A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 40
After Wang Dou made a final decision, the group of craftsmen began to work in full swing, designing drawings and preparing materials.

Wang Dou provided the materials and manpower they needed, especially the wood for making the shaft of the waterwheel, a kind of thick, long and wear-resistant hardwood. , but there is no thick and long hardwood like this. Finally, through Zhang Gui, I bought some thick and long old wood from Shun Xiangbao, which cost him a lot of money.

With this kind of hardwood, it is necessary to start making water wheel blades, which also requires a large amount of manpower and materials. Wang Dou mobilized the men and women of Jingbian Fort, and only provided it to the old craftsmen.

While making the waterwheel, the old craftsman sent several young craftsmen to the Baihuqu River to choose a location for the waterwheel to be installed.At the same time, along the area near the waterwheel and the river, a deep water tank needs to be built with stone materials. These craftsmen alone cannot be busy, and Wang Dou provides manpower to help.

While he was busy building the Lanzhou waterwheel, Wang Dou also asked the old craftsman to take out the craftsmen and start building the waterwheel for well irrigation for himself, temporarily building about five.

Last year, the first well "Wanggong Well" was drilled in Jingbian Fort. The water in the well was cold and clear, and it was so clear that you could see hairs.In order to protect the well, not only the whole well was built with bricks, but also a well pavilion was built on it to shelter from the wind and rain, and a pulley was set beside the well to lift water.

At the same time, last year, five irrigation wells were drilled outside the fort, all of which were also of blue brick structure, as a supplement to the fields outside the canal.Unlike the wells in Jingbian Fort, of course it is impossible to raise water by manpower for this irrigation well, a water truck must be built to divert water, and animal power is also needed, and Wang Dou will have to buy a few mules again.

In fact, when it comes to irrigation, it is better to build canals and ponds.During the Taiping Festival of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the canals, almost every village and fort in some villages in the north has one or two pools to solve the daily water for people and animals, and even domestic water.

However, the construction of canals and ponds is expensive and the project is huge. Even if a pond for a village’s water is dug, sometimes it will take several years to build and cost thousands of taels of silver to complete, and the annual dredging of the pond is not a small sum.

Thinking of this, Wang Dou lost all thoughts, and the investment in well irrigation is small, but the income is large, so let's slowly dig wells and build water trucks.

……

After more than ten days of hard work, this Lanzhou waterwheel was finally built. It is huge, more than ten meters high, and it looks very spectacular standing on the edge of the river channel.

When the waterwheel was in operation that day, the riverside was crowded with people, not only the military households of Jingbian Fort, but also the soldiers and civilians of nearby Xinzhuang and Dongjiazhuang came to watch.

While everyone was holding their breath, several craftsmen opened the gate beside the river channel, and immediately the water wheel's woven blades were slowly turning under the impact of the river water. , The bamboo tube on the wheel leaves continuously pours water into the ditch on the bank, and the river continues to flow forward.

There was a lot of cheers, and a group of craftsmen headed by the old craftsman were full of emotion, and some of them had tears in their eyes.

Perhaps, this Lanzhou waterwheel is the most outstanding work of their life.

Since then, this large water wheel has become a spectacle of Jingbian Fort. When people talk about Jingbian Fort in the future, the first thing that comes to mind is this large water wheel.

……

Among the crowd, Wang Dou was naturally very happy. After returning to the castle, he generously paid the workers' wages, and at the same time showed the intention of soliciting them.

This group of carpenters are all excited. In fact, they have been official craftsmen for generations, and they have no freedom. They are also hungry and cold on weekdays.This time they came to work in Jingbian Fort, which was also considered as a lease. Most of the work and food money they got had to be handed over, and in the end they had very little money in their hands.

Compared to Wang Dou's generosity, Jingbian Fort's treatment certainly moved their hearts even more. Although the environment here is a little bit worse for the time being, what's the point?As long as you have enough food and clothing, you will be a paradise wherever you go.It's just that their household registration is not in Jingbian Fort, so it is very difficult to stay here.

Wang Dou also pondered. He now has a group of craftsmen who make weapons. The household registration was transferred from Shunxiangbao. At that time, it was through the relationship of Du Gong, a hundred households in Shunxiangbao. , I have to give gifts everywhere again.

I still need to try it myself, and the group of craftsmen who are currently building the fort in Jingbian Fort will also be retained in the future.

……

During these times, the carpenters focused their energy on building the Lanzhou water truck. After the large water truck was built, their main goal turned to the well-filling water trucks.

The difficulty of making well-filling water trucks is much less than that of large water trucks. Soon, the five well-filling water trucks were also built.

Wang Dou has seen this kind of well irrigation water truck, which is actually an improved keel water truck. The cost is more than ten taels, and the maximum limit after water diversion can irrigate more than [-] acres of fields.

In fact, Wang Dou had a more efficient diversion waterwheel in mind, that is, the pipe chain waterwheel of later generations, also known as the "liberation waterwheel", which consists of a frame, bevel gears, sprockets, chains, round leather coins, It is composed of water pipes and drawbars, and is also driven by animal power.

However, this kind of waterwheel has a high technical content, and the gears, sprockets, and chains are very difficult to manufacture, and it requires a lot of iron materials, which is expensive. Let's use this kind of Daming well irrigation waterwheel to lead slowly.

……

At this time, it was the beginning of February in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and in the Gregorian calendar of later generations, it was on the [-]th day of March, and spring plowing began immediately.

Last year, Jingbianbao military households had reclaimed more than 1000 mu of wasteland, and there were 55 Jingbianbao military households. For the time being, each household was divided into more than [-] mu of land, and each household was determined by lottery.After the fields were distributed, all the military households were very grateful. Since then, they have their own fields, and their lives have hope.After dividing the fields, their roots are deeply rooted in this place.

After deliberation, Wang Dou, Han Chao, Han Zhong, Qi Tianliang and other military officers temporarily did not divide the fields.

At present, Jingbian Fort has dredged the Baihu Canal, built water trucks, dug irrigation wells, and everyone has no problem diverting water for irrigation.

Regarding the seeds, Wang Douji asked Qi Tianliang and Yang Tong to buy a batch of millet and sorghum seeds. Jingbianbao missed the cultivation of winter wheat last year and had to plant these miscellaneous grains in the spring of this year.

Millet is called millet in the north, and millet is called millet in the south, but millet is the same as sorghum, both of which have a short growth period, are resistant to drought and barrenness, and are suitable for sowing in spring and on newly reclaimed land.After autumn, plant some winter wheat.

Right now, there are nineteen cattle in Jingbian Fort. If one cattle is distributed to each military household, another thirty or so cattle will be purchased. At this time, the price of cattle has dropped slightly, but one cattle still costs more than six taels of silver. With the addition of plow tools, etc., I am afraid that it will cost more than 200 taels of silver.

Du Gong, a hundred householder in Shun Township Fort, hinted several times that he went to the bull market store in his fort to buy cattle. Seven taels of silver.However, Wang Dou obviously couldn't just consider how much it was expensive. After thinking about it, he decided to go to the bull market in Shunxiangbao to buy another batch of cattle.

In addition, Wang Dou also needs to buy a batch of mules and horses, and irrigation of wells requires animal power. Similarly, Qi Tianliang's transport team also needs animal power. With the expansion of Jingbian Fort in the future, this demand will increase. exuberant.

Just when Wang Dou took out the silver and asked Qi Tianliang and Yang Tong to take some people to Shun Township Castle to buy cattle and mules, at this time Wang Dou received an urgent notice sent by Zhang Gui, the defense officer, Mr. Xu Zhongjun, Today, I will inspect Jingbian Fort in the future.

……

Xu Zhongjun was very surprised after Wang Dou handed over the Jingbian Fort's settlement documents for the record last year. At that time, he thought of going to Jingbian Fort to inspect and see Wang Dou's settlement results.Afterwards, due to a lot of business, he did not bring people here until today.

He has a large group of people, besides the family guards, Shun Township Baoqin Shun, the Deputy Qianhu Du Zhen of the Management Office, Du Gong of Hundred Households, and Zhang Gui, the management team officer of Dongjiazhuang, are all accompanying him.Wang Dou took Han Chao and others, as well as many Jingbian Fort military households, to welcome Xu Zhongjun and his party outside the fort.

Xu Zhongjun was still wearing the official uniform of thousands of households, with a unicorn bronze medal on his waist. He was riding a fat horse, which seemed to be one of the horses of the Jin Army after Wang Dou captured that day. He seemed a little sick, But his demeanor was still steady, and his eyes were still sharp.

Under the leadership of Wang Dou, Xu Zhongjun and others visited the barracks, granary, forage field, and arsenal in the fort. They saw that Wang Dou could build the buildings in the fort in such a short period of time. nod.

Seeing their approval, Wang Dou and the others were of course also proud.

However, the fort wall of Jingbian Fort has not been built yet, only an opening is opened in the south direction, and the future Jingbian Fort will only have one entrance and exit at the south gate.

After seeing the interior of the fort, Xu Zhongjun and others went to Dongfang River to see the famous Jingbian Fort big water truck. Everyone was very interested and obviously very curious about this big water truck.

When Xu Zhongjun and the others saw this huge waterwheel that was more than ten meters high for the first time, they were all taken aback, obviously shocked.

Seeing the rotating waterwheel continuously drawing water to the side of the canal, Xu Zhongjun kept asking Wang Dou. When he heard that the waterwheel could irrigate three hundred acres, Xu Zhongjun's eyes lit up, but he heard that the waterwheel was expensive. When it reached a hundred taels, his eyes darkened again.

In the end, he watched the waterwheel carefully, amazed from time to time.

Du Zhen, Du Gong, and Zhang Gui were all by Xu Zhongjun's side, and they also heard the conversation between Xu Zhongjun and Wang Dou, but they looked at Wang Dou with a strange expression, unlike Xu Zhongjun. Obviously thinking: "To build such an expensive waterwheel, this Wang Dou is really a prodigal. Even if he gets some money, rice and goods from the bandits, he can't stand such a defeat."

……

After looking at the waterwheel, Wang Dou accompanied Xu Zhongjun and others to see the plowed land in Jingbian Fort.

A group of people walked by the Baihu Canal. Xu Zhongjun looked at the fields, canals, and irrigation wells one by one, and nodded from time to time. Wang Dou voluntarily asked for orders to come to the fort. He was indeed very capable, and he did it in a short time With so many achievements, this made Xu Zhongjun appreciate Wang Dou more. If other officials in the village had Wang Dou's attention, then the situation in the village of Qianhusuo would get better and better.

He remembered something and asked, "Spring plowing is about to begin, Wang Dou, are there enough seeds for the cattle in your castle?"

(End of this chapter)