Chapter 34: Wang Shouye

  Wang Shouye

  As the saw moved faster and smoother in Wang Shouye's hands, the old carpenter's skills were revealed, with the saw blade moving back and forth like a straight iron wire.

  Yao Fan watched from the side and also admired Wang Shouye, smiling and asking: "What does Master Wang think?"

  Wang Shouye quickly sawed through the wooden strips, barely visible as he panted softly, it was hard for him at his age, but he didn't feel tired from working, showing off the foundation he had built up when he was young.

  "Good! Good saw! This is a great saw! I've never seen such a lightweight steel saw before. It's much more convenient than the wooden saws we use in the Qing dynasty, which need to be tightened with hemp rope every day after work. This steel saw can be tightened simply by turning this iron wheel, it's really convenient! And the teeth on this saw blade are so fine and even! It doesn't take much effort to pull it! The steel edge is also a deep blue color, obviously it has been carefully quenched in fire, it's really a rare treasure. However, I think this saw blade is a bit too narrow, if a novice carpenter's hand is not steady, I'm afraid it will break."

  Yao Fang gave a thumbs up: "Well done, Wang! It doesn't matter if it's broken, I have plenty of replacement saw blades."

  Wang Shouye said, "My carpenters are not so stupid. I'm afraid that when the time comes to teach Yao Dongjia's apprentices how to dismantle wood, it will be inevitable that there will be some damage. If you want to build these houses as quickly as possible, Yao Dongjia should borrow some of my apprentices and learn from me how to dismantle wood."

  Yao Fan saw Wang Shouye volunteering to teach his subordinates how to build houses, and happily said: "Practice makes perfect, learning carpentry isn't about being a master carpenter, it should be learned quickly."

  Yao Feng then opened a long rectangular cardboard box next to him and took out a hand saw that looked like a large knife blade, handing it over to Wang Shouye.

  Wang Shouye saw the long triangular handsaw and exclaimed, "Good steel! This saw is actually made of fine steel like snowflakes."

  Yao frowned and thought to himself, "If a worker in 2011 spoke like this, I would scold him. This is a good forging, isn't it? Cast your head!"

  "This is a high-carbon handsaw blade, extremely hard, and can even cut through iron bars."

  Wang Shouye's hand holding the saw was trembling: "Can iron be sawed?"

  "Ah, it's cutting smoothly."

  Wang Shouye looked at the nail in his hand and thought for a moment before giving up on the idea of testing it out right there.

  "Alright, now let's get to work!" Yao said firmly, then quickly opened a square box next to him, took out the wide saw blade coiled inside, unfolded it and attached the handles to both ends. After screwing on the nuts, he pointed to the ground and said, "The Big Dragon Saw! With two people pulling together, cutting through wood is as easy as cutting grass!"

  Wang Shouye almost fainted, thinking that the tools in Yao Dongjia's hands were all top-notch, high-quality products from a foreign hardware store. These things are all steel and look like they're made of snowflake-like fine steel. Any woodworking shop that gets these would be able to dominate the industry! And to make matters worse, these tools are also exquisitely crafted, looking like shining treasures in the eyes of the woodworkers.

  Wang Shouye stroked the snow-bright saw blade of the large dragon saw that could be rolled up, and sighed almost to tears: "Yao Dongjia, this large dragon saw's high-carbon steel saw blade is actually soft and can be coiled!"

  Yao Wen smiled with a pout: "I'm just asking if you're okay?"

  Wang Shouye was so excited that he couldn't control himself, nodding his head repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice, and loudly praising: "Good! Good! Good! They're all top-notch eating utensils! Mr. Yao Dongjia, you've really opened my eyes today! These Western-style wooden eating utensils, I've never seen them in my life! Mr. Yao Dongjia, are these things brought here to sell? Can you sell some to me?"

  Yao Fan slowly opened another box next to him. Wang Shouye had been stirred up by Yao Fan's antics and, seeing that Yao still had treasures, his eyes sparkled with excitement as he rushed over to take a look. As soon as he saw it, he exclaimed: "Wood plane? Wood chisel?"

  Without waiting for Yao Fan to take them out, Wang Shouye himself went forward and picked them up one by one to examine: "Good! Good stuff! All good steel!"

  "Ah, I see," Yao Fang finally replied to his previous question. "These tools of mine are all the best Western steel-made tools, foreigners don't sell them abroad, fearing that outsiders will learn their craftsmanship. I had to use great effort to secretly obtain these, but indeed they were brought in for sale. However, Wang Boss, you're one of us, so I can lend them all to you for free right now, to help speed up my project. Once you're done, I'll send another batch your way."

  Wang Shouye was thrilled upon hearing this and immediately lost his composure, chasing after Yao Fan to ask: "How will you send it?"

  Yao Fansheng smiled and said: "The house I want to build has 20 rooms in a row, and 10 rows make up a district. If you can complete one district, I will give you 20 bow saws, two hand saws, one large dragon saw, one wood plane knife, and a set of three plane knife blades, plus a set of 10 specifications of woodworking chisels."

  "Good! I'll cover now! Now I'll bring people! Bring people to cover!" Wang Shouye was really crazy, answering somewhat incoherently.

  Yao Fan saw Wang Shouye's work motivation surge up and happily said, "It's just right to seize the opportunity, Manager Wang, let me tell you about my plan."

  Next, Yao Fan carefully explained his own construction plan for the warehouse district to Wang Shouye.

  Wang Shouye was a carpenter, and all his life he had been engaged in building houses. In the Qing dynasty, the superintendents of various constructions were mostly born to be carpenters. In ancient times, carpenters were originally the earliest chief engineers in civil engineering.

  After listening to Yao Fang's plan, Wang Shouye had no comprehension barrier at all. He repeated it back to Yao Fang, saying it even more clearly than Yao Fang himself. This made Yao Fang nod his head in praise of Wang Shouye's cleverness. It was not surprising, after all, Yao Fang wasn't born into the construction business, and the plan was just a simple bungalow, warehouse, and playground - where was the difficulty? If Wang Shouye couldn't even understand this much, then his life as a carpenter would really be wasted.

  Yao Fan saw that Wang Shouye had a clear mind, understood civil engineering better than himself, and was full of positivity under temptation, so he simply handed over the entire project to him for command, and he and He Wannian took a horse-drawn carriage back to the city to rest.

  He Wan Nian and Yao Fan were squeezed together in the narrow carriage, He Wan Nian's eyes wide with excitement as he asked: "Brother Yao, are you really going to give that many good tools to Wang Shou Ye?"

  Yao Feng leaned back against the carriage, tiredly saying: "Deliver, why not deliver? You want the horse to not eat grass and also run well, is there such logic in this world?"

  He Wan nodded in agreement and said, "I've read the rules for Brother Yao's wooden house. I think that wooden house is really simple, not even using a single brick or tile. It's easy to build, just wood and labor costs, a house can be built for 9 taels of silver, add another thousand cash, it's enough for the carpenter to nail this wooden box together, a complete house costs only 10 taels of white silver."

  Yao Fang gazed at He Wannian with a slanted eye.

  He Wan Nian continued to calculate: "Brother Yao said that the 200 households in one district need to build five districts, which is equivalent to 1,000 wooden houses. It will cost 10,000 taels of silver. However, Brother Yao, your high-quality iron nails are wasted on these useless things. The current price of iron nails is 2.5 qian per catty, and one house uses more than 30 catties of iron nails, which is equivalent to 80 taels. For 1,000 such houses, it would be 80,000 taels of silver! Brother Yao spent so much silver to build so many houses that are not durable, what for?"

  Yao Fangxin said you care about so many idle matters, in 2011, one ton of iron nails cost 4,000 yuan, buying 20 tons would be no more than 80,000 yuan, converted to gold and then back to silver in 1875, it's just worth 140 taels of silver!

  Yao Fan has now basically mastered the art of spiritual schizophrenia. He still has one set of words in his heart and another on his lips, saying: "No problem, build these houses well, I'll learn from foreigners to do charity work, open a social welfare institute, all those who have no home to return to, I'll take them in, give them a meal to eat, teach them to help me travel the world, sell goods. I've even thought of the name for this welfare institute, it's called Shandong Commune."

  "What's this 'Commune of Shandong'?" He Wan-nian thought to himself, these people who have returned from abroad are really beyond reason. Just when you think they're normal, they suddenly start spouting nonsense and learn some foolish foreign ways.

  "Yao brother, why do foreigners keep so many idle people? And they even provide them with food and drink?" He Wan Nian couldn't understand it at all, so he continued to ask.

  Yao Fan shook his head and sighed, "Brother He, this charity was not the idea of foreigners, but a virtue that has been inherent in China since ancient times. Our Huaxia is a country of etiquette, where Confucianism teaches benevolence; Buddhism teaches compassion; Taoism teaches accumulating virtues; Mohism teaches universal love. Although the words are different, their meanings are similar, all for the purpose of saving people and benefiting the world. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was a system of granaries to relieve disasters and aid the people; during the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, there were institutions such as Futiangyuan, which took in the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and Juyangyuan, which provided free porridge for the hungry, as well as Anjifang, which treated those who could not afford medical care, and Huimin Pharmacy, which offered free medicine. During the Ming dynasty, there were institutions such as Yangjiyuan, which took in orphans and beggars."

  Here is the translation:

  "Who would have thought that after the fall of Song, there was no more China! After the fall of Ming, there was no more China! Now in our great Qing dynasty, who cares about the life and death of these poor compatriots? Those iron-clad officials all have their salaries to eat, they will never go hungry! The ones who starve to death are all poor commoners! It just so happens that all the poor people in the world are Han people without salaries. When Han people die of hunger, illness, or freezing, it's all because they deserve to die! One less Han person means one more Manchu!"

  He Wan nian saw Yao Fan Yue said that the more he spoke, the more reactionary he became. The more he spoke, the less proper it sounded. He hastily grabbed him and said: "Brother Yao, be careful what you say! Brother Yao, be careful what you say! Now Manchu and Han are as one, absolutely must not speak such words again. If officials were to hear them, it would be troublesome!"

  As he spoke, He Wan Nian pulled open the curtain of the carriage and saw that the coachman was leading the horse away without looking back. He then let down the curtain, feeling slightly relieved.

  "Brother Yao, I understand your kind and compassionate heart. Your charitable act is in line with the heavenly way, ethics, and moral principles. From now on, I won't persuade you anymore. Just please don't mention those provocative words again, Brother Yao must know that trouble comes from the mouth!"

  Yao Feng relaxed, shaking his shoulders and laughing: "What's there to fear, Wan Nian? There are no outsiders here. I'm just venting my frustrations. Who would give up a good life of wealth and glory to rebel? Anyone with a decent meal on the table wouldn't rebel. Those who truly rebel are always those destitute ghosts with nowhere else to turn. And even if someone says I'm rebelling, they'd need others to believe it too, haha..."

  He Wan Nian shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Brother Yao, your Western-style behavior is so sudden and startling that it's even startled me. Indeed, if someone were to say that you, with your noble bearing, would rebel, it would be utterly absurd and must be a malicious accusation from someone harboring a personal grudge. However, Brother Yao should know that there are many petty people in this world who cannot be underestimated, those who have been blinded by their own selfish desires."

  Yao Fanzuo raised his foot and kicked the carriage curtain, laughing: "What's there to be afraid of? Our great Qing dynasty may not be good at other things, but it has one advantage - officials can be bribed with money, and punishments can be avoided with silver. With money, what's there to fear from seeing an official?"

  He Wan Nian was amused and chuckled: "Brother Yao, your words are quite reasonable. If we really encounter something that doesn't know its place, we'll have to use our silver to frame it for the crime of falsely accusing good people, and beat it to death in the hall."