"Well, scholar, don't boast. We have dug more than a dozen wells, but no water has come out. Can you find a well location and be sure that water can come out?" Zheng Chun stepped forward and said to Su Hao.
Zheng Chun spoke like this for a purpose. After all, Chen Guanyu was a professional Feng Shui master. He dug the well according to the location he pointed out. Even if he couldn't get water, he had an explanation. Su Hao was just a scholar. According to Su Zhong,
Su Hao was a nerd at all, and perhaps he was just talking arrogantly to escape the charge of beating an official. Of course, Zheng Chun couldn't ask him to point out the location of the well.
However, in the conversation between Su Hao and Chen Guanyu, it was clear that Chen Guanyu was at a loss for words, which showed that Su Hao was somewhat capable. In Zheng Chun's heart, he also hoped that Su Hao might be able to solve his current predicament.
, Otherwise, after spending so much money and not getting any water out, he would not be able to go back and deliver the work.
Therefore, Zheng Chun used this trick of playing hard to get and waiting for Su Hao to speak.
Now this Su Hao is no longer the nerd he used to be. How could Zheng Chun's little narrow-mindedness be hidden from Su Hao? However, Su Hao was too lazy to fight with Zheng Chun. The county magistrate would be nothing more than a minor in future generations.
As a deputy section-level cadre, is there anything worth considering for Su Hao?
Su Hao did not answer Zheng Chun's question. Instead, he pushed his way through the crowd and came to the well that was being drilled. He looked inside and asked, "How deep is this well?"
"40 feet." replied the well digger next to him.
"Give me the torch and I'll go down and have a look." Su Hao said.
The craftsman looked at Zheng Chun who was following Su Hao. Zheng Chun waved his hand, indicating that the craftsman could give Su Hao a torch. The craftsman lit a torch and handed it to Su Hao. Su Hao lifted his robe and stepped into the well-drilling hole holding the torch.
Go in the hanging basket.
"Brother Hao!" Lu Xiuer became a little anxious and shouted.
Su Hao smiled at her and said, "What are you afraid of? I just went down the well to have a look."
"But..." Lu Xiuer didn't know whether she should stop her brother's actions. Seeing the curious expressions of the people around her, she couldn't say anything more and could only whisper: "You should do more
be careful……"
Going down this kind of well was a common occurrence for Su Hao, a geological expert in later generations. He had gone down into wells several hundred meters deep. He didn't think it was dangerous at all. He made a gesture to the two workers who were shaking the wheel.
With a gesture, the worker turned the handle and lowered the hanging basket bit by bit.
Su Hao sat in the hanging basket, holding a torch and inspecting the rock formations and sandy soil layers on the well wall. If he couldn't understand something at once, he would pull the hanging rope and ask the people above to stop for a while. After about ten minutes,
, he sent a signal underground and asked people to pull him up. The situation underground was almost as good as he had estimated in advance. This place was indeed an anticlinal structure. The purpose of his going down was to understand the thickness of the rock layer and the possible
direction.
"How's it going? Scholar, what did you see?" Zheng Chun stepped forward impatiently and asked.
Su Hao shook his head: "The secret must not be leaked... I also want to see where those wells are."
There are another dozen wells scattered around the village. They were originally planned to be filled in to prevent someone from slipping and falling. But these days, everyone is busy digging new wells, so the filling of the wells has been temporarily put on hold.
Zheng Chun saw the confidence in Su Hao's expression and trusted him a little more, so he asked the well-drilling craftsmen to take the windlass frame, ropes and hanging baskets with Su Hao to inspect the other dry areas.
well.
Su Hao did not look at all the dozen wells. After drilling out of the fifth well, he looked up at the sky, murmured a few words, then pointed to the southeast and said: "By
This direction, 700 steps."
"What did you say? There is water within 700 steps?" Zheng Chun couldn't help but shudder. He wanted to believe that what Su Hao said was true, because it meant that his political life would be saved.
"Drill to a depth of 60 feet and produce water... 400 tons per hour." Su Hao reluctantly converted to ancient measurement units. One load is 100 kilograms, and 400 kilograms is 40,000 kilograms, which is equivalent to 20 tons of water. According to his estimate
, drilling a 20-meter well at that well position will produce 240 tons of water a day and night, which should be about the same. Even if there is an error of about 20%, no one will notice it.
"You're talking nonsense!" Chen Guanyu finally stormed off. Before, he was really frightened by Su Hao's confident demeanor, thinking that Su Hao might really have some clever tricks. Now he heard that Su Hao actually dared
By telling the amount of water accurately like this, he felt reassured and decided that Su Hao was definitely talking nonsense. Throughout the ages, no matter how good a Feng Shui master was, no one dared to make any assertions about the amount of water per hour. They could accurately tell whether there was water or not.
This is already unbelievable. This young scholar dares to predict how much water can be produced. This fully shows that he does not know how to survey the well location and does not even have a bit of basic common sense.
Su Hao looked at Chen Guanyu with pity and said: "Chen Shengun, if I were you, I would definitely go find a place to pee at this time."
"What do you mean?" Chen Guanyu was stunned when Su Hao said it. He didn't know what the allusion to peeing was.
Su Hao said: "When the well is dug out, there will be 400 tons of water in one hour. You have to drink 40 tons. If you don't pee now, will you be able to drink it by then?"
With a squeak, Lu Xiuer, who had been following Su Hao, couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was really hard for girls to get involved in topics like peeing, otherwise she would definitely join her brother in disparaging Chen Guanyu.
"Sir, look..." Xie Changfa, the leading craftsman, looked at Zheng Chun and asked for his opinion.
"Xiucai, you said that water can be extracted in 700 steps. If you can't, what will you do?" Zheng Chun asked Su Hao.
Su Hao said lightly: "Then you can send me to the official, and any punishment will be fine."
"Brother..." Lu Xiu'er desperately pulled Su Hao's lapel behind her. She knew that her brother had never learned any Feng Shui at all, so how could he know how to find the location of a well. The government had drilled so many wells but no water came out.
, he can draw out water with just a finger?
Su Hao ignored Lu Xiuer's reminder, but looked at Zheng Chun with a smile and asked: "This official, if the water comes out as I said, what will you say?"
"I will report it to Mingzhi County and record your merits for you." Zheng Chun said, patting his chest.
"Okay, let's get started." Su Hao waved his hand and said. He didn't expect Zheng Chun to give him more promises. According to Su Hao's idea, it was less important to remember the credit. It would be more beneficial to give him a bonus.
Zheng Chun looked at Chen Guanyu and then at Su Hao. He hesitated again and again, then stamped his foot and said, "Okay, I will trust you as a scholar for once. If you can't get out of the water, I will settle the score with you again."
This is what is called seeking medical treatment in a hurry. Chen Guanyu pointed out so many well locations, but no water came out. Zheng Chun had to place his hopes on this pretentious scholar.
When Xie Changfa saw Zheng Chun nodding, he walked up to Su Hao and asked, "Sir, you just said it's 700 steps from this direction. I'm afraid I won't understand what you meant. Could you please give me some guidance?"
This is where Xie Changfa is cautious. Drilling a well is not a small matter. If you choose the wrong location, your efforts will be in vain. Su Hao pointed it casually like this. If he doesn't admit it in the future, this mistake will not be counted.
who?
"Absolutely." Su Hao replied. He has always been arrogant but not arrogant. He would have a cold face towards officials, but he had always respected ordinary workers very much. He followed his own path.
He walked 700 steps in the chosen direction with a standard stride, then stood down, picked up a piece of rubble, drew a circle on the ground, and said: "That's it, dig down 60 feet, and there will be water."
"
"This is 700 steps..." Xie Changfa scratched his head and looked at Su Hao in surprise.
"Yeah, didn't you count with me just now?" Su Hao asked.
"Uh... Mr. Dacai, we country folk count steps by taking one step with each foot on the left and right. You count one step with each foot..." Xie Changfa said slowly.
"Ahem, this is the way to survey well locations. This step is different from what we usually say." Su Hao knew that he had made a mistake and hurriedly covered it up. People in the Ming Dynasty talked about steps, just as Xie Changfa said,
It refers to the length of one step on each side, and Su Hao still followed the custom of later generations, one step is 70 centimeters. No wonder Xie Changfa was puzzled. Fortunately, Xie Changfa did not make his own decisions and followed the distance of 700 steps as he understood.
Well, otherwise, this well will probably be drilled to the edge of the structure again, which would be a big joke.
Seeing that Su Hao had determined the location of the well, Xie Changfa said hello, and several well-drilling craftsmen and workers came over, picked up spades and picks, and started digging. After the surface soil was dug, they would set up the windlass.
They are already very skilled at using hanging baskets to lift into the wells for work.
Su Zhong, the head of the village, came over. He looked at the work of the craftsmen, and then said to Zheng Chun: "Sir, you don't have to stay here anymore. If you can get out of the water, let the people below report it to you.
Just a letter will do. You have worked hard today, why don’t you go back to the village to rest first."
"Okay." Zheng Chun nodded, gave Xie Changfa a few instructions, and then took the servants and followed Su Zhong back to the village. I don't know whose turn it is to entertain these officials tonight. In short, it must be
I had to kill a chicken to buy meat, and a little blood came out.
"Master Xie, I'm sorry to bother you here. After you get out of the water, remember to ask someone to tell me." Su Hao also told Xie Changfa, then turned back to Lu Xiu'er and said: "Let's go, Xiu'er, let's go home too.