarded, Mo Jiazi was indeed a good friend. However, the grudges between the two schools of thought had been accumulated for a long time, and it was difficult for them to be close friends.
"Thank you, Brother Meton. I appreciate your kindness." Li Yun accepted Meton's arrangement graciously.
"Apart from that, my Young Master also has a token of appreciation. I hope Young Master Li will accept it." Li Xin said as he handed over three rulers. They were a folding ruler, a cloth tape ruler, and a steel ruler!
Li Yun took them and examined them carefully. These three rulers had all been modified. Among them, the folding ruler was exactly as Morton had instructed. Each section was three inches long, a total of three feet, and a finger's width. It was perfect to hold in one's hand.
As for the cloth tape ruler, the Mo Family had directly expanded it to the size of a plate. It was clearly marked on it to be five hundred feet long.
What surprised him even more was the palm-sized, circular steel ruler. He pulled it out with a little force. The steel ruler's unique rustling sound was particularly pleasing to the ear, especially the slight curvature of the steel ruler. It had the characteristics of being rigid and flexible. Coupled with the most precise scale, even a centimeter of scale was clearly visible.
"This is the ruler that every craftsman in the world yearns for!" Li Yun sighed. Which craftsman in the world could resist the temptation of a steel ruler? If an ordinary craftsman had this steel ruler, it would be like a famous sword in the hands of a swordsman. This was a sharp weapon that could make a name for itself.
"What is this?" Suddenly, Li Yun saw an exquisite piece of paper in his hand. He could not help but look at it curiously.
"This is a draft printed by the Mo Family Bank. Young Master Li only needs to take this draft to the bank opened by the Mo Family Village in Luoyang to receive the equivalent amount of silver on the draft. There is no need to carry the same heavy money around. Not only is it convenient, but it also ensures the safety of the money." Li Xin explained.
"One thousand strings of cash!" Li Yun saw the amount of money on the draft and could not help but be shocked.
Li Xin said, "My young master said that it is easy to get a thousand strings of cash, but hard to find a confidant. What is one thousand strings of cash?"
"I don't deserve it. Please forgive me for not accepting it." Li Yun shook his head.
Li Xin had already expected that Li Yun would refuse. He said loudly, "Young Master Li, you misunderstood. This is not directly for you. It is the money from the Mo Family Village to buy the ruler invented by young master. The Mo Family Village has a rule that no matter who invents a new thing, he will enjoy a 5% share. One thousand strings of cash is just to buy out Young Master Li's ruler."
"This!" Li Yun had been in Chang 'an City for half a year. Naturally, he knew the rule of the Mo Family Village. Take Mo Jiazi's apprentice, Wu Meiniang, for example. She had invented the silver mirror at a young age. 5% of the profit was enough to make her a famous rich woman in Chang' an City. This news had already spread in Chang 'an City.
Of course, his ruler was not as valuable as the silver mirror, but one thousand strings of cash was not worthless.
This money was exchanged for the ruler invented by him. It seemed that it was not unacceptable. Li Yun's heart could not help but waver a little.
"Since it is the young master's ruler, this old servant thinks that it is reasonable to accept it!" The old servant on the side advised. His young master was too indifferent to fame and fortune. In the beginning, he directly put Mo Jiazi's reward of ten thousand strings of cash on the arch bridge of Qu River for his own self-esteem. This time, he was afraid that he would reject the reward of one thousand strings of cash. Anyway, it was the money of the Mo Family Village. It would be a waste if he did not take it.
"Then I am ashamed to accept it." Li Yun was finally convinced. To be honest, the Xiangfu family had been living in seclusion until now, and they were not well-off. A thousand strings of cash was a rare fortune for them. Back when Li Yun cracked Moton's bounty, he had also thought of obtaining this sum of money to subsidize the Xiangfu family.
Seeing Li Yun accept the bill, Li Xin showed a satisfied smile and said, "Young Master Li, you may not know that the Mo Family has built a total of three banks, one in the Mo Family Village, one in Chang 'an City and one in Luoyang City. Now the preparation has just been completed, and the bank will officially open tomorrow. Young Master Li is the first customer of the bank in the Mo Family Village!"
"That is my honor." Li Yun said with a smile, but in his heart, he was shocked. He could not help but be convinced by Mo Jiazi's ingenuity. Who would have thought that a piece of paper as thin as a cicada's wing could be as valuable as a thousand pounds of cash? Moreover, he had just glanced at it casually and found that there were more than ten secret skills hidden in this thin bill of exchange, many of which he could not crack.
"This is the real foundation of the Mo Family Village!" Li Yun could not help sighing in his heart. At the beginning, he wanted to show his power to Mo Jiazi, but when he learned more about Mo Jiazi and the Mo Family Village, he found that the foundation of the Mo Family Village was very profound.
With the profound foundation of the Mo Family Village and the endless ingenuity of Mo Jiazi, they were a perfect combination and created one miracle after another.
"Young Master has said many times that only Young Master Li can be his confidant in bridge repair. Now Young Master Li is about to go on a long journey, and I don't know when I can meet you. It is a pity. So I present two paintings to you. Young Master once said that Young Master Li may be the only one in the world who can understand these paintings." Li Xin closed a scroll with both hands and bowed.
Li Yun's expression changed, and he received the scroll with both hands and said, "Everyone knows that Mo Jiazi's paintings are worth a lot of money. I am really lucky to be able to get two of them at once!"
Li Yun said and opened the scroll. When he saw the first painting, he was stunned. He saw a wide river flowing slowly in the painting. On the wide river, there was a straight bridge across the river.
"This is?" Li Yun suddenly said in surprise, and his eyes stared at the bridge in the painting.
"What's wrong, Young Master?" The old servant at the side quickly looked sideways, and could not help but tremble. He blurted out, "How is this possible?"
On the vivid painting, on the wide river, there were several tall ships passing under the bridge easily. Looking at the span of the two bridge piers, it was far beyond the span of the arch bridge.
How could the span of the bridge exceed the span of the arch bridge? The old servant could not help but doubt that this must be Mo Jiazi's whimsical imagination.
"That is indeed possible!" However, Li Yun nodded slowly, and his eyes stared at the dense iron chains on the bridge. What really interested him in this painting was that after Mo Jiazi used the bridge beam to the extreme, he actually integrated the bridge beam and the iron chain bridge into one, and designed a new bridge with a huge span.
If the people of the future saw this painting, they would be very familiar with it. This was because Morton had painted the most famous Brook Bridge in the future. It was just that the bridge had been moved from the East River in New York to the Wei River in the north of Chang 'an.
The old servant naturally saw the dense iron chains, and he could not help but frown and say, "What kind of iron chain can bear such a heavy bridge body?"
In the process of Meton and Li Yun building the bridge, the old servant had inquired about the process of the Mo family's bridge construction many times. Naturally, he knew how heavy a reinforced concrete beam bridge was. How could a mere iron chain bear it?
Li Xin said loudly, "It's not an iron chain. It's the toughest steel chain produced by the Mo family's village. "
"Steel chain!"
Suddenly, Li Yun and the old servant fell silent. The quality of the steel produced by the Mo family's village was recognized by the world. If it was replaced with steel chain, there might be a theoretical possibility.
"This is only possible in theory! To build such an unprecedented bridge is simply thousands of years of difficulty. "Li Yun frowned and said.
Li Xin said, "Young master said that no matter how difficult it is, we have to do it, so that the people of the world will not be obstructed by the river and can travel freely in the world. This is the responsibility of the Mo family, and the Mo family is duty-bound."
"Duty-Bound, what a good duty-bound!" Li Yun suddenly fell silent. The secret technique of building bridges was in the hands of the Mo family. If the Mo family did not do it, who in the world would do it?
"Moreover, our young master has already submitted a memorial to the imperial court, and is preparing to build this bridge over the Wei River in the north of Chang 'an City. This is the diagram of the Wei River Bridge." Li Xin said solemnly.
"The Wei River Bridge in the north of Chang 'an City." Li Yun's heart skipped a beat. Chang 'an City was the imperial capital, and there were no obstructions in the east, west, and south. However, only the north was separated by the wide Wei River, and traffic was inconvenient. If the Wei River Bridge was built, it would open up the northern artery for Chang' an City. It would be of great significance to Chang 'an City, and it would definitely get the full support of the imperial court. In this way, there was no need to worry about money.
"It seems that I have to congratulate Brother Mo. With the support of the imperial court, the bridge will be built in the future." Li Yun could not help but say with some jealousy. He originally thought that he had lost to Mo Jiazi, but he did not expect that the gap between him and Mo Jiazi on the bridge was getting bigger and bigger. If Mo Jiazi built this bridge, who in the world would remember the Qu River Arch Bridge that he had built? They would probably think that he was an ant trying to shake a tree, and that he was overestimating himself and making a fool of himself.
Li Xin suddenly shook his head and said, "It's a pity that we have the design for the bridge, the suitable materials, and the endless supply of money from the imperial court. However, we lack a chief engineer to build the bridge. It's really a pity."
Li Yun smiled bitterly and said, "There are countless craftsmen in the world, but I'm afraid that only Brother Mo is qualified to build this bridge."
This time, Meton's design had completely conquered him. Even he had to admit that Mo Jiazi was the best in the world when it came to bridge design. It was indisputable.
Li Xin said proudly, "This bridge is just an idea. It is only feasible in theory. In the process of construction, there will be many difficulties. Young Master has the heavy responsibility of reviving the School of Mo. How can you spend five or even ten years on a bridge?"
"But this bridge is so important …" Hearing this, Li Yun immediately became anxious. Everything he had learned was on bridges. Seeing such a stunning bridge delayed because of this, he couldn't help but feel anxious. However, he couldn't continue to persuade him. After all, compared to a bridge, reviving the School of Mo was the most important task.
"Therefore, my young master believes that the only person in the world who can understand his design and build the Wei River Bridge is his close friend, Young Master Li. Only Young Master Li can take on this heavy responsibility," Li Xin said solemnly.
Li Yun had publicly competed with Mo Jiazi in bridge building in Chang 'an. His bridge building skills had been recognized by Chang' an.
"I …!" Li Yun stilled. He hadn't expected that Mo Jiazi would want him to be the chief engineer of the Wei River Bridge and supervise the construction of this stunning new bridge.
Li Xin immediately fell into a dilemma. His dream had always been to build a bridge that surpassed the Li Chun and Zhaozhou bridges of his ancestors. If he could take over the Wei River Bridge, there was no doubt that he would become famous. The two of them would share the same name in the history books.
But the two branches of the Mo family had been fighting for a long time. How could he so easily accept Mo Jiazi's invitation?
"Young Master Li, there is no need to rush to make a decision. The foundation of the Wei River Bridge needs to be laid after the dry season of October at the latest. Before that, the position of chief engineer of the Wei River Bridge is vacant." Li Xin could see Li Yun's hesitation and spoke loudly.
"Many thanks!" Li Yun sighed in relief. This matter was of great importance. He probably needed to return to the Xiangfu branch to discuss it before he could make a decision.
"In that case, I will not disturb Young Master Li. I wish Young Master Li a pleasant journey." Li Xin said respectfully. He gestured with his hand. The driver immediately raised his whip and the carriage sped off in the direction of Luoyang.
On the speeding carriage, Li Yun looked at the schematic diagram of the Wei River Bridge in his hand again and again. In his view, this painting was worth thousands of gold. Just the idea of the Mo family's merging of the beam bridge and the chain bridge was a priceless treasure.
"Young Master!" The old servant on the side reminded him worriedly.
Li Yun came back to his senses and said, "I know. I learned the arch bridge after all. The arch bridge is the essence of the Xiangfu branch."
He had always believed in the advancement of the arch bridge that he had learned. However, the Mohists had made the girder bridge and the chain bridge shine, overshadowing the arch bridge. It could be imagined that the position of the arch bridge would become lower and lower in the future.
Suddenly, his mind stirred. He recalled that Mo Jiazi had given him two paintings. He had been so engrossed in the first painting of the Wei River Bridge that he had forgotten that there was another painting. He immediately flipped to the next one in anticipation.
"This is …" When Li Yun saw the second painting, his mind immediately buzzed.
The old servant hurriedly looked over and saw that the second drawing was also a design of a bridge. On a broken area of a cliff, a long arch bridge spanned across two sides. Above the arch bridge, huge reinforced concrete pillars were erected, supporting the flat beam above the bridge.
"It's actually the fusion of an arch bridge and a beam bridge!" Li Yun's body trembled. He had never imagined that there would be a day when an arch bridge and a beam bridge could be fused together to produce such an inconceivable effect.
As soon as Li Yun thought about it, he already knew the huge advantage of combining the arch bridge and the beam bridge. In this way, he didn't need to spend a huge amount of manpower and material resources to build the bridge piers. In this way, it would definitely have a miraculous effect between lofty mountains, deep rivers, and high mountains on both sides.
If Meton was here, he would definitely exclaim that he had not misjudged him. What he had drawn was an arch bridge commonly used in mountain areas in the future. It was often built in dangerous places.
"The arch bridge actually has such an application!" Li Yun immediately became excited. He originally thought that after the beam bridge shone brightly, the arch bridge would definitely be swept away. However, he did not expect that the combination of the arch bridge and the beam bridge designed by Mo Jiazi would have such an excellent effect.
"With these two types of bridges, from now on, there will be no more dangerous roads in the world." Li Yun exhaled heavily. Since ancient times, the things that obstructed traffic were probably not just rivers and deep mountains and valleys. The new type of bridge made from the combination of girder bridges and iron chains was suitable for flat and wide rivers, while the bridge made from the combination of arch bridges and girder bridges was suitable for mountainous areas. Li Yun could imagine that once these two bridges were popularized, the world would be a flat road. And all of this had nothing to do with the Xiangfu family that was obsessed with bridges.
This time, whether he was willing to take over the Wei River Bridge or not, the Xiangfu Clan had to change. If the Xiangfu Clan continued to be conservative, they would probably be drowned in history.
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.
