Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 109 Huang's Exam

Huang Chengyan reached out to pick up the scale, fiddled with it left and right, and said: "This instrument is better if it is used to weigh some small things. It is rare that Pang Shiyuan can make this thing... Well, no, Shiyuan is not good at this, should it be It made..."

   Immediately asked Huang Yueying if Pang Tong had said who made it—

  Huang Yueying blinked her big eyes, and said: "At that time, I was busy grabbing it, and I didn't have time to ask."

   "Cough!" You still have the nerve to talk about it in a serious manner—Huang Chengyan coughed dryly, and couldn't say anything, after all, she is his own daughter.

  Huang Yueying still blinked her eyes, and asked Huang Chengyan: "Father, do you think this should be robbed?"

   "Well, logically speaking, it shouldn't be..." Huang Chengyan looked at the balance in his hand, thought for a while, and then said.

   "Okay, I'll have someone send it back..." Huang Yueying tilted her head and said, then stepped forward, reaching out to take the balance from Huang Chengyan's hand.

"Wait!" Huang Chengyan quickly raised the scales high and said, "This... how can this be called robbery? This is obviously borrowed! Yes, borrowed, when we use it up, we will naturally return it to the soldiers Yuan…"

"hehe…"

"hey-hey…"

  The one big and one small laughed tacitly.

   At this time, a servant outside the door reported that everyone who took the big exam this year had arrived, and asked if they should start now?

  Huang Chengyan regained his serious face, nodded, and said, "Start immediately!" After speaking, he walked out.

  Huang Yueying hurried up and grabbed Huang Chengyan's sleeve, and said, "Father, I want to go too..."

   "Oh? You want to go too?"

   Huang Yueying nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

   "Aha, let's talk about it when you become the head of the Huang family, hahaha..." Huang Chengyan deliberately teased Huang Yueying, and walked away laughing.

  Huang Yueying stomped her feet, then rolled her eyes, and smiled, "I remember a wooden plow just made in the backyard, it should be about the same height..."

  ******************

  Countless lanterns, torches, and hanging bronze mirrors placed in every corner illuminate the entire front yard of Huangjiayin Courtyard as bright as day.

  When Huang Chengyan walked to the front yard, there were already a lot of people standing outside the gate of Huangjiayinyuan, most of them were craftsmen from the vicinity of Jingxiang, and some came from long distances.

   It turns out that this is the day of the three-yearly Huang family craftsman exam.

The Huang family has always been good at making utensils. It has been rooted in Jingxiang for so many years. Apart from members of the Huang family, it has also taught many craftsmen. The Huang family's big exam, which is held every three years, is almost the same as the craftsman rating of later generations. A rating and affirmation of the ability of the yellow craftsmen who have already gone abroad.

The method of the big test is neither simple nor simple. Every craftsman who has graduated from the teacher can take out the most proud works in the past three years. The smaller ones can be taken as real objects, and the larger ones can be made into models. The head of the family and the six great craftsmen will evaluate it. If it is a novel, creative and practical invention, then the level of the inventive craftsman will be raised.

The craftsmen of the Yellow Department automatically obtained the title of "skilled craftsman" from the beginning, and then went up to the four levels of "Seiko", "Skilled Craftsman", and "Master Craftsman". The lower third class, so there are four levels and twelve classes in total. Further up is the title of master craftsman, which is equivalent to an honorary title. Only when the six old master craftsmen in Huang's family die, can they be selected from among the top master craftsmen to take on the role.

   It is said that Huang’s big exams were held during the day at the earliest, but later on, it was changed to night...

  However, for Mrs. Huang, the difference between day and night is actually not that big. Looking at the well-placed lanterns and candles in this yard, it illuminates the entire yard including the area in front of the door without any dead ends...

  The big exam has begun, starting from the middle master.

   There were not many middle-level master craftsmen, only two of them entered the courtyard together, and handed over their works to Huang Chengyan and the six master craftsmen for inspection.

  The first master craftsman presented a small bronze cylinder with a beam cover on top and three legs on the bottom. A water spout protruded from the bottom end, and a ruler was inserted directly into the small cylinder from the beam cover.

   "Missing engraving?" A master craftsman who was appraised recognized the object and asked.

   "Exactly."

   Immediately, someone fetched water from the side, filled the small bronze cylinder with water, and then began to drip water from the nozzle of the small bronze cylinder...

  A master craftsman observed carefully and discovered something subtle. It turned out that a piece of rotatable mica was inlaid in the faucet, marked with three grades, which can be used to control the speed of water flow just like the faucet switch of later generations...

  The first intermediate master craftsman explained loudly: "I call this thing Sanfenke, which can be counted as half an hour, one hour and two hours..."

  A group of master craftsmen including Huang Chengyan listened carefully and took notes with pen and paper...

  The second medium master craftsman presented two models of wooden plows, and said: "I made them both from the same wood, one is the plow that is commonly used now, and the other is my new plow..."

   Immediately, a big craftsman stepped forward to take over two wooden plow models, experimented a little on one side of the land, and nodded...

   In this way, a group of craftsmen began to present their works according to their respective levels, and explained—

  Some people successfully advanced, and walked out of the courtyard with a smile on their faces holding the brand of the newly acquired craftsman grade, which immediately attracted a burst of congratulations...

   There were also people who failed to advance, and when they walked out of the courtyard, no one sarcastically attacked them, but they were more encouraging...

Huang Dou, who built the wooden house for Fei Qian, was also standing in front of the door. Although he was a master craftsman in Xiangyang City, according to the standards of the Huang clan, he was only a middle-level craftsman at present, far from the low-level master craftsman. There are two levels of craftsman.

   It wasn't long before it was his turn, and he presented what he had brought—

Two large iron boxes corresponding to the top and bottom, with iron hooks at the head and tail ends of each iron box, the upper and lower sides of the two iron boxes have round holes on both sides of the iron box, and several ropes pass through the round holes , as if going back and forth a few times to connect two separate iron boxes into a whole...

  Huang Dou explained tremblingly: "This is a rope set, which can lift heavy objects, and lose half and half of the weight..."

   "Oh, it's interesting." An interested craftsman took the two iron boxes, pulled the rope, and then hung them on the pole in the way Huang Dou said, and experimented with a heavy object...

   "Wonderful!" The master craftsman who was doing the experiment couldn't help praising, "You made this thing very exquisitely, it's wonderful!"

  Huang Dou hesitated a bit, and finally said: "To be honest, I didn't get this thing, but... it was given by Fei Qian Fei Ziyuan..."

   "Fei Qian?" Several great craftsmen glanced at each other, as if they had never heard of this person, "Where is this craftsman?"

   "This man is not a craftsman, but under the deer mountain, he learned from Duke Pound..."

   Updating two chapters a day, it suddenly seems a lot easier... Finally I can sleep well... The author asks for recommendation tickets for collection...

  (end of this chapter)