Manor Romance

Chapter 40
The area covered by the hail disaster is not large. The main affected areas are Banlu Mountain and the area on the southeast side. The most serious one is Xiaolu Mountain in Yunli. The center of the cloud layer where the hailstorm occurred is near here.The situation in Shanglu Village is not too bad. The ice particles on the side of the terraced fields are not large and the duration is not long. The damage to the crops is limited. After the hail stopped, everyone took remedial measures as soon as possible to reduce the losses bottomed out.

Like Xiaolushan, another village in Luzhen, Xiayong Village, was hit hard.Xiayong Village is just to the east of Dalu Mountain, where a big river flows through, hence the name.Like Xiaolu Mountain, Xiayong Village was the hardest-hit area of ​​the hail disaster. Many farmlands were seriously damaged. Even the upper management sent a team to investigate the situation and see if they could apply for subsidies for the farmers.

Now every household is busy with post-disaster work in their own fields, and Yunli can't recruit many people to help, so many things have to be done by himself.

After working hard all day, the three of them cleaned up the cherry tomatoes, and then straightened the damaged seedlings in the potato and corn fields. If there was no hope of survival, they were replaced with newly sent seedlings.

This time it was Feng Jiaqi who sent the seedlings, and even Feng Yisong also came. Seeing the situation in Jifang Garden, Feng Yisong felt very sorry.He came this time not only to send seedlings to Yunli, he was originally one of the consultants of the county agriculture bureau, this time he went to the countryside to shoulder the task of inspecting the disaster situation, after comforting Yunli a few words, he went to Xiayong The village survey went.

Without seeing Lu Ci, Feng Jiaqi had no choice but to ask Yunli. Yunli was in a bad mood and told him directly that Lu Ci had been fired, but Feng Jiaqi still refused to let him go. Showed it to him and sent him away.

The work of replanting seedlings took several days to complete. During this period, Yunli recruited a permanent employee again, named Li Xing. Everyone called him Li Bo. He was about the same age as Xu Bo. He was over 60 years old and lived in Li Xiaolu. A place not far from the mountain.In the conflict between Brother Chen and Xu Lin, he was the little old man who helped to hug Brother Chen.

There are only him and his wife in Li Xing's family, and the two daughters are married far away. Only during the New Year and holidays do they have time to come back to visit the two elders.Most of the several acres of terraced fields in his family are rented out to other farmers, and only a small field near the house is left to grow some melons and vegetables. Usually, he is free most of the time, so he agreed to come to Xiaolu Mountain to help, and the salary is also the same. 600 yuan a month.

On the side of Jifang Garden, Yunli had already found someone to re-cover it with plastic film. Apart from planting the next batch of strawberry plants, there was no other action. Those surviving flowers and plants were all transplanted into the yard by him.The small world that was once lush and lush is now empty, which is really embarrassing.

After the hailstorm, the days in Luzhen were sunny without any rainfall.On the other side of the water storage pit, although there is still a certain amount of water storage, it is not an option to continue like this.Although there was not much money left in his hand, Yunli still decided to improve the water diversion project.

His plan is to excavate a deep pool at the junction of the deep herringbone canal to store more water sources and prepare for the water supply to the wasteland in the northwest in the future, and he can also try to Take a look at aquaculture to see if the electromagnetic force has a positive effect on living things as well.

Although the excavation of the pool was not a major project, it had to obtain the consent of the Shanglu Village Committee before it could start. However, with Yunli's current reputation in the village, there was no obstacle to this matter.After a few days of damming and allowing the ditches to dry up, work can begin on the ponds.

Two large excavators started construction at the same time, and it took three days to dig out this large circular pool with a diameter of more than 30 meters and a water depth of more than four meters in the middle.On the wasteland in the northwest, Yunli also had someone dig a smaller water storage pit at the middle high point, only about ten meters in diameter, and dug ditches around the water storage pit leading to the surroundings, so that The approximate irrigation network is complete.

After the pool was completed, many folks in the village came to watch it, and asked with a smile, seeing that summer was coming, Yunli dug a large pool for everyone to swim in and cool off.

After putting it into the water source, it really looks like a swimming pool. Yunli didn't think about raising anything for the time being, so he just ignored it for the time being, because there are more attractive things to do.

The first step of the water diversion project for the entire Xiaolu Mountain is to dig a water storage pit in the valley as a source of water supply, and dredge the ditches so that the entire southern area of ​​Xiaolu Mountain has sufficient water supply
The second step is to expand the water storage capacity. The deep pool excavated this time is mainly used to provide water for the northwest area.And the third step is to divert the water source from this deep pool to the storage pit in the northwest to form an irrigation network, so that the entire water diversion project will be successfully completed.

There are many ways to divert the water source. The simplest method is to use a water pump to transfer the water source below through the water pipe.The project volume of this project is not large, although the distance is a bit far, but after completion, the stability of water supply is high, so it is a very good choice.

In addition, it is also possible to purchase several water pumps. It is also an option to adopt a progressive water supply model like how farmers supply water to terraced fields.

However, Yunli did not adopt any of these plans, but chose one of the oldest water diversion methods, the waterwheel.

The waterwheel, also known as the Kongming cart, is said to have been improved and perfected by Kong Ming, the great military strategist of the Three Kingdoms period, and was popularized and used in the Shu Kingdom. After that, it was widely used for agricultural irrigation across the country. It has been used until now, with a history of nearly 2000 years.

The waterwheel could not be bought directly, so one had to go to a relevant company to order it, or find an experienced craftsman to make it. It happened that Xu Lin knew such a master craftsman and was willing to help Yunli design a waterwheel.On this day, Xu Lin invited his master to Xiaolushan, and accompanied by Yunli, he came to the deep water pool to investigate the situation.

Through Xu Lin's introduction, Yunli knew that this master's name was Fan Qiu. Everyone called him Master Fan. He was only in his early 50s. He used to be Xu Lin's art teacher. He was proficient in various crafts and had a certain reputation in the industry. .Master Fan has a medium build and loose hair, but he has a good mental outlook. Standing with Xu Lin, he feels that the person in his 50s should be Xu Lin instead of him.

"If you want to transport water there, the waterwheel must be at least 20 meters high. If you use all bamboo, the carrying capacity is not enough. I have to think about it." After looking at the general situation, Master Fan explained to Yunli .

Yunli also looked through relevant materials before, and had a general understanding of the structure of waterwheels. Taking this opportunity, he asked Master Fan for advice: "Where waterwheels are made, bamboo or wood is generally used. Are there other materials that are suitable? ?”

Master Fan is a talkative person, he laughed a little, and then explained to Yunli: "This is a common practice, but with the advancement of technology, many metals and even synthetic materials can be added to the construction of waterwheels, and the effect is very good. Quite good. Of course, due to different regional customs, there are still many styles of waterwheels in the world. For example, Hainan people use small waterwheels made of coconut shells. The driven waterwheel is also quite suitable for Xiaolu Mountain.”

"A waterwheel made of coconut shells? You must see it if you have the chance. It's too strange." Yun Li exclaimed.

"In some salt pans, this kind of waterwheel is still used to divert water. I heard this from my friends. Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, it is indeed feasible in terms of craftsmanship." Master Fan explained with a smile.

"Then see what materials I need for this water tanker, so that I can prepare it. The rainy season is coming soon, so I can arrange other things when it is built early." Yun Li asked.

"How about this, Xiaolushan has enough wind power here, so we design a European-style waterwheel, which can take into account both wind power and hydraulic power. This requires more materials. The core bearing shaft and transmission shaft must be made of metal, so as to improve Sufficient bearing capacity, the main body of the waterwheel can be made of bamboo, and the sail can be made of a special oil-paper square fan, which is light and durable.” Master Fan expressed his thoughts.

"If you use a metal shaft, you have to order it in advance. If it is too late, I don't know when I will be able to schedule it for you." The process is still well understood.

"It's easy to handle. I have a close friend who can do it for you. After I design the blueprint, I'll show it to you to see if there is anything you need to modify. After confirming, you can start working immediately." Master Fan said confidently.

"I'm sure you're right, write me a copy of the materials later, so I can prepare it." Yun Li said with a smile.

When Xu Lin recommended Master Fan back then, Yunli was somewhat hesitant. He originally wanted to find a professional company to do it. There are many such companies in Linshan County, which are quick and easy.After getting in touch with him, Yunli found out that Master Fan really had a skill, he had considered all aspects, and it was very appropriate to entrust the water truck to him.

Afterwards, Master Fan went to the water storage pit in the valley for a while, observed the water flow in the ditch, and recorded the relevant data.From the chat, it can be seen that Xu Lin has great respect for Master Fan, and Master Fan is not without emotion. One of his most promising disciples at the beginning has become like this now.

There are not many materials to prepare, they are all wood and bamboo, and the most important materials are all checked by Master Fan, which saves Yunli a lot of trouble.In less than a week, Master Fan sent Yunli the drawings and preliminary estimates. In fact, Yunli was a layman and didn't have any good suggestions, so he made a final decision.

Waiting for the time to make the bearing shaft, Master Fan brought a few workers to process the main material in advance.The main body of the waterwheel is a ring made of long bamboo, inside which are connected steps and support frames, which are somewhat similar to the ribs of an umbrella, only more complicated.Every connection and joint part should be padded with some pine wire, and then tied tightly with thick copper wire, which is not only reliable, but also reduces friction and prolongs the life of the waterwheel.

The most important point in building a waterwheel is to make the base well. It can be said that the quality of the base will affect the smooth operation and life of the entire waterwheel.

(End of this chapter)