Chapter 522 Listen to what the people of Sui'an have to say
For several days in a row, Cheng Wanwan stayed in her room reading.
The most abundant items in her online store's storage room were books. The four large bookshelves were filled with all kinds of agricultural classics. She would browse through them almost every day, but she had only read less than a tenth of them. And the books on these shelves were only one ten-millionth of the total number of books in the online store.
It's impossible for her to finish reading it all by herself.
Perhaps, we could build a library...
This matter can indeed be discussed with Master Yu, but there are other more important things to do right now.
After reading for a few days, Cheng Wanwan had a clear idea of what was going on, so she called over Lord Zou and the others to have tea and discuss matters.
"This is a floor plan of the human-powered tipper," Cheng Wanwan said, placing a clear drawing on the table. "What ideas do you all have?"
The adults examined it carefully. In fact, the human-powered tippler was first invented in the palace. It was used by the emperor to sprinkle water when he went out to ensure that there was no dust. After many years of development, it was gradually applied to agriculture. However, it was complicated to make and expensive, and only the estates of the wealthy could afford to use it.
After looking at it for a long time, Lord Zou still couldn't see anything strange. He turned to look at Lord Li, since Lord Li was in charge of irrigation canals.
Under the watchful eyes of several pairs of eyes, Lord Li carefully said, "The waterwheel uses human power to drive the chain wheel to draw water up from the lower ground, solving the problem of irrigation for dry land. A standard waterwheel is about twelve feet long, but if you want to irrigate more land, you can make it longer..."
Cheng Wanwan listened patiently to him finish speaking before saying, "Making it longer means requiring more manpower. Moreover, if the overturning vehicle is made too long, it will be difficult for the legs to reach down, and the water below may not be able to be successfully drawn up. But that's not the main point. The main point is that the longer it is, the higher the cost, which ordinary people at the bottom cannot afford."
Lord Zou understood what he meant: "Do the people of Sui'an have some good ideas?"
"I have a somewhat immature idea," Cheng Wanwan said calmly. "You gentlemen have all seen windmills, right? When the wind blows, it turns, and as long as the wind keeps blowing, the windmill doesn't stop either, without requiring any manpower. If we were to make a windmill-shaped cart, well, the wind might not be strong enough to move it. However, we could replace the wind with something else, like... well, I can't think of anything for now. Do you gentlemen have any good ideas?"
Everyone present was stunned.
They all knew about windmills, but they never thought they could be associated with irrigation tools.
After being reminded by the people of Sui'an, it was as if a small opening had been made in their minds, and some wonderful ideas popped out.
Lord Zou suddenly stood up: "When I went to Jiangnan, I saw a large water-powered spinning wheel. It uses water flow to turn the spinning wheel, which does not require human or animal power, saving a lot of costs... People of Sui'an, can we also use water power?"
Lord Li's eyes lit up: "I understand, I get it! Listening to a word from a Sui'an native is better than reading ten years of books!"
Lord Yu said, "But if we make the straight tippler into the shape of a windmill, the cost will only be higher, and the common people at the bottom of society will probably be even more unable to afford it."
“If we can successfully build a water-powered waterwheel, it will be able to draw a large amount of water, which means that it can irrigate more fields, perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands of acres. Maybe two or three would be enough for a village. If the whole village pools its money and it is divided among each household, it won’t be much.” Cheng Wanwan took a sip of tea. “I’m just a woman and I don’t know exactly how to do it. Whether it will work or not depends on you gentlemen.”
Lord Li was filled with excitement: "People of Sui'an, rest assured, I will do my best to make it happen and live up to your hard work these past few days!"
He rushed off to prepare.
Cheng Wanwan asked Zhao Dashan to ask Old Man Zhao for help. To do this kind of thing, theory and practice must be combined. No matter how perfect the idea is, it's all for nothing if you can't do it. With Old Man Zhao's help to come up with some ideas, this matter can be implemented as soon as possible.
For the next period of time, the adults stayed indoors, engrossed in their research.
All Cheng Wanwan could do was visit them occasionally. If they encountered a bottleneck, she would "casually" offer some pointers. After they suddenly understood, she would "retire successfully." As long as the farm tools could be made, she didn't care who got the credit.
In early February, as the winter chill gradually faded, news came from Madam Lin.
“People from Sui’an, I finally have the face to come and see you.” Madam Lin smiled easily. “After I wrote to the capital at the beginning of the Lunar New Year, my aunt had great respect for people from Sui’an. When she heard that Young Master Cheng was a nephew of someone from Sui’an, she immediately started making arrangements. Not long ago, the Lin family held a flower viewing banquet and invited some young ladies from the capital. My aunt met with the elders of two or three of these ladies, and after they expressed interest, she arranged for the children to meet them.”
Cheng Wanwan's gossipy nature was piqued, and she listened with great interest.
She knew this was a matchmaking event between aristocratic families in ancient times. Of course, it wasn't a private meeting, but rather an arrangement where elders were present, and the two children were brought together under some pretext to exchange a few words. This way, they could usually get a general idea of each other's relationship.
"One is the illegitimate daughter of a third-rank official. Although she is born out of wedlock, she is registered under her stepmother's name. She is well-educated, sensible, and charming, and is my aunt's favorite choice. Another is the eldest legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official. She is incredibly beautiful. Not only is she beautiful, but she is also very capable. She manages many of the household affairs. The last one is the third legitimate daughter of a fifth-rank official. She is a little younger, only fifteen this year. She has a lively personality and always has a smile on her face, making her very likable."
At this point, Madam Lin paused, then asked, "People of Sui'an, guess who was mentioned last?"
Cheng Wanwan actually started guessing.
Although the first one is a concubine's daughter, she was born into a prominent family of the third rank, which is somewhat too high a status for Zhao'er at present.
The second and third daughters were both legitimate daughters. To some extent, the second eldest legitimate daughter was more in line with the elders' requirements for a daughter-in-law. However, being the eldest daughter meant being sensible, and Zhao'er was also sensible. Living together with two sensible people would be rather dull.
She began, “If it’s for the sake of future harmony in the family, Zhao’er might be willing to betrothed to the eldest daughter of a fourth-rank family… Madam Lin also knows that Zhao’er comes from a poor background and has many impoverished relatives. Only a capable daughter-in-law can keep those country folk who don’t understand the rules of the capital in check. But if you ask who Zhao’er would fall for, I think it would be the lively and cheerful Third Miss.”
“The people of Sui’an really know their nephew well,” Madam Lin said with a smile. “After Young Master Cheng met the three young ladies, my aunt knew he was interested in the third young lady, because, you know, even such a proper person as Young Master Cheng was amused… Later, my aunt had a private chat with him, hinting that he should choose a mistress who would be more beneficial to his future career, but Young Master Cheng refused. He said that his second aunt hoped he would find a woman he truly loved, and he hoped that the person standing beside him would be his beloved, not someone he married for some ulterior motive, as that would be unfair to that woman.”
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "Zhao'er is just that kind of person. He will get what he wants through his own abilities, not by relying on the person next to him in bed."
This is why she has always admired Zhao'er. She helped him without expecting anything in return, but rather hoped that he would stand on his own stage and shine with his own light.
However, a person who leaves the countryside carries enormous pressure, and the Cheng family is the pressure Zhao'er will carry for the rest of her life.
I wonder if Miss Situ can handle it.
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