At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 7, Quyuanli
  The instructor said it well, material determines consciousness. What the poor Chen family needs now is not a private school, but a farm that can feed them.

With this clear understanding, Xu Fan changed the teaching model. The 23 disciples spent half the day studying and the other half cleaning and doing farm work.

The main task of Asheng and the others is to reclaim the fifteen acres of wasteland.

In this era, the cost of reclaiming a piece of wasteland is extremely high. A family of two or three young people can only reclaim two or three acres of wasteland in one year. Because it is raw land, the income in the first three years is basically a handful of seeds. If you go down and collect two or three scoops of grain, it will take a long time to see the benefits.

In the past ten years or so of the Chen family, there has been no interruption in military service. The wars have become more frequent, and the number of people has become smaller and smaller. The remaining labor force is having a hard time maintaining the original fields, so naturally there is no spare capacity to open up wasteland. That's why Chen Gang generously gave Xu Fan a piece of wasteland.

If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. Xu Fan, who has read thousands of historical novels, naturally also understands the Qu Yuan Li, the artifact of land reclamation.

The straight plow has been around for thousands of years and can be said to be the most important agricultural tool in China. But this tool has not been improved for thousands of years since its emergence. Only the materials have changed, from wood and stone in the slave era to bronze to the current iron tools.

The emergence of the curved shaft plow can be said to be a leapfrog development for agricultural tools such as the plow, and its progressive significance is slightly less than that of the steam engine.

It decomposes the lateral force on the straight plow into one transverse force and one longitudinal force, saving half the effort. A curved shaft plow can be pulled by one ox or even manpower. This is naturally more suitable for small farmer economy than the straight plow that requires two oxen for cultivation. .

At the same time, the curved shaft plow can also plow the land more effectively, turning the soil deeper and cultivating a wider area, greatly increasing the farming speed, allowing farmers to complete more farming work in the same time, and increasing the yield of farmland. .

At the same time, the curved shaft plow can deeply loosen the soil and improve the soil's aeration and water retention. It can mix plant residues and organic fertilizers into the soil to promote soil fertility. This helps increase farmland yields and sustainably utilize the soil.

It can be said that with the emergence of the Quyuan plow, the red soil in Jiangnan was rapidly developed, eventually making Jiangnan the economic center of the entire China.

In ancient China, grain output far exceeded that of Europe at the same time, creating a feudal era of unprecedented prosperity in China. Quyuanli was the biggest contributor.

Of course, it is expensive to build a plow. A straight plow on the market costs thousands of dollars, which is beyond the reach of a poor guy like Xu Fan.

Fortunately, this era emphasizes self-sufficiency. There is no shortage of blacksmiths and carpenters in the Chen family. Even Chen Lin himself has carpentry skills. Xu Fan went up the mountain to cut down a tree and dragged a log weighing several hundred kilograms to Chen Lin. , and asked him to help build the plow body.

But the plowshares that require iron tools are really high-tech. Five kilograms of iron materials cost more than 5 dollars. This money cannot be saved.

Fortunately, Xu Fan used his sharp tongue to find an angel investor, the village blacksmith Big Hammer.

The Qin Dynasty adhered to the principle of "merit first" when it came to inventions and creations, that is, it focused on utility. If an invention can increase food production, make swords sharper, and armors stronger, it will be useful to the people of Qin and will be rewarded.

And inventions like making ice from saltpeter can only serve a few upper-class people. To the rulers of the Qin Dynasty, they were useless and obscene techniques that were of no use.

Xu Fan described the prospects of Quyuanli farming to Big Iron Hammer. If this was handed over to the court, he would definitely be rewarded with a title. As long as he builds two curved shaft plowshares for free, Xu Fan can give up the title of the first inventor to Big Hammer.

Big Hammer immediately recognized the deal, provided iron materials for free, and helped Xu Fan hit two plowshares. After completing the deal, he also built a plowshare that was ready to be handed over to the court. After the three new curved shaft plows were assembled, they went to the wasteland for verification.

The big hammer pulled a curved-column plow, Xu Fan also pulled a curved-column plow, and the last curved-column plow was pulled by senior students like Ah Sheng.

The villagers in Chen's family looked at the three strange plowshares curiously. Most people think that the Quyuan plow cannot be used for plowing. How could the thousands of years of experience of our ancestors be wrong?

Only a few people in Chen Lin believed in Xu Fan.

When the three curved shaft plows started plowing the land, all the villagers were in an uproar. The speed was so fast, it was actually twice as fast as they plowed on mature land.

When the villagers saw the land being plowed out and the weeds being pushed under the soil, they were surprised and said, "How could it be so fast?"

Being able to be so fast is also related to the person who pulls the plow. He swings the hammer with a big hammer every day, and his strength can be imagined. After Xu Fan traveled through time, he may have been affected by space radiation, and he also became a strong man. He could do it easily. One hundred kilograms can be carried easily.

Ashengla's speed is only half that of Xu Fan and Big Hammer. This is the most realistic level.

But Ah Sheng was extremely excited at this time. This was the first time in his life that so many people were watching him. The villagers' exclamation was like a compliment to Ah Sheng, and he pulled the plow even more vigorously.

But the villagers didn't see it that way, thinking that this little kid Asheng wasted such a good plow.

"Let me do it." Chen Lin pushed his son away and pulled up the plow himself. The speed of this plow could keep up with Xu Fan and the others.

Chen Lin sighed while pulling it back: "This plow saves so much effort. It penetrates deep into the soil and digs out the roots of weeds. It is really a useful tool for farming."

"Brother, let me pull it." The farmers were naturally curious about this labor-saving agricultural tool and wanted to get it started.

After the big hammer plowed half an acre of the field, he laughed excitedly, then picked up the bent-shaft plow, washed the mud off, and ran to Yang County to find the magistrate.

Chen Gang, the head of the village, looked at the big hammer running towards the county seat and said leisurely: "Master Xu, you will be at a huge disadvantage if you trade two plowshares for this invention."

Xu Fan smiled and said: "These two plows are worth 2000 yuan. Without a big hammer, I can't get them at all, let alone open up wasteland. And I don't know how long it will take to wait for the reward from the court, but now I get two plows." A real plowshare, how can you say I am at a disadvantage?"

In the next few days, every day there were villagers who wanted to try the effect of the Quyuan plow. As long as they tried the effect of the Quyuan plow, no one could put it down. In addition, the land reclamation was for their own children. Yes, the villagers did not feel that they were at a disadvantage. As a result, the main force in land reclamation became these villagers.

With the help of these villagers, it only took 15 days to reclaim all 8 acres of wasteland. Xu Fan led the students to plant soybeans to nourish the land.

(End of this chapter)