Chapter 100

Inside the small house of the Mo family, it was filled with wooden materials and iron tools. It seemed that these were the items Mo Tian used to create mechanisms.

Liu Yao, Guo Jia, and Mo Tian sat around a table, while the others stood behind Liu Yao.

"Teacher, Your Highness, and this young gentleman, please have some tea." At this moment, Mo Yu brought over a pot of tea and filled the cups for the three of them. Facing Liu Yao and the others, he showed no fear or nervousness, which made Liu Yao secretly admire the Mo family's composure.

"In this crude place, there is nothing good to offer Your Highness, but this tea was personally picked and roasted by me. Please, Your Highness, taste it." Mo Tian said with a smile.

Liu Yao and Guo Jia did not hesitate, picked up their teacups, and took a small sip. "Good tea, it lingers on the palate, and the aftertaste is endless." Liu Yao praised. In reality, Liu Yao was just putting on a show; he knew nothing about tea.

Then, Liu Yao came straight to the point, "However, I did not come to visit Old Master Mo for the sake of tasting tea, but to discuss something important."

Mo Tian naturally understood Liu Yao's intentions and said, "If Your Highness is here to recruit us to serve you, then you can save your words."

"You old man, my lord coming to recruit you is giving you face. Otherwise, who would care about a nobody who just plays with wood?" Zhang Fei, still angry, immediately retorted.

"Yi De, go outside and calm down." Liu Yao angrily rebuked Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei was good in every way, but his temper was still too short-tempered.

"Lord!!"

"Out!!" Liu Yao shouted again.

"Alright." Zhang Fei said resentfully and left the Mo family's house without looking back.

Liu Yao then apologized to Mo Tian, "Old Master Mo, please ignore him. Is there any hidden reason why you are unwilling to come out of seclusion?"

"Your Highness, I am also helpless. Since the Han Emperor Wu, our Han Dynasty has exclusively honored Confucianism and suppressed the other schools of thought. Schools like ours, as well as Legalism, Agrarianism, and Military Science, have all been suppressed. Therefore, our ancestors have stipulated that no Mo family member may leave the seclusion." Mo Tian said helplessly. How could he not want to promote the Mo family's ideas? But given the circumstances, he could only stay in this obscure place.

"Hahahaha." Liu Yao laughed heartily and then said passionately, "Old Master Mo, you need not worry about this. In my Youzhou, whether it is Confucianism or Mohism, all are treated equally. A single school of thought alone cannot truly govern a country. Therefore, I wish to recreate an era of the Hundred Schools of Thought."

"Is what Your Highness says true?" Mo Tian asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. He never expected that Liu Yao, a prince of the Han Dynasty, would dare to defy the ancestral rules.

"Old Master Mo, this is indeed true. My lord's Youzhou has a Legalist scholar serving under him. If Legalism can, why can't Mohism?" Guo Jia said from the side. He had also heard that Cheng Yu, a thorough Legalist, was a colleague in Youzhou.

"That's right. Old Master Mo, this is absolutely true." Liu Yao said firmly. "I wonder if Old Master Mo is willing to lend me a hand."

Mo Tian was overjoyed. If he could promote the Mo family's ideas, he would be willing to die for it.

"Mo Tian pays respects to my lord." Mo Tian immediately bowed to Liu Yao.

"Mo Yu pays respects to my lord." Mo Tian's disciple followed suit and bowed to Liu Yao.

"Please rise, both of you. I have long heard that the Mo family is skilled in creating mechanisms, especially defensive mechanisms for cities. In the future, I hope Old Master Mo will put in more effort." Liu Yao excitedly helped them up. The help these two could provide would be no less significant than that of top generals and strategists like Zhang Fei and Guo Jia.

"Thank you, my lord." Mo Tian said. Then, with some shame and sorrow, he added, "My lord, to be honest, the Mo family has long declined. By the time it reached my generation, the mechanical diagrams of our ancestor Mozi had long been lost. Now, we only know how to create the minor mechanisms you saw earlier. Please forgive me for not explaining the truth to you earlier."

"No matter." Liu Yao said excitedly, then took out three diagrams from his sleeve and handed them to Mo Tian. "Old Master Mo, please take a look at these."

Mo Tian took the diagrams with confusion and began to examine them. Suddenly, his face turned red, his breathing quickened, and he fell backward. Mo Yu immediately rushed forward to support Mo Tian, anxiously asking, "Teacher, teacher, are you alright?"

To everyone's surprise, Mo Tian pushed Mo Yu away and continued to look at the diagrams. The three diagrams were for a repeating crossbow cart, a rotating catapult, and a fire-throwing machine.

The repeating crossbow cart was a large mechanical device placed on the city wall that could simultaneously fire sixty large crossbow bolts and countless small ones. It required ten people to operate, and the most ingenious part was that the ten-foot-long crossbow bolts were tied with ropes, allowing them to be quickly retracted with a pulley after firing.

The rotating catapult was another large launching device placed on the city wall. It was six feet long and operated by two people. Unlike the repeating crossbow cart, the rotating catapult was more flexible, allowing one person to rotate the base while the other shot the arrows.

The fire-throwing machine was encased in iron, with part of it buried underground. It was operated by multiple people to defend against enemy siege teams by throwing burning coals.

"Our ancestor has appeared! Finally, all the treasures of our Mo family have returned." Mo Tian shouted excitedly, then knelt heavily before Liu Yao. "Thank you, my lord. Without your diagrams, I would have been ashamed before our ancestor all my life. Your lordship's great kindness, I cannot repay."

"Old Master Mo, please rise. I have no use for these things. It's better to give them to you. As long as you can help me in the future, I will be very satisfied." Liu Yao said with a smile. With the diagrams and the Mo family, Liu Yao's army's equipment would surely become even more advanced.

"Thank you, my lord. I will serve you with all my heart and soul, and I will not rest until I die." Mo Tian said firmly. Liu Yao's kindness to the Mo family was too great, and Mo Tian could only repay him in this way.

Liu Yao smiled in satisfaction and then took out another diagram from his sleeve. "Old Master Mo, please take a look at this diagram and see if it can be of any use."

Mo Tian took the diagram with excitement, completely unaware that Liu Yao had more diagrams.

"Design diagram of the wooden kite." The large characters caught Mo Tian's eye. These were all the diagrams given in the ten-year anniversary gift, and if exchanged, the wooden kite design alone would cost 100 lottery chances, which Liu Yao himself could not afford.

According to "The Mozi," Gongshu Ban was a man of great talent, skilled in engineering and creation. He once carved a wooden kite that could carry a person and fly for three days and three nights without landing.

Mo Tian was even more excited now. "My lord, this is Gongshu Ban's invention. I never thought you would have this as well!!"

Liu Yao was delighted to hear this and asked, "Old Master Mo, do you know how to make the wooden kite?" If this thing could be made, Liu Yao's army might gain an air force, even if the number was small, it would still be a trump card in the Three Kingdoms era.

To his surprise, Mo Tian shook his head and said apologetically, "My lord, I am sorry, but the wooden kite requires Gongshu Ban's unique skills, and we of the Mo family are indeed powerless."

Liu Yao felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

"However..." Mo Tian's "however" immediately lifted Liu Yao's spirits again.

"However, I know that Gongshu Ban has a successor."

"What!! Who is he, and where is he?" Liu Yao exclaimed excitedly.

"His name is Ma Jun. I don't know where he is, but I know he will go to a certain place." (Here, Ma Jun is a successor of Gongshu Ban, just for the plot, please don't take it seriously.)

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