The Luban ruler is a measuring tool with religious connotations. It is said to have been made by Gongshu Ban of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. In fact, the length of the Luban ruler is not fixed and is not a common measurement tool.
The scale is divided into eight major sections, each of which is further divided into several smaller sections, each inscribed with auspicious or inauspicious words. The content is largely the same, but the specifications are not uniform.
When building houses and making furniture, this ruler is used to measure everything from the overall structure to the height, width, and length of each part.
"Prepare five donkey carts and ten large handcarts for us. As for the rest, I'll ask around in our team to see if anyone needs to exchange them," said Village Chief Bai.
The man added, "We'll take your stone spears too."
To be honest, he was very tempted by the sharpness of the stone spears these people used.
Village Chief Bai refused, saying, "This is not for sale."
Their group would not trade away weapons that could cause harm; stone spears, stone axes, stone hoes, and the like were strictly prohibited.
The man did not back down. "You can consider this: if you want to exchange for wooden barrels, you can trade one stone spear for two pairs."
Ten donkey carts can be exchanged for one, while only seven handcarts are needed.
A clay pot and a stone spear can be exchanged for 10.
Village Chief Bai smiled but did not reply.
Back in the team, I told everyone about it, and most of them were interested in the pottery jars and wooden barrels.
The villagers of Lotus Flower Village felt that exchanging hand warmers for pottery jars was not worthwhile, as there weren't enough people in the team to use them.
The team brought out two large baskets of food, but because they were covered with straw mats, it was impossible to tell what was inside.
Those who needed to exchange supplies followed the group. More than ten people carried bamboo baskets on their backs, and a guard team carrying stone spears escorted them on both sides.
When they arrived at the gate of the house, the guards stopped, leaving only the people who needed to make the transaction inside.
When they arrived in the backyard, everything they needed was already prepared.
The people in the group put down their baskets. Village Chief Bai walked to one of the baskets, lifted the straw mat, and introduced it: "This is a cactus. Remove the thorns, and it's delicious whether boiled or roasted."
The bamboo basket contained large chunks of chopped cactus, plump and juicy, with juice oozing from the cut surfaces. Just one look was enough to tell that it was edible and probably tasted pretty good.
The people on the man's side couldn't help but swallow hard when they saw the cactus.
The people who came to exchange supplies immediately became dissatisfied.
"Village chief, how could you offer our food in exchange!"
"Yes, village chief, you've switched the food out. What are we going to eat tonight?!"
"Yes, village chief, you could trade grass roots, why did you have to take a cactus!"
The village chief was getting a headache from the noise of these old women. "Shut up!"
He had his own calculations in mind. Here, food was sold by weight, and cactus was juicy and plentiful, making it a good deal.
Although it hurts to spend the money on food, these are necessities, and there's no other way but to use them.
Now that we're down the mountain, it's more convenient to transport things by donkey cart or pushcart, and the wounded and children can rest in the vehicle.
The wooden bucket definitely needs to be replaced, whether it's for holding ice or water.
“Weigh this cactus and we’ll exchange it for a donkey cart and a handcart first,” said Village Chief Xu.
The two young men carried it over and weighed it, then called out, "Uncle Cao, it weighs sixty jin."
The team had weighed it beforehand, and it matched.
This quantity was only enough to exchange for 5 donkey carts and 10 wheelbarrows. The man knew they were also interested in wooden barrels and pottery jars.
Looking at their remaining baskets, but not seeing any hand warmers, the man smiled and said, "We need food, wooden buckets, and earthenware jars. Name your price."
Giving the initiative to the other party shows great sincerity.
Village Chief Bai was very satisfied. "Two pairs of wooden buckets can be exchanged for half a jin of grain, and 15 earthenware jars can be exchanged for half a jin of grain. We need 30 earthenware jars and 20 pairs of wooden buckets."
“Okay,” the man said.
Village Chief Bai lifted another basket, which contained sugarcane roots, tied in bundles like those of the Zhou family. Ignoring the differences in appearance, they looked just like bundles of enoki mushrooms.
The man was a little disappointed that his basket wasn't full of sugarcane roots.
After weighing it, it weighed 6 jin (3 catties), which was exactly the amount of food that Village Chief Xu could exchange for.
Once the team has exchanged all the necessary items, the rest can be traded among the individual teams.
The village chief's wife said, "I want a donkey cart, three wheelbarrows, two pairs of wooden buckets, and 15 earthenware jars."
The man had his things brought over, and the village chief's wife had them weigh the prepared cacti.
After the village chief's belongings were moved over, the village chief asked people to transport his and the team's belongings back to the team first.
There's a big gate in the backyard, so it's quite convenient to come and go.
With so many things moved away, there was some space freed up in the yard.
Old Chen watched calmly; his target was the carpenter's tools, and he wasn't in a hurry.
Village Chief Li's family only needed two handcarts and two pairs of wooden barrels.
Seeing that the family had more food to take back, the man's side became so angry that their eyes turned red.
The grain that Village Chief Li brought was cactus and sugarcane root. Since they weren't going to exchange it for much more, they threw away the sugarcane root and took the cactus back to make soup.
A tiny baby, barely taller than the basket, was clinging to the side of the basket. Seeing the delicious-looking food being taken away, the baby was so anxious that tears streamed down its face.
Looking at such an adorable little child, the boy felt a little guilty.
The boy sighed and put a piece of cactus into their baskets. "Don't cry. Here, brother will treat you to some cactus."
The little baby may not understand the difference between a lot and a little, but only whether there is food or not. Once the food is put back, the baby is immediately appeased.
Upon seeing this, the man returned six earthenware jars to the boy.
Then, many more people switched to a handcart and a pair of wooden buckets.
The food they provided was fairly normal, including sugarcane roots, grass roots, rootlets of the Chinese vine, and Smilax glabra, but they didn't bring out any cacti.
Many other families pooled their grain to exchange for wooden buckets and earthenware jars, and the food they brought out was truly diverse.
"This is elm bark. Let me tell you, even though it's just dry bark, it can be used to make elm bark noodles."
There are 26 jin here, I'll give them to you cheaply.
I'll tell you how to make elm bark noodles..."
"These are fern roots. Look, they haven't withered. They can be used to make fern root powder."
"This is roasted ants..."
"These are roasted insects..."
They also want things like tree roots and bark, but the prices are severely suppressed.
The team members had no objections; they were happy as long as they could exchange items.
Seeing that everyone had exchanged most of their items, Old Man Chen spoke up.
“Take me to the place where you do woodwork.”
The man frowned, but still took him there.
The village chief and the others followed, and the man did not stop them.
When they arrived at the front yard where everyone was working, Old Chen and the others put down their three baskets.
The people working in the yard looked at them curiously.
Old Chen lifted the first bamboo basket, which contained plump, delicious-looking cacti.
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