The next morning, Lü Tu got up, took two cornbread buns from the stove, and ate them as he walked. His task today was particularly important: to transform the saline-alkali land.
This is a huge project, but it's not difficult to implement. The only challenge is the timing and the weather, so it's better to start sooner rather than later.
Upon arriving at the drill ground, they could see Xiao Zhong continuing to brainwash the newly arrived refugees from afar on the high platform, pessimistically predicting the future while leading the villagers to envision a better new life.
It must be said that Xiao Zhong's methods were quite effective; the group of refugees who came earlier had now completely integrated into their original families.
Even among the newly arrived refugees, many wore smiles that were completely different from those of a few days ago.
Since Xiao Zhong had time to give a speech here, it meant that he had already arranged for the gypsum to be ground into powder. Lü Tu rode Xiao Hei to the first public latrine in the village.
There he saw a thin, middle-aged man writing something on the ground with a stone slab. When Lü Tu went up to take a look, he found that it was Zhu Zhao, the old carpenter from yesterday. The ground was covered with tall and short characters.
"Old Zhu, here you go." Lu Tu handed him a steamed bun.
Zhu Zhao said impatiently without turning his head, "Don't bother me, or you'll miscount."
This scene amused Lü Tu, who hadn't expected Zhu Zhao to be so serious. He jokingly asked, "How many have you counted to?"
"A total of 1352 times."
"You're quite serious about this. Why don't you eat something first?"
Only then did Zhu Zhao realize what was happening. He turned his head blankly, and when he saw that it was Lü Tu, he said awkwardly, "So it's Lord Lü. I'm so sorry."
Lu Tu was shocked: "Old Zhu, why are your eyes so red?"
Zhu Zhao rubbed his sore eyes: "I don't know, it just itches terribly."
Lu Tu suddenly realized: "Could it be that you were peeping at women using the latrine yesterday?"
Zhu Zhao quickly waved his hand: "I'm innocent, sir. It's just that I couldn't see clearly last night, so I went closer to take a look."
"Did you scare anyone?"
"No, someone even waved for me to come over, but I didn't go." Zhu Zhao took a bite of his cornbread and grinned at Lü Tu.
Lu Tu chuckled: "Alright, tell the other carpenters to calculate how deep the latrine pits are, and dig a few more over at the drill ground."
"Leave it to me, sir. I've thought about it all night, and I think we can leave a hole in the wooden plank at the top of the latrine so it will be easier to carry manure in the future. Also, we can make sure that the pits we dig later have a slight slope towards the pit."
Lu Tu gave him a thumbs up: "As expected, the old ginger is spicier. We'll do it your way."
After finishing his cornbread, Lü Tu also tried out the newly dug outhouse. He had to admit that, apart from the lack of toilet paper and having to scrape it off with tree roots, it was quite good to use. At least it wasn't as smelly as before.
Indeed, talent exists everywhere; what's lacking is a discerning eye.
After pointing out several locations where latrines needed to be built to Zhu Zhao, Lü Tu finally left Wuchuan's largest latrine.
Xiao Zhong had finished his speech and was waiting for Lü Tu: "My lord, the plaster was ground last night. Let's go and try it."
"Walk!"
Before long, the two arrived at a saline-alkali land about 1 kilometer from Xisha Lake. The reason for choosing this place for the experiment was that a water channel happened to pass by nearby. They could simply dig a ditch to bring water over and dilute the alkaline components in the soil.
Lu Tu first ordered his men to dig up the land to see just how deep the saline-alkali soil was.
It's even shallower than the plot he looked at yesterday, about 20 centimeters deep, with a layer of damp soil underneath. Clearly, this place is close to the lake and has plenty of groundwater.
“Everyone has one. First, dig a ditch around this saline-alkali land, and then dig a deep pit next to it to use as a water storage pond.”
Although the crowd didn't understand why Lü Tu was going to bother with a piece of saline-alkali land, they knew that their captain was always full of tricks up his sleeve, and maybe he had some unique ideas.
After a busy morning, drainage ditches were dug out on hundreds of acres of nearby saline-alkali land. The main component of gypsum is calcium sulfate, and calcium ions will exchange with sodium ions in the saline-alkali land to form water-soluble sodium salts, which will then be able to be drained away with water.
Next came the application of plaster. Several thousand kilograms of plaster purchased the day before were laid on the saline-alkali land. After all this was done, everyone, including Xiao Zhong, looked at the vast expanse of saline-alkali land with delight.
Lu Tu asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
Xiao Zhong asked curiously, "Sir, why isn't it smoking?"
Lu Tu was puzzled: "Why is it smoking? We didn't just spread lime, and lime only smokes when it comes into contact with water."
"So even though plaster powder has been applied, the saline-alkali land is still saline-alkali land?"
Lu Tu couldn't help but roll his eyes: "What's so strange about that? I didn't sprinkle any magic pills, how could they take effect so quickly?"
Upon hearing this, all the villagers sighed in disappointment.
Good heavens, Lu Tu thought to himself that these guys were even more eager for quick success than he was, wanting to see results as soon as they sprinkled the plaster powder.
Lu Tu patiently explained to Xiao Zhong, "After the gypsum powder is sprinkled on, it can not only improve the salinity, but also make the crops planted later grow better."
"Sir, is there any other way to speed up the process?"
Lu Tu nodded: "Okay, after the water beneath the saline-alkali land is drained, probably tomorrow, we'll draw some water from Xisha Lake to irrigate this saline-alkali land."
Xiao Zhong nodded thoughtfully: "Sir, I roughly understand the process. You may leave now. I will lead everyone to continue."
After checking a few key points with him, Lü Tu found that Xiao Zhong had indeed mastered them all. Only then did he pat him on the shoulder with relief: "This is related to our food supply. Food is the most important thing for the people, so we can't be careless!"
Xiao Zhong nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, sir, I will keep a close eye on them."
"Okay, you go ahead with your work, I have other things to do."
Lu Tu wasn't lying. He was currently overwhelmed with troubles. He rode his horse to Hu Delu's blacksmith shop and saw the curved plow displayed outside the shop from afar.
Upon seeing Lü Tu approach, Hu Delu quickly gathered several apprentices and led them to a draft ox.
"Sir, the curved plow has been improved according to your method. Shall we try it now?"
Seeing that the size was exactly the same as what they had discussed yesterday, Lü Tu said with great satisfaction, "Try it."
Soon the apprentice brought over an ox, harnessed it to a curved plow, and then lashed the ox's rump with a whip. The ox lurched forward, nearly pulling the apprentice holding the plow face-first into the dirt, causing the surrounding people to burst into laughter.
Soon someone noticed something amiss: "Look, everyone! Yesterday, the old ox couldn't even pull this plow properly; it took two or three people to pull it up. How come today the ox just loosened the ground?"
After this reminder, everyone present was surprised to find that the ground had been cut open by the curved plow. Everyone present had farmed before, and they couldn't help but exclaim in delight, "This is so useful!"
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