Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 223 Li Kui's New House

Chai Lin laughed and said, "You don't farm the land, so I didn't expect you to know watermelon. You can tell it's watermelon just by looking at this little seedling."

Dian Zhengnan said: "After eating watermelon in summer, the seedlings grow out like this, so I know watermelon seedlings."

"What you said is really disgusting." Xie Bao said.

Dian Zhengnan said disdainfully, "This is because of my careful observation."

"The watermelon seedlings don't look so small. In fact, they started to be cultivated before the Spring Festival, using horse manure. Watermelons can be eaten at the end of March and early April. At that time, ordinary watermelon seedlings are only small seedlings." Chailin said.

Dian Zhengnan was full of anticipation, I'm afraid he had to come and see him every day when he was free.

Chai Lin asked: "Sister-in-law Li, are there any difficulties in managing the greenhouse?"

Mrs. Li said: "It's much more difficult. I have grown vegetables for more than 20 years, but it is the first year to grow vegetables in the greenhouse. Many details have been explored. Every few days we have to get together to discuss Let’s see, fortunately there are some technologies provided by the owner, otherwise it’s not good for this species.”

Chai Lin thinks so, and it seems that he needs to sort out some more detailed information for Lao Liang, otherwise, if the [-]-acre greenhouse fails, it will affect his image of being wise and martial.

More than 200 greenhouses are planted with high-value vegetables and fruits such as watermelons, cucumbers, beans, peppers, cabbage, and leeks. There is no need to worry about the sales of this area. Cangzhou can sell about the same in the local area. It is an experimental planting. If the effect is good, the area will be expanded in autumn.

There is a canal outside each greenhouse, and it seems that watering is more convenient. What vegetables need most is water.

Lao Liang was also busy working in the shed. When he saw Chai Lin coming, he said, "The owner, there is a problem that needs to be solved. I don't know if the owner has a better solution."

"Oh, what's the problem?" Chailin asked.

"Master, please follow me."

Lao Liang took Chai Lin to the source of the canal, which was next to the reservoir, where there were three keel waterwheels, two of which were lifting water, and the water flowed into the canal continuously.

"Is there a problem with watering the ground in the vegetable greenhouse?" Chailin asked.

Lao Liang said: "There is no problem here in the vegetable greenhouse. Even if it reaches the peak water consumption period, a few water trucks at most will be enough. The problem is in the cotton field opposite. The cotton field is relatively high, more than ten meters away from the water surface. meters, the keel cart cannot be used, and the water output of the hand press is small.”

Chai Lin said: "The water in the big river is not very big, why is there so little water here?"

Old Liang smiled and said, "The owner of the village is busy training soldiers, and now is the time when the wheat turns green, and everyone is using the water in this reservoir. It's strange that there are many."

"Come on, let's go to Dahe to have a look."

A group of people came to the big river dug in Erlidi. This river is hundreds of miles long, the river is three to four meters wide, and the water depth is about half a meter. The water volume is huge.The clear river flowed down, wasted in vain.However, this river has too much rain in summer, and with the strength of Chaijiazhuang, there is no way to build such a large reservoir.

Chai Lin asked: "Old Liang, I think this river only irrigates the fields on both sides of the river. Is there any way to irrigate more places?"

Lao Liang said: "The land of our village is basically distributed on both sides of the river. The terrain on both sides is high, and the terrain on the river is low. Even if the water is lifted up with a keel cart, there is no way to go far from the canal. The solution is also Either it’s not there, or we’ll build high canals from both sides, so that the water can naturally irrigate our land, but the canals are easy to repair, and how the water goes up is another problem.”

Chai Lin saw that the terrain on both sides was at most ten meters higher. Now there are bricks and cement to build a thousand-meter-long canal, isn't it the same as playing house?
"Repair immediately, measure and draw the design, and don't delay the irrigation of wheat. Use wood cement to pour a semicircular pipe, and red bricks to make pillars to erect it." Chailin said.

It doesn't cost a few dollars to repair a few miles of canals, except for hired craftsmen, it only costs a few dollars.But it can irrigate tens of thousands of acres of wheat in Chaijiazhuang.

Lao Liang said: "Watering the wheat more often can increase the yield by more than a hundred catties, and the canal is easy to repair. The blueprint was designed a few years ago. But after the repair, how to get the water into the canal? How to solve this problem? Should we use a large water truck? The river is so small that it may not be able to lift much water."

The so-called big waterwheel is a waterwheel similar to a huge ferris wheel, relying on water conservancy to lift water, but the river in Chaijiazhuang is obviously a bit small, and it may not be able to carry it.

Chai Lin said: "Such a big water truck needs a relatively fast water flow, so we don't consider it. Use the pot machine to drive the water pump to pump into the canal. Lao Liang will arrange to build the canal as soon as possible. As for the pumping, I will do it solve."

Lao Liang said: "Okay, no problem. I will supervise the construction. It won't take much labor. I plan to use wood as the channel for the channel. When it is done, it will be erected directly on the pillars. The water in the channel will reach the highest point on both sides. When the time comes, it flows down into the ground canals, and only then does it start to irrigate the ground.”

"Okay, then you can do it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me." Chailin said.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, various waterwheel technologies had developed very maturely. There were dozens of wooden waterwheels and keel carts, some relying on manpower, animal power, and water power.Ordinary land can still be irrigated, but it is difficult to deal with uneven terrain or deep rivers.The pot camel machine made by Chailin effectively solves this irrigation problem and can greatly increase grain production.

Chai Lin asked Lao Liang, and said: "How about making all kinds of waterwheels? Our carpentry workshop has advanced tools and process-based production. It seems to be good."

Lao Liang said: "I don't know how to do business, but the most inseparable thing for farming is water. In the past few years, there have been droughts or floods in the north. Especially in spring droughts every year, our hand-pressed wells are not very good. If the price is high, it is the large waterwheel that makes money, and a waterwheel two or three feet high costs tens or hundreds of taels of silver, which is beyond the reach of ordinary carpenters, but the owner of the village can sell large waterwheels."

Chai Lin took it for granted, and immediately informed the carpentry workshop to produce a large water wheel. The large water wheel is an outstanding representative of hydraulic machinery in the farming era. It is driven by the power of the water itself, continuously flowing water into the canal, and entering thousands of households. in the farmland.

Besides, in Baizhang Village, Yishui County, thousands of miles away, Li Kui spent the most comfortable year in history at home, where he needed to eat and drink.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, when the firecrackers were let off, the three mud embryo thatched houses where I and my mother lived were knocked down.More than a dozen neighbors in the front and back yards began to clean up the foundation and rebuilt the foundation with bluestone. The foundation of ordinary houses is very shallow, and it is relatively fast to build. It can be done in two days.

Li Da is at the master level and is in charge of conducting.Li Kui is strong and strong, but he really doesn't know how to do this job, that is, to be a small laborer.Li Kuiniang is responsible for boiling water and cooking, and preparing food and drink for the builders.

Li Da's daughter-in-law is even more busy. Every day at dawn, she goes to the field with a hoe to look for wild honeysuckle seedlings on the edge of the field. She first trims them with scissors and then digs them out with a hoe.

I can dig hundreds of seedlings all day long. The seedlings are not big, that is, the thickness of a finger, with a well-developed root system, and they will bloom in the same year they are planted.Fortunately, one acre of honeysuckle does not need many seedlings, five hundred or so are enough.

In the evening, Li Da's daughter-in-law came back and said, "After three days of digging, less than [-] trees have been planted, and more than half an acre of land has been planted."

Li Da said: "You don't have to worry, first plant two acres for an experiment, and if it is suitable, we will plant a larger area."

During the Northern Song Dynasty, honeysuckle was widely used as a medicinal material, but most of it was mainly picked from the natural growth on the mountain, the yield was low, and it was troublesome.

Li Da's wife said: "It looks like there are all over the mountains and plains, but it's too difficult to really dig. They are all in the crevices of the rocks. It is impossible to dig a hundred trees all day long."

Li Da thought about it, and said, "I feel like I missed something, just wait a moment, I'll take a look at the notebook I recorded that day."

Li Da dug out his own notebook, slapped his head, suddenly realized, and said: "Master Chai said that honeysuckle can be cut to raise seedlings, pruning one-foot-long branches, tidying up the ground, cutting, keeping the land moist, It takes about 20 days to take root."

Li Kui interjected next to him and said, "Brother, I feel like you are in a daze. Everything is said by the Chai official. The Chai official said, this Chai official is really so magical? I Tieniu don't believe that a branch is inserted into the ground." Just grow roots?"

Li Da said: "Tie Niu, you must have a conscience. Did Officer Chai give us hundreds of taels of silver just to deceive us?"

"That's not what I mean, I'm just curious, and I don't believe that branches can grow into saplings." Tie Niu said.

Li Da said: "I remembered, on the second day after Mr. Chai left, I put a few branches in the flower pot, and now the flower pot is in the stove, go and take a look at it. "

(End of this chapter)