Chapter 288: Trying to shake people
Zhou Congguang really didn't brag. He said that the thing he made was almost done, but it was just a little bit short.
He worked at it intently for two days and finally succeeded. After he finished it, he fiddled with it contentedly for two hours, then got bored and threw it aside.
Steward Ye asked him, "Mr. Zhou, can I send this to Madam Qin Liu to take a look?"
Zhou Congguang waved his hand and let him take it away.
So, about a quarter of an hour later, a miniature hand-cranked dehydrator appeared in front of Lu Songli.
Lu Songli fiddled with it for a while and even asked someone to bring two or three wet clothes for testing. She found that the dehydration effect was acceptable, at least it was impossible to wring out the water manually. Of course, it was not as good as the dehydration effect of electric dehydrators in later generations.
The subordinates watched silently, thinking that although this thing was strange, it was useless. It was so hot now, and wet clothes would dry quickly after being hung out to dry.
"Come here, take this hand-cranked dehydrator to the warehouse, number it, and put it away."
It didn't matter if it wasn't useful now, she could wait until winter. Later she would set up a workshop and make more, and sell it in the prosperous Jiangnan region in winter. It would definitely sell well.
Manager Ye was the one who delivered this thing. After the thing was delivered, he wanted to leave.
Unexpectedly, he was stopped by Lu Songli, who told him something, "...Ask him if he can do this?" At the same time, he gave him a simple diagram.
This simple diagram shows a pedal thresher. Currently, harvested rice is threshed with a stone roller, which is very troublesome. This pedal thresher, which appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, was very useful in the pre-mechanized era.
In fact, it would be better for her to go in person so that it would be easier to explain, but she was really busy.
At this time, Zhan Ruoshui and Wei Wenqian rested in the house for half a day. After they had rested enough, the master and disciple strolled to the fourth courtyard in the north city.
It happened to be dinner time when they arrived, so Zhou Congguang invited them to eat.
At this time, Lü Mingzhi also asked someone to place his food in Zhou Congguang's yard, and he would arrive later.
Manager Ye had just returned from the County Magistrate's Mansion after visiting Madam Qin Liu. Seeing that there were two more people at Zhou Congguang's place, he quickly asked the kitchen to cook two more dishes.
"You eat so well?" Wei Wenqian counted their dishes. Each person had three dishes and a bowl of chicken soup!
Zhan Ruoshui also found something wrong. Although the food provided to them was very good, there was no stir-fried pork liver and chicken soup.
Zhou Congguang didn't think anything was wrong. "Yes, since I moved in, I've always had pork liver and chicken soup for lunch every day."
Realizing that their reaction was not right, Zhou Congguang realized belatedly, "Master, don't you have any?"
He asked Manager Ye, "What's going on?"
Steward Ye bowed slightly and replied, "Doctor Lu said that Mr. Zhou has a slight liver blood deficiency, which prevents him from properly nourishing his liver, tendons, and eyes. Therefore, we added this braised pork liver. Once Mr. Zhou's liver blood deficiency improves, we'll switch to another dish."
Zhan Ruoshui looked at Zhou Congguang and asked, "Have you seen a doctor? What's wrong with you?"
"Master Zhan, don't worry. Doctor Lu is here just to give Engineer Zhou and Engineer Lu a routine checkup. This kind of checkup happens every six months. Any problems found will be addressed promptly."
Zhan Ruoshui and Wei Wenqian didn't know what to say. His disciple/senior brother was treated so well.
Because there were still two dishes to be served and Lu Mingzhi had not arrived yet, the three masters and apprentices had not started eating yet.
Manager Ye simply took out the simple things that Madam Qin Liu had given him and said, "Mr. Zhou, Madam Qin Liu wants to make something. Can you take a look and see if you can make it?"
Zhou Congguang took the diagram and said, "Let me see."
Manager Ye relayed Lu Songli's description of the foot-operated harvester.
Zhan Ruoshui and Wei Wenqian also listened attentively. In fact, Zhan Ruoshui was not good at mechanical things. He was good at the fusion and collision of objects. In fact, to use the words of later generations, he was good at chemistry.
After listening to his description, Zhou Congguang nodded and said, "This shouldn't be difficult to do. Let me think about it."
Lu Mingzhi also came over at this time.
Then Zhou Congguang announced that dinner was ready! He had been using his hands and brain all day, and his stomach was already empty.
"Master, I want to write a letter to my fellow disciples!" After dinner, Zhou Congguang announced that he was very happy.
Let’s share the blessing and come to Liaodong County together.
People like them are always looked down upon in the academy for not studying hard. Not only do they indulge in pleasure, but they also squander their wealth.
Now there is a place like Liaodong County, which is perfect for them.
Not only was he happy alone, he also wanted to invite his fellow disciples to join him.
In short, it’s about shaking people’s hands.
He is so smart!
Later, someone found them and tried to persuade them to rebel, saying that Lu Songli was being so generous to them and was completely taking advantage of them.
She was also despised by Zhou Congguang and others. She took care of their food, clothing, housing and transportation, and even their families. In the end, she only asked for the products they experimented with. How can this be called exploitation?
When they were being criticized for wasting money and wasting their time on material things, she provided them with all the materials they needed for their experiments. She never mentioned how expensive these materials were, nor did she argue with them.
They were like worms that had been cared for until they were plump and white. She simply took them away, pulled them out, and raked them to make money. If this was exploitation, it was just waste recycling.
Before arriving in Liaodong County, this group of people, from the master to the disciples, were all penniless. Later, each of them became wealthy, if not fabulously wealthy. If this meant being exploited, they were willing to accept it.
Seeing how understanding Senior Brother Zhou was, Lu Mingzhi thought that his second sister must like people like Senior Brother Zhou very much.
Looking at the disciple's beaming face, Master Zhan and another disciple exchanged a glance. Was he really that happy? Seeing him like this, what would they do if they felt itchy?
Master Zhan himself is a person who likes to tinker around. He is curious about the collision and reaction between objects. Otherwise, he would not have been able to bring up so many disciples who like to tinker around like this.
Lu Mingzhi was good at reading people's expressions, so he immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Master, my second sister asked me to do something, but I don't understand something. Can you help me? Brother Wei, can you also help me?"
In fact, what Lu Songli gave him was the research on woodblock printing.
"Okay, then we'll go to your yard and take a look."
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