Chapter 249 The Waterwheel Comes into Being

He turned down all trivial matters just to be with Bai Li.

Bai Li didn't care. If he wanted to follow, then let him follow. It just so happened that her personal guards were all busy with the affairs of the mansion!

"Unfortunately, there's no water in the fork of the river anymore, so farmers have no choice but to fetch water from the river!"

Bai Li frowned slightly. Carrying water like this was just a drop in the bucket and would only make people exhausted and would be of no use at all.

"Hey, what are you drawing?"

Nangong Min turned around and saw Bai Li squatting on the ground, writing and drawing on the dirt with a branch.

Nangong Min lifted his robe and squatted down. His moon-white robe was immediately covered with a lot of dust.

Looking at the figure opposite me, dressed in a neat and tidy short shirt, who looked more manly than any other man, I felt a sense of suffocation in my heart.

God knows, for this first date with her, he searched through all the clothes in his closet, and finally his personal servant found this one and said to him with certainty: "The women in the capital now like this kind of elegant and gentle dress the most." He put it on without saying a word.

Now, he felt like he was just an actor on the stage, and cursed the servant in his heart!

"alright!"

The drawing of an upgraded version of an antique half-mechanical, half-human waterwheel from thousands of years later was completed. Bai Li clapped his hands and stood up.

She would like to use machines to operate everything and avoid manual labor, but doesn't this mean there are no accessories?

Forget it, such a waterwheel was already shocking in ancient times, so it’s better to keep a low profile.

Nangong Min withdrew his thoughts and saw pictures drawn on the ground. He looked carefully and seemed to understand something, but also seemed to understand nothing.

"This is……"

"This is a waterwheel. Install one by the river and you can bring the river water to a nearby river fork, and then irrigate nearby..."

"Wait, you're saying this thing can move river water into the canal?"

Nangong Min's face was full of surprise, with a hint of joy.

If that were possible, the drought in Da Zhou would be cured!

Bai Li squatted down again and explained it to him in detail.

"Then hurry up and do it. It only costs a little wood, even if..."

Nangong Min was very excited and was about to say that even if it failed it would just be a waste of some wood, but then he thought that Bai Li would not take action unless he did, but every time he took action he would bring surprises to people.

Nangong Min was as happy as a child, with his eyes sparkling on his handsome face.

"Then let's get this done as quickly as possible so we can save more crops!"

The two men mounted their horses, the same black and white horses from last time. They squeezed their legs against the horses' bellies and galloped back like arrows.

A few days later, Bai Li's drawings were presented to the Minister of Agriculture. The old Minister of Agriculture Xiangyang rushed into the palace urgently, pulled the emperor out of Concubine Shu's bed, and said that he had a big news to report.

Zhou Yu was so frightened that he almost lost all his happiness for the rest of his life.

Half a minute later, in the imperial study.

"Xiangyang! You'd better have something really important, otherwise...!"

Zhou Yu had a gloomy face, and his expression of dissatisfaction was completely exposed.

"Your Majesty, look!"

Xiangyang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and handed over the drawing with gritted teeth.

Eunuch Li gave him a look that told him to fend for himself.

"What's this!"

Zhou Yu looked at the drawings, confused.

"Your Majesty, this is a waterwheel. It was invented by Princess Donghu, and now it's used throughout her Donghu County!"

"What's a waterwheel?"

Zhou Yu's anger subsided a little, but whenever Bai Li took action, it was extraordinary.

"A waterwheel, as the name suggests, is a vehicle that transports water. This vehicle can draw water from the river and transport it through pipes to the river channel or river forks for irrigation..."

"You mean, Donghu County is already using it?"

“How’s the effect?”

Xiangyang's old face was full of smiles, and the emperor's grumpiness when he woke up was not in vain.

"It's working great! The canals in East Lake County are now filled with water, and farmers are irrigating day and night. I think we can save half of the crops..."

"If it's so useful, why don't you quickly make it and promote it nationwide? What are you waiting for?"

Before Xiangyang could finish speaking, Zhou Yu started to scold him.

"Your Majesty, I only got the blueprints last night. Besides, if we want to make enough for the whole country, the cost..."

"That's no problem. I'll give you a note and you can go to the Ministry of Revenue and withdraw it at will!"

Xiangyang was delighted, and then became curious: Why is the emperor so generous this time?

All the previous memorials requesting silver were rejected. He had thought that this time he would be lucky to get over a thousand taels of silver to pay the craftsmen's wages.

Find someone to go up the mountain to cut the wood you need. These days, there are plenty of people willing to work for just two buns of bread.

Who knows, you can spend money at will!

In this way, the issues that needed to be resolved in his previously rejected memorials could be resolved at once. He was afraid that the emperor would not be so easy to talk to next time!

Xiangyang left happily, and Zhou Yu looked at Eunuch Li.

"Melt the gold that was shipped from Qianxi the day before yesterday, make it into gold ingots, gold bars, and gold leaves, and put them on the market."

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

Bai Zongren was continuously transporting treasures from Qianxi to Beijing. Only a few military ministers knew about this, and Zhou Yu did not intend to make it public.

Now that the national treasury is full, he is no longer as stingy as before when doing things. He prioritizes things that benefit the country and the people. Expanding the recruitment of soldiers is urgent!

Next, craftsmen from all over the Great Zhou cut down trees and gathered together to work day and night to make something called a waterwheel.

Messenger Simon stared at the information coming from below, his eyes slightly narrowed, and he always felt that this waterwheel must be a world-shaking masterpiece.

On the third day, after Bai Li finished his work at the mansion, he went to inspect Donghu County.

Donghu County is only a little over a hundred miles away from the capital, and it takes less than an hour to get there by horseback.

Nangong Min has now become her personal bodyguard and is indispensable wherever she goes.

Wu Lanzhi and Luo Yang were busy with the affairs of the mansion. Three days later was the auspicious day for moving into the new house, so they had to hurry and finish the final work.

"Look, the land is green!"

Nangong Min was even more anxious than Bai Li. He stretched his neck to look around before even reaching the fields.

I saw that the cracked places were soaked by water, and the seedlings that had been wilted in the field straightened up, and it was the time for them to bud and ear.

Bai Li looked at Qinggan, who had just saved his life, without showing much joy.

"What's the matter? The crops are growing, and you're not happy?"

"They are still alive, but the yield is not optimistic. The drought has damaged their foundation."

"At least it's better than getting nothing before, right?"

But Bai Li doesn’t want a poor harvest, otherwise all his hard work would be in vain!

Just then, an old farmer carrying a shovel came over from a distance. Bai Li hurriedly pulled him and asked him for advice.

"Old man, the seedlings are badly damaged right now. If we have enough fertilizer to make up for it, can we restore the harvest to normal?"

The old farmer took a look at the two people. The man was handsome and the woman was pretty. He could tell at a glance which wealthy family they were.

How can these lazy people understand farming?

However, seeing that the woman was willing to learn from him, he found a big rock to sit on and started talking to her.

"Speaking of agriculture and sericulture, the little kid asked me the right question!"