Chapter Twenty-Five Model
"Ready, pour the water, okay, it's turning, it's turning." As Yang Heng's voice fell, his younger brother poured the water from a wooden bucket in front of him into the receiving bucket of the model. The receiving bucket had a valve that allowed the water to flow into a slightly tilted receiving trough. After passing through a sharp turn, the water entered a simulated riverbed tank and then passed through a waterwheel model, starting to drive the waterwheel, which began to rotate.
This small waterwheel is scaled down in proportion, and it can be said that every component is complete, especially the bamboo tube is also carved from bamboo. The uncle also carved some patterns on this carved bamboo tube. In this way, such a model of a waterwheel placed in a house will become a beautiful decoration, but it needs someone to pour the water from the bucket at the bottom into the receiving bucket above at regular intervals.
Yang Heng found that in the room, there was a waterwheel model. In the winter, in a room with a kang (a type of heated bed), it could actually humidify the air. This is mainly because the water carried by the waterwheel would produce some mist, which had a humidifying effect.
"This is too ugly," Yang Heng suddenly realized that this thing can't be done like this, it has to be made into a work of art, otherwise, how can this waterwheel be sold? In the blink of an eye, Yang Heng thought of many things. This waterwheel cannot just be used by his own family, but also needs to be used nationwide. If he spreads this technology, only those wealthy households will be able to manufacture it, and ordinary people won't be able to afford such a waterwheel. So, he can only produce it himself, but how much can he produce? In this era, there is no concept of patents, so Yang Heng has made up his mind. First, he wants to sell models at high prices, using good wood materials and the anti-corrosion formula from his younger uncle to create branded products. Then, he will use the money from selling models to sell a batch of waterwheels at low prices or even give them away for free to local government officials, and let them resell them to ordinary people for use.
The key is to make sure those rich families won't use these cheap water carts, they'll be using their own handmade water carts, and they have to be made according to the model, this will give them a lot of face. Although Yang Heng's idea is a bit rough now, there's still plenty of time, before his old man reaches a high position, he won't let anyone know about these water carts, even if it's just for personal use, they'll have to be completely sealed off, can't let people see the principle behind the water cart.
"Brother Yang, this water truck model looks really good, why did you say it's ugly?" Niu Zi said on the side with some puzzlement, even Xiao Shu also looked at Yang Heng, wondering what he was thinking.
"How about not being ugly, can our family put this waterwheel down? I want to sell it out. Little uncle, my plan is that we will make a part of the waterwheels and place them in the room. Because of the thought process, each shape of the waterwheel model will be made ten units, and they must be engraved with numbers in a conspicuous place. For example, the mountain-shaped ones are Qing Shan Green Water No. 1 to No. 10 or Da Mo Green Oasis No. 1 to No. 10. At present, I have these two models in mind. Next is for you, little uncle, to think more about what other models we should come up with. Then we will make a part of the two-meter diameter waterwheels as spare, and these waterwheels must also be numbered and made exquisitely. These are for use in some officials' gardens, so naturally, we need to have some auxiliary equipment. We need to manufacture them according to the requirements of various gardens. Now we should start making these models and put them in the warehouse. When the time is right, we will sell them out uniformly, and then we won't make any more models."
In the blink of an eye, Yang Heng came up with a model about green mountains and clear waters. He would first create a mountain landscape in a basin, with trees, flowers, and grass on the mountain, which could be placed in a room as a movable landscape. On the mountain, there was a waterwheel that drew water from a small river surrounding the mountain and poured it into a heavenly pool at the top of the mountain. The water in the heavenly pool flowed through a limited river channel into the surrounding river channel, and then flowed into a hidden bucket behind. This was in ancient times, without electricity; otherwise, adding a pump inside could form a cycle, and even the heavenly pool above could be made transparent to become an aquarium. However, now the water pool above can also hold fish, but it requires someone to pour water from below into the upper pool at fixed intervals. This was Yang Heng's first idea, and if suitable materials were used, a very exquisite landscape could be created.
If a small potted landscape of green hills and clear water can be placed in a corner of a room, then an oasis in the desert would require a large plot of land to accommodate such a large landscape, with oases, miniature trees, grasslands, small lakes, Gobi sand dunes, rivers, and rivers flowing out of the small lakes, passing through a small waterfall, driving the waterwheel to rotate, and the water drawn up by the waterwheel flowing back into the small lake. Of course, there would still be some loss of water in this process, and the lost water would flow into a bucket under the sand dunes, which someone would then pour back into the small lake, thus completing the cycle.
It's just an idea, if a day doesn't achieve the goal, it's not considered successful. However, now the primary model has been tested successfully, which means that we can make our own waterwheel next. The most important component in this model is the central axis, which is made of steel and has a thickness similar to a finger. There are two axle pads on both sides that hold the axis in place. Inside the axle pads, there is an oil groove, and on top of the axle pad, there is an oil inlet hole. Yang Heng uses a thread to create a siphon effect by placing it in an oil bowl, allowing the bean oil to seep into the oil inlet hole on top of the axle pad. Then, he covers the bowl containing the bean oil with a lid, isolating it from the outside environment and preventing dust from entering, thus enabling the axis to be used for a long time.
"Nephew, next we need to make a waterwheel, which requires many people. I don't know how you plan to arrange it?" The wood needs to be cut from the forest because it's needed immediately. After cutting down the trees, they still need to be dried and then split into planks of suitable shape. So, naturally, Yang Heng and his family of three need to work closely together to fell the trees. Drying is handled by Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and their wives, while Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt help with splitting the wood. However, there aren't many trees that need to be split, or else it would really be too much for Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt to handle alone. Little Aunt assists Little Uncle in making things, so this winter everyone has something to do. Even the children are supervised every day as they recite Yang Heng's "Thousand Character Classic". Once they learn a section well, Yang Heng quickly teaches them the next one. Usually, Little Niece memorizes it first, then helps the other children recite while being assisted by her sister. What a harmonious five-family household!
