A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

In ancient times, agriculture relied on the sky. No matter what you planted, God would give you face. What we seek is good weather and good weather, and what we seek is the four seasons of farming.

But now there is a severe drought in Shinano. Every farmer is asking for water. Where does the water come from?

Xiaoping is too unknown.

The main agricultural areas in the Koshinobu area actually surround the plain valleys formed by lakes and rivers such as Lake Suwa, Chikuma River, Tenryu River, Kamamashi River, and Fuefuki River.

The terrain of Jiaxin is also surrounded by mountains, forming fertile river valleys one after another in the mountains. Along the river valleys, famous tycoons of the Warring States Period were born one after another.

But how big is the river valley? Even if we cultivate paddy fields and grow rice, we cannot feed the two to three hundred thousand people living in Shinano. Therefore, those hats that are not close to water sources and the fire hats on the hillsides have been developed. In these places, crops such as radish and taro are usually grown. 【Note 1】

It is difficult to use water, and the yield is naturally not high. It's better than nothing, it can always help subsidize the family.

However, the long-term development of agriculture has enabled the people of Shinano to discover a way to seek water from the ground.

Under normal circumstances, when there is a drought and water shortage, it is nothing more than mobilizing people to dig deep wells and pump groundwater. Those who are somewhat skilled will build some water pumping equipment. In most novels, they must build the Lanzhou Waterwheel on the Yellow River.

The methods are very limited and pale. Whether they are useful or not is a matter of opinion. The ancient landlords were not stupid, their brains were no more stupid than those of today's people, and they had a clear idea of ​​whether something was useful or not.

So is there really nothing we can do when there is a drought? of course not. The working people in ancient times had many methods. They struggled in such a harsh environment and were full of skills.

No, Xiao Pingtai saw farmers from various villages organizing farmers to go up the mountain. We also specifically choose hillsides with lush and thriving vegetation. And only pick sunny slopes, not shady slopes.

When everyone has reached the slope, pick a small open space on the mountainside and line up people from the mountainside. It doesn't matter if the line is not even. Everyone just picks up a shovel and digs. Dig a trench one meter deep and half a meter wide underground.

Then the ditches dug by dozens of people were connected to form a long ditch from the mountainside to the flat ground at the bottom of the slope. Of course, this is not over yet. Now everyone knows that this is a ditch for water diversion, and naturally the ditch must be connected to fields or ditches.

But these farm gates didn't do this. They didn't even set up water gates. They just pulled a line from the bottom of the slope to the fields.

But this ditch did not connect to mountain springs or undercurrents. Why did the farmers dig it? Xiao Pingtai was completely confused and had no clue at all.

The farmers were very familiar with it. Baskets of pebbles picked from the river beach were dumped into the ditch. From the mountainside to the bottom of the slope, a layer of pebbles 20 to 30 centimeters thick was spread densely. Then backfill all the mud that was just dug out, as if the trench had never been dug at all.

After the men finish the physical work, the women go into battle. As mentioned earlier, Shinano is also within the scope of the Kanto red soil layer. The peasant women dug out the highly viscous red soil and sifted out large particles such as stones.

Shape the sifted clay and water into semi-circular roof tile-like mud blocks. Then put it into the straw and firewood for firing, and you can easily get rough pottery.

The two pieces of clay tiles combined together form a cylindrical water pipe, and the simplest and cheapest water diversion tunnel was born.

Insert the ends of these terracotta tiles into the cobblestone area at the bottom of the slope. The gaps between the terracotta tiles are also covered with clay to try to prevent leakage from this rough water pipe.

With just a few terracotta tiles, an aqueduct was laid out from a hillside to a field or ditch. Cover the outside of the terracotta tiles with a layer of soil to form a ridge to prevent someone from accidentally damaging it, and then wait for water to come.

Where does this water come from?

Of course it came out of nowhere!

The reason why we choose a sunny hillside is because it is also the rainy side. No matter it rains or snows, this side always has more rain.

At the same time, we choose an area with lush vegetation because the mountains and forests have the function of conserving water. The large and dense root system of the vegetation can be used to maintain the soil and water on the entire hillside, so that the entire hillside is filled with water and prevents the vegetation from drying out.

No matter how dry this year is, there will still be a few drops of rain after autumn, and there will still be some frost in late autumn and early winter. Soon, the snow will fall in Shinano, more or less.

This is all water! It’s a pity that manpower cannot collect it!

Manpower is sometimes poor, but the power of nature is endless!

The water in its natural state is collected inside the hillside by the vegetation. The water flows to the lower areas, and the water also flows to the hollows!

Because of this special ditch on the hillside that conserves a lot of water, the nearby water will slowly gather into the pebble layer in the ditch. The running water will flow out of the mountain and finally be introduced into aqueducts made of clay tiles to become agricultural water. 【Note 2】

Xiao Pingtai thought in her heart that she was applauding like a bull. If you do this, floods and droughts are cheap, so you are not afraid.

There is no need for the helpless little Heita to step in and help. The people of Shinano have already started working to save themselves. As a time traveler, it’s better to go home and wash up and sleep.

In short, Shinano's agricultural system is very complete, and it can rest in self-regulation without intervention.

Not long after, the first snow of winter fell in Shinano. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it snowed, and the problem would be less serious before spring.

Every household begins to prepare to welcome the New Year, and life will always go on.

But along with Luoxue, came a piece of news. Because of the shitty dispute over the family name between Uesugi Teruhu and Uesugi Kenkatsu. Many Chinese people in Kanto began to be confused and shaken by the nougat, which also affected the people in the small county of Shinano.

Originally, the people from Xiaoxian were very impressed by Uesugi Teruhu. He was capable of fighting, and he was not afraid of finishing the game if he followed him.

But this year, Teruhora Uesugi did not march in Kanto, so some people in this group were murmuring. Could it be that Teru Uesugi was stimulated? Disgusted?

Then their old acquaintance Yukitsuna Sanada took advantage of the snow and the world's cessation of troops to divide and win over each other. Half of the people in the small prefecture actually defected to the Takeda clan, and even Yukitsuna Sanada restored Matsuo's family fortune of 1,200 kan.

Takeda Harunobu finally finished cleaning up Suruga's mess and returned his gaze to Shinano without stopping.

The change of flags in half of the small county means that the last buffer between Takeda Harunobu and Murakami Yoshikiyo has completely disappeared.

[Note 1]: Due to years of war in Northern Shinano, people have been displaced and many paddy fields have not actually been cultivated. Unlike Minami-Shinano's long-term stable situation under Takeda Shingen's rule, we cannot wait and see.

[Note 2]: This matter cannot be searched in Baidu Encyclopedia or Chicken Feeding Encyclopedia. There is no such entry at all. But it is indeed an upland water conservancy method handed down from ancient Japan. The author learned about it from a Japanese program called "Master Nakai Says".

At the same time, this method is not only spread in Shinano Country. According to Japanese records, it is actually spread in Shimono Country and Hitachi Country in Kanto. It was originally developed as an irrigation water source for the black bean fields near the hillside. Its history can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, or even longer.