Chapter 44: So Huge!

"You really didn't have to, Second Brother — coming is enough, why bring gifts?"

Heifu's elder sister was named Huan, twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Her features somewhat resembled their mother's, though her skin was a shade darker. For all her polite words, the delight in her eyes was impossible to hide; her hands kept turning over the piece of fine ko-hemp cloth Heifu had brought, and she even praised how the workmanship in the county town far surpassed what they made in the countryside.

"Your little brother came by a reward by luck — how could I forget my elder sister? Sister, make a new outfit for yourself and my brother-in-law."

Huan was grinning from ear to ear. She gave a pinch to the eight-chi-tall giant of a man beside her, who had been silently pouring water for Heifu and Zhong, and scolded him playfully: "Look at my little brother, so well-spoken — and then look at you. In a whole year or more you've never once thought to buy me a length of cloth. I must have been blind back then, insisting on marrying you."

"Wife, the day before yesterday at the village market, it was you who said you still had enough to wear and wouldn't let me buy any."

The big man quickly ducked aside with an honest, simple laugh — not because he feared the pain, but because he was afraid the wood shavings and dust on his body would soil his wife's hands.

This was Heifu's brother-in-law, named Yuan. Although he also lived in Sunset Ward, unlike the other households he was registered under the "artisan registry." His family had been craftsmen for generations, doing woodwork, stonemasonry, and the like, making a living by fashioning stone tools and implements for the ward's residents and repairing houses.

Although the Qin state lacked the later Han-dynasty custom of looking down on artisans, the countryside had its own hierarchy of contempt: those with rank looked down on commoners, land-tilling commoners looked down on those with artisan registry, those with artisan registry looked down on merchants with market registry, merchants looked down on live-in sons-in-law, and live-in sons-in-law could only look down on bondservants...

So back when Huan wanted to marry Yuan, their parents had been a hundred times against it. Yet love in this age was very free, and in the end the two of them acted first and reported later — they got the deed done in a haystack, and by the time the child was nearly due, Heifu's family had no choice but to consent.

Heifu, for his part, thought his brother-in-law was a perfectly good man. Though silent as a stone and unable to read, he knew how to cherish his wife and daughter, and he possessed excellent craftsmanship.

In the period right after he married Huan, Yuan often came to Heifu's house to work for free — building them well-sweeps, raising roof beams, chiseling stone mortars, truly bearing every hardship without complaint. In the end, even their mother was moved and accepted this son-in-law; every few days she would have the two of them bring the child over to stay at the house. Yuan treated her like his own mother, and when she fell ill some time ago, he and Huan made no few trips back home.

It was a pity that in these times, no matter how skilled a craftsman was, he was trapped by his household registry, unable to leave his village ward, with few sources of income. Looking at his brother-in-law's small courtyard, more than half of it was piled high with timber and stone; the most valuable items were an iron hammer and a bronze saw. They lived very frugally.

Heifu did not waste words. While Huan pulled Zhong aside to talk, he explained the purpose of his visit to his brother-in-law.

"You want something made, similar to a well-sweep?" The moment his specialty was mentioned, the taciturn Yuan perked up at once. Most of the well-sweeps for drawing water in the nearby wards had been made by him.

"That's right."

Heifu picked up a wooden stick and began drawing on the ground. "Like a well-sweep, you mount a fairly long timber on a fixed wooden frame. But at the top end of the pole, you attach a stone hammer, and beneath the hammer-head you place a stone mortar to receive the pestle. That way, if you step on the tail end of the pole with your foot, just like drawing water, you can drive the stone hammer to rise and fall, pounding repeatedly into the stone mortar — and that can be used to hull grain!"

Using the foot instead of the hand to do the work saves a great deal of strength and also raises efficiency — that is the reason for the name "treadle pestle." Although it still requires effort to tread, and is not as good as a roller or a millstone, it is still a great improvement over simple hand-pounding. The key point is that it is cheap to make and easy to spread.

This device was originally supposed to be invented in the Han dynasty and then rapidly spread; every household could do without a mill or a roller, but could not do without a treadle pestle. One should know that "pounding" as a form of hard labor punishment for female convicts gradually disappeared, and that may well be connected to the invention of this device.

"This is a fine idea! From now on, to hull grain, there will be no need to lift a wooden pestle — just tread with the foot. Even a half-grown child could tread this thing and hull grain!"

Yuan knew his trade. His eyes lit up at once, and slapping his thigh, he said, "Second Brother, how did you ever think of this!"

Heifu fobbed him off: "This morning while sleeping, I heard the sound of grain-pounding and the sound of water-drawing, and without realizing it I dreamed the two together. After waking, I felt it might be feasible, so I wanted to ask my brother-in-law whether it could be made."

Yuan laughed. "That's simple. Once I gather the materials, I can make it for you in two or three days."

"I wonder how much money it will cost..."

The moment he heard Heifu mention money, Yuan's face darkened. He shot to his feet. "We're family, and you talk to me of money! Are you still treating me as an outsider?" His voice was so loud it startled Zhong and Huan beside them.

Seeing her husband's stubborn temper flare up again, Huan hurriedly pinched him once more and scolded, "Speak properly to my brother — what are you shouting for? Sit down!"

Yuan was very obedient to his wife and sat back down, but he was still huffing with indignation.

"Your little brother was in the wrong."

Heifu had no choice but to bow deeply in apology, and said with a smile, "I know too that my brother-in-law is not that sort of man. The truth is, I wanted to have this thing made because I felt that Mother, Eldest Sister-in-law, and Elder Sister work too hard hulling grain every day. I wanted to spare them some effort and let them spend less time on it. Brother-in-law, why not make two — one for each household? If you need trees felled or stones broken, just say the word to me and Jing."

"See? It's still my Second Brother who knows how to care for his elder sister. Learn from him."

A smile touched Huan's face as she deliberately elbowed Yuan twice. Only then did Yuan's expression relax, and he nodded. "If it can be so, that is naturally a good thing. Heifu, rest assured, I can have it done in two or three days."

"Brother-in-law, regarding the making of the treadle pestle, do not breathe a word of it outside. If anyone asks, just say you are making a well-sweep."

Before leaving, Heifu repeatedly enjoined Yuan and Huan to keep this matter secret for the time being.

Because although the treadle pestle would not be invented until the Han dynasty, it was even simpler than a millstone and cheap to make — one only needed to glance at it a few times to copy it.

By this point, Zhong also understood what it was that Heifu wanted made, and he kept praising him for being so thoughtful.

In truth, Zhong did not know that Heifu's reason for wanting to make the treadle pestle, aside from sparing the women of the household some hard labor, was that he had a vague notion in his heart that it might be able to bring profit to his family. But whether it could work, he still had to ask an expert in legal matters. So for now, he would keep his unpolished gem to himself.

His brother-in-law's house was in the north of the ward, right at the very edge of Sunset Ward. Beyond the earthen wall lay vast, vast stretches of farmland. Since they were already here, Zhong invited Heifu to go take a look at the hundred mu of Gongshi-rank land that had been allotted to him.

Exiting the ward gate, they followed the footpaths dividing each family's fields and walked east for nearly another li. The ground gradually rose, drawing closer and closer to the mountain forests.

Zhong sighed with some shame. "Your elder brother lacks ability. Though your house is not far from home, I was unable to secure the best land for you. This plot is too high, hard to draw water to, and cannot grow rice — it can only grow millet."

"It's no matter," Heifu said with a smile. "If I can successfully become a Village Chief, I will likely be at Huyang Village most of the time, with no leisure to tend the fields."

"You can't put it that way."

Zhong, however, looked further ahead. "As Village Chief, you'll have a salary of seventy-two dan per year. But if you hire someone to sharecrop these hundred mu of land, even sowing broadcast at random, the worst year would yield eighty to a hundred dan — and you'd get at least half. After deducting the rent and taxes paid to the authorities, it would nearly match a year's salary as Village Chief."

"Elder Brother speaks reason."

Heifu thought it over and agreed. Even if he did not farm himself, hiring someone to sharecrop was not bad either. In these times, there were still hired laborers who had no land and could only sell their strength. Ah, but he wondered — that young hired laborer called Chen She, where was he now? Heifu would very much like to invite him to help farm his land, and while they were at it, sit together on the field ridges, talk of sparrows and swans, and discuss the ambitions of swallows and great swans...

As they talked, Zhong halted his steps and pointed ahead. "This stretch here — this is your field."

Heifu looked left and right, following Zhong's gesture, and could not help drawing a sharp breath! In his heart he cursed: What the hell!

"It's actually this huge!"

The newly reclaimed field before his eyes, at a single glance, was fully as large as five or six football pitches!

(End of chapter)