The three examiners inspected half of the examination room, and were about to continue walking in the direction of the other half, when a small official suddenly ran over in a hurry, leaned into Zhu Gantang's ear and whispered a few words.

Zhu Gantang showed a surprised expression, pondered for a moment, and said, "There is a guest in the yali, let's greet him with me." ”

Zhu Gantang looked very gentle, but he was actually very serious. What kind of guest makes him not even do such an important thing as a patrol to greet him?

Song Qin and the others flashed their thoughts, and at the same time, they went together.

Not far in front of them, Xu Wen had just finished planing the last wooden strip, and his progress was obviously faster than Qi Kun's.

Xu Wen used a circular saw to plane the straight wooden strips into curved surfaces, and then trimmed them with centipede files and scrapers, ready to start further grinding and polishing.

In ancient times, there was no sandpaper, and it was usually sanded with equisetum grass.

Equisetum is a plant that grows near water, with stems and no leaves, stems like long tubes, gray-green or yellow-green, and eighteen to thirty longitudinal ridges on the surface, each of which has countless small, shiny wart-like protrusions.

Carpenters usually use these longitudinal ridges and protrusions on the grass to polish the wood.

The equisetum grass provided by Yuemuxuan is all dried, which is also the most common way to preserve equiset. As soon as Xu Wen arrived, he immersed it in cold water and soaked it.

In fact, soaking equisetum grass is usually done with warm water, but now the conditions are limited, and soaking it in cold water for a long time can achieve the same effect.

Of course, this time must be mastered, if you don't prepare it in advance, when it's time to use it, you either have to wait for a long time, or you don't have to completely soak it, and the polishing quality can be imagined.

Xu Wen's time was just right, he fished out the equisetum grass from the water, pinched it slightly with his fingernails, and found that it had almost returned to its original state and could be used directly.

Grinding and polishing is a meticulous job, and if you can't rush it, Xu Wen has already been grinded out of patience.

Equisetum looks like a plant, but the longitudinal protrusions on the surface are actually quite solid, and even hardwoods such as mahogany rosewood and rosewood can be polished.

The wood they use today to make barrels is cedar, which is soft and with a little more force, it may over-scratch and leave marks.

But now Xu Wen's subordinates didn't have any problems in this regard, the cyan grass stalks rubbed against the pale yellow wood, making a rustling sound, and the slightly curved wooden strips became bright at a speed visible to the naked eye......

The daylight gradually shifted, and it was almost noon, and there was some commotion in the examination room.

Barrel making itself is one of the more difficult aspects of carpenter's work, and even if you are skilled in carpentry, not everyone can make barrels.

And the people who are here for the exam today are all apprentices, and there is not a single skilled master who has left the school. A considerable number of candidates have never learned how to make barrels at all!

This is an open-air exam, and there is no obstruction between the candidates, and there is no avoidance of people.

The process of making wooden barrels is not complicated in itself, but the specific process that is complicated. Candidates who don't know can see what other people around them are doing, and they can follow along. Even if the basic skills are sufficient, even if you haven't learned it, you can do it decently.

But what about the basic skills, the more time passes, the more tricky it becomes.

How do the wooden strips change from straight to curved? How do the curved wooden strips fit together to form a complete circle? How do the barrel walls and the bottom of the barrel combine to form a whole?

The most important thing is that the front can still be fooled, and the last item is absolutely impossible.

That is to fill the barrel with water and see the practical effect of this wooden barrel.

The examiner was very considerate and put a bucket of water under each candidate's workbench for them to experiment.

There was only a bucket of water, and the experiment was arranged by itself several times.

Several candidates managed to finish their own wooden barrels, and they looked quite presentable, and as soon as the water was poured in, it flowed all over the floor.

The most important thing is that they don't know what's going on at all, and they can't even find the direction of improvement!

These candidates suddenly broke down a little, and one of them was so emotional that he couldn't even take care of this examination room, and he cried bitterly, crying and scolding: "I just can't, Master hasn't taught me, what should I do? I don't want to, I also want to learn!"

Some candidates next to him looked at him secretly, and several of them showed expressions of concern.

However, his sadness was not conveyed at all. Not long after, two sergeants walked up to him and threw him out on the pretext of disrupting order in the examination room.

The candidate wiped his tears and said loudly: "I don't cry, can't I just stop crying?"

The sergeant was iron-faced, just to let him out.

In the end, the candidate threw the thing in his hand hard and said angrily: "Go out, go out, this exam is not fair at all!"

After saying that, he walked out with his head held high.

After he left, two other people who looked like small officials walked up to his workbench, and the older one said to the younger one, "Write down his exam number, turn back to the right name, and don't let him sign up in the future." ”

He said it lightly, and the young man nodded as a matter of course, and his gaze swept around.

Many candidates next to him were peeking at him, and when they touched his gaze, they immediately lowered their heads.

Permanent Removal of Apprentices ......

That's too much of a punishment!

The candidate just now looked like he came out of the fifth-level workshop, and there was only one place in the entire wooden workshop, not to mention, he must also be the only talent that the entire wooden workshop had spent hard work to cultivate.

Under the current system, if there is no official apprenticeship for three years, the workshop will be deemed to have lost its inheritance and will be required to close by the government.

He is like this, and it is not only him who is affected, but their workshop!

It has only been three years since the apprenticeship test was launched, and this year it is conceivable that a large number of Level 5 workshops will be closed. If this candidate doesn't have a better senior brother, even if it's not this year, it's the year after next, and their workshop will be gone.

However, the workshop that doesn't even teach how to make barrels seems to be closed.

The candidates had mixed feelings in their hearts, bowing their heads and thinking about their own thoughts while being busy.

Level 5 Workshop, it's too difficult to survive......

However, all this that happened around him had no effect on Xu Wen.

From beginning to end, he kept his work in his head and never even lifted his head.

He had nothing but the barrel he had made in his eyes, and nothing else.

Previously, when sawing the wooden strips connecting the barrel walls, he deliberately set aside the position of the mortise and tenon joint. After grinding the curved walls of the barrel for a while, he began to make mortise and tenon joints.

In fact, most wooden barrels are made of iron or other things to hoop the wooden strips together, and do not require mortise and tenon.

The mortise and tenon joint is more suitable for a relatively flat and straight connection, and is not too good for curved surfaces.

These questions were not a problem for Xu Wen at all, this time, he did not use a different mortise and tenon joint to connect each wooden strip like he had done before, he only used one kind - waterless tenon.

He had heard of waterless tenon for a long time, and it was Lu Cheng who told him that it was Master Yao's unique skill that made him famous, and he even participated in the production of a royal tribute because of this.

At that time, Xu Wen didn't know that Yao's Mufang was only level five, and he thought that Master Yao was very powerful. After knowing it, he realized that it was not Master Yao who was powerful, but his skill.

Therefore, recalling the casualness when Lian Tianqing taught him waterless tenon, it was like an ordinary teaching every day...... Xu Wen felt a little speechless.

Who is Lian Tianqing, and why is even someone else's unique school?

Xu Wen was really curious.

However, as the name suggests, it is known that its main purpose is waterproofing, and it is perfect for use here.

Xu Wen's fir wood skill has reached a very high level, and with this foundation, he does this kind of meticulous work very quickly.

At this time, Zhu Gantang and the two masters had already arrived in the backyard of the county government.

Today's sun is very good, and the golden light gently shines down, illuminating the pond in the courtyard dazzlingly.

Schools of fish rushed up, holding on to the lotus leaves on their heads, competing for food from the fallen fish.

The man on the shore smiled slightly, took the fish food in his hand, and turned around.

He looked at Zhu Gantang, nodded slightly to him, and shouted, "Brother Gantang." ”

Zhu Gantang has always behaved gently and calmly, and at this time he was so excited that he looked like he saw an idol, and he stepped forward to bow down: "Master Qiu!"

The man raised his hand, helped him up, and smiled, "You don't have to be so polite. As he spoke, he raised his eyes to look at the two masters and asked, "These two must also be the examiners of this time, Brother Gan Tang, please introduce them to me." ”

Although the two masters of Song Qin didn't know who this person was in front of them, they could guess from Zhu Gantang's attitude that this person's identity was definitely not ordinary, and his status was still above him.

Seeing that the other party was so humble, they were simply flattered and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

They are a little more literate among the craftsmen, but they still can't be compared with the literati, and this etiquette is a bit nondescript, but very serious. The man smiled and performed the same courtesy, which surprised the two masters a little.

Zhu Gantang introduced the two of them, and when he introduced the person in turn, he only said "Master Qiu", and did not introduce it too specifically.

Master Qiu smiled and said, "This official is just passing by here and wants to see the situation of the apprenticeship test in this county." He turned to Zhu Gantang again and asked, "How?"

The examination status of the apprenticeship test needs to be kept secret before the official list. After dealing with each other in the past few days, the two masters know very well that Zhu Gantang is a very well-behaved person.

But now, he didn't have any worries about this, and said calmly: "There are indeed a few very outstanding candidates, please come with me." ”

"Oh?" Master Qiu looked very interested, and after feeding the last bit of fish food, he followed him inside.

It seems that this Master Qiu has a close relationship with the Baigong Test......

Song Qin and the two masters had a little score in their hearts, and their attitudes were more respectful, and they followed together.