Chapter 135: The Disparity of Inferior Skill

May 18th. The Reed Pavilion.

Wang Xing sat alone in the wooden pavilion. With few people passing by, he recited his studies in a calm, rhythmic tone: "The way of a son serving his parents is nothing greater than to treasure his body and complete his conduct, so as to bring honor to his father and mother. These three things are known to all as good, yet some still endanger their bodies and ruin their families, falling into the disaster of destruction. Why is this?"

Seeing Master Yuan ride toward the pavilion on horseback, he ceased his recitation.

"Uncle Yuan," Wang Xing said, bowing in greeting. Uncle Yuan was cold of face but kind of heart. Although he never acknowledged the greeting, Wang Xing knew he must never be discourteous.

Yuan Yanshu was disheveled, his beard unkempt, and his face and neck darkened by dust and grime—he looked even more bedraggled than when he had left a few days prior. He favored coarse white linen robes, which were now stained beyond recognition, the back wrinkled and rumpled. As he entered the pavilion, he spotted several fist-sized, mud-crafted polyhedral balls on the ground. He picked one up and saw characters carved into the various mud surfaces.

Wang Xing explained, "These are the polyhedral mud balls my sister taught me to make. When I encounter a character I don't know, I carve it on one of these so that when Brother Huan returns, he can teach me. It saves ink and prevents me from wasting bamboo slips. Look, Uncle Yuan, it has twenty-six faces in total. Some are too small to carve, so I only carve where I can, and even then, I can still fit dozens of characters."

The more Yuan Yanshu looked, the more he admired Wang Ge. She was truly a master craftswoman! She must have been inspired by polyhedral writing rods to develop these mud balls.

In truth, Wang Ge did not possess such profound genius; she was merely introducing an invention from her previous life more than a hundred years ahead of its time. The true inventor was Dugu Xin, one of the "Eight Pillars of State" generals during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. Because of his exalted status and numerous official titles, he had invented a polyhedral seal made of coal-jet. The seal was only four centimeters tall, shaped like a twenty-six-faced sphere with eight edges, and bore forty-seven characters. This seal was discovered by chance by a student in Shaanxi, pushing back the history of using regular script on seals by over four hundred years!

Yuan Yanshu was a studious man who deeply identified with the saying from the *Analects*: "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher." He took a wooden slip from his satchel and drew the shape of the mud ball, detailing its faces. Then, he carved a small boy with ram-horn buns, depicting himself asking the boy for guidance.

These mud balls could be made by the children of his own clan to carve characters; they were easy to carry, useful for storing new vocabulary, and saved on bamboo slips. Excellent!

"How is the drawing?" he asked with a smile, his teeth appearing strikingly white.

Wang Xing looked at the slip, overjoyed. "Oh? Is that little boy me? My tutor used to draw me like that, too." At this, the corners of his mouth turned down, his lips pressed tight, and his eyes instantly filled with tears. His tutor had once again sent a messenger to bring him bamboo scrolls, brushes, ink, and paper. He missed his tutor.

"Sit. I heard you reciting the *Admonitions to My Son* earlier. I am at leisure these next few days; if there is anything you don't understand, you needn't wait for Commandant Huan—I will teach you."

"Yes. Thank you, Uncle Yuan!"

Mid-afternoon.

The time-keeping drums sounded simultaneously in all three examination areas of the carpentry division. As the echoes faded, forty candidates would be eliminated.

Most candidates had only managed to visit two material sheds; human energy is limited, and those skilled in working with two types of materials were already the elite among carpenters.

But among the elite, there were the supreme masters!

At the beginning of the You hour, the results were tallied. As the examiner approached, the candidates were filled with intense anxiety.

The Craft Official announced, "I shall now read the names of those retained. They are read by place of household registration; those not called, leave the grounds! From the County Town... Li Jia, Zhou... From Hefang Township... From Bu-zhi Township... Wang Ge..."

Wang Ge’s furrowed brow finally relaxed. While waiting for the official to call the names, she had been so nervous she had even held her breath. Forty out of one hundred eliminated—many candidates were over thirty years old, artisans who had focused on their crafts for years and were surely superior to her in her past life. She no longer felt the confidence she had possessed before entering the grounds.

In contrast to Wang Ge’s mood was that of Zheng Que. His name was not among the retained from Hefang Township. He had only completed three objects and knew he was likely eliminated, but people always hope for a miracle. What if the other candidates were even worse than him?

There was no miracle. With a sallow face, he left the examination area, lining up to strike the "Inferiority Drum."

This was his second time striking the drum. During the artisan examination, he had left voluntarily, striking the drum with high spirits while fellow townsmen flattered him. Back then, though he claimed his "skills were inferior to others," he believed everyone knew he was better than the fools still struggling in the exam hall. Those people, straining until they soiled their pants just to win a higher artisan rank—what would it amount to? At most, a lifetime of mediocrity in a workshop.

Months later, as he took the drumstick and struck the drum, he was truly inferior. The only thing the same as last time was that everyone around him recognized him. Zheng Que’s legs felt weak as he followed the eliminated candidates down the narrow passageway, walking so far that he only realized something was wrong once he had gone a great distance.

"Don't dawdle! Keep moving forward, no turning back!" the patrol officer urged.

Zheng Que felt a tremor of fear.

In the exam hall, the sixty retained candidates, including Wang Ge, were also afraid.

The fifth examination task had been announced: improve the functional utility of objects based on specific requirements. The objects must be chosen from those the candidate had replicated during the previous assessment.

The scoring method: The examiners would evaluate the functionality of the modified objects and grade them as "Strong," "Secondary," or "Weak." Candidates who produced one "Strong" object would be retained; those who produced two "Secondary" objects would also be retained. The quantity of objects would no longer be an advantage in this round, and a maximum of thirty-three candidates would be retained.

The task would begin in one hour.

The deadline was the early morning of the 22nd. As with the previous assessment, candidates were permitted to leave the grounds early.

The tools remained the same as those used during replication, but the materials were doubled. The sixty candidates were distributed evenly across the three object sheds; Wang Ge’s area was the straw-weaving shed.

As the patrol officers arranged the venue, the candidates rushed to collect their evening meal and use the latrines; not one of them lay down to sleep.

Wang Ge counted the female candidates while eating; including her, there were only thirteen. This was the hardship of being a woman. In truth, when it came to enduring hardship, women were not lacking, but during their prime years, women were expected to marry, give birth, and give birth again... how could they find the time to improve their craftsmanship?

What was she to do? She had no choice but to earn the title of Master Artisan—or better, Grand Master Artisan—before she was married off and tied to child-rearing. Halfway through her meal, after drinking her fill of water, she headed toward the object shed.

Following her lead, other candidates began to move as well, giving up on rest. What good would a short half-hour of sleep do?

The depths of the object shed were dark, the unnecessary lanterns extinguished. The patrol officer blocked the candidates; they had to wait for the time-keeping drum to sound before entering.

The candidates waited in front of their respective sheds, each lost in thought. Which objects should they modify? Was more better, or should they focus all their strength on just one? If all the candidates' modifications were graded as "Weak"—which was not impossible—then the results would be decided by quantity.

In the previous assessment, Wang Ge had produced five types of objects: a sewing basket, straw rope, square-toed shoes (made twice), counting rods, and armor plates for a bracer.

She gave up on modifying the sewing basket; it had been hard enough to replicate, and she lacked the skill to improve it. The same went for the bracer. That left only the straw rope, the square-toed shoes, and the counting rods.

She must not forget to tailor the modifications to the requirements. Inside the shed, patrol officers moved back and forth, not only hauling materials but also setting up new drums... township-name drums.

At the beginning of this chapter, Wang Xing recited the *Admonitions to My Son* by Wang Chang of the Cao Wei period of the Three Kingdoms. One way in which the noble families of the Jin Dynasty educated their juniors was by having the elders of the clan write such admonitions to encourage their descendants and cultivate their character. Because of their moral standards, Wang Chang’s *Admonitions* and Zhuge Liang’s *Admonitions* were often used by other noble families to educate their own.