Xu Qinghuan stepped forward, picked up the three herbs the old woman had singled out, sniffed them near his nose, and then pinched the skin to check the inside.
The angelica was oily and sticky, and the core of the atractylodes was tinged with red.
As for the saposhnikovia, there were indeed tiny rat bite marks left on the edges.
All correct.
Xu Qinghuan threw the herbs back onto the table and faced the dense crowd below the stage.
He announced.
"These three herbs look shiny on the outside, but the inside is already ruined. If they are prescribed to patients according to a recipe, it will delay the illness at best, and make things worse at worst."
"Every word Elder Meixiu said is the truth. In this second round of herb identification, the commoners win!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Sheng strode forward with a tray covered in red cloth and neatly stacked ten ingots of snow-white silver in front of the old woman.
The old woman's withered hands trembled. She dropped her jujube wood walking stick, fell to her knees on the wooden boards with a "thud," and kowtowed repeatedly to Xu Qinghuan.
"Thank you, Lord Xu! Thank you, Lord Xu!"
"With these ten taels of silver, my husband's life-saving medicine is finally settled, and my little granddaughter can have a full meal!"
Xu Qinghuan bent down to help her up and conveniently stuffed the silver ingots into her arms.
"You won this with your own real skills. Take it back and live a good life."
The commoners below the stage erupted into cheers. Old Man Wang slapped his thigh, and Butcher Zhang chopped his pig-killing knife on the chopping block in a series of loud bangs.
While the commoners were bustling with excitement, the square formation of scholars was dead silent.
Scholar Zhou's face had turned a purplish-black.
Young Master Wu, who had just been clamoring to win some pride for the scholars, was now shrinking his neck and keeping his head down, not even daring to breathe loudly.
The young man who had competed on behalf of the scholars was actually quite open and honest.
The young man walked up to the old woman, crossed his hands, and made a deep bow.
"Elder, this junior is completely convinced of his defeat by your skill in tasting poison and identifying herbs."
"What is learned from books is ultimately superficial. I have been taught a lesson today."
After saying that, the young man straightened up, didn't even glance at Scholar Zhou and the others, turned around, pushed through the crowd, and left without looking back.
Now, Scholar Zhou and the others had completely lost face.
In accounting, they couldn't beat the plump proprietress of the cloth shop, and in identifying herbs, they lost to an elderly rural woman.
This group of scholars, who usually prided themselves on being aloof and always talked about governing the country and bringing peace to the world, had lost to ordinary city folk twice in a row today on the arena at the West Market intersection.
"Let's... let's go!"
Scholar Zhou gritted out a word through clenched teeth, covered his face with his sleeve, turned around, and squeezed out of the crowd.
Seeing this, the scholars in gray cloth gowns and other classmates didn't dare to stay for another moment. They all lowered their heads and fled in a panic behind Scholar Zhou.
The commoners had no intention of letting them go so easily.
"Yo! Is the great talent Zhou leaving already? Aren't you going to stay and continue governing the country and bringing peace to the world?"
"Hurry back and read a few more books by the sages. Don't end up not even being able to figure out the rice vat in your own home!"
"Hahaha, these pedantic scholars usually have their eyes on the top of their heads. Today, they've finally shown their true colors!"
Boos and mocking laughter rang out in a chorus, making the scholars blush with shame as they quickened their pace and ran far away.
Seeing the scholars run out of sight, the commoners below the stage also felt they had seen enough of the excitement.
In two matches, the commoners' side won a great victory and even got twenty taels of silver for free. This was the first time this had happened in Zhenbei City.
Old Man Wang picked up his carrying pole, Butcher Zhang put away his pig-killing knife, and everyone was getting ready to disperse and return to their stalls to continue their business.
"Hold on!"
Xu Qinghuan's clear and sonorous voice pierced through the noisy crowd, and everyone stopped in their tracks upon hearing it.
"This official set up this arena and said there would be three matches. Now only two have passed, why is everyone in such a hurry to leave?"
Xu Qinghuan made a gesture to Li Sheng.
Li Sheng immediately called over two soldiers, who carried a heavy wooden box from behind the high platform and smashed it heavily right in the center of the stage.
The lid of the box was lifted, revealing a damaged military repeating crossbow inside.
The bow arm of the repeating crossbow was already broken, and the mechanism was scattered into a pile of parts. The nearby bowstring was broken into several pieces, still stained with dried blood and mud.
Xu Qinghuan pointed at the pile of scrap iron and broken wood and spoke loudly.
"This third match is about repairing weapons."
"This is a damaged repeating crossbow retired from the frontlines of the Zhenbei Army. The mechanism is complex, and the power is immense."
"Whoever can reassemble and repair this repeating crossbow within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and can fire three arrows in a row to hit the bullseye fifty paces away."
"This third ten taels of silver will belong to them!"
The commoners below the stage looked at each other in dismay, and the enthusiasm that had been running high just a moment ago instantly cooled down.
For accounting and identifying herbs, at least there were people in the marketplace who knew the trade.
But this military repeating crossbow was a lethal weapon controlled by the imperial court. Ordinary people had never even touched one, let alone disassemble and reassemble it.
Who could do this job other than the old craftsmen in the Armory Bureau?
"This... who knows how to fix this?"
"Exactly, we haven't even seen what that mechanism looks like, let alone fix it. We couldn't even put it back together."
The crowd buzzed with discussion, but for a long time, no one dared to step forward and speak up.
Xu Qinghuan didn't rush them either, just stood quietly on the stage waiting.
Time ticked by, and just as Li Sheng was about to light the incense stick in the censer, a highly uncoordinated series of footsteps came from the back of the crowd.
One high, one low; one heavy, one light.
Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a man and a woman supporting each other, slowly walking over from the street corner.
The man was in his early thirties, and his left sleeve was empty, swaying in the wind as he walked.
The woman was about the same age, with a delicate face but a sickly complexion. She leaned on a wooden crutch in her hand, and her right leg was clearly shorter by a section, making her limp as she walked.
One with a severed arm, one with a lame leg.
The two just leaned on each other, passed through the crowd that automatically made way for them, and arrived below the high platform.
The one-armed man looked up at Xu Qinghuan on the stage and said respectfully.
"Grassroots citizen Zhao Tiezhu, and this is my wife, Madam Liu."
"We husband and wife would like to try this weapon repairing job."
As soon as these words came out, the surrounding commoners immediately gasped.
Old Man Wang kindly tried to dissuade him: "Tiezhu, you only have one hand left, and your wife's legs and feet are inconvenient. This is a military repeating crossbow, and the mechanism is very stiff. How can you two move it?"
"Yes, don't hurt yourselves for ten taels of silver. If that bowstring snaps, it can cut off a person's head!"
Zhao Tiezhu grinned at the surrounding neighbors without explaining much, just stubbornly looking at Xu Qinghuan.
Xu Qinghuan sized up the disabled couple, his gaze lingering for a moment on Zhao Tiezhu's calloused right hand and Madam Liu's steady hands.
"Come up to the stage."
Zhao Tiezhu first used his only remaining right hand to support himself on the edge of the stage and vaulted up.
Then he turned around, lay on his stomach at the edge, and pulled and dragged Madam Liu onto the high platform.
The two walked up to the wooden box full of repeating crossbow parts.
Li Sheng lit the third stick of incense.
"Begin!"
Zhao Tiezhu wasn't in a hurry to start working. First, he used his right hand to take the parts out of the box one by one and arranged them neatly into categories on the wooden boards.
Madam Liu then pulled out a few homemade small files and wooden mallets from her clothes and knelt beside the parts.
Without even a single unnecessary word of communication, the two immediately began their movements.
Zhao Tiezhu picked up the broken bow arm with his single hand, pressed one end against his knee, and rapidly filed the broken edge with a rasp in his right hand.
Madam Liu took charge of the delicate mechanical parts. Though her legs were crippled, her hands were incredibly deft. With just a few quick manipulations, the scattered gears and tenons clicked back together perfectly.
Whenever a part required immense strength to secure, Zhao Tiezhu would step on the base to hold it steady and smash down hard with a wooden mallet in his right hand, while Madam Liu stood by, precisely handing him iron nails and wedges.
One had only a single hand; the other had only one good leg.
Yet together, they formed a single, master craftsman.
Filing, splicing, oiling, and assembling.
Their movements were sharp and fluid, without a moment of hesitation.
The commoners below the stage watched with bated breath, entirely engrossed in the couple's seamless teamwork.
The incense stick in the burner had only burned halfway when Zhao Tiezhu picked up a brand-new beef tendon bowstring.
He pressed one end of the repeating crossbow against his stomach, gripped one end of the bowstring tightly with his right hand, and pulled it back, his face flushing red from the exertion.
Madam Liu was quick. The instant the string was drawn to its absolute limit, she accurately slipped the other end into the notch.
With a sharp clack, the bowstring snapped taut. The repeating crossbow was fully reassembled.
Cradling the repaired crossbow, Zhao Tiezhu stood up and nodded at Xu Qinghuan.
"My Lord, it is fixed."
Li Sheng stepped forward, took the crossbow, and weighed it in his hands. He then drew three short bolts from a quiver and loaded them in.
Walking to the edge of the high platform, he aimed at a wooden target temporarily erected fifty paces away.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three sharp sounds tore through the air as the bolts flew out in rapid succession.
The crowd hurriedly turned their heads toward the wooden target.
The three short bolts were nailed dead center in the bullseye, forming a triangle. The fletchings at their tails were still vibrating violently.
"Bravo!"
"Incredible! Truly incredible!"
A massive roar of cheers erupted across the West Market. The commoners, their faces flushed with excitement, applauded and cheered wildly.
Who could have imagined that a scrapped military weapon could be restored to perfect condition by a disabled couple in less than half an incense stick's time?
Xu Qinghuan stepped forward and personally handed ten taels of silver to Zhao Tiezhu.
"This craftsmanship is unmatched! The two of you are more than worthy of this ten-tael reward."
Holding the silver, Zhao Tiezhu's eyes turned red. He pulled Madam Liu along, preparing to kneel and kowtow.
Xu Qinghuan caught his arm, stopping him from kneeling.
Turning around to face the clamoring crowd below, Xu Qinghuan pressed his hands down in a calming gesture.
The noise gradually died down. Everyone looked up, waiting for the Imperial Envoy to speak.
Facing the dry, cold wind of the North, Xu Qinghuan spoke with a resonant voice that echoed throughout the entire West Market.
"Today's three competitions, you have all seen them clearly!"
"The fabric shop proprietress who kept the accounts, the rural old woman who identified the herbs, and the disabled couple who repaired the weaponry."
"They hold no scholarly ranks, they have never read the Four Books and Five Classics, and they can barely even recognize a few characters."
"Yet it is they who have accomplished what those scholars, with their mouths full of benevolence and morality, could never do!"
Xu Qinghuan's tone grew heavier.
"The borders of the Great Qian Dynasty do not rely on a few pedantic essays. They rely on tangible money and grain, medicinal herbs that can cure illnesses and save lives, and weaponry that can kill enemies and protect our own!"
"I announce here today that, effective immediately, a Hundred Crafts Bureau shall be established in Zhenbei City!"
"Any artisan with a specialized skill, whether you can keep accounts, forge iron, build carts, or repair weapons, regardless of gender, regardless of background, and regardless of physical disability, may join this bureau!"
"As long as you enter the Hundred Crafts Bureau, I will petition the imperial court to grant you official status! You will eat imperial grain, receive a salary, and be exempt from corvee labor for three generations!"
