When Huo Guang mentioned the shortage of workers for the autumn harvest, Liu Tan had already conjured up many possible explanations. Was it because the wages he offered were too high, so everyone was working there? Was it because the business in Guanshi was booming, so many people were working there too? Even if they couldn't become merchants, the merchants in Guanshi still needed help.
Generally, merchants would bring important people with them, but labor jobs like those for hard labor would be found locally.
No matter how high the local price is, it is still less than the money earned by bringing people across mountains and rivers. Moreover, the most important thing is that the roads are not safe these days, and those who are willing to follow people across mountains and rivers to do such hard work are generally slaves.
Many people are aware of the living conditions of slaves. Their bodies are definitely unhealthy. They are lucky to have enough food and warm clothes, but they can forget about health.
Such a body is definitely not able to adapt to long-distance travel. He might die on the way, which would be a loss.
It is also because of this that there were originally many idle and unemployed young men in Dunhuang. Now these people are forced to work by Dunhuang County Magistrate Kou Zhengda. With more money in their hands, many of them have gradually settled down after starting to buy properties.
So it’s no wonder that Liu Tan thought of these things first.
However, Huo Guang gave him a different answer.
Huo Guang gazed deeply at Liu Tan and said, "Your Highness invented the Northern Plow a while ago and it's very useful. You promoted it vigorously, so many people are using it. Your Highness also encouraged land reclamation. Originally, people didn't have the energy to do so, but with the new tools, they naturally have more energy. So a lot of land has been reclaimed. But now that the harvest has started, it's not so easy."
Liu Tan listened for a long time before he finally understood. To put it simply, there were epoch-making agricultural tools to use when farming, so everyone was excited and cultivated more land. Everyone felt tired when taking care of the fields, but they could still bear it at that time. When they thought about the greater harvest in the fall, they were full of energy.
As a result, everyone now realizes that things seem to have become serious - there is no time to reap the rewards.
Autumn in the Northern Kingdom is very short, so short that it may still be autumn today, but tomorrow a strong wind will blow and winter will come in an instant.
In this case, the harvest time is actually relatively short.
Liu Tan was stunned at the time: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Huo Guang coughed lightly and said, "There's still about a month until the autumn harvest, so that should be enough time."
Liu Tan said, "Don't be ridiculous. We have a month to come up with a solution, even to make things, and even to make a large number of farm tools and send them to the farmers. Are you kidding me?"
One month is not a short time. It took nearly two months to replace agricultural tools in the Northern Border Country or the area around Shuofang City. Now one month is not enough to make new things and promote them.
Huo Guang said, "As long as Your Highness can produce it within half a month, I can guarantee that it can be delivered to the people!"
Liu Tan was silent for a moment. He turned to look at Gongshu Can and said with a wry smile, "Well, it seems we can forget about resting. Let's prepare to stay up all night."
Huo Guang was immediately startled: "Your Highness, this is not possible. Staying up all night is not good for your health."
Liu Tan waved his hand and said, "I don't have any ideas right now. Even if I did, it would take time to put them into practice. It's just a short period of time, and I can't bear it."
Anyway, he is young and has always paid attention to his health because of his mental age. He has maintained himself well, so it’s okay for him to stay up late occasionally.
Huo Guang took a deep breath and said, "I am not well prepared."
Liu Tan shook his head: "It has nothing to do with you."
The rapid advancement of technology always brings such sequelae, because no one can predict what results technological innovation will bring. In the long run, such results are good, but if people cannot change in time, various problems will naturally arise.
Strictly speaking, it was not Huo Guang's problem, but Liu Tan's problem.
Liu Tan brought technology that did not belong to this era, and he should have thought of the problem of autumn harvest.
However, the problem was that he had never farmed before and had completely forgotten about it.
It was meaningless to find out who was responsible for the problem now. Liu Tan's excitement about the water-powered spinning wheel instantly subsided.
Gongshu Can also had a serious expression on his face, but he was happier than Liu Tan.
I originally thought that after turning the water into a spinning wheel, he might need to rest for a while, but now it’s good to be busy, as being busy means he is useful.
Liu Tan turned to the crowd and said, "Please pay attention to the wool workshop. I have previously divided wool into several grades. I will have someone give you the standard documents for grade assessment. The production of low-grade wool and fine wool will be under my jurisdiction, and you can do whatever you want with the rest."
Huo Guang and others were stunned for a moment. They didn't expect that Liu Tan would retain the right to produce inferior wool.
With their understanding of Liu Tan, they knew what His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory was planning just by thinking about the glass. Huo Guang said, "I also have low-quality wool..."
Liu Tan waved his hand: "That thing might even lose money. I can't help you make a lot of money, but I can't cheat you either."
Huo Guang whispered, "But... the fine hair is a tribute..."
Of course, tributes are not profitable, so it seems that Liu Tan is losing money in every way.
Liu Tan glanced at him, raised his eyebrows and said proudly, "You don't understand. Although I can't get money for tribute, my father and mother will give me pocket money. Sister Dangli also gives me money. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a little poor, but the things he gives me are sometimes priceless."
For example, he was doing whatever he wanted in the Northern Border Kingdom, but if Liu Ju, the crown prince, had any suspicion of him, he would not be so relaxed and bold now.
Huo Guang looked at his smug look and said helplessly, "Since Your Highness is so determined, we can discuss the rest."
Liu Tan waved his hand at them and said, "Go ahead, I need to discuss something with Gongshu Can."
After Huo Guang and the others left, Liu Tan and Gongshu Can stared at each other. Finally, Gongshu Can asked, "What are your instructions, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan smiled bitterly: "I don't have any ideas right now, what can I ask for?"
Most of the time when he creates something, he always has a flash of inspiration, or he thinks of it step by step when he needs it.
When he was suddenly told what to do, his mind went blank.
Since there is a blank, I can only start from the beginning.
Nowadays, farmers still use the oldest method of harvesting with sickles, so if they want to liberate labor, they must have a harvester.
Harvesters in later generations are all fuel-driven and electric-driven. The first thing he needs to do is trace the origin and the historical evolution of these harvesters to find out what power they used before using fuel or electricity.
Of course the idea was nice, but in reality Liu Tan couldn't remember it at all.
Because he doesn't really remember what a harvester looks like!
Liu Tan sat at his desk holding a charcoal pencil and thought seriously. If he couldn't trace the origin, then he could only "create" it himself.
First of all, if you want to harvest, you must ensure that the harvester can cut with sufficient power, so you need a cutter.
Liu Tan originally had a simple idea: just get some big scissors, use the driving force of horses or cows, or even human power to pull the shears forward while cutting.
However, reality told him that this was not possible, because the ears of wheat would fall in the opposite direction of the scissors when under force.
Liu Tan held his head with one hand and fiddled with the scissors with the other. While he was still worried, Gongshu Can asked cautiously, "Your Highness, what do you want to make?"
Gongshu Can actually had some ideas of his own, but as a subordinate, he couldn't just rush over and do something while his boss was still thinking about how to do it.
If I don't mention whether it is useful or not, isn't that a slap in the face to my boss?
Not to mention that Gongshu Can was actually convinced by Liu Tan. At least he himself could not have thought of the elevator, the rotary waterwheel, the keel waterwheel and the most recent water-powered spinning wheel.
Even if his technology is better, the more people understand mechanical engineering, the more they know that sometimes creativity is the most difficult to come by.
After hearing what Gongshu Can said, Liu Tan came back to his senses and cursed himself for being so stupid. How come he didn’t know how to use the plug-in when it was right next to him?
He said to Gongshu Can, "The harvester is more difficult to make than the northern plow we made before, because the harvester is like a waterwheel and requires oxen and horses to provide power."
Gongshu Can smiled and said, "This isn't difficult. With our experience with waterwheels, it shouldn't be a difficult task."
Liu Tan nodded seriously and said, "Indeed, this isn't a difficult task. The problem now is how to get the cutter. I just tried using scissors, but I found that simple scissors aren't quite suitable."
As for what the cutters of later generations looked like, I'm sorry, I've never seen one.
Gongshu Can looked at Liu Tan and hesitated for a moment.
Liu Tan placed the scissors on the desk and said, "Just say whatever you want to say. You don't have to worry about anything with me. As a technician, you just need to do your job well and don't worry about those messy things."
To be honest, what Liu Tan fears is that people who work in technology will get involved in politics. Generally, people who work in technology seriously do not have the political literacy. They will be deceived by others and will end up achieving nothing.
The "technicians" who can thrive in the court basically have only so-so skills. It is undeniable that there are some who are good at both, with high IQ and EQ, but such people are rare, at least Gongshu Can is not such a person.
Liu Tan thought for a moment and added, "As long as you do what I tell you to do and don't do anything illegal, you don't have to worry about anything else."
Gongshu Can wasn't very politically savvy, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Liu Tan was indirectly guaranteeing that the political struggle wouldn't extend to his family, so he felt relieved and said, "What I'm saying is that since the rice can't bear the weight, we can just set up a hook to tie it down."
Hook? Liu Tan turned and looked at him: "What kind of hook?"
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