False eunuch in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 76 Water Conservancy Construction in the Ming Dynasty

Cao Qing and Wang Jielai waited for the craftsmen to chat until it was dark, and someone lit a lamp and brought it over.

"Why is this light so dark?" Cao Qing felt that the light was a bit strange, it was not bright at all, and the fire was so small that it seemed that it could be blown out with just one breath.

"It's a good saying. Tung oil can't light a lamp, and poor people can't talk loudly. How can this tung oil lamp be brighter? Ghee is used in the palace, which is naturally bright and smells good. But this tung oil is cheap. Every family can’t even eat oil for their vegetables, so how can they be willing to light lamps? It’s better to wash up and go to bed early, so it will save trouble.” Wang Wangjie said.

"Tung oil?" Cao Qing's eyes lit up.Tung oil is not edible, and it is not widely used in industry in this era. It is mostly used as paint, so the price must be cheaper than that of later generations.No matter how cheap this tung oil is, it is also vegetable oil.Since it is a vegetable oil, it can react with caustic soda to obtain soap and glycerin.Cao Qing doesn't have much love for soap, but glycerin is too useful.

"Yes, tung oil. Is it too dark? I'll send someone to get some vegetable oil." Wang Xie said.

"No, it's fine like this." It's not that Cao Qing doesn't want to see the electric light come out in advance, but it's not easy to get the electric light out under the current conditions.The simplest tungsten filament lamp, Cao Qing can't make it under the current conditions.Cao Qing didn't have time to get these things.Without a corresponding industrial foundation, it is very difficult to develop something ahead of time.Cao Qing is now too far ahead.

The next day, Cao Qing returned to the capital and asked Cui Chengxiu to buy large quantities of tung oil and soda ash.No one knows what Cao Qing is going to do, but according to the previous rules, Eunuch Cao is going to release something new.But Cui Chengxiu also encountered difficulties.

The business of Liuli Shop has been on the right track, and Cui Chengxiu is very concerned about Liuli Shop.Although he fell off the political stage of Ming Dynasty, Cui Chengxiu found a stage that is more suitable for him.He has slowly enjoyed the stage now.

The embarrassing thing for Cui Chengxiu is the matter of Huangzhuang. With Cao Qing as the backer, there is no one in Huangzhuang who dares to make trouble with Cui Chengxiu. Cui Chengxiu, who has been in the officialdom, is also handy for those people.But the biggest problem in Huangzhuang now is that the drought is so severe that the fields cannot be cultivated.It was time to water the frozen water, but the weather was so dry that there was nowhere to divert water.Winter wheat may not survive the winter without freezing water.

"It's about to freeze. If the freezing water is not watered early, all the winter wheat in this crop may freeze to death. Such a big Zhuangzi will suffer a lot of losses." Cui Chengxiu said.

"Is the drought serious?" Although Cao Qing knew that it hadn't rained for several months.But the condition of farmland irrigation is not very clear.

"It's very serious. It hasn't rained for several months, and the pond has dried up long ago. There is no place to get water. Several Huangzhuang have planted winter wheat in large areas. If the frozen water is not irrigated, I am afraid that the seeds will not be recovered next year. " Cui Chengxiu said worriedly.

"Don't worry, think of a way first. See if we can dig some wells and get water from the wells to irrigate. Or divert water from the river. Take me to Huangzhuang to have a look." Such a big incident happened in Huangzhuang. Naturally, the matter of soap can only be put aside.

Cao Qing and Cui Chengxiu went directly to Huangzhuang near the capital.It is true that the drought is very severe, and the soil in the fields is almost turning to ashes.Walking through the fields can raise dust.

"It's very serious. The growth of these seedlings is much worse than in previous years. Eunuch Cao, I didn't do a good job in this matter. How should I punish him? Let Eunuch Cao deal with it." Although Cui Chengxiu just expressed an attitude, Cao Qing's attitude towards him Still quite satisfied.

"You did a good job. It's a drought, no one can blame you. You did a good job of being able to plant all the crops in such a large Huangzhuang. However, you must pay attention in the future. Don't plant all the crops. You can plant some appropriately More drought-tolerant and higher-yielding crops. Such as sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops. Also pay attention to finding some people with experience in planting. Let them teach farmers how to plant. We will talk about these things later, and solve the current problems first. Nearby There should be a river, right?" Watson said.

"Yes, there is, but now the water shortage is severe. No one in the river is very shallow, and there is no way to bring it up. There is no water in the well, so the method of digging the well may not be useful." Cui Chengxiu said.

"Take me to the river to have a look." Watson said.

"Old Wang, take us to the river to have a look. Eunuch Cao is going to have a look in the river. Eunuch Cao is a capable man, maybe he can come up with a good solution." Cui Chengxiu said.

"That's a good relationship. Such a big Zhuangzi is planted with winter wheat. If all of them are frozen to death, it will be very distressing." The old Wang is called Wang Yuanzi, and he is the steward of this Dingfu Huangzhuang.He is also proficient in farming.

Wang Yuanzi took Cao Qing to the Shahe River.As expected, the water in the Shahe River dried up, leaving only the flowing water in the middle of the river.But this water level is difficult to get up with the current pumping tools.

"The water is so shallow, why not build a dam and raise the water level. Although the water level is not high, the flow rate of the water seems to be relatively high. If the water is blocked, the water can be sent to Huangzhuang through the canal." Cao Qing said.

"But it can't be stopped. How can such a wide river be blocked?" Wang Yuanzi said.

"I figured out a way," Watson said.

Although it is said that the Shahe River is relatively wide, it is actually nothing to Cao Qing.Let people rush to the steel factory to transport cement over there. If this is in later generations, getting some cement stones can easily solve the problem.After all, the river is not very wide, and the water level is very low.

For several days in a row, materials were continuously delivered, and hundreds of laborers from Huangzhuang all went to the embankment.Start building the dam.Although Cao Qing is not very proficient in architecture, a water conservancy dam that can be seen everywhere in later generations does not have such a high technical content.

After the labor force of this era is full of food, the burst of energy is very scary.Strength is beyond the imagination of future generations.Because of the construction of the embankment, rice can be eaten openly, and the meals include meat. These people can eat more than two catties of rice alone.Eat a lot, work is really nothing to say.

In half a month, the construction of the dam was actually completed.It's a battle of production.

"Block off!" Cao Qing yelled.

The gate slowly fell, and the water level slowly rose.Many farmers have been guarding the river.Cao Qing couldn't hold it anymore, he just lay down on the withered grass by the river and fell asleep.

"Eunuch Cao, Eunuch Cao." After sleeping for an indeterminate amount of time, a call came from my ear.Cao Qing opened his eyes and saw that standing in front of him was Cui Chengxiu.

"What's wrong?" Cao Qing asked.

"Eunuch Cao, you're on the water! You're on the water!" Cui Chengxiu's words were full of excitement.

"Go, have a look!" Cao Qing said.

Cao Qing walked to the edge of the dam with Cui Chengxiu, and sure enough, the water level has risen. The current of the Shahe River is still very fast, but the water level is a little low.But now after Cao Qing stopped the water, it immediately rose up.

"Have the canals been repaired?" Cao Qing asked.

"Eunuch Cao, don't worry. It has been repaired to Huangzhuang long ago. The guard battalion guarded along the road, and no one is allowed to come over to fight for water. This dam and canal were built by our Huangzhuang. They can only water our Huangzhuang. Tiantu. Others want to take advantage, but there is no door." Wang Yuanzi said.

The reason why Wang Yuanzi said this was that when he was building the canal, he asked Wang Yuanzi to call the nearby Zhuangzi to repair the dam, but no one came.Because all the farmland in the surrounding area was bought by high-ranking officials in the capital, they were naturally unwilling to spend money on this matter.

Cao Qing said with a smile: "If the fields in our Huangzhuang are well watered, let them release a little. But if they dare to come and grab our water, don't argue with them. I will let the brothers in the guard battalion follow They make sense."

Few people in Huangzhuang are afraid of trouble, because everyone knows that Huangzhuang is the property of the emperor's family, and ordinary gentry officials dare not make trouble with Huangzhuang.

So Cao Qing is not very worried, someone will come to pick peaches.Even if there are people who don't want to open their eyes, pull up the guard battalion and start fighting directly.Cao Qing is not afraid of making things big.

(End of this chapter)