Gongshu Can said, "It is the hook that can bind these rice plants."

As he spoke, he drew a curved hook on the paper. Liu Tan looked down at the hook and suddenly slammed his head on the table. "I remember now," he said, "the hook should be movable during the process. It's open at first, and then as it moves, it draws an arc to push the rice toward the cutter. But if that's the case, the cutter can't be a scissors."

Gongshu Can immediately said, "Yes, so I thought of using a disc-shaped cutter, and the cutter rotates as it moves."

Liu Tan turned to look at Gongshu Can: "Can it provide driving force at the same time?"

Gongshu Can thought for a moment and said, "It will be a little more complicated, but it's not so bad. If it's just a stationary cutting knife, the effect may not be so good."

Liu Tan couldn't help but reach out and pat Gongshu Can on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Not bad, it seems that you know a lot about this."

Gongshu Can smiled wryly and said, "When I was young, my family was poor and I also farmed."

Liu Tan was not surprised, but it seemed that Gongshujia's situation might be worse than he imagined.

He asked curiously, "So your family never thought about improving farm tools at that time?"

Gongshu Can hesitated for a long time before sighing and saying, "The Gongshu family has always been good at war machines, such as bows and crossbows. Most of the improvements in agricultural tools came from the Mohists."

Liu Tan asked curiously, "Is that so? Do you have any agreement or convention between you?"

Gongshu Can said calmly, "It's a convention. The Gongshu family must abide by this rule. If the Gongshu family takes action, then the Mohist family can also take action. At that time, with the power of the Mohist family, the Gongshu family will only suffer."

Liu Tan understood that the Mohists were relatively rule-abiding, otherwise why would there be a word called "sticking to the rules"?

But Gongshujia was also lucky, their opponent was a real gentleman. If it was someone like Liu Tan... who would follow you? I can do whatever I want!

He patted Gongshu Can on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. If the Mohists come looking for you, just tell them it was me who issued the order."

Not to mention Gongshu Jia, even the Mohists would certainly not be able to bear the consequences of disobeying the imperial order, not to mention that Liu Tan was extremely powerful in the Northern Border Kingdom. Except for the emperor and the crown prince, no one could suppress him.

Gongshu Can was slightly stunned. To be honest, although he thought so in his heart and found an excuse for himself, if the Mohist School really came to him, he would not really put all the blame on Liu Tan, at least he did not dare to do so before.

Of course, the most important thing is that he has the confidence to compete with the Mohist School in the Northern Border Country. After all, the Gongshu family has taken root here.

Liu Tan had a habit of doing his best to publicize the court's achievements to the people whenever he did something beneficial to the people's livelihood, and he would also bring Gongshu Jia along with him.

Therefore, the people of the Northern Border Kingdom basically only knew about Gongshu School but not Mohism.

The Northern Kingdom is the loser’s home ground. How can they lose in their own home ground?

But Liu Tan never seemed to think of staying out of it, and even took the initiative to assume responsibility.

At this moment, Gongshu Can seemed to understand why so many people in the Northern Border Kingdom were so devoted to the King of the Northern Border.

Gongshu Can was full of energy: "Your Highness, please wait for a few days. I will make a model first."

Liu Tan patted him on the shoulder and said, "Time is tight and the task is heavy. I won't say anything else. Hurry up. Once this is finished, I'll give you a holiday."

Gongshu Can immediately said, "I am not afraid of being busy, but I am afraid of not being busy."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "Don't you want to see how the common people respond to your designs?"

Gongshu Can was slightly taken aback. Before he could say anything, Liu Tan said, "When the time comes, go out and explore. It's not feasible to work in isolation. Even if we think our work is perfect, it's only truly good when people who use it say it's good. Maybe you can get some inspiration then."

Gongshu Can suddenly understood and immediately bowed and said, "I understand."

Liu Tan waved his hand to let Gongshu Can leave. It must be said that after he got some idea about the cutter, he felt half relieved.

The other half is in wool production. It is not easy to manufacture a water-powered spinning wheel. The main problem is that not only does it require manufacturing a water-powered spinning wheel, but it also requires manufacturing a rotary waterwheel. These waterwheels are used to provide power for the water-powered spinning wheel. Both are large and difficult projects.

In addition, he also had to choose a place that was more suitable for building a workshop, because the water wheel of the water-powered spinning wheel was integrated with the spinning wheel, and it was impossible to place it directly by the river. The most important thing was that no one dared to place it by the river.

Mother Yellow River is so irritable. What if she gets angry and changes her course? Then the workshops by the river will be flooded, right?

The loss would be huge, so Liu Tan would rather open another canal to power the spinning wheel than take the risk.

However, because Xu Lin was very efficient, the construction of the dam required manpower and work could not be stopped once it started, so there were only a few months each year suitable for dam construction, but this was not the case for digging canals.

So recently Xu Lin did not continue to build the dam, but instead dug the necessary canals bit by bit.

It is also because of this that Liu Tan prefers to use the already dug canals.

There are not many places to choose from. First of all, it cannot be too far away from the pastures of the Western Regions, the Xiongnu, and the Northern Border Kingdom. Even if the Northern Border Kingdom is vigorously building roads, it can only replace all official roads with cement roads. Transportation is still somewhat difficult. If it is too far, the transportation cost will be too high, and the price of inferior wool cannot be lowered.

It cannot be too far away but must be close to the Yellow River, and preferably not far from the Central Plains, so that it will be easier to transport to other places.

Taking all these conditions into consideration, Liu Tan chose Wuwei County.

It just so happened that the county governors all came to report on their work during this period. On the one hand, it was a summary of the second quarter, and on the other hand, it was a mid-year summary, which was a summary of the various data from the first two quarters.

In the past, it would only take one person to come over to do the quarterly summary, but Liu Tan made a rule that the county governor must come in person to do the mid-year and year-end summaries.

So he went directly to find Zhang Chenghan, the prefect of Wuwei County.

Zhang Chenghan was a little nervous when he was called to the Northern Palace alone. After thinking about it, he didn't feel that he had done anything wrong. It can be said that he was trembling with fear. If you really want to compare him, he was probably like a student who was suddenly called to go to the head teacher's office.

It's just that his sense of crisis was much greater than that of the students. After all, the students would at most call their parents or something. But when it came to Zhang Chenghan, he deeply felt that if he didn't give a good answer, he might die in the Northern Palace.

So when Liu Tan saw Zhang Chenghan, he found that he was sweating profusely. He couldn't help but glance outside and asked curiously, "Is it hot outside? Why are you like this?"

Zhang Chenghan immediately said: "No, no, it's me...I'm weak..."

He didn't dare to say that the cold sweat was caused by fear, nor did he dare to say that it was caused by walking too fast and too anxiously, for fear that His Royal Highness the King of the North would mistakenly think that he was complaining, and then he would be in real trouble.

Liu Tan frowned slightly, looked at Zhang Chenghan's figure and said, "Then you must take care of yourself. I have important things for you to do. Come, show County Magistrate Zhang a seat."

Zhang Chenghan was suddenly startled when he heard this, and his emotions, which had been fluctuating just now, instantly calmed down a lot.

He had some understanding of His Royal Highness the King of the North. If the other party was really angry, there would be a storm when they met. There was no such thing as a smiling face hiding a knife.

What's more, given his status and position, it's not worth it for the King of the North to be so cruel.

So when the King of the North said he had something to tell him to do, it must be true.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chenghan immediately said: "Your Highness, if you give me any orders, I will go through fire and water and die for you!"

Liu Tan had a toothache on his face. "Alright, alright, sit down. I'm asking you to do something, not to die. There's no need to be so eager to show your loyalty."

Zhang Chenghan sat down carefully, but his body was still straight, and he looked as if he was ready to jump up at any time.

Seeing him like this, Liu Tan couldn't help but want to shake his head. He thought that he was not a particularly harsh person. As long as these people did not break the law and discipline and did things up to the standards he set, he would be easy to talk to. Now among these county magistrates, only Sang Qian and Kou Zhengda could be more natural in front of him.

But he didn't mind. Being intimidated wasn't a bad thing.

Liu Tan took out a document and handed it to the eunuch beside him, then said to Zhang Chenghan, "Take a look at this first."

Zhang Chenghan took the document with both hands, quickly flipped through it, and was instantly struck by a huge surprise. He stammered, "Your Highness...Your Highness wants to build a wool workshop? There are many suitable places in Wuwei. Your Highness can choose whatever you want!"

Zhang Chenghan has decided that no matter where Liu Tan chooses, he will support him. Even if there are fields and people there, he will find a way to vacate that place.

You have to know that what the King of the North wants to get is basically a treasure trove.

Forget about anything else. Look at Dunhuang County. It was once the poorest county in the Northern Territory, but in just a short time, its tax revenue has surpassed many counties, now seemingly second only to Taiyuan County. Kou Zhengda is no longer the gloomy and withered look he once was. His face is rosy and full of energy.

Not only that, he also heard vaguely that Kou Zhengda intended to rebuild the county seat of Dunhuang County.

Such a speed of development made other counties envious. They could not compare with Shuofang County. After all, the capital was here, so all the good things would definitely come from the capital first.

But Dunhuang County has reached its current level just by relying on Tongda City. It would be a lie to say that everyone doesn't feel jealous.

Wuwei County and Zhangye County are both on the way to Guanshi. Merchants from the Central Plains basically have to pass by them, but they do not have the ability to build Tongda City, and in the end they can only watch Dunhuang County make a fortune.

Wuwei County was relatively better off, after all, it was quite far from Dunhuang County, and the travelers coming and going provided it with some income. Zhangye County was a bit miserable, as it was right next to Dunhuang County. Many merchants would rather travel to Tongda City at night than stay in Zhangye County.

Therefore, the relationship between the prefects of Wuwei and Zhangye became particularly good, after all, they had similar experiences.

But now he is probably about to become rich.

After hearing what the Wuwei County Magistrate said, Liu Tan resisted the urge to roll his eyes: I think you want me to open a mine in Wuwei!

Of course, considering the situation in Wuwei County, it doesn't seem to be a strange thing to have a mine, but Liu Tan is not interested in it now. He just wants to build a workshop as soon as possible and provide Lu Xuan with more warm clothes.

So he simply said, "It's written on the request. Go find a few places. Be careful not to disturb the people or encroach on the crops. Otherwise, don't blame me for punishing you."

The prefect of Wuwei County suddenly broke out in a cold sweat again. You know, that's what he really thought just now.

After repeated assurances, the prefect of Wuwei County happily returned to the posthouse with the documents. As soon as he returned, he saw the prefect of Zhangye County with a sad face.

Seeing his radiant face, the Zhangye County Magistrate couldn't help but ask, "What does His Highness want to see you about?"

The Wuwei County Magistrate shook the document in his hand and said, "Great news! Your Highness is going to build a wool workshop in Wuwei County. Hahahahaha."

Zhangye County Magistrate: ???

It was agreed that the two countries on the Silk Road would hold hands. Whoever develops first will be the dog?