After breakfast, Han Dashenzi, in a very good mood, strolled around the tribe and came to a place not far from the kitchen.
Wells are being dug here now.
As the well diggers continued to work, the well had been dug more than two meters and was nearly three meters deep.
The newly excavated soil can no longer be thrown out directly with a shovel. Someone is needed to pull it out with ropes and hoes.
Han Cheng was not unfamiliar with digging wells, mainly because when he was a child, the government in his area took the initiative to implement a well-digging policy.
It seems that every family is required to dig a well, and each well is subsidized with 100 yuan.
One hundred yuan at that time was not a small amount of money. For a farmer who had almost no other source of income except farming, it was a lot.
As a result, every family in the village started digging wells, and Han Cheng's family was no exception.
I remember that year we were growing mushrooms at home and we were very busy, but my father still dug a well at home.
The policy of promoting well digging is really an excellent policy.
Before wells were dug, there were hundreds of people in the village, but only three wells in total.
What Han Cheng remembers most clearly is that as soon as the roosters crowed in the morning and the sky was just beginning to darken, the people in his family had already gotten up, carrying buckets and ropes to the well at the entrance of the village to fetch water and bring it home.
You can't go too late, because if you go too late there will be no water in the well.
There were a few times when we got up late and there was no water in the well, but the family was waiting for water for cooking. My father would take a ladle and a bucket and step on the edge of the well to go down into the well. He would use the ladle to "scrape" two buckets of muddy well water with sand and bring it back, and then use it for cooking after it was clarified.
As for the water for the cows to drink, it was carried back from a big pit in the village.
Later, every household dug a well, and they no longer had to get up early in the morning to rush for water. Using water became much more convenient, and people became much more relaxed.
When Han Cheng grew up, he once asked his father why the villagers didn't know how to dig wells at home and relied on the three ancient wells for water.
The answer I got was that at that time people thought digging a well was extremely difficult and that one had to dig a long way down before water would come out.
When we actually started digging, we found that digging a well was much easier than we had imagined.
For example, the well in Han Cheng's home has water coming out when it is only a little over three meters deep.
If we had known that digging wells was so easy, we would have started digging long ago, even without subsidies.
This is what Han Cheng heard from his father more than once.
Standing beside the well being dug and recalling the past, Han Cheng couldn't help but sniff.
It sounds easy to dig a well, but sometimes it is not that easy, such as encountering a rock layer when digging downwards...
This is really a headache.
Filling it up and starting over in another place would be a waste of time, but if I don't start over, this stone slab is really a headache.
Fortunately, the fertilizer called ammonium nitrate was still being produced and sold at that time. I bought some sulfur and other things, set up a broken iron pot in the yard, and burned some fire underneath, and I could make homemade explosives myself. (I don't know how other places do it, but we use an iron pot to stir and mix and stir. I have seen it with my own eyes, but it is not very safe. I heard that there were people who collapsed the house because of the frying.)
With the help of detonators and fuses obtained from the stone mining factory, the rocks in the well below can be blown up.
Of course, this process is somewhat thrilling and problems can easily occur if not handled properly.
For example, Han Cheng's second uncle's family, who lived next door to him, did not choose the right thing to cover the well when they were blasting the rocks in the well.
As a result, after the cannon was fired, the oxcart board used to cover the wellhead was directly blown to pieces, and some flying rocks fell on Han Cheng's house, smashing several tiles.
This is why Han Cheng sniffed.
In that era, there was ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and you could also buy sulfur and charcoal. After mixing them with earth explosives, you could deal with the rock layers encountered in the well.
It would be very frustrating if our tribe encountered a layer of stone when digging a well downwards.
Although I remember how to make it, I have no saltpeter or sulfur, so charcoal is useless.
It is also because of this that Han Cheng is feeling rather uneasy at the moment. He always comes here for a walk whenever he has time, hoping that the well will produce water sooner and not encounter any rock layers.
Otherwise, depending on the tribe's current conditions, once they encounter a problem, they will most likely have to refill the wells they have dug very deep, and then choose another place to dig, and try their luck.
"Alright! Pull!"
After watching here for a while, a sound came from the well.
After hearing the sound, the people guarding the wellhead began to grab the rope and pull it up with all their strength. The rope was stretched taut.
After a while, the basket filled with soil came to the ground.
When the people on top are pulling the auger up, the people in the well should stand on one side, close to the well wall, and try not to stand under the auger, to prevent mud or the entire auger filled with mud from falling and hitting people.
The person above put the hoe filled with soil at a place far away from the wellhead, removed the rope with a hook from the curved handle of the hoe, hooked another empty hoe, and lowered it down.
After doing all this, the man carried the basket filled with soil to another place, poured the soil pulled out of the well into a low-lying area in the yard, spread it out, and stomped it down with his feet.
It is not easy to pull the soil up one scoop at a time. Now the well is not deep enough, so it is still easier. But when the well is deeper, it will be even more difficult to pull the soil up.
After standing here and watching for a while, Han Cheng remembered a simple tool that was often used in conjunction with wells: a windlass.
Han Cheng had seen things like windlasses before, but not very many.
This is mainly because, after every household in their area started digging wells, a better and more convenient water-drawing device than the windlass appeared.
This water-drawing device is called "well pressure" there.
Because of the use of the lever principle, it is very easy to draw water from a well pressure. You only need one hand and not much effort to pump water out of the well. It is much faster than using a faucet.
Moreover, there is a prerequisite for installing a well pressure device made of pig iron and rubber, which is that a well platform higher than the ground needs to be built above the wellhead and a relatively heavy cover needs to be placed on it.
In this way, not only can dust and other things be prevented from falling into the well, but there is also no need to worry about children at home accidentally falling into the well.
Therefore, the windlass, a tool that had been used for many years to draw water from wells, was soon eliminated.
However, what would be considered obsolete in later generations is undoubtedly a powerful weapon in this era.
At least until the tribe is able to produce a tool for drawing water called a "well pressure", the windlass, a simple, practical and inexpensive water-drawing tool, will not be eliminated.
It is really not easy to make something like a well pressure in the tribe. As for pig iron casting, it is still possible to make it once we find high-quality coal and iron ore, build blast furnaces, develop steel smelting technology, and further improve casting technology.
However, the rubber sheet covering the hole below is really a headache. Perhaps you need to sail far away in a small boat to find some of it, and then there is a long list of technical problems that need to be solved.
Therefore, the technology tree is not something you can just click on if you want to, nor is it something you can just do if you know how to make it. If you don't even have the raw materials, what's the point of knowing more? You'll just be staring blankly.
Instead of thinking about something unrealistic, it is better to first develop some tools that can be put into practical use and improve productivity based on existing conditions.
It is always faster to ride a donkey to find a good horse than to walk on your own two legs.
Han Cheng naturally knew this principle, so after standing here for a while, he simply returned to his room to find paper and pen to draw the windlass.
The structure of a windlass is very simple. You can think of it as an enlarged version of the key to a four-wheeled vehicle that looks very cool when hung around the waist.
The only difference is that the part that is placed inside the front of the car and used to rock the car is longer, and the middle part is a cylinder that is many times thicker.
This is because if the part of the windlass used to wrap the rope is thicker, more well rope can be wrapped around it in the same circle, and the bucket can be pulled out faster.
The structure of the windlass is simple, and after repeated "training", Han Dashenzi's painting skills have improved significantly, so Han Cheng did not spend too much effort to sketch it out, and then took it to find Bo, the master craftsman.
Under Han Cheng's instructions, the second senior brother used meteorite iron to make saws, plane blades and other things specially used by carpenters.
Today, the carpenter's room has a complete set of tools made from meteorite iron.
The people in the carpenter's room, led by Bo, have not yet recovered from the excitement of obtaining the meteorite tools. Every day when they walk into the carpenter's room and see the meteorite tools inside, they can't help but get excited as if they were given a shot of chicken blood. The morale boosting effect is simply too good.
When Han Cheng walked in, several people were still busy working inside.
Even if there is not much work to do, in order to use more of the extremely handy and convenient meteorite tools, people will try their best to find some work to do.
So, when they saw Han Cheng walk in with a blueprint, Bo and others seemed extremely excited.
Because this not only means that they have new things to make, but also means that they have more opportunities to use meteorite tools.
Han Cheng handed the drawing in his hand to Bo, who looked at it carefully. The other carpenters also came over to watch. The carpentry room, which was full of clanging, became quiet.
"Do you understand?"
After a while, Han Cheng saw Bo raised his head and asked with a smile.
"Don't worry, Son of God, I can definitely do it!"
Lame now has the demeanor of a master craftsman, with the confidence that the best craftsman of the Qingque tribe should have. When he heard the Son of God asking the question, he patted his chest to make a reassurance.
A person's temperament can be cultivated, and it also has a lot to do with the position he or she is in.
For example, Bo became the best person in the tribe in carpentry and weaving. After his status in the tribe was greatly improved, Bo's whole temperament became different.
He is no longer the timid and cautious person he used to be, who didn't dare to look things in the eye.
Instead, I became more confident and walked with my back straight.
If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have dared to push his spouse away a few days ago.
"That's good. You can make it as soon as possible, and then you can put it on the well.
But the piece of wood used as the axle must be made of solid wood, otherwise it will break when you are lifting water."
Han Cheng dealt with Lame with a smile.
The windlass he saw in later generations had an iron rod as the middle axis, and the overall structure was very similar to the crank handle of a diesel-powered four-wheeled or three-wheeled vehicle, which was inserted into a piece of round wood that was not as long as the three-wheeled vehicle.
However, the tribe did not have large iron sticks, so they had to use wood instead.
Fortunately, the amount of water that can be lifted at one time using a windlass is not particularly large. The water jars used by the tribe can only hold 40 to 50 kilograms at a time, and cannot hold more. Therefore, it is also possible to use strong wood as the load-bearing axis inside.
Bo nodded vigorously, indicating that he understood what the Son of God meant, and then he started working with the meteorite tools.
First, he found a very solid piece of wood that was as thick as an adult's arm, measured its length, and left a mark on the thinner end. Then he asked Mao Er to use the meteorite saw to cut it along the mark.
And he does the rest.
This kind of wood, which they called copper wood, was really very solid. Even though he used a saw made of meteorite iron, it still took Cat Ear a long time to cut the wood, which was about the size of an adult's arm.
Han Cheng picked up the section of copper wood that was about 30 centimeters long and fell to the ground and held it in his hand.
It is very heavy to the hand, much heavier than ordinary trees.
Moreover, at the cut end, there are circles of fine annual rings.
These fine annual rings are almost closely packed together, much denser than those of fast-growing trees such as poplar and paulownia, where the distance between two annual rings can be two or three centimeters.
Han Cheng roughly counted and found that there were forty-three circles on the copper wood which was as thick as his arm.
In other words, this seemingly inconspicuous animal has been alive for forty-three years.
No wonder it's so solid.
Han Cheng sighed like this, and reached out to touch the annual rings that were exposed due to the truncation, which felt somewhat warm.
This was rubbed by a saw not long ago.
After Mao'er cut the copper wood, he peeled off all the skin on it under Bo's order and chopped off some of the bumps with an axe.
After cutting, use a small plane to plane it smooth.
As time goes by, the minor who was embarrassed and cried because he couldn't draw the lines properly has grown into a carpenter who is second only to Lame in the Qingque tribe.
However, the inkstone that Han Cheng had made had cracked after being used for a long time.
Moreover, with the improvement of craftsmanship, the tribe later made more and more exquisite ink fountains, but Mao Er was reluctant to throw away the ink fountain that looked rough, cracked and unusable.
It was treasured by Mao'er and placed at the innermost part of the kang where he slept, level with the place where his head rested.
When he went to sleep, as long as he turned his head, he would see the inkstone and remember what happened.
He was able to persevere in practicing his craft and reach the second place in the Qingque tribe. This inkstone and the words that the Son of God said to him played an extremely important role.
When working overtime to practice his craft, there were many times when Mao Er felt that he was too tired and thought that maybe he didn't need to work so hard. He could take more rest like other people who were learning the carpentry craft.
But he never did.
That inkstone and the words that the Son of God once said to him made Mao Er persevere.
After practicing his craft day after day for a long time, when he looked back, Mao Er suddenly realized that he had come a long way.
Those who learned carpentry earlier than me, and those who were more talented than me in this area, were surpassed by me unknowingly and left far behind.
A person's life is both long and short.
In this life, you will meet many people and experience many things, but there are some things that can only be done alone, and some roads that can only be walked alone.
Tasting loneliness alone, bearing the pressure and pain on the way forward, and going through the hardships, when looking back, people often feel proud of their persistence at that time.
I am grateful that I did not stop or give up halfway, but persisted all the way.
Often, when this state occurs, it is also the time when a person grows the fastest and makes the greatest progress.
After Mao'er had made the copper and wooden shaft, Bo and some other people also made the outer cylinder.
Pass the copper wood axis through the middle of the log, find the right position, mark it with a pen, and then pull the copper wood out from the middle.
Then, Bo and Mao'er, according to the marks made before, used axes and chisels to drill holes on the copper-wooden shaft and the cylinder outside.
Bronze wood was too strong, so Bo used a meteorite axe and chisel.
Cat ears use bronze axes and chisels.
As for the other carpenters, they started making wooden nails with axes and other tools, helping Bo and Mao'er.
After a while of clinking sounds, the copper-wooden shaft and the holes on the outside were all drilled.
Bo and the others once again inserted the copper-wood axle into the log with a diameter of about 20 centimeters, and after a slight adjustment, made sure the holes on the two were aligned.
Then Lame took a wooden nail and inserted it, nailing it firmly with an axe.
The excess part of the wooden nail is chopped off with an axe so that it is flush with the outer cylinder.
After several circles of wooden nails are fixed in place, the outer round log is firmly connected to the copper-wooden shaft.
Just install an L-shaped handle and the main body of the windlass is complete.
"Make some wooden boards two centimeters thick and four centimeters wide, and cut them to the same length as the cylinder on the windlass.
After the pulley is brushed with tung oil, add a piece of oil every two centimeters or so, fix it slightly, and then use strong rattan to divide it into three or five parts, tie it tightly, and then brush the whole body with tung oil again. "
Seeing that everyone had already done these, Han Cheng, who was standing aside, spoke out and gave new orders.
He had not drawn these things on the drawings before.
It’s not that he wanted to learn the skills of his cat, but because when he was painting, he didn’t think of the use of these things.
Now, he has figured out that these wooden boards tied tightly outside are used to prevent that section of log from cracking and becoming unusable.
With this outer layer of separated and bundled wooden boards, even if the logs inside are really cracked, it will not affect the use of the windlass.
Moreover, with the addition of this layer of wood about two centimeters thick, the overall pulley will become thicker and the rope can be wound faster.
After understanding Han Cheng's meaning, the lame guys immediately started to do as he said.
These tasks were simple, and since there were many people involved, they could divide the work, so after a while, they were done.
While these were being made, another person also made the frame to support the windlass.
It's very simple, just two sets of wooden sticks tied together crosswise to form an X shape.
It’s just that the intersection point needs to be higher. The most important thing to note is that the heights of the intersection points of the two sets of shelves must be the same.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if the heights are different. When fixing them, just bury the higher side a little deeper underground.
Tung oil is very different from paint. After paint is applied, you must never touch it before it dries. But if it is tung oil, it does not matter as long as you don't mind getting some tung oil on your hands.
Therefore, under the operation of a few people who wanted to see the effect of the windlass earlier, the windlass that had just been painted with tung oil was placed on the well in the kitchen.
Find a strong and long hemp rope, tie it firmly to the windlass, stir the windlass to wrap the rope around the windlass, and then you can put it into use.
Tie the bucket loaded with soil to the rope wrapped around the windlass, then throw your hand, and under the action of gravity, the bucket will fall into the well.
At the same time, the windlass is rotated rapidly with the rope until the plunger reaches the bottom of the well, and then the windlass stops rotating.
"Alright! Pull!"
After a while, the sound of soil being loaded came from below.
The man who was pulling the soil before seemed a little excited as he held the handle of this new tool and stirred it in circles, and the rope was wrapped around the windlass.
After a while, a basket filled with soil appeared above the wellhead.
The man held the windlass handle with one hand and stretched out his other hand to pull it out of the well, then took off the rope.
After completing this set of actions, the man's face turned red.
It's not because I'm too excited about using new tools, but because I'm tired!
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