Chapter 7: In this era, there are only four metals!?

  Walking on the small mountain road four miles outside of Zouma Village, Yang Zilu couldn't help but sigh, ancient resources were truly abundant. In Yang Zilu's field of vision, a large tree that one person could not wrap their arms around was easily visible, with one or two more in sight. If placed in modern times, it wouldn't be some wishing tree or national scenic area trees, don't even think about having such big ones, they would all have been cut down by people.

  Suddenly, Yang Zilu's eyes lit up, and he saw a kind of plant that he had never thought of before, and there were quite a few of them. The branches were hanging with long, curved fruit similar to broad beans.

  Zheng Datian saw Yang Zilu's eyes wide open, staring at these fruit that looked like flat beans. He shook his head and said: "Young master, this is not a flat bean. The people here call it poisonous bean. Don't look at how it looks like a flat bean to eat, after eating, there won't be much time before you start vomiting. Many people have eaten it and died."

  Yang Zilu heard this and laughed, saying: "Ha! Ha! Uncle Zheng, you don't know what this is used for! Where can you eat it? This is the best thing to wash clothes and bathe with! In my hometown, this is called the soapberry tree, and these flat bean-like things are called soap nuts!"

  In fact, from the word 'soap' itself, we can already see what effect this plant has.

  But Zheng Datian still didn't believe it and shook his head saying: "How is this possible?"

  "Hehe, Uncle Zheng, it's no use saying more here. Just wait until I get back and you'll see!" Yang Zilu didn't say much more, as facts speak louder than words.

  Zheng Datian heard this, scratched his head, didn't know what to say, and finally just nodded slightly. Suddenly thinking of a topic, he changed the subject and said: "Young master, is there anything you want to buy? I'll pick it up for you on my way back from the city!"

  Yang Zilu thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Zheng, what material is best for making bowstrings?"

  Zheng Datian heard this, looked up with his head tilted back, and stroked his somewhat disheveled beard as he thought: "Oh, I've heard that the hunters in our village use the tendons of mountain deer and snakes to make bowstrings, while people in the city are said to use ox sinew and horsehair. What's going on? Young master, do you want to make a bow? No need to bother, I have one at home!"

  Yang Zilu was taken aback by his words and asked: "Uncle Zheng, can you still shoot arrows?"

  "This is natural! Although we are not nobles, we must learn the six arts of Zhou Li. We are all living in a wild place, so we have to learn how to shoot arrows. When mountain bandits or wild bears come down from the mountains, we need to protect our fellow villagers. Besides, when giving birth to a son, you need to hang a bow outside the door, otherwise the child will not grow up. Of course, every household is naturally equipped with a bow!" Zheng Da Shu heard this and felt somewhat displeased, thinking that Yang Zi Lu looked down on him as a commoner.

  Yang Zilu didn't know about this custom and scratched his head in embarrassment. Changing the subject, he said: "Uh, would you mind helping me sell an axe, a saw, a bowstring made from cow tendon and horsehair, and oh yeah! Pick up a pot on your way back."

  "Others are fine, but what's with the saw? Where did it come from? And the basin?" Zheng Datian heard this and indeed had his attention diverted by Yang Zilu. His face was full of puzzled questions. Zheng Datian found himself communicating more and more with Yang Zilu, saying things he didn't even know himself.

  Yang Zilu explained for a while, and as a result, Uncle Zheng said that this thing does not exist.

  Yang Zilu changed his words and said: "Then buy a small knife and a thick wooden bowl!"

  Zheng Datian laughed and said, "What's the point of buying a wooden bowl? Just make one yourself! The young master can't do it, but I, an old man, still have some skills. Let me do it!"

  Yang Zilu said with some embarrassment: "Then I'll trouble Uncle Zheng!"

  "It's nothing! It's nothing!" Zheng Datian replied, somewhat taken aback. He thought to himself: When did nobles start saying thank you to us commoners? Hmm, this feeling is really great!

  If Yang Zilu knew, he would definitely be sweating all over the sky, this aristocratic nonsense. Just now, Zheng Datian mentioned that the six arts of a gentleman are: ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing and arithmetic.

  Gift? Yang Zilu, he's just good at kneeling, bowing, shaking hands, and making a slight bow. But if he runs into a real noble, it's like the fake Li Kui meeting the real Li Kui, and this lie will be exposed in an instant.

  Music? Yang Zilu also likes it, listening to a lot of music won't even compose songs can hum out. But the problem is that Yang Zilu listens to popular songs, and when he hears classical music, he falls asleep in less than five minutes, which is already giving face.

  Yang Zilu had played archery at a nearby amusement park, but only twice, shooting no more than thirty arrows with a modern recurve bow. Even so, at a distance of thirty meters, he could only manage to hit the red heart once in ten shots, and two or three arrows would miss the target altogether. Not to mention hitting the bullseye from a hundred paces.

  What? This is driving a chariot. In modern times, Yang Zilu doesn't even know how to ride a horse, let alone drive four horses pulling a war chariot.

  Books? I've come into contact with quite a few, but they're all modern books. As for ancient books like the Analects of Confucius, I've only touched on them briefly, and besides, it seems that the Analects hasn't been released yet. But it's still possible to deceive ordinary people.

  How many? Yang Zilu still has the confidence to surpass the ancients, but on the other hand, among the six, Yang Zilu is only proficient in one, and has a slight understanding of books, archery, and etiquette. Overall, Yang Zilu can only be considered a knockoff version of a noble.

  Anyway, Yang Zilu helped Zheng Datian chop firewood. To be exact, Zheng Datian chopped it down and Yang Zilu picked it up and tied it together. However, when he saw the bronze axe in Zheng Datian's hand, Yang Zilu felt a pang of frustration in his heart. It was actually made of bronze, not iron. As they chatted while chopping firewood, Yang Zilu found out that there wasn't even any metal like iron around now.

  Currently, there are only a few types of metals, such as gold, copper, tin, and lead. There may be some that Zheng Datian doesn't know about, after all, he is just an ordinary citizen, and it's already impressive that he knows this much. However, iron probably hasn't appeared yet, or perhaps it has only been discovered on a small scale.