Chapter 62: Each Has Their Own Hardships

Wang Ge finished making the rolling lantern and bowed to the examiner. Unless the examiner spoke first, she would never speak out of turn.

Master Artisan Yao’s method of inspecting the rolling lantern was simple: pour in sesame oil, light the wick, let the patrolman spin it a few times in his palm, then render his verdict: “Pass.”

Wang Ge dared not remind him that he was examining his own mold; the one she had copied was still on the ground.

Regardless, as long as the Fame Drum sounded, it meant she had completed her eleventh piece. Wang Ge kept thinking about the block-assembled mold, bowed again, and left quickly.

Master Yao, arms folded, watched her until she disappeared from view before returning to the resting thatched hut. He placed the bamboo slips recorded by the five artisans into the chest, sealed it tightly, tied it with rope, then took out the clay seal tube and sealing tool to begin sealing the documents.

All conversations with candidate Wang Ge tonight would be dispatched by fast courier to the Capital’s Directorate of Works. From this night onward, in the annals of Jin’s artisans, the name of a humble craftsman would be forever etched!

As he busied himself, he muttered sourly in frustration: "Hmph, so there are actually two ways to be admitted as a first-class craftsman. Once a first-class craftsman emerges, there will be no more Carp Stone... Who could have foreseen this? Had I known, I would have walked up to that Carp Stone back then, no matter what! Even if it meant collapsing from exhaustion, I would have made it there! Hmph, first-class—what’s so great about that? I won’t tell you just yet."

Midnight, the hour of the Ox. In the northwest rest area for examiners, the older ones—such as Examiner Shi and Examiner Liu—were already lying down in their clothes.

Grunts and snores, each with its own distinct rhythm, echoed thunderously through the night.

Examiners Gu and He were woken by the noise. They were the two who, during the day, had happened upon Wang Ge while she was making the eight-holed bamboo flute.

The two looked toward the Carp Stone; from this distance, the stone’s shadow was swallowed by the mountain’s silhouette.

Examiner Gu said, “Have you heard? The Directorate of Works’ Central Division has issued an order for tool making. Not only the counties and Hefang Township, but even Buzhi Township’s workshops have received it.”

“It shows how urgent the situation is at the front,” Examiner He replied, stroking his chin. “Qinghe Village... and the Xie family’s villa on South Mountain, all are urgently recruiting craftsmen.”

“As the saying goes, there are only starving master artisans, never starving craftsmen.”

He chuckled, “That’s a bit much. Craftsmen as a group must unite if they want to show their skills and gather strength. But we are different; each of us forges our path through thorns, seeking direction, striving to blaze a trail for the craftsmen as a whole. Each has their own hardships.”

“Well said, Brother He!” Gu was stirred by these words. The examination grounds here lay by the river, and the night was terribly cold. He crossed his arms and said regretfully, “When I took the craftsman exam, I was probably the candidate who got closest to the Carp Stone. Who wouldn’t want to approach and catch some luck? But that stretch was so long, and there wasn’t a single mold. How could I dare waste my strength pushing on? So I turned back halfway.”

“If time could turn back and you had another chance, would you go all the way?”

“To be honest, if I could do it again, I wouldn’t even bother with the pointless first half of the road.”

After they laughed, Examiner He said, “The grades for craftsmen are still useful for those who have no hope of ever becoming master artisans. In every workshop, if they hire a mid-level craftsman, they must pay double for every item made; for high-level craftsmen, triple! This is written right in the master artisan’s decree. What workshop would dare defy it? Otherwise, candidates would leave after completing nine items.”

Dong!

A drumbeat sounded—the Fame Drum, announcing a candidate’s name.

Gu and He exchanged a satisfied smile, but after this, the drum was struck several times more, each time for those who had failed.

Far away, in a remote production area out of earshot, Wang Ge had just finished her thirteenth piece. After completing the rolling lantern, she retraced her steps; the block-assembled mold was still there. She finished it and returned to the starting point of the general storage shed, then set out along another branch shed.

She discovered she was right!

Each branch shed stretched a long distance with no molds, but whenever there was one, it was always something easy—a grass-woven item or a basic wooden block assembly.

By the time she completed her fifteenth piece, her strength was completely spent. She used her chest as a pillow and collapsed in sleep right beside the Fame Drum. Maybe the chest was too hard, for even in sleep her expression was pinched and pained, and she muttered dreamily, making the artisans and drummers watching her find her both pitiful and amusing.

She was awakened from her nightmare by the sound of the drum—it was already dawn.

Her stomach was in distress; she couldn’t tell where the pain twisted. If not for the fact that she only needed four more items to qualify as a mid-level craftsman, and that near every junction of the storage sheds there might be an easy mold, she would have left through the passage last night.

The morning light was tinged with blue, and the wind was stronger than the day before. She walked to a quiet spot, squatted beneath an empty workbench to steady herself, and only after a while did she rise. At first her steps were unsteady, but once she adjusted, she moved faster.

As she searched for a mold, she coached herself: “It’s nothing, Wang Ge, it’s really nothing. See, you toughed it out again, didn’t you? If you can’t even take this, what are you doing here? Government money doesn’t grow on trees—why should they spend it training craftsmen? Why give commoners more ways to make a living? And besides, I’m sure lots of people are still here; if they can do it, why can’t I?”

Suddenly, a straw sandal sole mold appeared—a better encouragement than any words!

Just the sole—perfect! The straw was on the other side, but no matter. She hurried over, wind burning her throat, stomach hurting worse, but she ignored it all. Thankfully there were no other candidates in sight, so she ran faster, and faster, and faster...

The workbench was a step away—this was the passage!

Circle back and run!

It’s still there, it must be there, it will be there!

Ah... she grabbed the straw sole and collapsed to the ground, wiping away sweat and tears, catching her breath.

The northwest corner was not only where the examiners rested, but also the largest production area of the grounds, with the most molds. From noon onward, the remaining candidates gathered here.

The smell in the air was indescribably unpleasant, but at least the wind had died down since morning, so there was no need to worry about materials being blown away while working.

Another hour passed. Candidates thinned rapidly; some fainted and were carried out. The tragic part was that the first thing they heard upon waking, after being revived with hot soup, was the compensatory beat of the failure drum.

But after the moment the sun reached its zenith, not a single candidate left. The Fame Drum began to sound more frequently again.

Fewer than a hundred boys and girls remained. They tacitly split into two groups, forming two squares in the production area.

The youngest apprentices made up half the numbers in each group, and from their appearance, it was clear most were from humble, rural families.

Dong!

“Buzhi Township, Jia House Village, Wang Ge, pass!”

The Fame Drum? How could there still be candidates coming from the back?

Artisans and patrolmen looked over. A little girl was coming, hugging a chest upright and a basket sideways. Every step looked as if she were about to fall, but she made it to the end, sitting at the back of the girls’ group.

She was definitely the youngest candidate present!

One of the patrolmen nearly choked with rage—he had just been assigned to this area, and what bad luck! That wretched little maid hadn’t been eliminated yet, and she was clearly smiling!

What made it worse was that with so many examiners, artisans, and patrolmen here, he could only cast resentful glances at her and dared do nothing more.

By now, the areas long empty of candidates and molds began to close. The artisans carrying the Fame Drum’s record slips headed for the examiners’ rest area. Among them was one very special slip—so special that it would soon make all the examiners stomp their feet in regret!

Directorate of Works: the ancient office in charge of construction and manufacturing. Under it, the Central Division oversaw the making of warships, weapons, and military supplies.

(End of chapter)