Chapter One Hundred: Mohist Mechanisms

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Inside the Mohist cottage, timber, ironware, and all manner of other objects lay scattered everywhere. Presumably, these were the materials Mo Tian used to construct his 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 sir, please have some tea.” Mo Yu entered carrying a pot of tea and filled all three cups. She showed no fear or nervousness in the presence of Liu Yao and the others. Liu Yao secretly marveled at the composure of the Mohists.

“This is but a humble place, and I have nothing worthy with which to entertain Your Highness. This tea alone was gathered and roasted by my own hands. I humbly ask that Your Highness give it a taste,” Mo Tian said with a smile.

Liu Yao and Guo Jia made no attempt to refuse. They lifted their cups and took a small sip.

“Excellent tea. Its fragrance lingers on the lips and teeth, and its aftertaste is endless,” Liu Yao praised.

In truth, he was merely putting on an act. He knew absolutely nothing about tea.

Then Liu Yao spoke frankly. “However, I did not come to visit Elder Mo for the sake of tea. I have an important matter to discuss.”

Mo Tian naturally understood his intentions. “If Your Highness has come to recruit the two of us to serve you, then I ask that Your Highness spare your breath.”

“You old fool! My lord has come to recruit you—that is already giving you face! Otherwise, do you really think anyone would care about a nobody who merely plays with wood?” Zhang Fei, still seething with resentment, flew into a rage.

“Yide, get out and calm yourself down,” Liu Yao rebuked him angrily.

Zhang Fei had many virtues, but his temper was simply too hotheaded.

“My lord!”

“Out!” Liu Yao shouted again.

“Yes, my lord,” Zhang Fei replied resentfully. Then he left the Mohist cottage without looking back.

Liu Yao turned to Mo Tian and apologized. “Elder Mo, pay him no mind. You are unwilling to enter the world of politics—is there some hidden difficulty?”

“Your Highness, I truly have no choice. Ever since the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, our Great Han has exalted Confucianism and suppressed the other schools. The Mohists, along with the Legalists, Agriculturalists, Militarists, and other schools, have all suffered oppression. Thus, our ancestors established a rule that no disciple of the Mohist school may enter public service.” Mo Tian spoke helplessly.

How could he not wish to spread the teachings of the Mohists? Yet circumstances were as they were, and he could only remain in this obscure place.

“Hahahaha!” Liu Yao burst into laughter. Then, with impassioned conviction, he said, “Elder Mo, you need not worry about that. In my domain of Youzhou, Confucians and Mohists alike will be treated equally. No single doctrine can ever truly govern a state well. Therefore, I am willing to create another age in which a hundred schools contend.”

“Are Your Highness’s words truly sincere?” Mo Tian asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He had never imagined that Liu Yao, a prince of the Great Han, would dare defy the ancestral laws.

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“Elder Mo, his words are indeed sincere. There is already a disciple of the Legalist school serving under my lord in Youzhou. If the Legalists are welcome, why should the Mohists be any different?” Guo Jia added.

He had heard that Cheng Yu, one of the men serving in Youzhou, was a thoroughly devoted student of Legalism.

“Indeed. Elder Mo, I give you my solemn word,” Liu Yao said firmly. “If that is so, would you be willing to lend me your strength?”

Mo Tian’s heart surged with joy. If he could make the teachings of the Mohists flourish once more, he would willingly give his life for it.

“Mo Tian pays his respects to my lord.” He immediately bowed before Liu Yao.

“Mo Yu pays her respects to my lord.” Following her teacher’s example, Mo Yu also bowed to Liu Yao.

“Please, both of you, rise.” Liu Yao hurriedly helped them to their feet, his face alight with excitement. “I have long heard that the Mohists excel at constructing ingenious mechanisms, especially devices for defending city walls. I shall have to trouble you greatly in the days ahead, Elder Mo.”

The assistance these two could provide him was certainly no less valuable than that of a peerless warrior such as Zhang Fei or a brilliant strategist such as Guo Jia.

“Thank you, my lord.” Mo Tian paused, then spoke with shame and sorrow. “To be frank, my lord, the Mohist school has long since declined. By the time it reached my generation, the mechanical designs left by our founding master, Mozi, had already been lost. All we can still make are the crude little devices you saw earlier. I beg your forgiveness for failing to tell you the truth from the beginning.”

“It is of no consequence.” Liu Yao spoke excitedly as he drew three sheets of paper from his sleeve and handed them to Mo Tian. “Elder Mo, take a look at these.”

Mo Tian accepted the drawings in confusion. The moment he examined them, his face flushed crimson and his breathing quickened. He abruptly collapsed backward.

Mo Yu rushed forward to support him. “Teacher! Teacher, are you all right?”

Unexpectedly, Mo Tian pushed her away and continued staring at the drawings.

Written across the three sheets were the designs for a repeating crossbow cart, a rotating launcher, and a fire-projecting cart.

The repeating crossbow cart was a large mechanical device mounted on a city wall. It could fire sixty heavy bolts simultaneously, along with countless smaller arrows, and required ten men to operate. Its most ingenious feature was that ropes were attached to the tails of its ten-foot-long bolts. Once fired, the bolts could be rapidly wound back and retrieved with a winch.

The rotating launcher was another large device mounted on a city wall. Six feet in length, it was operated by two men. Unlike the repeating crossbow cart, it was far more flexible: while one man fired the arrows, the other could rotate the base of the machine.

The fire-projecting cart was reinforced with iron on the outside, with part of it buried underground. It was a machine capable of launching burning coals and was operated by several men to defend against enemy siege forces.

“The founding master has answered our prayers! At last, all the treasures of the Mohist school have returned!” Mo Tian shouted toward the heavens in ecstatic excitement.

Then he fell heavily to his knees before Liu Yao.

“Thank you, my lord! Without these drawings, I, Mo Tian, would have spent the rest of my life failing our founding master. Your lordship’s kindness is impossible for me to repay.”

“Elder Mo, please rise.” Liu Yao smiled broadly. “These things are of little use to me. It is better that I entrust them to you. So long as you assist me wholeheartedly in the future, I shall be more than satisfied.”

With the drawings and the Mohists at his side, Liu Yao’s army would surely be equipped with even finer weapons.

“Thank you, my lord. From this day forth, I shall devote myself entirely to your service and die only when my duty is done,” Mo Tian said resolutely.

The favor Liu Yao had shown the Mohist school was simply too great. This was the only way Mo Tian could repay him.

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Liu Yao smiled with satisfaction, then drew another sheet of paper from his sleeve.

“Elder Mo, why not take a look at this one as well? I wonder whether it might be of any use.”

Mo Tian accepted the drawing eagerly. He had never imagined that Liu Yao possessed even more designs.

“Design for a Wooden Bird.”

Several large characters immediately caught Mo Tian’s eye.

These were all the designs Liu Yao had received in his tenth-anniversary gift package. Judging by their exchange value, the design for the wooden bird alone would have cost him a hundred opportunities to draw. Even if he sold everything he owned, Liu Yao could never afford it.

According to the ancient Mohist writings, Lu Ban was a man of immense learning and talent, skilled in craftsmanship and construction. He once carved a bird from wood that could carry a man and fly through the air for three days and three nights without landing.

Mo Tian was even more agitated than before.

“My lord, this is the invention of Lu Ban himself! I never imagined that you possessed even this!”

Liu Yao was delighted to hear that Mo Tian knew of the wooden bird and hurriedly asked, “Then, Elder Mo, can you build it?”

If this device could truly be constructed, Liu Yao might gain an aerial force under his command. Even if its numbers were small, in this age of the Three Kingdoms, it would undoubtedly become an elite trump card.

To his surprise, Mo Tian shook his head apologetically.

“My lord, please forgive my incompetence. The wooden bird requires Lu Ban’s unique craftsmanship. The Mohists are truly powerless to reproduce it.”

Liu Yao felt as though a basin of icy water had been poured over his head.

“However…”

That single word from Mo Tian immediately rekindled his hopes.

“However, I do know that Lu Ban has a successor.”

“What? Who is he, and where can he be found?” Liu Yao cried out excitedly.

“His name is Ma Jun. As for where he is now, I do not know. But I do know of one place he will eventually go.”

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