Way Of The King
/ Royal Road Chapter 57
Published at 1st of August 2022 06:30:46 AM
“Carve this line of characters such that they are reflected as if by a mirror, protruding from the wooden board, correct, and of the same font. Every character must be evenly leveled.”
The stone carvers stared blankly at the strips of paper the servants gave them. Carve words onto a plank? And in reverse? What for?
Two days ago, the Liang Estate had accepted a number of sculptors. Unlike other artisans, a sculptor's work was often a very involved and lengthy process that came at great monetary costs. Thus, when turmoil arose, their patrons would often terminate their projects. After all these years of constant war, many of them had already lost their livelihoods. The few who remained scraped by under the government's roof. There was no way they'd miss out on this sudden opportunity.
But after arriving at the estate, the sculptors found that their new work was rather different from what they were used to. One stone carver asked cautiously, “It's easy if the characters are recessed, but if they're protruding and reflected, how do you make sure they're all leveled?”
“Some of you have carved plaques and tablets, others have carved statues. You should be able to come up with your own ideas. The master's said that the first person to make a passable carving will become the head craftsman,” ah-Liang announced.
The head craftsmen generally had more benefits and authority. Not to mention that the Liang Estate's renown had soared so rapidly that even the county magistrate was assiduously expressing his goodwill. Becoming a head craftsman of the Liang Estate would be the privilege of a lifetime!
Upon his words, the craftsman dared not ask more. They picked up their planks and papers and began chiseling away. Shortly, the courtyard was engulfed by a flurry of wood shavings and the sound of banging tools. Wood was comparatively easier to shape than stone, but it required a more delicate control of force. A few people had accidentally ruined their boards, but the supervisor immediately gave them new ones without comment or chastisement. For the most part, he looked on silently from the side.
After over an hour of hustle and bustle, one man finally stood up and turned in a carved block, “Is this carving gonna work?”
Ah-Liang critically looked it over and said to him, “Come with me.”
The rest of the craftsmen stared at them, baffled at how fast their contest had been decided. The man was somewhat anxious, but he patted the wood scraps off his clothes and followed along.
They left the courtyard, wound through a corridor, and arrived at the main courtyard. As a craftsman who'd come from the county town, the man had already heard rumors of the “bodhisattva.” His head was lowered timidly as he trailed closely in the steward's footsteps, and he kneeled as soon as he passed through the doors. He heard a pleasing voice coming from the head seat, “Finished so soon? Let me see.”
Liang Feng took the carved board from ah-Liang and turned it over. It had to be said, that the craftsmanship was astounding. Even the finest brushstrokes had been perfectly preserved, and more importantly, all the characters were of the exact same height. Without another word, he picked up his brush, coated the board with a layer of ink, and gently pressed a paper over top. After he peeled the paper off, it had a neat row of characters printed upon it.
Liang Feng nodded and asked, “What is your name?”
“I'm Wei Fonu, a buddha sculptor from the county bureau,” Wei Fonu replied at once.
Judging by his name, “Fonu,” he likely came from a long lineage of buddha sculptors. Liang Feng asked, “How did you carve these characters in reverse?”
Wei Fonu answered honestly, “I flipped the page over, stuck it on the board, and carved around the words.”
That was the standard way of making relief carvings. That he figured it out so quickly meant he knew how to use his brain.
Oljcu Mfcu rjlv, “Mgbw cbk bc, sbe klii yf atf tfjv mgjoarwjc bo atf Oljcu Srajaf'r ybbxkbgxr. P'ii jrrluc sbe afc mjgnfgr, bcf lcx wjxfg, jcv olnf rfgnjcar ab jrrlra klat fzagjcfber ajrxr. Tbeg pby klii yf ab mjgnf qglcalcu yibmxr obg ybbxr jcv rmglqaegfr.”
Vkfja yfjvfv bc Qfl Mbce'r tfjv, “Dea P vbc'a xcbk tbk ab gfjv, jcv P'nf cfnfg wjcjufv qfbqif yfobgf…”
“It's fine. You only need to guarantee the quality of the printing blocks. I will have others handle the editing and bookbinding. As the bookworks is one of the workshops of my estate, its craftsmen will become serfs of the Liang Estate.”
The word serf roused Wei Fonu's excitement. If he became a noble's serf, the government couldn't drag him away to do corvée labor. He would get to live and work inside the estate, and there was a chance he could receive high-yield farmlands. It was far better than belonging to the craftsman caste.
He hurriedly responded, “I'll definitely do my best and work hard to carve blocks!”
“Excellent.” Liang Feng said kindly, “Choose your craftsmen carefully. Let those who are deft and meticulous carve characters. Let the less skilled polish, and carve decorations and borders. There must be a clear division of labor. Here, refine and detail this template; it only needs to look graceful and elegant.”
Liang Feng had seen a couple of ancient texts before and knew the general layout. As for the details, he'd leave it to the more experienced craftsmen.
Wei Fonu went to receive the paper, but when he looked up and saw the person seated before him, he froze for a moment before hastily casting his gaze back to the floor. As a buddha sculptor, he'd seen many famous works of art, but even the best of them could not capture the full scope of such beauty. The head of the Liang family truly lived up to his reputation as a “bodhisattva!”
With gratitude and worship, not daring to raise his head, Wei Fonu took the drawing and made his exit.
Liang Feng sighed in relief. He didn't have the authority and standing to distribute these books top-down. But there were better ways to do so, and establishing a printing house was one of them.
There didn't seem to be any printing technology in this era yet. Even the books in Wang Wen's home and the Huai'en Temple were all hand-copied. Books were an expensive luxury that very few could afford. Someone born to a poor family, no matter how genius they were, had no chance of borrowing enough books to study from.
With that kind of monopoly on information, printing technology was unnecessary. The elite families had all the human and material resources they could possibly need to make hand-written copies. Why waste time researching better methods? But to Liang Feng, printing was a must; it was the only way to produce mass quantities of books, to ensure that Physician Jiang's medical text could be spread throughout the country and passed down for generations.
Still, the cost of woodblock printing was shockingly high as well. The craftsmen aside, ink and paper were expensive as well. He didn't have the wealth to give books out for free, but what if he made the medical text complimentary? For example, he could gift a free copy of “The New Treatise on Cold Damage” with each purchase of “The Diamond Sutra;” it wouldn't be too off-putting, since plague prevention had arisen from a Buddhsent dream. And as the pious noblewomen bought the scripture, the medical text would proliferate throughout the upper strata.
As cold damage was indiscriminate and many members of the gentry knew something of medicine, that meant that for every person who read it, there would be one more person who knew how to prevent and treat cold damage. If it came into the hands of an expert doctor, then it would greatly advance the medical sciences. Thus would Physician Jiang's final wish be fulfilled.
Moreover, printing was a means to disseminate knowledge. He was only just testing the waters with these two books. What if he printed historical records, agricultural texts, and other masterworks? Selling knowledge wasn't cheap. These thin volumes would be his stepping stone to acquiring more scholars and more influence. It would be far more impactful than his “bodhisattva” moniker.
If the times are not in my favor, then let me blaze a new road!
※
The peasants made way for the five horses barreling down the official roads. They were obviously fine steeds, rare, even in Bing Province. There weren't many who could afford one, let alone five. No matter which noble these soldiers belonged to, it was better to avoid them.
“Captain, isn't it about time we took a break?” A tired cavalryman urged.
“We're not far from Wuxiang now. We must get there by tonight,” Yiyan declared sternly.
The others couldn't pipe up anymore, not after the captain had already issued his orders, so without any other choice, they spurred their horses. Finally, on the brink of nightfall, they arrived at their destination.
It was the midst of the fall harvest season, but there wasn't a single farmstead to be seen. Dried, cracked earth stretched out as far as the eye could see. A couple of run-down houses squatted by the side of the road, their doors wide open, their residents long gone.
These five cavalrymen were all Jie people. Their expressions gravened as they slowed down and trotted forward. Yiyan's village was on the east side of the county. Before they even had a chance to get close, a few vague silhouettes had rushed out of their huts and scrambled for the mountains. Yiyan frowned and galloped after them.
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“Fuda?” Yiyan dismounted his horse and strode over.
Upon hearing a familiar accent, the man confusedly raised his head. A long moment later, he belatedly grabbed Yiyan by the arm and asked, “Are you Yiyan? That youngster from Xunsang's family?”
“It's me.” Yiyan helped him up, “What's going on here? What happened to the rest of your family?”
Fuda miserably replied, “The others've all fled famine. It's just me and my mum now. There's always gov'ment soldiers coming by, saying they're gonna sell us over in You Province, that we won't starve once we're slaved to some noble…”
Yiyan knew what it was like to be treated like livestock. Pillories weighing on his shoulders, two people to a row, marching for days without food or water. It was hard to say whether one would even survive to reach their destination. The man before him was already skin and bones. Only death awaited him if he was captured.
“Those government dogs!” he seethed, “Don't be afraid. I'm here on orders from my lord to take people in. As long as you're willing to work, then come with me!”
Fuda lurched, peeked at the large steeds behind him, and asked warily, “You swore fealty to a lord? Who is it?”
“The Fifth-Order Marquess of Shenmen. He's Master Liang, the one who saved Jinyang not too long ago.”
“Master Liang? The 'bodhisattva?'” The people of Wuxiang, being nearer to Jinyang, had already heard of him. Not just Fuda, but the people around him, livened up as well.
“I heard the 'bodhisattva' saved everyone in Jinyang!”
“Some say that he can cure the plague with just a touch!”
“The 'bodhisattva' would accept us Jie as tenant farmers?”
Yiyan couldn't help the pride that bubbled through him when he heard the villagers talk about his lord, “He's that very same Master Liang. He is kind and benevolent. Not only has he harbored refugees, he's let us enlist in his militia. These horses were gifted to us by my lord!”
The other cavalrymen voiced their agreement as well. Yiyan turned to take some flatbread out of his saddlebag, then stuffed it into the villagers' hands, “Eat something first. If you can travel down south with me, there'll be fields for you to plant once we get to the estate!”
The bread was more convincing than his words. The villagers, who hadn't had anything to eat in days, tore ravenously into the flatbread. A few months ago, this had been a common sight to Yiyan. But ever since he'd followed his lord, not one person in the Liang Estate had gone hungry. Those were hundreds of lives! His lord alone had saved them all. At this moment, Yiyan saw more clearly than he ever had, just how different the Liang Estate was.
He had to bring more people to his lord, those who were trustworthy and honest, those who were brave and loyal. He had to build a greater army for his lord, so that he could save more people! He had to return to his lord as soon as possible!
Yiyan took a deep breath, “Fuda, take me to the others. I'll tell everyone the news. If anyone wants to go to the Liang Estate, we'll set out tomorrow!”
Fuda nearly choked on his food. Under the moonlight, those eyes shined like the stars in the sky. He faltered, then, ignoring his bread, pulled Yiyan up and ran over to the village.
Within one short day, horses sped along, village to village over the dusty, desiccated dirt. One starving Jie family after another packed up their pitifully meager belongings and left their homes. There was no other way out for them; they didn't have the right to yearn after their little homeland anymore. They didn't know what would become of them. But that young gray-blue-eyed young man, riding his steed, told them that someone would save them as well as their frail parents and famished children.
A compassionate person who was known as a “bodhisattva.”
The Jie believed in Buddhism. There was nothing that could give them more hope than the “bodhisattva.” Who else but a merciful bodhisattva would deliver the lowly, wretched lives of motley barbarians?
An old man who didn't quite know how to speak the Han language murmured prayers as he doggedly trailed behind the procession.
“He's not a bodhisattva, he's the incarnation of Bhaiṣajyaguru. He sits upon a lotus alter, holds the seal of the three worlds, and saves the common people with the wisdom he teaches. Those who have faith in him will be freed from suffering and return to the lapis light. He has under his command twelve great generals and seven thousand yakshas who will clear the path of evil demons. Merciful Buddha, look over my people…”
Over two hundred motley barbarians, with sharp prominent features and deep-set eyes, ambled towards the Liang Estate.
The author has something to say:
Carved printing blocks didn't appear until much later, during around the Tang Dynasty, and it only really became popular at the end of that dynasty. The spread of woodblock printing is correlated with the rise of low-born scholars. It became quite advanced by the Song Dynasty, and they started printing with movable characters. Although, moveable characters impose too many requirements on the book editors, so we'll stick with printing blocks for now.
Chapter end
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