Su Xun looked in the direction of Li Ke's finger and saw a dozen people carrying water by the ditch in the distance and walking into the fields in the distance.
Su Xun said quickly: "Go back to Your Highness, those people are carrying water to irrigate the ground."
"Lifting water to irrigate the ground?" Li Ke was slightly surprised, "Can't the canal water be directed to the fields? Besides, the efficiency of lifting water to irrigate the ground is so low. It is estimated that after every piece of land is watered, the crops in the field will be dry. died."
Hearing this, Su Xun just shook his head helplessly and explained: "Your Highness, the efficiency of lifting water to irrigate the ground is indeed low, but it is a helpless move. Kunyang has a higher terrain, and the fields here are even higher than Lanhe River. It’s more than a foot and a half out, but the water will only flow to lower areas, making it impossible to irrigate higher fields.”
Su Xun pointed to a place not far away and continued: "In addition to manpower lifting water, there are also people using this orange to lift water, but they can only lift half a bucket of water each time. Not to mention it is time-consuming and laborious, and the efficiency is not even close to that. Manpower.”
Su Xun sighed, obviously feeling that there was no solution to this matter.
Looking at the dozens of figures carrying water and the orange trees standing by the canal, Li Ke frowned and asked thoughtfully: "Mr. Su, there are areas around Kunyang that cannot be irrigated directly even if the canals are opened. Are there many fields?”
"Many, about one-third of Kunyang's territory is covered with such fields." Su Xun said, "It's pretty good here. There are some places in the west of the city where the terrain is even four or five feet higher than the canal. Watering in those places is really good. It is even more difficult. In addition, Kunyang has experienced nine droughts in ten years, and no one has cultivated that kind of place. Kunyang’s cultivated land area cannot be expanded, and this is actually the reason.”
Hearing this, Li Ke nodded silently.
Now he finally figured out why there was so little cultivated land in Kunyang.
It seems that if I want to expand the area of cultivated land in the future, I will definitely have to solve this problem.
"Mr. Su, if this irrigation problem can be solved, how much more land can be reclaimed around Kunyang?" Li Ke suddenly asked.
Su Xun thought for a while and immediately replied: "At least five thousand acres! Although the terrain in the west of Kunyang City is generally higher, I have personally surveyed it and found that the land there is fertile. If the water supply problem can be solved, it will definitely become fertile farmland!"
But then he sighed again and said: "But Your Highness, just think about this kind of thing. Since I took office, I have thought of almost every possible method, but I can't solve this problem no matter what. "
"Hey, there is no solution..."
Su Xun sighed heavily, with a helpless expression on his face.
However, just as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard Li Ke's voice beside him: "Mr. Su, this matter is not unsolvable, and on the contrary, there are many solutions, but..."
It’s just that the current technical level and time are not enough.
To solve the water supply problem, the first thing Li Ke thought of was a wind-powered water pump, which uses wind energy as power and uses a piston rod fixed on a gear to drive a compression device below, using pressure to pump water several meters or even dozens of meters below. The water supply device that was raised to a high place, and later Dutch windmills, were actually such devices.
But the biggest problem now is that with the current technical level, it is not only difficult to process an iron water pipe more than ten meters long, but also takes a longer time.
Obviously Li Ke didn't have that much time, so this method could only be put on hold for the time being.
In Li Ke's view, the easiest and shortest thing to do now is to make a wind-powered waterwheel.
Wind-powered waterwheels, as the name suggests, are the product of a combination of windmills and waterwheels.
It uses wind energy to provide power, and then uses a transmission device to transfer the kinetic energy to the water wheel, so that the water wheel can run automatically without manpower and transport water to high places.
Moreover, compared with wind-powered water pumps, wind-powered water wheels are cheaper and simpler to manufacture. Basically, there are no technical difficulties. As long as Li Ke draws the drawings, the carpenters in Kunyang City can make it.
After making up his mind, Li Ke quickly turned to look at Su Xun and said firmly: "Mr. Su, I have already thought of a way. Let's go back first. I believe that these high-lying farmland will be irrigated soon."
Hearing Li Ke's words, Su Xun couldn't help but be surprised.
Is there anything he can do again? real or fake?
You know, I have been thinking of ways to solve this problem since I took office, but I don't have a clue.
Li Ke just looked here for a while. Do you have any idea?
Although he still didn't believe it in his heart, Su Xun nodded after a moment of silence and followed Li Ke's pace.
After all, Li Ke gave himself too many surprises before. Maybe this time, he can still bring him a big surprise...
Soon, the two returned to Kunyang City. Before arriving at the mansion, Li Ke directly asked Su Xun to collect carpenters in the city as quickly as possible, and the more the better. At the same time, he ordered people to transport a large amount of wood to the canal. .
After he returned home, he started sketching the drawings of the wind-powered waterwheel on paper non-stop.
Two hours later, when Su Xun brought all the more than 40 carpenters in Kunyang City to Prince Yong's Mansion, Li Ke finally finalized the wind power waterwheel drawings that had been revised several times.
Then Li Ke followed the drawings and began to explain in detail the principles and production details of the wind-powered waterwheel to the carpenters.
Another hour later, Li Ke finally let the more than 40 carpenters understand what he wanted to build, and then he asked Su Xun to take them to the canal.
At this time, the wood had already been transported. After arriving at their destination, these carpenters began to get busy under the organization of the oldest carpenter.
The production of a waterwheel is actually not difficult. You only need to process the logs into a shape suitable for assembly, and finally assemble them uniformly.
So in just one afternoon, the rough prototype of the wind-powered waterwheel was made, and the wooden pipes used to transport water were erected.
It was noon the next day, and the transmission gears and transmission shafts that Li Ke had ordered to be cast at the blacksmith in the city overnight the day before were also delivered.
After all the parts were assembled, and finally with the efforts of dozens of people, the waterwheel, which was nearly two stories high, was securely fixed on the base that had been erected in advance.
Finally, the windmill is connected to the waterwheel, and the windmill and waterwheel are completed.
At this time, the huge formation here has attracted all the nearby farmers who irrigate their farmland.
Everyone looked at the huge device in front of them curiously, with blank expressions on their faces.
Everyone then heard that this huge device was actually used for irrigation, and that it would be able to automatically irrigate farmland without manpower in the future, and they all looked suspicious again.
While the scene was bustling with excitement, everyone only listened to an order from an elderly carpenter on the side. A wooden cork blocking the windmill was removed. The breeze blew, and the huge windmill began to rotate slowly...
