The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 156 Going to meet Master Yue

Yue Wenxuan, along with a group of scholars, ran several miles eastward.

"Chase... Chase... The pursuers haven't come yet..."

I don’t know which scholar said this, but then more than a dozen scholars collapsed to the ground at the same time.

The battle and the frantic run just now had burned up all their ten years of exercise. They couldn't bear it, absolutely couldn't bear it.

More than a dozen scholars all lay on the ground and stuck out their tongues.

However, their servants and page boys were still in good physical condition and were all fine.

Yue Wenxuan spread his hands, but he didn't look down on them. Their poor health wasn't their fault, it was the fault of the deformed imperial examination system. If the imperial examination had included "physical education," these scholars would surely become awesome.

He glanced to the west and saw that the pursuers were really not coming, so he stopped urging them and let them lie on the ground to rest.

After a long while, the scholar in the C position rested well, got up, and bowed to Yue Wenxuan. "My name is Ji Menghan. I am grateful to the brave man for risking his life to save me. May I ask your name? I will always remember your kindness. I have nothing and cannot repay you. I will go to Jiaoshui County and find my family, and I will repay you generously."

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "The fifty-seventh leader of the Beggars' Sect, Su Qi'er."

Fifty-seven generations? This number startled the scholars, who wondered: Has this gang been passed down for fifty-seven generations? Why is this the first time we've heard of it? Logically, with so many generations of a gang, there would always be a generation that shined brightly and became famous.

It must be that our knowledge is not enough and our horizons are not broad enough.

Ji Menghan bowed again with a straight face: "I will remember your name, benefactor!"

He thought to himself: It seems that finding a benefactor is also very easy, as long as we find the Beggars' Sect, isn't that simple? If we find any beggar, we can probably find the Beggars' Sect. Oh, repaying a favor is too easy.

Yue Wenxuan: "My friends, it seems that your reading of the sages' books has not been in vain. You actually have the courage to challenge the pseudo-Jin thieves. Your ambition is admirable."

He was really praising them, there was no yin or yang.

Although this group of people were weak in fighting, they were still quite courageous and much better than the group of cowards in the Southern Song Dynasty court.

Ji Menghan blushed a little after receiving the compliment: "You are too kind, benefactor. We are indeed a little weak. If you hadn't saved us, we would all be stained with blood on the city wall today."

Yue Wenxuan: "Are you planning to go to the glue shop?"

"Yes!" Ji Menghan said, "I heard that there's a prince in Jiaoshui County who's recruiting righteous men to fight against the Jin bandits. This prince is both civil and military, and he's defeated the Jin bandits. We all yearn to be like him. It would be a great thing to fight against the Jin bandits under his command. By the way, benefactor, with your excellent martial arts skills, if you could see the prince, you would definitely be valued."

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "You still want to convince me to go?"

Ji Menghan: "Don't you want to go, warrior?"

Yue Wenxuan laughed: "Where did you hear the news about Jiaoshui County?"

Ji Menghan turned to look at the fat little scholar, who then looked at his servant, who then looked at the servant. The servant said foolishly, "I heard it from a beggar."

The little fat scholar: "..."

Ji Menghan suddenly realized: "So, the warrior is the one sent by the prince."

Yue Wenxuan: "Hahaha, that's right, I'm also helping Wang Zhaoye fight against the Jin! Since you guys are going to join the prince, of course I have to help you. Okay, let me take you on the rest of the way. Although you guys have escaped the county, if you run into a group of bandits along the way, you'll have a lot to deal with."

The scholars were delighted: "Then we have our benefactor." Yue Wenxuan led them eastward...

As we walked, the two roads ahead merged into one. A large group of farmers, carrying baskets and soft cloth bags, and dragging their children, were also heading east. Seeing a group of young men approaching, the farmers grinned and said, "Oh, these educated young men are going to Jiaoshui too. Then we should go there."

The farmers were not polite at all and immediately followed Yue Wenxuan and his group, following them closely like their little tails.

After walking a few more steps, another group of farmers came over to the roadside.

As they walked further, a group of merchants unexpectedly joined them. The merchant in charge actually recognized Ji Menghan and waved, "Hey, isn't this the eldest son of the Ji family?"

Ji Menghan quickly replied, "Uncle Zhang, are you going to the glue shop too?"

The merchant said with a sad face, "My workshop is ruined, and all the craftsmen in it have been captured."

Hearing what he said, Yue Wenxuan became interested and came over to ask, "Mr. Zhang, right? What kind of workshop do you run?"

The merchant sighed, "The paper mill was already struggling, and the situation was tough. With the robbery, I'm practically ruined. I might as well move my entire family and go live with the prince."

Yue Wenxuan asked, "Did the Jin thieves kidnap the papermaker?"

"Yes!" the merchant said. "The Jin thieves took away all the artisans in Changyi County: papermakers, blacksmiths, carpenters...anyone with anything to do with a craft, they took them all north. Oh my god, when they stormed into the paper mill, they scared the crap out of me."

Yue Wenxuan frowned. He had read in history books that when the Jin attacked the Song, they captured a large number of craftsmen, tens of thousands. But seeing "tens of thousands" on paper didn't give him a sense of reality, and hearing it didn't give him a sense of reality either.

But when I saw the terrified face of the businessman, the reality suddenly hit me.

The suffering of the working people suddenly came upon us.

In fact, the craftsmen are really miserable.

The Jin Dynasty came to capture people in waves, and later the Mongols came to capture people in waves. All of them were turned into slaves when they were brought to the north.

These two barbarian kingdoms directly lowered the status of craftsmen.

Originally, artisans in the Song Dynasty were free men, but after the Jin and Yuan dynasties, two barbarian tribes, they were forced back into the "slave" era. By the time Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, the status of artisans could not be restored, and the "artisan household" system was maintained throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Once a craftsman, always a craftsman, and all your descendants will be craftsmen.

During the Qing Dynasty, craftsmen were no longer slaves and had regained their freedom, but they had become a species that was looked down upon.

Craftsman is obviously a very important profession, but the barbarians have turned it into a profession that everyone despises.

This adverse impact has continued to the modern era.

Blue-collar workers earn tens of thousands of yuan, yet are still looked down upon by office workers earning just 3,000 yuan. Even if you search through all the matchmaking corners in the city, you won't find a milk tea shop waitress earning 3,000 yuan willing to marry a welder earning 10,000 yuan; they'd rather marry an office clerk earning 5,000 yuan. (Of course, there are complex factors at play here, not just the low status of craftsmen, but I won't go into detail here, as that would take tens of thousands of words.)
Yue Wenxuan's thoughts drifted off for a moment, and he quickly pulled his thoughts back to the present. He said to the businessman, "Mr. Zhang, are you interested in reopening the paper mill in Jiaoshui County?"

The businessman said, "Of course I'm interested, but what should I do now that the papermaker who has been with me for decades is gone? Oh! What should I do?"

Yue Wenxuan: "I'll show you a way. After you arrive in Jiaoshui County, go to Madam Gong Er's residence and ask to see a man named Master Yue. Say that he was recommended by the Beggars' Sect leader, Su Qier. Master Yue will help you solve the craftsman problem."

(End of this chapter)