Chapter Thirty-Six: Trampling Human Life

  The house of the Yun family is rapidly rising, and since Yun Zheng said he would teach the children in the village to read and write in this house, and anyone's child can come as long as they are willing to learn, many more people participated in building the house. In the end, almost all the idle labor in the village lent a hand. The wood for the beams was not dry, which made it impossible to put up the beams. Several old men insisted on contributing their own prepared coffin wood to make the beam pillars and put them on top of Yun's house.

  The skilled carpenters have been working day and night to make furniture, especially the Yunzhen-designed ones that are not only beautiful but also durable. In the mountains, wood is the one thing that's never in short supply. A nanmu wood table doesn't need varnish; just wipe it with a cloth dipped in tung oil a hundred or so times and it will automatically turn into a lovely bronze color, shining brightly when placed in the sun. The natural grain of the wood doesn't require any extra ornamentation.

  After Yun Zheng took a look, he asked the old tribal elder to bring the carpenter to make another set of furniture for himself, especially that huge table, and required the carpenters to do their best.

  "What? You want to give such a set of furniture to the county magistrate?" The old clan leader stared at Yun Zheng in surprise, thinking he was talking nonsense.

  "That's right, with such good craftsmanship and quality, if we don't first offer it to the county magistrate's family, how can we get a good price for it? Our Bean Sand County doesn't have many wealthy families, but there are many merchant households. This set of furniture will be sold at an astronomical price. I estimate that as long as we can sell two sets of furniture, our village will have enough food to eat for the whole year."

  "What? You want to go into business? Nonsense, this won't do! That's a lowly occupation. Although the money is good, you won't be able to take the imperial exam if you do this. We can't do this, no way!" The old clan leader shook his head like a wave drum.

  Yun Zheng couldn't tell the old patriarch that during the Northern Song Dynasty, merchants had already become very powerful. In Weishi County, tea merchant Ma Jiliang married Liu Mei's daughter to become an official and was received by the emperor as a Guanglu Temple official, which was still twenty years ago. As for merchants wanting to truly enter officialdom, that would be after Emperor Yingzong.

  Reading books has always been a luxurious thing, no matter in any era. Before the Song Dynasty, only sons of scholars could enter officialdom. Now, in this era, even children of merchants have the prerequisite for entering officialdom, that is wealth. As the ancient saying goes, "If there were no ancestors who operated businesses before, there would be no descendants who entered officialdom after." Yun Zheng almost exhausted all means to take the imperial examination and become a Tongsheng, wanting to be called out at the Donghua Gate was absolutely not easy.

  Yun Zheng smiled and said to the old tribal leader: "How can I engage in such a lowly occupation? There are many people in our village who can do this, the young man just sent this set of furniture as a gift to the county magistrate's house with great fanfare. The rest will naturally have merchants coming to us, you just need to hold firm on the price and not give in. The secret formula for wiping the desk surface with tung oil must be kept confidential, so that even if others learn how to make tables, they won't be able to achieve our effect. I heard Ninth Uncle say that this method is unknown to outsiders."

  "This is the ancestral secret recipe, how would outsiders know? Since you want to make the village rich, go and do it. I'll issue a gag order to the people in the village, whoever dares to leak out the ancestral secret recipe will be expelled from the village along with their whole family."

  The old clan leader said that once they started, they would start immediately. That night, he gathered a few people in the village who knew about this secret and made things clear. The stockade was making furniture, Yun Zheng took the lead, selling furniture once, waiting for the trade route to be unblocked, he would not be involved in this matter again. Xiucai Gong also couldn't be involved.

  Yun Zheng now has plenty of time to enjoy the scenery here, while Yun Er is always lying on his back in a bamboo basket, going back and forth between the mulberry fields and the silkworm house. Either that or he's poking at the pigs' butts with a bamboo stick, watching them scurry around the pen, until the cured meat gets angry and drags him away from the pigsty.

  Yun Er doesn't bully Yun San, nor does he bully the snake that guards the house, and he's not too mean to the cured meat either. However, when it comes to the old cow and pig at home, he's extremely rude. The old cow would moo nonstop whenever it sees Yun Er, who likes to tie a rope around its ears and play with them like rabbit ears.

  Yun Da would often carry a hoe to cultivate the small piece of land belonging to his brothers, not expecting any harvest, but hoping that the land wouldn't become barren. However, the real labor force at home was Larou, who worked very efficiently. Every day, she had to take care of Yun Er, feed the cattle, wash clothes, cook meals, and look after the silkworms in the silkworm house. Most importantly, she also had to supervise the progress of their own house construction.

  Yun Zhen thought he had made a big profit by buying back such a treasure, but the legendary Snail Girl was nothing more than that. She was a diligent and foolish girl. On March 3rd, Yun Zhen made a paper kite for her and Yun Er each. The two of them played so hard that they forgot to eat. Yun Er ran around in the valley with his swallow-shaped kite, while Lard held onto her butterfly-shaped kite and didn't dare let it fly into the sky. She was worried that once the butterfly flew up into the sky, she wouldn't be able to get it back.

  They've tried to register this silly girl in the household registry twice, but it just won't go through. Liu Doutou said it very bluntly: the Yi people can't be registered in the household registry. The county magistrate is even thinking of canceling all the existing registrations of the Yi people. This thing will absolutely not work out unless Yun Zheng marries this girl.

  "Look, I knew you wouldn't be willing. Your younger brother is young in years but has grand ambitions. I've never seen a scholar like him who marries a Yi woman. If you don't want to take the exam anymore, then just marry that woman."

  Yun Zheng nodded and said: "The woman I want to marry must be one I like, otherwise it won't do. La Rou is a diligent daughter-in-law, but I don't want to wrong her, so I thought of registering our marriage."

  I was amazed, the cured meat and we are all black eyes, black hair, yellow skin, and those flower-haired barbarians have a difference between heaven and earth. How can you tell that she is a Yi person?

  This question has been in Yun Zheng's mind for a long time and finally found an opportunity to ask it.

  "Considering you're an educated person, tell me how many whorls are on your head?"

  One

  "That's right, I am one too."

  "Isn't it strange?"

  Nothing unusual, but there are two whirlpools on the top of the Yi people's heads.

  After listening to Liu Doutou's irresponsible explanation, Yun Zheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked Liu Doutou: "Are you sure that the cured meat is from the Yi people just because there are two whorls on her forehead?"

  "Of course, that's what they call evidence! Liu Duotou carried a large package of goods into the valley, and his business became more prosperous."

  "Liu Ye, I want to kick you, and you're not allowed to fight back. How about that?" Yun Zheng asked loudly as he struggled to control his body from punching the air, asking Liu Dou who had already crawled into the bushes.