Liu Tan had never thought that the dam could be built so quickly. He had recently read a lot of information about the construction of dikes in the past. In that era, building dikes was a very large project that required a lot of manpower and material resources, not to mention that they also needed to dig canals to bring water into the inner lake.
According to previous records, Liu Tan calculated that even if they could shorten the construction period, it would still take at least three or four months, and this was based on the premise that the first dam was not large in scale.
For the sake of a good omen and to gain experience, they all chose a smaller dam as their first dam. A smaller dam means it is easier to control and has fewer areas where problems can easily occur.
Xu Lin was not very confident in himself. There were many things to calculate when building a dam, and he was not good at this.
Even many calculations were based on specific data obtained with the assistance of the King of the North.
This made Xu Lin particularly admire Liu Tan. He did not expect that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory also had an unparalleled talent in numerology.
If Liu Tan knew what he was thinking, he would probably tell him seriously that this was not just simple mathematics, but also physics.
But even simple physics had not been touched by Liu Tan for a long time. He vaguely remembered a few formulas but was not sure if they were correct. After he and Xu Lin calculated the results together, he became a little worried, fearing that he would lead Xu Lin astray.
So after Xu Lin wrote a letter stating that the dam was fully prepared, Liu Tan decided to go to the site to check it out himself. In case there was really a problem with the dam, he could take the initiative to take the blame on the spot.
After getting to know Xu Lin, he found that he was both confident and self-deprecating. His confidence came from his knowledge of mountains and rivers, while his self-deprecation came from his physical defects.
If such a person suffers a setback in the field he is good at, he will either be unable to recover or be reborn from the ashes.
Liu Tan thought about it and decided not to use this to test Xu Lin. For this era, Xu Lin was already a rare talent.
He called Huo Guang and said, "I will leave for Lingfu County the day after tomorrow and may not be back for sure."
Huo Guang was a little surprised: "Is the dam really repaired?"
Liu Tan nodded: "Since Xu Lin said so, there will definitely be no problem. He is not the kind of person who seeks glory and success."
Huo Guang still found it hard to believe: "How long has it been? Less than two months, how did they do it?"
Liu Tan said, "I don't know. Don't ask me. I thought it would take at least three months."
Huo Guang was also very curious. To be honest, he also wanted to see what the first dam in the Northern Border Kingdom looked like.
He coughed lightly and said, "Everything has been arranged almost completely recently. There shouldn't be any special circumstances."
Liu Tan looked up at him and asked seriously, "Do you want to go too?"
Huo Guang said solemnly, "The first dam in the Northern Territory is of great significance and should be taken seriously."
Liu Tan thought that since coming to the Northern Border Kingdom, Huo Guang seemed to rarely leave the capital. At least he could still move around, but only Huo Guang needed to stay in the capital to deal with various matters.
Thinking of this, he said decisively: "Then let the Prime Minister go with us, and let Lin Xiu look after the house!"
Huo Guang raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said, "Okay, I'll go pack my things."
After he left, Liu Tan turned around and asked, "Where's Gongshu Yi? Did the work he asked him to do bear fruit?"
He had originally wanted to give the wheelchair as Xu Lin’s birthday gift, but Gongshu Yi encountered some bottlenecks and failed to do better.
It would be great if I could make it this time, and I could also give it to Xu Lin as a congratulatory gift.
Gongshu Yi did not disappoint Liu Tan and directly delivered the finished product.
He added a bit sheepishly, "The wheels of the chair are a bit hard, and it might be a bit bumpy if the ground isn't flat. I put some rice husks in between to absorb the shock, but these need to be replaced frequently and the effect is average. I'll continue to look for other replacements later."
For shock absorption, Liu Tan thought of rubber. Unfortunately, the rubber used in later generations was imported from outside. It is not certain whether there are rubber trees now or not, but there are none now.
If it were a normal day, he would think about what to use as a substitute, but now he was in a hurry to go to Lingfu County, so he had to put this matter aside for the time being.
When Liu arrived at Dalingfu County, Xu Lin brought people out to greet him.
As soon as Liu Tan saw him, he smiled and said, "When I received your news, I thought it was a little too fast, but now it seems it's still a little early. I finally managed to recover in the capital, but now I've lost weight again. If there's no problem with this dam, you should rest for a few days."
Xu Lin had originally wanted to report the current situation to Liu Tan, but unexpectedly, Liu Tan noticed that he had lost weight. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart and said softly, "Your Majesty... doesn't feel that tired either."
Liu Tan shook his head. "You're driven by passion, so you don't feel tired. But you still need to take care of your health. Besides, the Yellow River is so long. Now that you've started flood control, you can't give up halfway, right?"
After hearing this, Xu Lin said, "Your Highness is right. I will obey your order."
Liu Tan then smiled and said, "Have you decided when to release the water?"
"The auspicious time is at noon the day after tomorrow."
Liu Tan said, "That's perfect. Tell me, did you encounter any difficulties this time? And how did you achieve such a fast result?"
Xu Lin said with a hint of excitement, "The time I reported earlier was actually an estimate based on past experience, but I didn't expect the iron bars and cement Your Highness had produced to be so easy to use. Furthermore, since there's a cement road, transportation is much more convenient, which invisibly saves a lot of time."
Liu Tan said: "Even so, it is impossible to directly shorten the construction period by one month."
Xu Lin explained, "The biggest waste of time before was actually digging the canal. The oxbow lake has already expanded a bit, so there's no need to rest for it. If we calculate based on the original number of laborers, digging the canal would indeed take that much time, but..."
Xu Lin couldn't suppress the smile on his face and said, "When we were digging the canal, the local people spontaneously organized themselves to help, which made the progress much faster."
Huo Guang couldn't help but ask, "The common people? It's spring plowing season now. How can the common people have the time?"
Xu Lin turned and said to Liu Tan, "We have to thank Your Highness for this. If Your Highness hadn't made the Northern Plow and allowed the farmers to trade in their old plows for new ones at a discount, they really wouldn't have had the time. But after the new plows were purchased, they can now plow and sow at the same time, making things much easier for them. They're grateful for Your Highness's kindness, and since this canal affects their own land, they came to help."
After hearing this, Liu Tan also smiled. "I thought the promotion of the Northern Plow would take a lot of time, but I didn't expect it to go so smoothly."
Huo Guang was not as optimistic as him: "The people around the capital are more receptive, but other places... I'm afraid it will take time."
Liu Tan said indifferently: "It doesn't matter, they will agree sooner or later."
The imperial court was almost losing money in promoting the new plow. Only the metal parts of the old treadle plows could be recycled, and the remaining wooden parts could be used as firewood. However, if this was not done, people who already had treadle plows at home would not be willing to buy another one.
Seeing Xu Lin's tired face, Liu Tan said, "Alright, take a rest first. We'll go check on the water release the day after tomorrow."
On the third day of Liu Tan's stay in Lingfu County, he set out for the dam early in the morning. There were already many people standing on the opposite bank of the river from Liu Tan and his group.
Unlike the dam he had imagined, this dam was actually quite small. According to the data reported by Xu Lin, it was only about twenty meters wide at most.
It’s just that the size of the gravity dam naturally gives people a sense of calmness and reliability.
A gap leading to the canal has been dug in the Yellow River embankment, but the outlet of the dam is closed.
Standing on the dam, Liu Tan took in the now-calm Yellow River. Then, looking down at the muddy water blocked by the embankment, he said without thinking, "We still have to keep growing saltwood trees."
Huo Guang's heart tightened, fearing that he would lose his patience, so he said, "It takes time for saltwood to grow."
Liu Tan nodded and came down from the embankment. Xu Lin said, "Your Highness, the auspicious time has arrived."
Liu Tan turned to look at the dam that carried the hopes of countless people and slowly said, "Open the floodgates."
The closed gate of the dam slowly opened, and the water flowed down from the gate of the dam from small to large. The not clear water roared and rushed along the dug canal all the way towards the Oxbow Lake.
A burst of cheers rang out. Liu Tan looked up and saw the people on the other side cheering and shouting, "There's water! There's water!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
