Although the moldboard plow is more advanced than the curved plow, this advancement relies on traction, which means that the moldboard plow must rely on manual labor or cattle and sheep to achieve farming.

Although the curved-beam plow is the same, it is actually not so demanding in this respect. In other words, although the curved-beam plow is inefficient, it actually carries less weight. A single moldboard plow is easier to use than a curved-beam plow, but it cannot compare to the curved-beam plow in terms of force.

But the moldboard plow also has an aspect that the curved plow cannot replace - it can combine several plows into one, and as long as the traction force is sufficient, it can plow a large area of ​​land at the same time.

Now what Gongshu Can made for him was just a single moldboard plow with only one plow body.

This is Liu Tan’s main purpose, to liberate productivity.

Plowing the land one row at a time is a waste of time. If a family with cattle uses a moldboard plow, it can save a lot of time.

They can use this time to do other things, such as doing business or expanding the cultivated area. Simply taking the expansion of the cultivated area as an example, this is a great blessing.

The Han people are now forcing young ladies to marry when they reach a certain age in order to have more children and increase the labor force.

While the labor force remains unchanged, more land is cultivated with the moldboard plow, which means more food is produced, which can minimize hunger and poverty.

Of course, it is difficult to achieve comprehensive food and clothing in this era, and having only a moldboard plow is not enough, other agricultural tools must also be matched to keep up.

But it doesn’t matter, there is still time for other things. The seed drill may not be in time, but we can still make an effort in harvesting.

Gongshu Can fiddled with the model of the moldboard plow, pondered for a moment, and said, "Yes."

Liu Tan's eyes lit up and he said, "If you can do it, there will be a reward!"

Gongshu Can instantly became full of energy. After arriving in the Northern Border Kingdom, he had learned from his son that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Border was always generous. As long as he could be satisfied, not only would food and clothing not be a problem, but even getting rich would not be a problem.

Gongshu Can left with his model. Perhaps money gave him motivation, and within two days he had produced a model of a multi-row moldboard plow.

Of course, it was just a model. During the test, Liu Tan observed it for a moment, frowned, and said, "It feels... like the effect isn't very good."

He compared it with the effect when Lu Xuan used the treadle plow before, and after calculating the ratio, he knew that the effect might not be as good as the treadle plow.

Gongshu Can immediately said, "Your Highness, due to limited size, this sample is made of wood. Bronze or iron would be better."

Liu Tan said, "No matter what, let's make one and give it a try."

A complete moldboard plow was not something that Gongshu Can's men could make. Liu Tan directly found some craftsmen and assigned them to Gongshu Can, saying, "From now on, these people will work with you. Miao Rui will tell you some precautions later."

Gongshu Can was a little confused when he heard this. He didn't know why there were so many things to pay attention to when making something.

However, after hearing what Miao Rui said, he was completely dumbfounded - why did these slaves feel that they were living better than them!

The daily working hours are limited to no more than six hours, they don't have to take care of three meals a day, and they have to prepare for dangerous situations in advance to ensure safety as much as possible.

Gongshu Can felt a pang of sadness after hearing this. After leaving the palace, he sighed and said to his son, "I used to think they were exaggerating when they said that the slaves of wealthy families lived better than the poor. Now it seems they are right."

If Gongshujia gets a job, he will usually work day and night to finish it as soon as possible, in order to build up some reputation and attract repeat customers.

When I was busiest, I slept less than two hours a day.

In the past, he had seen that the low-status slaves in the wealthy families had a very difficult life. Some of them were not even bad, but they were not like human beings.

At that time he would still sympathize with these slaves, but the slaves of the Northern Royal Family... those were just slaves doing rough work!

Gongshu Yi laughed after hearing this and said, "Your Highness is a kind and gentle person, which is a blessing to us all."

Gongshu Can took a deep breath. The slaves could rest, but he couldn't. He had to think about how to improve this moldboard plow.

You have to know that from the beginning to the end, they used the drawings given by His Royal Highness the King of the North to make this thing. The effort they spent was nothing more than turning the drawings into real things. However, many people have such abilities, and they don't necessarily need the Gongshu family.

What was the strength of the Gongshu family? Their ability to make ordinary tools smaller and more convenient.

If there were no public servants involved in the development of the moldboard plow, they would have been replaced sooner or later.

Gongshu Can, who had a sense of crisis, took six days to make a new type of moldboard plow. In the process, he even made a special application because he needed to use iron to make the plow body.

After it was done, Gongshu Can made a special trip there.

When he came over, Liu Tan was worrying with Lu Xuan: "If the moldboard plow doesn't work out well, I'll have to use a treadle plow."

If he had to use a treadle plow in the end, what was the point of all the trouble he had gone through?

Lu Xuan touched Liu Tan's head and said, "Isn't it already being done?"

Liu Tan hugged Lu Xuan, resting his chin on his shoulder as he spoke sullenly, "Once it's finished, we'll have to see if it fits. What if it doesn't fit and needs to be redone? If there's anything wrong with this kind of large agricultural tool, it's a ripple effect on the entire structure."

Lu Xuan thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't matter. Anyway, as long as the plow can be tested once on that day, it will be fine. As long as there are no problems on this trip, even if there are problems, we can take our time with the rest."

Liu Tan sighed and said, "Hey, it's still early for spring plowing in the Northern Kingdom. Why do we have to try plowing at the same time as the South? We should adapt to local conditions."

Lu Xuan understood: "Perhaps the Prime Minister doesn't want the Northern Border to be different from Chang'an."

Liu Tan thought about it and agreed. It's not good to be too independent. It will make it seem like a country within a country. Although it is a vassal state, it is also the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Tan was about to continue speaking when he heard that Gongshu Can had already finished the moldboard plow. He immediately stood up, pulled Lu Xuan along, and said, "Let's go and take a look."

Liu Tan had not shown Lu Xuan any of the drawings or samples before, and Lu Xuan had tactfully avoided looking. After all, the Wusun Kingdom didn't have much arable land at the moment, and if he wanted to learn how to farm in the future and this moldboard plow was really useful, he could do it through legitimate means, either by exchanging it or buying it.

Now that the finished product was out, there was no need to be particularly shy. If Lu Xuan had the ability to disassemble something into its components just by looking at the finished product, then why would Liu Tan need Gongshujia? He would risk everything to win Lu Xuan over to the Han Dynasty, even if it meant marrying him himself!

The experiment of the moldboard plow was carried out on a farm owned by Liu Tan. After he had fenced off the land, he handed it over to his subordinates to work on.

Originally, he was not very interested, but as the King of the North, he had to own a few manors with good geographical locations. The most important thing was that he also needed to keep some manors for rewards.

It's not a good idea to just give him money directly all the time. The new stuff in his hands will eventually become boring. At this time, it is appropriate to give him Zhuangzi.

He and Lu Xuan simply rode there on horseback, hoping to get there early and return early.

When they got there, they found that the moldboard plow had already arrived, and Gongshu Can and his son were waiting for Liu Tan.

Liu talked about going straight to the moldboard plow first.

Unlike the moldboard plow in his memory that was full of modern industrial aesthetics, this moldboard plow, perhaps because it is made mainly of wood, has an overall rustic style that is very consistent with current aesthetics.

Not only that, the entire moldboard plow is very exquisite from the overall to the details. It is even painted with a layer of black paint and some simple patterns painted on it with red paint.

Liu Tan: ...

If you didn't know that this thing was useful, your first reaction when seeing such a fancy thing would be that it definitely wouldn't work, right?

Why are the farm tools made like this?

But he didn't say anything. Anyway, as the first moldboard plow, it was indeed worth collecting.

The oxen pulling the moldboard plow were nearby. Gongshu Can walked over and said, "Your Highness, this plow has four or six lanes. One ox is enough for four lanes, but two oxen are needed for six lanes."

Liu Tan asked curiously, "Six at most? No more?"

Gongshu Can said, "The entire plow needs to be redesigned. For example, the position of the traction frame needs to be changed, and some other things need to be added to ensure stability."

Liu Tan nodded slightly: "Okay, I'll leave this to you. Study it later."

Gongshu Can added, "If it's pulled by human power, there will be at most two."

Liu Tan said, "If it's human-powered, having two is already good."

In the past, they came one by one.

Gongshu Can felt relieved after hearing this. He was really afraid that he would not do well and be criticized by His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory.

The main reason is that although His Royal Highness the King of the North's drawings are different from their previous drawing habits, he can see that there is a lot of room for improvement in this moldboard plow!

Liu Tan nodded and said, "Let's get started."

Immediately after he gave the order, someone led the oxen to the front of the moldboard plow and put on the traction frame. The cattle driver did not know how to use the moldboard plow, so he could only let the oxen move forward slowly based on his previous experience.

At the beginning, the oxen seemed to be struggling a little, and because the two oxen were out of sync, they took a long time to adjust before they finally managed to pull the entire plow.

Gongshu Can frowned and said, "We should find a way to reduce the weight of the moldboard plow."

Liu Tan was very calm: "You decide for yourself."

Don't ask me. It's already an extraordinary performance that I can remember how to make a moldboard plow. You still want me to improve it? That's impossible. If it could be improved, Liu Tan would have done it directly when he was drawing the blueprint.

After the oxen got into the state, they walked smoothly and steadily. As the plow moved forward steadily, the furrows gradually took shape.

Liu Tan looked at the furrows and fell into deep thought. He didn't know how to farm and didn't know what the depth was.

Just as he was considering whether to ask someone to come and take a look, he suddenly heard Lu Xuan say, "Huh? Changed direction?"

Liu Tan looked up and found that the moldboard plow had reached the end. At this time, two slaves ran over and asked the cowherd to untie the cows. Then they operated the moldboard plow. The traction frame and plow body of the moldboard plow instantly flipped on the spot, and the direction changed from front to back. The two cows were also led in the opposite direction and the traction frame was put back on, and the land that had just been plowed was plowed again.

Liu Tan was stunned by this dazzling operation and turned to look at Gongshu Can: "Did you design this?"

Gongshu Can met the King of the Northern Territory's astonished gaze, suppressed his inner pride and said, "Yes!"

After Liu Tan and the other oxen pulled the moldboard plow back, he walked around it and found that the plow looked no different after it was turned over. If he hadn't seen the two slaves operate it and told him that someone was carrying the plow around in a circle, he would have believed it!

He looked up at Gongshu Can and asked, "How did you do it?"