Chapter Three Landing

  Shaanxi Mizhi's southern mountain village of Zhùbīng Shān is not large, with only about 300 households, but it is still relatively well-known locally. It is said that Bai Qi once stationed troops here, hence the name.

  The mountain village faces the Wuding River branch of the Shahe River, with its back against the Baiyu Mountain. The mountain produces a lot of stone carbon clay, and there is a post road passing through this place, so there is a post station, which has raised several post stations.

  Although Shaanxi is in a severe drought, there are still large areas of irrigated fields on the riverbank terraces near Zhūbīng Mountain. In previous years, they also had yields, but most of these were the property of Zhang Lao Cai, a wealthy landlord from the village. Most villagers rented land from Zhang to farm, with only a few scattered plots still under the names of several military households. When the harvest was good, they could reap a few dozen kilograms of wheat and barely scrape by on the intermittent income from the postal station.

  But this year is not going to work, the first three years were a severe drought, and there was hardly any harvest in the fields. This year is even more deadly, the whole winter didn't have a single snowflake, and it was extremely cold. After the spring began, there wasn't a drop of rain, and we had to rely on carrying water from the Sanlihe River three miles away.

  That Sha Jia River, which used to flood every year, has lost its temper this year. Originally three miles wide, people had to rely on ferries to cross it, but this year it's as narrow as a chicken intestine, flowing slowly and listlessly, with a depth that even children can wade through.

  The weather is extremely dry, and other mountainous areas are unable to produce crops. The only hope lies in this piece of land with good irrigation, but the water level has dropped, and the river surface is now over 10 zhang (approximately 30 meters) below the fields. The riverbank slope is steep and difficult to climb, making it hard to carry water to the fields. After taking a long detour, only three or two trips can be made in a day. By the time the water reaches the field, one bucket of water is immediately absorbed into the soil, rendering it ineffective. All that can be done is to watch as the land lies barren and uncultivated.

  Zhang Dahu initially called in some long workers to help with the busy work for a few days, but seeing that they didn't accomplish anything, and instead wasted several dou of grain on food that wasn't worth it, he lost his enthusiasm and sent everyone away, waiting for the heavens to smile upon him.

  Even the wealthy households are like this, and those with fewer people have even less, they can't bear to take out grain to hire someone to help carry water and irrigate the fields, so they can only stand by and watch as half of it is lost.

  It seems that this year's harvest is hopeless, and it will definitely be another barren year. Many families will become homeless and wander away, eventually starving to death in ditches.

  Zhang Lao Shi's family was a military household with a low status, even lower than ordinary tenant households. However, due to the ancestral merits of his ancestors, they had inherited over 20 mu of thin land. Other military households' lands had long been seized by local bullies and officials, leaving them not an inch. Zhang Lao Shi was a straightforward person who adhered to his family's motto: "Rather starve than sell the land." Until now, the land under his name has neither expanded nor shrunk, barely enough to sustain his family's livelihood. He also inherited his ancestors' carpentry skills, becoming one of the lowest-ranking craftsmen in the military household.

  Zhang Lao Shi usually helps with farm work and does odd jobs for the county's wealthy gentry, serving as a servant to take care of their land. With the remaining time, he works hard from dawn till dusk to manage his own farmland, and also makes some furniture for neighbors to supplement his family income, barely supporting his four children and wife.

  However, the days are indeed getting harder and harder. Originally, military households did not pay land taxes, but I don't remember when they slowly started to increase their donations and corvée labor. By my generation, the donations and corvée labor have exceeded the regular taxes by a large margin. The corvée labor has also begun to grow, taking up two-thirds of the year, with no end in sight.

  But the days were originally hard to get by, but they coincided with these years of drought and no rain, and the fields could only be parched there. Looking at it now, after the wheat harvest, if there is no rain in another ten or twenty days, it will definitely be a complete loss. How can Zhang Lao Shi not be anxious and desperate?

  But what can be done? Even a big family like Zhang's is helpless, let alone small people like him. All they can do is wait for heaven to show mercy or resign themselves to their fate.

  Luckily, Zhang Laoshi had some skills to fall back on, although humble, he could still earn some copper coins by doing odd jobs for people around him. With this skill and character, he became acquainted with Zhao Tou at the relay station. Whenever there was work to be done at the relay station, they would call on Zhang Laoshi. Even when there were rewards from above, they could give him a few pieces of melon or dates.

  Zhang Lao Shi was struggling to make a living for his family when Xiao San brought back a monk, which put him in a difficult position.

  That monk was tall and big, looking at him made one's neck ache (In ancient times, due to nutritional problems, people were generally short in stature. Someone like Lü Shi who was 185 cm tall was absolutely exceptional, just like a camel standing out in a flock of sheep.) Zhang Laoshi couldn't help but feel distressed, chasing him away would be offending the Buddha and Bodhisattva, but not chasing him away would mean his own rice jar would really be unbearable.

  The four children did not know the hardships of adults, seeing San Er and the monk bring back a plump wild chicken, thinking that they would have a good meal at night, they cheered and happily showed the wild chicken to their mother.

  Zhang Lao Shi's wife was also delighted in her heart, after all, her several sons had meat to eat tonight, which hadn't happened for years. However, looking at the Buddha who eats vegetarian food, she still repeatedly said "guilty".

  Lü Shi hastily laughed and said: "Big sister, don't be offended, I'm also a monk who has eaten dog meat. The Buddha says that wine and meat pass through the intestines but remain in the heart of the master. As long as there is Buddha in one's heart, it is the great way." Since he was taken for a monk, Lü Shi was happy to pretend to be one. He didn't want to deceive people, nor did he want to expose this matter.

  Zhang Lao Shi's aunt listened to Lv Shi's Buddhist words and also seemed to be half-hearted, but the children had meat to eat, so they pretended to be deaf and dumb, and quickly let Lv Shi into the house, then took their youngest daughter down to the kitchen to prepare food.

  Lü Shi actually knew that he was treated so well because of the big background of this era.

  In the Ming Dynasty, the most popular profession was being a monk, because since Zhu Di's rise to power, Buddhism had unknowingly become the faith of all officials, nobles and common people.

  High-ranking officials and nobles rarely fail to make offerings in temples, and rural villagers seeking divine guidance treat monks as living Buddhas in the mortal world. Who dares to offend them? They can't even keep up with making offerings, let alone offending them.

  Lü Shi was called "Master" by everyone because of his short hair, and he was happy to be confused.

  Zhang Laoshi busily invited Lü Shi to sit down, with a few words of polite conversation, asking where he had become a monk, where he had received his precepts, and why he had traveled to this place.

  Although he asked tentatively, he was still cautious and did not dare to offend the master.

  What kind of person is Lü Shi? He's a thoroughgoing swindler, and it's easy to deceive an honest old man. What's more, such an honest and simple-minded person will ultimately have to thicken his skin to muddle through life.

  Two men were talking in a dull tone, when San'er took out Lv Shi's longbow and arrow, excitedly showing off to his father: "Dad, look at Master Lv's bow and arrow. It's so simple, yet it doesn't take much effort. With just a 'whoosh', he can shoot down wild chickens from over 100 paces away. It's far stronger than the composite bow you made for the official's family after working on it for two years!"

  Zhang Laoshi's face turned red, and he scolded his third son: "What do you know? Making a composite bow requires hundreds of techniques and materials that can't be easily assembled. It's extremely particular about its power, and it's not something that can be compared to just bending a stick. Hundreds of steps, don't even joke about it." His words still left room for Lü Shi to save face.

  Lü Shixue learned about history and knew that at this time, the craftsmen in the military households were the most miserable. Once they entered the craftsman's register, it was like falling into hell.

  Lü Shi remembered that the artisan household system originated in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty followed the Yuan Dynasty's artisan household system. The artisan register was all handicraftsmen, and there were also many people serving in the military equipment bureaus under the jurisdiction of various capital garrisons, known as military artisans.

  From a legal standpoint, these artisans and military craftsmen who were registered in special households had a lower status than ordinary civilians. They had to inherit their professions for generations and were not allowed to divide their households for the convenience of taxation. It was extremely difficult for artisans and military personnel to leave their original household registration, and they needed the emperor's special approval to do so.

  The emperor on high should nod and remove a craftsman's household registration? You're just dreaming.

  At the same time, artisans and soldiers were not allowed to take the imperial examination to become scholars. The labor of the artisans was unpaid, and they had to suffer from the exploitation and control of the officials in charge of the workshops. In response, the artisans would often resist by slacking off, cheating, or running away. It took Zhang Laoshi two years to make a single bow, which showed that he still had some sense of responsibility. However, there were many others who, after receiving their materials, would spend three to five years "working" on just one bow and arrow.

  San'er saw that his father did not believe him, so he became unhappy and argued strongly with a raised face: "If Father doesn't believe me, let me demonstrate it to you. You'll know whether Monk Brother's bow and arrow are stronger or weaker than the Repeating Bow."

  He was dragged out of the yard by Zhang Laoshi.

  Zhang Lao Shi was embarrassed by Lü Shì sitting there, unable to refute the monk's face, so he had to smile awkwardly and follow him out of the house. However, his mouth still continuously apologized to Lü Shì who followed behind: "It's all childishness, but Master can't be taken seriously."

  Lü Shi laughed and said: "It doesn't matter, let the child try it out too."

  Actually, Lü Shì shouldn't have been so showy about it, he knew that his longbow would definitely make Zhang Laoshi and other honest and simple-minded old craftsmen surrender, but he didn't want to hurt their feelings either. He wanted to use this bow and arrow to establish his foundation for mixing and eating at the Zhang's house, so he followed them out of the house.

  Eating one's fill is first, saving face is second, what will happen later? Everything depends on him.

  Zhang Lao Shi knew that to achieve a hundred steps of shooting, at least three stones of strong bow were needed. With this monk's robust physique, pulling open the three-stone strong bow and firing was not difficult, but with just this stick, using only a waistband to shoot out a hundred steps? That's just a joke.

  Even simple-minded people have their own small cunning. If they are already struggling to make ends meet at home, and then a fake monk comes to stay, that's just another mouth to feed, isn't it? If this attempt to use the longbow fails, the monk will lose face and can only slink away in shame, which is better than having to throw him out yourself.

  Out of the yard, the three came to the foot of the mountain. At a distance of about 100 paces from the foot of the mountain, there was a dilapidated arrow target. This must be where Zhang Laoshi conducted his bow experiments.

  The three sons, however, were quite bold and shouted to their two older brothers to watch together. At that time, Lü Shiyue smiled and picked up his bow and arrow, but the third son snatched it away and said loudly: "Don't fight with Master Monk for now, I'll demonstrate for everyone."

  Two older brothers burst out laughing, saying that San's small build could only shoot a hundred paces with a three-stone bow. A child is not even as big as a fart, whether he can pull it open or not is still debatable.

  Third son didn't argue, took a long arrow from Lü Shi's waist and puffed out his cheeks to prepare for the performance.

  The bow was more than half a foot taller than the kid's body, and after a few gestures, he couldn't even get the arrow in the middle, which brought laughter from his two brothers.

  The third son was also stubborn, after thinking for a moment, he actually put the longbow horizontally, the bow didn't sink, and holding it this way solved the problem. Then, with a grin on his face, he drew the longbow open, took aim, and shot an arrow.

  With his strength, the over one meter long arrow was only pulled to half its length before being released when he ran out of strength. Along with a loud bowstring sound, the long arrow flew out like a shooting star and shot into the target, amidst Zhang Lao Shi's and his two brothers' astonishment.

  "It's no wonder he's from a family of craftsmen, this skill is absolutely unmatched by someone like me who's only worth two hundred and fifty. Wherever he points, that's where the hit lands." This was Lv Shi's astonishment.

  Zhang family father and son were shocked, but it was their third child who could easily shoot a hundred paces with ease. They knew that this was not the third child's personality bursting out, but Yang Jia attaching himself to him, this was the power of that bow and arrow.

  Zhang Laoshi immediately became not so honest, because he saw that the bow maker - the monk's skills were not ordinary. Once he learned this craft of making such a longbow, it would be enough to feed his family for several generations.

  At that time, he changed his indifferent attitude and warmly invited Lv Shi to return home, saying that no matter what, he would spare no expense to support this skilled craftsman until he had learned all the skills in the world.