Qin Official

One day in late February, just after dinner time, horse-drawn carriages drove northward from Jiangling and Ying counties one after another. Their destination was the copper smelting workshop at the foot of Mount Ji.

An Che stopped at the entrance of the workshop, and Tongguan Yangxi immediately came to greet him. Those who came today were all his real immediate superiors, that is, the work officers and work chiefs from Nanjun Gongcao, and a few more A highly respected craftsman.

However, the work officers and work chiefs who were wearing official uniforms and crowns on their heads took the initiative to get out of the way and let a very slow old ox cart drive at the front. However, they saw an old man with a gray head sitting in the car, sitting peacefully. Sitting in the car, his clothes were neatly dressed, but his hands were covered with calluses and wrinkles.

"I never thought that it would be Chen Weng who arrived!"

Tongguan Yangxi felt very pleasantly surprised and hurriedly walked over and helped the old man down together with a group of engineers and officials.

This old man’s name is Chen Yi, and he is the oldest engineer in Nan County. When he was young, Chen Yi was an ordinary craftsman, but because of his outstanding skills, he was good at carpentry and stonemasonry. Because he was transferred to Shu County, he was the governor of Shu County. Li Bing's subordinates work. During those years, he, together with countless craftsmen, assisted Li Bing in managing the Minjiang River and built "拔勋" (treacherous péng), which was later known as Dujiangyan!

That big weir was the pride of Chen Yi's life. Under their whims, the unruly Minjiang River changed from a great harm to a great benefit to Shu County, irrigating thousands of miles of fertile fields. From then on, there were floods and droughts in the Chengdu plain, and the people were unaware of hunger. A steady stream of food was sent along the river to Nanjun, and then to the Central Plains to serve as military food for the Qin army.

In Chen Yi's view, the water flow is the limit of man's ability to use the power of flowing water. When Dayu was controlling water, he summed up his experience: water can be drained, but cannot be blocked. We can only coax the water to go where people want it to flow. As for harnessing the power of water like taming livestock and letting it work for people? It’s simply arrogant!

So he leaned on his dove stick and said with a smile: "I heard that there is an Anlu craftsman who wants to make equipment that can be transported without manpower. The old man has been a carpenter and stonemason for decades, and has traveled all over Shu County, Ba County, and Nan County. , I’ve been to Guanzhong, but I’ve never heard of such a magical weapon, why don’t you come and see it and learn more about it?”

Chen Yi's words made the engineers and officers on the side laugh. Like Chen Yi, they didn't believe that such a thing existed in the world, let alone a small craftsman from the county. .

Admittedly, they have also heard that the little craftsman did make a pestle and mortar, which has now been promoted in Guanzhong and Nanjun, and other counties are gradually replacing the human pestle and mortar with a treadle.

But in the eyes of everyone, it was just luck and a small device with a simple structure. Did the craftsman think he was the reincarnation of Lu Ban?

An engineer stroked his beard as he walked in and said, "I once heard that Gongshu Ban made a flying kite out of wood. It flew in the sky for three days and three nights before falling. This Anlu craftsman also claimed that the kite could move forever." It’s really arrogant to go down. I heard that we are going to try it out today, but we want to see how it will end.”

Tongguan Yangxi was hesitant to speak. He originally wanted to defend Citron, an honest man who never took a break after coming to the construction site, but he only saw that Citron made a water wheel and made it run. Can it be done? It was especially unclear how he could lead Mu Lei, so he finally shut up and led everyone forward.

Their destination was a stream used to clean ore and wash away soil next to the mine. The water was two feet wide and was relatively fast due to the terrain. A group of people were busy around the stream.

"Who is Citron?"

Chen Yi tilted his head and asked Yang Xi. He couldn't tell who was Citron among a bunch of ministers with mud and water on their heads and faces.

"It's the man wearing a black cloth belt and holding a wooden hammer who is placing the equipment himself."

Chen Yi recognized it for a while and finally found Citron, only to see that he, like the others, was wearing brown clothes. He was not on the shore to instruct others on what to do, but to do it himself. At this moment, he was barefoot in the water.

Seeing this, Chen Yi's dislike for the citron lessened a little. When he took a closer look at the device installed by the water, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

First of all, there is a wooden support more than ten feet high, which is nailed deep into the ground and tightly built with stones. The object on the support looks like a thickened large wheel or a spinning wheel used by women for weaving. Magnified many times, it is as tall as a person when standing up.

The wheel was equipped with several blades. When the big wheel was successfully placed on the water, everyone at the waterside got out of the way.

Next, an astonishing scene appeared in Chen Yi's eyes: there was no manpower to step on or pull, and no livestock to turn around. The huge machine seemed to have a life of its own. It was washed by the stream and began to rotate clockwise and make a roar. The sound of rushing, the speed is getting faster and faster, and finally it is the same as the speed of running water.

After everyone got out of the way, the other side of the water wheel was also revealed: it was a rotating shaft driven by a gear, connected to the water wheel. There were four paddles staggered to each other on the shaft. The water stimulated the rotation of the wheel and also drove the paddles. Rotate, every time the dial moves the tip of the pedal downwards, it is like a person stepping down hard. The four pedals placed under the rotating shaft start to move on their own, and they fall to the ground together and are pounded into the stone mortar. of ore!

"It's done!"

Citron and the Tongguan craftsmen who followed him to cut the wooden wheel and experimented for several days cheered.

Chen Yi and all the craftsmen and craftsmen who saw this scene on the other side were stunned, as if the wooden bucket driven by the water wheel fell downwards, and what was hit was not the ore, but their hearts!

Their old idea that it was impossible for people to harness water power for work was shattered to pieces by the facts they saw with their own eyes!

"You can use the power of flowing water in this way, how come we never thought of it!?"

Chen Yi felt quite guilty. As an old craftsman for decades, he had never thought about this aspect.

While everyone was horrified, Yang Xi had already arrived with Citron. Citron was an honest man, no better than his thoughtful brother-in-law. They saw a group of county engineers, engineers, and an old white-haired craftsman standing in front of them. Immediately and tremblingly, I bowed to them...

"We don't deserve this as a courtesy. We should be bowing to you and asking for advice."

Chen Yi quickly lifted up the Citron, looked him up and down, smiled, and praised: "As expected of a craftsman who can make Anlu Pei, today we are really refreshed!"

All the craftsmen and officials on the side also praised Citron one after another, praising him for all the skilled and skillful craftsmen.

Not saying it was okay, Citron immediately blushed and gave in repeatedly.

Chen Yi only thought that he was humble and appreciated him more. Unexpectedly, in his heart, he just thought with a guilty conscience: "It's not me. Hei Fu came up with these. I just followed them..."

But Heifu had warned him of the consequences of the matter being revealed, so Tron could only bury the matter in his heart.

"Can we give this thing a name?" Chen Yi was very excited. He walked around the device again and again. After carefully observing the cam and connecting rod, he praised it profusely.

"It's called Shui Lei."

Citron said: "Because it can drive several treadmills to move together, my brother-in-law named it the Lianji Shuijie..."

"Lianji Shui Lei."

Chen Yi praised: "Well, it is said that in ancient times, Shennong made pestles and pounders to help all people. But you made the treadmill two years ago. You can use the weight of your body to trample the pestle, and it is twice as beneficial. Use the pestle to pound it. Today, you have set up a clever mechanism again to use the water to pound it, and the benefit is ten times that of the treadmill!"

As an old craftsman, Chen Yi can see the great use of this thing: as long as the water keeps flowing and the water wheel does not stop, the four buckets can continue to move day and night!

They checked the force and found that it was no less powerful than an adult hitting with a hammer. Moreover, people have to rest, sleep, eat and drink water, and they may be lazy, but not even the machine. In this way, one connected machine is equivalent to at least ten adult laborers!

"If fifty can be set up here, wouldn't it be equivalent to giving Tongguan five hundred more people?"

Thinking of this, Chen Yi excitedly pulled the frightened Citron, raised his hand high, and said to everyone:

"Any craftsman is called skillful if it is beneficial to others, but clumsy if it is not beneficial to others."

"Those so-called skilled craftsmen in the princes' palaces cast exquisite ritual vessels and carved jewelry. They did their best, but they were not beneficial to the people. In my eyes, they are just a group of clumsy craftsmen!"

"At that time, Governor Li of Shu County led us to build the Jiankun Weir, which irrigated thousands of acres of fields and allowed people to control floods and droughts. It was a great coincidence that there was a great harvest in Sichuan."

"Today, one of the connected machine-operated water dams made by Citron is equivalent to ten more manpower out of thin air. This is quite compact!"

…

In the afternoon, Heifu also accompanied Li Youlai to watch the making of the "connected water bucket". Everyone crowded at the waterside and watched the wooden bucket operating on its own driven by the water wheel, exclaiming in surprise. However, Heifu was whispering to Citron in the back, and learned the kind words of old engineer Chen Yi from Citron's mouth.

"Xiaoqiao?"

Heifu smiled: "I don't agree with this. Chen Yi only saw this small stream in front of him, and only saw that it affected Tongguan. But he forgot that there are thousands of streams in Nanjun, all over the world. There are tens of thousands of rivers. If this thing can be promoted, the number of people benefiting from it will be tens of millions. How can it be smaller than Dujiangyan... or Jiankun?"

Moreover, the machine-connected water hammer can not only be used to process ore, but can also be used to pound rice and pound medicine. It has a wide range of uses.

Sometimes Heifu laments that ancient inventions and creations do not need to be fancy or complicated. Sometimes, the simpler something is, the easier it is to last forever.

Although the water mortar was invented by our ancestors in the Western Han Dynasty, until the reform, in the south, water mortar houses that helped people pound grain and grind flour could still be seen everywhere. There was one in Heifu's hometown in his previous life. When his grandfather worked at the Grain Management Office when he was young, he was sent to the water mill house for a few years. Heifu even played there when he was a child, so he has some impressions...

In Heifu's eyes, the significance of the water dam goes beyond that. This should be the first time in China that people took the initiative to utilize water power and convert water power into power.

When the window paper of "people can use water power" is pierced, it is conceivable that craftsmen from all over the world will spontaneously study and understand its principles. Within a hundred years, water mills, water drainage, water wheels and other things can be created. With Heifuti's suggestions, the time will even be shortened to within ten years!

"I just hope that these things can really liberate more people from heavy labor and slowly change this era."

Thinking of this, Hei Fu joked: "Sister-in-law, you are already a great craftsman. You will be promoted and rewarded soon!"

"I don't ask for any rewards or titles, as long as I don't get exposed."

Citron is still feeling uneasy. In his opinion, this is cheating to defraud merit and rewards, and he will be punished if exposed!

"I have told the county captain that I realized this thing by the water and told you. Even if someone doubts it, you and I are not guilty."

Heifu comforted Qun in this way, but he still wanted Qun to get this credit. There are specialties in the arts. Although Heifu has an idea, it is Citron's technology that turns this idea into reality. In the future, Heifu will have more to rely on him.

At this time, Li You had completed his inspection with satisfaction. In this way, Haikou, which Heifu boasted about that day, was fully realized. If dozens of water dams can be added to the surrounding streams and rivers, the copper officials can hand over more copper ingots and let the foundry make more weapons. Before the war begins, the shortfall in the arsenal will definitely be filled!

Li You finally said with emotion: "My father once read me an article by Xunzi, which said that when you climb high and move, your arms will not be lengthened, but the sight will be far away; when you shout with the wind, the sound will not be faster, but the hearing will be louder. . A fake horse is not good enough to travel a thousand miles; a fake boat is not capable of running water, but it can cut off rivers. A gentleman is born without exception, he is good at fake things!"

"Today, there are soldiers from the left, Cao Shiheifu, and Anlu County's skilled craftsmen. They used the power of water to make a combined machine water dam, which can also achieve several times the effect!"

Everyone responded in unison, including Shi, the governor of the county who came to watch the excitement after hearing the news. He nodded slightly, thoughtfully.

After returning to Jiangling City, Chang Shi went directly to the Sheriff's Mansion and informed Nanjun County Sheriff Teng of the "wonderful sight" he saw today...