Chapter two hundred and sixty-five pounding rice for farmland
Then after testing the waterwheel for pounding rice a few times, we discovered some problems.
For example, the strength is not very strong, and the rice is not pounded as carefully as human power, so some grains will always come out.
However, these problems are easily solved.
In the former, you only need to adjust the position of the fulcrum of the lever, so that the mallet can be lifted higher, so that the force it hits the stone mortar will be greater.
It's a good thing that we did a test with a sample, otherwise we wouldn't find this problem until we went into mass production, and thousands of units would have to be modified.
What the latter needs to transform is the stone mortar.
That is to say, choose a larger stone mortar with a higher rim, so that even if the grain is smashed around inside, it will not jump out of the mortar.
However, although this method is good, it does not seem to be suitable for tossing at this time.
Because this means that all the stone mortars used for pounding rice in the hands of the people will have to be replaced.
This is difficult to do. First, you have to find a suitable stone, and then you have to knock a hole out of it and then polish it.
At this time, the tools were extremely backward and it would take at least a few days to produce.
So Shen Bing thought of another method: still using the original small stone mortar, but spreading a layer of linen cloth outside the small stone mortar.
If you don’t have linen, you can also use sacks for rice or old clothes. In short, the spilled grains are collected and processed again. In this way, there is no waste problem.
Out of caution, Shen Bing tried it a few more times to make sure there was no problem before starting mass production.
Producing thousands of waterwheels is a piece of cake for Shen Bing... Tens of thousands of troops are placed there. They usually make trebuchets and other siege equipment, but now they only make waterwheels under the guidance of Hui and other carpenters. .
Some of them even have experience in making waterwheels.
In fact, the Wei State does not need waterwheels. There is a lot of runoff in the Wei State and the irrigation water network is dense. However, people are naturally curious about new things. Good people know that there are waterwheels, and they will try to make them after turning over these things.
Although there are not many such people, they can still play a guiding role like Hui and other craftsmen.
Then tens of thousands of people were divided into several batches: logging, transportation, sawing, manufacturing... Thousands of waterwheels were made in just two days.
Shen Bing dispersed these waterwheels throughout Shouchun City... This of course meant dispersion rather than concentration.
If these waterwheels are concentrated in one place, firstly, it will cause crowding, and secondly, the people in the city will have to carry the rice all the way to the gathering place if they want to pound rice. It would be difficult to walk back and forth for a long distance. It takes most of the day, so it's better to pound it yourself at home.
In this way, Shen Bing was dispersed to various places according to the runoff, so that the people in the city could go to the nearby waterwheel to grind rice on the "nearby principle". Only in this way can the purpose of saving labor be truly achieved.
The rules for pounding rice are: pounding rice itself costs no money, but it needs to be registered with the censor. Every ten bags of rice pounded will have to be exchanged for one acre of land.
Moreover, this farm is not a white farm. Instead, it is still taxed according to the Qin law, except that the grain distributed is deducted.
This is a great thing.
Because people only need to calculate like this:
Using a water truck to pound ten bags of rice can save more than a month's labor. If the saved labor is used in farming, there will be no loss.
And if you can farm in the fields with the "twelve taxes and one tax", that is, you can get 11 crops for every 12, wouldn't it be a big profit?
So why don't you follow them like birds?
This is what Shen Bing thought.
But what is surprising is that there were very few people who responded, and no one came to pound the rice even after the notice was posted.
At this time Yang Duanhe came over.
He was busy defending the Huaihe River during this time, running up and down the Huaihe defense line all day long... This was actually the division of labor between Shen Bing and Yang Duanhe. Shen Bing was in charge of Shouchun, while the Qin army led by Yang Duanhe was in charge. Huaihe River and supply lines.
Yang Duanhe came over after seeing the notice posted by Shen Bing.
When he saw the announcement, he didn't know what the waterwheel grinding rice was about, so he immediately frowned:
"Why is this Shen Bing so confused?"
"If you can pound ten bags of rice, wouldn't you have finished cultivating an acre of land?"
"You still want to exchange with the people?"
It just so happened that Yang Duanhe had not been back to Shouchun for a long time and planned to have a look, so he took his bodyguard to look for Shen Bing.
Seeing many waterwheels along the way, Yang Duanhe secretly wondered:
"How could this waterwheel be built in the city? Doesn't the city also need waterwheels to farm fields?"
But he didn't think too much about it. When he found Shen Bing, he asked:
"Lieutenant General, have you carefully evaluated this matter of pounding rice?"
"It takes a lot of time to pound ten bags of rice..."
Shen Bing did not explain much to Yang Duanhe. He just took Yang Duanhe to the waterwheel and then demonstrated how to launch the waterwheel to pound rice.
Yang Duanhe couldn't help being shocked when he saw the hammer pounding the rice up and down:
"Is there such a thing?"
"No wonder the deputy general will pound rice in exchange for farmland."
"It not only saves the people the pain of pounding rice, but also solves the worries of farming. This method is wonderful!"
Yang Duanhe was worrying about the farming affairs during this time.
Ying Zheng shipped a boatload of spring wheat seeds from Handan and ordered to farm the fields, but he did not say how to farm...
If it were normal, this problem would seem to be easily solved. It would be enough to disarm 200,000 troops and return to the fields, capture some laborers and supplement the population with civilians.
However, at this time, the Qin army had just taken down the Huaihe River defense line and was not yet stable. Laborers needed to build fortifications, block the river, make trebuchets, and deploy 200,000 troops along the river.
Otherwise, as long as the Chu army counterattacks, the Qin army will be defeated.
The spring wheat farmers were eager to farm during this period, and they would lose their harvest if they missed the farming season... Yang Duanhe's idea was to complete the defense deployment as soon as possible, and then see if he could squeeze out some troops for farming.
This is also the reason why he is so busy along the Huaihe River.
But when he looked back, he found that Shen Bing had easily solved this problem.
However, Shen Bing smiled bitterly and said:
"However, no one responded after the notice was sent out, and no Chu people have come to pound rice so far."
Yang Duanhe thought for a while and said:
"Maybe Chu people have doubts."
Shen Bing was puzzled:
"Have doubts?"
Yang Duanhe took out the notice and read it again, nodded and said:
"Just like my reaction when I saw the notice, most Chu people will think the same after seeing the notice."
"Is this Qin army crazy? How can there be such a good thing in the world? He is helping to pound rice and provide grain for farming... I am afraid there is fraud in it."
Shen Bing couldn't help but say "oh".
This is because the conditions offered are too generous, so generous that people cannot believe it.
In addition, they are the Qin army. As the Qin army who newly conquered the Chu land, they should be aloof and arrogant. How can they be as "amiable" as they are now.
So of course Chu Min would think, couldn't they get these ten bags of rice back after they were pounded?
Then you will be working as a laborer in the fields, right?
Twelve taxes and one?
I'm afraid it's just a verbal agreement. If the Qin army doesn't give it, who will dare to go to the sword to ask for it?