After rebirth, the Queen and I are on the run.

Chapter 221 Digging a Well【5】

More than a quarter of an hour later, Grandpa Qin took Jiang Dalang and Qin Dashi to the entrance of the village. When they saw this scene, they were stunned: "So many people."

Not only are there a lot of people, but they are also all strong and strong men. If they have evil intentions, the consequences will be disastrous.

After hearing this, Cao Siwen quickly stood up, clasped his fists and saluted Grandpa Qin, and said, "Are you the village chief Qin? This is Cao Siwen, and this is my wife..."

He introduced himself again and once again gave the household registration of his family and the entire well-drilling team.

"Except for my cousin and his wife, we are all from Baofu County, and none of our three generations have violated the law... If you always feel that there are too many of us and it is unsafe, I can send half of the people back, but there are fewer people. If so, the construction period may be extended by half, and the well cannot be drilled until early winter.”

Grandpa Qin: "..."

This man could tell his worries from just one sentence, and it was quite rough and subtle.

After hearing this, the craftsmen of the well-drilling team stood up one after another and looked at Grandpa Qin nervously and uneasily. However, they nodded and said: "Everything is decided by Master Qin's family, we don't dare to have any objections."

Seeing him being honest and obedient makes people trust him a little more.

Grandpa Qin said: "You are recommended by Yang County Lieutenant, so you are trustworthy. You can stay as many as you want. It freezes quickly here, and the wells can be drilled faster if there are more people."

After hearing this, the craftsman of the well-drilling team was so happy that he saluted repeatedly: "Thank you, Mr. Qin's family. Thank you, Mr. Qin's family. We will definitely abide by the rules, work hard, and not cause trouble to the Qin Dong's family."

"Come in with me and let's talk about digging a well." Grandpa Qin took Cao Siwen and the others into the village, but did not go to the west of the village. Instead, they went to the middle of the village, which was about ten meters away from the big houses of Chai and Zhang. .

"Is it possible to drill a well in this open space?" Grandpa Qin asked.

Cao Siwen was startled and asked hurriedly: "Village Chief Qin wants to dig a well here? But didn't County Lieutenant Yang say that your workshop consumes a lot of water, so he has to dig water near the workshop?"

Grandpa Qin said with a smile: "The workshop does use a lot of water, so the old well at the west intersection of the village is not enough. However, my family bought the old well and the open space, so the well is mainly for the villagers. ...This is the middle of the village, and a well is dug here to make it easier for the villagers to carry water."

When Old Man Chai, Old Man Hu, Old Man Qian and Zhang Niuwang learned that the well-drilling team was coming, they ran over happily and asked with a smile: "What, is it possible to drill a well in this place? Don't worry about the cost, our brother Qin said , his family will pay for the well digging fee!"

Yesterday, Grandpa Qin summoned the whole village and talked about digging a well... The new well will be used by the villagers, and the villagers will no longer be allowed to go to the west entrance of the village to draw water.

Since the Qin family paid for the well digging, the new well still belongs to the Qin family, and the Qin family can come to draw water anytime they want.

In order to avoid conflicts between the descendants of several surnames, these conditions were written on the deed, and all the household heads in the village pressed their fingerprints.

Cao Siwen's daughter-in-law was shocked when she heard this: "I've heard about the kindness of the Qin family a long time ago, and I finally saw it today. They paid dozens of taels of silver to dig wells for the villagers, but this is a rare thing in Baofu County."

Old Man Hu seizes the opportunity to flatter the Qin family and smiles so hard that he can't see his eyes: "That's not true. My brother Qin has our best interests at heart."

He asked again: "Can this land produce water? There is a well in the west of the village, which proves that our village has water veins."

These people fleeing the famine are really capable. Cao Siwen said: "It's logically possible, but the water veins will flow, and the soil structure is different. Whether the water can be extracted, and how deep the water will be extracted, you have to look at the soil quality." We’ll know later.”

Cao Siwen looked at Grandpa Qin again and said: "Village Chief Qin, can you let us go to the well in the west of the village to check the soil quality, and then measure how deep the well is, so that we can estimate how deep the ground in your village can be dug to produce good water?" water, and it’s also convenient to negotiate the price of drilling a well.”

Grandpa Qin agreed: "Okay, I'll take you to see it."

Grandpa Qin and his party took Cao Siwen and others to the well at the west entrance of the village.

Cao Siwen and the others quickly tied the rope and hung it down the well. After working for half an hour, they came up with a bucket of sand and a bucket of green bricks and said: "Village Chief Qin, we have already measured it. This well is very good." , nearly twenty meters deep, but it has been dug for too long, a lot of sediment has settled, and the walls of the well have fallen off, but it can still be used." Cao Siwen stopped and talked about the new well: "Village Chief Qin, from here Judging from an old well, the well in your village may need to be dug about fifteen meters. These ten meters are the threshold. For wells over ten meters deep, it will cost six taels of silver for every one meter deep. It costs ten taels of silver per meter, and the walls of the well must be built to prevent it from collapsing... How many meters will your family need to dig?"

Grandpa Qin said: "Since you want to dig, dig it well, at least fifteen meters. You can calculate the price."

Although a ten-meter-deep well can be used, there is a lot of sediment and the water is too turbid, tastes bad, and may even contain small insects.

"Hey." Cao Siwen called out his son. Not long after, Cao Shuifu, who was in his early twenties, calculated the price: "One to ten meters is thirty taels, ten meters to fifteen meters deep is thirty taels, plus thirty taels The money for the green bricks, the money for the paste to stick the green bricks together, and the money for the wooden house on the well, total one hundred and ten taels of silver."

As soon as the price was reported, Mr. Chai almost fainted: "This is so expensive!"

At this price, we can build two large brick and tile houses.

Cao Shuifu hurriedly said: "This job was introduced by Yang County Lieutenant. The price is the actual price. I don't dare to ask for a penny more."

Old Man Hu looked at Grandpa Qin and said, "Brother Qin, a fifteen-meter-deep well is indeed about the same price..."

He gritted his teeth again and said, "How about the villagers chip in the money? Or just dig ten meters deep."

In 90% of villages, the whole village pools money to dig wells, while those in poorer villages do not dig wells and go to the river to fetch water for food.

Grandpa Qin refused: "No, just dig fifteen meters deep, and my family will pay for it."

If the villagers were to pay, the well would not completely belong to the Qin family.

After Grandpa Qin made the final decision, he stood up and said, "Let's go to the empty space before and see how deep it is before water can emerge?"

"Hey." Cao Siwen led the well digging team to the open space of Chai and Zhang's big house.

Seventeen strong men took off the large burdens they were carrying, disassembled and assembled them, and produced pieces of equipment for digging wells.

He dug a few places first. After Cao Siwen looked at it, he decided on a place with the moistest soil and said, "This is the pit, let's start digging."

"Eh." The well-drilling team was in groups of five, digging quickly. When they got tired, they switched to another group and continued digging.

At noon, Cao Siwen's wife led the other two women and began to dig a stove to cook.

Grandpa Qin felt a little sorry when he saw it. He brought food from the workshop and gave it to Cao Siwen and the others.

"Thank you very much, Village Chief Qin, but we can only eat this once. No more food will be delivered to us tomorrow. The money for this meal has already been included in the well digging fee." Cao Siwen said with a smile, and after eating, he continued digging. .

After working hard until evening, we finally dug five meters deep, and water slowly emerged.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao Siwen smiled and said: "The water has come out, which proves that this place can dig a well, but the well head is not big enough. The well head must be widened tomorrow, and the well wall must be solidified before digging... If seventeen people dig it, We guarantee that the well will be installed in your home within a month.”

The deeper the well goes, the more difficult it becomes to dig, and the well walls must be built, so there is no rush.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Grandpa Qin smiled and gave Cao Siwen three more pieces of red cloth: "You can accept the ones dyed in the workshop as a starting gift for you."

"Hey, thank you very much, Village Chief Qin!" Cao Siwen did not refuse. After accepting the gift, he led the well-drilling team back to their place of stay in the town.