On the morning of the tenth day of the second month, Fang Yun finished breakfast and opened the Literary Gazette. He skimmed past the matters concerning himself, but committed the other news firmly to memory.
Before long, Fang Yun saw the three characters Lei Shushan and recalled the warnings from several friends. The Lei Family had thrown its full support behind Lei Shushan in order to seize the Jia Kingdom's zhuangyuan title. He would not only contend for supremacy in the Sea of Learning, but also vie for superiority in the contest for National Chief.
Fang Yun read it word by word. At first, surprise appeared on his face. He thought to himself that he had long known Lei Shushan had made considerable achievements in the Agricultural School and the Craftsmen School, but he had never expected that in less than ten days after taking office, Lei Shushan had joined forces with his aides and the local Craftsmen School members of Ting County to overcome a technical bottleneck. They had improved the waterwheel used for irrigation and drainage, not only simplifying its construction and cutting its cost by fifteen percent, but also increasing its lifespan by thirty percent and its efficiency by a full twenty percent, greatly saving manpower and animal power.
In the course of improving the waterwheel, Lei Shushan had also risen to a higher level in Mechanism Arts. He was preparing to write an article on the improvement of mechanisms and submit it to the Editorial Review Institute of Sacred Way within ten days.
The article did not merely recount Lei Shushan's accomplishments. It also praised an academy student clerk from Ting County's workshop. The clerk had diligently buried himself in his work, devoting his entire life to the Craftsmen School. His skills were superb, and though