Tang Dynasty good doctor

Chapter 615 Lanzhou Waterwheel
Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan naturally listened to him, and followed him to the Daliang River. When they reached the Daliang River, it was already dark.The three lit torches and walked slowly along the river.

Wang Pingan said: "The embankment is high, but the water level is not high. It is indeed difficult for the people to get water. In this case, it takes a lot of effort to build the canal. The depth of the canal is deeper than the bottom of the river, so that water can be diverted for irrigation. "

Qiu Tingxuan thought for a while, and said: "It is certain that the water flows to the lower places, but it is not impossible to make the water flow to the higher places. Many gardens of big families in Chang'an are raised by overturned cars. Water, the water flows from low to high, flowing down from the rockery, like a waterfall. No disease, in fact, you also have this in your house, haven't you seen it?"

Di Renjie also said: "Yes, brother, the new house that Hamidi gave you has such a fake waterfall, but the weather was still cold at that time, and the overturned car was not used."

Wang Pingan was stunned for a moment, and said, "Have you all seen it? Why didn't I see it? What did the overturned car look like?"

Although he moved to a new house, he was too busy to take a good look at his garden. He went to the flower hall and vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a rockery in the garden. He didn't pay attention either.In fact, even if the water in the pool flows and flows down from the rockery to form a small waterfall, he won't take it seriously.It is not uncommon to see it much earlier in modern times, but in the Tang Dynasty, if anyone had this kind of equipment, others would pay attention to it. After all, it is very interesting to make the water flow backwards, not every household can do it. did it.

The three of them came to the edge of the wooden bridge again, got off their horses together, and got on the wooden bridge. The river below was dark and they couldn't see anything clearly. They just stood on the bridge and talked.

Wang Pingan said: "What does that overturned car look like, tell me about it, I really didn't pay attention to it at the time."

Di Renjie said: "The appearance of the overturned car is very strange. I heard that it existed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was later transformed by Ma Jun in the Three Kingdoms period, and it became what it is now. It seems to be the design of Zhuge Liang!" And the structure, roughly speaking, he can't make a car overturned, he can only give a general appearance, as for the principle, he is not very clear.

Qiu Tingxuan added on the side, the two of you said something to each other, and finally explained what a rollover is.

Wang Pingan knew what the overturned car was after listening to the beginning. It was actually a keel waterwheel.When he was traveling in the past, he had seen some big families in Jiangnan water town. They had this kind of equipment, but they were all model props, the simulated ones. He even stepped on them, and almost fell off them, so vivid memory.

After listening, he said: "Didn't Zhuge Liang invent the wooden ox and the horse? It turns out that he also invented the overturning cart!"

Qiu Tingxuan shook his head and said, "It's not necessarily that he invented it, but the current overturned cart was improved by Ma Jun, that's for sure. The overturned cart in the garden is easy for children to step on, and the water can be easily lifted up."

Wang Pingan hummed, and said, "When you said that, I remembered." He looked at the river below, but said, "But it's impossible to overturn the car when lifting water from such a deep river. By the way , I call an overturned car a keel waterwheel, and you will call it that in the future!"

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan said in unison: "Keel waterwheel? It's a good name, but the overturned car looks like a keel!"

Wang Ping'an said: "The keel waterwheel can be used in the southern plains. It is not difficult to lift water from the river, but it is not strong enough to use it here! The Daliang River has deep water and high banks. If you want to use keel water It’s not easy to lift the car up the water.”

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan thought about it, and it was indeed the case. If a keel waterwheel was to be used to lift water, how many people would have to step on the waterwheel, and there would be no time left to take care of the fields just by using the waterwheel!

Di Renjie said: "Brother understands what brother means. The keel waterwheel is suitable for intensive cultivation, but not suitable for large-scale irrigation. If we want to solve the irrigation problem of the whole area of ​​Gyeongju, we have to find another way!"

Qiu Tingxuan said: "Although the keel waterwheel is expensive, it is still a solution to the irrigation problem. It is worse than no solution! Why don't you try it first, if it really doesn't work, then think of other solutions?"

Wang Pingan looked at the water on the wooden bridge and thought for a long time. He said, "I have an idea. If we improve the keel waterwheel and make it bigger, we don't need human and animal power, but only use the flow of river water as power. Wouldn't it be good to build tall waterwheels, each of which can irrigate hundreds of acres of fields?"

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan shook their heads together, and said, "Impossible, what kind of water truck can irrigate hundreds of acres of fields, and a dozen acres may be enough to reach the sky!"

Wang Ping'an smiled and said: "There is nothing impossible to do, only unexpected. Maybe there is such a waterwheel!"

Of course, people in the Tang Dynasty would not know what kind of waterwheel he was talking about, because that kind of waterwheel only appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and it was named Lanzhou Waterwheel.

Lanzhou waterwheels are like huge wheels, which can continuously rotate day and night to lift water, and do not require manpower or animal power. As long as the river flows, the utilization efficiency of each waterwheel is extremely high. What's the problem with watering hundreds of acres of land? None, even the smaller Lanzhou water trucks can irrigate at least two to three hundred acres.This is not just talk, it is really able to irrigate so many fields, history has proved this point.

Di Renjie asked in surprise, "Which book did you read about? If there is such a waterwheel that can irrigate so many fields, then build dozens or even hundreds of them, and then repair the canals and so on. The prefecture alone can be compared to Guanzhong, where the people are rich and prosperous, and there is no need to worry about fleeing famine.”

Qiu Tingxuan was also very surprised, and said: "No disease, you never talk about those illusory things, since you say you can improve that kind of waterwheel, you must have a plan in mind, right?"

Wang Pingan thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I just figured out the principle, but I can't figure out the details. It has to be figured out by craftsmen who specialize in making waterwheels. Tomorrow I will send people to Chang'an, and call Hamidi and the others." Recruit some skilled craftsmen to study the manufacture of the big waterwheel together."

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan laughed at the same time: "If we can really build that kind of big waterwheel, it will be a good business with huge profits. Our Tang Dynasty has a vast territory and countless people. If this kind of waterwheel is used everywhere, Hamidi will not be able to make a fortune." Already!"

The three talked and laughed, got off the wooden bridge, and walked towards Xiaoliang River under the moonlight.

The Xiaoliang River is not far from the Daliang River, and it is a tributary of the same big river, but that big river does not flow through Gyeongju.After a short walk, the three of them arrived at the bank of the Xiaoliang River. Looking through the moonlight, they found that the Xiaoliang River was narrower than the Daliang River, but the speed of the river was faster, and the river course had big bends and twists. From the looks of it, it is far beyond the Daliang River.

The three dismounted and walked to the river.Qiu Tingxuan said: "This Xiaoliang River has a big bend. It is reasonable to say that there are bends and twists. The speed of the water should be slow. Why is the water flow here faster than the straight river of the Daliang River?"

Di Renjie knew a little more about geography than him, and said: "Curving does not necessarily reduce the speed of water flow. If there is a water bubble at the bend, such as a small lake, then the upstream enters the lake and the downstream exits the lake. The water speed will decrease. It’s possible to slow down. Brother, do you think so?” He wasn’t quite sure, so he asked Wang Ping’an.

Wang Ping'an thought: "Okay, Mr. Di Ge is Mr. Di Ge. A generation of celebrities really have some skills, and they know the knowledge of reservoirs." Think of a small lake or something like a big pond for water storage, store water when there is enough water, and release water in dry season, you can manually dig one out.”

Di Renjie was slightly startled, then overjoyed, and said: "Brother, this is a good idea. If there is such a big pond for storing water, what kind of drought is there? If the pond is bigger, it can hold more water. Don't even worry about floods!"

Qiu Tingxuan poured cold water on it and said: "That's a big project. I guess even if everyone in Qingzhou digs a hole together, it won't take three to five years, so don't even try to dig out such a big pool!"

Wang Pingan said with a smile: "If we only rely on manpower to dig, and dig randomly with hoes and shovels, let alone three or five years, ten or eight years will be enough! Well, don't be so ambitious, we still want to make some water. Car, let’s repair the ditches, the drought is just around the corner, so let’s wait and see!”

Walking along the Xiaoliang River for about two miles, they met a stone bridge, and the three of them crossed the bridge on horseback, looking for a village for lodging.Not far from the river, but only half a mile away, there is a small village with a dozen or so families. There is no light in the village, and the villagers must have gone to bed long ago.

As soon as the three of them approached the small village, the dogs in the village barked. One dog barked first, and then five or six dogs barked again. In just a moment, the sound of barking rang throughout the small village.

Wang Pingan laughed and said: "My God, this village is not big, but why do they have so many dogs? Can they afford it? It seems that it is better to be close to the river, at least richer!"

But Di Renjie said: "Why do you only hear the barking of dogs, but no one comes out? Could it be that the people in the village have fled the famine, so the village was taken over by wild dogs?"

The three rode into the village, but they didn't see any dogs jumping out to block the way. It seemed that they were all domestic dogs, not wild dogs roaming around.When he came to a house that seemed to be neat and tidy, Di Renjie got off his horse and shouted through the gate: "My fellow, fellow, is anyone there? We are passing guests and want to stay here for one night. We will leave at dawn and give us more rooms." money."

There was a voice in the room, and a person pushed open the window and asked, "Who is it? Where are the guests from, and how many are there?"

Di Renjie said: "From Chang'an, three people and three horses. Excuse me, fellow, why don't you come out and open the door for us?"

The man didn't come out, but said: "Open the door and come in. There are quite a few empty rooms in my house. You can find a place to live, and I won't go down to the ground."

The three of them were taken aback at the same time, they were all very curious, could this person be a lazy man?Why is it that he is not even willing to get out of bed when guests come to his house?

Di Renjie smiled and said, "My fellow, are you not afraid that we will steal your things?"

The man said impatiently: "Steal as you like. If you can find something, remember to keep half of it for me, and you can take the rest. Also, if you have room money, just put it on the window sill , Keep your voice down when you leave tomorrow, don't disturb me to sleep!"

After finishing speaking, with a bang, the window was closed!

(End of this chapter)