“This is a poem written by Brother Feng.”
Tang Dongdong pointed at the sign and recited “Min Nong” once.
The language of “Min Nong” is simple, even illiterate common folk can understand it.
After Tang Dongdong finished reciting, the cafeteria buzzed with chatter.
“This poem was written by Brother Feng? It’s so well-written, it made me want to wipe away tears!”
“Who wouldn’t feel the same? Last year, I worked so hard in the fields I fainted from the heat. If Aunt Zhou hadn’t passed by, I would’ve died out there. This poem speaks to my heart!”
“In the past, when I heard others recite poems or lyrics, they were either about mountains and rivers or sappy love stories that made you want to spit. This is the first time someone wrote about us farmers!”
“Those city scholars are all rich young masters. How could they know how hard farming is?”
“Exactly, exactly. Only Brother Feng understands us.”
“Last year, when I was hoeing weeds, Brother Feng kept coming to check. Could this poem be about me?”
“Brother Feng writes such good poems. He’ll surely become the top scholar in the future!”
“I told Old Jin long ago that Brother Feng isn’t ordinary. See, I was right. Shame Old Jin passed away too soon.”
…
“Min Nong” is only twenty words long and catchy to recite. Without Tang Dongdong needing to repeat it, more than half the people in the cafeteria had memorised it.
Picky eating is almost a child’s nature. It wasn’t obvious when food was scarce, but now that life in Xihe Bay and Guan Family Village is improving, more children are becoming fussy.
That evening, many female workers used the poem to teach their children a lesson.
By the next morning, the poem had thoroughly spread through both villages.
It was rare for the village to produce a scholar, let alone one who wrote a good poem, so the villagers felt proud. When the village guard team went to the city, they couldn’t help but show off.
Then, the poem spread through the county.
In just three days, it became the latest nursery rhyme in Jinchuan County, with children running around singing it everywhere.
In Da Kang, literary culture thrived. Not only did nobles love poetry, but wealthy merchants also liked to dabble in elegance, often sponsoring literary gatherings to curry favour with officials.
At that time, the largest restaurant in Jinchuan County was holding a literary gathering.
The event was hosted by Kang Fengnian, Jinchuan’s biggest salt merchant, and the guest of honour was an official named Chen from the prefectural city.
This Official Chen was the main person in charge of the salt and iron industry in the prefectural city, and also Kang Fengnian’s financial backer.
To please Official Chen, Kang Fengnian spared no expense, inviting several moderately famous “talents” from across Guangyuan Prefecture to keep him company.
In Da Kang, many had been recommended for official positions through poetry and lyrics, some even becoming legendary tales people loved to discuss. Moreover, Kang Fengnian paid each talent a hefty fee for their efforts.
During the banquet, the “talents” did their utmost to show off their literary skills to catch Official Chen’s attention.
Sadly, their poems and lyrics were too mediocre, and Official Chen didn’t take a liking to any of them.
However, as the gathering ended, Official Chen was drawn to a nursery rhyme sung by a group of children on the street.
When he learned it was written by a rural scholar, Official Chen greatly praised “Min Nong” and Jin Feng.
Naturally, the poem spread throughout Guangyuan Prefecture following the literary gathering.
Whether on Earth or in Da Kang, frugality is a traditional virtue. “Min Nong” promotes saving food, and its sincere emotion easily resonates with farmers, so it spread quickly.
Jin Feng’s name also became known along with the poem.
Many scholars began inquiring about who Jin Feng was, wanting to visit him.
Unfortunately, communication was too primitive in those days. Many knew the poem and Jin Feng’s name, and that he was from Jinchuan, but no one knew exactly where in Jinchuan he was from.
Jin Feng himself was unaware he had become famous and was still being pestered by Qing Mulang to forge weapons.
Blacksmithing was tedious work, so Jin Feng handed it off to Zhang Mancang, then took Guan Xiaorou and Runniang to hide at Iron Pot Mountain.
After much thought, Jin Feng decided to follow Tang Dongdong’s advice and set up a soap workshop at Iron Pot Mountain.
Liu Tie had recently delivered caustic soda and oils for making soap. The old soldiers, following Jin Feng’s instructions, built many simple thatched sheds on the flat ground of Iron Pot Mountain.
Everything was ready, just waiting for Jin Feng to teach them how to make soap.
On the second day at Iron Pot Mountain, Jin Feng gathered the girls who had been kidnapped by bandits and demonstrated on the spot.
The soap-making process was simple. Jin Feng demonstrated twice, and the girls learned it.
With many hands, the girls, grateful to Jin Feng, worked with great effort.
Hundreds of girls worked together, and in just a few days, they filled all the thatched sheds with soap.
The soap was still soft and needed to air-dry in a ventilated place for a couple of weeks to harden. Jin Feng had no choice but to tell the girls to pause and arrange for the old soldiers to cut wood and make racks.
In his free time, Jin Feng took Guan Xiaorou hunting around Iron Pot Mountain and taught Runniang how to cook. Life was calm and pleasant.
But the peaceful life didn’t last long before it was disrupted by news brought by Liu Tie.
Qing Mulang and Zhang Liang came along too.
“Brother Feng, I heard a group of bandits appeared near Wild Dog Slope recently. A few days ago, they robbed Zhou Family Village and even claimed they’d take over Iron Pot Mountain’s grain collection next year.”
Liu Tie asked, “Brother Feng, how should we handle this?”
“How else? The master said long ago that there can be no more bandits collecting grain in western Jinchuan. If they won’t listen, we’ll wipe them out!”
Qing Mulang volunteered, “Master, my women’s team has been training for days. It’s the perfect chance to let the new recruits see some action!”
“Can you not get so excited every time you hear about bandits?”
Jin Feng glared at Qing Mulang. “You want to fight without even knowing who they are!”
“They’re just a few petty thieves. What kind of background could they have?”
Qing Mulang, unconvinced, said, “Brother Tie already checked with Zhou Family Village. There are only about thirty of them.”
“Mulang, I get that you want to fight and prove yourself to your brother, but you need to remember that war is a matter of life and death. You can’t be reckless.”
Jin Feng said, “Know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll win every battle. How do you know those thirty people aren’t a trap to lure you in? What if you go and hundreds of them come rushing out?”
“Yes, Master.”
Qing Mulang lowered her head at Jin Feng’s words.
“Brother Liang, send someone to scout around Wild Dog Slope first, get a sense of these bandits’ background. We’ll talk once we have the details.”
Jin Feng looked at Zhang Liang.
“Don’t worry. Monkey’s already been sent out. He’ll probably have the details in a couple of days.”
Zhang Liang replied.
