The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

Li Tai's curiosity and competitive spirit were aroused by Li Fu. When he met Li Fu the next morning, he told Li Fu that he wanted to see the waterwheel.

"Okay, since we have nothing to do this morning, Uncle Wang will take you to Zhuangzishang and stroll along the bank of Jing River." Li Fu said.

Lu Deming did not go out with him today, but stayed at home to continue his study.

When he came to Zhuangzishang, he also brought a box of books.

After all, he is a great scholar of the time, and he never puts down his books.

Li Fu told Wu Liangye to find a tributary with a waterwheel on the bank.

Wu Liangye led a group of people and escorted their carriage to the distance.

Finally, Li Tai saw the waterwheel he had been thinking about. He was very excited to see the real thing and the specific things and parts that make up the waterwheel.

"Uncle Wang, can I have a blueprint of a waterwheel?" Li Tai asked, "Are there any craftsmen who can make waterwheels in our village?"

"Yes, there are blueprints, and craftsmen can make them." Li Fu said.

After all, it is a powerful tool for irrigating farmland. How can farmers not know about waterwheels?

But now, the waterwheels they built on the tributaries of Jinghe River are all the simplest, and the efficiency of drawing water is not that high.

Li Fu has already thought about how to improve the existing waterwheels.

He threw this question to the three children just to see how far these three children can go and how far their own thinking can go.

Children's imagination is higher than that of adults. Maybe their imagination will drive them to think of new things.

The waterwheel is on the river surface of the vertical tributary, and it will rotate. The wooden trough will drive water up, and then flow into the gullies dug in advance. The water flows along the gullies and flows into the ridges of the fields. In this way, it is indeed much more convenient than carrying water to irrigate the land.

However, if it is too far from the river, the irrigation efficiency is not so high, but it saves a lot of manpower.

This is why some places in the same piece of land are excellent farmland.

"The thrust generated by the flow of river water becomes the power source for the waterwheel to turn." Li Fu said, came to the river, squatted down, and put his hand into the river.

"You can try it too." Li Fu called the three children.

The three children came to Li Fu.

At this time, the guards with them were very alert.

"Put your hand in and feel the power of the river flow." Li Fu said.

The three children felt it carefully.

"People go to high places and water flows to low places. Because of the difference in terrain height, the speed of water flow is also different. The steep terrain makes the water flow fast and the thrust generated by the water flow is large. The flat terrain makes the water flow slow, just like what you feel now." Li Fu said.

"Then the waterfall is the one that generates the greatest power of water, right?" Li Tai asked.

Li Fu nodded: "That's right."

Li Tai thought to himself, if the waterwheel is placed under the waterfall, wouldn't the wheel spin fast?

"Let's go, we've seen the waterwheel. If we really want to install a waterwheel next to the canal, we have to adapt to local conditions." Li Fu said: "Also, the operation and stop of the waterwheel can't always rely on the thrust of water to keep the waterwheel turning. Sometimes, the farmland does not need irrigation. If the waterwheel continues to transport water to the farmland when irrigation is not needed, it will become a flood disaster."

For a whole morning, Li Fu took them around the farm. In addition to thinking about the problem of the waterwheel, he also took a look at the development of the farmland.

"Uncle Wang's farm was very poor before, and the people couldn't get enough food. Don't think it's so close to Chang'an City, but there is a truth since ancient times: when a country prospers, the people suffer, and when it perishes, the people suffer."

"Then how can the people live a good life?" Li Chengqian asked: "The court is stable, the country has no war, the people have food and clothing, and the farmland has a good harvest... Are these all?"

Li Fu nodded seriously.

"All of them. If the environment is stable and there is no war, the people can live a stable life and work hard. The court has no harsh policies and the officials are selfless..."

Anyway, Li Fu doesn't believe in the four words "officials are selfless".

Everyone has selfishness. There is no official who is more saintly than a saint. If there is, then from ancient times to the present, all officials are saints.

There is no such thing as corrupt officials.

For several days in a row, Li Fu took the children to play in the morning and listened to Dr. Lu's lectures in the afternoon.

In this way, the summer time passed quickly.

But Old Yan was getting darker and darker.

Li Fu expressed his sympathy, but there was nothing he could do. It was like this for those working on the construction site.

Li Tai was also thinking about the waterwheel and had some ideas. With Li Fu's help,, Li Tai also discovered that if the waterwheel was equipped with wooden barrels or bamboo tubes, the amount of water carried by the rotation would be greater, and it could be brought to a higher place.

If the water trough was built and the waterway leading to the field was dug in advance, the efficiency of irrigating the farmland would be higher.

After Li Fu and he made the blueprint together, they found a craftsman to build an improved waterwheel and put it on the canal.

Soon, driven by the waterwheel, the water flowed to the farmland along the dug waterway.

In addition, a human-powered pedaling device was added to the side of the waterwheel. By using the lever, the speed of the waterwheel rotation could be increased by manpower, and water could be drawn faster.

The success of the waterwheel made Li Tai happy for several days in a row. Although he also knew that the most critical part was improved under the reminder of Uncle Wang, this did not hinder the fun of the children participating in it.

There is also the satisfaction and joy brought to them after the final success, which cannot be compared with the homework done well and praised by Aye.

What does it mean for the father to praise him? However, the waterwheel really saves the farmers a lot of effort and helps them irrigate the farmland more easily. Maybe the crops in the better irrigated farmland will have a better harvest in the future.

This is the big deal.

Even Lu Deming was happy for them.

It is the best thing for the royal family, whether it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei, to care about the people.

In the future, the Crown Prince will inherit the throne, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei will have his own fiefdom. In the future, he will become a wise king and his name will be recorded in history when he governs his fiefdom.

Li Chengqian wrote a letter to the palace about what he had seen and heard in Zhuangzi recently, and told his father and mother.

In just a few days, they learned a lot, a thick stack of letter paper.

The next day, the letter was sent to Chang'an City and the palace at full speed.