Chapter 32 She Won't Regret
Not to mention a few months, just about ten days, once these disaster victims realize that there is no water source, no matter how hard they try to reclaim the land, it will be of no avail, and perhaps riots and other problems will arise.
Of course, even if it is impossible to reclaim the land, no one will make trouble as long as they can continue to receive relief food.
But the key is how long can the food brought by Duke Zheng last?
There must always be some tangible hope to calm these people down.
"Oh? So you have an idea?"
Yuchi Shuo looked at Gu Feixue with inquiring eyes. This was the first time he looked at her with such an undisguised inquiring look.
Water resources have always been a major problem in agriculture and military operations.
He could understand her many previous behaviors as being naturally talented and intelligent.
But if she could even solve the problem of water source, such a woman...
Gu Feixue noticed the change in Yuchi Shuo's expression and hesitated slightly, but finally sighed quietly, and then said as if she had made up her mind:
"Of course I have an idea. Since we can't transport water manually and we can't wait to build a canal, we might as well borrow something to get water."
"Borrow something to get water? Borrow what?"
Yuchi Shuo frowned, thinking Gu Feixue was joking with him, but seeing that her expression didn't seem fake, he asked again, "Explain it more clearly."
It was rare to see Yuchi Shuo stumped by a question, and Gu Feixue couldn't help but feel refreshed.
Then she pointed to the green bamboo forest vaguely visible in the south and said:
"That's it, these bamboos can help people get water out."
Bamboo?!
Everyone looked at Gu Feixue in disbelief, but saw that her face was as serious as ever, as if she was really not joking.
"I'm telling you this, but you won't understand. Go cut a bamboo and I'll show you what I mean."
Yuchi Shuo looked at Gu Feixue's serious face, staring at her expression without changing, and ordered Zhuifeng, "Zhuifeng, go cut some bamboo."
At this time, Gu Feixue added: "Get two more buckets of water, not too much."
Yuchi Shuo pursed his lips upon hearing this, then said as Gu Feixue had said, "Listen to her and fetch two buckets of water."
After a while, Zhuifeng placed the chopped bamboo and two buckets of water in front of everyone.
Seeing Zhuifeng chopping down a bamboo that was over ten meters long, Gu Feixue said with some shame:
"You, cut it down to the length of a grown man's arm."
This time, Zhuifeng didn't need Yuchi Shuo to say anything. The bamboo was cut into pieces about one meter long with just the movement of the scabbard.
"Light another fire."
Zhuifeng still did as he was told.
Gu Feixue observed the bamboo tube and found it to be of moderate thickness, high density and tough material, making it perfect for bending.
After the fire was lit, Gu Feixue took a piece of bamboo, chose a spot not far from one end, and placed it on the fire to roast it.
Everyone saw that Gu Feixue did not intend to cut bamboo to boil water, but to use the residual heat from the fire to bend the bamboo.
After moving back and forth a few times, he saw that the bamboo's heat resistance had decreased, so he said to Zhuifeng, "Bend this part, and be careful not to let the bamboo split. Not even a crack is allowed."
This was a delicate job, and it concerned the water source, so Zhuifeng naturally did not dare to be negligent. He followed Gu Feixue's instructions and quickly bent the bamboo.
After discovering that it had reached a right angle and the bamboo had not cracked, Gu Feixue breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, she wasn't sure if she could succeed and was prepared to fail many times. She didn't expect the bamboo here to be so tough and dense.
On the other side, Gu Feixue chose a point far away from the end, and after heating it up in the same way, let Zhuifeng bend it.
Finally, pile up half a meter high bricks on the ground, put a bucket of water on the bricks, and put another bucket of water underneath.
She first poured water into the part of the bamboo tube with fewer bends. After it was full, she asked someone to manually block the hole. Then she poured water into the part with more bends. After the entire bamboo tube was filled, there was no leakage.
Finally, the end of the bamboo tube with the least bends was placed into the water in the bucket on the brick, and the end with the most bends was placed into the water in the bucket on the ground. The people who covered the two ends of the bamboo tube were not allowed to let go until the ends were completely submerged in water.
Everyone only saw an indistinguishable device appear in front of them.
Even Yuchi Shuo stared at the bamboo tube the entire time, and after thinking for a moment, he asked:
"Can you use something else to replace your bamboo tube? For example, an iron tube?"
Gu Feixue had already observed that water was flowing down from the bucket below, but it was not obvious because the bamboo tube was inserted underwater.
However, I didn't expect that Yuchi Shuo could immediately draw inferences from his example and think of the possibility of replacing different materials.
Her eyes never left the bucket, but her tone was somewhat approving:
"That's right. As long as it doesn't leak, iron will work. However, the cost of iron is too high, and the labor cost is also high, so I suggest you use natural bamboo tubes, which are more convenient."
Just as Gu Feixue finished speaking, she heard Zhuifeng gasp. He lost his usual cold demeanor and pointed at the bucket below with a trembling finger and said:
"More! There's more water in this bucket than before!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and made a major discovery.
Originally, the two buckets of water had about the same amount of water, but now the bucket that was placed higher has less than a quarter of the water left.
And the bucket of water below seemed to be almost full!
Such a magical phenomenon made everyone crazy.
"Oh my god, what on earth is going on?!" Duke Zheng slapped his thigh and couldn't believe what he saw.
He had been staring at this bucket the entire time. No one had touched it at all. How come the water in one bucket was getting more and the other less?!
"Xue'er, tell me quickly, how did you do it?"
Gu Tingchuan obviously couldn't control his curiosity. He had never seen such a magical phenomenon.
Even some of the disaster victims who had been clearing wasteland behind them gradually gathered forward. Seeing this miraculous sight from afar, they immediately knelt and kowtowed to the sky, shouting that their ancestors had appeared and that Liangcheng's hard times would soon be over. The prefect's hands trembled as he listened, and his face seemed to be hoping that the ancestors really had appeared.
Everyone was excited, except Yuchi Shuo.
He looked at Gu Feixue, who had no trace of pride on her face, but instead looked a little melancholy.
His eyes were more focused than ever before, as if he wanted to see through her.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting more and more lively as people started to beg for favors and thank their ancestors, Gu Feixue felt unhappy.
After what happened today, will she still be able to live a peaceful life?
Would she be captured as a monster? Although, strictly speaking, she was indeed a spirit from another world.
but…
Forget it. Since she has decided to speak out, she will not regret it. If she sees these disaster victims facing greater disappointment after their hope, then she might really regret it.
"Everyone, please be patient. This isn't a manifestation of our ancestors, nor is it sorcery. It's simply a natural phenomenon, taking advantage of the height difference between the two ends of the bamboo."
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