Chen Kai looked at the chubby little Qi and asked curiously, "Did you pick this?"
The chubby boy stammered, "I...I..."
Upon seeing this, Chen Kai understood what was going on.
Chen Kai said happily, "I really like it, thank you!"
Xiao Tian also said, "I like it."
The chubby boy was overjoyed to hear that they all liked it, and he chattered on and on to Chen Kai and Xiao Tian about many things.
When Chen Kai and Xiao Tian brought the wooden box home, the Chen family was shocked when they saw what was inside.
Zhou asked doubtfully, "Did your friend send it to you?"
Chen Kai nodded.
Zhou asked, "My dear son, you're not going to ask for this back, are you?"
Xiao Tian chimed in from the side, "Don't worry, it won't happen."
Mrs. Zhou was overjoyed. The silver bracelet and the longevity lock were so beautiful!
Mrs. Zhou said happily, "Come, come, you two choose one and see which one you like."
The little kids in the house looked at them with envy and urged them to put it on quickly.
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian didn't like longevity locks, so they chose bracelets instead.
Old Man Chen and Mrs. Zhou helped Chen Kai and Xiao Tian put on the bracelets, and after they were on, they kept saying how good they looked.
Looking at the envious eyes of the little kids in his family, Chen Kai thought to himself, "When I have money in the future, I'll make a few sets of silver jewelry for everyone."
A few days later, after the scholars had finished touring the village, asked all the questions they wanted to ask, and had had a good exchange with the watermill researchers, they began compiling the book.
Besides the watermill editors, another group of people emerged and compiled a book on the new sleds of Anping Village. Those with good writing skills were responsible for writing the text, and those with good drawing skills were responsible for drawing. Everyone had their own job.
A month later, the compilation of the watermill was completed, and everyone was ready to go home.
Suddenly, the group felt a little reluctant to leave. The weather was already cold, and it was very likely to snow in a few days. After thinking it over, they decided to go back first and come back when the weather was better.
Everyone was very interested in studying the waterwheel and was concerned about it, thinking they would come back to check it out when the weather got better.
After some time, the watermill was basically ready for mass production, and the Chen family fulfilled their promise to the villagers.
The Chen family installed five watermills for the village free of charge; the rest were distributed according to their contributions during that period.
The starch yield of bracken roots has increased, but because the weather has gotten colder, everyone's work efficiency has decreased.
To clean the bracken roots, everyone now uses warm water; if their hands get frostbite, they won't be able to continue working.
To provide hot water for those washing bracken roots, the Chen family even built a stove for them.
The village chief brought together several households, along with his own watermill, to form a small-scale fern root powder production line.
Anping Village has now become the town's largest factory, providing a livelihood for many people.
Many people want to work in Anping Village, especially those who want to work on the Chen family's production line. People who can work for the Chen family are very proud and hold their heads high in their own village.
In this era, especially now that famine is raging, having enough to eat is an incredibly difficult thing.
After the watermill was installed in the village, the Chen family started taking orders, and many wealthy people lined up to have their watermills installed.
The Chen family also installed ten watermills for the county government free of charge, mainly so that the government could set up its own factory and hire people, thus saving disaster victims from going to their Anping Village.
After the county magistrate mediated, the wealthy households in the county decided to join forces to open a factory, aiming to make this the largest production area of fern root powder.
Since Anping Village is the birthplace of bracken root powder, they should become the largest producer.
Previously, they felt that this place had no value and just wanted to leave as soon as possible, but now it's different. With bracken root powder, this is a great opportunity for them to rise up.
They witnessed firsthand the profits from opening a bracken root powder factory.
These bracken root noodles are currently a hot commodity, loved by everyone from nobles to commoners. They're all snapping them up, and I've even heard they've made their way into the palace, where important figures also enjoy them.
Nowadays, bracken root noodles are still in short supply. Since they can't get their hands on them, they're producing them themselves.
The production of fern root powder by the Chen family did alleviate their food crisis, and the water-powered mill production and assembly also gradually helped them recover their losses.
Seeing that the family's granary was gradually filling up, Old Man Chen decided to find someone to repair the house as well. Previously, they had only done some simple repairs, but this time, they wanted to fix it properly.
Everyone was overjoyed to learn that the house was going to be renovated and repaired with blue bricks and tiles.
Chen Kai is very afraid of the cold. Now that the weather is getting colder, everyone has to carry a hand warmer when they go out and a brazier at home.
So Chen Kai told his family that he had seen something called a heated kang (a traditional heated bed) in a book, which could be used in winter.
A heated brick bed (kang) is typically built using adobe bricks. To make adobe bricks, you first need to make molds for shaping them. Adobe bricks are made from a mixture of yellow clay and dry straw, and after being dried, they can be used to build the kang.
If you want to build a large kang (heated brick bed), you generally need to create more than two "kang holes". Combining the kang holes reduces the number of turns. The fewer the kang holes, the smoother the smoke will go. If there are too many kang holes, the smoke will bend and it will be difficult to get out. If you want to build a large kang, you need to build the chimney higher.
Building a kang (heated brick bed) generally involves three layers. First, the kang channel is raised using loess and sand. Second, the kang channel (kang hole) should be made, level with the stove, about 10cm high (one brick placed sideways). Finally, the kang surface is made of adobe bricks. A layer of yellow mud should be applied to the kang surface, and a layer of lime can be added on top. The kang channel must be plastered with yellow mud, without any other additives; the kang surface is generally plastered with yellow sand mixed with a small amount of yellow mud, in a ratio of approximately 7:1.
However, it's important to note that the base of the chimney in the heated brick bed shouldn't be too narrow. The chimney should resemble an inverted trumpet, and it can be built with the top and bottom being roughly the same width. Place a small-mouthed cement pipe (its height is irrelevant) on top of the chimney; it doesn't need to be too high, less than 20cm is fine. Remove it in summer and put it back on in winter. This is mainly to prevent excessive cold air from being forced down from the chimney opening.
The bottom of the chimney connecting to the kang (heated brick bed) should be at least one foot lower than the bottom of the kang hole. This prevents cold air from being forced down from the chimney from directly entering the kang hole. It also prevents rainwater from flowing directly into the kang hole from the chimney in summer.
After Chen Kai finished drawing the blueprints, he handed them over to his family to study. After some time, they actually managed to figure it out.
Finally, after experimentation, the Chen family replaced all their beds with heated kang beds.
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