Chapter 43

Early in the morning, Lin Shuge hurriedly bought a piece of butter cake from a roadside stall and ate it while walking. On the way, he met Zhou Du, who looked listless.

"What's wrong with you?" Lin Shuge wiped his hands with paper.

These papers are a batch of new straw papers made by Wanjia. They are soft in texture. Although not as good as modern toilet papers, they have made Lin Shuge feel extremely happy.

After all, in ancient times, only those who went to the toilet knew about it.

Zhou Du took a bite of the cake, looking hopeless, "My family is trying to find a marriage for me, and they took turns to help me last night so I slept for two hours."

"How old are you? Why are you getting married?" As soon as Lin Shuge said this, he suddenly remembered that people in ancient times got married early.

"It's not too early. Most men in my dynasty get married at my age. My mother wants me to find someone suitable this year and then get married when I find one."

"What about you? What do you think?" Lin Shuge asked.

"Me? What can I think? It's my parents' order and the matchmaker's words. I just hope that the girl is smart and gentle, and best of all, good-looking." Zhou Du had a silly smile on his face.

Lin Shuge looked disgusted and said, "You'd better stop causing trouble for the young lady."

"You're still talking about me. You're one year older than me, and you're still not single. Aren't you anxious?"

Lin Shuge was calm and composed, "No rush."

He is a modern man, and a single man who is about to graduate from graduate school, so he is naturally not in a hurry.

"That's true. No one dares to urge you, but Magistrate Li never mentioned it to you." Zhou Du thought that Lin Shuge's parents were both deceased and he was the eldest son in the family. He had never heard that he had any elders in the family, so naturally no one would worry about these things for him.

Lin Shuge held the paper and whispered, "I did, but I refused."

Zhou Du became interested and asked, "Tell me, how did you refuse?"

“I say…” Lin Shuge deliberately dragged out his tone.

"What? Tell me quickly." Zhou Du said angrily.

"I say, how can we have a family if the Huns are not yet destroyed?" After saying this, regardless of Zhou Du's reaction, he slipped straight into the county government office.

Zhou Du repeated, "The Xiongnu has not been destroyed yet, how can...Lin Huaiting, you actually use the words of the former champion marquis to evade me, you...you wait for me."

Zhou Du chased after him and saw that Lin Shuge had stopped and was looking straight at several things with his eyes shining and an excited expression.

"What are you looking at? What is this?"

Lin Shuge was looking at the curved plow and wooden barrel cart that had already been made.

The craftsman's work was extremely delicate, perfectly recreating the real object in Lin Shuge's memory.

The dark-faced craftsman standing nearby whispered, "Sir, I have already made it according to what you said, but there are some problems that may require testing in the field to answer."

Lin Shuge was very excited. "You have done a great job. Wait for me to send someone to conduct the experiment. If it succeeds, I will ask the county magistrate to reward you immediately."

The craftsman bowed and saluted, "Thank you, sir."

Lin Shuge waved to the officer on duty at the door and said, "Go and ask the county magistrate to come over."

The officers took the order and went to invite him.

When Magistrate Li heard that the farm tools had been made, he trotted over excitedly. Lin Shuge could hear Magistrate Li's voice from afar.

“Did you really make it?”

As soon as he came in, he saw the curved plow and the drum cart standing in the courtyard of the county government. "They are so exquisitely made. Come on, move them to the field and try them out."

County Magistrate Lin rubbed his hands excitedly, "Shuge, if this really works, it will be a great merit."

"Come on, let's go and take a look together."

On the ridges of the fields, Lin Shuge and Magistrate Li watched anxiously as the farmers used the curved plow to plow the land.

These farmers hired local skilled workers, otherwise no one could afford to compensate if the curved plow was damaged.

I saw the farmer holding the plow, turning the plow disc, and operating the plow frame easily. After a while, he plowed a ridge of land, and then turned around flexibly to continue plowing the land.

"It can even turn?" Magistrate Li asked in shock.

Lin Shuge looked at the leveled land after the curved plow was used and found that it was indeed much easier and less labor-intensive than before.

Done.

"Let's try the irrigation wheel again." County Magistrate Li was very happy and planned to press on with his victory and try the irrigation tool again.

The wheelbarrow required water to be used. The officers took Lin Shuge and others to find a field with a stream next to it. The craftsmen cooperated with the farmers to arrange the field. The water from the stream turned the wheel, and the buckets on the wheel were filled with water one by one, so that the buckets installed on the wheel automatically scooped water, and the water was evenly spread on the field.

The seeds had just been sown in the fields, and when water was sprinkled on the fields, it immediately seeped into the water and moistened the fields.

Everyone cheered. County Magistrate Li grabbed Lin Shuge's hand and said excitedly, "Shuge, it really worked."

Lin Shuge's heart surged with emotion. He smiled and said, "Sir, this will make it much more convenient for farmers to irrigate water."

He glanced at the craftsman standing next to him and said, "Sir, don't forget the reward from the craftsman."

County Magistrate Li was delighted and waved his hand, "Reward, a huge reward."

Lin Shuge suggested: "Sir, the craftsmen are really skilled. Why not recruit them into the county government? We will need them in the future."

Especially the craftsman with a dark face, he must be taken into official service.

Magistrate Li thought for a moment. Anyway, the county government had money because of the taxes paid by merchants. These people made the curved plow and the barrel cart. This was a great achievement and it would not cost much to use them.

Moreover, there are many fields in the county, and one barrel cart is not enough, let alone a curved plow. This group of craftsmen are of great use. When Envoy Wei sees that Ganzhou County has already built one, he may even ask Ganzhou to borrow craftsmen.

After he figured it out, he said, "Let them serve as your subordinates." There was no need for others anyway.

Lin Shuge bowed in thanks. This way, if he had any other ideas, he could just tell them to do it.

By the way, I still don’t know what this person’s name is?

The craftsmen were very happy at the moment, for they had made new farm tools, and the county magistrate even said that he would reward them greatly.

The scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, their status was just higher than that of the merchants, but they could not make as much money as the merchants, and their lives were quite hard. No matter what reward the county magistrate gave them, it was a windfall. After all, the drawings were given by the county commissioner, and they just made them according to the drawings.

Only the dark-faced craftsman was watching the irrigating wheel coming out to irrigate the farmland. Lin Shuge walked over and asked, "You don't look happy?"

The craftsman said respectfully: "I just admire your thoughtfulness."

Lin Shuge said directly: "The county magistrate has agreed to let you work as minor clerks in the county government. You will be my subordinates in the future."

"Thank you, sir." His expression remained unchanged and he bowed to express his gratitude.

The other craftsmen heard what Lin Shuge said and whispered to each other.

"Such a good thing actually happened. I am now a government employee."

"Does that mean we can have a monthly salary to support our family?"

"I'll go back and tell my wife, I..."

Lin Shuge listened to the voices of other craftsmen and looked at someone in front of him with a normal expression.

"What's your name and where are you from?"

The craftsman looked at him in surprise and said softly, "I am from Xiangli Valley, from Nanxiang."

"Xiangli?" Lin Shuge exclaimed in surprise, causing County Magistrate Li to look back at him.

"Is your ancestor Qin Mo?" he asked tentatively.

Xiangli is a branch of Mohism. "Since the death of Mozi, there has been Xiangli's Mohism, Xiangfu's Mohism, and Dengling's Mohism."

In the pre-Qin period, Confucianism and Mohism were both prominent schools of thought. However, after the death of their founders, both schools split, and Confucianism was divided into eight factions.

After the death of Mozi, the leader of Mohism, the Mohist school was directly divided into three factions. The Mohism of Deng Ling was the Chu Mohism. Most of the Chu Mohists were knights-errant who inherited the Mohist philosophy of non-aggression, disliked wars, and liked to be chivalrous and righteous. Xiangfu's Mohist school is Qi Mohist, who was good at debate. However, it is not difficult to understand why Qi State had the Jixia Academy.

The Qin Mohists were the most pragmatic faction of the Mohist school, good at technological inventions, and had helped the Qin State defend the city by manufacturing many siege weapons.

However, the three schools of Mohism gradually disappeared with the progress of history. Lin Shuge was overjoyed that he met the descendants of Qin Mo here.

As expected, Xiangli Gu was silent for a while, then replied, "My ancestors were indeed from the Xiangli clan, but after the war, the descendants were scattered, and my branch also moved to the northwest before settling down."

He had a guilty look on his face. "I am ashamed. The craftsmanship passed down by my ancestors has been reduced to nothing in my generation. When I saw the drawings you drew, I was astonished. I would like to ask where your master was?"

Lin Shuge was a little embarrassed to show off his skills in front of professionals, "I once dreamed of a strange man, who taught me a book..."

At that time, many people worshipped the Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and supernatural things, so Lin Shuge could only make up stories about them.

Xiang Li Gu immediately bowed down and said, "Sir, I understand. I am willing to follow you and obey your orders from now on."

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "That's not necessary. I only know a little bit. I will have to rely on you for any ideas in the future."

Xiangli Gu was surprised. Does the lord mean that there will be such magical devices in the future?

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and just nodded.

"Okay, let's find a few more places to try. If they can all be used, you'll have something to do."

"Sir, if it is really feasible, we are willing to serve as servants to the benefit of the people."

Most of the Mohists came from poor backgrounds. Their founders’ philosophy was non-aggression and universal love, and they believed in working for the benefit of the people.

Lin Shuge nodded and smiled at him, “That’s what you said.”

He took Xiangli Gu to see Magistrate Li, who was happily asking the craftsmen and farmers to run the water wheel again. Looking at the water being spread on the fields, Magistrate Li was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

"Sir, I want to try other places." After all, the terrain in the northwest is complicated. Trying more places may help us adapt to local conditions and get unexpected surprises.

County Magistrate Li said happily, "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Lin Shuge then took Xiang Ligu and other craftsmen to try a few more places and found that the drum wheel was running normally, which meant it was fully ready for use.

With a wave of his hand, he gave the craftsmen a raise and asked them to work overtime to make more. The curved plow was easy to make, but the drum cart was complicated and time-consuming. However, the spring ploughing in Ganzhou County this year would be promising.