Chapter Ninety-Two: Completion

The results of making bamboo slips were significant. Even after racking his brains, Zhang Xuan couldn’t think of any “shortcut” to quickly engrave books. After much deliberation, he finally decided to have someone carve an entire article first, then assign people to a sort of assembly line, each person engraving the content for a single bamboo strip—fifty copies per strip. When many hands work together, the task becomes lighter; since the only tactic available was a war of attrition, he could only rely on sheer numbers. When the bamboo-cutting team returned in triumph, Zhang Xuan had them join the book-engraving effort as well. Once the splitting and fire-drying groups finished their tasks, they too joined the engravers. After two days and one night of relentless work, they finally completed the engraving for fifty books. He figured that should suffice for now; if not, more could be made later. The hardest part was starting—now that they had experience, producing bamboo slips was a breeze.

Once the books were engraved, Zhang Xuan called for people to find hemp thread or thin cords. He had them arrange the slips in the order they’d been carved and bind them into volumes. Looking at the fruits of their labor, Zhang Xuan felt that the hardships of the past two days had not been in vain. When all the books were bound, he took them to return to Zhao Ding.

“Brother Zhao Ding, I’ve brought all the books back to you. I did not fail in my duty—working day and night, we have copied all these books. Starting tomorrow, I’ll have to trouble you to teach us, since most of us can’t even recognize large characters. But don’t feel burdened; teach what you can. The Yan family’s head is also sending people to find teachers. When you leave, we’ll be able to continue our studies. The most important thing is not to delay your journey to Yingchuan. Speaking of which, I was so busy these past days I forgot to tell you—I’ve already asked Master Tong about having the Yan family take you to Yingchuan. He agreed. Someone is heading to Xiangyang and will pass through Yingchuan. You can travel with them,” Zhang Xuan said, handing the books to Zhao Ding.

“All right, I must thank Master Tong then. This way, we can avoid many wrong turns! As for teaching, I’ll prepare and decide what to teach tomorrow,” Zhao Ding replied. It was his first time teaching; he had no experience and wasn’t sure where to begin.

Seeing Zhao Ding frown, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Zhao Ding, are you thinking about what to teach? I have a suggestion: why not start by teaching us characters? While teaching characters, you can explain some principles or tell stories. It’s just a suggestion though—teach what you deem fit. As for class time, I think it should be set during either the fourth or eighth hour of the day. What do you think?”

Zhao Ding thought it over and agreed. “Let’s do the fourth hour, and it won’t even take a full hour. I’ll prepare, and we can start tomorrow, how about that?”

“The day after tomorrow might be better. If it were just the few of us, we could start anytime, but since the Yan family will be joining, tomorrow is too rushed. Gathering people for lessons isn’t easy. Or, tomorrow you could teach just the few of us—myself, my elder and second brothers, Xiao Yun, and Tiger. We can give you some feedback. Tonight, I’ll draw up a schedule and set the fourth hour as study time. That’s settled,” Zhang Xuan said, not waiting for Zhao Ding’s agreement, and immediately set off to inform Yang Zaixing and the others so they could prepare and discuss Zhao Yun’s extra training schedule.

After Zhang Xuan left, Zhao Ding suddenly realized he hadn’t asked who had come up with the method for making bamboo slips. But there would be time for that later; for now, he needed to decide what to teach tomorrow.

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“Big Brother, I have something to discuss with you. Oh, Uncle Yang, you’re here too?” Zhang Xuan entered the martial courtyard and saw Yang Zaixing and Uncle Yang sparring. He couldn’t help but think of the saying: it isn’t so terrible to meet someone better than you, but when someone better than you works harder too, there’s simply no way for ordinary folks to survive.

Zhang Xuan first explained to Yang Zaixing his plan to set the fourth hour as study time. Yang Zaixing agreed. Then, Zhang Xuan, Yang Zaixing, and Uncle Yang together drafted a training schedule for Zhao Yun, holding him to the same standards as themselves. Whether Zhao Yun could keep up, only time would tell. If he couldn’t, Zhang Xuan would be disappointed in his idol. But he doubted that would happen.

Just as Yang Zaixing was about to ask Zhang Xuan to spar, Zhang Xuan replied coolly, “I’ve worn myself out over these bamboo slips these past two days—no strength left. Look, my fists, which used to be as big as a casserole, can’t even clench now. Please, have mercy on me.” He held out his hand in demonstration.

Seeing Zhang Xuan’s state, Yang Zaixing lost interest, waved his hand, and told Uncle Yang to get some rest as well.