Chapter 81: Infrastructure Begins
What was Chen Bai best at?
Petting dogs.
Looking at the proud and awkward Qi Zheng, he might as well give him a few strokes.
Only, he nearly stroked the dog until its fur exploded, so he quickly withdrew his hand and sat up straight in a proper, obedient posture.
Fine, no petting then. Later he would go pet Chen Xiaobu’s Dalmatian.
When they arrived at the academy, the area below the academy was as lively as ever.
Chen Bai looked at those sage disciples secretly trying to hook his students and found it rather funny. He simply announced something.
“Everyone, the academic atmosphere of Cloudtop Academy is very open. If you wish to… promote your schools of thought, you may directly lecture them. If they become interested in the ideas and teachings of any of your schools, you can even take them away…”
If those students could leave the school computers behind, he would write his name upside down.
A bunch of internet addicts. Every day, they wished they could stay in the dormitory without taking even one step away from the computers. At night, they even stuffed blankets into the cracks of the door, afraid that light would leak out. Did they really think he had not seen those little tricks? If he cut off their internet now, it would be like taking their little lives.
The sage disciples were all stunned. “…”
What academic freedom without boundaries? Nonsense. If someone ran to their school to steal their disciples, not being beaten to death with sticks would already be considered lucky.
Even in modern times, if you went to someone else’s school to poach their top students, just see what kind of treatment you would get.
Right now, what these sage disciples were doing was exactly that. They were standing at the entrance of Cloudtop Academy, trying to win over someone else’s students.
That was rather unkind. They had only developed such thoughts because the students of Cloudtop Academy seemed ideologically mixed, without any specific school or faction.
So on the surface, they were exchanging scholarship, but in truth, they were smuggling in their own private goods, passing on the ideas of their own schools.
That was why they had been doing it somewhat sneakily, while everyone silently understood.
In the end, Chen Zixiu directly announced: You don’t need to hide anything anymore. Just come openly.
These sage disciples were extremely puzzled. How was this different from destroying one’s own foundation? Did he know how much effort it took to cultivate a qualified disciple?
They did not know that, because Chen Bai came from a different era, he had no concept of factional division in his heart. To Chen Bai, scholarship was scholarship, and thought was thought. He did not believe that only one family’s ideas had to be correct while all others were unacceptable.
In this era, where the Hundred Schools stood divided and each school competed to verify its Dao, Chen Bai’s way of thinking was extremely strange.
They also did not know that Chen Bai had complete confidence that these people would not be able to lure away his students. Just based on the academy’s living facilities alone, these students could no longer leave.
For example, now, even to take a bath, these students had to specially ride a carriage to the academy. No matter how they washed at home, it felt uncomfortable. There was no showerhead, no body wash, no shampoo. If they had to go back to using soapnuts and wash their hair until it became dry and withered, they would go mad…
Chen Bai thought for a moment and said, “How about this? Every day, one hour can be arranged for you to lecture on the ideas and doctrines of your various schools. Go register with Meng Huanchao, and have him arrange which school will lecture each day. As for what you lecture on, you decide that yourselves. The academy will not interfere.”
Everyone: “…”
Chen Bai thought to himself, with so many of the top scholars of this era here, how could he let them go? He might as well borrow them to broaden his students’ minds and expand their knowledge.
Just thinking about it sounded good. In modern times, did they know how difficult it was to invite a famous professor to give a lecture? And here, there was a whole group of them for free, all of the highest level.
No matter how he calculated it, Cloudtop Academy was the one profiting.
Only, Chen Bai did not expect that his action would bring about such changes to the various schools, which had long been complacent and shut themselves away.
The greatest academic exchange holy land of this era was also born at this moment. In the future, it would even develop into an academic holy land that sage disciples and great scholars from all countries had to visit.
Here, there was no distinction of nationality or faction. There was only the collision of scholarship and thought.
Great Qian, which had once lacked culture and education, also seemed to board a rocket. Its literary and educational development advanced rapidly, and its scholarly atmosphere even surpassed that of other countries.
Of course, that was a matter for later.
After Chen Bai finished speaking, he entered the academy, leaving behind a group of bewildered sage disciples. Those who reacted quickly hurried to find Meng Huanchao.
Meng Huanchao: “…”
In the past, a sage school would always find a country to verify its own learning. But never had he heard of so many schools existing in the same country at the same time, because that would create endless trouble and disputes, distracting them with external matters and preventing them from focusing on proving their sacred Dao.
But if it was not only one or two schools fighting each other, but all schools gathered together, discussing and verifying one another, what kind of situation would that become?
Before this, no one had dared to even imagine such a thing. In their hearts, they feared it would become a life-and-death struggle. But now… somehow, this situation had already taken shape.
Even Meng Huanchao could not guess what the result would be.
“Interesting. Perhaps the various sage schools, whose progress has been slow for so long, might change because of this.” Meng Huanchao said thoughtfully, then began recording and arranging the schools that had registered.
“Tomorrow, the Daoist school may lecture here for one hour.”
“The day after tomorrow, the Confucian school…”
Unexpectedly, this queue stretched very long.
With such a big decision, Chen Bai naturally had to speak to the students about it.
“Starting tomorrow, the various sage schools will lecture below our academy for one hour. This is a rare opportunity. You all must go listen.”
“The purpose is to broaden your thinking, expand your knowledge, gather the thoughts of the Hundred Schools into yourselves, absorb the strengths of the Hundred Schools, and form your own learning…”
The students: “…”
Gather the thoughts of the Hundred Schools into themselves? Absorb the strengths of the Hundred Schools?
Their little mouths nearly drooled.
Actually, even if Chen Bai did not remind them, they would still go listen. Those were lectures by sage disciples. In all the countries, whenever sage disciples lectured, which one was not a grand literary event that stirred up a sensation?
They certainly would not miss such a good opportunity.
Chen Bai continued, “However, you also cannot believe everything they say. What we must do is take the essence and discard the dross, and benefit from it.”
Actually, even if Chen Bai did not say it, these students would feel it during the lectures, because many of the ideas of those schools were opposing. If they accepted everything, contradictions would naturally arise. As for who to believe and who not to believe, they would have to judge for themselves.
This was also one benefit of allowing all schools to exchange with one another. Those schools that had once shut themselves away and could not see their own shortcomings—was this not also an opportunity for them?
Chen Bai concluded, “It is better to have no books than to believe everything in books. The truths of the world need to be discovered and judged by yourselves, not only heard from the mouths of others…”
When Meng Huanchao came up with the recorded schedule, he just happened to hear Chen Bai say this. He paused for a moment. “He does know where the essence lies.”
The sage disciples of the various schools continuously verified their own sacred Dao. Was that not precisely discovering right and wrong for themselves?
This was also the fundamental difference between ordinary scholars and sage disciples. Ordinary scholars only needed to study, while sage disciples needed to explore and verify.
Chen Bai looked over the schedule Meng Huanchao had arranged and nodded.
Meng Huanchao hesitated for a moment. Should he remind him that lectures by sage disciples were no small matter? Moreover, such densely arranged lectures from so many different schools would surely shock the world. The situation then might be unprecedented beyond imagination.
But seeing Chen Bai’s unconcerned expression, he must have already considered that situation, right?
Meng Huanchao touched his chin. It had to be so.
How could he know that Chen Bai had never experienced such things either? Even in his memories, he had no memory of sage disciples giving lectures.
Chen Bai merely regarded these sage disciples as expert professors. Being respected was about the same, right?
Only, how could Chen Bai know that he had completely underestimated the prestige and influence of a sage disciple in this era?
The sage disciples whose influence and status he imagined to be like expert professors might actually be like Nobel Prize winners in modern times.
Actually, Chen Bai could not be blamed for this cognitive deviation. After all, Great Qian had never had sage disciples lecture before. Moreover, too many sage disciples had come this time, so they looked somewhat cheapened. Although their actual value had not changed at all.
After Chen Bai and Meng Huanchao finished discussing the lecture schedule of the sage disciples, he went to find Chen Xiaobu.
Chen Xiaobu scratched his head. “Brother, you want to see Mo Qianji? I made an appointment with him to play with the wind-up frog later. I’ll bring him over later.”
Chen Bai: “…”
Why was this Mo Qianji so fixated on the wind-up frog?
To be honest, Mo Qianji really had been rather obsessed with studying the wind-up frog lately. Originally, he had been researching the academy’s door and elevator, but he could not find the way in. So he turned to the simpler wind-up frog.
In the end, he really did figure out a little bit of it. Recently, he had been coaxing Chen Xiaobu into taking the wind-up frog apart. Of course, how could Chen Xiaobu bear to do that? He felt that his wind-up frog was worth one luminous pearl. Taking it apart would be far too wasteful.
When Chen Xiaobu brought Mo Qianji up, the two had their arms around each other’s shoulders like the best of brothers. Chen Xiaobu’s little face was split open with a grin. He was now on brotherly terms with a sage disciple. When he told his father, Court Commandant Chen was so shocked that his favorite teapot fell to the ground and shattered.
Chen Bai’s mouth twitched. A dignified sage disciple—why was he so different from the image of a highly knowledgeable person in his mind?
Actually, thinking about it, that made sense. When people thought of highly knowledgeable people, they might all picture one certain image. But how could every person have the same personality? Were highly knowledgeable people not allowed to have one fool among them?
Chen Bai greeted him with the corners of his mouth twitching. Mo Qianji stared at the air-conditioning fan blowing cold air and could not move his eyes away.
What was this thing now?
Truly, every day brought a new surprise, one after another. But he had not even finished studying the wind-up frog yet.
The weather was hot now, so Chen Bai had set up an air-conditioning fan in the lounge where the students played. Now he had temporarily requisitioned the space to receive a foreign guest.
Chen Xiaobu lay on a sofa nearby, watching his brother and Mo Qianji chat. From time to time, he pushed down the Dalmatian that tried to climb onto the sofa.
Chen Bai had come to see Mo Qianji because he wanted the Mohists to settle in Great Qian. As long as one sage school brought its teachings into Great Qian, it would be enough to end this prince competition.
Since something could be settled sooner, he did not want to keep dragging it out.
Chen Bai looked at Mo Qianji, who seemed somewhat dazed. His eyes moved slightly. The Mohist ideas were famous, and so were Mohist mechanisms and architecture. Judging from Mo Qianji’s reaction, he was indeed a technical craftsman.
Chen Bai spoke. “Is the Mohist school no longer interested in the books stored at Cloudtop Academy? Recently, I haven’t seen you come to the academy to read.”
Only then did Mo Qianji come back to himself. The corners of his mouth twitched. Did Chen Bai think he didn’t want to enter the academy and read? He dreamed of it. But… he couldn’t answer the questions, could he? No matter how anxious he felt, it was useless.
Only, Chen Zixiu’s question was quite embarrassing.
Chen Bai smiled. “I believe the Mohists also know what has happened in Great Qian recently. Regarding those rumors that Great Qian destroyed a sacred Dao back then, all of them were groundless. Now, the School of Names has reappeared in the capital. Lan Ruoyun, direct heir of the School of Names, has also been active in Great Qian all along. He has not suffered any persecution. On the contrary, he became one of Great Qian’s Four Gentlemen, with a reputation spread far and wide.”
Mo Qianji: “…”
Groundless?
Although he did not know exactly how the School of Names had escaped that calamity back then, for them to live under hidden names for so many years, there had to be a reason.
However, Chen Zixiu was not entirely wrong. At least, the School of Names had indeed not been destroyed. The direct heir of the School of Names had always lived openly within everyone’s sight, alive and well. That alone was the best proof.
In addition, the current King of Great Qian had personally issued an imperial decree and announced it to the world. In truth, this was equivalent to admitting his mistake for what happened back then and giving the sacred Daos under heaven an explanation.
Chen Bai continued, “How about it? Are you interested in having the Mohist teachings settle in Great Qian?”
“As long as you agree, not only will Cloudtop Academy’s book collection be opened to you, but we can also immediately provide soil for the Mohists to verify their Dao. Let us begin with your Mohist architecture and mechanical arts. Prince Zheng’s fief happens to need construction. This kind of development starting from nothing is exactly the opportunity for the Mohists to show their abilities and establish a foothold in Great Qian right away.”
Chen Bai’s calculations were practically clacking aloud.
Mo Qianji: “…”
If the Mohists truly wanted to develop in Great Qian and expand their influence, they would definitely need opportunities. And now Chen Zixiu was so “kind” that he had placed an opportunity directly before him?
Building a fief from nothing was far more convenient than renovating an already existing town. He had seen the fief’s situation over these past few days. Aside from this unbelievable towering pagoda, in his eyes, there truly was nothing there. Saying they would be starting from scratch was not wrong at all. If his Mohist school led the project and produced visible results before everyone’s eyes, then it would indeed allow the Mohists to immediately establish a firm foothold.
But… it was not as simple as saying the Mohist teachings would settle in Great Qian and then immediately settling in.
Seeing Mo Qianji hesitate, Chen Bai smiled. “I wonder if Brother Mo knows that I am very familiar with Prince Zuoqiu of Lu. If Brother Mo does not agree, then I can only give this opportunity to the Gongshu clan of Lu. Though they specialize in siege machinery, they are also quite famous in the field of architecture… I believe Prince Zuoqiu of Lu may arrive in Great Qian very soon. If he says a word or two to me then, I would not be able to refuse him, would I?”
Beside him, Chen Xiaobu: “…”
Zuoqiu was coming to Shangjing? Why didn’t he know that?
Mo Qianji: “…”
Chen Bai glanced around the room again. “When the time comes, for the sage schools that settle in Great Qian, Cloudtop Academy can arrange a room for each direct disciple of a sage.”
Mo Qianji looked at the various things in the room that he had never seen before. A little drool actually slipped out unconsciously, and he hurriedly wiped it away.
For someone else, the temptation might not have been so great. But for a Mohist, seeing things he had never seen before made his heart itch terribly, making him want to study them.
Chen Bai sighed. “Ah, what a pity. The rooms in Cloudtop Academy have nearly all been taken over by the students. There are only a few left. When the time comes, not every sage school will be able to get one. For fairness, it can only be first come, first served.”
Mo Qianji’s throat moved. “Everything in the room will be included? Including that…”
Mo Qianji pointed at the air-conditioning fan.
For someone seeing it for the first time, even a direct Mohist heir would likely regard it as a heavenly marvel. After all, it was something from a different era.
Mo Qianji’s thoughts were almost exactly like that. How could such an exquisite mechanism exist in this world?
Even after only one glance, he had already gone through every usable technique in his mind, but no matter how he thought, he could not figure out how such a miraculous mechanism had been made.
Chen Bai looked at the air-conditioning fan, and the corner of his mouth twitched. As expected of a Mohist—truly “discerning.”
Chen Bai answered, “Yes.”
The weather was hot now, and each student dormitory had indeed been equipped with an air-conditioning fan. However, unlike the ones in the classroom and lounge, the dormitory models were much smaller. After all, the dorms were not big, so they did not need such large ones.
If Mo Qianji was not satisfied then, Chen Bai could just let him study the one in the lounge.
Chen Bai had thought he would still need to coax him for a while. After all, making a sage disciple settle in Great Qian was not that easy. It was like trying to get a Nobel Prize winner to stay at your home long-term.
Mo Qianji was also thinking. Now that the concerns in the hearts of the various sacred Daos had been resolved, all the schools would surely have their own thoughts when facing Great Qian, a country with no school settled in it yet.
And because Chen Bai and Prince Zheng were eager to win the prince competition as soon as possible, they had offered him so many conveniences. But once another sacred Dao settled in Great Qian first, these conveniences might truly disappear. Over the past few days, he had also heard a little about Chen Zixiu and Zuoqiu of Lu. He did not know how close they were, but they did indeed have dealings. To be honest, the greatest competitor to the Mohists was the Gongshu clan of Lu. If Zuoqiu of Lu really said a few words then, considering these benefits, the Gongshu clan might not necessarily refuse to send a branch to settle in Great Qian.
On top of that, there were Cloudtop Academy’s books about the Mohists. If he could not take even one look at them, he feared he would be unable to let it go for the rest of his life, and inner demons would grow. There was no helping it—who told those books to all be written only halfway? They made people love and hate them so much they could gnash their teeth.
Perhaps just the book collection alone would be enough to make some schools agree, let alone these additional conditions.
Mo Qianji remained calm. “Can you make the decision on those conditions you mentioned just now?”
Chen Bai smiled. “Of course. I can write a contract for the Mohists.”
Mo Qianji: What was that?
Chen Bai had Chen Xiaobu bring paper and brush, then wrote down the conditions he had just mentioned in front of him.
There were actually only three conditions in total. If Mohist teachings settled in Great Qian again, first, they could view Cloudtop Academy’s book collection.
Second, a room in Cloudtop Academy would be assigned to the direct Mohist heir. This would make it convenient for him to read.
Third, all construction-related development in Qi Zheng’s fief would be fully entrusted to the Mohists.
“The contract will be in duplicate, one copy for each side. Take a look. If there are no problems, sign it. Once signed, it will count as your agreement to settle in Great Qian, and we will naturally fulfill the terms written above.”
Mo Qianji looked it over.
In the past, most agreements had been verbal. People like them, sage disciples, truly would not break their word. But when it was written on paper, for some reason, it seemed to gain an added sense of ceremony and binding force.
Then suddenly, Mo Qianji said, “One more condition needs to be added.”
Chen Bai was stunned. Did the other party have some other request?
Mo Qianji suddenly pointed at Chen Xiaobu. “Give me a wind-up frog like his too.”
He had already learned from Chen Xiaobu over the past few days who had given him that wind-up frog.
Chen Bai: “…”
Chen Bai almost could not hold back. No matter what, you are still the direct disciple of a sage, aren’t you? On such an important contract, you want to add a clause saying you want a child’s toy?
Were you hoping this would be passed down through the ages?
“There is no need to write that into the contract,” Chen Bai said, then waved Chen Xiaobu over. “I can just give you the wind-up frog directly.”
Chen Xiaobu was still a little reluctant. “My wind-up frog is very valuable. Maybe it can be exchanged for a luminous pearl.”
Chen Bai only said, “I’ll give you two new ones later.”
Chen Xiaobu immediately laughed like a little fool. One old one for two new ones—he could still calculate that much.
After the contract was signed, Chen Bai also breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, of the three conditions, the first two were what Chen Bai had prepared beforehand. As for the last one, he had originally been thinking about what price he would have to pay to have the Mohists help build the fief and realize some of his own construction ideas. Now everything was solved. Perhaps the Mohists would even owe him a favor for directly giving them a foundation where they could display their strengths and establish themselves.
So who had taken advantage of whom depended on how each side viewed it. Some matters did not necessarily require one side to lose. It could also be a win-win.
Chen Bai directly had Chen Xiaobu take Mo Qianji to the room assigned to him. Before they left, Chen Bai said, “Don’t wander around the other floors. Our academy has female students who often stay here too.”
Mo Qianji: “…”
What? Fe… female students?
What strange existence was that now?
“There are also some floors where non-academy students are forbidden to enter, such as the multifunctional electronic classroom, the laboratory, the plant room—the students have planted many highly poisonous plants in the plant room—the medical practice room, the music room…”
Mo Qianji: “…”
Just how many things were there that he had never even imagined?
As Chen Bai spoke, he also thought to himself that it seemed he needed to prepare more locks. Any place that outsiders were not allowed to enter should be locked. He might as well buy some fingerprint locks. That would directly keep people outside.
After Mo Qianji was taken to his room by Chen Xiaobu, he was completely dazed.
In truth, the dormitory facilities were even more complete than those in the lounge. Though the small sofa and little decorations were compact, everything was there. Anyone who liked this style would probably be full of surprise. At least, Mo Qianji was currently in that state.
He touched this for a while, then touched that for a while. It seemed he would not be able to leave the room for a long time while studying it.
Chen Xiaobu covered his face a little. His good friend… why did he look like he had never seen the world? Didn’t they say he had traveled through several countries?
The only difference from the student dormitories was that these remaining rooms did not have computers.
Chen Xiaobu said, “Later, I’ll take you to see the bathroom. Every floor of ours has a bathroom. It’s really fun. Every time I take a bath, I don’t want to come out.”
“There are also mugs for brushing your teeth. They’re especially pretty. I’ll give you one later. But all the academy’s supplies are with Prince Zheng. He is the academy’s assistant master and is responsible for distributing these things. I don’t know if there are any left in stock.”
“And the kitchen is especially fun too. But did my brother say whether you can go to the kitchen or not? I’ll ask later.”
Most likely, he could not enter. That was an important area of the academy.
Mo Qianji: “…”
He felt as if his travels through several countries had been for nothing. None of his knowledge or learning seemed useful here.
As for whether the decision he had made was right, he still did not know. But anyone who moved into the academy dormitory would never be able to leave. It was not that anyone tied them up with rope. Rather, there was something stronger than rope locking onto them.
At this moment, Mo Qianji’s new world opened.
And two shocking pieces of news spread through Shangjing and then through the world as though they had grown wings.
First, Mo Qianji, direct heir of the Mohists, had decided to bring Mohist teachings back to settle in Great Qian. From this, the Qian Mohists were born.
Second, for the next fifteen days, every day, there would be a sage disciple lecturing at the entrance of Cloudtop Academy.
The moment the news came out, the whole world was shaken.
If the first piece of news merely made Great Qian boil with excitement and the other countries watch the show, then the second sounded so unreal that, to be honest, because the other countries were far away, no one believed it at first.
By the time they did believe it, Cloudtop Academy—or rather, the entire fief—had already become a completely different scene.
The special small town Chen Bai had originally planned to build around salt had also become an academic town gathering the schools of the Hundred Schools, a miraculous existence of the age, a utopia for countless scholars and members of every school.
Those who had never been there would never be able to imagine what it was like. And those who had been there would likely never want to leave for the rest of their lives.
Because of this, the Mohists were also granted the title of divine craftsmen. No artisan under heaven could surpass them.
