Chapter 71: Matches and Oil Lamps
In the fifth round, the task was to design an object that could improve people’s livelihood.
It seemed simple, but in truth, it was extremely difficult.
The livelihood of the people was the foundation of a nation. If it were really that easy to improve, the common people of Great Qian would not still be living such bitter lives now.
“The imperial grand competition really is different. This question is far too difficult.”
“That’s right. Just one simple sentence, yet it can stump everyone under heaven. But as a prince, and especially now when they’re competing for the position of Crown Prince, serving the country and the people is only right.”
“If it weren’t difficult, how could they distinguish themselves?”
Discussions rose everywhere.
Qi Zheng’s gaze also turned toward Chen Bai. “Who are you sending up this time?”
Chen Bai was worried too, because the group chat had already exploded.
“Master, master, it’s my turn! Gan Xin and Shang Jujiu have already shown off. It should be my turn to go up and show off now.”
“It should be me, it should be me! No one fight me for it…”
Chen Bai: “…Be serious.”
What was wrong with these students? They were not nervous at all. They were competing against other people right now. Did they really think they were going up there to show off?
“But… but I can’t be serious. It’s all Gan Xin and Shang Jujiu’s fault. They made the mood so funny, especially Gan Xin. I laughed until my stomach hurt.”
Gan Xin even replied, “Can you blame me? Those princes’ retainers were really funny. They looked at me with especially, especially shocked eyes, their eyes bulging like cows. That’s why I couldn’t hold it in.”
Chen Bai: “…”
He could not be bothered with these little clowns. After thinking about it, he decided to let Chen Xiaobu go this round. Chen Xiaobu needed some reputation too. For children from official families like them, they would eventually enter officialdom. If they had a reputation, their careers would be much smoother.
Although the parents of these students had anxiously come over to look for them once, if not for political stance, they would probably laugh in their sleep at such a chance to become famous.
The spectators and even the court officials were now watching the carriages behind Qi Zheng. For some reason, they had suddenly become very curious about exactly what kind of people Qi Zheng’s retainers were.
Perhaps this had also become one of the main points of interest in this imperial competition.
When a child with a bob haircut stepped down from one of the carriages, the originally noisy scene suddenly fell silent for a moment.
That bob haircut looked rather comical. It was not that children in Great Qian did not have such hairstyles, but this bob was somewhat different. His little face stretched forward, his little bottom stuck out behind him, and he walked with an unprecedentedly smug air.
Chen Bai covered his face. It was too much for the eyes. Chen Xiaobu was currently losing his baby teeth, and with two teeth missing, his grin could not even keep the wind out, yet he was still feeling terribly pleased with himself.
The spectators were also surprised. “Another student from Cloudtop Academy.”
“Could it be that all the people sitting in those carriages are students from Cloudtop Academy?”
“Hiss. The retainers from the princes’ residences are all carefully selected. To be honest, they are all capable and extraordinary people of Great Qian—scholars, craftsmen, all outstanding wherever they go. If they are all beaten by these students…”
Before the words were finished, everyone was startled. Thinking of such a result, their gazes toward those carriages changed.
“The students of Cloudtop Academy are really something. Leaving victory or defeat aside, just being able to compete as retainers of a prince’s residence is already unbelievable.”
“They’re still so young. I originally thought becoming Hongwen Pavilion Associates was already shocking enough, but now they’re actually…”
“This Cloudtop Academy really is strange. Could it be that every single one of them is a prodigy?”
Some parents were already beating their chests in regret. When Mountain Lord first recruited students, why had they hesitated because of the high tuition? It was too late to regret now. They heard someone had long ago asked about it, but Cloudtop Academy was no longer taking new students. Apparently, there were too many students already, and Mountain Lord alone could not teach them all.
It was truly a pity.
As for the students’ parents, after Gan Xin and Shang Jujiu, and now Chen Xiaobu coming down from a carriage, they could roughly guess who was sitting in the remaining carriages. Although it was unbelievable, it was very likely that their own children were inside those carriages, participating today as Prince Zheng’s retainers in the highest-level competition in Great Qian, second only to debates among famous scholars.
Their hearts were extremely conflicted. They were somewhat worried that their juniors had taken Prince Zheng’s side and would be settled with afterward, but such a chance to become famous was truly hard to give up. If their children could gain some reputation in this imperial competition, or even defeat the retainers of other princes’ residences, one could imagine how much it would help their future official careers.
They exchanged glances, but none of them moved.
Qi Zheng had originally been a little worried. He could fool them at first, but sooner or later someone would guess who was probably sitting in those carriages. If these parents truly disregarded everything and came to demand their children back, he could not completely ignore them either.
The result, however, was somewhat unexpected.
These parents were inwardly tormented, their gazes vaguely turning toward the seats of the Three Dukes.
They thought to themselves, were Gan Xin from Duke Gan’s family and Shang Jujiu from Duke Shang’s family not also competing as Prince Zheng’s retainers? They had even helped Prince Zheng win. Now most of the common people’s discussions were about Gan Xin of the Gan family and Shang Jujiu of the Shang family.
They all said that the bird that stuck its head out would be shot first. With Duke Gan and Duke Shang standing in front, surely it would not be their turn, right?
It was precisely because of this strange mentality that no one came to trouble Qi Zheng.
That was true. If they went to Qi Zheng now to demand their children back, whether or not they offended the other princes was uncertain, but they would definitely offend Prince Zheng to death.
And Prince Zheng had already won three rounds and drawn one. If… if by any chance he really won the position of Crown Prince…
Although the King had not liked Prince Zheng in the past, the rule on the surface now was that whoever won this imperial competition would become the Crown Prince. With such a grand and public competition, even the King would find it hard to go back on his word, right? They truly could not guess the King’s thoughts.
“Imperial grand competition, retainer of Prince Zheng’s residence, Hongwen Pavilion Associate Chen Xiaobu.”
At this moment, the eunuch on the stage had already announced the retainer’s name plaque.
Chen Xiaobu walked up onto the stage with his little bottom sticking out. He even smoothed his bob with his hand before smiling at the retainers from the other princes’ residences. “Hello, everyone. I’m Chen Xiaobu from the Court Commandant’s residence.”
“…”
This little clown was actually going to compete on the same stage as them?
If it had been before, someone probably would not have been able to hold back from speaking up. But with Gan Xin and Shang Jujiu as precedents, the students of Cloudtop Academy could not be judged by common sense.
They had no choice but to endure it.
But although they could endure, Chen Xiaobu kept teasing them. He even copied the manners of famous scholars and gave them a crooked, awkward salute, then looked at them eagerly.
The person being stared at felt his scalp prickle. Was this little clown waiting for him to return the salute?
The etiquette between famous scholars was refined and elegant. But looking at this little fellow stretching his little face out with such expectation, the corners of his mouth really twitched.
Chen Xiaobu was a little unhappy. When he had seen famous scholars meet, they always greeted each other with salutes. It had looked so nice. Why did no one respond to him here?
He flicked his bob. If they ignored him, then so be it. He would make them look good in a moment.
Then he sat properly in front of the prepared table and chair. But who knew what he thought of, because from time to time, silly laughter escaped him. The retainers beside him felt depressed watching him. They were actually competing on the same stage as someone like this?
They kept signaling the presiding official with their eyes. Hurry up and start.
Fortunately, the drums sounded, and the competition began.
Paper and brushes had already been prepared.
Chen Xiaobu spread out the paper and brushes in a proper manner, ground the ink, picked up the brush, and then looked a little dumbfounded. “What was the topic again?”
The retainer beside him trembled. If he lost, it would truly be humiliating.
The presiding official’s face darkened, but he had no choice but to repeat the topic.
Chen Xiaobu scratched his head and said, “Oh.”
He had watched Gan Xin and Shang Jujiu win so easily, but only after going onstage did he realize he still had to work hard.
He put down the brush in his hand. “I need to think carefully.”
Then he sprawled on the table and burrowed into his sleeve. One could even hear him muttering, “We students of Cloudtop Academy have a bad habit. When we think about problems, we all do this.”
The corner of Chen Bai’s mouth twitched. He had actually thought of an excuse like that.
The spectators were also very confused. The students of Cloudtop Academy were indeed strange beyond belief. Whether it was Gan Xin, Shang Jujiu, or now Chen Xiaobu, whenever nothing was happening, they buried their heads in their sleeves. Could doing this really help them think?
No, when they got home, they had to secretly try it too. If it looked silly, then so be it.
Of course, some people grew suspicious too, but they really could not think of what could be wrong with it.
After Chen Xiaobu covered himself with his sleeve, he pretended to glance around. In truth, besides his own sleeve, what could he see?
Only then did he tap on the student watch and whisper, “What should I do now? I only realized after coming up here that I don’t know anything.”
Chen Bai: “…”
Then how exactly had he walked out with that heaven-piercing smugness just now?
Chen Bai had actually prepared everything on his side long ago. He revised the materials and sent them over, casually adding, “Make sure your Bluetooth earbud is properly in place. Don’t let anyone find it.”
The atmosphere at the scene was not solemn at all. Instead, it was extremely lively, with discussion everywhere.
Especially when Chen Xiaobu’s little head lifted from the table and he began writing and drawing, the discussion grew even louder.
They did not know why, but their attention had been drawn to Chen Xiaobu unconsciously.
“I wonder if the students of Cloudtop Academy can continue their momentum and put on another brilliant performance.”
“I’m really curious whether they’ll bring out something astonishing again.”
“Look! Chen Xiaobu has started writing.”
With one shout, everyone’s gaze was drawn over.
Chen Xiaobu’s little back could not help straightening. “Why did my back sit up straight by itself? I can’t even bend it if I want to. Strange, strange. In the past, I could sit however I liked.”
Even the court officials could not help feeling curious. Were the students of Cloudtop Academy really all prodigies? And what astonishing answer would they give this time?
Qi Zheng also looked at Chen Xiaobu on the stage. To be honest, right now, it was almost the same as letting Chen Zixiu single-handedly challenge this group of retainers.
He seemed to feel again the same sense of stunning brilliance he had once felt from Mountain Lord.
Qi Zheng could not help glancing at the carriage beside him. Through the carriage, he could still see Chen Bai wearing the mask.
In his heart, Mountain Lord and Chen Zixiu were completely two different people. But now, he actually felt as though the two were beginning to merge into one.
He quickly shook his head. For some reason, whenever he thought that Mountain Lord and Chen Zixiu were the same person, he felt a strange discomfort. He could treat Mountain Lord very well, the kind of pure friendship that tolerated no stain, but if he had to treat Chen Zixiu the same way he treated Mountain Lord, he felt a chill crawl over him.
Qi Zheng even muttered, “Strange indeed. Why is that?”
Chen Bai could not help glancing at him. “What’s wrong?”
Qi Zheng shook his head. Even he himself could not figure it out.
If Chen Bai knew what Qi Zheng was thinking, he would definitely say directly: What’s so hard to understand? It was just an online friend meeting in real life and the illusion shattering.
He understood that feeling. An online friend could seem perfect in every way, flawless beyond words. But once they met in real life, even the tiniest flaw would tarnish the perfect image in one’s impression.
To Qi Zheng, Mountain Lord was a perfect online friend.
To Qi Zheng, Chen Zixiu was a living, breathing person in reality. There was definitely a gap between him and perfection.
Qi Zheng stared somewhat absentmindedly and even sighed. “How did it become Chen Zixiu?”
He had not been mentally prepared at all.
After some unknown amount of time, the paper in front of Chen Xiaobu had already been filled densely with writing, and there were drawings as well.
To be honest, the retainers of the other residences could not possibly make their designs as clear and understandable as the students of Cloudtop Academy. Just the realistic drawings alone were something others could not manage.
Therefore, the design draft that the examiners could understand the fastest was instead the one from Cloudtop Academy’s student.
But this time was different.
Chen Xiaobu blew the ink dry on the design draft he had finished writing before handing it to the presiding official.
The official took the design draft and looked at it, only to freeze.
It was not that he had discovered something earth-shattering. Rather, he recognized every single character on the design draft, but when they were combined together, he simply could not understand them.
He fell silent.
Logically speaking, as the presiding official, since this was an on-site “grading,” he would more or less publicly comment on it. But he opened his mouth and, after a long while, could not squeeze out a single word.
The officials above frowned as well. “What is wrong?”
Only then did the presiding official come back to himself and hand Chen Xiaobu’s design draft up. “You will know once you see it.”
The ones “grading” it were the officials anyway, so there was no harm in letting them see it.
But after the officials received the design draft, they too looked utterly confused. “What on earth is this written?”
Chen Xiaobu was raising his little face, waiting for praise. Unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, no praise came.
The audience also noticed the problem. “What’s going on? The officials’ expressions seem a little off.”
“I’m really curious. What exactly did he design?”
In the end, the design draft was handed to the Three Dukes. The Three Dukes frowned as well.
“What is this antimony trisulfide?”
Completely bewildered.
Duke Gan, however, pointed at the character for “sulfur” and said, “I’ve heard Gan Xin reciting something called the periodic table before, and this thing seemed to be in it. At the time, it sounded like heavenly scripture and made my head hurt, so I didn’t ask carefully.”
The three of them looked at one another. They could not even understand it, so how were they supposed to judge it?
The design draft was returned to Chen Xiaobu exactly as it was.
Chen Xiaobu flicked his bob. “What’s wrong? Didn’t I write it carefully enough? I wrote such a big page. My little hand even hurts.”
The corner of the presiding official’s mouth twitched. He had indeed written a long page, but what on earth had he written? The official said, “Those above want you to explain your design draft yourself.”
The eunuchs responsible for passing the words to the audience were also ready. They had to pass along the explanation word for word to everyone.
Chen Xiaobu scratched his head. “Oh.”
Then he would read his own draft?
Tsk, tsk. He was really in the limelight this time. Look how many people were staring at him—even the high officials in court, officials even greater than his father, were watching him.
Chen Xiaobu shook his head and swayed his little body as he read aloud in his unique childlike voice, “…Although matches are small, they can enter thousands upon thousands of households. Although oil lamps are cheap, they can illuminate all things beneath heaven. What is written on today’s design draft is matches and oil lamps. Flint can make fire because it contains antimony trisulfide, but flint has too many impurities. It is very difficult to light a fire with it, and it is easily affected by dampness. It simply cannot ignite properly…”
For the sake of victory, Chen Bai had directly given out two fresh things this time: matches and oil lamps.
Do not underestimate these two things. In the endless years before electricity, these two things ran through the long river of human life.
Matches and oil lamps were indispensable in ancient times. One could say their significance was truly immense. When it came to their influence on people’s livelihoods, even Chen Bai could not think of anything else in this era that could surpass them.
In Great Qian, or rather, in this era, people used flint to start fires. Perhaps the people of this era were very used to lighting fires with flint, but in Chen Bai’s eyes, it was not much different from rubbing sticks together to make fire.
It just so happened that the antimony trisulfide in flint was also a material used to make matches, so Chen Bai did not have to worry about being unable to find the material for making matches.
As for lighting, Great Qian mostly used candles. At first glance, candles seemed quite decent for lighting, but they did not truly benefit the common people because candles were too expensive.
Even landlord families had no choice but to extinguish most of their lights at night, leaving only one or two candles burning in the main room. If even landlord families were like this, then there was no need to mention ordinary commoners.
In ancient times, having lights burning brightly was not merely a symbol of an ordinary wealthy family. One major reason why the nights in Shangjing of Great Qian were so quiet was precisely that people could not afford to light candles.
Oil lamps were different. Lamp oil might not seem cheap, but it lasted a long time. If used sparingly, one bottle of lamp oil could last half a year. When calculated that way, it was much cheaper than candles by an unknown amount, and its brightness was not bad either.
Chen Bai had also looked into how lamp oil was made in ancient times. The most commonly used materials were animal oil and plant oil. Animal oil might be a little expensive, but Chen Bai could think of ways to make use of things like tree bark oil. After all, no one had yet discovered the benefits of those oil-producing trees in the mountains.
Chen Xiaobu was more or less reading the same content. His little head swayed back and forth, smug beyond words.
But the people listening were completely baffled.
What were matches? They sounded like something with the same function as flint.
And what were oil lamps? Wasn’t lighting done with candles?
After Chen Xiaobu finished reading, he blinked. “Isn’t it amazing? With matches, the common people can start fires more conveniently. With cheap oil lamps, they won’t have to endure pitch-black nights anymore.”
Dead silence.
“Pfft.” Suddenly, a laugh sounded.
It was actually Prince Zhuo. “I thought it was something remarkable. It turns out to be something no one has ever heard of. Even if these so-called matches and oil lamps you mentioned really exist, what use are they? Don’t we already have flint and candles? I think there is absolutely no need to find replacements. Whether they are useful or not is another matter, but exhausting people’s minds and labor is certain. How is this making life easier for the people? Isn’t this just preparing to waste manpower and money?”
An uproar broke out.
But saying such things to a half-grown child—was that not a little too much?
Chen Xiaobu was also a little stunned. How come he had not received praise, but was scolded instead?
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out. “Just because it is something you have never heard of, Prince Zhuo thinks it is a waste of manpower and money?”
“To draw a conclusion without even being willing to try it is simply foolish to the extreme.”
Hiss. Those words were truly impolite.
Everyone looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a long-lost, wickedly crimson robe. A lonely, peerless figure wearing a mask stepped down from the carriage.
“It’s Mountain Lord.”
The long-absent master of Cloudtop Academy, Mountain Lord, who possessed a resounding reputation in Shangjing, had finally appeared again after so long.
No wonder he dared to refute even Prince Zhuo, and even used such mocking words as “foolish to the extreme.” Mountain Lord was still that familiar, unconventional man. Back then, he had rebuked the Crown Prince in the same way, arrogant beyond measure.
But arrogant though he was, he truly had ability. Had they not seen that even the students he taught could compete against the retainers of various residences?
As Chen Bai stepped down from the carriage, he thought to himself that Chen Xiaobu was still so young. What if this left some psychological shadow on him?
Therefore, he had to use an attitude of absolute confidence and arrogance, even one that looked down on everything, to suppress Prince Zhuo’s words.
“Anything old may be replaced by something newer and better. For example, the flint and candles you speak of—were they not also able to become widely used today only because they replaced older things? If we follow your logic and deny anything unheard of outright, how can Great Qian progress? How can it become better? As a prince, and possibly the future ruler of Great Qian, this kind of thinking is the most unacceptable…”
“You…” Prince Zhuo was stunned. He had only refuted one sentence, yet this Mountain Lord was now saying that his way of thinking was unacceptable for a ruler of Great Qian. What did that mean?
Chen Bai did not give him any chance to argue and continued, “As for what matches and oil lamps are like, will we not know once they are made? Denying others based only on your own guesses—who knows how many people you will wrongly accuse in the future.”
On the stage, Chen Xiaobu, whose little shoulders had drooped after being scolded, raised his little face again. “Exactly, exactly. Why say matches and oil lamps waste manpower and money? Did you see it with your own eyes or what? Hmph, you’re wrongly accusing people.”
He had even been a little sad for a moment.
Chen Xiaobu shouted louder than anyone, cheeks puffed up in anger, “Argue with reason!” He was just like a little squeaky rubber chicken, even hopping up on his tiny feet.
Chen Bai smiled. That was right. This kind of liveliness was what he wanted. When facing difficulties, one should meet them head-on.
Prince Zhuo snorted coldly. “Aren’t they just matches and oil lamps? What is so remarkable about them?”
Chen Bai shook his head. When it came to people’s livelihood, the more common and cheaper something that could benefit thousands of households was, the greater its impact. If Prince Zhuo could not even understand this, then his thinking was still confined to the noble class. Chen Bai saying that his mindset was harmful to Great Qian’s progress was not necessarily wrong.
