Dress to be a celebrity

At the beginning of May, it was a small long holiday in the Dazheng Dynasty. When Song Shi gave lectures in Fujian, he always took advantage of this Labor Day to give lectures.

Although it is said that local civil servants cannot take vacations in peace and stability like Beijing officials, in fact, if there are no urgent cases, no leaders suddenly come to the prosecution and other problems to force them to work overtime, they can go back and rest every morning and evening.

Although Governor Yang really wanted to go straight to Mr. Song's experimental field, after all, for the sake of the Dragon Boat Festival, the subordinates of the Rong Hanzhong Mansion ate rice dumplings, drank realgar wine, and took a herbal bath in peace. Summon him.

The serious festival is over, and it's time to invite the boss to see what his "experimental field" is like.

They all lived in the palace, so they naturally had to report to the king of Zhou if there was any action.When King Zhou heard that they were going to inspect the fields, he also offered to go with them to see the sufferings of the people.

When the prince travels, the two envoys on the left and right must follow, and Huan Ling, the guide, will naturally accompany him.A group of people packed up their luggage in the car and prepared casual clothes. King Zhou even brought some food and playthings for outings in the car, and prepared four large carts. After leaving the city, I went to inspect the location of a mountainous experimental field in the north of the city.

That piece of land is at the foot of Tiantai Mountain, but there are no streams and canals passing by, and there is no surface water, so the fields are irrigated by diverting well water.

There are wooden signs nailed to the four corners of the experimental field, on which are written the four corners, the area of ​​the field, the soil quality, the rain, the method of watering the land, the crops planted, the fertilizers used, and the name of the farmer.

Song Shiyuan recognized the signboard, pointed at the signboard and said to Master Yang in the car: "Please look, my lord, the place where the signboard is erected is the first experimental field of Tiantai Mountain."

This field is at the foot of Tiantai Mountain. There is no terrain rain blessing, and the amount of rainfall can only be considered moderate.But there is a well here, which is convenient for farmers to get water to irrigate the land. Even if there is a severe drought, the water in the well will not dry up. The land can produce more than one stone a year.

While introducing the situation of the experimental field, he got out of the car first and led the leaders to the field.

He and Huan Ling were young and strong, with one leg dropped to the ground, and they walked lightly on the uneven path in the field.Before getting out of the car, the envoys around the palace quickly ordered people to carry the king of Zhou and Lord Yang with sliding poles. However, although Lord Yang was dozens of years older, he was still agile. Clothes go to the field.

Although the words on the sign were detailed, it was a bit trivial and difficult to understand for the central officials who usually don't care about farming and sang. It was not as attractive as the tender yellow bean sprouts on the ground.

The wheat in the field has been harvested, and the ears of wheat have been picked up by women and children. Even the straw has been taken back by farmers to use as firewood. The ground has been leveled again, and a crop of soybeans has been planted.At this time, the soybeans in the field just sprouted, and yellow double-petal seedlings emerged from the soil, trembling slightly in the wind, pitifully slender.

The land was criss-crossed by deep ditches, with water flowing in the ditches, and blocks of field soil in the ridges had been deeply plowed, exposing the yellow-brown, acidic soil underneath.The land is plowed deeply, the soil is soft and moist, and you can feel the moist coolness when you hold a handful of it with your hands, and when you gently twist the soil with your fingertips, it will spread into thin slices on your fingers.

Song Shi himself grabbed a handful of soil and held it in front of Master Yang, twisting and rubbing it to show him how wet the soil was.

Although Mr. Yang was concerned about the military affairs, he really didn't care enough to touch the fields with his own hands as the right servant of the Ministry of War. He just looked at his hands for a while, and his right hand stopped in the air, not knowing whether to touch or not.

Huan Yushi, who was watching from the other side, understood his struggle, took the initiative to pick up a pinch of soil on his fingertips, and comforted him: "My lord, please look, the base fertilizer applied in this field is made by high temperature and mature, and the inside is full of nutrients. Diseased insect eggs and other things have been killed by adding medicinal stones and high temperature, which is much cleaner than ordinary farmyard manure. If you don’t believe me, you can pick it up and try it. The fertilizer in the soil feels like earth and rocks, and the smell is not strong. Dirty hands."

Master Yang closed his eyes, stepped forward and took a handful, treating it as ordinary well and stove soil, twisting it carefully, feeling the slightly damp sandy texture of the soil.

It is true that the kind of fertilizer and water he has seen has been applied, and it is similar to ordinary soil.

He rubbed off the soil, quietly took the handkerchief to wipe his hands, and nodded steadily on his face: "I understand. Mr. Song, let's put down the rich soil, let's go and see the well."

Zhou Wang, who had just been lifted to the ground with a sliding pole, watched the three of them study the fertile soil, but his face changed subtly. He pursed his lips, swallowed hard, and said, "Master Yang is right, Now that we have seen the land, let’s go and look at other things. I don’t know where the well is built? Let’s look at the well first, and I want to see the difference between it and the mansion in the palace.”

Mr. Song took a look around the field, and regretfully found that Zhou Wang and the two elders had no intention of experiencing it by themselves, so he planted the soil back, patted it a few times, and covered the soil.

Huan Ling also spilled the soil from his fingertips on the ground casually, took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands casually, took his hand with a smile and wiped it, and said, "Let's go, wash your hands at the well."

The well is at the end of the ridge, and a round stone platform is built above the ground at the mouth of the well, but the stone platform is larger than the mouth of ordinary wells, one side is higher and the other is lower, and it is sealed like a well with a water pressure device. Leave a gap in the middle to install a long sink, and there is a small opening in the middle of the sink.

Standing on the stone slab behind the water tank is a round wooden wheel protruding from many small pillars. A hinged chain hangs on it and extends into the well. Next to the vertical wheel, there is another horizontal wheel interlaced with it. Above the horizontal wheel is a There is a rocker, and there is a farmer pushing the rod to rotate.Every time the horizontal wheel rotates, it drives the vertical wheel to rotate. The hinged chain stuck on the vertical wheel does not turn up from the water outlet. Leather money is strung on the chain. The water is pushed into the trough and flows down the stone platform.

Under the stone platform is a dug ditch, and the water flows out along the ditch to the water channel dug in the field.

The water comes out much faster than the pressure rod, and the water flows out continuously along the stone trough, and the water quality is also very clear.Song Shi walked up quickly, told the man to continue pushing the water, and asked Mr. Yang to come up and wash his hands.After he washed it once, he took the water and washed it himself. Huan Ling handed him a new handkerchief, and rinsed the dirty one in the sink to wipe off the water from his fingertips.

Mr. Yang washed his hands and didn't get up, so he squatted on the well platform gracefully, holding his clothes by the hem, and looked into the water outlet.

The water in this well also surges in rounds, and a round leather money is strung on a wooden hinge to pass out of the mouth, and then pass into another mouth along with the chain, as if the water is brought up by the leather money, not the air pressure. for.

Holding the hem of his clothes, he squatted by the well in a dignified manner, trying to look at the dark and opaque mouth, and asked, "Is this also water from atmospheric pressure?"

No, there is a bamboo tube with an inner diameter as thick as leather money under the water. This chain with leather money is hung on the gear like a bicycle chain. The bamboo tube passes through the bottom. The upper gear drives the chain to rotate. Turning into the pipe, the water in the pipe is lifted up section by section, which is similar to the principle of the ancient dumping waterwheel.

The only shortcoming is that the price of iron is too expensive. Only the chain is made of iron, and the others are made of bamboo, wood and stone, which are easy to wear and have to be replaced after a period of use.

It would be nice if it could be made of iron.

Listening to his complaints, Mr. Yang suddenly remembered the flash of doubt he had when he pressed the hand pump the day before yesterday: "Isn't it afraid that this iron will rust if it is soaked in water?"

Song Shi smiled wryly and said: "How can there be no rust? The inner layer of the well kill device is pasted with tin foil, and it is welded firmly. But tin is many times more expensive than iron, and iron chains are needed to beat the water. If you put a layer of tin foil on the car, no one else can afford it.”

Pig iron costs six cents per catty, wrought iron costs one cent and five cents per catty, and Suzhou Steel dares to charge three cents and six cents per catty!The price of pure tin that can be used as tableware is about the same as that of copper, which costs eight cents a catty. Adding it up, it costs a few taels of silver just to make a hand-pressed water pump.And this kind of waterwheel uses more materials. If the pipe chain and ruler wheel are all made of iron, and then tinned-it will cost more than a dozen taels.

Generally, those who can afford to drill wells are usually well-to-do, or even a little wealthy, and can afford to build a water pump.But these farmers often rent and plant other people's land, and the wells are left over from the early years, so they don't invest money in it; while those who rent the land receive a fixed rent, they just don't lose money. Who is willing to spend money to install water trucks for the convenience of others?

It's all because the steel industry hasn't industrialized yet!

If they can build a small blast furnace in Hanzhong Mansion and buy ore for processing, a furnace of wrought iron or steel can save dozens or hundreds of taels of silver at least!If the price of iron can be lowered, the cost of making farm tools will be reduced, and ordinary people can afford tough farm tools made of pig iron with pointed ends wrapped in wrought iron, and production efficiency will definitely increase.

If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools. Sincerely, he will not deceive him.

His calculation made Mr. Yang feel a little heartbroken. King Zhou was listening, and couldn't help but ask him again: "Can the government fund some of these small water tankers and install them in wells for the common people? If there is not enough money... "

The emperor gave you money to make your life better, not to donate it everywhere.If you spend too much, not only will the emperor blame our local officials for asking you for money, but the censor will also impeach you for inviting people's hearts.

He glanced back at the Qiandu Yushi who was standing next to him, a senior combatant in the Yushi.

Huan Qianxian really did not let him down, he gave him a wink, and went to King Zhou on the spot to persuade him: "Your Highness is here to appease the frontier army, and every move will affect all parties. This matter is the government affairs of the Hanzhong government. , although His Highness is temporarily staying here, it is not the Prince's vassal, which should be governed by his subordinates. If this money is spent, it will cause people to talk about the relationship between His Highness and Lord Song."

Our two families are related by in-laws, so the prince should avoid suspicion even more.

But this matter is under the jurisdiction of the governor of Shaanxi. Governor Yang casually listened to Huan Ling's words of admonishing the king of Zhou, thinking about what the king of Zhou just wanted to lend money to the people to buy farm tools. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly asked : "You smelt a lot of iron coal in your economic park. Did you plan to smelt iron and farm tools?"