Due to the lack of uniformity of weights and measures, many places used large buckets to collect taxes, and then used small buckets to pay taxes to the higher authorities to earn the price difference. There is nothing the court can do. Who told you that the weights and measures are not consistent?
Later, Shang Yang realized that the lack of uniformity of weights and measures seriously harmed the interests of the country, so he weighed buckets and weighed them. 'That is to say, unified weights and measures. Anyone who does not use the unified national standards of weights and measures will be punished, and in severe cases, he will be killed.
It was not until this time that Qin's weights and measures were truly unified.
Later, the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms and issued decrees to unify the weights and measures of the world under Qin.
However, the Qin State was like a flash in the pan, and its youth quickly died, and the world returned to what it was before.
For more than two thousand years, China's weights and measures have been unified, but not completely unified...
There are differences between different dynasties, and there are also differences between different regions within the same dynasty.
Although the courts of various dynasties also tried to unify weights and measures, their execution was not as good as that of Qin.
It was not until the end of the 1950s that the central government issued an order to unify the measurement system, and this situation was completely changed...
Now Zhao Kuo will unify the weights and measures of Zhao State and twist the entire Zhao State together just like Shang Yang unified the weights and measures of Qin State.
Rather than like before, each place has its own standards.
When Le Yi and others heard this, their eyes lit up and they nodded. They are all generals responsible for leading troops in battle. Although they also understand government affairs, they are far behind Shang Yang. They have never been aware of the impact of inconsistent weights and measures.
After Zhao Kuo reminded me, I realized that unifying weights and measures is indeed very important.
Mo Feng and Gong Shuyang looked at each other with somewhat different expressions.
"Your Majesty, the weights and measures of our Mohist family are unified." Mo Feng said with his fists clasped. He took out a wooden ruler from his arms, which was about a foot long. .
"This is the ink ruler left by our ancestor Mozi. All the ink rulers used by the Mohists are based on this standard, and all lengths measured are strictly based on the ink ruler."
"When our ancestor Mozi was making tools, he realized the importance of unified standards of weights and measures, so he made the ink ruler as a standard. In addition, there are also standard measuring instruments and scales. But they are only used within our Mohist family. .”
"Your Majesty, our Gongshu clan also has our own standard ruler, which is often called the Luban ruler." Gongshu Yang also took out a wooden ruler with apricot blossoms carved on it from his sleeve.
As a senior craftsman, he always carries a ruler with him wherever he goes. He also likes to take out the ruler to measure everything he sees, and then pretends to make calculations. Even if he is a rich man, the head of the family is no exception.
Zhao Kuo looked at the rulers in Mo Feng and Gong Shuyang's hands and was stunned for a moment! He has been to the workshop several times and has never seen any craftsman use a ruler!
Zhao Kuo turned to look at Zhao Zhu!
"... Your Majesty, I... we don't have a ruler..." Zhao Zhu said in embarrassment, wanting to find a crack in the ground to burrow into.
The State of Zhao actually has a ruler, but the standards are not completely unified. The newly included places such as Yecheng, Jixi, Zhongshan Jiudi, Yanmen and other places have countless standards.
Even Handan has two or three sets of standards. Although the difference between these standards is very small, the gap is huge across the country.
But the government didn't force it, so craftsmen stopped using it.
Because compared to a ruler, they prefer to use body parts to measure length. The width of the thumb is one inch, the spread of the fingers is one foot, and the spread of the two arms is one fathom. This is what is recorded in the book, "A finger can tell an inch." The cloth hand knows the ruler, and the elbow is stretched to know the search. It is much more convenient than using a ruler to measure.
The final result is that the disciples brought out by one master have one standard, and the disciples brought out by two masters have two standards. There are several sets of standards depending on the number of masters in the workshop, rather than the national standard.
"..." Zhao Kuo was a little speechless. The co-author was not specifically responsible for manufacturing, so they all unified the weights and measures. On the contrary, Zhao State, the country that should most unify weights and measures, did not unify...
"Your Majesty, actually we can be very precise without a ruler. The eyes of my subordinates are rulers." Xu Da pointed at himself and said confidently.
"You can be so precise. Where are those apprentices?" Zhao Kuo asked angrily.
"..." Xu Da.
"Fortunately, there are ready-made ones." Zhao Kuo thought in his mind and took the ruler from Mo Feng and Gong Shuyang's hands.
But soon, Zhao Kuo discovered a new problem. The standards of Mo ruler and Luban ruler were different!
Although the difference is not very big, there is still a difference of about one-tenth. In other words, for the length of one foot, there is only one inch difference between the two standards.
This gap is still huge.
"How about re-setting the standards?" Pang Nuan saw the problem and asked.
"How about we use the king as the standard? I will go and get a rope to measure it now." Zhao Zhu flattered him without leaving any trace. Without waiting for Zhao Kuo to agree, he turned around and ran outside.
"Come back." Zhao Kuo stopped him, thought for a moment, picked up the ink ruler and said: "From now on, Zhao will use the ink ruler as the standard."
What weights and measures require is a unified standard. It doesn’t matter what this standard is!
There is no need to use the monarch as the standard, nor does it need to use the meters, minutes, and centimeters of future generations as the standard.
Just use whatever you can. Re-measurement and re-creating a ruler not only wastes time and energy, but can also easily cause greater confusion.
As for whether to use the Mohist ruler or the Luban ruler, Zhao Kuo would naturally prefer the Mohist family who would follow him longer and help him more, which can be regarded as a reward for him!
Mo Feng was immediately overjoyed. If the Zhao State adopted the Mo ruler as the standard, the Mohist school's reputation would definitely go further and become the standard for scholars in the world. It might even surpass Legalism and Confucianism and become the number one school in the world.
In the future, whenever rulers are mentioned, Mohism must be mentioned!
"Your Majesty, Mo Feng, thanks you." Mo Feng walked to the center, knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands in his fists, and said solemnly.
Gongshu Yang looked a little lonely, but he still held up his hands and said, "Congratulations, Brother Mo."
After determining the standard, the rest is simple. Just like before, one foot is equal to ten feet, one foot is equal to ten inches, and one inch is equal to ten points.
The experienced craftsmen compared the length of the ink ruler and dug out a one-foot-long wooden ruler. Then they put ten wooden rulers together vertically to make one foot-long, and then dug out a ten-foot-long wooden ruler.
One foot long wooden ruler is divided into ten equal parts, which is one inch. An inch divided into ten equal parts is one point.
After it is done, compare it with the standard ink ruler of feet, feet, inches, and minutes that you just picked up. After making sure that the ink ruler has not been worn due to the passage of time, and that the one you just made has no errors, you can then hand it to the craftsman to make a copper ruler.
Of course, Zhao Kuo did not make the caliper like Wang Mang.
In addition, there are some special units of length, such as steps, miles, etc., which have also been standardized.
Six feet is one step, and three hundred steps is one mile.
The acre is the same as before, with 240 steps being one acre.
If the small ones have unified standards, the big ones will naturally follow the unified standards.
By the time all the rulers were made, it was already evening. Zhao Kuo asked everyone to go back and come back tomorrow.
