Chapter 6: The Essential Meaning of Mozi (2)

  He struck a few more blows, stretched out his hand and gave it a push. With a loud cracking sound, the thick yellow bamboo pole came crashing down.

  Wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, cut off all the fine twigs and leaves with a machete. Only then did he put the machete on his back. Bent down to hold the bamboo stalks under his armpits, took big strides to go back and forth.

  He went back to the Clear Rhyme Residence, threw down the firewood and large bamboo, went into the house and poured a bucket of spring water, wiped himself clean, then picked up the small knife that was only an inch long, looked at it with his head lowered, let out a bitter laugh, and walked out the door.

  "Ten days or half a month... it's your sister's, I'm afraid if we really have to do it for that long." Liu Zhang muttered to himself in a low voice, glancing at the small knife in his hand and then at the old yellow bamboo.

  He circled the yellow bamboo pole twice, stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, put down the small knife and picked up the chopping knife. After roughly measuring it with his eyes, he finally chopped open a slit from the root.

  Put down the yellow bamboo and let the hatchet get stuck on it. After going back to the house, I found three ropes and a piece of bamboo left over from building the house that day.

  First, use a rope to tie the back of the knife and the handle separately, then bind half of the bamboo to the front end of the yellow bamboo and fix it. Finally, use the remaining longest rope, one end tied to the middle point of the rope that binds the axe, the other end wrapped around the fixed, bound into a cross-shaped yellow bamboo front end, and swing the rope head back...

  The sun had slightly slanted to the west, he was focused on his work in hand, yet hadn't noticed the passage of time at all.

  Across the house, Tong Yuan stood quietly in front of the window, watching every step he took until she saw him bend down to pick up the rope that had been thrown back, pull it with one hand, and use the reaction force to directly drag the axe forward, breaking through the way ahead. A hint of admiration flashed across her eyes.

  What a clever child! Tong Yuan secretly praised in his heart.

  Bamboo is a thing, the most heavy texture. Cutting horizontally is extremely tough and difficult to open, but if cutting vertically along the texture, it is extremely easy. The idiom "as easy as cutting bamboo" means just that.

  However, the bamboo was several zhang long and could not be erected upright and then broken from top to bottom. In general, when people encounter such a situation, they often rely on their hands to twist and slowly push it open bit by bit. But that not only wastes effort but also takes time.

  But for Liu Zhang, who came from the late world, this was just an application of simple geometry and physics. However, when it fell into Tong Yuan's eyes two thousand years ago, it suddenly had a shocking feeling.

  A strange color welled up in his eyes.

  This child is of a strong and enduring nature, knowing how to use people well, and also being intelligent and resourceful beyond others... If he becomes a minister in the future, I don't know what kind of king would be able to control him.

  Thinking back to that day when we first met, I had always had the ambition to conquer the world. Alas... but now I don't know whether what I have done is right or wrong.

  In the room, Tong Yuan's face was solemn, staring at the small figure outside, and for a moment, countless thoughts surged in his heart.

  As for Tong Yuan's thoughts, Liu Zhang was completely unaware. He buried his head and put the first piece of yellow bamboo aside, looking at the remaining half, thinking for a moment, but didn't move again. He bent down to drag it away, putting it in the back of the house, before turning around and returning to the front.

  He picked up the broken yellow bamboo, roughly measuring it with his eyes, and found that it had snapped off about 15 feet away. He let out a sigh of relief, stretched his waist, and began to gather everything together.

  The Great Wall wasn't built in a day, and today's busy work has left him somewhat exhausted, despite his robust physique. The hard work is done, and what remains is the fine-tuning of the water-milling process. According to Tongyuan's intention yesterday, he wants him to use the gun-making process to understand the application of clever force.

  To gain insight, one must be calm and focused, only then can there be gains. Today's exhaustion has reached this point, doing more is useless.

  "Jade."

  Having finished what he had to do, and seeing that it was still early, he was just thinking of going over to the training ground to take a look at Zhang Ren and Zhang Hua when he suddenly heard Tong Yuan calling him from the house opposite.

  He slightly hesitated for a moment, then responded with a "yes" and quickly walked into Tong Yuan's large house, bowed his head and said: "Master, is there something you want to instruct your disciple?"