The Zheng family's wood store is the only one in Fengshan, and it is also a long-established wood store in Fengshan. Some of the wood that Zhao Jinyu buys is purchased from here.
Chen Daniu is a bit of a down-to-earth person. He does whatever the boss tells him. He worked for the Zheng family from a young age as an apprentice to the current sole master. He is very skilled in his craftsmanship. He has worked hard for decades without making any major mistakes. The same is true in Fengshan. It can be seen that because he is in charge of Fengshan, no one in the carpentry field can steal his limelight.
He's not worried about people outside, he's just afraid of the Zheng family. It's not that the Zheng family doesn't treat the employees well, it's just that when they get older, they will want to replace them with younger people.
Zheng Ruoying told him what to do, and he took all his disciples to the battle overnight, and in just one night, he got it all done. He originally didn't know that He Baozheng, a little man who collects sawdust, knew the eldest daughter of the Zheng family. Now he didn't want to offend the people around the eldest daughter, so after finishing the water truck frame that Zheng Ruoying ordered, he also asked his apprentice to sweep up the sawdust on the ground. Net, received it in the bag, ready for He Baozheng to take it back when he comes next time.
Liang Chuan thought that these carpenters would show off and show off their craftsmanship, because the status of carpenters in ancient times was really not low, and they would not have to worry about having food to eat. As long as others were polite to them, others would generally not be rude to them. The ancients There is a little bit of superstition. According to Feng Shui, if a carpenter uses some hands and feet in his activities, it will affect his luck.
He came to Fengshan in He Baozheng's bullock cart, but he didn't expect that Chen Daniu had already prepared all the things he designed. The two of them didn't give any money. They said a few polite words and left with two wooden circles. Before leaving, Chen Daniu asked He Baozheng to take away a lot of sawdust.
These sawdust can make a lot of mosquito coils.
Liang Chuan bought a lot of hemp rope on the way, which may be used to fix the bamboo tubes and poles on the waterwheel later.
I wonder how Zheng Ruoying would feel if she knew that her wood chips were processed by her and then sold in the store.
He Baozheng ordered all the village girls to go up the mountain today. Today they will cut moso bamboo and carry it to the edge of Nanxi River to prepare water wheels for Liang Chuan. They don't understand what a waterwheel does, but they all regard Liang Chuan's words as gods. From yesterday, Liang Chuan has been their food and clothing parent. Yesterday, he took several hundred pennies home, and all the men in the family were amazed, la No shame, otherwise they would also come to learn how to make bamboo weaving.
Two women carried a moso bamboo, and some thirty village girls carried a dozen bamboos down, stacking them neatly by the river, waiting for Liang Chuan. Liang Chuan picked out a few moso bamboos that were relatively smooth and straight, and chopped them into pieces, just enough to fit into the hole on the axle without coming out. Then he cut out twenty bamboo tubes, and asked them to take back the rest. Made bamboo weaving.
Zheng Ruoying gathered a large number of farmers waiting by the river. These farmers had strong muscles, but they had no energy. At first glance, they looked like the typical type who could not move without urging, but moved slowly when urged. Their hands There are guys holding hoes, hoes, etc., all with unfamiliar faces.
Liang Chuan directed them to dig a hole in the river and drive two wooden stakes into the water. These farmers looked a little dull, but they were quite smart at what they did. They first dug a circle of earth and rocks where they wanted to dig a pit, scooped out the water inside, and then started digging the pit so that the water would It won't go in, and it's easy to dig holes.
Liang Chuan was also worried that it would be difficult to dig a hole in this environment without mechanical equipment, but he did not expect that there was such a method.
The other side of the wooden pile is on the river bank, which is easier to dig, but some river water will seep out slowly. They divided the work, and one person was responsible for cleaning up the water in the pit, scooping it up and pouring it out. Lose.
"Old He, please help me, let's assemble this waterwheel." He Baozheng watched everyone working enthusiastically, and he stood aside stupidly, worried that he couldn't help, and it seemed a bit redundant.
Liang Chuan asked He to hold the wheel axle, and he inserted the long bamboo poles one by one, a bit like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. The other ends of these bamboo poles are tied to the log rings, so they can be inserted into the holes in the log axles. There is no need to use other tenons.
Two wooden circles are arranged symmetrically side by side, like a cartwheel, and two people hold hemp ropes to tie the bamboo poles and wooden circles together. Although the hemp ropes are tied into a ball, the force-bearing area is also enlarged. Under the action of the thrust of the water flow, the water wheel rotates slowly and slowly.
The bamboo tube also functions as an impeller. The kinetic energy of the water brings enough momentum. Although the wheels of the waterwheel are huge and heavy, once they are started, the thrust behind them needs to bear the mass of the entire waterwheel. This principle is like a car that consumes fuel when it is started, but it will save fuel when driving after starting.
The friction resistance of the water wheel shaft is large, because in this era, iron bearings with good performance cannot be found, but they are not used. The steel ball bearings rotate too smoothly. Just imagine that the water wheel rotates at high speed like a wheel in the river. It will fall apart.
Several farmers drove piles at an astonishing speed, and two large holes were dug out on the river beach in a short time. They inserted two hardwood stakes into the hole, inserted a few pieces of bluestone into the two wooden stakes, and the two wooden stakes stood firmly on the river bank. Then mix some soil and rocks and pour them into the pile pit. Use a large number of stones to support the part above the water surface, and the hard pile is basically ready.
After driving the hard piles, the water channel is dredged. The water here in the shoal is less than a foot deep. Even the bamboo tube cannot be submerged when the waterwheel is lowered, let alone spinning. Several people dug a long culvert on the river bed in the direction of the waterwheel's rotation, with a depth of more than three feet, so that the waterwheel could have sufficient draft.
In order to prevent the hard pile erected in the river from collapsing after being washed away by the river water for a long time, Liang Chuan wondered if he could get some cement and pour it up, but he was not very familiar with the formula for making cement. A large amount of sand and pebbles were dug out from the river bed, and they were simply piled on the river bed. Then some stones were dug out on the land to make a fish mouth that divides the water. The river here has the illusion of being divided into two, and the water flow It either flows downstream from the fish mouth, or flows into the culvert without infringing upon each other. It is a bit like the water diversion principle of Dujiangyan, except that this is to protect the hard piles supporting the waterwheel, and it will probably be destroyed if it encounters a flood.
After hanging the bamboo tubes, the waterwheel has been basically assembled. The outer log circle and the middle log axle are made of bamboo poles as spokes. From a distance, it looks like a huge wheel. Madan’s child looks like a big toy.
The same principle applies to farmers digging culverts. They first plug up the fish mouths where the water comes in. If there is no water, it will be much easier to dig. The river bed has been soaked in river water for a long time and has become extremely soft. A big piece of mud can be dug up with just one shovel. . This culvert does not need to be dug too wide, it just needs to be a few minutes wider than the width between the two log circles.
A dozen farmers were flying up and down with their hoes and hoe, and the excavated river mud was piled next to the hard piles in the river without having to be moved to the bank. This made their speed and efficiency increase sharply.
Liang Chuan asked Ma Dan where the fish baskets were hung, but he didn't see them. Ma Dan pointed to the tree on the bank of the river where he fell last time. There were several ropes tied to the tree.
"You have been busy all day, what are you doing with this? Can you catch more fish?" Ma Dan asked Liang Chuandao, he had never seen such a thing in the north.
"This is a water wheel and cannot catch fish, but from now on your father and the others won't have to run to the river to fetch water. The water can run to the shore on its own!" Liang Chuan said.
Fan Dianyuan and Lao Ma have been coming to the river to fetch water in the past two days. From a distance, they saw many people on the bank busy doing something, but they had to water the fields and had no time to come over and say hello.
"How could the river run to the shore on its own? Brother Zhang, are you going to use magic again?"
He Baozheng doesn't like children talking nonsense. Children's speech should not be restrained. When they grow up, they will speak freely. He glared at the immigrant child and said in a more serious tone: "What kind of magic? What nonsense are these children talking about?"
Ma Dan didn't know He Baozheng, so he retorted: "Last time I fell into the river and drowned. The other children said that I couldn't breathe and my face was blue. Brother Zhang worked on me for a long time, and then You saved me, what do you think this is if it’s not a spell?”
Ma Dan spoke plausibly, and He Baozheng didn't look like he was telling lies. He looked at Liang Chuan again, and Liang Chuan said helplessly: "I told you not to tell others, why did you bring this up again? "
Liang Chuan's words were tantamount to admitting the fact that he knew magic. He Baozheng looked at him with a wandering look in his eyes and murmured, unable to speak clearly, "Sanlang... is this kid telling the truth?"
"Not entirely. I don't know any magic. If a child chokes on water, the water will come out of his stomach and he will come back to life..." Liang Chuan knew that all the talk was in vain. How do they know artificial respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation? reason.
"People in the village say that when you go into the mountains, you will meet the mountain god..." He Baozheng muttered.
Liang Chuan smiled bitterly and said: "He Baozheng, if you don't listen to their nonsense anymore, don't eat at my house again. Have you ever seen me miss a meal? If I were a mountain god, I would have to fight so hard to kill a tiger with my finger." Why don't you just die! You have lived a long time and you still listen to their nonsense?"
When the two men chatted, the farmers had already dug the culvert. Liang Chuan measured the depth of the culvert and the draft of the waterwheel. The depth was enough to meet the draft of the waterwheel. Dozens of people worked together to put the big guy on a pile on the river bed.
Whether this water tanker can be successful is related to the irrigation problem of hundreds of acres of land on the north bank. If it succeeds, everyone can imitate it next time, and manpower can be freed from the river. Even if the weather gets hotter and it doesn’t rain for several years, as long as there is water in the south stream, the north bank will not have to worry about watering the ground, or even Because of the waterwheel, the land on the north bank will be transformed into paddy fields! This is different. We have a few acres of paddy fields at home. Who wants to go outside to get work? As long as we can survive from starvation!
Everyone was watching the waterwheel nervously.
"Break the water!" Liang Chuan said.
"Sanlang, do you want to wait for the eldest daughter of the Zheng family?" He Baozheng asked.
"No wait, why are you waiting for her?" Liang Chuan said firmly.
Following Liang Chuan's order, the two farmers broke open the mud and stone blocking the fish mouth of the water divider. The excavated water rushed in along the culvert. The water quickly flooded the culvert. The water flowing into the water divider was because of the water channel. It narrowed and the current became more rapid. Gradually, the waterwheel that had been motionless began to move slowly with a squeaking sound!
"It's moving!" He Baozheng exclaimed. He didn't expect this thing to really move! The other farmers helping the workers were also surprised, and they didn't understand why.
The kinetic energy gained by the bamboo tube caused the waterwheel to slowly rotate, and the rotation speed became faster and faster, and finally stabilized, turning slowly and slowly in the river bed, making squeaking sounds from time to time.
The bamboo tube that was originally immersed in water was lifted out of the water. Because the bamboo tube has a certain inclination angle, when it is at a low position, the mouth of the bamboo tube is higher than the bottom of the tube, and the bamboo tube will hold water, filling up a bamboo tube with water. As the water wheel rotates and reaches a higher position, the mouth of the tube will be lower than the bottom of the tube. At this time, the water in the bamboo tube will flow out in an arc like pouring water.
Success!
Let the master install a water tank next to the waterwheel to divert the water from the water tank, so that the water from the south stream can be diverted from the stream to the north bank. Although each bamboo tube does not pour out much water at a time, this waterwheel diverts water day and night without using human or animal power. A small amount makes a lot, and the water flow is continuous. It is not a problem to cover hundreds of acres of land, and even requires When you are worried that the water flow is enough, you should drain the sink in time, otherwise the water will overflow.
