Chapter 356: Love Tax

Mo City and Jigua City are adjacent to each other. Although the Mo family leader is humble, Zhou Tieyi cannot be too arrogant.

Face is given to each other, not to mention that Zhou Tieyi was planning on having the leader of the Mohist school personally lend a hand when he was in trouble.

So he had a frank exchange with Gongshu Ting and confirmed that the first Mingyue Mechanism he made would be used in the Machinery City first. Then Zhou Tieyi took the manufacturing materials given by Gongshu and took Feipeng from the Machinery City to Mo City.

The two cities are separated by mountains, but they have two completely different landscapes.

The Mechanical City is sophisticated and complex. In the process of promoting the development of mechanical technology, the interests of ordinary people have to be sacrificed. At the same time, because of the obvious clan issues, it is the development of ordinary people at the bottom that restricts the further transformation of the Mechanical City.

But Mocheng is a completely different scene.

The airport was built fifty miles outside the city. As the air rolled down from the sky, one could see the golden waves of rice spreading out from the boundless horizon.

As Feipeng was falling, Zhou Tieyi did not see a large number of ink stone mechanisms being used in the rice fields to improve production efficiency. Instead, he saw a large number of old people, children, and adults wearing linen clothes working together to harvest rice. They were talking and laughing, and singing melodious folk songs from time to time, which could be heard far away in the sound of the wind brought up by Feipeng.

Sun Shiheng piloted Feipeng to the airport, extended the ladder, and opened the hatch. Although the straight-line distance between the two places was only forty or fifty miles, when he landed on the land of Mo City, Sun Shiheng couldn't help but take a deep breath. He looked at Zhou Tieyi who was still looking at the wheat fields in the distance through the transparent window, and asked with a smile, "Lord Zhou, the scenery of Mo City is very different from that of Jijia City, right?"

After saying that, he glanced proudly at Xuan Chan who was following behind Zhou Tieyi.

Xuan Chan had a frosty look on her face. It was obvious that Sun Shiheng wanted to use her as an example to highlight the superiority of the Mohist School. The two schools had been entangled for thousands of years and were accustomed to this kind of contempt for each other.

Zhou Tieyi withdrew his gaze from the glass window and said with a smile, "It is indeed very different."

"As long as Lord Zhou likes it."

Just as Zhou Tieyi and Sun Shiheng were talking in the cabin, hearty laughter was heard from outside the open cabin door.

When Sun Shiheng heard the voice, he quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, sir."

His etiquette was also very simple. He just bowed slightly, crossed his hands in front of him, and clasped his fists.

Zhou Tieyi took a few steps forward and bowed to the people waiting outside the cabin door, "Hello, senior. I was supposed to visit you at your house, but how can I let you receive me in the airport? I really feel uneasy."

The leader of the Mohist school looked to be around forty or fifty years old, with a shiny and smooth forehead, and his long, soft black hair was casually draped and tied behind him with a blue coarse cloth. He wore a pair of simple tortoise-shell glasses, which softened his outstanding facial features, as if he wanted to deliberately hide his sharpness.

The leader of the Mohist school wore a cloth robe with cuffs, just like the people around him. The only decoration was a straight sword similar to a ruler on his waist, which was also a symbol of the leaders of the Mohist school throughout the ages.

The Mohist master looked at Zhou Tieyi with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be a person who follows common etiquette."

Zhou Tieyi was stunned for a moment, then looked up. This was what he and Sun Shiheng said while joking. He didn't expect that the leader of the Mohist school would use this to refute him.

On the one hand, it highlights the importance that the Mohist leader attached to himself. Even the words he and Sun Shiheng talked about in a joke were seriously considered by him. On the other hand, it also highlights the easy-going character of the Mohist leader.

Zhou Tieyi thought for a moment and replied, "Unless you live in seclusion, how can you completely transcend 'ritual'? Although I have always disliked Confucianism, it does not mean that some of its things are not worth learning from. If we abolish it just because we hate it, then what is the difference between us and corrupt Confucianists?"

The Mohist master nodded slightly, "That's the truth."

Then he smiled and said to the disciple beside him, "I said that I would gain something from coming here today, and it turned out to be true."

The disciple next to him was even more beautiful, a man with feminine features, and all his attire imitated the Mohist master. He bowed to the master and said, "Master, what you said is absolutely right."

After leaving the airport, the leader of the Mohist school also took Zhou Tieyi for a walk outside the Mohist city. Compared to Gongshu Ting who flew the black bird around the city and lit up the ground lights with a snap of his fingers to show Zhou Tieyi the prosperity of the mechanical city, the Mohist school was more plain and simple. Even the car that the leader himself was riding was not driven by the Mohist stone mechanism, but a more ancient type of self-propelled car that used its own mechanical force as power.

When they arrived in Mo City, the Mohist leader's vehicle was even queued up like ordinary people's carriages to enter the city. After passing the city gate and passing by rows of neat and uniform houses, the Mohist leader first took Zhou Tieyi to the Mohist School to attend a class.

While listening to the lecture, the children also showed their curiosity towards outsiders like Zhou Tieyi. One little girl even walked up to Zhou Tieyi and said, "Brother, you look so handsome. Where did you buy this dress?"

Zhou Tieyi followed the little girl's gaze and discovered that the children around him were not only curious about outsiders like them, but many of them also looked curiously at the silk clothes they were wearing. The exquisite and intricate embroidery on them formed a sharp contrast with the ordinary coarse cloth clothes in Mocheng.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and replied, "I bought it in Tianjing."

"Tianjing?"

The little girl looked thoughtful, and then said, "I know Tianjing. Our teacher taught us that it is the most prosperous place in Daxia, but I heard that ordinary people there don't live well. Is that true?"

Zhou Tieyi thought about it and nodded.

His nod immediately gave the Mongolian children present a sense of affirmation, so they were no longer so envious of the gorgeous clothes worn by Zhou Tieyi and the others.

The teacher said that those who are dressed in silk and satin are not silkworm farmers.

As a guide, Sun Shiheng proudly explained everything in Mo City to Zhou Tieyi.

"In Mo City, all the children of the common people can go to school. This is supported by the Mo Academy, just like the 'compulsory education' you mentioned in Shantong Mansion."

Zhou Tieyi nodded slightly and asked casually, "What about the old man?"

Sun Shiheng smiled and said, "Of course, they will be supported by Moyuan. The people of Mocheng will never experience poverty from birth to death."

After visiting the academy, the Mohist leader did not prepare a banquet in the mansion to entertain Zhou Tieyi and his party. Instead, he said, "I know a small noodle restaurant that has delicious ear horns."

"As you wish."

At this time, the sky was getting a little dark, and people who had been working outside the city returned to the city one after another. They gathered in groups of three or five, drinking and eating in the taverns. Most of the taverns here had empty spaces in the middle, allowing people to go up and perform their talents.

When the ear horns came up, Zhou Tieyi saw a layer of red oil and chili, and immediately felt very appetizing. The so-called ear horns are dumplings, but they are shaped like ears, so they are called ear horns here in Taihang Mountains.

After the meal, the leader of the Mohist school did not rush to take Zhou Tieyi to discuss business. He just sat in this small noodle restaurant, looking at the singing and dancing in the tavern not far away. With their eyesight and hearing, there was no difference between a distance of more than ten feet and being in person.

Suddenly, Mo Jian, the disciple of the Mo family leader, looked at Zhou Tieyi and asked, "Lord Zhou, how does Mo City compare to the Mechanical City?" Zhou Tieyi smiled, but did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned to look at the Mo family leader, "Senior Gongshu Ting used the black bird to carry me around the Six Ring City, snapped his fingers, and lit up all the ground lamps in the Six Ring City. He said that he had snapped his fingers for fifty years and it was still not enough."

Mo Jian frowned slightly. If Zhou Tieyi was just fascinated by the little trick of lighting up the ground lights in the Mechanical City, he would have looked down on the person in front of him.

Zhou Tieyi continued, "Master, how long have you been looking at this scene? About fifty years?"

The Mohist master pondered for a moment and replied, "It has been more than 110 years since I was born. Apart from the 50 years I spent traveling around the world, I have been looking at the scene in front of me for more than 60 years."

Zhou Tieyi nodded and said, "Sixty years is a long time. Has the scene changed in your eyes? Or is it that you are like Senior Gongshu Ting and haven't seen enough?"

The leader of the Mohist school frowned and remained silent, while Mo Jian seemed to be thinking about something.

Sun Shiheng spoke up instead, "What do you mean by that, Lord Zhou? Do you think my Mohist school is the same as Gongshu's school?"

There was a hint of indignation in his tone. Although he admired Zhou Tieyi very much after several exchanges, Mo City was the most perfect belief in the hearts of all Mohist monks, and it would not allow anyone else to tarnish it in the slightest. What's more, compared with the city built by the Gongshu family's group of quick success and instant benefits people, it was even more unacceptable to Sun Shiheng.

Don’t you see that although the Machinery City looks prosperous on the surface, what kind of life do the people at the bottom live?

If I hadn't controlled my temper for fear of affecting the Mohist plan, I should have taken Zhou Tieyi to the Sixth Ring Road to have a look at how those people who sold their children for the sake of mechanical technology were exploited by the Gongshu family!
“There is still a difference…”

Zhou Tieyi leaned back out of habit, only to find that he was sitting on a bench. The Mohist school really did everything they could to save money.

Sun Shiheng's expression relaxed slightly, thinking that Zhou Tieyi would say something nice.

As a result, Zhou Tieyi successfully aroused his anger with the next sentence.

Zhou Tieyi looked at Sun Shiheng and said with a smile, "For example, people like you are more suitable for Jiji City, not Mo City."

Sun Shiheng's face immediately became so gloomy that it looked like water was about to drip out.

Seeing the change in Sun Shiheng's expression, Zhou Tieyi had a better understanding of the Mohist path of cultivation. From the ninth to the fifth rank of Mohism, what they practiced was to understand the principles of heaven, while from the fourth rank "Renxia" they began to practice the principles of man.

Being a knight-errant requires the strong to help the weak, so the chivalrous spirit in one's heart is inevitably provoked by others and becomes a weakness.

On the other hand, the Mohist masters and disciples next to them did not change their expressions even though he said this. At least they were able to keep their composure.

At this time, the leader of the Mohist School spoke, but he did not answer Zhou Tieyi's words. Instead, he looked at Sun Shiheng and asked, "Shiheng, why do we in the Mohist School salute with an empty fist instead of a real fist?"

Sun Shiheng's gloomy expression eased, "Master."

Then he exhaled a breath of turbid air and looked at Zhou Tieyi, "Please give me some advice, Lord Zhou."

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "You fly airships and travel around the world, but have you ever seen a better place than Mo City?"

Sun Shiheng raised his head proudly, "Even Daxia's Tianjing, Taoism's Xuandu Mountain, and Buddhism's Nananda Temple are not as good as it."

Zhou Tieyi then asked, "Why don't people in the world build such a good place? Are people in the world stupid?"

Sun Shiheng was speechless for a moment. He wanted to answer that people in the world were ignorant, but this seemed condescending and went against the Mohist idea of ​​universal love.

Zhou Tieyi looked at the people singing and dancing in the lights in the distance, and asked again, "People who are interested in practicing in Mo City don't live here permanently, right?"

This time the Mohist leader replied, "They have all gone around the world to spread Mohist thought."

Zhou Tieyi then looked at Sun Shiheng again, "Although you look honest, you are arrogant in your heart. You have enough talent and you definitely want to enter the upper third level. So you are not suitable for Mo City. If you stay here for two more years, your cultivation will stagnate."

Sun Shiheng opened his mouth, but still refused to admit defeat, "That only proves that we built Mo City too well."

"That's great?" Zhou Tieyi sneered, "The love tax is not cheap, right?"

The expressions of Sun Shiheng and Mo Jian changed slightly.

Zhou Tieyi pointed to the simple houses around him. All he saw along the way was an idyllic scene. There was not only no poverty but also no wealth here.

Zhou Tieyi continued, "Mo City is great, everything is perfect. Originally, this kind of city should only exist in imagination, but I didn't expect that you Mo family really have the ability to create it. Can you listen to what I saw? Is there any difference from what you saw?"

The Mohist master bowed and said, "I would like to hear the details."

Zhou Tieyi pondered for a moment and sorted out his logic. "First of all, in my opinion, the model of Mocheng is also a form of exploitation, but this is not the exploitation of one person against another, but the exploitation of the world by a group of people."

"The Mohists emphasize frugality, so I didn't see any advanced mechanical devices along the way. While you emphasize frugality, you limit the development of productivity. Although compared with ordinary cities around, there are more monks and the city management is more complete, so there are more food and handicraft products here."

"But the core of your efforts to maintain the balance between supply and demand in the entire city is the 'universal love tax' rather than the 'universal love' you advocate."

"Who doesn't like fancy clothes? There are only two types of people who don't like fancy clothes. The first type is those who have never seen fancy clothes since childhood, and the second type is those who can't afford fancy clothes. The Mo family used the tax of universal love to achieve both of these goals at the same time. I have to say it's very clever."

Zhou Tieyi looked at Sun Shiheng, "If you want to wear fancy clothes in Mo City, as a Mohist, you should pay an unimaginably heavy tax, right? Let me guess how much it will cost. Is the value of a fifth-grade treasure enough?"

Sun Shiheng said, "Fancy clothes are not necessary, so what's the point of wearing them?"

Zhou Tieyi nodded, "Indeed, fancy clothes are not necessary, what's the point of wearing them? You can think so, but can everyone in the world think so?"

He turned to the clerk he had promoted and asked, "You are practicing Mohist Taoism in Tianjing, how do you pay the 'universal love tax'?"

Although Qin Yu was not a person of extravagant and lustful character, he was also a son of a wealthy family. If Qin Yu followed the Mohist taxation standards, he would not be able to pay such a heavy tax even if his father was a minister.

Qin Yu smiled bitterly, "I used to evade taxes."

(End of this chapter)