Chapter 23 The cold glint of the bronze arrowheads on the water-powered millstone drew near. Several...
The cold gleam of the bronze arrowheads drew near.
The Suiju people weren't exactly tough guys to begin with, and they immediately betrayed their shaman.
"The riverbank! He went to the riverbank!"
riverside?
What is he going to do?
An's mind raced; she had to get him back no matter what. An's ominous premonition intensified again, but she didn't show it on her face. She calmly ordered her men to drag all the Suiju people away and lock them up.
Then, she looked at the foreigners present, the Ba, Yang, and Pu people who had come to work for the generous pay, and said, "Everyone, see clearly. It was the Suiju people who first slandered our tribe's shaman and then wantonly stirred up trouble among our people. From now on, we can do whatever we want to the Suiju people."
The Suiju people's unbridled behavior likely stems from two reasons: first, they look down on the newly rich poor people of Keluo, and second, they have powerful backers. Moreover, as they argued, the Keluo people's looms, which produce cloth quickly and well, have already threatened the interests of many.
Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents; the fact that the shamans of Suiju only rebelled now was also unexpected by An.
After all, many people have already caused them trouble, both openly and secretly.
ha.
An was not troubled by this, as it affected the interests of many people and also connected the interests of even more people.
The county magistrate, the Zhao family, the Qu family, and even those currently working in the territory of the Keluo people, are all part of the Keluo people's chain of interests.
Where else could they find such good conditions if they left the Korlos?
"Gentlemen, only when the people of Keluo are well can we bring you more benefits. Perhaps it's wages, or perhaps an extra piece of meat in your bowls. But everyone, the Great Shaman is kind-hearted and won't care about what others say. But I am not. I am not a good person, and kindness alone cannot sustain me. Gentlemen, I will investigate today's matter thoroughly. Anyone involved will be severely punished once the truth is revealed." An waved his hand: "Alright, disperse. Take a break and get back to work."
As the crowd gradually dispersed, An told Qi and Xiaoshui to go back and guard the school and weaving room. Just as he was about to lead his men to the river to arrest the person, the magistrate, having finished watching the commotion, also requested to go to the river.
After thinking it over, An felt it would be good to have the magistrate there, so he took the magistrate with him and hurried to the riverbank.
The moment she turned around, her hands trembled uncontrollably.
The man just said that Qing's words and actions were inconsistent. Others may not know, but as the person who raised Qing, she knows Qing better than anyone else what kind of person she is.
Qing was a kind and studious girl. She would hold a shaman selection because of a plague that was prevalent in the tribe; she would be happy to receive a copy of Qu Yuan's prayer poems; she would be happy all day because of a word of praise from An. She could not identify the medicinal effects of the plants in the forest, nor did she know about the prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis. She voluntarily stepped into the cold river purely because of the worry on her great-mother's face for the tribe.
She knew how many people had died in this shaman selection before her, An knew, and Qi knew. But they still stepped into the Xiang River.
An may have overlooked Qing's abnormality on the first day because of his excitement, but what about the second and third days?
An hid her trembling hands in her sleeve, her thoughts becoming jumbled.
She couldn't help but recall that day, the day Qing called her name. At that time, she still had a sliver of consciousness and murmured prayers. Then she started calling out "Mother, Mother!"
She had no choice. She could only solidify the position of the Great Shaman. No matter how different the Great Shaman was from Qing, she was still the Great Shaman. She was the Great Shaman who saved the Keluo people, the Great Shaman who enabled the Keluo people to stand tall in the Xiang River basin, and a Great Shaman who was selfless and cared for the Keluo people.
An thought that it was because of this, because the current Great Shaman was also very good, that she couldn't really criticize the Great Shaman who occupied Qing's body.
Who should she blame? Who gave the snails to the gold panning river, or should they have avoided panning for gold in the first place?
The gods chose Qing; she had no other choice.
She has already lost Qing; she cannot afford to lose Da Wu as well.
She had no other choice.
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The river flows ceaselessly, its torrents never ceasing.
Hydraulic millstones are typically installed in rivers with rapid water flow. The water flow impacts the blades t, causing the millstone to rotate.
Sheng-kuan and Lin Feng-zhi searched along the riverbank for a long time before finally finding a bank with a fast current and a large drop.
Lin Fengzhi instructed Yongjiang to assemble the millstone.
The watermill is mainly constructed of upper and lower millstones, a wooden shaft, a waterwheel, and a support frame. The upper millstone is suspended from the support frame, and the lower millstone is mounted on the shaft. A waterwheel (parallel to the millstones and suspended above the water surface) is attached to the lower end of the shaft. The water's potential energy drives the waterwheel, which in turn rotates the lower millstone. The millstones are typically made of hard stone, with opposing spiral patterns carved on both the upper and lower millstones. The rotation of the lower millstone pulverizes the grains.
The grinding disc is about one meter long. The tooth patterns on the bottom and top discs are opposite. Based on the experience of using the grinding disc over the years, the grinding teeth need to be cleaned every once in a while to ensure grinding efficiency.
The waterwheel rotor is made of pine and chestnut wood planks, with approximately 36 fan-shaped blades inserted obliquely onto the rotor. The waterwheel has upper and lower shafts, and the design of the shaft supports and ridges ensures smooth rotation. Furthermore, the ingenious design of the lifting rod controls the gap between the millstones, thus affecting the fineness of the flour.
The mill top plate has a feeding hole in the middle, and the hopper is a trapezoidal inverted body that can hold forty to eighty catties of grain.
Actually, the water-powered millstone wasn't made that quickly.
But without the internet, cell phones, or television, and cut off from modern entertainment, Lin Fengzhi was bored out of her mind. She had to find something to do to keep herself from being so bored.
So she joined the research on water-powered millstones.
She participated in the research on gears, levers, and blades. Because there was no iron ore, they decided to make the gears using bronze. It can be said that this water-powered millstone was the culmination of her and Sheng Kuan's hard work.
Seeing the watermill set up, Shengkuan quickly added a bushel of wheat into the millstone and released water to impact the waterwheel blades. The rushing water propelled the waterwheel, which in turn rotated the heavy millstone automatically through its shaft. The grain was pulverized by friction between the upper and lower millstones and then slowly flowed out through the gaps.
Everyone present was deeply moved.
It was as if the millstone could work forever as long as the water flowed, as if they had created a tool with the ability of "perpetual motion".
Especially Seungkwan.
Previously, the production activities he had encountered mainly relied on human or animal power for grain processing, which was labor-intensive and inefficient. However, water-powered millstones can run day and night, with a processing efficiency dozens of times that of human power, and they only need to perform maintenance.
Sheng Kuan clapped his hands in admiration, patted Lin Fengzhi on the shoulder, and was extremely excited. It was as if he saw a door to a new world opening up to him: "No wonder you were so determined to promote the water-powered millstone. You must have imagined such a magnificent scene."
He patted it, then immediately felt something was off. Upon closer inspection, he exclaimed in surprise, "You've grown taller?"
"Yes," Lin Fengzhi thought to herself. How could she not grow taller? She hadn't lacked chicken, duck, fish, or meat during this time, and she had filtered out the salt and made sure she got enough protein. In fact, besides her, many of the children in Qihe had also grown taller.
Even her previously worrying night blindness is gradually improving.
Yong and the other Keluo people who had participated in building the water-powered millstone looked at the operating millstone with almost worshipful eyes, and then at Shengkuan and Lin Fengzhi who were chatting idly. Their respect was beyond words.
For them, the water-powered millstone was nothing short of a "divine tool." It could operate smoothly without human or animal power, and even utilized the power of a rushing river—what incredible power that was!
Yong participated in everything. He was determined to study hard and learn to read so that he could make such tools that utilize the power of nature in the future.
As a fellow onlooker, Qu He had even more to think about.
This river is a tributary of the Xiang River, but even though it's a tributary, it's still part of the Xiang River. As for Qu He, isn't she also part of the Xiang River? At first, she was disdainful of Lin Fengzhi's idea of a water-powered millstone, but she cleverly didn't show it, and these days she has been waiting for the results in the territory of the Keluo people.
Lin Fengzhi did not disappoint her. The Xiang River, under the jurisdiction of Xiangjun, drove the millstone to work tirelessly, turning piles of grain into flour.
The continuous flow of water impacted the leaves, and it also impacted Qu He's heart.
She found it almost unbelievable.
The surging, turbulent river became a tool that Lin Fengzhi could easily tame. She was not a messenger of the gods; she herself was a miracle. Qu He thought to himself, "What Suiju people? Even if Xiangjun herself were here, she probably couldn't control the river so skillfully."
Qu He pushed aside Sheng Kuan, who was chatting with Lin Fengzhi, and took her hand, saying, "Xiang Jun loves you so much that she even told you how to control the Xiang River."
Lin Fengzhi smiled awkwardly and tried to pull her hand away, but Qu He's grip was very strong, so she had no choice but to remain in that position and laugh awkwardly, "Haha, haven't you been here these past few days? You've seen the water-powered millstone go from nothing to something, and the bronze gears inside were obtained thanks to you. Why say that Xiangjun loves me? Xiangjun loves the people and uses the Xiang River to serve them."
"Yes, yes, yes, from now on, we will save a lot of labor. No wonder the Great Shaman insisted on the water-powered millstone. The Great Shaman was truly prescient and is a role model for us all."
Lin Fengzhi was so flattered by the praise that she almost got goosebumps. She quickly broke free and gave a fake smile.
"In two days it will be the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the day when my Qu family will hold a sacrificial ceremony for Qu Yuan on the Xiang River. Would the great shaman be interested in coming to witness the ceremony?"
Lin Fengzhi paused. She was genuinely interested.
It was Qu Yuan's poems that gave her a sense of reality and helped her find her place in time and space. When she was in school, she often memorized Qu Yuan's deeds and incorporated them into her essays. Now, only half a century has passed since Qu Yuan drowned himself in the river to die for his country. Lin Fengzhi really wanted to see how his people worshipped him a thousand years ago.
Qu He thought she didn't want to come, but after spending more than half a month together, she changed her excuse, saying, "On the day of the sacrificial ceremony, the Qu family will also prepare many dishes that are not known to outsiders..."
"Recipes That Are Not Shared with Outsiders"
Lin Fengzhi's eyes lit up. The last time she had eaten secret recipe dishes was the turtle soup that Ke Luoren ate when he was transferring illness and exorcising the Gu poison, and the braised chicken that was said to have been passed down from the Qu family. The turtle soup was delicious, and the braised chicken was tender and delicious.
I wonder what good things will be offered at this sacrificial ceremony.
“I will go. I have memorized Qu Yuan’s essays since I was a child, and I am honored to have the opportunity to pay homage to him.”
Qu He quickly agreed: "Great Shaman, it's settled then!"
"What did you agree to?"
A middle-aged man's voice came from afar. The people on the river looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was the county magistrate and his party.
As they approached, they discovered that several people, bound and gagged, were following behind them.
Sheng Kuan was puzzled and asked, "What happened? Why is he tied up?"
Chen Ming replied, "This person intended to poison the river upstream by throwing animal carcasses into it, but we caught him red-handed."
Qu He looked closely and realized that it was the shaman of the Suiju people, whose wicked intentions she had previously discovered.
An had now composed himself and stepped forward to explain the whole story to Lin Fengzhi. He then asked, "Great Shaman, what do you think should be done with him and his people?"
"Poisoning the drinking river with corpses—isn't that murder for profit? And then they instruct our people to tamper with the looms and dyes, trying to cut off our livelihood. How can such insidious and vicious people be worthy of being shamans who communicate with the gods?" Lin Fengzhi frowned, unable to hide her disgust.
“Alright.” An said, and immediately ordered his men to strip the shaman’s robes off.
She had long disliked this shaman from Suiju; when they arrested him just now, he almost jumped over the hill and ran to the Gold Rush River. Anxin was practically jumping out of her skin. Fortunately, the magistrate's men didn't notice anything amiss.
Lin Fengzhi was taken aback by An's quick reaction. Then she realized that she had the right to interfere in the affairs of the Suiju people's shamans.
Because she is currently the only great shaman in the Xiang River basin.
The previous Grand Shaman, Qu He, could advance the selection of shamans and interfere in the affairs of tribes that worshipped the Xiangjun. As the current Grand Shaman who defeated Qu He, Lin Fengzhi, given legitimate reasons, could certainly abolish the shamanism of the Suiju people.
In fact, without a legitimate reason, when a high shaman is powerful enough, he can directly interfere in the affairs of other tribes.
"you!"
The shaman who carried the torch seemed to resist, but was quickly suppressed. Lin Fengzhi ignored him; she didn't know how the Qin Dynasty law would punish such a person. So she asked the county magistrate, who was still staring blankly at the watermill, "Magistrate, may I ask how he should be punished according to the law for his actions?"
The magistrate couldn't help but step forward, almost overwhelmed by the astonishing power of the water-powered millstone in taming and utilizing the forces of nature. With just one glance, the magistrate, eager for political achievements, heard the First Emperor's praise in the operation of the water-powered millstone.
It allows everyone who witnesses it to deeply feel the power of technology and the disruptive improvement in efficiency; everyone who sees it for the first time will be amazed by the power it contains.
Without having to pound rice and grind flour by one person, how much labor would be saved? If that saved labor were used to clear land and expand fields, wouldn't the land tax double the following year? Moreover, flour is easier to store than wheat.
Many people were unwilling to eat wheat because hulling was difficult, preferring millet or bean rice. The addition of water-powered mills made it easier to feed the large population.
At this moment, the magistrate no longer saw a water-powered millstone, but a tangible path to success. With the addition of the slanted loom ensuring the people are well-fed and clothed, who could possibly outperform him in this year's performance evaluation?
Upon hearing Lin Fengzhi's question, and considering that both the water-powered millstone and the slanted loom were made by her, the magistrate focused his attention and answered her: "Poisoning the river is premeditated murder, a serious crime. The principal offender is usually punished with the five punishments or torn apart by chariots, while the accomplice is punished with hard labor in the city and pounding grain, along with other forms of corporal punishment."
Although Lin Fengzhi did not know what the Five Punishments were, since they were listed alongside dismemberment by chariot, they must have been a rather cruel punishment.
Suijuren was doomed. He heard the magistrate's verdict with his own ears and immediately began to writhe on the ground, as if he had a lot to say.
The magistrate glanced at it indifferently, unimpressed.
Chen Ming hesitated and said, "Just now, when I interrogated him, I asked him if someone was behind it and if he still had someone backing him. He spat at me and refused to answer. Now... maybe he's come to his senses."
He hadn't simply come to terms with it; he genuinely felt the magistrate's indifference towards him and the forces behind him, and he was trying to reveal everything in exchange for a chance to survive.
The magistrate, in a gentle manner, inquired about Lin Fengzhi's thoughts: "Does the Great Shaman want to know?"
Lin Fengzhi had no interest in the shaman Suiju's inner thoughts, nor did she believe that the powerful backer he spoke of could have much influence over her. He had only done so much in a month; how reliable could his backer be? She shook her head: "Let the law decide how to deal with it."
"Do as the shaman says."
A note from the author:
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*Source: Baidu Baike
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