The waterwheel is about ten feet long, with a wheel at the front and a wheel at the back. It has two layers, with a water trough on the bottom and many wooden pieces that can rotate.
Zhao Xian directed the carpenter and his two younger brothers to install the waterwheel. The people around him looked on with curiosity and discussed among themselves, wondering if this thing could really bring water up from the river.
The waterwheel was quickly set up. The carpenter took out two wooden sticks, each over three feet long, with a small hole at one end and a handle at the other for easy holding. Zhao Xian called them "wheel handles."
Zhao Xian took the wheelbarrow, holding one in each hand, and fitted the small hole at one end of the wheelbarrow onto the waterwheel. He then exerted force with both hands, and the wooden pieces on the waterwheel began to move.
The area was already packed with people, all craning their necks and staring wide-eyed at the turning waterwheel.
Driven by the wooden chips, the river water flowed out of the trough, and the outflow was quite large. After the water was diverted into the ditch, it flowed forward along the canal. People cheered and ran in the direction of the water flow, as if the water was flowing into their own rice paddies.
"The water has entered the fields; this waterwheel is amazing."
It was a bit tiring for one person to keep turning the waterwheel, and Zhao Xian started to pant. Just as he stopped what he was doing, a burly man walked over.
"Scholar, this waterwheel is wonderful, let me try it out."
"Okay, then you give it a try. It's best if two people turn the waterwheel. Xiaoshan, come here," Zhao Xian instructed.
Zhao Xiaoshan had been eager to try, but since his brother hadn't called him, he didn't dare to go forward.
When his older brother called him, he quickly came over.
Zhao Xiaoshan and the man each took a shovel and began to operate the waterwheel.
With Zhao Xian's guidance, the two quickly grasped the essentials of waterwheel operation, and working together, the waterwheel began to spin rapidly.
A huge amount of water gushed out of the trough, and the diverted water flowed gurgling into the rice paddies.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
