Three Kingdoms

Huang Chengyan reached out and picked up the scale, fiddled with it and said: "It would be better if this instrument was used to weigh small things. It's rare that Pang Shiyuan could make such a thing... Well, no, Shiyuan is not good at this, so he should It was not made by it..."

Immediately asked Huang Yueying if Pang Tong said who made it at that time——

Huang Yueying blinked her big eyes and said: "I just grabbed it and didn't have time to ask."

"Cough!" You still had the nerve to talk about this matter in a serious manner - Huang Chengyan had no choice but to cough dryly, and it was difficult to say anything. After all, she was his own daughter.

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

"Well, logically speaking, it shouldn't be..." Huang Chengyan looked at the scale in his hand, thought about it again, and then said.

"Okay, I'll send someone back right now..." Huang Yueying tilted her head and said, then stepped forward and reached out to take the scale from Huang Chengyan's hand.

"Wait!" Huang Chengyan quickly raised the scale high and said, "This...how can this be said to be robbery? This - is obviously borrowed! Yes, borrowed, when we are done using it, we will return it naturally Give Shi Yuan..."

"hehe……"

"hey-hey……"

The two of them, one big and one small, laughed tacitly.

At this time, a servant outside the door reported that everyone taking the exam this year had arrived, and asked if it should start now?

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

Huang Yueying quickly came up and pulled Huang Chengyan's sleeve and said: "Father, I also want to go..."

"Oh? You want to go too?"

Huang Yueying nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Aha, let's wait until you become the head of the Huang family, hahaha..." Huang Chengyan only wanted to tease Huang Yueying, and left laughing.

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

******************

Countless lanterns, candles, and bronze mirrors hung in every corner illuminated the entire front yard of the Huang Family Yin Yin as bright as day.

When Huang Chengyan walked to the front yard, there were already people standing outside the gate of the Huang Family Hermitage. Most of them were craftsmen from nearby Jingxiang, and some of them had traveled long distances.

It turns out that this is the day of the three-year Huang family craftsman examination.

The Huang family has always been good at making utensils. Over the years, they have taken root in Jingxiang. In addition to the Huang family, they have also taught many craftsmen. The Huang family examination, which is held every three years, is almost the same as the craftsman rating of later generations. A rating and recognition of the abilities of yellow craftsmen who have already studied abroad.

The method of the exam is neither simple nor simple. Every craftsman who has graduated can show his most proud work in the past three years. The smaller ones can be used as actual objects, and the larger ones can be made into models. They can be brought to the Huangjiayin Courtyard and let Huang The head of the family will evaluate it with six great craftsmen. If the invention is novel, creative and practical, the level of the inventing craftsman will be raised.

Craftsmen of the Huang family are automatically awarded the title of "skilled craftsman" from the moment they join the craftsmanship, and then there are four levels of "fine craftsman", "skilled craftsman" and "master craftsman". Each level is divided into upper and middle levels. The lower third level, so there are four levels and twelve levels in total. Further up, there is the title of great craftsman, which is equivalent to the honorary title. Only when one of the six old great craftsmen in the Huang family dies, can a replacement be selected from among the top craftsmen.

It is said that Huang's exam was first conducted during the day, but later on, I don't know when it was changed to be conducted at night...

However, for Huang, there is not much difference between day and night. Looking at the lanterns and candles placed just right in the yard, the entire yard, including the area in front of the door, is illuminated without any blind spots...

The big exam has begun, starting with the intermediate masters.

There were not many middle-level master craftsmen, only two of them, so they entered the courtyard together and handed 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 below. There was a water spout protruding from the bottom end, and a ruler was inserted directly into the small cylinder from the beam cover.

"Official engraving?" A great craftsman who assessed recognized this object and asked.

"Exactly."

Someone immediately fetched water from the side, filled the small bronze cylinder with water, and then water began to drip from the spout of the small bronze cylinder...

A great craftsman observed carefully and discovered something subtle. It turned out that a piece of mica that could rotate was embedded in the spout, and it was engraved with three levels. It could be used to control the speed of the water flow just like the faucet switch in later generations... …

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

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

The second medium-level master craftsman presented two wooden plow models and said: "These two are made of the same wood. One is a commonly used plow, and the other is a new plow I made..."

Immediately, a big craftsman came forward to take over the two wooden plow models, tested them on the land on one side, and nodded...

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

Some people were successfully promoted, and walked out of the door with a smile on their face holding the newly obtained craftsman level sign, which immediately attracted a burst of congratulations...

There were also people who failed to advance. When they walked out of the door, no one was sarcastic or criticized, but more encouraged...

Huang Dou, who built Fei Qian's wooden house, was also standing in front of the door. Although he was a great craftsman in Xiangyang City, according to the standards of the Huang family, he was currently only a middle-level craftsman, far from the inferior craftsman. There are two more levels of craftsmanship.

Not long after, it was his turn and he presented the items he had brought——

There are two large iron boxes corresponding to each other. There are iron hooks at the head and tail 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 several times to connect the two separate iron boxes into a whole...

Huang Dou explained with some trembling: "This is a rope set, which can lift objects and reduce the weight by half and half..."

"Oh, it's interesting." An interested craftsman took the two iron boxes, pulled the ropes, and then hung them on the poles as Huang Dou said, and did the experiment with a heavy object...

"How wonderful!" The great craftsman who was doing the experiment couldn't help but praise him greatly, "You made this thing very exquisitely, how wonderful!"

Huang Dou hesitated, but finally said: "To be honest, this thing is not mine, but...it was given by Fei Qian Fei Ziyuan..."

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

"This man is not a craftsman, but he learned from Pang Degong under Lushan Mountain..."