Chapter Sixty-Five: Well-Being

The Tang Dynasty greatly emphasized agriculture while suppressing commerce, holding farming and sericulture as the foundation of the state. The primary reason for this lay in the era’s extremely low grain yields and the feeble resistance to natural disasters; the slightest fluctuation in the heavens could cause massive drops in harvests or even total crop failure.

Making agriculture and sericulture the bedrock of the nation was a policy steadfastly enforced throughout every dynasty. One could do without carriages and walk, or wear hemp if there was no silk, but without food there was nothing but hunger.

Merchants, on the other hand, had always been resented. They did not labor in production yet reaped profits; some even hoarded goods to manipulate the market, actions which rulers throughout history found intolerable.

But the sale of curved-shaft plows and seeders by Mohist Village was beyond reproach, for such commerce did not undermine the foundation of agriculture and sericulture; on the contrary, it powerfully promoted agricultural development.

“This child?”

Qin Qiong’s face was filled with kindly pride—Mo Dun did not disappoint him. When Mo Dun had asked him to petition Li Shimin, seeking permission for Mohist Village to engage in trade without being classified as of lowly status, Qin Qiong had worried the boy might stray onto a crooked path. Now it seemed the decision had been right.

A look of satisfaction spread across Li Shimin’s face. This little catfish, Mo Dun, had caused quite a stir and brought forth remarkable innovations, surprising him time and again.

Even Li Chengqian wore a proud expression. As a friend, seeing Mo Dun’s accomplishments, he could not help but share a sense of honor and belonging.

“My foolish boy has found himself a fine friend!” Yuchi Jingde looked at Mo Dun beside his son with approval. He knew his own son well—clumsy and inarticulate, sure to suffer among Chang’an’s shrewd young nobles. But with Mo Dun, his heart was at ease.

“Three hundred coins is not expensive!”

The crowd below began making calculations. Even the old-style plows usually sold for around four hundred coins, and the curved-shaft plow was more advanced, saving labor and resources, while enabling deeper and more meticulous cultivation. Not to mention, for just three hundred more coins, one could purchase a seeder capable of planting six hundred mu in a single day.

When Mo Dun announced that all curved-shaft plows and seeders from Mohist Village would come with a three-year warranty, temptation stirred in everyone’s hearts.

Excitement swept through the Mohist Technology Exhibition. Beside it, in the Imperial Academy, Kong Yingda and a group of scholars and assistants were closely following the progress of the exhibition.

After all, the Mohist School was one of the ancient Hundred Schools of Thought, and as the stronghold of Confucianism, they had to pay close attention.

“Hmph! Has the Mohist School fallen so low as to earn their keep with acrobatics?” Liu Yinian sneered when he heard the messenger’s report that the Mohist youth had raised a thousand-jin cauldron with pulleys.

The other scholars burst into laughter. So the Mohists had come to this? All their vigilance seemed wasted.

“Report!” At that moment, another messenger rushed in.

“Reporting to the Director, the Mohist youth has unveiled a new plow and seeder!”

As the messenger explained the advanced features of the curved-shaft plow and the new seeder, everyone was stunned.

As great scholars, they well understood the importance of agriculture and sericulture, and the significance of these new tools.

“To think the Mohist youth has truly come up with something extraordinary!” sighed Shen Hongcai, the mathematics scholar.

“Could it be that the Mohist is putting on a sham?” Liu Yinian doubted.

“Impossible,” Kong Yingda shook his head. “That old stickler Su Lingnong would never testify to anything he hadn’t personally verified.”

A hush fell over the Imperial Academy crowd. No one could quite believe the mischievous “little catfish” they’d often seen darting about had accomplished such a feat.

Back at the exhibition, Mo Dun addressed the crowd.

“I believe everyone is already calculating how much more land can be reclaimed this year, and how much more grain will be produced!” he said with a smile.

The audience, swayed by his words, chuckled quietly among themselves.

“But is that enough for you?” Mo Dun suddenly raised his voice.

The crowd was taken aback. Wasn’t it enough? After all, feeding one’s family was no easy feat.

“I said before, if the grand age of the Tang is upon us, and all we can do is eat our fill, how can that be called a golden age?” Mo Dun shook his head.

Everyone was stunned. If this wasn’t prosperity, what was?

Li Shimin, too, looked at Mo Dun in surprise and asked Master Yu, “Mohist Village has bought so much grain, and still they’re not satisfied?”

Master Yu was not surprised that Li Shimin knew about their grain stores. He nodded, “Mohist Village now has enough grain to feed the whole village for a year, but our young master says this is just meeting basic needs—true well-being is still a long way off!”

“Well-being?” Cheng Yaojin was puzzled by this new term.

Li Chengqian explained, “Your Grace, the term ‘well-being’ has existed since ancient times. The Book of Songs, ‘Major Odes: The Toils of the People’ says, ‘The people toil, yet barely attain well-being.’ The Book of Rites also describes it: ‘Now that the Great Way is hidden, the world becomes a family; each cares for his own... This is called well-being.’”

Li Chengqian offered the historical origins of the term and smiled, “What Brother Mo means by well-being is probably this kind of stable and abundant life.”

“Your Highness is learned indeed!” Master Yu said respectfully.

“Oh! So it’s from the sacred texts. It seems my decision to send this little catfish to the Imperial Academy was quite right,” Li Shimin laughed.

Even Cheng Yaojin couldn’t help but grin broadly. They all knew well the various escapades of the Mohist youth at the Academy.

“I know what well-being is!” Su Lingnong cut off Mo Dun’s explanation, “Then tell us, what is your standard for well-being?”

The crowd roared with laughter.

Mo Dun, a little embarrassed, replied, “I believe the bare minimum for well-being is that everyone can eat meat every day!”

“Eat meat every day!”

The audience was in an uproar.

Even the wealthiest households could not afford meat daily; most people only had meat on holidays and special occasions, rarely tasting even a hint of grease the rest of the year.

A hearty meal of meat was a distant luxury, let alone eating it every day.

In this era, cattle and horses were strategic assets—the penalty for eating them was imprisonment. Pork was strong-flavored and not in abundance, making meat expensive. Otherwise, how could Mohist Village have accumulated so much wealth in just a few months with their live fish secret?

“This boy dares to dream!” exclaimed Cheng Yaojin in surprise. He knew how precious such a goal was.

“Is Mohist Village truly so wealthy?” Li Shimin eyed Master Yu warily. If Mohist Village was already so rich yet still sought to do business, that bordered on deceiving the emperor.

“Your Majesty, Mohist Village only escaped poverty two months ago!” Master Yu quickly replied.

“Then how can the Mohist youth make such a claim? Does he want the whole empire to eat fish and meat?” Li Shimin voiced his displeasure. In his view, even if fish farming was promoted across the Tang, it would be a drop in the ocean.

“I am not responsible for the live fish secret or fish farming,” Master Yu said, “but according to what’s been said in Mohist Village, our young master has provided a new secret. It has already been tested, and by year’s end, it’s hoped everyone in the village will be able to eat meat every day.”

Though he was unsure of the young master’s confidence, from what he’d overheard, the experiment had succeeded. All he could do was brace himself and trust in his young master, who had never disappointed them before.

“Perhaps you all think it impossible, but that is the marvel of Mohist technology: innovation that makes the impossible possible!” Mo Dun shouted.

Mo Dun gestured, and Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Chumo, and Yuchi Baolin each carried out a tall cage covered in heavy black cloth.

The three cages were set at the center of the platform, and all eyes fixed upon them. Could these be the secret that would allow everyone to eat meat every day?

With a flourish, Mo Dun pulled away the black cloth, revealing densely packed, fluffy creatures inside.

“This cannot be!” Su Lingnong shot to his feet, exclaiming in disbelief.

“This cannot be!” Li Shimin rushed to the window, his face full of shock.

The crowd below was incredulous.

Inside the cages were chicks, ducklings, and goslings, each cage divided into over ten layers, each layer teeming with young birds. The familiar chorus of their calls filled the air.

“How did he do it?” voices exclaimed all around.

Everyone knew hens only hatched chicks in autumn; it was just after the New Year, the coldest time of year, when hens refused to brood and even if they did, it was too cold for the eggs to hatch.

“This is the wonder of Mohist technology—making the impossible possible!” Mo Dun said with a playful grin.

“How did you manage this? Hens cannot hatch chicks at this time of year,” Su Lingnong questioned, verifying the cages full of young birds.

He soon gave up; these contained not only chicks but ducklings and goslings as well. Could all three species have changed their nature and learned to hatch in winter?

“Are your chickens, ducks, and geese in Mohist Village different, blessed with some extraordinary gift?” Cheng Yaojin eyed the cages as if he were seeing monsters and asked Master Yu.

“Your Grace, as far as I know, our birds are no different. They do not brood in winter,” Master Yu replied with a wry smile.

“Then how was it done? Did people hatch them, keeping them warm in their bedding every day?” Yuchi Jingde joked, laughing heartily.

Li Shimin smiled as well—until he saw Master Yu’s solemn expression, which made him pause and ask incredulously, “Could it be they really were hatched by hand?”

“Of course not—no one kept them warm in bed!” Mo Dun answered from the platform.

“Mohist Village has mastered artificial incubation technology.” At these words, the entire assembly was thunderstruck.