strokinit Chapter 38 Promotion by Skip-Rank, 2nd Grade Craftsman
Chapter 38 Promotion by Skip-Rank, 2nd Grade Craftsman
Standing at the entrance of the Intermediate People's Court, Chen Yu couldn't help but sigh.
The outer and middle courtyards are separated by only one wall, yet they are worlds apart.
The number of disciples in the Central Courtyard is far less than that in the Outer Courtyard, but the scale of its buildings is at least three times that of the Outer Courtyard.
"Is that Junior Brother Chen Yu?"
A tall woman walked out of the courtyard.
Chen Yu nodded.
"I am Chen Yu."
"My name is Luo Ninghai, and I'm your senior sister. Our master instructed me to show you around first."
Chen Yu glanced at Luo Ninghai.
He had dark skin and a resolute face.
He was at least 1.9 meters tall, and his muscles were so full that they almost burst his coarse cloth clothes.
If it weren't for the slightly neutral yet clear voice, Chen Yu would have thought this was a senior student.
"Come with me."
As Luo Ninghai pushed open the gate of the central courtyard, the layout of the courtyard unfolded like a map, clearly revealing its layers.
The four courtyards extend from east to west, and every inch of land and every wall is neatly arranged, without the slightest sign of desolation.
"This is the material yard."
Following Luo Ninghai's introduction, Chen Yu looked ahead.
Before us lay a solid, open area, about a hundred meters square, paved with gravel mixed with yellow mud.
The three silos on the north side are built of blue bricks and have their openings facing south.
Iron ore, coke, and limestone were stored in separate warehouses.
In front of the silo, a burly man, as strong as an iron bull, was arguing with the warehouse manager.
The man's surname was Zhou, and he was known as "Zhou Tieniu".
He was born with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and his arms were as thick as a normal person's calves.
But she has a gossipy nature.
"The ore from Sancang is high in sulfur!"
He squeezed a piece of ore so hard it made a cracking sound.
"Last time I used it, the slag was so sticky it couldn't be peeled off. Do you think I'm stupid?"
The warehouse manager was a thin, middle-aged man who calmly flipped through the ledgers.
"Master Zhou, the third mine is a low-grade mine, used for mixing limestone. It's clearly stated in the accounts."
Zhou Tieniu glared at him: "Then write it bigger! I can't read!"
A girl with her hair in two buns next to her burst out laughing.
She was squatting beside the scale sorting through the broken ore, not caring that her skirt was covered in dust.
"Uncle Zhou, why get angry? You don't know many words, I can read them to you!"
Zhou Tieniu felt a little embarrassed after being spoken to like that by a little girl.
He scratched his head and said in a muffled voice.
"Xiaoman, read it...read it slowly."
The girl's name was Su Xiaoman.
She was twelve or thirteen years old, with a round face and almond-shaped eyes, and a dimple on her left side when she smiled.
She was a rare woman in the quarry, and was specially recruited because of her excellent eyesight.
She could tell the quality of ore with a single glance.
At that moment, Su Xiaoman picked up a piece of limonite, examined it against the sunlight, and suddenly exclaimed, "Wow! This one has gold threads!"
Zhou Tieniu came closer and stared at it for a long time, but he couldn't figure it out at all.
"What gold thread?"
"Oh dear, Uncle Zhou, can't you see that?"
Seeing Chen Yu pass by, Su Xiaoman grabbed him.
"Senior brother, do you see a golden line in this mine?"
Chen Yu took the ore, ran his fingernail along the texture, and immediately saw the problem.
"It's the texture of pyrite. If it's mixed in, it will make wrought iron brittle."
"Yeah yeah."
Su Xiaoman nodded repeatedly, very satisfied with Chen Yu's performance.
"Uncle Zhou, you're terrible. Even someone who's just entered the Intermediate People's Court can tell, but you can't."
She picked out the ore and set it aside separately.
"This needs to be sent back to the mine, and their pay will be deducted."
Zhou Tieniu looked at Chen Yu with admiration in his eyes.
"Young man, you're new here, but you have a sharp eye!"
"It seems I'm really getting old; my eyesight is failing."
"Not at all, it was just a momentary oversight on my part, Senior Brother."
Chen Yu exchanged a few polite words, then moved on to the next area.
After passing through the bluestone threshold, the terrain suddenly drops.
This was intentionally dug to both prevent the fire from spreading and allow the molten slag to flow naturally.
The three central blast furnaces were built with refractory bricks.
The furnace body is round, with a large belly and a narrow neck, each more than two zhang tall, like three black towers standing tall.
The furnace base is reinforced with iron hoops, and the furnace opening faces south, making it easy to observe the sky and determine the fire temperature.
Each furnace has four air distribution chambers, and the air boxes are connected by a linkage rod.
With four people pulling together, the wind force blew into the furnace, producing a whistling sound.
In front of the furnace, an elderly man with white hair was teaching his disciple how to tend the fire.
The old man, surnamed Mo, was nearly seventy years old and slightly hunched over, but he was the most senior cook at the Intermediate People's Court.
He held an iron shovel, poked the tip into the furnace opening, took it out and placed it in his palm, watching the changes in its color with his eyes.
"When it turns from white to yellow, it's ready."
"The change from yellow to red is too much."
Two young disciples beside him craned their necks.
One of them couldn't help but ask, "Master Mo, isn't it too hot to handle?"
Old Mo chuckled, revealing a missing front tooth.
"It's hot, how could it not be hot? I've been getting hot for fifty years, my skin is thicker than tree bark."
He handed over the iron shovel.
"Give it a try."
The disciple reached out to take it with trepidation, but withdrew his hand as soon as he touched the handle.
With a hiss, he flicked his wrist.
Old Mo shook his head.
"If you're so impatient, go work at the West Furnace for three years pulling the bellows before you come back."
Chen Yu, watching from the side, almost laughed.
"Ahem, this is Elder Mo, the head cook of our Central Court."
Luo Ninghai coughed lightly and introduced himself to Chen Yu.
Chen Yu quickly bowed in greeting.
"Hello, Mr. Mo!"
Mr. Mo nodded slightly in greeting.
"You're Chen Yu? The champion of this blind forging competition?"
"They are students."
"Good lad! You have a bright future ahead of you! You're much better than my good-for-nothing students."
"Keep up the good work, maintain this momentum, and you'll definitely get into the inner court in two years!"
"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Mo."
After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, Chen Yu and his companion continued walking and soon arrived at the West District.
A low wall separates the east and west sections, with a door in the wall and a curtain hanging from the door.
The character "精" (jing, meaning exquisite/refined) was written on the curtain in vermilion lacquer.
After passing through this gate, the noise and bustle disappear, as if stepping into another world.
The area is not called a "district" but a "ward" because it has its own layout.
The walls of the forging workshop were made of blue bricks, and there were no windows in the walls, only skylights for light.
The skylight, inlaid with glazed glass, filters out direct sunlight, leaving only diffused soft light, making it easy to observe the subtle changes in the iron's color from red to cherry blossom and from cherry blossom to wheat.
The workshop has only sixteen forging rooms, but it occupies a larger area than the seventy-two rough forging rooms in the eastern district.
The floor of each forging workshop was made of rosewood.
Underneath the wood, place three layers of stone slabs, cork, and fine sand.
Layered shock absorption ensures that when the hammer falls, the force is entirely concentrated on the iron, rather than dissipating into the ground.
When people step on it, they sink slightly, absorbing all the vibrations from their footsteps.
During precision forging, the hammer blows must be precise and allow no external disturbance.
There are three people inside the eleventh fine forging workshop at this moment.
The man who wielded the hammer on the north side was a man in his thirties named Fang Ke. He was fair-skinned and beardless, and his manners were refined, making him seem more like a scholar than a blacksmith.
He used a six-pound small hammer, which fell as lightly as knocking on a door, yet he struck dozens of times at an extremely high frequency, causing fish-scale patterns to appear on the surface of the iron.
The one holding the pliers was a woman in her mid-twenties named Ouyang Qing. She had a cold and aloof look in her eyes, and her jaws were as steady as a rock.
The two had worked together for a long time and needed no words. The hammer moved and the pliers moved, and the hammer fell and the pliers held, just like one person with four hands.
Inside the forge, craftsman Li Yangwei lay on the stone steps of the fire-watching platform, his face covered by a well-worn copy of "Beauties Playing in Spring," and he was snoring softly.
The hem of her gray robe was swept up to her knees, revealing two thin calves. Her trousers were tied with hemp rope, the knot loose and about to come undone at any moment.
That observation platform was originally a sacred place in the neighborhood. It was built of white stone, only three feet high, but occupied more than ten feet of land, and was specially used by the observer to overlook the whole situation.
A few roasted beans were scattered on the table, leftovers from Li Yangwei's afternoon nap.
The bean curd skin stuck to the stone surface, and was crushed by the soles of the shoes, leaving pale yellow oil stains.
Fang Ke and Ouyang Qing exchanged a glance, their hammers continuing to strike.
"master."
Ouyang Qing finally spoke, his voice cold and clear.
"The timing is right."
The painting "Beauty Playing in Spring" slides down an inch, revealing a pair of half-open eyes.
Li Yangwei didn't rush to get up. He first turned the page to a certain spot in the book, then lightly tapped the waist of the person in the painting with his knuckles, making two clicking sounds.
"This brushstroke lacks strength; the waist and hips are too weak."
He then lifted the book and sat up, his gray robe askew, revealing his faded undergarment underneath.
There were still traces of wine stains from the day before at the collar.
Li Yangwei wiped his face with his sleeve, brushed away the fried bean curd skin, and shuffled to the north anvil in his cloth shoes, his steps unsteady, as if he were walking on cotton.
"Let me see."
He bent down, but instead of looking at the iron, he first sniffed Ouyang Qing's hair bun with the tip of his nose.
"What jasmine oil did Qing'er use today?"
Ouyang Qing's jaws remained as steady as a rock, his expression unchanged.
"Master, watch the heat."
"The timing, the timing, the timing every day."
Li Yangwei straightened up, rolled up the "Beauty Playing in Spring" painting into a tube, and lightly tapped Fang Ke's shoulder.
"Little Fang, do you know what's most important about this iron material?"
Fang Ke put away his hammer and stood with his hands at his sides.
"Master, it's resilience."
Li Yangwei tapped his forehead with the book tube, producing a hollow sound.
"Wrong! It's knowing what's good for you and being sensible."
"Look at this iron, no matter how thoroughly it's heated, it'll still explode when it comes into contact with cold water!"
"The same goes for people; if they burn too brightly, they can easily hurt themselves."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted to Ouyang Qing's waist.
"Qing girl, don't you think so?"
Ouyang Qing moved the iron into the small furnace with precise movements.
"Master, should the fire be extinguished in three or five breaths?"
"Three breaths are too fast, five breaths are too slow."
Li Yangwei lightly tapped his chin with the book tube.
"Four and a half breaths, just right."
He turned and strolled toward the fire-watching platform, but then changed course and approached Fang Ke again.
"What happened to your wrist?"
"I've been using too much force when practicing my hammer techniques lately, and my wrists are a bit stiff."
"Wrist stiffness?"
Li Yangwei spat out a broken bean shell.
"That's because you haven't seen enough."
"Tomorrow is a day off. Come with me to Rouge Lane in the east of the city and see how the young ladies flick their handkerchiefs, their wrists are so supple..."
He suddenly stopped, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and let out a burp.
"It's as soft as noodles."
Fang Ke's ears turned red upon hearing this.
"Hahaha!"
Li Yangwei laughed loudly, his laughter echoing throughout the forging workshop.
As he laughed, he suddenly pointed the book tube towards the door.
"The curtain moved; the newlyweds have arrived."
Luo Ninghai lifted the curtain, and Chen Yu stepped in with his head bowed and paid his respects.
"Disciple Chen Yu greets Master."
Li Yangwei tapped his chin lightly with the book tube, looked Chen Yu up and down, and lingered on Chen Yu's waist and hips for a moment.
"The one who got first place in blind forging? He's not bad looking, he has a bit of my dashing and debonair charm."
"It's a pity it's a man..."
"Ahem!"
Luo Ninghai coughed twice, interrupting him.
Li Yangwei's expression became slightly more serious.
"Alright, Chen, let me explain the rules of the Intermediate Court to you first."
"Disciples of the Middle Courtyard receive monthly wages based on their rank. You performed exceptionally well during the selection process, and the head of the academy allowed you to skip the third-class craftsman category and directly appoint you as a second-class craftsman."
"A second-class craftsman's monthly salary is twenty taels. If you join our fine forging workshop, you will receive an additional ten taels, which means your monthly salary is thirty taels."
"In addition, for every excellent weapon you produce, you can go to the Foreign Affairs Office to collect a reward of one tael of silver."
"If you have free time, you can also go to the External Affairs Hall to do some tasks. You can get rewards and accumulate contribution points."
"That's about it. Any further questions?"
"That's all, Master."
Chen Yu was very satisfied with the treatment; the income was much better than when he was an assistant craftsman at the outer institute.
"This is your senior brother Fang Ke, and that is your senior sister Ouyang Qing."
"Hello, Senior Brother Fang. Hello, Senior Sister Ouyang."
"Greetings, junior brother."
Chen Yu greeted them one by one, and Fang Ke and Ouyang Qing responded politely.
"Those who belong to the same sect should act harmoniously and are strictly prohibited from fighting among themselves!"
"Alright, since you're new here, don't rush into work."
"Luo Ninghai, take your junior brother to find his dormitory first and let him get some rest."
Just as Luo Ninghai and Chen Yu were about to leave, Li Yangwei called them back.
"Oh right, I forgot to give you this."
He took a book out of his pocket and handed it to Chen Yu, as if he had prepared it in advance.
Chen Yu took the book and glanced at it briefly.
The cover is blue, with a hammered fire pattern drawn in cinnabar, and a neat black title underneath.
Precision Forging for Beginners: Temperature, Hammering Techniques, and Tool Properties
Next to the fingerprint on the title page, there is a smaller annotation, which seems to have been added later:
Volumes 3 and 7 are pending; readers should proceed with caution.
"Go back and flip through it a lot. If it gets worn out, come back to me for a replacement."
After Li Yangwei finished speaking, he lay back down on the stone steps and covered his face with the painting "Beauty Playing in Spring".
Before long, the snoring resumed, occasionally interspersed with sleep talking.
"...Make your waist more flexible...good..."
Fang Ke and Ouyang Qing raised their hammers again, the sound of the hammers striking lightly, like silkworms eating leaves.
Luo Ninghai and Chen Yu exchanged a glance and left the forging workshop.
……
With Luo Ninghai's help, Chen Yu brought his belongings to the dormitory of the Central Courtyard.
After finding the place, Luo Ninghai went back.
As dusk settled, an oil lamp was just lit in the northernmost brick and tile house in the central courtyard.
This is Chen Yu's single dormitory, a tiny room that can only fit a bed, a table, and a cabinet.
The walls were painted with whitewash, and over the years they have turned a faint yellow, but there is not a single stain.
A couch sits by the window, its frame made of hardwood, with mortise and tenon joints fitting together perfectly.
A straw mat was laid on the couch, and underneath it were three layers of fine cotton, palm fiber, and thin board, with just the right amount of softness and firmness.
A hook hangs above the bed, on which hangs the short, gray cloth blouse that was changed today.
"These accommodations are much better than what I had at the Foreign Languages Institute!"
Chen Yu sighed.
When they were in the outer courtyard, the four of them lived in one room.
At night, snoring, sleep talking, teeth grinding, and bedwetting occur incessantly.
It makes it difficult to get a good night's sleep.
Now that I live alone, it's much quieter, and I can guarantee my sleep quality.
There will no longer be unfriendly people like Han Feilong who bully students in dormitories.
Chen Yu opened the cabinet against the wall and put the things inside.
The cabinet doors are edged with copper sheets and open and close silently.
The cabinet has three layers. The top layer is for clothes, which are stacked squarely like bricks and separated by wooden boards to prevent wrinkles and pressure.
The middle layer contains two knives, a pig-slaughtering knife and a Houde knife, both wrapped in oilcloth for unforeseen circumstances.
The lower level contained personal belongings, including a bronze box kept on behalf of Wei Rongfang, some silver coins, and several secret manuals.
After tidying up, Chen Yu lay on the bed, pondering.
The time arrangement at the Intermediate Court is relatively flexible. After finishing blacksmithing each day, I can first practice the few secret manuals I have on hand.
If there's any more time, I'll go to the outer courtyard and keep an eye on Han Feilong's movements.
After all, this guy had threatened to kill me.
Although we won't take action right now.
However, we must also build up our strength to ensure that we can strike first at any time.