36 Chapter 36

◎Yanshi Pilichun◎

Widow Xu's name was Xu Xiuying. Building the greenhouse cost a fortune, but she earned it all back by selling vegetables before the Lunar New Year. She expressed her sincere gratitude to Cheng Mu. "Madam Cheng, would you like some sweet soup? I'll boil some water for you."

She bought the candy specifically to entertain Cheng Mu, who might come at any time. After learning that she only drank boiled water, she stopped drinking it raw, fearing she would think she was being unrefined.

Just for drinking water, I bought a small pot that can be put on charcoal fire.

"Madam Cheng, are you here for dinner? I'll make some sweet potato stew with rice. Sweet potato, bacon, and green beans make it really delicious."

"Sister Xu, please stop busying yourself around me. I'm just here to check on the seedlings."

"The rice seedlings are so green and lush, Madam Cheng, don't worry, I'll help you keep an eye on them, and nothing will go wrong."

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you for a month. How about you plant three acres of corn this year? Then come to my place and get three bushels of corn seeds."

"Oh, Madam Cheng, you're so polite. It's only natural for me to help you. You've helped me a lot before. Take the taro, for example. I wasn't sure if I could grow it well, but you offered to lend it to me. If you didn't agree to this greenhouse, how could I have built it myself? And selling vegetables during the New Year was all done by Mu Yun."

Xu Xiuying smoothed her hair and said, "I've never grown corn before. Madam Cheng asked me to, so I did. But I can't take your seeds with a clear conscience. I'd better borrow them. Is that okay?"

"Okay. With your energy and spirit, you can live a prosperous life on your own."

Cheng Mu checked the seedlings, Xu Xiuying followed closely, and Gui'er was bored, so she just stood guard at the door.

Xu Xiuying asked about how to eat and prepare corn, and also asked about the sowing and growth conditions.

She saw the corn field on the hill behind Chengmu and thought she could manage it by herself by planting three acres.

After Cheng Mu finished looking at the rice seedlings, she looked at her acres of wheat seedlings.

Xu Xiuying herself couldn't help but praise, "It's growing really well, Madam Cheng. I've never grown wheat seedlings that grew so well."

Madam Cheng told her that corn could be ground into flour, just like wheat flour, and combined with taro, she could feed her family by eating these even if she couldn't grow rice.

It’s great, life is really promising now.

This year's agricultural promotion officer arrived relatively late. He brought a team of people here only after all the seedlings in the fields had been planted.

What the team was escorting was not seeds, but a machine.

Mr. Huang had the goods unloaded in a shed next to Zhao Datian's house.

A craftsman came with him.

After not seeing each other for nearly a year, County Magistrate Huang looked a little more haggard than before, but the light in his eyes had not diminished, but rather became even brighter. The first thing he said when he saw Cheng Mu was, "Boss Cheng, I am glad that I have fulfilled my mission."

The tone was light and very contented.

"Really?" Cheng Mu was also ignited in an instant. The one who could make County Magistrate Huang say that must have made a combine harvester.

She looked around at the unloaded machine, which was as long as a person.

"This is..." Cheng Wei took a deep breath, "A steam engine?"

County Magistrate Huang took a step forward excitedly, "Boss Cheng, do you know?"

Cheng Mu nodded and reached out to touch the charcoal inlet. It was made of fine iron and had traces of burns. It had been tested and was definitely feasible.

It's unlikely to make such a big thing entirely with iron. Some parts are covered with bricks, and some parts are connected with wood, pieced together. Just looking at the materials, it seems that it is very difficult.

"Could this be a stove?"

County Magistrate Huang squatted down and asked, "You know this too?"

Cheng Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "It's really not easy."

Huang, the county magistrate, sighed, "Yes, it wasn't easy." For nearly a year, he had devoted most of his energy to this machine. "Fortunately, it was in time for the wheat harvest."

"We have the engine, and the next step is assembly. There's no rush. Let's wash off the dust first and eat before we worry about it. Mu Yun, go arrange the food and lodging. Mr. Huang, please come this way."

Mu Yun had been watching the two of them talking. The atmosphere between them, where they understood each other and outsiders couldn't get in the way, made it difficult for him to be happy. Even Zhao Datian seemed more excited and happy than him.

Cheng Mu brought the people to the main hall and personally fetched well water for County Magistrate Huang. County Magistrate Huang and his attendants washed their hands and faces. The carpenter had already gone to Zhao Datian's house to communicate. The other four people who were driving the cart were taken by Mu Yun to the hill in the back.

Yu and Gui'er were busy in the kitchen, while Cheng Mu sat down in the main hall with County Magistrate Huang.

County Magistrate Huang asked, "How did Mr. Cheng know about the steam engine?" Before he made it, she had never given him a single word of advice.

Cheng Wei was also very interested in how he came up with the idea of ​​using steam as a power source. The steam engine sparked the Industrial Revolution in the West, but we had never made such a breakthrough in ancient times. I wonder if someone in some unrecorded corner of history had actually created one.

The voice of Mr. Zhao Baye came from outside the door. He heard from the villagers that County Magistrate Huang had arrived, so he rushed over immediately, panting.

Cheng Mu stood up and said, "Eighth Master, please sit down."

Mr. Zhao Ba exchanged greetings with County Magistrate Huang, while Cheng Mu poured tea for them. Soon, the head of the village, Zheng Lizheng, also arrived.

County Magistrate Huang hadn't been here for almost a year. Madam Cheng had asked about him last time. As soon as he arrived, he went straight to Madam Cheng. Zheng Lizheng glanced at the two of them without leaving a trace.

Zheng Lizheng was very active. He had a lot of dealings with Huang Xiancheng and had a lot to say. Cheng Mei had been silent all the time, and it was not appropriate for her to talk about anything related to the machine at this time.

She turned her head and found that Mu Yun had returned at some point, so she stood up and went to the corner to talk to him. "Has Mr. Huang's men been arranged? Why aren't you with him?"

Mu Yun looked at the three people talking in the main hall, "It's more appropriate for me to stay here with you."

He was the only male in the family. If Mr. Zhao Ba and Mr. Zheng Lizheng hadn't come over, he would have been more suitable. Cheng Mu said, "Alright, then you stay with the adults and I'll go help in the kitchen."

Cheng Mu walked a few steps and turned back, "Why are you following me?"

"They're talking lively, let me help you."

They were talking together, Cheng Mu couldn't get a word in, so what could Mu Yun say? Cheng Mu smiled helplessly, "Okay, come and help me make corn dumplings."

County Magistrate Huang specially brought corn seeds. If corn can be used for this meal, then corn will be used. She had already instructed Yu to make corn grits porridge and corn dumplings.

Unfortunately, the season was wrong and there was no fresh corn. Without the necessary conditions, last year's fresh corn could not be preserved until today. They only ground corn grits and corn flour.

Cheng Mu took out a handful of red dates from the space, chopped them up and mixed them in.

Mu Yun looked at him several times, his hands already creased with three or four dimples, before he finally asked what he wanted to ask, "When did you ask Master Huang to make this?"

When they met this time, they seemed like old friends, and the change was very puzzling.

"Last year, he specially sent me corn seeds. I asked someone to bring back a blueprint, and I didn't expect him to actually make it."

Cheng Mu couldn't help laughing as she spoke, "Did you notice? That machine is like eating a hundred kinds of food, it's made in a strange way. But Mr. Huang is really talented. He can even make it."

"You two have been exchanging letters over the past year?"

"I didn't write a letter. Later he sent me a blueprint. I asked you to buy the wood. The tracks and large wheel frames that Uncle Datian made were made according to the blueprint."

Just by exchanging two drawings, the relationship between the two people became so close?

They squatted beside the object and smiled at each other...

"What are you daydreaming about? Why aren't you making dumplings?" Cheng Mu took the two dumplings that Mu Yun had just put into the steamer and reworked them, making them like this...

"Hey, you're not going to help?"

Cheng Mu frowned when she saw Mu Yun suddenly turning around and leaving.

County Magistrate Huang and his entourage were unable to return to Puyang City that day. Four of them stayed on the hill behind the mountain, and the craftsmen stayed at Zhao Datian's house. At the invitation of Lizheng Zheng, County Magistrate Huang and his entourage went to his house to spend the night.

Early the next day, Cheng Xi went to Zhao Datian's house to check on the assembly progress.

Zhao Datian and Carpenter Wang had dark circles under their eyes; they had stayed up all night. Zhao Shitou was also there, catching up on his sleep.

Cheng Mu asked what happened, and Zhao Datian said there should be no problem.

After the four people from the back mountain came over, they moved the steam engine to the crawler frame they had prepared in advance, and then connected the harvester and thresher they had made earlier.

We waited until Mr. Huang arrived and checked all the connections before we started burning charcoal and boiling water.

Everyone waited quietly for a long time before the water in the tank boiled.

Steam spread out, and the shed suddenly became like a paradise on earth.

Craftsman Wang climbed up the rack, sat down on the wide wooden board, moved the front pole, and the tracks were powered and moved forward.

Tracks are used instead of wheels to adapt to uneven terrain.

The combine harvester moved very slowly, but the fact that it could move at all surprised everyone present except Cheng Mi and Lord Huang.

Zheng Lizheng's eyes were as big as copper bells, "Madam Cheng, this, this, this..."

Mr. Huang told Carpenter Wang, "Go to the wheat field and try it."

Zhao Datian led the way in front.

To be honest, the machine moved at about the same pace as everyone else, and it took another quarter of an hour to get to Zhao Da's field.

The whistling sound of the machine attracted the attention of many people. As it passed by, the villagers all stood there staring at it like frightened quails.

After the machine goes into the field, the device in front reels the wheat in. People outside cannot see how it works inside, but what is thrown out is nothing but wheat weeds and straw without wheat grains.

After the machine traveled for a while, it stopped. Craftsman Wang jumped down and opened the wheat storage room, where threshed wheat was piled.

Zheng Lizheng was surprised and delighted, "Master Huang, this, this..."

County Magistrate Huang couldn't hide the smile on his face and exchanged glances with Cheng Mu. "It's done."

The machines continued to harvest in the fields. After watching for a while, the people went home in groups of three or four as the sun became increasingly scorching.

Cheng Mu walked beside County Magistrate Huang and asked, "Mr. Huang, the machine you created is unprecedented. How did you come up with the idea of ​​using steam as power?" If the ancients could think of it, why is there no record left in history, and why people did not continue to use it in production and life?

County Magistrate Huang stood with his hands behind his back, shaking his head. "How could I power the machine that Boss Cheng had envisioned? Initially, I was at a loss. I tried using both human and animal power, but couldn't achieve anything. Then one day, I had a dream in which an immortal gave me a fruit called Yanshipilichun. After waking, I combined the ancient water pump and bellows into one, and that's how it worked."

Pretending to dream? Cheng Wei laughed, "What does this fruit called Yanshipilichun look like? Why is it so useful?"

County Magistrate Huang smiled and looked at the distant sky, feeling lost. "I don't remember the shape or taste of the fruit the immortal gave me. I only remember the name of the fruit."

Is there a fruit called Yanshipirichun in this ancient land or in the classics? What a strange name.

The guidance of an immortal in a dream sounds like a made-up story, but when an apple fell on Newton's head, he discovered the law of universal gravitation; when Watt saw boiling water lifting the lid of a kettle, he discovered the principle of steam power. These were not all flashes of inspiration, but rather miraculous abilities that suddenly arose from the unconscious.

Yan Shipi Lichun, inspiration...

Cheng Mu suddenly shuddered. Was this what she thought?