Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 21 Water diversion and big water truck
When everyone returned to Wuzhaibao Qianhu House, when they entered the main room, it was bustling with people coming and going, and wine and dishes were placed on the big table, steaming hot.There are several stoves on the side of the hall, burning hot charcoal fire, making the whole hall warm.

Huang Sihao, Yang Shi, Gu Qianhu and others were sitting around the fire, talking while warming up, and a few children were playing around.

Seeing Huang Laifu, Gu Yunniang and others coming in, the sisters who were talking stopped and looked at Huang Laifu and Gu Yunniang with teasing eyes.Yang said with a smile: "I was talking about you, and I came back. Just in time for dinner."

But seeing Gu Yunniang regained her image of a good girl, leaning into Yang Shi's arms, she kept yelling "Auntie, Auntie", her mouth was so sweet that Yang Shi loved her so much, she hugged her in her arms, just loving her .The rapid change in image opened Huang Laifu's eyes.

Yang said softly to Gu Yunniang in her arms: "My Yunniang went out with Laifu, did he bully you? If so, just tell auntie, auntie will teach him a lesson for you!"

Gu Yunniang gave Huang Laifu a sneaky look, with a cunning flash in her eyes, and said, "No, Brother Laifu is very kind to Yunniang, why does he still sing folk songs for others?"

Everyone in the hall immediately laughed, and the eldest sister shouted: "Ah, the sun is coming out in the west. When will my brother sing folk songs again? It's a love song, which one is it?"

Everyone in the hall laughed even more, and a few little dolls even booed: "...Uncle is singing a love song, uncle is singing a love song..." Huang Sihao and Gu Qianhu couldn't help but smile at each other.Embarrassed, Huang Laifu glared at Gu Yunniang, Gu Yunniang stared back at Huang Laifu without showing any weakness, and then looked a little complacent, as if Huang Laifu's previous neglect of her had all come back in revenge.

Jiang Dazhong and Yang Xiaolu stood behind Huang Laifu, they knew it well, and when they saw this situation, they also opened their mouths to giggle.

Everyone laughed for a while, Huang Sihao said: "Okay, everyone, don't make a fuss. When everyone is here, let's have dinner!"

He stood up and said to Gu Qianhu, "Brother Gu Shi, please!"

Gu Qianhu smiled and said, "Okay, Brother Huang, please!"

After everyone sat down, Gu Qianhu asked Huang Laifu to sit beside him, and Gu Yunniang sat beside Yang Shi.

Huang Sihao and Gu Qianhu had a drink together, and Huang Laifu also toasted Gu Qianhu.

Gu Qianhu smiled and said: "Okay, okay." After drinking, he said to Huang Laifu, "Nephew Laifu went out to check the farmland, did you find anything?"

Everyone looked at Huang Laifu, but Huang Sihao also raised his chopsticks and remained silent.

Huang Laifu said: "Father, Shibo, Hai'er and Steward Yang went to the field to check in the morning, and found that there is a serious shortage of water everywhere in the farmland, even the water in the river has dried up a lot, and it is extremely difficult to divert water. Without water, these fields are useless. I want to have a good harvest."

Huang Sihao nodded and sighed: "However, the situation has not been good in recent years, and there is a lack of rain. There is nothing I can do as a father."

Gu Qianhu said: "The whole world is the same now, and the same is true for my fields in Zhenxiwei. Alas, compared with previous years, the harvests of the fields in this year are not as good as one in ten."

Huang Laifu said: "Father, Uncle Shi, the child has traveled all over the country this time, and he has thought of some solutions to the lack of water in the fields."

Gu Qianhu couldn't help being very interested, sat up straight and said: "Oh, what good advice does my nephew have, you might as well tell me."

Everyone was also looking at Huang Laifu, and Gu Yunniang also looked sideways at Huang Laifu with pretty eyes, hoping to hear what good solutions he had.

Huang Laifu said: "Father, Uncle Shi, my son sees that there are two situations in which the fields are short of water. One is that the fields are close to the river. Because the river is dry and the bank is too high, the water truck cannot bring water to the bank, or the amount of water brought in is too high. There are very few, so that the fields cannot be irrigated by the river. The second type is those fields that are not close to the river, and most of them are abandoned. Looking at the situation in this year, the rainfall will also be scarce in the future. Relying on taking groundwater and finding ways to bring water ashore."

Seeing that everyone didn't understand, he explained carefully: "The current keel waterwheel in the fort is too shallow to divert water from the river, and it is no longer useful. The height of six or seven feet (about 20 meters) is enough to meet the needs of the fields by the river, and it does not require human or animal power, and it can be driven by water."

Gu Qianhu took a deep breath: "Can the water be diverted to a height of six or seven feet?" He murmured: "In this way, no matter how high the water level is, as long as there is still water in the river, the water can be diverted."

Huang Sihao said urgently: "My son, do you know how to make a waterwheel?"

Huang Laifu smiled and said: "Dad, don't worry, when my son saw this thing, he had already asked the relevant craftsmen carefully, and he had memorized the waterwheel making method!"

The big waterwheel that Huang Laifu mentioned is a kind of bobbin cart, especially using the Yellow River waterwheel as a reference. When he was planning last night, he knew that the Ming Dynasty would be seriously short of water for decades, so he checked the relevant computer Information, water diversion tools such as waterwheels and bobbins, are naturally also in his thinking.Of course, when he was free, he had to go to the computer to check the specific details of the waterwheel.

In fact, this barrel cart appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty, and developed from water lifting by human and animal power to water power lifting.This Yellow River waterwheel is the essence of the drum car application.According to records, the earliest Yellow River waterwheel was created by Duan Xu, a native of Lanzhou during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty.

When Duan Xu was visiting various places in the Southwest, he found that drum carts were often used to draw water to irrigate the fields, and he was very interested in using hydraulic power to lift the water from rivers and streams from low places to high places to irrigate fields. The river bank is too high, and the vertical distance between the water surface and the farmland is relatively high. Guarding the Yellow River, there is no drinking water, so I ordered people to draw and bring it back to Lanzhou, and went to the Southwest twice for investigation, and finally succeeded in creating it.

Duan Xu is from Lanzhou, so it is also called Lanzhou Water Wheel.The Lanzhou waterwheel is simple and grand in style. In the world, it is on a par with the Dutch windmill and is on the national business card.

In fact, the science and technology in ancient China was developed, and various inventions were endless. Not to mention the bobbin cart, but the keel waterwheel powered by manpower or animals, it is not only our country, but also the earliest waterwheel in the world.It was not until 1500 in the West that the water wheel with the principle of sprocket drive and flap lifting could be manufactured.

It's just that in the ancient agricultural society, in the era of natural economy where men farmed and women weaved, traffic was closed, and technology promotion was always slow. In addition, many technologies often required high investment, which was naturally unaffordable for small farmers.Therefore, although there are many inventions in ancient times, many technologies are often only used locally and regionally, and it is difficult to promote them to the whole country and be used by other places.Coupled with wars and other reasons, many ancient technologies are often lost.

The barrel car appeared in the Tang Dynasty, but it was not used along the Yellow River until Duan Xu appeared in the Ming Dynasty.In my hometown before the waterwheel was built, for hundreds of years, the Yellow River has been guarding the east, but the large farmland on the bank cannot be irrigated.

Not to mention ancient times, even in the 21st century when mechanical technology was very developed, in some areas of China, the farming method of one man, one ox and one plow was still insisted on for thousands of years, which shows the tenacity of the natural economy.

At this time, Wuzhai Fort was also facing the same situation. No one in the fort knew anything about the bobbin carts and the Yellow River Lanzhou waterwheel. Just like Duan Xu’s previous hometown, he was also guarding the Qinglian River to rush westward. Large tracts of farmland cannot be irrigated.

But Huang Laifu is here, and things will soon change.

(End of this chapter)