novelapdf Chapter 1470: Tempering the Heart in the Mortal World (4)
Chapter 1470: Tempering the Heart in the Mortal World (4)
Chapter 1470: Tempering the Heart in the Mortal World (XIV)
Ye Xiangming looked at the drawing in his hand and remained silent for a long time.
After Wang Chen's detailed explanation of the principle of the gravity water wheel, he has completely understood it.
But Ye Xiangming had no idea whether such a big thing could operate normally.
Never seen it before!
If it was made by Wang Chen himself, then it doesn't matter if he messes with it. Anyway, it is Wang Chen's responsibility whether it works or not.
However, what Wang Chen is asking now is for the county government to step in and organize craftsmen to build this thing.
Then the situation is completely different.
Official construction requires the responsibility and endorsement of the county government. Once the funds are invested but fail, Ye Xiangming, as the initiator of the project, will definitely be the first person responsible.
It's normal for him to be cautious.
After hesitating for a long time, the county magistrate said, "How about I help you contact the workshop?"
"Time waits for no one."
Wang Chen understood the other party's concerns, but the drought was severe. Without the intervention of official forces, it would be a pipe dream to want to build a usable self-flowing water truck in the fastest time.
"How about this."
Wang Chen thought for a moment and said, "I will pay for the first self-flowing water truck. If it is successful, the county government will take over it. How about that?"
Ye Xiangming's eyes lit up: "That's something we can consider."
Wang Chen would bear the cost of construction, and the county government would only have to provide a nominal fee, and there would be no loss if it failed.
But he was still very cautious: "This is a serious matter, I have to discuss it with the county magistrate."
Wang Chen understood his father-in-law's thoughts, nodded and said, "Okay."
Once the decision was made, Ye Xiangming acted very decisively. He asked Wang Chen to wait in the room, and then he went to discuss with the county magistrate Yu Heqian.
As a result, before Wang Chen finished his cup of tea, Yu Heqian and Ye Xiangming came together.
As the magistrate of Qing'an County, Yu Heqian, who was over 40 years old, was still very capable, otherwise he would not have been able to sit on the throne of county magistrate for so many years and his position had never been shaken.
The relationship between this county magistrate and the county magistrate Ye Xiangming was not harmonious, and the open and secret struggles between the two lasted for several years.
But this time he did not oppose Ye Xiangming, and was very interested in the gravity-flowing waterwheel "invented" by Wang Chen, and asked the latter a lot of details.
Then the county magistrate made the decision on the spot: "Let's do this. Build one first to see how it works. If it works, the county government will build a few more."
The advantages of a gravity-fed water wheel are extremely obvious. First of all, it is entirely driven by water flow, which greatly saves manpower. It can operate continuously around the clock and is very efficient.
Secondly, its water-drawing height can be adjusted to avoid the embarrassing situation that the water level drops further and causes the water wheel to fail.
The only drawback is probably that the cost will be very high.
But the cost of building the first waterwheel was donated by Wang Chen, so this problem naturally no longer existed.
Yu Heqian even exclaimed: "I have long heard that Mr. Wang cares about the common people and has a noble character. It is indeed well-deserved. On behalf of the 100,000 people of Qing'an County, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Wang."
He stood up and bowed to Wang Chen very solemnly.
Wang Chen quickly responded: "Your Excellency, thank you for your compliment."
Although Wang Chen is a natural "Ye Party member", he has to admit that in terms of the level of being an official, Yu Heqian can definitely beat Ye Xiangming - the two are simply not on the same level.
However, Ye Xiangming's advantages were also very obvious. His own strength was strong enough and he was fully capable of shouldering the responsibility of being the county magistrate, so he was not at much of a disadvantage.
In the official system of the Nanli Kingdom, the main officials of the county were divided into the county magistrate, the county magistrate and the chief clerk. Among them, the county magistrate held military power and was responsible for commanding the local garrison forces, which was enough to compete with the county magistrate.
But in Wang Chen's opinion, the balance between the two sides was most likely the result of Yu Heqian's deliberate creation!
However, Wang Chen had no interest in the power struggle in the county government. What he was most concerned about at the moment was when the gravity-flowing water wheel could be built and put into use as quickly as possible.
Because the severity of the drought had become increasingly apparent, after the two giants in Qing'an County made a unanimous decision, the drawings of the gravity-fed waterwheel were quickly sent to the official workshop and built by the most experienced craftsmen.
Since the gravity-fed water wheel was a brand new thing, Wang Chen not only provided funding and design, but also stayed in the workshop as a supervisor.
Wang Chen certainly had no objection to this. In fact, it would be troublesome if he couldn't participate in person!
In the next few days, under the supervision of Wang Chen, the craftsmen in the official workshop tried their best, worked overtime day and night, and finally built the first gravity-fed waterwheel.
At the same time, the site for installation had been selected, so the new waterwheel was quickly pulled to the Qingshui River for assembly.
When the waterwheel was being assembled, there were crowds of people on both sides of the river, and nearby villagers and farmers rushed to the scene after hearing the news.
In recent days, the water level of the Qingshui River has dropped again, causing all the newly built water-treading vehicles to become useless lumps. The ditches connected to them are dry, and the surrounding rice fields have fallen into severe drought.
If this situation continues, large areas of rice fields will fail.
This is undoubtedly a devastating blow to local farmers!
Therefore, these distressed villagers all hoped that the new waterwheel built under the supervision of the government could be put to use.
Because of the importance of the matter, two county bosses, the county magistrate Yu Heqian and the county chancellor Ye Xiangming, both came, making the craftsmen in charge of the assembly feel under great pressure.
Fortunately, the quality of the products produced by the official workshop is still very reliable, and the dimensions of all accessories have been strictly measured, so there are no major problems during the assembly process.
From morning to afternoon, when a rather magnificent waterwheel appeared in everyone's sight, many farmers expressed their sincere exclamation - it was so huge.
The assembled waterwheel was fixed by a mechanism and did not start to draw water immediately.
The startup steps were left to Yu Heqian.
When the county magistrate suddenly pulled the trigger, the tall waterwheel immediately made a "creaking" sound, began to turn under the impact of the water flow, and continued to accelerate.
At the same time, clear river water was brought up by water barrels and poured into the dry canal nearby.
It worked!
Such a wonderful scene made all the villagers and farmers watching burst into earth-shaking cheers.
Many people even shed tears.
Because of the water from the river, their crops were saved and would not fail in the fall.
Driven by gravity-flowing water wheels, river water is continuously introduced into ditches and slowly flows into the vast fields.
Ye Xiangming couldn't help but let out a long sigh, patted Wang Chen on the shoulder and said, "Well done!"
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