The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 35: Song of a Lonely Life

Zhang Dalang was planning to gather all the members of the Yuanyang team to go to other villages to look for blacksmiths.

Before he could turn around and walk out of the courtyard, he saw the True Lord descending from the sky and blocking the entrance to the courtyard.

Everyone in the courtyard quickly saluted, and Qian Zhuoqun also walked over quickly. After a long pause, he said, "Your Excellency, I'm arranging the manufacture of replicas of immortal weapons. Unfortunately, the only blacksmith in Dongmiaozi Village has already..."

Yue Wenxuan interrupted him and said, "I already know about this."

Qian Zhuoqun stopped talking and listened to his instructions respectfully.

Yue Wenxuan said calmly, "I have asked a blacksmith from heaven to come and help you."

Qian Zhuoqun was overjoyed: "Hey? Heaven...the blacksmith in heaven?"

The next moment, a blacksmith in linen clothes fell from the sky and landed one step behind Yue Wenxuan. He stood there quietly without saying a word.

The rebel soldiers' eyes fell on the blacksmith at the same time, and they all wondered: So this is the blacksmith in heaven? He looks similar to our mortal blacksmiths, dressed in the same tattered clothes. It is estimated that the blacksmith in heaven is not a mortal who has ascended to heaven, but was captured by the gods to do odd jobs.

Fortunately, the blacksmith figurine was modeled after a Ming Dynasty blacksmith, so the hairstyle is also that of a Ming Dynasty person. If it were a Qing Dynasty blacksmith figurine, and it turned into a pigtailed figure and fell down, it would definitely scare the rebels.

Yue Wenxuan actually had five blacksmiths, but he only let one go, of course, in order to save command power.

He didn't even put down the furnaces, blowers, anvils, hammers and other things that were needed for blacksmiths, because these things also took up command power, so he would put as little as possible, and the saved command power could be distributed everywhere.

Yue Wenxuan said, "Zhang Dalang, you just said that there was a blacksmith in Dongmiaozi Village, but he was killed by the Jin thieves, and that his wife went to look for the body, right?"

Zhang Dalang quickly replied respectfully, "Yes."

Yue Wenxuan: "Lead your team to the blacksmith's house and bring more money. Buy back all the things he left behind, including the furnace, bellows, anvil, hammer, iron ingots, iron ore, etc. Remember, pay first and then move the things, so as not to scare the widow."

Zhang Dalang responded, asked Qian Zhuoqun to collect some money, and went to the widow's house.

Yue Wenxuan turned to look at Qian Zhuoqun and said, "Go to the village and talk to the soldiers, asking if anyone is interested in learning the blacksmith's skills. If anyone is willing to learn, they can come to the manor and learn the skills from the blacksmith in the sky every day."

Qian Zhuoqun quickly said, "There must be many people willing to learn the skills from the blacksmith in heaven. I will immediately arrange for people to go and shout, and there will definitely be many willing people who will trample down the threshold here."

In Yue Wenxuan's memory, craftsmen were considered lowly in ancient times, and he thought Qian Zhuoqun would say "it's hard to find people willing to learn", but he didn't expect him to agree so readily and even say something like "the threshold is broken down".

This surprised Yue Wenxuan a bit. He had originally prepared a backup plan, intending to attract villagers to learn blacksmithing skills by improving the treatment of craftsmen, but he didn't expect that this trick would not be useful at all.

Why is this?

Yue Wenxuan quickly logged out and asked Baidu.

It turns out that the idea of ​​"artisan households = lowly status" in ancient times that Yue Wenxuan remembered originated from the Ming Dynasty.

But this problem did not exist during the Song Dynasty.

The laws of the Song Dynasty clearly stipulated that craftsmen were not untouchables.

The household registration system of the Song Dynasty was divided into "main households" and "subordinate households". Craftsmen, as handicraftsmen and non-agricultural population, were usually classified as main households and enjoyed a relatively free identity and a certain social status.

Furthermore, the work was less susceptible to floods and droughts, and skilled artisans could earn a considerable income. Sometimes, they would receive special orders, forging specialized weapons and earn extra income, receiving additional gifts of food and cloth from customers.

They might even become officials!

In "Water Margin," Lei Heng, the Flying Tiger, rises from a blacksmith to a captain. While "Water Margin" is a novel, it's rooted in real life, a compilation of folk tales. Novels of the time weren't epic war stories, lacking the "steamed bun bomb" and "hunting a million pounds of meat in two months on Tiger Head Mountain." The novel's content can serve as an important reference for social systems.

No wonder Qian Zhuoqun said that he hopes scholars can break down the threshold here.

Sure enough, as soon as the news spread to the village, villagers immediately gathered their courage and came over.

A year after the tax exemption was announced, the villagers' fear of the "female queen" had dissipated. Now, hearing that someone was offering blacksmithing lessons, they rushed to learn more. This was especially true for families with limited land but many male children, who considered sending one of their children to learn blacksmithing as a good option.

As for the gimmick of "Blacksmith in Heaven", they don't believe it.

They didn't even believe that the rebel army had the support of gods.

Just think of it as a highly skilled blacksmith claiming to be descended from heaven. This kind of talk is not important and it’s okay.

Half an hour later...

A complete set of blacksmith tools was brought back by the Zhangjia Village team and placed in a side yard.

There were also eight other villagers who bravely came to learn blacksmithing skills.

A large group of rebels gathered at the gate of the yard to watch the fun, even Gong Er Niangzi and Qian Zhuoqun mixed in the crowd to watch.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Yue Wenxuan ordered the Ming Dynasty plastic man, "Get to work! While you're teaching your apprentices, make 30 wolf-whips and 30 halberds."

With one command, the blacksmith started to work.

The first thing this guy did was... singing.

"I forge iron in the morning and in the evening. I forge a pair of scissors for my sister. She asked me to rest, but I didn't. I wanted to go home and forge iron at night..."

Yue Wenxuan: “Puff!”

Onlookers: “Puff!”

This is fucking a song about being alone?

Madam Gong Er couldn't help but whisper, "This blacksmith in heaven seems a little unromantic. The fairy sister asked him to rest, so why didn't he rest?"

Qian Zhuoqun covered his mouth with one hand and whispered, "Maybe the fairy sister was very ugly and the blacksmith didn't like her."

Madam Gong Er: "Ah? Appearance is so important? She's a fairy."

Qian Zhuoqun: "It's important! No matter what kind of woman she is, as long as she's ugly, men will be terrified."

Madam Gong Er: “…”

The blacksmith didn't mind being laughed at at all. He was just acting according to his own settings. He was set to be a skilled blacksmith in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. What he just sang was the famous "Blacksmith Song", which was popular in Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places. There are four different versions recorded in the "Susong County Chronicles", and the one he sang was one of them.

While singing the song of being destined to be alone, he walked to the stove.

The blacksmith glanced at the furnace and curled his lips. "Why is this furnace so old? What kind of crappy technology is this? How can they seal the furnace with mud? Even if they are too poor to have any materials, they can at least get some straw sandals to seal the furnace, right? It would be even better to add some limestone or dolomite to the furnace..."

(End of this chapter)